Table of contents for August 2021 in Attitude Magazine

Fatt Butcher, creative producer and theatre-maker My thighs. After years of cycling, they’re thick, muscular, and strong enough to crush a melon (or small twink) between them. And yes, it is true what they say about thick thighs making certain body parts rise. Mateusz Sitek, photographer I love my hands, they allow me to create. My hands are my eyes; through them I am able to capture images freely and fulfil my passion. They allow me to hug, cook and share love with the ones I care for. Dean Ryan McDaid, photographer My favourite part of my body is my legs. I’ve had an on/off, love/hate relationship with a lot of the rest of my body, but have always felt really great about my legs, which I guess might be…

POLAROID X KEITH HARING Capture the magic of Pride with this striking collaboration between Polaroid and the Keith Haring Foundation. Keeping the pioneering queer artist’s legacy alive, the special-edition Polaroid Now camera is hard to miss with its flashy design – the black-and-white motifs are not only doodles of fun, but a nifty nod to Haring’s signature hand-drawn creations. Happy snapping! Price: £129.99 polaroid.com/keithharing RUFSKIN AQUABRITE Everybody loves a bit of shimmer, and Rufskin have duly indulged us with their shiny new Aquabrite collection. The San Diego brand’s latest offering includes 11 new styles and pieces in ‘brite’ colours of sherbet neon coral, lemon and also jet black (with a gleaming metallic finish). The range spans sportswear and swimwear, so you can sparkle whether you’re donning your Rufskin Calkini or…

What were your rejected drag names? Two of my friends came up with Black Peppa when I started drag in Birmingham. I didn’t like it at first, but it stuck with me! Describe yourself in three emojis. Describe your drag style in five words. I’ll dance circles around you. Who is your biggest inspiration? Beyoncé – duh! She is my saviour, the alpha and omega. Best pick-up line someone has said to you? “My wife would be jealous.” What keeps you awake at night? Sibling Rivalry by Bob the Drag Queen and Monét X Change — how can you not love them?! Worst thing someone could say to you in bed? “I need to take this call.” How would (or does) your Grindr profile read? When I had a Grindr…

Professional swimmer, and pal of Attitude, Michael Gunning recently helped us make a real splash with our Pride at Home celebrations, by doing a sweet reading from Call Me by Your Name. André Aciman’s tasty tome famously features a, um, messy moment involving a peach – and it’d be foolish not to find out what Michael’s preferred fruit is. “I’m going to say… mango,” he chuckles. (Wise choice: soft and moist.) “I really do love that book; I love happy endings and it doesn’t have that, but there are so many parts to take from the book that are inspiring.” I beg to differ, Michael, there is most definitely a happy ending, just not the kind we were necessarily expecting. Diving in as the cover star of our August Body…

More well-known to most for its nightlife, there is a wilder, fresher side to Berlin that might surprise visitors. Also known as ‘the land of 3,000 lakes’, the city and its surrounding state of Brandenburg boasts in excess of 30,000km of waterways and some of Europe’s most magnificent city lakes. More than 80 aquatic jewels lie within cycling distance of the city centre, offering a lake to fulfil every desire, whether that’s a chilled escape or a raucous social hotspot. And with Germany enjoying consistently warm and reliable summer weather, you’re almost guaranteed to catch a tan. Perhaps the most famous of the lakes is Wannsee. Although it might have a dubious history, having once hosted a Nazi conference, it has since been re-imagined as a popular mini resort. With…

Most of us feel more comfortable with our clothes firmly on (oh, hello, Spandex), and on the occasion where a birthday suit is required, flattering lighting is non-negotiable; “No, babe, you can’t switch on the bedside lamp!” Not Little Peaches, though, who has embraced the bare necessities of life, tapping into the storytelling power of her badass body as one of the most exciting burlesque and cabaret stars on the scene. Born in Australia but based in Liverpool, Little Peaches was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (a disorder affecting the body’s connective tissues) when she was 23. Doctors told Little Peaches that she would end up in a wheelchair if she continued dancing — but dance is her life and a temporary escape from the day-to-day pain of her chronic condition.…

