Innholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2024 i Attitude Magazine

Alim Kheraj JOURNALIST My dream dinner party guests include Britney Spears, George Michael, James Baldwin and Virginia Woolf. I’m not sure they’d all get along — I can see some awkwardness between Britney and Virginia — but I just know that the gossip would be incredible. Also, once dinner is done, we can all twirl and dance together, while Virginia (who, I imagine, would neither twirl nor dance) looks on disapprovingly. Worth it for the eventual scathing entry about the dinner party in her diary, though! Jessica Hutchinson ART EDITOR My dream dinner party would be an epic mix of chaos and charm. Miriam Margolyes would immediately launch into her outrageous, slightly scandalous stories, probably leaving Jennifer Lawrence both shocked and in hysterics. David Bowie would sit there like a…

CRIMSON FEVER “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” seems to be the mantra behind the new OnePlus Open Apex Edition. This model takes last year’s flagship smartphone and refreshes it with a striking new Crimson Shadow colourway in vegan leather, complementing the already premium design. The standout feature, of course, is its foldable 7.82-inch display, allowing multiple apps to run side by side. Additionally, it boasts some of the best speakers we’ve ever tested on a smartphone, along with ultra-fast charging that restores the battery to full power in just over 40 minutes. oneplus.com FEAST YOUR EYES Fashion designer Ashish Gupta has produced an unapologetically erotic photographic book, Looking for Now. The latest in his exclusive collaborations for House of Voltaire, it features 64 original photographs printed in full…

Describe your persona in three words. Busty, blonde, Brummy. Who’s the nicest Ru Girl? Jujubee. I love her so much. She’s such a good-time girl. She really is incredible. And the shadiest? Choriza May. Everyone thinks she’s so sweet and kind, but she’s not! But I love her for that. The most valuable thing RuPaul has said to you? “Do what you do to the best of your ability and apply that to every challenge, in Drag Race or life.” Your biggest regret? In series three, putting shoulder pads in every outfit, thinking it was a moment but getting read to filth for it. And biggest dream? I’d love to be the first drag queen to do Strictly in the UK. It’s about time for a 10 from Shirley for…

Life has taken an unexpected turn for me recently, and it’s been a whirlwind. Juggling multiple projects has kept me on my toes, but one of the most significant changes has been stepping into the limelight on the UK and Ireland tour of the hit musical, &Juliet. As a doctor with over 20 years experience, this new venture has been far beyond my comfort zone and demands relentless hard work. Despite the challenges, the experience has been incredibly rewarding. But that’s not all — I’ve also been knee-deep in the renovation of a 200-year-old water tower up north. Balancing this with a touring schedule has been quite a feat. Why all these drastic changes? After a particularly tough few years, I made a resolution at the start of 2024: to…

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SUPPORTED BY virgin atlantic The last few months have been quite the rollercoaster…” says Switzerland’s finest, Nemo, of life since becoming the first publicly non-binary person to win the Eurovision Song ‘The Contest, held in Malmö, Sweden, in May this year. “It’s been an overwhelming experience at times. Also, mentally, I feel like some of the middle has gone. I’m either super euphoric, or on the verge of a mental breakdown sometimes…” They laugh nervously, but lightly, and when we ask them point blank how they are, they say “good”, later adding, “This industry is quite something. I just have to find my way of dealing with all of this.” If this introduction sets a trepidatory tone, let us make one thing clear: Nemo is powerful in their vulnerability, and…

SUPPORTED BY JAGUAR ‘Champagne for …” I declare on arrival at ‘Shout’ singer Lulu’s London home. I’m brandishing a warm bottle of Taittinger, only to discover that neither our absolutely fabulous host, nor her (literally) Absolutely Fabulous friend, the one and only Jennifer Saunders, is drinking alcohol at the moment. Attitude lives for the poetic irony. “I’m so sorry!” says Jennifer. Lulu points out with a riotous laugh, “It’s still morning — you start early!” I am, of course, recreating the classic Ab Fab scene where the gaffeprone PR Edina buys Lulu — playing herself — three courses and a pudding at a swanky restaurant. Snapping her fingers, Edina insists, “Champagne for Lulu!” before schmoozing, “Do you know what you need? A really good publicity machine. Who does your PR?”…

