Table of contents for March/April 2026 in Attitude Magazine

David Reiss PHOTOGRAPHER Memorable moments and highlights in my career generally revolve around adventure travels for photo shoots. In most cases, it’s for self-funded projects or fashion editorials, but the thrill of having to create in the chaos of the unknown always brings about the best feelings of achievement. And also having the adventure with a great team adds to great bonding memories. One travel shoot in particular was spending a week driving completely around Iceland for three different editorials – from shooting in canyons and waterfalls, to the tops of glaciers, in the heart of geothermal factories, and then spending a final day with the team relaxing in hot springs are all highlights of a career high for me. Zing Tsjeng WRITER, AUTHOR AND BROADCASTER I am a Singapore-born…

Matt Spike (he/him) Fetish photographer As a London-based fetish photographer specialising in leather, kink and queer imagery (@MattSpikeXXX), I have faced a sharp decline in website traffic and JustForFans subscriptions since the UK’s Online Safety Act enforced strict age verification rules from 25 July 2025. For me, the impact extended beyond lost visits. To comply and minimise friction while protecting access, I am redesigning my entire website (mattspike.com). The homepage now features a prominent, simple age gate: visitors must click “I am over the age of 18 years old” to proceed to content. Once in, visitors will need to use an age verification tool. Mandatory checks have made discovery harder, forcing solutions that often reduce overall reach and revenue in the fetish space. I’m now shooting with a quiet tension…

‘I remember people pushing me to the floor, smacking my head, praying for the demon to come out. I felt dizzy and sick and wanted to swear, wanted to scream.” Emmanuel was just 16 when a Pentecostal pastor outed him to an entire congregation. Their prayer, that day, was to turn him straight. It’s been eight years, five prime ministers and two monarchs since the government first said it would ban so-called “conversion therapy”, yet the LGBTQ+ community is still waiting. The current Labour government is no outlier. In Keir Starmer’s first address to Parliament as prime minister he said how “proud” he was that the UK has “the largest cohort of LGBT+ MPs of any Parliament in the world”, and the manifesto that landed him there said that conversion…

‘DO YOU STILL HAVE AN EATING disorder?” The question came from a work colleague, and before him, it was a topic I had not discussed with anyone outside my inner circle. Not since I self-diagnosed myself six years ago. The truth is, I don’t know. Do I feel like my relationship with food is healthy? No. Do I feel as if I’ve made progress? Yes. It comes in waves. One day it sits quietly at the back of my mind; the next, disgust over my perceived gluttony eats away at me. I thrive off being hungry, as if it’s a reward. But when did it all begin? The COVID-19 pandemic brought my final months at secondary school in Surrey to an abrupt end. It was a pivotal moment in my…

With a history stretching back to the beginning of civilisation, Cyprus is the golden gateway between Europe and the Middle East and is celebrated as the birthplace of Aphrodite. The goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure and passion is enshrined in mythology as having had tumultuous affairs with gods and mortals alike, sparked the Trojan War, and inspired The Ode to Aphrodite, a poem by Greek poet and lesbian icon Sappho. It’s easy to understand why Cyprus became historically synonymous with such divine idolatry — the island is bathed in up to 340 days of sunshine a year, while the calm waters of the surrounding Mediterranean Sea are often placid and serene. Although the island offers something for everyone, the area around bustling Ayia Napa is a popular base for…

To say that Robyn’s seventh studio album was a cultural reset would be an understatement. Released in 2010 across four instalments — three mini albums and a compilation featuring five new tracks — it quietly reprogrammed the sound of pop. The mood and feel of Body Talk has influenced major artists such as Ariana Grande on Eternal Sunshine and Taylor Swift on 1989, as well as the likes of Lorde, Charli XCX and Zara Larsson. It’s remarkable to think that Robyn had already lived several pop lives by this point. A teenage prodigy with the Max Martin-produced Robyn Is Here (the blueprint for Britney’s early work), she spent the early 2000s wrestling with major-label expectations. Then, going independent and establishing her own label gave her something more valuable than chart…

