Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2024 i GAY TIMES

I’m writing this editor’s letter in the wake of last week’s publication of the Cass Review – an investigation into the UK’s youth gender care services. In the eyes of many, myself included, the review’s final recommendations undermine the right of young trans and non-binary people to advocate for the medical support they need – setting a dangerous and invalidating precedent. The 2020s have seen relentless attacks – from the right-wing media, from politicians – on queer and trans people’s ability to freely live their lives. In times like these, it’s important to look towards the myriad ways we have supported and held one another as a community over the decades. When faced with gatekeepers who have tried to shut us out and deny our existence, we have always found…

The alchemising brains at LOEWE have caught the essence and elixir of summer, bottling it for instant pleasure with their new Cosmic scent. Fruity, woody and ambery, LOEWE Paula’s Ibiza Cosmic EDP joyously joins the existing LOEWE Paula’s Ibiza fragrance family. Boasting notes of Galbanum, Coconut and Mandarin Orange that mellow into notes of Patchouli and Bourbon Vanilla, the scent will teleport you instantly to sunnier shores. This hypnotic scent for all genders erupts with playfulness, fun, and experimentation, inspired by the intriguing spiritual awakenings of cosmology blended with the earthly pleasures of psychedelia. Sounds like paradise to us!…

“Maybe I killed someone!” Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, quips over Zoom, quoting her faux online apology video. It’s early afternoon in Oslo and the singer is comfortably sitting cross-legged in the kitchen of her sister’s minimalist apartment, wearing a navy blue LA Dodgers cap and dark red v-neck sweater. The Norwegian musician is playfully referencing her YouTube-ready ‘I’m Sorry’ skit; a three-minute SNL-style sketch produced by best friend and manager Isaac Jensen. It’s here, during her staged plea to fans, she lays down the rules: 2024 is a big year for girl in red – and she’s right. The 25-year-old’s immense sophomore album, I'M DOING IT AGAIN, BABY!, is out now, a project she couldn’t have done without her community of friends and Luna, her Bernese Mountain dog,…

Aquatic excellence is the theme for Swarovski’s spring/summer campaign. The dazzling collection takes its cues from the myriad forms of the aquatic world and the underwater gardens which are home to extraordinary creatures and motifs such as shells, corals, seahorses, starfish, and anemones. The ensemble of light-catching gems and pearls pays homage to the timeless Venus archetype, granting the wearer the glittering virtues of elegance, empowerment, creativity, and grace. Unleash your goddess today.…

Anyone who thinks that polymaths don't exist anymore probably hasn't met Brontez Purnell. The Oakland-based novelist, musician, dancer, filmmaker, zine maker — and overall 'pretty Black boy' extraordinaire (to quote his interview with Steve Lacy) — can now add 'poet' and 'memoirist' to the list. Ten Bridges I've Burnt follows Pernell’s 2022 Lambda-winning novel, 100 Boyfriends. His new work is a captivating verse memoir full of his signature blend of sorrow, wit, and sex: “The most high-risk / homosexual behaviour / I engage in / is / simply existing". Careening from lyrical loving tributes to friends to searing excavations of inherited trauma, Ten Bridges I've Burnt is an uncompromising collection that explores thinking and working as a Black gay man across 20 years in the Bay, through dance studios, poetry…

Since 1981, Germany’s trans, non-binary and intersex communities were forced to contend with the so-called ‘Transsexual Law’ (TSG for short) if they wanted to legally change their name and gender marker. Entailing a long, costly and often discriminatory review process, individuals were required to present to a local court with reports by two experts “sufficiently familiar with the particular problems of transsexualism” who could attest that, in all likelihood, they would not want to revert back to the gender they were assigned at birth. In the many years since the TSG was first implemented, the proportion of people who reversed their decision remained the same: around 1%. Nevertheless, under the TSG, people had to undergo a months-long, degrading assessment process, which was not only expensive at – costing around €2,000…