While most of us have been trying to forget about the past year or so, there’s one after-effect I can’t easily ignore and that’s my lapsed attitude towards my diet. Many of us fell into bad habits during lockdown and, thanks to extra treats and all that sitting down, are now struggling to reverse the inevitable weight gain. For my part, I have become increasingly lazy, cheating at every corner and living for a lil’ extra cake on my plate. Whether it’s reducing the number on the scales or getting fitter, I like to have a goal that will give me the drive to ‘be good’. But as those markers in the diary keep getting cancelled or postponed, it’s time to stop saying “Mañana” and reintroduce some discipline into my…

LIVE TOUR 2021 08 Sep Margate Theatre Royal 09 Sep Portsmouth New Theatre Royal 10 Sep Bexhill De la Warr Pavilion 11 Sep Norwich Theatre Royal 12 Sep Sheffield The Leadmill 14 Sep Yeovil Octagon Theatre 15 Sep Liverpool Philharmonic Hall 16 Sep Lancaster Grand Theatre 17 Sep Stratford-Upon-Avon Stratford Playhouse 18 Sep Bristol The Redgrave Theatre 19 Sep Cardiff New Theatre 22 Sep Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall Theatre 23 Sep Colchester Mercury Theatre 24 Sep Northampton Royal & Derngate 25 Sep York Grand Opera House 01 Oct Leeds Town Hall 02 Oct Newcastle Tyne Theatre & Opera House 05 Oct Barnstaple Queen’s Theatre 06 Oct Exeter Corn Exchange 07 Oct Bath Komedia 08 Oct Leamington Spa Royal Spa Centre 10 Oct Leicester Curve 13 Oct Poole Lighthouse 15 Oct…

Put the needle on it If Olly Alexander is the next Doctor Who — even though he’s exterminated the story – I’m very excited to see his sonic screwdriver… Yes, welcome back to my column, here’s what’s happening in music right now! Queer icon LP is back. Lauren’s latest single release Goodbye is as authentically queer as it gets, blending alt-rock with echoes of synth-pop; their upcoming album drops in October and promises to break even more rules. There is more genre-bending on Glasgow DJ TAAHLIAH’s debut EP Angelica: ‘Brave’ is resilient, relatable and raw, while ‘Tears’, ‘Transdimensional’ and ‘Bourgeoisie’ elevate the record into a whole new reality. Raye, meanwhile, has been bravely criticising the music business. After seven years of being signed to a major label, the mega-talented artist…

SWELL TIME Super slick with its contrasting colours, The Diver watch from Ulysse Nardin will make a splash both in and out of the water. Sure to become a modern classic, its rose gold rotating bezel provides a striking counterpoint to the 42mm steely grey dial with domed sapphire glass, while the coordinating, alligator-style leather strap completes the package. It all adds up to a stylish timepiece that can take you from the sea to the boardroom and beyond. Price: £8,670. ulysse-nardin.com…

METHODISTS SAY ‘I DO’ The religion now allows same-sex marriage - gaymen to that PIXAR PERFECT Luca is the studio’s first gay film — officially or not — as star Jack Dylan Grazer comes out as bisexual. All the warm fuzzies WHEN LIZZO SPEAKS… The singer corrects rude paparazzo multiple times when he misgenders Demi Lovato EXTREME AUBERGINE Sex/Life — the Netflix show with 10 seconds/inches of gay interest: episode 3, at 19 mins, 50 secs ANGRY WITH HUNGARY The EU country passes law banning the ‘promotion’ of homosexuality to under 18s GAYFEVER Nothing screams sexy quite like a streaming nose, red itchy eyes and sneezing fits PROUD POOCHES AND PUSSIES Battersea Cats and Dogs Home receives backlash for flying the Pride flag. All the homophobic pets out there must…

@FattButcher…

IN ASSOCIATION WITH Which track are you loving right now? A rework of the Gwen Guthrie ’80s track Ain’t Nothing Going On But The Rent. It has so many amazing memories attached to it, and this chunky rework does it justice. Which song introduced you to dance music? Street Life by The Crusaders – it was probably one of the first 12-inches that I went out and bought, and it filled me with happiness and joy. It was the first game changer of my life, and I learned that music has the ability to change how you feel. Which dance record changed your life? The Padlock Mini LP with Gwen Guthrie and Larry Levan was one of those EPs where every track changed my life — early house music at…

