Sex Toys for all inmates!

Zimbabwe senator Sithembile Mlotshwa recommends sex toys in prison to prevent homosexuality and claims this is more important than feeding prisoners.

“Right now Mlotshwa is deeply troubled by homosexual behaviour in prisons, and she is determined to root it out, at any cost. After many a troubled night, no doubt, she has reached a conclusion: her solution is to furnish prisons with sex toys.”

The last days of the PCC.

Paul Baker welcomes the shut down of the Press Complaints Commission on the grounds that it didn’t do much in the way of good

“To my mind, getting journalists and editors to govern themselves is a bit like putting bullies in charge of the playground, and so the closure of the PCC is a hopeful step in the right direction.”

Homophobia Goes Wild in the Twittersphere

On the trending #ToMyUnbornChild, and how hundreds of Twitter users said they’d kill their own child if it turned out to be gay.

“It’s all decidedly mediaeval, and rather like a virtual witch burning. But like so many music videos, it’s about displaying attitude, and not actually doing and/or being anything.”

The Trouble with Coming Out.

Paul Baker writes about the challenges that students face when they come out at university.

If you’re a straight teenager, in these godless ‘end times’, you’ve probably got a head-start on emotional growing up. You’ve probably fancied members of the opposite sex (and nobody’s bullied you because of it), you’ve probably had a boyfriend or girlfriend.

The last stand of the old-style Tories against equality.

Paul Baker writes about that upcoming vote on marriage equality and the bigots it will leave behind.

Despite David Burrowes’ claims of not being homophobic, his “no” vote will be there for future generations to look over, and it will be interpreted as a last ineffectual gasp of mean-mindedness, hurting no-one but the reputations of those who made it.

On “sh*t that straight people say to gay people”

Paul Baker writes about that one phrase that straight people like to say to gay people: I don’t mind you being gay, just don’t shove it in my face.

I sometimes wonder about all of the times that I’ve had heterosexual sex waggled about under my nose by the media, how it’s so pervasive that it barely registers, and how frequently it’s just there for titillation value.

Gay Face: Another Contemporary Stereotype

Paul Baker takes a look at the term ‘gay face’, and how its use as an insult is just homophobic.

If you’re calling someone “gay face” then I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that, not only are you a little bit catty, but you’ve also bought in to all the nasty homophobic and genderphobic stereotypes that mainstream society has been using to make gay men second class citizens for decades.

The value of Gay’s the Word bookshop to the community

Bookseller Uli Lenart writes about the importance of Gays the Word to London’s LGBT community, and the plans to build that support in 2012

Gay’s the Word, for me, is a mission…that, and a lesson in human kindness.

What do you really mean when you call someone a twat?

Why is it considered ok to use words that refer to genitalia to insult people? What does this say about what we think, who we are, and what we’re ashamed of?

My hope is one day we’ll reach a point where when someone says, “Oh, he’s such a twat,” the response will be, “Sounds like he’s a great person, then, because twats are wonderful, beautiful things.”

The Camp and the Bitchy: Gay Men on TV

Paul Baker asks if the stereotypes of John Inman’s camp queen are over and done with, or does the stereotyping of gay men on TV continue?

Sean Tully in Coronation Street tends to have a better time, but he’s another camp (if more lovable) stereotype. As is Harry from The Only Way in Essex. I suspect Harry has never had an unkind thought, but that could be because his head is full of glitter and sparkles.