QX magazine TruePDF 13 march 2019

They’ll be careening through the night with a series of cabaret stuff, comedy stuff, drag stuff and loads more, with the help of special guests.. TFN Saturday 16th March In an unassuming

A handy handbook

to the HIV prevention drug

Two for one drinks?! In London?!

Oh em gee!

The Informer

Poppers have a distinct place within the

gay community, and it has recently been

discovered that they also held a prominent

place in the life of a beloved gay icon Lucille

Ball was the television star best known for her

turn as Lucy on the sitcom I Love Lucy which

still regularly appears on American television

Her brand of camp humour and sharp wit

made her ripe for drag queen fodder, with

countless queens noting her as a huge

inspiration On a recently aired episode of a

series called "Autopsy, The Last Hours of…" it

was revealed by investigator Dr Michael Hunter that the comedienne frequently

used poppers to treat chest pains in her final few years A friend of Lucy who is

interviewed shares: “I remember we were playing backgammon one night, all

of a sudden she had a shortness of breath She took out poppers, which were a

certain type of sexual thing people did back in the eighties.”

Parkfield Community school has been the focus

of a slew of news articles after 600 students walked out of lessons

in protest of the LGBT-inclusive lessons that were being taught

of homosexuality, and staged a protest were they sported slogans reading

“indoctrination, not education” Following the controversy, the UK Education Secretary Damian Hinds has backed the school’s teachers and their anti-bullying lessons

Speaking to Schools Week about the controversy, Hinds elaborated on new guidelines that were published last month which states that “we expect all pupils to have been taught” about LGBT issues

He shared: “I’ve always been clear that I support headteachers to make decisions and we believe in school autonomy, that school leaders are best-placed to make decisions.” He also went on to state that it’s also important to “consult with parents” on these issues, which is “just good practice”

Education Secretary backs LGBT lessons in Birmingham school

Lucille Ball revealed to use poppers

in her later years

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EditorDylan B Jonesdylan@qxmagazine.comEditorial AssistantIfan Llewelynifan@qxmagazine.comNew Business Sales ExecutiveSteve Gregory

020 7240 0055steve@qxmagazine.comSenior DesignerJanne Öijer janne@qxmagazine.comDesigner

Suren Gunpathdesign@qxmagazine.comClassifieds

020 7240 0055classifieds@qxmagazine.com Director

Chris Colman

020 7240 0055chris@qxmagazine.comDistribution /

M.R.DISTRIBUTIONPrinters / AcornPublished byFirststar Ltd New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JYCover: Matt Spike

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of the publishers Firststar Limited, Qx (ISSN 1356-6903) QX is published every Wednesday Deadline for editorial and display advertisement inclusion is Thursday, six days before the relevant issue cover date Sorry, but we cannot be held responsible for any unsolicited manuscripts , illustrations or photographs Inclusion in our images, is no indicator of sexual preference

Desmond Is Amazing has become a known name within the drag community online for his performances in drag, and his outlandish looks

Being just 11-years-old he has been trying to make drag more inclusive This week Desmond’s parents were the recipients of letters from both Child Protective Services and the NYC Administration of Child Services which were issued following reports of child abuse, exploitation and maltreatment In an Instagram post, they took the opportunity

child-to respond child-to these allegations, sharing that they had been “under a microscope since December”.The parents shared: ”We had announced visits & unannounced visits to our home nearly daily & at all hours &

Desmond’s school Our family was probed more intensely than any other case before All allegations were “unfounded.”’ It was revealed that there are “extra security measures in place” at Desmond’s school following the abuse he has faced online and several death threats The parents insist that they are a “loving and supporting family” who are letting their son

be himself and do what he loves

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Though recognizing same-sex civil unions for the past four years, gay marriage is still not legal in Chile That could

be changing very soon as the new president of Chile’s upper house of parliament, Jamie Quintana, has promised to pass a marriage equality bill in this legislative year Quintana

is set to take office on the 12th

of March, and he took the opportunity on Sunday to tweet out “Chile is in full cultural change, demands wider freedoms and rights”