As a nine-year-old Suki Sandhu sits behind the cash register of his mum and dad’s mini supermarket in the East Midlands, a customer approaches with a single pint of milk and a pocketful of pennies before slamming both on the counter. Dutifully, Sandhu starts calculating. “I was really good at maths,” he tells me via Zoom from his sun-dappled home in Jersey, “because I used to calculate how much change I had to give customers.” He describes his parents, who are both immigrants from India, as entrepreneurs and credits them for instilling him with the work ethic he has today. For the leader of the Third Sector category of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley, business is clearly in his blood. It’s why he later studied a Bachelor of Science (BSc)…

It’s 23 January 2025, and Bangkok’s sweltering streets are showered with rainbow confetti as Thailand becomes Asia’s first nation with full marriage equality. No half measures, no separate laws — just pure, equal love under the same sun as straight couples. Nearly 2,000 queer hearts have tied the knot in the year since, from local legends to globe-trotting romantics jetting in to take their vows under Thai skies. The unassuming architect of it all is Danny Kittinun Daramadhaj, the 60-year-old president of the Rainbow Sky Association of Thailand (RSAT), a lawyer who’s turned human rights into headlines, and now leads the Financial and Legal category of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley. Rewind more than three decades from the euphoric sound of those wedding bells, and Daramadhaj, who qualified as a…

Queer desire has been the backbone of the LGN universe since Louis Gabriel Nouchi founded his Paris-based label in 2017. From the rigour of his sharp suiting to the sensual charge of his sportswear, sex runs through every thread of his collections. Yet rather than overt, clichéd eroticism, Nouchi’s approach is defined by a nuanced exploration of masculinity, embracing both gender fluidity and size inclusivity. Informed by his life as a gay man, his shows do more than titillate the imagination — they interrogate power, vulnerability and intimacy. This approach has positioned Nouchi as one of today’s most compelling menswear designers in Paris. After sharpening his shears as part of the team at revered Belgian fashion designer Raf Simons, he decided to shape a brand that, as he explains, “doesn’t…

The homoerotic work of American photographer Bob Mizer has long shaped the visual language of queer desire. In the pages of Physique Pictorial, Mizer redefined 20th-century gay imagery, presenting hyper-masculine bodies that rejected clichés of softness or femininity in favour of heightened strength and physical power. That legacy is honoured and subverted in New Romantic, the latest collection from Strapp Metal founders Colton Long and Lee Finnigan. “This campaign is a love letter to our queer art heroes like Bob Mizer, Robert Mapplethorpe, Tom of Finland, Harry Bush and countless others who dared to push boundaries so that Strapp Metal can exist today,” they explain. “Their work gave us permission to be seen – strong, sexual and unashamed.” Drawing directly from Mizer’s visual codes – straps, tension, flesh and form…

We live in a world of such political extremes that very little surprises me anymore. I’m often disappointed by the behaviour of heads of state the world over — but surprised? Not especially. It really feels that logical reasoning and social justice have long since not been part of government policy, here or overseas. It’s become the mode du jour of numerous once-progressive Western countries to scapegoat one minority after another, thereby deflecting from decades of under-investment in communities, growing inequality and declining living standards. The gravitational pull of Reform has been a strong force to contend with. Nigel Farage has managed to dominate the media and dictate government policy from the sidelines for two decades now. His pull is so entrancing that even former Tories are running towards his…

As out gay Green Party leader Zack Polanski brings hope to generations of queers with his inclusive policies — see our interview with him on p. 30 — we’ve been looking back on Attitude’s relationship with politicians. Keir Starmer’s written for us, Sadiq Khan speaks to us routinely, and a pre-Katy Perry Justin Trudeau granted us an exclusive in 2017, making history by becoming the first Canadian Prime Minister to appear on the cover of an international LGBTQ+ magazine. But David Cameron’s appearance on our cover in 2010 caused this writer to double-take in WHSmith. “As Conservative Party leader I stood up and said I support marriage — whether it is between a man and a woman, a man and a man or a woman and a woman,” the sharply…

