A Mothership Gay Dating member with tattoos

Whether gay or straight, tattoos have become increasingly popular, and some guys carry them really well.  As ancient tribal markings, rites of passage, signs of gang affiliation, pure artistry, fashion accessories or deep meaningful statements, many gay men find tattoos a homoerotic delight. Anyone getting one for the first time prompts a mini-celebration in the tattoo parlour as they become one of the inked fraternity. For gay men it means joining a brotherhood within the exclusive brotherhood we already are.

One of the most famous books ever written, Moby Dick by Herman Melville  (1851),  has the unforgettable scene where the narrator Ishmael has to share a room and a bed for the night with Queequeg, a South Sea Island harpooner, who is covered in elaborate native tattoos all over his face and body:

“Upon waking next morning about daylight, I found Queequeg’s arm thrown over me in the most loving and affectionate manner. You had almost thought I had been his wife…..though I tried to move his arm - unhook his bridegroom clasp - he still hugged me tightly, as though nought but death should part us twain.”

Melville (whose last work was about the handsome young sailor Billy Budd), makes much of the profusion of strange tattoos covering the islander’s arm, which he can  hardly distinguish from the busy pattern of the conterpane.  Many a gay reader must have felt the erotic charge of Ishmael’s account. Read the rest of this entry »

Gay retirement - Mothership Gay Dating member ‘outerlimits’ reflects on his own experiences:

Gay retirement - a bridge to fulfillment

Is retirement for gay people a different experience, just as their earlier working life has been, as a consequence of our sexuality?  Most definitely.  I took early retirement in January, and have become aware that as a gay man I’m especially privileged as I try to get the most from this neglected phase of life;  but why?

What I wish to explore here is how the gay retirement experience qualitatively differs from that of heterosexuals. We all need enough money to sustain us in our pursuit of happiness, and many problems we may face will be similar, so what’s different?  As the coalition govenment has now made working longer and longer a possibility, even dressing it up as something desirable, we may well question the sanity of working till we drop.  A gay perspective enables us to do this more readily, because we’ve learnt to be more rebellious, questioning, and imaginative,  just to survive. Read the rest of this entry »

Rainbow flag flying proud at Pride

Gay Pride, Mardi Gras, whatever name we give this major annual event in the gay calendar, is an affirmation of our lives, our rights, achievements, hopes, and possibilities.

These events are meant to be inclusive  (our aim to play a full part in mainstream society), and exclusive in the sense of demonstrating our particular gifts,  qualities,  and means of self-empowerment.  What, then, are we to make of gay critics who see Pride merely as a  big, brash, vulgar display detrimental to our best interests, a social irrelevance,  an excuse to party and little more? Read the rest of this entry »

Biggles delivers the goods

Biggles took to the skies long before James Bond came to life in the imagination of Ian Fleming.  A great British hero, invented by prolific writer Captain W. E. Johns, was fighting our country’s enemies.  Through over a hundred books ( many now sought-after by collectors),  Biggles along with his cousin Algernon (Algy) Lacey and the young Ginger Hebblethwaite were adventurers in a white European male-dominated world - far removed from gay cultural developments to come.

While Johns, a First World War pilot (who reached the rank of Lieutenant), went on to pursue a settled heterosexual lifestyle, closer reading of his stories may surprise us in their suggestion of a hero very much in tune with the modern  gay movement, even down to some dubious titles:  Biggles Gets His Men (1950 ),  Biggles Takes It Rough (1961 ),  Biggles Takes A Hand (1962 ), and  Biggles Sees Too Much (1968 ).

No one could doubt James Bond’s liking for women (reflecting Fleming’s own sexual fantasies), laid on with a trowel in character names like Pussy Galore.  By complete contrast,  in one book Biggles comments that he much prefers smoking to contact with the opposite sex!

Fast forwarding to the  2005 tv episode of Dr Who which introduced Captain Jack, an RAF volunteer, and we find a character who is a conscious tribute to Biggles, even to the point of having a friend called Algy.  Gay actor John Barrowman has since  made the role of Captain Jack ( in Dr Who and the Torchwood series) very much his own. Read the rest of this entry »

Gay stand up comedian Alan Carr

When I told my friends I fancied being a stand-up comedian, unfortunately they all laughed.  Anyway, there I was one dreary, rain-soaked Saturday in January attending a comedy workshop for this potential Bill Hicks-cum-Joan Rivers-cum-Larry Grayson. I’d just taken early retirement to cope better with rheumatoid arthritis in my knees, and as I walked in (stiffly) I’d never felt less funny in my life.

My gaydar told me that I was the only one there, and my select group of wannabe gagsters as I later discovered consisted of a fit ex-para (who I made sure sat next to me), a Jo Brand-type nursery teacher, and  a loud psychiatrist along with his lanky, much quieter son, who turned out to be a racing driver.  The course was run by a sometime  tv cartoonist and  experienced sitcom writer,  and his pretty wife who kissed us on arrival and performed lunch.

The first excercise was for the class to guess who we were in real life - instructions had been given to divulge no personal information up to that point.  They concluded, after much judging by appearances,   that I worked with young people, was married and had children of my own.  And it was then that your jobless, childless gay brother went into demolition mode with some relish, and began to enjoy the ride. Read the rest of this entry »