Northamptonshire-born Chris Sherwood is a changemaker — both in animal welfare and the broader charity sector. As CEO of the RSPCA, he played a key role in advancing animal protection laws and fostering a more compassionate society. Here, he shares with us his journey from a council estate in Corby, where he was the first in his family to sit GCSEs, to leading one of the UK’s oldest charities and his upcoming move to UK children’s charity the NSPCC. From workingclass roots to the forefront of animal and child protection, Sherwood’s career embodies his commitment to social justice and creating positive change for all. Tell us about your early years. I grew up in a pretty working-class background. I was the first person in my family to get GCSEs, let…

The lore surrounding ARTPOP is almost as interesting as the finished product itself. For five solid years, Lady Gaga was the pop star on everybody’s lips. Bursting onto the scene with radiofriendly hits ‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face’ in 2008, Gaga’s meteoric rise up the ranks of the pop pantheon was quickly solidified with the era-defining (and utterly bonkers) ‘Bad Romance’ in late 2009. In 2011, second album Born This Way was a love letter to the LGBTQ+ community and anyone bullied for being ‘other’. It cemented Gaga, then 25 years old, as a gay icon. She appeared unshakable, self-possessed and with the artistic confidence of somebody who had been in the game for decades. After releasing back-to-back singles and albums solidly for some years, the brief rest period between…

Alan Hollinghurst is without doubt one of the greatest LGBTQ+ writers in living history, having paved the way for the panoply of queer writing today. First published during the AIDS crisis, his novel The Swimming-Pool Library became an instant hit. But perhaps his most famed work is The Line of Beauty, which earned him the Man Booker Prize in 2004. A prolific author, Hollinghurst has continued to write stories that examine queer identity from every angle, exploring generational change, social class and, in his latest novel, Our Evenings, the perspective of a mixed-race protagonist. Here, Hollinghurst delves into the many works that have inspired his latest book, as well as selecting the greatest coming-of-age novel. Best novel with a non-white protagonist?  Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone, James…

What is your favourite life lesson from your new book, Let the Light In? Just to take control of your own life. One thing I found from writing this book was all the problems I blamed everybody else for were all mine. We tend to blame others. ‘I can’t believe he’s done that! How could they do that to me?!’ The common denominator is me — that’s what I realised. Take control and focus on what you really want. That’s the hardest thing: what do you really want? What we want is Jane as our life coach forevermore. 5/5 Top tip for conquering anxiety? We all get it. I tend to get off social media. Get off the phone. Put it down; go for a walk. Put on some tunes…

It’s a noisy world out there. When I’m doom-scrolling on X, I too often find myself completely bemused at how much time people have on their hands to take the time to impart an unwelcome opinion. Opinions are in abundance: often unsolicited, too frequently entirely unwelcome, and even, more often than not, vehemently negative and doused in hate. It’s certainly worse when the person being subjected to them is simply living a life that is true to themselves. Authenticity really does terrify less secure people. In a year when national elections on both sides of the Atlantic have seen the rights of minorities — gay, trans, asylum seekers, immigrants, and others — scapegoated for votes, the dialogue has given bigots a licence to attack anybody that doesn’t conform to their…

DISRUPTIVE ART Exploring contemporary Black LGBTQ+ culture and political history through video, photography, sound and archive materials, Making a rukus! at Somerset House from 11 October to 19 January 2025 celebrates the playful, radical and disruptive world of art project and living archive rukus! Federation. Curated by artist, filmmaker and rukus! Federation co-founder Topher Campbell, the show explores Black LGBTQ+ pioneers and artists since the 1970s, exploring a rich and vivid history across three rooms of original and new work at one of the UK’s most prestigious arts venues. Don’t miss this vital retrospective into the history of queer British culture. somersethouse.org.uk…

❓ 2016 In his best-selling memoir Hillbilly Elegy, Vance recalls that, as a child, he convinced himself that he was gay. Catching a “broadcast by some fire-and-brimstone preacher”, he was disturbed to learn about “the evils of homosexuals, how they had infiltrated our society, and how they were all destined for hell”. He approached his grandmother — or mamaw — and confessed. She only laughed and reassured him that he wasn’t gay. “And even if you did want to suck dicks,” she said to Vance as a boy, “that would be OK. God would still love you.” It was such a profound sentiment that Vance says it stayed with him into adulthood: “Gay people, though unfamiliar, threatened nothing about Mamaw’s being,” he writes. “There were more important things for a…

I recently wrote about the boom in popularity of weightloss medications like Ozempic, and why they might not be the miracle solution for everyone. Now the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the UK has released a reminder about fake and potentially harmful weight-loss products online. Last year, warnings were issued about the dangers of buying pre-filled pens falsely claiming to contain Ozempic and Saxenda. Since January 2023, the MHRA and law enforcement have seized 869 fake Ozempic pens. Purchasing medicines online can be risky. Fake medications pose serious health dangers. If you have concerns about weight and health, consult your GP or pharmacist for a proper diagnosis. Always get prescribed medicines from legitimate sources, as even real medications come with risks. Remember, all pharmacies in Great Britain,…

