Placebo Effect.

Andrew Darley looks back at the subversive career of Placebo and asks if the latest EP shows a loss of direction.

“Last month saw the release of B3, a five track EP of brand new material. This small collection of songs will no doubt keep long-time Placebo fans content, if not happy, as it contains glimpses of their signature sound. “

Celebrity Big Brother 2012.

Paul Baker looks back at the surprisingly pro-LGBT Big Brother, and celebrates recent Julian Clary’s win of Celebrity Big Brother 2012.

“The public, who had been expecting Julian to be the swishing Diva, were second-footed to find a quiet, introspective and kind man behind the outrageous stage act.”

Cosmo for Femmes.

BJ Epstein takes a look at Sweden’s new magazine for lesbian and bisexual women … and finds it wanting.

“There is certainly a population out there that wants tips on performing better cunnilingus along with advice on open relationships, horoscopes.”

45 Years of Legal Consensual Gay Sex … With A Few Reservations.

What was the 1967 Sexual Offences Act all about, and how effective was it as a piece of social legislation?

“The Act further restricted gay men by only sanctioning sex between two consenting adult males (i.e. over 21) in private. A threesome (or more-some) was a definite no-no, but even sex with non-participant/s present was an offence, as was consensual sex in an hotel or other ‘public’ place.”

Austerity Britain Comes to World Pride.

Keep calm and carry on, World Pride 2012 fell apart and Boris Johnson failed London one more time.

“Is it really worth jeopardising London’s international standing as a fun city to live, work and do business in for the sake of a reported measly £65,000, which probably amounts to little more than a bankers’ bonus-celebration dinner?”

Even the gays don’t want equal marriage! Apparently.

Nadine Dorries is opposed to what she calls the Metro Elite Gay Activists, who she says are pushing an agenda that nobody really wants. She sums up the tactics of the new homophobia, writes Paul Baker.

“Just who are these Metro Elite Gay Activists – or MEGA-gays as Nadine Dorries claims? I have this picture in my head of a haughty cartoon gay couple called Ivan and Tarquin, living in a swanky loft somewhere near Primrose Hill.”

Will A Proposed Development End This London Insitution?

Simon Watney writes about the history of The Black Cap, and the cruel face of modern developmental planning.

“The fate of The Black Cap also matters in wider terms, since its history goes back many centuries, like that of The Worlds End on the opposite side of the High Street, which since at least the seventeenth-century had been famous as The Old Mother Red Cap, its name only being changed most regrettably by new owners in the late 1980s.

London Mayoral Elections 2012.

Tim Bennett-Goodman looks at the forthcoming London Mayoral and Assembly elections from the LGBT perspective, with a not-entirely impartial eye …

“Of course, most of us cast our vote based on a much wider spectrum of issues than just sexuality (which is doubtless as it should be) but we surely want to support a candidate who will do us the most good, or possibly the least harm. “

What exactly does ‘post-gay’ mean?

Paul Baker looks at at the term post-gay after the Core Issues Trust used it in its banned pro ex-gay bus campaign ad.

“At the Urban Dictionary, “post-gay” means either 1) that gay people define themselves by something other than sexuality, although they still view themselves as gay and care about gay rights. Or 2) Someone who is excessively gay.”

A History of Newspaper Homophobia.

Paul Baker looks at the history of homophobia in the British press.

“Although the name-calling has largely disappeared, the negative attitudes took longer to shift, and the newspapers more narrowly focused their ire on ‘the gay lobby’ who kept demanding bizarre and unreasonable things like the right to fight for their country, or have their relationships acknowledged.”