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I. JORDAN: “I just love euphoria, I’m such a sucker for it”

I. JORDAN debriefs with Emily Cameron on Body Movements, Glasto, Whole and being “very poly”. WORDS BY EMILY CAMERON PHOTOGRAPHY BY DECLAN KELLY I. JORDAN has had a hell of a summer. It’s been a hell of a year, actually. Releasing their first album last May, moving in a circle of extremely successful recording artists featuring, and touring it internationally, they’ve become a mainstay on queer and secular line-ups alike – making them one of the most booked, busy and exciting artists in the world right now. And “in the world”…

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Drag Race UK season 7 cast on why queer joy and visibility are more vital than ever

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK cast interview! Round 7!  WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS DESIGN BY JACK ROWE SPECIAL THANKS TO NIALL HAY AND JO SEAR AT THE BBC If your engines aren’t started, consider this your ignition: RuPaul’s Drag Race UK roars back on the BBC tomorrow with Girls Aloud icon Nadine Coyle “fearing for her life,” legendary Brits like Tracy Beaker, Charlotte Church, and Denise from EastEnders fully transformed in drag, and a “ridonkulously gag-worthy” lineup of queens, runways — and, blimey, this part is just so unexpected — twists! and! turns!…

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Jessica Winter: “Comparison is a mirror, not a truth”

Jessica Winter on her debut album, growing up in the punk scene, and a current internet fixation with kittens and mini dachshund puppies PHOTOGRAPHY REBECCA THOMAS STYLIST LUCY-ISOBEL BONNER HAIR SVEN BAYERBACH   It’s midway through my conversation with London-based pop artist Jessica Winter, and I’m laughing. We’re talking over Zoom on a sunny afternoon, informing me that her rider at her recent headline show at The Divine in Dalston consisted of limp salad leaves and a single ginger and lemon teabag. No disrespect to the venue, mind you, this…

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Shura: “Getting muscles takes so long”

Shura discusses post lock-down anxiety, becoming a muscle mommy, 5-a-side with Leah Williamson and teasing her first album in six years. WORDS EMILY CAMERON PHOTOGRAPHY SOPHIE WILLIAMS DESIGN JACK ROWE When I get on my Zoom call with Shura I’m immediately mortified by my setup – a grainy MacBook camera, grim lighting and a messy bedroom in the background embarrassingly juxtaposed to Shura’s HD top-left camera angle and ring light. The perils of interviewing someone who became a streamer during the pandemic, I guess.  A lot has changed for Shura…

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Destin Conrad: “There’s so many gay boys that need songs about other gay boys”

The R&B singer-songwriter discusses the power of submission and not understanding the fans who still think he’s straight.  WORDS MIKELLE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY RYDER Earlier this year, Destin Conrad was in an Uber riding through New York City. He was lost in his own world, in his own problems, staring out the window. And then he saw her: a girl standing at the bus stop with the word “Submissive” stamped across the front of her hoodie in big bold letters.  “It brought me so much joy,” Conrad tells GAY TIMES. The…

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Bilal Hasna: “Drag is an Olympic sport. Drag queens are Olympians!”

Actor Bilal Hasna on his latest role as a non-binary British-Palestinian drag queen in the brilliant Layla.  WRITER RYAN CAHILL PHOTOGRAPHER KYLE GALVIN STYLIST GARY SALTER CREATIVE DIRECTION CRAIG HEMMING GROOMING NICK ROSE PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT OLIVER FRANCIS TAILORING FRANKIE FARMER PRODUCTION ANGEL B PRODUCTIONS Actor Bilal Hasna has been incredibly hard to pin down. In the midst of press tours, auditions and a packed shooting schedule, we finally manage to find a time to chat over Zoom. As he flashes on screen, his first instinct is to apologise profusely at…

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Doechii: “I have always known that I loved women. I’ve been very, very aware from an early age”

The musician opens up about sobriety, her latest relationship, and the excitement of heading on her first global headline tour.  WORDS ISOBEL VAN DYKE PHOTOGRAPHY JOHN JAY COVER DESIGN JACK ROWE When Doechii was 11-years-old she met with a pastor who prophesied her life. He told her that she would touch millions of people with her gifts, she just didn’t yet know what those gifts were. 15 years and 10 million monthly listeners later, her abilities have become clear – the prophecy fulfilled. “I was anointed that day,” she explains.…

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Babymorocco: “No one should feel guilty for being sexy”

The cult musician talks queerbaiting, coming out and being “the original gay boy on Tumblr”. WORDS MIKELLE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY AND STYLIST IRIS LUZ LIGHTING ALEX RADOTA     Babymorocco is sexy. For him, that’s a forgone conclusion. He wields that attribute, actually. He’s got a big mass in general –  “big thighs and a big butt” as he explains to me over Zoom. Later, he gives me a few flexing poses to illustrate a point he’s making. Becoming conscious of – and manipulating – that appeal started when he launched…

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Isabella Lovestory: “I can be completely naked and still feel like I’m doing drag”

The perreo pop princess and bicon discusses her ‘Fashion Freak’ aesthetic, representing the queer community and flipping reggaeton’s gender script. WORDS MIKELLE STREET PHOTOGRAPHY ADAM MARTIN STYLIST SHAHAN ASSADOURIAN HMUA ISABELLA LOVESTORY COVER DESIGN JACK ROWE   Isabella Lovestory is a creation all her own. The Honduran-born artist who spent time in the United States and then Montreal growing up, has fashioned herself into a pop star of her own imagining. After initially idolising the likes of Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani, Lovestory has built her own image as an…

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‘A new direction for the franchise’: Drag Race UK stars on “mind-blowing” season 6

e WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS DESIGN BY JACK ROWE SPECIAL THANKS TO BBC’S JASMINE ALOMA AND SOFIE VAN DE GRAMPEL Babes, let’s all take a moment to reflect and thank Michelle Visage for sacrificing her sanity to live in a claustrophobic hell-hole with Katie Hopkins and Perez Hilton on Celebrity Big Brother. Without the Seduction singer’s valiance in trying to secure a British broadcaster for Drag Race UK, the United Kingdolls failed to bing, bang, bong popular culture, the Angels of the North’s shoplifting tendencies have landed them in jail as…

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