Articles Drag drag kings LGBTQ+ Community Long Read News Original Originals

Drag kings are ready for their reigning era

Get ready for our drag king takeover: a special digital feature photographed by Rebecca Thomas at London’s iconic Bistrotheque.   WORDS BY ZOYA RAZA-SHEIKH PHOTOGRAPHY BY REBECCA THOMAS FASHION BY UMAR SARWAR CREATIVE DIRECTION BY JULIA SALOTTI FASHION ASSISTANCE BY PHEBE BARNUM-BOBB, CALLUM MCKENZIE AND CAMERON MCGIBBISONPHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANCE BY TYLER KENNET GROOMING BY SVEN BAYERBACH AT CAROL HAYES MANAGEMENT USING DRYBAR HEADER DESIGN BY YOSEF PHELAN Drag Kings haven’t always been represented as much as they should be. In online and IRL spaces, we regularly hear about the thriving careers  – and the cultural…

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Articles Culture Fletcher GAY TIMES Magazine LGBTQ Music LGBTQIA+ music Long Read Music News Originals

For Fletcher, love isn’t the drug – it’s the antidote

The New Jersey singer-songwriter discusses the complexities of healing, reuniting with Shannon Beveridge, and her sophomore album, In Search Of The Antidote. WORDS BY ZOYA RAZA-SHEIKH PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANNON BEVERIDGE CREATIVE DIRECTION BY TESS BJIERE MAKEUP BY LILLY KEYS HAIR BY CLAYTON HAWKINS PRODUCTION BY ROGUE Cari Fletcher’s life is like a real-time representation of Alice Pieszecki’s infamous The L Word chart. So when she gleefully quizzes me to guess who photographed our GAY TIMES cover shoot, I’m not surprised by the answer: her YouTuber ex-girlfriend, Shannon Beveridge.“It’s the gayest…

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Articles LGBTQ+ Life Long Read Mexico News Originals Puerto Vallarta

Does Puerto Vallarta have a gentrification problem?

Queer tourists flock to Puerto Vallarta, lauded as gay paradise, for its beaches and its hospitality. But are they inadvertently contributing to the gentrification of the city? WORDS BY NICOLE GARCIA MERIDA HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN There’s a long running myth that it was John Huston’s 1964 film The Night of the Iguana, starring Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr, that launched the Mexican city of Puerto Vallarta into the international stage. “But really, that was only part of it,” says Otoniel Sosa Rodriguez, a professor and researcher at…

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Articles Cambell Kenneford Charlie Martin Ella Morgan Government Interviews Just Like Us Keir Starmer Labour Party LGBTQ+ News Life Long Read Long Reads News Not a Phase Originals Politics Sarah Savage Sport Trans Trans Pride Brighton trans sports ban

“Humiliating and hurtful”: Trans+ people react to Keir Starmer backing sports ban

Trans+ people have been left feeling “sick” and “upset” after Keir Starmer said he is “supportive” of moves to ban them from sports teams. WORDS BY CONOR CLARK HEADER BY YOSEF PHELAN “Sick”, “upset” and “discriminated against” are just some of the words trans+ people used to describe how they are feeling after Sir Keir Starmer became the latest politician to back bans on their participation in sport. The leader of the Labour Party, who could soon be the next Prime Minister, has previously kept his distance from the issue,…

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Articles Goverment Government Just Like Us Life Long Read News Originals Politics Trans Schools Guidance

‘The UK government’s draft guidance for trans students is dire – here’s how to help’

Just Like Us ambassador Casey Browne explores the importance of trans allyship in response to the UK government’s school guidance. WORDS BY CASEY BROWNE HEADER BY ANISA CLEAVER I’m trans. I began exploring my gender identity during my A-Levels. It’s something that, I believe, every young person has the right to explore regardless of what stage they are at in their education. But according to the UK government’s recent draft guidance for schools, any requests from pupils for social transition, which can include a change of name, pronouns, or gendered…

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Articles Ban Conversion Therapy Conversion Therapy Conversion therapy ban Daniel Harding Galop Government Interview Jayne Ozanne LGBTQ+ News Life Lloyd Russell Moyle MP Long Read Long Reads News non-binary Originals Politics Trans Trans+ Solidarity Alliance UK

‘Conversion therapy’ has become symbolic of how the government has failed trans people

With the latest attempt to ban ‘conversion therapy’ thwarted, the debate has become symbolic of how the UK government handles LGBTQIA+ issues. WORDS BY CONOR CLARK In 2018, the government vowed to eradicate so-called ‘conversion therapy’ for the first time. Six years later, LGBTQIA+ people are still waiting for a ban to actually materialise. “I believe that this government has lost the trust, respect and frankly, votes of the vast majority of the LGBT community as a result,” says Jayne Ozanne, a campaigner and ‘conversion therapy’ survivor who has been a…

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Adventure Time Amplify Articles Culture Dirty Hit Lava La Rue LGBTQ+ Community LGBTQIA+ artist Long Read Music News Originals Rina Sawayama Twilight

Final Fantasy: Lava La Rue is levelling up their lore

The West London artist on the game-changing plans behind their debut album, how they fell in love with Twilight’s emo vampire universe and why signing to Dirty Hit marks a new era. WORDS BY ZOYA RAZA-SHEIKH HEADER DESIGN BY YOSEF PHELAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY CLARYN CHONG STYLING BY AMY HOLDEN-BROWN MAKE UP BY MAYA MAN It’s a drizzly afternoon in Ladbroke Grove but that hasn’t stopped Lava La Rue – born Ava Laurel – from showing up in full stereo. We’re taking shelter in the headquarters of their new indie label,…

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Articles Culture Long Read News Originals Raquel Willis

“I felt forever changed in that moment” Raquel Willis on life, liberation, and ego death

The writer and public intellectual speaks to Jazmine Hughes about her radical memoir The Risk It Takes to Bloom: On Life and Liberation. Words by Jazmine Hughes Photography by Justin J. Wee Styled by Isaiah Dorty Stylist Assistance Trevon Smith Makeup by Laurel Charleston How useful it is, in the age of our phones – as our lives, our world, our education, our reality – that our intellectuals can traverse the screen with a bit of the ineffable, potent enough to slow us down. Raquel Willis does not compete for…

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Articles Culture FLINTA* Long Read News Originals

FLINTA*: does the acronym do more harm than good?

Widespread in Germany, the term denotes a coalition between cis women and other marginalised genders. But, as Amelie Kahl explores, the acronym can be used to police rather than open the boundaries of gender. WORDS BY AMELIE KAHL HEADER DESIGN BY YOSEF PHELAN Safe spaces have a long tradition as a political instrument in feminist movements. Collective experiences of gendered violence resulting from a structural inequality of power gave rise to the desire for spaces that were more free from patriarchy. In the 1970s in Germany, the feminist endeavour to…

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Articles Dean Street Dean Street Express Interviews LGBTQ+ News Life London Long Read Long Reads News Originals Sexual Health

Dean Street Express: How the clinic redefined LGBTQ+ sexual health in just 10 years

As the Dean Street Express LGBTQIA+ sexual health clinic celebrates its 10th anniversary, GAY TIMES revisits some of its biggest successes. WORDS BY CONOR CLARK PHOTOGRAPHY BY YOSEF PHELAN “The service isn’t just an NHS clinic, it’s like a community centre in the heart of Soho that serves and represents the needs of the community,” says Jon Clark, Clinic Manager of Dean Street Express, the LGBTQIA+ sexual health clinic he has worked at for the last decade. When it first opened its doors in February 2014, it did so to a…

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