During the sixties, radio listeners eardrums were assaulted by an annoying guitar playing nun who sung about a “Dominique” who was insufferably pious. Happily, she turned out to be lesbian and left the church. Unhappily, she developed a heroin habit, and later died. This is not her story.
Who was Jeanine-Paul Marie Deckers (1933-1985), the “Singing Nun?” Born in […]

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In the latest Investigate, conservative Catholic Wishart stable occupant Agnes Mary (Amy) Brooke, obsessive author of repetitious attacks on “neo-marxist” social theory in New Zealand higher education, launched a vitriolic ad hominem attack on the late French gay philosopher, Michel Foucault (1926-1984) in the letters column of the tragic tabloid gutter glossy.
For those who haven’t […]

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In 2004, Dutch feminist Joyce Outshoorn edited a series of feminist essays about sex work in North America and Western Europe, so how does it compare to New Zealand, where decriminalisation occurred five years ago, in 2003?
In some of these societies, there is some governmental representation of feminist initiatives for legislative reform, contributions to civil […]

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Greetings, loyal comrades of the people’s paradise, North Korea. Here is tonight’s <boring old kitsch agit-prop cobblers> for you on Korean Central Television.
On tonight’s stomach-clenching programming, we have a thrilling chang’guk [revolutionary opera] performed entirely on piano accordions from the eight year olds of the Keesong Infant’s Massed Chorus, “Leading the Final Attack For the […]

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Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court recently heard the sad case of a sister and brother, Patrick S and Susan K, which may lead one to consider whether ‘consensual’ adult incest is neccessarily a ‘victimless crime’ as some extreme libertarians would maintain.
The situation is this. Patrick and Susan are siblings, born to a severely toxic dysfunctional family […]

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Given the revival of John Waters’  Hairspray has passed without a reminiscence about the late Harris Glen Milstead, aka Divine, the three hundred pound transvestite, and the original Edna Turnblad, I thought I’d remedy the situation.  
Divine (1945-1988) was born in Towson, Maryland, before his family moved to Baltimore, where future independent gay film producer John Waters […]

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 Kate Bornstein: Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws: New York: Seven Stories Press: 2006. ISBN 1583227202
I’ve been addicted to the work of transdiva Kate Bornstein ever since I read her books Gender Outlaw and My Gender Workbook in the late nineties.
As a transgender rights activist, Kate believes change […]

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Stephen Fry’s Making History (1996) was probably the first gay dystopia ever written.
Nevertheless, it is substantially different from other examples of its genre, which depicts various totalitarian regimes that have no respect for history, diversity, social equality, individuality, human rights or civil liberties. Brave New World (1931) depicted a technologically advanced world where genetic caste […]

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If the name “Amazing Criswell” sounds familiar, it’s because he was an associate of the legendary Z grade movie producer Ed Wood. My friends, can you stand to hear the horrific story of the gay psychic who appeared in the worst movie known to humankind?
Jeron Konig Criswell (1907-1982) began his career as a hawker of […]

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Eighteenth century British “libertine,” Lord Byron was one example of the eighteenth century “libertine”, leading to an historical question.  Did such ’libertines’ consider themselves gay or bisexual, or a precursor to the above.
 Insofar as social identities and networks based on sexuality are concerned, no. Lesbian and gay ancestors are more likely to have been the eighteenth century “mollies” and […]

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