December 08 - The December Issue
We’re all used to the fantasy of bedding a straight boy, and there’s a common strain of porn that plays up to this, with names like Broke Straight Boys and Gay For Pay. But what about the boot being on the other foot? Legendary porn-directing drag queen Chi Chi LaRue has turned the concept on its head with her new Straight For Pay line – gay guys being paid to have sex with women for the ever-loving lens. How much would you need to be paid to make that lover’s leap?
We’ve got a crammed stocking of an issue for you this month to get you into the festive mood. Our very good friend Mark ‘League of Gentleman’ Gatiss has dragged up as his favourite Dickens character – Jacob Marley from A Christmas Carol – and he’s written us a cracking piece about why Christmas Eve is his most loved day of the year. He’s a superb writer and I’m very proud to have him in the magazine.
We also have Christmas shopping ideas, a PS3 and The Matrix Trilogy DVD box set to give way, which might save you some Christmas spending, what with the credit crunch biting and all.
Talking of credit crunch, how is the scene surviving? The last recession pretty much created London’s thriving bar scene, but, asks Tom Bishop, can it survive this one? Elsewhere we have a report on a surprising success story from Beirut that shows how the first gay group in the Arab world is making surprising advances, and after 25 years of HIV, we pull together a team of experts at the London Lighthouse to talk about how the virus has changed of our lives, and how our relationship to it has changed.