He shared that there is “no doubt” that an equal marriage bill will pass this

legislative year The South American country is overwhelmingly in support of

LGBT equality, with local media outlets characterising the fight for marriage

equality as a ‘clear horizon in sight’ The country has also been making strides

with transgender rights with the passing of a Gender Identity Bill back in

September which allowed anyone over the age of 14 to legally change their

name and gender without undergoing surgery

Family of famous drag kid respond to abuse allegations

Equal marriage bill set to pass in Chile

years

Bar Staff, The Glory

Hey Dom! Describe

Weeing in the shower

Shag Marry Avoid -

Boris Johnson, Nigel

Farage, Jeremy

Clarkson.

Burn them all (I’d hate

fuck Clarkson though)

What’s the most

important thing in

the world right now?

The Cock Destroyers

If you could have a

kebab with any spice

girl, which would it

Gözleme place near

where I live They’re only

£2.50 aswell

What’s the trashiest

thing you’ve ever

done?

How long have you got?

And finally…when do

you get off work?

3am, see you near the

Open 5pm – midnight from Monday to Thursday, 5pm – 2am Fridays & Saturdays and 1pm – 11pm on Sundays.

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Gri

Hey Oli! How did you go about finding your subjects;

people that were willing to openly discuss their sexual escapades?

Well, I guess that was one of the problems I specifically wanted

it to cover hooking up through the ages It wasn’t going to be about romance and partnerships I’m in my early-mid thirties and I have a lot of gay friends my age with a little bit of variation,

so my biggest concern was that I wanted to have a breadth of ages for it to feel reflective of the UK I started panicking about finding much older gay men, so my mum suggested a friend of hers who I did interview He opens the whole film

Must be awkward the next time he’s round for tea.

Yeah! He’s a bit older but I still wanted to try and get men with different stories, say, from the 1950s I heard a great story from

a friend about a couple who met cruising in Piccadilly Circus just after WW2 and stayed together ever since until one of them passed away 10-20 years ago, and the other died last year A week or two into interviewing men my age and a little older I had

a panic of finding people at the younger end of the spectrum

I wanted to cover men around the age of 20 who would have grown up with a mobile phone

So do you start off in the ‘70s?

There’s a prelude which covers secret gentlemen’s clubs which, from my limited research around them, existed in the ‘20s, until possibly the ‘70s or ‘80s We start properly in the ‘70s with the Hanky Code and the first Gay Pride in London The hanky code was a way of singling sexual tastes or interests, where the colour of your hanky might indicate the type of sexual interaction you were looking for, be it anal or fisting, to more complicated fetishes you might want The original published guide was maybe eight colours, and then by the time it was put on the internet in the ‘90s there were about 50 colours with very specific interests

Chronicling how men meet other men

for sex, filmmaker Oliver Mason dove into half a

century of the UK’s sexual history, looking at the

impact the internet had on our sexual culture

Through intimate interviews recalling

first-hand accounts, he weaves together

a brief history of gay sex, from the caravan

clubs all the way through to the apps

We caught up with him ahead of the short

film’s premiere to pick his brain about the impact

the world wide web has had on our sex lives

Where do you go on from there?

Whilst we move chronologically forwards, I’ve

carved out prevalent behaviours from each

era Moving to the 80s you have cottaging and

cruising, back to back I had this phenomenal

contributor who was very intelligent and clear in

expressing his feelings, saying that mostly when

he was cottaging as a teenager in the early

‘80s, for him cottaging wasn’t just a sexual

act, it was a form of rebellion It was a way of

fighting against heteronormative society What

he was doing was illegal because the age of

consent was 21, he was 17, plus it was a public

space For him, it was a subversive punk act of

rebellion I thought that was fucking awesome

Then come the nineties!

Then we move on to the arrival of the internet,

which was ‘89, but computers weren’t really

in the home until the late ‘90s There was a

very clear cut gay use of the internet with the

launch of Gaydar.com in ‘99 I was chatting to

my mum’s friend who mentioned there were

other ways they had of meeting men before

Gaydar, with ICQ and other messaging sites,

forums and chatrooms By the ‘90s on forums,

you could be a little less coded, a little more

obvious in what you were looking for What I

found really interesting with people who were

using all these digital spaces, a lot of the time it

was for community and connection, as well as

being for sex or relationships Decriminalisation

happened back in ‘67 but it only became

somewhat socially acceptable in the 80s and

90s, but even then it could be quite isolating

And after the Internet came the App.