Alexis Stone is already a legend. And she’s only just getting started. If you haven’t been following the chameleon queen and her seemingly effortless transformations into, well, anybody, then you need to catch up, sis. It’s easy to box Alexis Stone, real name Elliot Joseph Rentz, into the category of drag simply because she wears a wig and heels, but the truth is Alexis/Elliot transcends the mainstream definition of ‘drag’ popularised on TV to serve something far more fantastical. The cult of Alexis Stone speaks to more than 900,000 followers on Instagram, eclipsing many of the most popular Drag Race girls. With such an awesome profile, Elliot’s creation is one of a handful of (drag) artists in the world to have achieved success without having to lipsync for her life…

MARC VALENTINE-MORTON 47 // MEDICALLY RETIRED FORMER ACTOR // HE/HIM In December 2019, I found a lump on my neck on the left side of my Adam’s apple. Come January, it hadn’t gone and, indeed, felt a bit bigger, so I went to see my GP. He examined my neck and sat down, looking scared, and said, “I need to put you on an urgent thyroid cancer referral.” Two weeks later, I saw my specialist and was sent for an ultrasound. I was chatting away with the sonographer when halfway through, she just stopped talking. I asked her what was wrong, and she said I had nodules in my thyroid. I said, “How many?” She replied, “Too many to count.” She told me, “I’m really sorry, you don’t want to…

It’s not a revelation to say that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a great filter for the way we see ourselves in relation to the wider world. Whether it has changed the value we place on material things in comparison to the health of our friends and family, or caused us to take a deep, introspective dive into our own lives, few of us are coming out the other side unchanged. Blogger Max Hovey can relate to this. “I’m not the same person I was a year ago,” he says, when we finally meet in real life to enjoy a coffee on a sunny day by the Thames. As he recounts how much personal growth he’s experienced over the past year or so, he states, “If you knew me back…

When we picture a gay British seaside destination, our minds automatically dart to Brighton, or maybe Bournemouth, but our south coast has plenty of other rainbow treasures, as I discovered. The first stop for my boyfriend, our dog Freddie and I is one of the country’s most unique landscapes. It is a little unsettling, having driven through the vibrant, green, rolling hills of Kent to then arrive in Dungeness. Flat and sparse — save for a few wild flowers, including the indigenous yellow-horned poppy — it is home to the UK’s only desert and has one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe. It certainly seems to go on forever. There are shored-up boats decaying in the sun, and to add to the eerie, post-apocalyptic aura, in the distance,…

I have really bad stretchmarks. Every summer, I panic because I want to wear certain things, but I’m scared people will see them and it’s starting to get me down. How do I get rid of them? Evan, Cardiff Stretchmarks affect many of us – including myself – and I hate to say this, but they are tricky, if not impossible, to get rid of. They’re caused by a combination of rapid changes in your skin and hormones. If your size changes quickly, your skin doesn’t have time to adapt and the deeper layers containing collagen and elastin ‘tear’. That’s why we often see stretchmarks in bodybuilders, people who have just had a growth spurt, or who have gained or lost a lot of weight. The marks initially appear as…

From debut play Sex Education to his 2019 feature Deep Clean, Harry Clayton-Wright is a delectably disruptive force in theatre, film and installation. During the first lockdown, Blackpool-born Harry responded to the Covid chaos by creating queer online zine You Otter Know (issue four is out now). “When all the live work was cancelled, it was such a horrible feeling,” he recalls. “I wanted to make a piece of art that was something that could absolutely be delivered safely and also create a platform for not only sharing my work but also… the many amazing pals I know.” polari.press hcw.horse MY MOTTO IN LIFE IS, ANYTHING’S A DILDO IF YOU’RE BRAVE ENOUGH. KIDDING. CREATE YOUR OWN OPPORTUNITIES — ACTUALLY, THAT’S THE FIRST PIECE OF ADVICE I GAVE, BUT IN A…

Welcome to the Body issue. We all have one, and no two are alike. Yet we’re often invariably drawn to emulate the bodies of other people, or we define ourselves by how strangers perceive ours. Something else many of us have in common is that we’re probably not as kind to our unique collection of flesh, bones and cells as we should be. The conversation about what it means to have a healthy body is constantly evolving. We talk about the obesity crisis – heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns – while also being warned against aspiring to have the body of Adonis and his chiselled six-pack. (Something that always eluded me, so I gave up on that unattainable mission some time ago.) The past 18 months have also…

