On the 55th anniversary of the NYC bar riot at which everyone over 75 now claims they threw the first bottle, I thought I would post this piece about the expiration of gay bohemianism in the 1980s. More a series of not terribly well-integrated notes than essay, it was originally… Read More »1989: The Year the C20th & Gay Bohemianism Ended
Mark Simpson interviews Neil LaBute about his film ‘In the Company of Men’ – twenty years before ‘toxic masculinity’ went ‘hegemonic’ (Originally appeared in Attitude, 1998) Women are made of sugar and spice. While men are made from slugs and snails and puppy dogs’ tails. This would appear to be… Read More »Men Make Terrible Company – Neil LaBute interview
A lively tale of a charming bandit and proto-terrorist prompts Mark Simpson to wonder why we’re still thrilled by ruffians. (Independent on Sunday, 5/1/2003) Why, after so many years, are we still so hot for outlaws? As popular culture and news bulletins keep reminding us, Rebels, Robin Hoods, bandits, gangsters,… Read More »Chivalry & Bloody Showbiz – The Jesse James Story
It’s LGBT History Month. So I thought I would share with you my hitherto hidden love for my favourite ‘gay’ novel. The Heart In Exile, published in the UK in 1953, by Rodney Garland – real name Adam Martin De Hegedus, an Hungarian émigré. Though as the date and morose… Read More »The Heart in Exile – The Strange Case of the Peculiarly Prescient Pre-Gay Novel
Mark Simpson gets mixed messages on the High Street (Another ‘lost’ Attitude column – this one from 1999) It was one of those indecently mild winter days. The sort that makes everyone feel a little bit naughty. As if you’re bunking off school or cheating on your partner. Walking… Read More »Cruising the Streets