Grindr launched back in 2009 Based on the interviews (and personal experience) the fact that you could have access any time anywhere was very different It wasn’t a case of only when you were at home at your desktop, or at work as a lot

of people did, you could be on the tube, walking down the street, going to the doctors, it was always there You didn’t have to go to a cruising ground or a toilet A point quite a few people made was whilst it opened up the access to men having sex with men, it also made it possible to

be even more secretive In the past, you had to physically be there to show you were interested, whereas now you can be as anonymous as you like up until that point of meeting

Having looked back across the decades, what do you think the future holds for men meeting other men for sex?

Technology is ever changing I’m sure there will be crazy virtual ways for meeting but not physically meeting men in the future

I personally would always like a physical experience, but who knows, suddenly porn becomes more interactive, a lot more interesting My personal hope is that the gay community and queer spaces do still exist It’s interesting seeing that other spaces are trying to open, spaces not just for drinking and clubbing

Have We Met Before is on BBC 4

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or vis i t t he What ’s On s ec t ion at w w w.q x maga zine.com

Sodom & Begorrah

Saturday 16th March

Gird your loins and guard your Guinesses because Sodom &

Begorrah is BACK! One of The Glory’s most audacious nights (in

a hotly contested field) S&B is an homosexual homage to all things

Irish! You’ll be finding green glitter in your underpants for months

afterwards, Sinead O’ Connor ringing in your ears at unexpected

points at your desk Of course, this is in honour of St Patrick’s Day,

and it’s all overseen by Ireland’s LGBT Entertainer of the Year,

XNTHONY! They’ll be careening through the night with a series of

cabaret stuff, comedy stuff, drag stuff and loads more, with the help

of special guests Great craic!

The Glory, 281 Kingsland Road, E2 8AS 10pm – 2am

£10 entry, tickets only available on the door

A:M

Friday 15th March

Here’s something to NOT bring your mum

to A:M starts, fittingly,

at 1am and goes on until 10am Crikey!

Brings a new meaning

to the phrase hours” It’s so late that it’s almost early How metaphysical A:M

“after-is the place to go for euphoric, shirts-off, neon glowstick gay clubbing There’s lots

of ripple-muscled boys, if that’s what you’re into, and lots

of thumping house music It’s generally

a friendly, easygoing crowd – maybe because it starts in the wee hours and

everyone’s usually in a bit of a happy daze Love a happy daze!

Protocol, 6A South Lambeth Place, SW8 1SP 1am - 10am

£8 before 6am with flyer/concession

TFN

Saturday 16th March

In an unassuming spa in Covent Garden, a steamy party happens every Saturday night! As the shopping throngs

of tourists buy pointless candles, mere metres away there’s sodomy going on! The brainchild of fetish partystarters Jamie HP, TFN stands for

“Totally Fekking Nude” (a very appropriate inflection given the fact that it’s St Patrick’s Day) And as the name suggests, it’s a naked party So get down there and get yer kit off!

They’ve got cabins, a spa pool, lockers, and more

The Covent Garden Health Spa, 29 Endell Street, WC2H 9BA 9pm – 2am £15 entry, includes first drink and coat check

65 Albert Embankment, SE1 7TP 10pm – 5am

£5 before midnight with QX ad/screenshot £10 after

Union Nightclub, 66 Albert Embankment, Vauxhall, SE1 2pm – 10pm £14 members, £17 guests.

XXL St Patrick’s Day

Saturday 16th March

Another St Paddy’s celebration, this time at the notorious XXL They go all out for events like this – you can guarantee there’ll be glitter cannons and pyrotechnics galore! It’s an “anthems” theme which we’re guessing means they’ll be playing…anthems? Who knows!