ZACK POLANSKI WOULD LIKE TO CLEAR SOMETHING UP. IT’S ABOUT HIS TEETH. “I’VE NEVER LOST a tooth,” he says, pointing at the distinctive gap in the back of his mouth. “The gap that I have is a baby tooth that fell out a couple of years ago — the actual tooth is still in my gum.” In our meeting room at the Sir Christopher Wren Hotel in leafy Windsor, the Green Party leader pulls the wide grin that was described by one Daily Mail columnist as “jagged, gapped [with] shades of Hannibal Lecter”. He’s looking remarkably relaxed for someone that has become the newest favourite political target of the right-wing press. As for Jeremy Clarkson’s jibe that Polanski can’t even sort out his own teeth, let alone the country, he…

In Berlin, where I live, it’s easy to connect with other LGBTQ+ people — if you’re cool. Or at least perceived as cool. But walking the streets of Sitges, Spain, at night, you can talk and connect with anyone. You don’t need a specific look, style of clothing or physical appearance to do so. I’ve never seen anything like the body confidence in Sitges. There are gay lakes and beaches in Berlin, but it’s often about who has the fittest body, who’s the most ripped. When I’m on the nudist beach in Sitges, I don’t feel judged — I don’t think anyone feels judged. Maybe that’s just me. But it certainly feels like you can look how you look and still be part of a community. I relate to the…

FORCE OF NATURE Run by River Flow Yoga in the Welsh Black Mountains near the River Wye, the Queer Nature Retreat offers a weekend of yoga, wellbeing and connection. It is hosted by River Flow’s founder, Gray Nolan, a British Wheel of Yoga-certified teacher. Alongside Nolan, a music therapist, a performance artist, and a complementary therapist trained in massage, aromatherapy and reflexology guide attendees through yoga, wild swimming and forest immersion that will connect the queer experience with the wild rural landscape. The Chapel on the Green provides charming accommodation, with organic meals prepped by the resident chef. The retreat runs from 12–14 June. riverflowyoga.co.uk SURF’S UP Joe Santini discovered surfing when he was first exploring his sexuality, and he utilises this unique link to run his Gay Surf Weeks…

Orange is a tale that will resonate for the large proportion of us in the community who begin life in the regions and migrate to the big city lured by the promise of something better. A love story at heart, Orange focuses on the lives of Daniel and Jago. After meeting in their teens in Portscatho, a Cornish village, their lives diverge when Daniel decides to leave Cornwall for queer life in the city while Jago stays put. Through their informal long-distance connection, Garner explores the starkness of queer existence out in the British provinces versus the supposed havens of city life. Having grown up in West Sussex, I can empathise with Daniel’s initial struggles. Garner’s rich prose portrays the beauty of his countryside home: a place of stunning beaches,…

Marissa Bode will probably never forget the moment she got the call to appear in the Wicked film franchise alongside Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo. Just one year out of college, she was working part-time as an after-school kids’ art teacher and living in “a really crappy apartment with a brown stain on the ceiling”. What she assumed was another routine step in the long audition process turned out to be something else entirely. “I immediately called my parents afterwards just in tears,” she tells me. “That’s when it fully set in.” Long before the emerald hues of Oz, Bode was a creative child in a small Midwestern US town where entertainment was something you had to make for yourself. She and her older brother spent hours drawing, filling time…

When Mitch Brown came out as bisexual in 2025, the moment mattered most at home — to his two sons, Bowie, five, and Rudy, three. But the impact of the announcement reverberated worldwide, as Brown became the first Australian football player to come out as bisexual. Growing up in a “compulsory heterosexual world, in a very hyper-masculine sporting culture,” the former footballer admits, “I didn’t fit in, and that experience has left a scar.” Lit by the morning golden hour, Brown’s face glows through my screen as he sits before me, his pink mullet contrasting with the vibrant, jungle-green paradise behind him. Brown, who leads the Sport category of the Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley, speaks candidly about life since coming out: “Connecting to my sexuality now, even though my…

When I join a Zoom call with Daniel Pasquali, he is sitting in his home in Austria, and I soon learn I’m quite lucky to catch him there and not jetting across the globe. “I’m based in Austria, but being vice president of sales for Belmond, I would say 70 per cent of the time I’m travelling. I try to be very close to our guests, to our teams and the properties,” says Pasquali. I shouldn’t be surprised. The luxury travel brand has 43 products across 24 countries, including hotels, trains, river cruises and safaris. And he tells me he has experienced all except one: Reid’s Palace, on Madeira. Pasquali’s main goal is top-line revenue performance globally, which translates to getting heads on beds, so knowing each and every product…