‘You don’t go from seventh place to Queen of the Mothertucking World without going ‘I’ll do that!’ quite a lot,” Tia Kofi responds when I point out what a savvy move it was volunteering to pen and perform the theme tune for Heartstopper: The Official Podcast, which accompanies the new series of the juggernaut Netflix teen romance and is hosted by Tia. The show’s first two series were almost as beloved for their carefully selected soundtracks as they were for their cast of dreamy ingenues, with many featured artists publicly thanking the show for using their music after seeing a huge spike in their streaming figures as a result. It therefore makes perfect sense why Tia would jump at the opportunity to get her music on such a global platform.…

When The Blessed Madonna writes her memoirs, there will be a heated bidding war. Her remarkable life story — so far, because she’s only getting started — takes in more than 30 years of club culture in Chicago, Berlin, London and beyond. Born Marea Stamper in Louisville, Kentucky, she began attending underground raves in the early 90s and rose to international prominence as a DJ-producer two decades later. Now, having honed her songwriting skills during lockdown, she’s preparing to release Godspeed, a dazzling debut album that features transcendent, clubready collaborations with Kylie Minogue, Gabriels frontman Jacob Lusk, and cult pop artist Uffie, as well ‘Happier’, her recent smash featuring rising star Clementine Douglas. “I knew my first album had to be two things — an expansive history of the world…

CINDY NGAMBA Cindy Ngamba made history at this year’s Paris Olympics when she became the first-ever medallist for the Refugee Olympic Team, winning bronze in the women’s 75kg boxing event. But her story is truly one of triumph in the face of adversity. Born in Cameroon, at the age of 11, Ngamba and her brother came to the UK to live with their dad and nine half-siblings in Bolton. It was there, at 15, that she took up boxing. But a shock discovery meant that outside the ring her fight had only just begun. When she was 16, with hopes of going to university, she discovered that she did not have the correct documentation to study or even stay in the UK — instead, she was in danger of being…

SUPPORTED BY JAGUAR At a recent 10th-anniversary screening of the film Pride, actor Jessica Gunning had a moment of clarity. Making the film, playing the role of housewife-turned-activist Siân James, had been an emotional process, but at the time she hadn’t realised the specific reason why. “It was really nice to see it with fresh eyes in a way,” she beams now, “in every scene being like, ‘Oh yeah, of course, there’s little gay me!’” It’s part of why receiving The Culture Award, supported by Jaguar, at the 2024 Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards, powered by Jaguar, feels special to Gunning. “I’m very honoured. It means a lot, especially because it’s a cultural award, so it’s celebrating work I’ve done in the past, before I came out or before I realised…

Name a track you are loving right now? ‘Dale’ by HUGEL, Peppe Citarella and Billy The Diamond. It gets me fired up when I listen to it and play it out. The song that introduced you to dance music? The Bucketheads, ‘The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)’. The track was part of a compilation that used to be advertised on TV. I made my parents get me the vinyl, and I listened to it on repeat. Is there a dance record that changed your life? Jay-J & Miguel Migs, In The House (The West Coast Sessions), from 2003. It’s an amazing compilation, and the first track, ‘Diamond Life’, by Louie Vega and Jay ‘Sinister’ Séalee featuring Julie McKnight, made me dream about going to Ibiza and places where…

Isaac by Curtis Garner (Out on 28 November in paperback) Sometimes, literature is a mirror in which our lives are reflected back at us. In debut novel Isaac, Curtis Garner captures the complexities of coming of age as a young queer person. As protagonist Isaac turns 18, he is ready to taste freedom. However, with age comes the struggles of adulthood: family revelations, inappropriate desires, friendship pressures — and the discovery of bad men. Garner portrays the challenges of exploring sexuality as a young person taking their first steps into a big gay world. Isaac’s journey is every queer reader’s journey delivered with wit, honesty, sexuality and tenderness. Mammoth by Eva Baltasar (Out now in paperback) If the best things come in small packages, English PEN Award winner Eva Baltasar…

