I realise that there was an apparent omission from my earlier descriptions of LGBT fare at the latest Wellington International Film Festival, although I think this one is so fabulous that it deserves a seperate entry of its own, in any case. Warwick Broadhead is a performance artist, currently settled on Waiheke Island, and noted for his fabulous outfits, which are reminiscent of the late, lamented Derek Jarman’s costumed extravaganzas of gay historical fare. Anyway, his biopic, Rubbings From A Live Man,  is a must-see at this year’s film festival. It deals with the performer’s life and times- from fifties suburban ...

What the No Right Turn man said.The trucking industry indeed protests too much. They demand that we, taxpayers, subsidise not only their profits but their (often shonky, sole-operator, scandalously long hours, P-fuelled dangerous driving) business model. They only pay just over half their fair share in national roading costs, so the Government should up their charges.Perhaps 4 July could become National Trucker Day, when all those redneck talkback honkers can celebrate the fact that from that day, for the rest of the year, it will be them only, as taxpayers, that will pay for truckers to use the roads ...

In Vancouver, the formerly scheduled closing date for Insite, that province’s safe and supervised injecting room facility, has come and gone, due to its life extension by Justice Ian Pitfield of the British Columbian Supreme Court. Unfortunately, the ideologically driven Canadian federal government isn’t taking no for an answer, and despite British Columbian police, Vancouver Downtown Eastside small business, and provincial political support, the Harper administration still intends to take the case to the British Columbian Court of Appeal, and then probably all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court, the court of highest jurisdiction in that country. It’s a war of ...

Hardly has the ink dried on the right-wing Iemma administration’s attack on human rights, civil liberties, free speech and meaningful religious freedom in the name of Catholic-dominated “World Youth Day” when some dissident Catholics have announced that they don’t like the overkill involved either. Moreover, it has emerged that the institutional church negotiated with the Iemma administration for this prize. They include Catholic lawyer Frank Brennan, who condemned the new police powers as ghastly interference with civil liberties and against church teachings on human rights. While the institutional church supports the actions of the Iemma ALP state government, Father Brennan cited ...

Peaches is coming back to Auckland! Anyone who has seen her play at a Big Day Out will know the first lady of bisexuality puts on a bad ass show that is not to be missed.  She is playing The Powerstation on Thursday September 25 with a backing band from Berlin called Sweet Machine.  Tickets go on sale July 9 from Real Groovy and Fast N Loose. For now, I’ll just hum “I U She together, come on baby let’s go . . .” ...

Well, if the New Zealand republican push for a homegrown head of state fails, we could do worse than getting Britain's spare.I have said it before and will bang on about it: Prince Harry is still the only member of the royal family I would consider sleeping with.Picture via LA Rag. Don't you just love the tan line! ...

What is it with these journalists wanting sports people to pontificate about things they are barely qualified for?It's rugby player Dan Carter's turn again to blabber on about fashion in the Herald.Being a fully paid up model for an underpants company should automaticallty disqualify him from commenting since his opinions are bought.He should stick to looking pretty, a rare talent indeed. ...

 Pagan Kennedy: The First Man-Made Man: New York: Bloomsbury: 2008. As I’ve earlier provided a capsule biography of Michael Dillon, the first recorded female to male transsexual, I thought I’d focus on some more particular details involved in this biography of the world’s first transman. Michael lived an austere professional life, whether as a mechanic, or after he’d gone to Trinity College, and qualified as a doctor. When it came to relationships with others, it never got beyond dancing due to the painful skin grafts from his legs that were neccessary to create male genitalia. This may have served as an insurmountable obstacle ...

David Herkt and I have had one of our periodic spats between creative genius and technocrat about Chris Brickell’s landmark Mates and Lovers. Due to the significance of Chris’ book, I thought I’d take a more scholarly perspective in this second review of his work, given space and time availability in this format. How does Chris’ work compare to other national LGBT histories? As Chris himself has noted, once he started digging, he was deluged with intimate remembrances, ambiguous photographs and the minutae of court cases and medical journal reports and records. He was treading a well-worn path in terms of internation ...

In response to the New South Wales Iemma administration’s attack on civil liberties, human rights and free speech in the context of Catholic World Youth Day, potential protagonists remain defiant. Predictably, the Chaser boys remain their usual irreverent and rowdy selves, and their spokesperson, Julian Morrow, agreed with those who wanted the legislation repealed, and urged civil disobedience as a consquence. New South Wales Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione defended the extra police powers granted, saying that they were neccessary to control events on the same scale as large sports and entertainment events, and that such conduct wouldn’t be tolerated at an AFL ...

The nerdy-looking Seattle boys who became indie pioneers have created a ride from start to finish with their sixth studio album, Narrow Stairs.  It sounds like Death Cab For Cutie got together for a polished, intense jam session - and had more of a melodramatically-fun old time than they’ve had in their lives. It is a self-indulgent soundtrack for down days, near break ups and unrequited love.  Just the thing to listen to when you are wrapped up warm indoors and drinking red wine. It opens with Bixby Canyon Bridge, a tune about singer Ben Gibbard’s search for a connection with ...