In my view “Hey you!” The text popped up on my phone mid-dinner party, like one of those JerkMate ads beckoning me to get my dick out. (Though that would hardly have been appropriate even though the guests were picking at a cold meat platter.) Staring intently at his WhatsApp picture, I asked myself: “Have we fucked? Or was it just a few dirty sexts?” Then it clicked: M* was an Italian guy who had come round for some fun, but was hesitant when I mentioned meeting up again. Yet, he messaged a few days later to tell me that my positive outlook had left him feeling elated. Meanwhile, I’d been feeling totally negative, smudging my house just to feel semi-balanced. He now wanted to meet again. “No touching, watch…

3 ISSUES FOR £3 THEN ONLY £3 AN ISSUE Saving more than 45% CALL NOW CALL 01778 392005 AND QUOTE ATT338 OR VISIT MYMAGAZINESUB.CO.UK/ATTITUDE/PROMO/BESTEVER Subscribe to Attitude — Europe’s biggest and best-selling gay lifestyle magazine – by direct debit on trial today and get the next three issues delivered to your door for just £3! That’s just £1 an issue instead of the regular cover price of £5.50, so saving yourself a tidy £13.50. Better still, when the trial period comes to an end, extend your subscription automatically every six months for just £3 an issue – saving £15 each time: a discount of more than 45 per cent! Every issue is delivered to your door, in a discreet envelope, on the day it appears in shops. 13 issues for…

Ever since it was first written about well over 300 years ago, the condom has been the butt of jokes. In his poem of 1706, Lord Belhaven ridicules his political rival, the Duke of Argyll, who mistakenly called the device a “quondam”. A 2016 piece in Esquire is headed “A brief history of men wrapping their penises in weird shit.” But for a relatively short period, when Aids was the worst thing to happen to us since buggery was made a capital offence in 1533, the condom was no laughing matter for gay and bisexual men; it meant the difference between life and death. It’s precisely because of its God-like capability to prevent both (new) life and death (from venereal disease) that the condom was condemned by the Church. This…

connor Minney and his friends at GRNDHOUSE could be ahead of the game when it comes to the future of working out. As we emerge from lockdown (fingers crossed, it’s the last!), more of us are navigating a new hybrid work life between home and the office, and this same trend may influence how we exercise in the future. Businessman Connor Minney tells us how the pandemic has led to unique opportunities and how we should approach working out from a psychological point of view. What’s the GRNDHOUSE elevator pitch? GRNDHOUSE is the world’s first online studio, focusing solely on live strength classes. We have a weekly schedule where you train and isolate each body part throughout the week. Over the next few months, we have an app and a…

As Pride season continues, I am reminded of the first Pride in my hometown of Belfast many years ago, back in the 1990s. It was attended by around 50 people and I’m a little ashamed to say I wasn’t one of them. I hid in a back alley and watched the event with a mix of awe, fear and respect. My awe was realising I wasn’t the only gay in town, after all. My fear was that someone would see me. My respect was for the people who had the courage I didn’t have at the time. I was afraid to be proud. I was ashamed. I had to learn to fix that. I want to think about Pride outside the usual parameters of parades, parties and political statements. I…

Order books online at gaystheword.co.uk BOOK OF THE MONTH Unholy matrimony A funny and insightful investigation into why — gay or straight — we get wed FIRST COMES LOVE Tom Rasmussen/Bloomsbury Matrimony. Wedlock. The promise of being together, for ever. It’s one of the most historic and universal of all institutions. The glue that binds people and societies together – but also one that implicitly excludes others. For time immemorial (and still enduring today in many parts of the world), it has been a club for heterosexuals-only. In First Comes Love, non-binary writer and performer Tom Rasmussen casts their discerning queer gaze over this ancient and curious union. Exploring different types of weddings, visits to wedding planners and a ghastly trade show, they interrogate the often-conflicted relationship queer and straight…

…possession? MY UNLIMITED CINEWORLD CARD. I can remember the winters I spent the whole day in the cinema. My record was four films in one day …diva? LEONTYNE PRICE …Jessye Norman, Renée Fleming… extraordinary sopranos …BOOK? Akala’s Natives. His intelligence and eloquence encouraging a deeper understanding of race and its intersection with poverty, country, stereotyping… an extraordinarily intelligent man There is no denying that Le Gateau Chocolat is one helluva tasty treat. From cabaret and drag, to opera and theatre, the one-man musical phenomenon knows how to whet our appetites and keep us coming back for more. Given the theme of this month’s issue, Le Gateau serves up his favourite body part. “My voice,” he says. “It gives me access to shared humanity with people that might look at me…