February 2013 Premiership footballer Matt Jarvis stripped down to his baby-blue shorts for Attitude just over a decade ago — and little did we know that the sportsman would be just as enthusiastic about his cover moment, which generated huge media interest at the time, a decade later. Catching up with Attitude in December 2023, Matt called it “a proud moment for me. If I’m completely honest, I was blown away by the amount of traction it got. I didn’t believe when I first did it that it would make such an impact.” In an example of straight male allyship done right, the sports star was even invited to Parliament off the back of the issue, to spread the message he was sending out. Another unexpected consequence? “Everyone thought I…

Jude Guaitamacchi (they/them) Founder of Trans+ Solidarity Alliance With increasing transphobia in the world, it’s difficult to say that ‘we’ should forgive transphobia. We must bear in mind trans+ people’s intersectional experiences and allow space for trans+ people to navigate their feelings without expecting them to make allowances or to ignore their own pain. In an ideal world, it wouldn’t fall on the shoulders of trans people to have to think about how to encourage people to advocate for them. However, if we don’t allow space for forgiveness, we may not be able to galvanise the support we need for the trans+ community. We live in a cis-dominated world and public support has been declining as a result of a premeditated strategy from gender-critical groups that have embedded anti-trans rhetoric…

I don’t like it when people flippantly use the phrase, “Oh, I was a bit OCD the other night!” You hear it in conversation: “Oh, I was a bit of a clean freak the other week; I washed my hands a lot — was getting a bit OCD!” Like a lot of psychological terms that get bandied about on Instagram wellness graphics, the term has woven its way into colloquial conversation when, in fact, it has quite a specific and profound meaning. The reason it frustrates me is that I have suffered with severe OCD — Obsessive Compulsive Disorder — since the age of seven. I’ve been in every kind of therapy and taken every kind of medication to help battle what is an exhausting and often debilitating disease. It…

SUPPORTED BY virgin atlantic Ten UK number one songs (and the first to have a Top 10 single in six different decades), eight UK number one albums, five Grammys, two Oscars (for Best Original Song), an Emmy, and a Tony Award, Elton John’s achievements as one of the UK’s finest music artists feel almost limitless. Beyond music, he is a figurehead of the UK gay community. As an activist, his Elton John AIDs Foundation has raised over $600 million to support over 3,100 projects in 95 countries globally to end AIDS, and as a generous spirit he has reached out to those in pain. But he is also no saint — and for that we love him. In this intimate interview at his home in Windsor, he talks candidly about…

When Mawaan Rizwan was in his early twenties, he had a ritual: whenever there was something playing on his mind, he’d head to the rooftop of a car park in Whitechapel, where he was living, and yell at the top of his lungs. Back then, he was hustling to break into the entertainment industry. Along with various odd jobs to get by, he was working as a runner at Pinewood Studios. When he wasn’t busy on set, he had his head down writing and sketching out comedy routines and, in secret, making music. “It was really helpful to go to the top of this car park and just shout,” he says. Visiting the car park provided an outlet for another reason, too. At the time, Rizwan was struggling with his…

Think of gay-themed telly and you automatically picture the work of Russell T Davies, who leads the genre — and long may this continue. But we’re always on the lookout for his spiritual descendants. Step forward, fellow Welshman Daf James, writer of Lost Boys and Fairies, an emotional three-parter about a gay couple’s adoption journey, which debuted on the BBC to huge acclaim this spring. From its depiction of wild partying to domestic bliss — and the uncomfortable tension between the two — the show vibrates with lived-in authenticity. Starring Fra Fee and Sion Young, it pinpoints with exceptional clarity the transitional stage in a gay man’s life when, at the end of an extended adolescence, you think: ‘What’s next?’ In main character Gabriel’s case, this question brings up traumas…

It’s the last days of summer when Attitude meets Sadiq Khan at bustling Mare Street Market in Hackney, one of London’s buzziest — and queerest — boroughs. He arrives bang on time, and we find a spot in a quiet corner of a café in which to talk. “I get asked every year to lead the Pride parade,” he says earnestly, evidently proud of being the only Mayor to have led the parade every year while in the role. “I’m he/him, Muslim ethnic minority of Pakistan origin. I’m so proud to be asked to do so, and that’s why for me it’s a joy.” As MP for Tooting, for years Sadiq Khan was one of the LGBTQ+ community’s most steadfast allies in Westminster, but after becoming Mayor of London in…

GAME BOY Universal Studios Parks’ Super Nintendo Worlds have been a smash hit for Mario fans, but gaming aficionados will want to visit the new Nintendo Museum, which opened at the start of October in Kyoto, Japan. The museum is built on the site of the original factory where Nintendo made hanafuda and other playing cards from 1889 — yes, it was operating for nearly a hundred years before they released their first gaming electronics in 1972. The museum charts the company’s history, with plenty of interactive displays and games. museum.nintendo.com SMALL WONDER Drone technology just keeps getting smaller, and the 135g DJI Neo is the company’s lightest and most compact to date. This mighty micro can take off and land on your palm without a controller, but there are…