CAT BURNS Singer Burns is bringing Black queer female representation to the forefront of UK music. Her debut, viral 2020 single ‘Go’ rocketed up the UK charts via TikTok in 2022. In 2025, her second studio album, How To Be Human, hit number five on the UK Official Albums Chart and number one in Album Downloads, both major milestones for the 25-year-old singer. The album arrived during her high-profile run on The Celebrity Traitors UK, where Burns charmed her way to the finale, proving she’s as talented on TV as on stage. TALISA GARCIA Actress Breaking barriers for the trans community on UK TV and beyond, the 53-year-old actress, who is transgender, stole the spotlight in the hit ITV drama and hilariously camp heist Frauds (2025). Playing a 50-something trans…

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FLARE AT 40 The BFI’s annual LGBTQIA+ film festival, Flare, celebrates 40 years of queer-centric on-screen storytelling this year with 10 days of new and classic features, documentaries and short films. Running from 18–29 March, the festival sees BFI Southbank become a beating heart of queer creativity and late-night DJ events. Alongside world premiere screenings of feature-length documentaries such as Hunky Jesus (pictured) – which tells the story of legendary drag activist group the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence – will be gems like historical dramedy Madfabulous. Starring Callum Scott Howells (interviewed on p. 92) and Rupert Everett, it is inspired by the true story of an eccentric 19th-century British aristocrat who broke societal norms about gender and class. There are regular film festivals, and then there is Flare. bfi.org.uk BRING…

Pub conversations among the gay community can cover a truly Olympic range. One minute, it’s politics; the next, it’s porn; then suddenly you’re knee-deep in a debate about whether oat milk is ruining civilisation. This time, though, the subject that landed on the sticky table between our pints and Proseccos was male circumcision. As the medic in the group, I’m used to being the unofficial “ask me anything” guy. Rashes, lumps, late-night Googling spirals — nothing is off limits. But what genuinely surprised me was just how little my non-medical friends knew about circumcision. Not just the how, but the why. And that gap in understanding says a lot about how squeamish we still are when it comes to talking honestly about men’s bodies. Why is it performed? Historically, male…

For LGBTQ+ people living in countries with little, if any, legal protection, and where public hostility is common, safety is often fragile and conditional. Social spaces that allow queer people to gather openly are therefore not simply venues for nightlife or leisure, but rare sites of community, mutual support and relative security. When such spaces are targeted by the authorities, the impact extends well beyond the immediate incident, shaping how queer people navigate daily life, visibility and risk. The police raid that took place in a queer club in central Baku, Azerbaijan, on 27 December 2025, was one such moment — an event that has left lasting effects on those detained and has intensified fear across Azerbaijan’s LGBTQ+ community. The club was a venue widely known within the community as…

With a title like The Greatest Traybake Cookbook Ever, it’s only natural that John Gregory-Smith is feeling “pretty confident” about his newest collection of recipes. “I’ve put my stake in the sand, so it now has to work!” Made up of 100 “effortless” traybake recipes, it’s his biggest release to date, says Gregory-Smith, but also a culmination of his life’s work so far, which, as our interview makes clear, reflects his personal journey over the years. After starting out as a “terrible” recruitment consultant “who didn’t recruit anybody”, Gregory-Smith quickly found the confidence to pursue his real dream of becoming a chef, author and, eventually, content creator (because who can afford not to be the latter nowadays). Despite being “1,000 per cent” sure he was gay from the age of…

“Starting the car never got old. It felt ceremonial, a moment of quiet anticipation” There’s a particular kind of road trip fantasy that begins in New York City: you, a set of oversized sunglasses, a playlist that veers between Donna Summer and Lana Del Rey and a car that says you didn’t just turn up, you arrived. And if you plan to leave this metropolis, it’s not to escape it, you understand, but to flirt — momentarily — with the idea of something slower, saltier and marginally less complicated. Our fantasy, made real, began on the Upper East Side, under the watchful gaze of doormen you imagine have seen everything, up to and including “our” $300,000 Bentley Flying Spur hybrid now at rest outside The Carlyle hotel like it had…