Pulse, 1 Invicta Plaza, SE1 9UF 10pm – 7am

£15 guests, £10 members

ATHENA

Saturday 16th March

If you haven’t sauntered down to Eagle London’s bitchslap of an 80s

party yet, then you should! The sassy spawn of DJs Paul Joseph and

Gareth Hackney, it pays tribute to the music, attitude and aesthetics

of possibly the campest decade of the 20th century Lots of hairspray

and big shoulderpads are a must! Playlist-wise, think Grandmaster

Flash, Paula Abdul, Prince, Miami Sound Machine, Blondie and lots

more stuff of that ilk – if you haven’t belted out OOH BABY DO YA

KNOW WHAT THAT’S WORTH with a pint in one hand and a man

in the other, you haven’t lived dahling!

Eagle London, 349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY 9pm – 4am £6 entry

08/03/19 Protocol, 6A South Lambeth Place, SW8 1SP Photos by Zefrographica

A:M was AWASH with gorgeous club kids on Friday night Well, it was more like Saturday morning to be honest – 5am is when it really gets going And everyone looks fresh as

a daisy and very energetic! Must

be something in the water down in Vauxhall No but seriously though, it’s always good vibes down at London’s most notorious after-hours establishment Raven Mandella (up there in the top left corner) was on hand, sporting her signature purple look, as well as a bunch of other reprobates And we say “reprobate” with the utmost love Reprobates are our favourite kind of people!

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Circa The Club

09/03/19 Hungerford House, Victoria Embankment, WC2N 6PA Photos by Zefrographica

Circa on a Saturday! It’s a bustling gay oasis in an increasingly sanitized Soho, a welcome respite from Prets and Pizza Expresses Circa’s most distinctive feature is the big disco ball DJ booth, which really is exactly what it sounds – a huge disco ball with the DJ booth INSIDE it How camp Circa’s other distinctive feature is that it’s always full of gorgeous men, which is always nice Certainly not to be sniffed at, dear

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XXL Fetish

09/03/19 Pulse, 1 Invicta Plaza, SE1 9UF Photos by Zefrographica

It was a fetish special edition of XXL

on Saturday, and the leather lotharios and harness homos were out in full force Fetish has seen an explosion

in popularity over the last few years, with lots of young guys getting into

it, and fetish companies turning over huge profits Why? Who knows! Let’s not overthink it It’s fun and it’s escapist, and god knows we need both those things right now One of our fave DJs Paul Morrell was on the decks as well – oh and the dark room was, as the kids say, LIT

16th of March

Whenever we hear Athena we think euphoria

When you have a double vodka in hand

and your fave ‘80s disco bop is on, it really

is damn euphoric Taking over the decks

are Paul Joseph and Gareth Hackney who

live and breathe throwback, fist-pumping

hits Everything from Abba to Salt-N-Pepa,

Whitney to Kylie

9pm – 4am Free before 10pm with

OutSavvy ticket, £6 OTD

17th of March

A London living, breathing legend Horse Meat Disco has a stellar reputation that it somehow always lives up to They have carved out Sunday nights in their image, whipping their fiery manes to the beats of the freshest disco funk mixes This week it’s in the hands of HMD staples Jim Stanton and Luke Howard,

so slip into your tightest jeans and roll up those sleeves It’s time to get grooving

8pm – 3am £6 before 10pm, £8 after.

23rd of March

So when you’re near me, darling can’t you hear me Soul on Saturday! Celebrating a whole year on the scene, they’re cranking up the volume to eleven Let Roy Inc take over your Saturday night, and gorge yourself on this feast of Soul music Riding into those DJ decks on a white swan is Terry T-Rex, with Jeanie Crystal riding closely behind in a cloud

