Although I've written about coming out as bisexual for BitchBuzz before, it's not a subject I've covered on Rarely Wears Lipstick much so I thought I'd better fix that today. Although you might think it's a label that you understand if you're not bi, it's actually far more complicated than you might think. It took... Continue Reading →
Recently I stumbled across a video of Glee's Chris Colfer telling LGBT kids that 'it gets better'. I can't remember how I found the link, but I soon discovered that this was part of a wider campaign. The It Gets Better project, aims to reassure bullied lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans teenagers that they are... Continue Reading →
Comments on the news today from religious organisations about opening up marriage to same sex couples shouldn't be surprising, but they are still saddening. As if the Church of England being created so that a king could get divorced didn't irrevocably change society. As if men and women marrying and then divorcing within weeks, pretending... Continue Reading →
I read this week that, according to an unauthorised biography, Jessie J "was advised not to come out... [but] being bi was trendy, exotic and a fashion statement". Aside from the hateful idea that a supposedly lesbian singer should hide her identity because it might alienate her audience, I am shocked that someone could actually... Continue Reading →
Yesterday, I got a bit stuck with my A-to-Z of Sex. I tried to think about what to use for O, but the only words I could think of were the extremely obvious Oral and Orgasm. Either of those would be at home in an A-to-Z in any mainstream magazine - I really had to... Continue Reading →
Last summer I helped found an international gay book prize in my lunch hour. My Mum had a right go at me for it. The Green Carnation Prize for modern writing by gay men had a fantastic shortlist, if I do say so myself. Three debut novelists and two established writers - ranging from 1950s... Continue Reading →
Just before the Easter weekend, a bunch of self-proclaimed "queers and allies" turned up at the John Snow pub in Soho for a second kiss-in to protest at the treatment of Jonathan Williams and James Bull. Although not everyone who'd said they were attending on Facebook actually showed up - by quite some margin! -... Continue Reading →
Strange things often happen in Soho but, as it's London's most open-minded and gay-friendly district, you would think that being asked to leave a pub for kissing your date wouldn't be one of them. Many people aren't keen on public displays of affection, but pubs like making money and... well, anything goes in Soho, right?... Continue Reading →
From the moment I first heard the rather splendid Garbage song of the same name, I have become somewhat fascinated by the word queer. Originally meaning strange, odd or different, the word was adopted in the early 20th century as a pejorative slang term for homosexuals but, in recent decades, has been reclaimed by the... Continue Reading →
A while ago, I found a fascinating Twitter user called Bi Visibility who says that, "Twitter is full of both misunderstanding and celebration of bisexuality. I share both". Up until this point, I had never really revealed or discussed my orientation with anyone other than those who would understand, or at least not judge me,... Continue Reading →