Bad news. It’s a Sin star Callum Scott Howells is putting his shirt back on. The actor says his perfectly formed six-pack has already enjoyed too much airtime on social media. “I’ve been shameless, I admit,” says Howells. “Friends have messaged, saying, ‘Stop posting the six-pack — put it away!’ I’ve been like the guy in Friday Night Dinner; I just can’t keep my top on now I have abs.” The 26-year-old’s amazing abs are thanks to a personal trainer who was brought in to hone his physique for Deadpoint, a five-part action thriller due to air on Channel 4 later this year. But we’re here today to discuss Howells’ role as 19th-century Welsh aristocrat Henry Paget in upcoming biopic Madfabulous. While Howells’ chiselled torso may be alluring, the dazzling costumes…

In the vast, untamed world of wildlife documentaries — where jagged mountains meet hidden reefs and endangered species steal the spotlight — Toby Nowlan has carved out a career that’s as bold and boundary-pushing as the stories he tells. As the leader of the Media & Broadcast category of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley, this 38-year-old filmmaker, director and expedition leader isn’t just capturing nature’s raw beauty; he’s part of a new era where queer voices help shape the narratives that move us. From helming Netflix’s Ocean with David Attenborough to producing Our Planet II, Nowlan’s lens has brought the world’s wonders (and warnings) to millions. In this interview — conducted while he’s hurtling through China’s stunning Sichuan mountains in a cab — Nowlan opens up about his career journey…

As Bobbi Pickard’s webcam pops open for our Zoom meeting from her Wiltshire home, two guitars on the wall and a professional-looking microphone next to her catch my eye. I ask if she is in a recording studio, and she answers by swivelling the camera around the room to show me that several more guitars line the walls. It turns out that this year marks the 20th anniversary of one of the UK’s first trans bands, The Counterfeit Dolls, for which Pickard sings and plays bass. While that is a story, and a band name, worthy of a deep dive, we are here to talk shop, as Pickard, founder of Trans in the City, leads the Business category of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley. Our conversation begins with a journey…

A few years into his career as a chemical engineer, Mark McBride-Wright realised something was wrong, even if he couldn’t yet name it. Engineering is rigorous, rules-based and obsessed with eliminating risk, yet the emotional atmosphere of the profession remained largely unquestioned. You learned what was acceptable to say, and what was not. You learned to keep parts of yourself out of view. “Having to monitor and self-censor,” as he describes to it to us over Zoom, a wall of accolades sitting behind him. McBride-Wright, the leader of the STEM category of Attitude 101, empowered by Bentley, has spent the past decade challenging the culture that made that kind of self-erasure feel normal. Through Equal Engineers, the consultancy he founded after years working as an engineer, he has become one of…

DENIM DAZE While Gen Z continues to take to the streets in ultra-baggy jeans, after seeing the runways at Paris Fashion Week it’s clear that a skinny revival is on the rise. At Dior, creative director Jonathan Anderson is leading the charge for the return of skin-tight silhouettes. So, what should you go for? Take a cue from the man who arguably made denim synonymous with cool: James Dean. In Rebel Without a Cause, his straight-cut indigo jeans – neither too tight nor too loose – struck the perfect balance. Contemporary takes on this classic look can be found in Wrangler’s tailored wide-leg styles, developed in collaboration with LA brand Cherry, or in straight-leg options from Dries Van Noten and Acne Studios, finished in true-blue vintage washes. DOPAMINE DRESSING As…

What’s your favourite Kim Petras song after your duet? ‘I Don’t Want It At All’, as I was in that music video. It was the first time we met. Then ‘Malibu’, as it reminds me so much of Malibu, the vibe. She’s incredible. Fair, but ‘Future Starts Now’ is pop nirvana. 3/5 You’re an outspoken trans ally. Other celebrities can be frustratingly quiet. What’s your message? Keep shining. Keep being you. You’re beautiful, creative, strong. Keep slaying, sliving. I feel like, when you have a platform, you should support everyone. That’s just who I am to my core, so I wish all people were that way, because these are people who just want to live their lives and are just doing it more fabulously! So, you know, I get it.…