Jim StantonLuke Howard

Recon Cabaret

After the success of the first Recon cabaret

in August and comedy night in November,

Recon will be back at the Royal Vauxhall

Tavern throughout the year with more fetish

social events

Recon’s first social takes place on

Wednesday 27th March bringing you a night

of fun, cabaret and fetish This social event

is open to all fetishes, so gear up and put

on your latex, leather, sportswear, uniforms

or skinhead gear- all fetishes are welcome,

although Civilian clothing is fine too

Hosted by the rancid starlet Baby

Lame, who will be thrilling and terrorizing

everyone with her twisted brand of punk

horror drag, expect dark comedy and bad

taste from start to finish

There will be performances from three

great cabaret artists, all bringing acts with a

fetish twist

International multi award winning

burlesque and sideshow performer Lou Safire

has been performing around the world since

2008 and was voted in the top 50 burlesque

performers in the world and top 10 In the UK

in 2015 and 2016 Not one to shy away from

the heat, Lou’s fire performances and lust for the darker side of vaudeville brings a unique take on traditional freak show stunts

Fierce, feisty and flabulous! Smashlyn Monroe will be dragging their fat ass out of Hades and back to the RVT for the Recon Fetish Cabaret Most recently winning the title

of Hamburger Queen, this brazen siren of the sideshow underworld will be bringing their own unique performances combining military, fetish and an insight to what happens at home when the husband’s away

There will also be performances from model and performer Sadiq Ali Sadiq has previously represented the UK at Mr Gay World in Malta His solo acts combine circus, theatre and dance, and will be bringing his pole skills set to the RVT

Expect a night of fantastic performances and games from some of the best in the London cabaret scene, as well as the chance

to gear up and socialize with other kinksters

All genders welcome!

Wednesday 27th March, 7pm-12am

£10 on the door.

Photos by Raf & Way

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stuff this week!

The Two Brewers

114 Clapham High St, Clapham SW4 7UJ

A South London staple This is the place that cultivated the ‘Clapham gay’ as

a breed of homosexual It’s busy most nights of the week, with each night bringing another evening of hooting hootenannies They’re going all out this Sunday, celebrating St Patrick’s Day with the Power of FOUR! It’s usually the Power of Three, but this one’s extra lucky, just like a four-leafed… we see what they did there First taking to the stage

is the incomparable Myra Dubois who’s storming in with a cloud of cynicism

at 6:30 pm Then it’s Michael Maouri who’ll be taking the rains form 7:30 pm, only to be followed by crowd favourite Mary Mac at 8:30 pm Closing the night with her own brand of bewilderment is Sandra Keeping the crowd riled up will be DJ Demon, who’s a master of those camp classic and pop bops

Little Ku

25 Frith St, Soho W1D 5LB

The itsy bitsy gay bar that will have you wetting your water spout! Wait, does that sound naughty? To hell with it! We’re obsessed with this tiny Soho bar, and want to squeeze it a little too hard like the big guy from Of Mice and Men It’s the fluffy baby rabbit

of Soho’s drinking scene and is where you should be heading

on a Friday night They have the cutest little guys behind the bar,

it makes grabbing a drink just an excuse to grab their eye for a few heart-fluttering moments Before you know it you’re on your 6th and you’re unclear how long is too long to be staring at a barman Whether it’s a few drinks before going clubbing, or some post-show bevvies, Little Ku is always a good go-to

wfbw

The Old Ship

17 Barnes St, Limehouse E14 7NW

There’s some mischief in the barrel of this ship All you need is to head over on a Sunday and you’ll see exactly why we’re all at sea with this East London pub Welcoming the finest drag delinquents London has to offer on Sunday night, it’s the perfect place

to nurse a hangover The crowd is a mix of friendly locals, and people who’ve followed its reputation over to Limehouse as you should! This week it’s Mandy Gap who’ll be berating and tantalising audiences, strutting across the deck of this good old-fashioned gay British pub If you just fancy grabbing a pint and a game of pool, it’s great for that too! Grab a few friends and take over a table for the evening

CMYK Bar

105 - 109 The Broadway, Wimbledon SW19 1QG

Following their massive opening (stop it), CYMK bar is enjoying its first

week of being the FIRST gay bar to grace the borough of Wimbledon

It’s not just strawberries and cream anymore deary! Well… unless you

find yourself a gentleman who’ll gladly cream your dimpled berries It’s

forging its way ahead into new territory, serving up that relaxed, stylish

vibe where you can grab a glass of wine and listen to some funky club

mixes They’re open seven days a week, which our calendar tells us is

every day of the week (we’ve never been awake to see this thing they

call ‘Monday’) Hop on that quaint green District line and ride over to

Wimbledon for a night of drinks in London’s newest queer venue!