‘It’s about time,” actor Lennie James proclaims. Seldom are two gay Caribbean-born elders at the front and centre of a British primetime television drama, but that’s all about to change with Mr Loverman, the BBC adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo’s award-winning novel of the same name. James is at the helm of this seismic series, playing the lead part of Barrington Jedidiah Walker, and he couldn’t be prouder that this complex queer Black love story is stepping into the light. “It’s a crucial and important story, particularly within our community, to be having, especially amongst a generation that is largely ignored or hugely stereotyped,” he says. “AT ITS CORE, MR LOVERMAN IS A STORY OF A SIX-DECADE LOVE AFFAIR BETWEEN TWO MEN WHO HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO BE OUT” Mr Loverman,…

‘The Beginning’ (bonus track) At first, Little Mix were viewed as mainstream, sugar-coated pop fodder — a group that had been put together for TV entertainment. Bonus track ‘The Beginning’ reveals a 90-second stripped-back glimpse behind the reality competition curtains. “They turned us strangers into closest friends”, they sing on the autobiographical track, keen to show that they are not simply pop puppets or one-hit wonders but an emerging sisterhood who believe it is “just the beginning” for the four-piece.  ‘Nothing Feels Like You’ (album track) With a heavier R&B vibe and a more urban sound accompanied by drums and gospel chanting, ‘Nothing Feels Like You’ is symbolic of Little Mix’s shift from their early ‘DNA’ sound to a more adult audience. Carnivalesque and cool, this is a track that…

Pop Curious? Various venues in Manchester and London Manchester’s Deaf Institute is packed to the rafters for the city’s Pride weekend, and it’s all in honour of Pop Curious?’s 15th birthday. Manchester’s poploving queers have flocked to the venue, which is somewhat off the beaten track from the city’s Gay Village, ready to celebrate the night that’s been delivering pure pop joy for a decade and a half. Inside, the faces may have changed since I attended regularly during my uni days, but the energy remains undimmed. Twentysomethings in glitter and crop tops are still bouncing to the beats of the best pop divas, just as I remember. At the helm, as always, is Christopher Dresden Styles, founder of the night, spinning tracks in his signature sequinned blazer. It’s a…

QUEER AS FOLKLORE by Sacha Coward (Out now on Audible and available in hardback) What do the words bizarre, deviant, unorthodox, unfamiliar and freaky have in common? All are — depending on context — synonyms for ‘queer’. In Sacha Coward’s monstrous tome, Queer As Folklore, he dives into a panoply of queer anthropology to uncover all things magical, ethereal, strange and other, considering how their origins intersect with the history of LGBTQ+ people. The key to excellent nonfiction is storytelling. Coward shows himself to be an artful hand at simultaneously being the enthused archaeologist while also being an engaging writer who deftly skirts both the realms of intellectual and popular culture. Here, you will find notes on secretly sapphic artworks of mermaids, a brief history of the countercultural queer movement…

FRESH AND CLEAN British brand Cleens is rethinking your footwear. Over the past year, it has built up a loyal following by creating expertly crafted luxury footwear for everyone — making high fashion accessible. Its trainers, which are handmade in a family-run factory in Portugal, come in various styles, including their best-selling and Essential Skate shoes. Already stocked Aero Runner (pictured) in Harvey Nichols, Cleens’ fashion sphere is expanding quickly, and will soon be stocked in fellow fashion department store Flannels.  cleens.co.uk THE OG Rimowa has reimagined its innovative luxury fashion luggage aesthetic and created a new unisex handbag. The Original bag has been inspired by the brand’s iconic suitcase, with its emblematic grooves incorporated into the sleek design. Made of lightweight aluminium, the Original bag can be carried by…

Ballet dancer Calvin Richardson has always been very precise. The first time I met the Australian was in December 2016. It was my first time doing a photoshoot in the mother ship that is the Royal Opera House. I remember being led through the building, which is a sort of impenetrable Death Star fortress of dance, carrying clothes through a maze of corridors. As we climbed through the levels to reach our location, I peered through the large windows, behind which the corps de ballet were practising in cavernous rehearsal spaces. Periodically, the Tannoy announced calls to the stage and important business, and airport-style screens showed where everyone needed to be and at what time. At one point, the service lift opened to reveal what appeared to be a wall…