In New South Wales, the ALP State Government has just engaged in an unprecedented attack on human rights, civil liberties and free speech. Why? Is it an international terrorist threat against a sensitive international target? Well, no. It’s July’s Catholic World Youth Day, due to be held in Sydney soon. Sometimes, I wonder if LGBT New Zealanders don’t have an overly romanticised view of our continental neighbour. True, Mardi Gras is a fabulous party, and Melbourne’s DNA is a highly informative and readable magazine. However, in terms of actual legislative progress, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory all have ...

May 15, Year of Our Lord 2196: Saint: Anthony Dahl Personal Log: At long last, our Theocracy of Redeemed America starship  Crusader is drawing closer to our new home, which Saint: Doctor Carlos has christened Oceania. Its primary, AUCHE- 03116BV, is almost an exact duplicate of our own Sun, and Oceania itself has landmasses in roughly the same configuration as the Damned Earth itself, which we left when our Hallowed Theocracy was overthrown almost two centuries ago. [There are things that I don’t dare write in the log. Bram. It’s forbidden even to speak his name. He was my lover before Prophet Avram ...

 Paisley Currah, Richard Juang and Shannon Price Minter (ed) Transgender Rights: Minneapolis: University of Minnesota: 2006. Most lesbian, gay and bisexual New Zealanders would agree with me that transgendered/fa’afafine/whakawahine folk have made notable contributions to our communities, and that they are integral elements of the diverse rainbow of our numbers. For example, Express’ commendably broad coverage of Agender’s latest conference in its latest issue is one such case in point. New Zealand can be proud that we are a trendsetter when it comes to transgender rights, such as recognising gender identity status as a continuum, or reading gender identity into gender when ...

It's not often that the subject of sex crops up in the sports pages, apart from such unfortunate instances as (real) rape cases in the past couple of years (Tyson, for one). Their relegation to the sports news made me feel sick.But it must have been a slow day at the Herald when they let a jock sniffer like Steve Deane loose in their Sports Section on Friday and let him look at a few sexual shenanigans by sports "stars" which ended up in tabloid newspapers in recent times. Take it from the top, Steve: "One minute you're streaking ...

The tragic suicide of Dr Matt Wildbore last week as well as the imminent publication of Dr Chris Brickell’s new book “Mates and Lovers” made me think of a few things. One thought that I keep returning to is the way our history, individual and collective, is so fragile. For many younger men in Auckland, Matt Wildbore is not a name they’d know. For me, and I guess for my generation, he was a symbol of compassion, of care, of fun, of bravery and support through the worst days of the plague. He was vocal, he was courageous, he cared. The effort ...

Serendipitously, Australia and New Zealand both have news items related to different sides of the faith/state separation barrier. Let’s begin with the good news. Graham Capill isn’t going to be paroled. According to the Fairfax Stuff website portal, the Parole Board is unconvinced that he’s not still a risk to children. The article recounted the story of his conviction and nine year prison sentence for rape of three female children during his time as Christian Heritage Party leader. Those victims understandably thought that he might still present such a risk, and it is good to see that their input was treated ...

In Gay Times (UK) (May 2008), there are a couple of fascinating pieces on same-sex parenting in the United Kingdom, which deals with what will probably happen when our own Parliament eventually gets around to amending our Adoption Act 1955. In some areas, New Zealand is ahead of the United Kingdom. While I understood that lesbians were able to access private fertility services to have their own children in the United Kingdom, apparently this didn’t apply to the state-run National Health Service. As for New Zealand, fertility services are regulated by the Human Rights Act 1993 in New Zealand, which forbids ...

Thanks to a copy of the 37th Wellington International Film Festival programme, I can report that there are two excellent gay-themed documentaries available on two pioneering gay male figures in the creative arts screening this year. Celebrated Black British independent film-maker Isaac Julien has produced Derek, a beautiful and lyrical homage to the late Derek Jarman, who died from AIDS in 1994. This retrospective tribute celebrates his life through incorporating an interview, several extracts from his films, and the inimitable Tilda Swinton reminisces about her role as the muse to the pioneering British independent gay filmmaker as well as noting the ...

We're not far from that quadriannual "sports" fest called the Olympics, but again, in Greece, they have held the Nemean Games, in honour of the original Olympics Games as they have been held before the Christian Victorians took over and turned them into the current showcase for corporate apparel, pharmaceutical innovation and sorry jingoism.Watch the BBC video of the Nemean Games.Some attempts are being made to bring the spirit of individual, nude sport and glory back to its roots with the Nemean Games, a worthy but only partial successful attempt: the athletes wear clothes, and female competitions take ...