May 08 - The Family Issue
The word family has been perverted disgustingly over the years bv the very people who purport to value it most. In the potty-mouths of hard Right Wing religionists it’s a codeword for “No Gays.” In the 1980s, Tories called our families pretend, to insult us, as if we sprang to life without any uterinal nurturing – a result of random satanic cell division, perhaps?
Well, to me, and most of the people in my family and extended family, it’s the most important word I know. While this might not be everyone’s experience, it can be a huge cradle of comfort, joy and support.
It’s with particular pride this month that the GT fraternity brings you the Family Issue. We hear from mothers of gay sons (p 67. See if you can spot the photographer – who is also my brother – on p 68) and from a straight man who was raised by lesbians (which sort of sounds like the title of a 1950s’ B-movie.) Elsewhere, we meet the twins behind fashion phenomenon D-Squared2 (p 74).
Rupert Smith chaired a fascinating panel discussion asking (p 62) What are our experiences and understanding of family across the generations? It shows how much – and how little – things have changed for us.
I’ve taken sadistic pleasure in torturing of all our columnists this month, by forcing them to give us a photo from their childhood. Bruce LaBruce looks SO great in his little dress. He’s changed my image of him forever (p 43).
The gay community lost one of its most important and cherished figures last month, DJ superstar Tallulah, everyone’s favourite funny uncle (obit, p 97). He invited me for dinner once at his West London flat. Dinner consisted of one bowl of olives and three bottles of wine – I nearly cried my eyes out laughing with him. He will be a sorely missed by all at this magazine.