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Cheer Up

09/03/19 Eagle London,

349 Kennington Lane, SE11 5QY Photos by Richard Holland

Oh em gee! Pop legend Nicki French descended on Eagle London for

a special show on Saturday night, featuring hits from her adored 1995 album ‘Secrets’ It was partystarters CHEER UP who brought Nicki along – after Nicki’s set they paid homage to Stock Aitken Waterman music for the rest of the night, spinning ALL THE HITS and no shit!

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Who is Romeo De La Cruz?

Romeo De La Cruz is a trans, non-binary, energetic, enigmatic humxn

whose scintillating performances mash-up their craft of dance, drag and

boylesque to produce the twisted concoction of their majestic fetish A softie

by nature but hardened by society If you’re lucky you might just experience

the comedic side of De La Cruz

Describe your performance style in three words

Extempore, majestic and personal

What’s your aesthetic?

My aesthetic is developed around my personal insecurities as an introverted

drag performer; Romeo is a danceaholic who finds their voice through

movement - incorporating sexual fetishism, comedy and political statements

inspired by their offstage life

Three artists who inspire you?

Jada Love paved the way for me in the burlesque world, and whilst we were

dating I was somehow incorporated into her act and she never left my side

- literally, because I married her Performing with her helped me MASSIVELY

in becoming the true me Lolo Brow and Lilly SnatchDragon were the first

womxn drag queens I saw perform and shared a stage with - they have a

presence, humbleness and genuine soul that hasn’t changed These two

beings taught me without knowing

What’s the biggest challenge you face as a drag king in 2019?

My biggest challenge is myself: stepping out my box to attempt opportunities

I’ve always been hesitate to do - anxiety can do many things to a human

What are you listening to?

The Color Show Playlist (YouTube)

Fave new performers right now?

Silver, Clay Taurus, Trindad & TooGayThough and Carrot You need to see

these performers in action!

What makes you happy?

My family, friends and their food I may not eat a lot but I always take home

extras Music, poetry and dance also has an impact on my happiness,

positivity and focused energy

One piece of advice for new kings?

You are your only competition; compete with no one but YOURSELF as your art is your ownership

The world would be a better place without?

All the ‘phobias & ‘isms Like biphobia, homophobia, femmephobia, transphobia, xenophobia, ageism, colourism, genderism, racism, sexism and more I know we’re all made of skin, blood, muscles and bones but we can

be too focused on the outside, people need to look a little deeper

If you could only read one book, watch one movie and listen to one album for the rest of your days; what would you choose?

Book - The Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool by Brenda Dixon Gottschild

Movie - The Color Purple

Album - The Divine Feminine by Mac Miller

What haven’t you done yet that you’d really like to do?

Perform aboard and have my own merchandise One day I hope Can’t say when but I’m putting it out there in the universe

What do you like to see when you go to a cabaret show as a punter?

Diverse cultures; variety of talent/arts; venues and events that don’t tolerate ‘phobias/‘isms; gender neutral toilets; all different bodies and abilities represented

Tell us something about yourself that not many people know

I’m a medical marijuana supporter This came after years of research and seeing the benefits - physically and mentally - through close ones I can’t ignore the visible evidence worldwide that shows more positive effects than negative for human life

Romeo De La Cruz will be performing at The Apothecary Cabaret, The Albany, 240 Great Portland Street, London W1W 5QU on Friday 15 March

“You are your only competition; compete with no one but YOURSELF

as your art is your ownership”

Getting to Know

Romeo

De La Cruz

Variety is an integral part of cabaret; without a

rich and diverse mix of acts and styles a scene

will become hackneyed Thankfully, our scene

- across the UK - is alight with engrossing

performance and art right now One of the

performers who is part of this exciting wave is

Romeo De La Cruz, who has been performing

primarily as a drag, boylesque and dance

artist for the last six years This week, Jason

Reid gets to know more about Romeo