The Gay Blade

Published in 1978, Larry Kramer's "Faggots" is still one of the Great Gay Books, and every young homo should read it. As we are so often reminded, how can we know where we are going if we don't know where we're coming from?                   'The novel does describe a certain kind of social behaviour, but it is not      recommended for lovers of Jane Austen' as one reviewer put it. The book outraged so many when it was published, gay and straight, but it continues to tell a story that resonates. It's outrageous in so many ways, hilarious, edgy still, and has a lot to say to the world of gay men today I reckon. One of my oldest friends gave it to me in 1979, when I was 18, and I still have that copy. At 18, I was too young to understand what he was saying, and I was bewildered by it then. Now I think it's a masterpiece. Kramer today can't be spoken of without thinking of his AIDS activism. He drove the founding of both the ...

by R.D. Riccoboni The guy on the right? I just stumbled across him as I was, you know, doing some research online. And who doesn't like a big, handsome, hairy man? Well ok, I know some guys actually don't. I don't know if it's because of the era I grew up in, but I've always loved hairy guys. Yes, even hairy backs and necks - love 'em. A hairy arse - mmmm yes please! And I'm enjoying the compliments I'm getting now I've grown my beard out more. But gay men and our bodies - such a loaded issue for so many of us. All those hours spent in gyms, eating all those special diets, the quest for perfection - I've given up on it myself - at 50 I can settle into dignified desuetude I think. I had some good news yesterday - went for my regular 6 monthly HIV check-up, and my CD4 count is up, and my Viral Load is still undetectable. These things make me happy. It's hard to remember now just how sick I was in the bad old days. I am very,...