All Things Queer

I wasn’t spellbound by Magic Mike. In fact, I was quite agitated by it.

I saw the premiere of Magic Mike on the 11th of July at The Zone where my five gay friends and I, together with the rest of the cinema of ladies, were treated to a free live strip show, Grazia magazine and Jimmy Jagga’s before the movie has even started. I’m still not sure if it was a pleasant experience though.

Despite one of the sexiest trailers I have ever seen. I wasn’t asking for much when I hoped Magic Mike would be stripper version of High School Musical. All the audience was expecting to see was a simple Rom. Com. with some great stripper scenes to add to the spank bank, instead we got a confused, sloppy film trying to ride on Channing Tatum’s fine ass (and that’s my job Honey…).

Even though this “film” (and I use that word flippantly) was directed by the Oscar winning Steven Soderbergh it tried to be both deep and dark AND sexy and fun but only ended up being neither. I will try and piece together a storyline for you but I am reading in between the very badly written lines here.

Sally Ride, the first American woman to fly in space, died Monday after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, her company said. She was 61.

"Sally lived her life to the fullest, with boundless energy, curiosity, intelligence, passion, commitment and love. Her integrity was absolute; her spirit was immeasurable; her approach to life was fearless," read a statement on the website of Sally Ride Science, a company she started to help teach students -- particularly young women and girls -- about science, math and technology.

Read more on CNN.

Twelve years ago, a 16 year old version of myself stood in front of the mirror. I have come to the realisation that I am attracted to women, and the thought scared me. Up to that point, the thought of being lesbian has never, not even once, occurred to me. And now, in the quiet of my room, I dared ask the question: Am I a lesbian? Looking in the mirror, I knew that I obviously couldn't be a lesbian. Everybody knew that all lesbians look like male truck drivers. And I like dresses, and heels, and floral prints, and pretty earrings, and lipstick. Clearly, I couldn't be a lesbian. Which led me to the question – then why am I attracted to women and not men? I should have intuitively known that who you are attracted to has nothing to do with how you express your gender, yet society has taught me otherwise.

Just in time for the London Olympics, the Pet Shop Boys released the video for their new single "Winner", featuring London Rollergirls and "Dirty Diana", a trans member of the team. The London Rollergirls is an all-women roller derby league that promote charity, teamwork and confidence in women by embracing all women regardless of body shape, occupations, sexual orientation, race or nationality.

Lana Del Rey is joined by  Hollywood actress Jaime King in her new music video ‘Summertime Sadness’. The video tells the story of a lesbian love affair that ends in a double suicide.

London department store Harrods made a ground-breaking move to make its new multi-sensory toy zone less gender-specific. The Harrods Toy Kingdom had its grand launch on Saturday 14th July, following in the footsteps of Hamleys, which removed "boy" and "girl" signposts from its shop last December, the London department store has deliberately organised its new multi-sensory toy zone by theme rather than sex. According to Dr Laura Nelson, who led the campaign against Hamleys and has set up a gender stereotypes project in schools to tackle the issue. "Gender stereotyping of toys restricts the choices of children and their parents; it influences the activities children engage in, their interests and skills and ultimately the roles they take in society," she said. "Until all toys and the shop layouts are completely gender-neutral, there will always be pressure on girls and boys to pursue the route in life consistent with their stereotype."

Here is a fun, sweet, romantic collection of vintage photos of gay male couples. Enjoy!

I don’t think I have any idea what the definition ever was for having a pure heart.
An untainted piece of gold in the middle of the beauty that surrounds and solidifies it in its cocoon of safety. A heart where every beat is simply designed to dance with the happiness of the person it inhibits until its work is done.

Where did I miss the joy of being innocent and untouched by circumstances surrounding my inner core? Did I fail in making it affect me in the wrong ways and taking it to my core when I should have shunned the ugly? Will you ever get it back or didn’t you have it to start with?

When you view my web browser history you might be shocked to what extent I have searched to find the answers I’m looking for. Search engine to search engine asking extensively to find out where all my anger and hatred originated from. When I couldn’t find out where it all started I turned against myself and blamed myself for the ways the world saw me and the way I wanted them to see me. Blaming myself for my short comings and for who I was and brainwashing myself too think I could change this.

Mandela Story: The 4 minutes long video tribute, has been a pure labour of love, beautifully put together, showing creativity from South Africa, Mother City Cape Town, with no financial gain to Prezence Digital or any individuals, but to raise awareness to encourage people to carry the torch of positive change from Mandela's example in turn, and do their bit (67 mins today and everyday).