Sex and the City gay to tell all

For some gay men, it was among the best television ever made.

For others it was, in the words of the talking dog in Family Guy, a show about three hookers and their mother.

In any case one gay man has lots of happy memories of Sex and the City - and he is willing to share them. For money.

Clifford Streit, the former manager of Candace Bushnell, is reportedly working on  "Unbecoming Stanford," a behind the scenes expose.

Bushnell's sex column in the New York Observer was the inspiration for the show.

SATC's gay best friend character (cliche? noooooo!) Stanford was apparently a charicature of Streit.

Anyway, among the revelations, as told to the New York Daily News:

Gay producer Darren Star turned Ashton Kutcher down for a part in the show because he was unconvinced he would go anywhere.

Kim Catrrall caused tensions on set by stealing all the limelight. 

Two on-screen lovers were doing it in real life too.

There must be more dirt than that - get publishing Clifford!

Clarkson book "physically repulses" women

A survey of 654 UK adults has confirmed what we always knew. Bubble-permed homophobe and professional bell end Jeremy Clarkson makes women sick.

"A third of women said they would actually be physically repulsed by a man they saw reading 'The World According To Clarkson' in public," according to the survey by a book swapping website.

Celebrity autobiographies such as 'Being Jordan' or 'Beckham: My World' are multi-million pound bestsellers, but read them in public at your peril, warns Britain's largest book exchange website, Readitswapit.co.uk.

A survey by the website reveals that the majority of Brits change their perceptions about people they see reading these books in public places.

Two out of three Brits surveyed said they would perceive someone who read Jordan's and Beckham's biographies in public as 'unattractive'.

Readitswapit.co.uk co-founder Andrew Bathgate said: "Jordan and Beckham are two of the most image-conscious celebrities on the planet – so it's ironic that if you read their autobiographies in public, your own image will suffer."

Overall, 97% said that, if they were single, their perceptions about a member of the opposite sex could be affected by the types of books they saw that person reading in public.

So what to read to impress the Tube commuters and increase your chances of pulling? Wuthering Heights and War and Peace apparently. No look in for Harry Potter, then.

Father of five does not regret Dumbledore tatt

Would you have a 2ft tattoo inked on to your body as a surprise for your children?

Well, factory worker Paul Croft did.

The etching of Dumbledore on his back "seemed like a good idea at the time."

But since the revelation from Harry Potter JK Rowling that Dumbledore is gay, Paul has been getting stick from his co-workers.



"It's been terrible," he told The Sun.

"I've always liked Dumbledore - just not in that way. I went into work and everyone was sniggering.

"When I walked in, one of the lads said, 'Oi, Paul - heard about Dumbledore?'

"There were wisecracks about 'Watch your backs, lads.' Someone asked me if I was planning to get a tattoo of Graham Norton. I thought, 'Why me?'"

Sounds like a fun place to work.

Paul's tattoo, which set him back £500, shows the gay wizard as portrayed by the late Richard Harris in the first two Potter films, holding a scroll with the names of Paul's five children written on it.

Prison days of gay bank robber revealed

Ex-con Norman Parker's memories of gay criminal David Martin’s prison days can be found in his new book: Dangerous People, Dangerous  Places.

Martin was a notorious criminal in the early 1980s with a penchant for fleeing the long arm of the law. He is best known for his connection with the police shooting of film editor  Stephen Waldorf  in 1983.

Waldorf was mistakenly identified as David Martin and shot five times while driving in Earls Court, London.

The incident gained similar coverage to that of Jean Charles de Menezes, who was killed by armed police in 2005.

Stephen Waldorf fortunately survived and was awarded compensation.

The influence of prison life on Martin and homosexuality within England’s prisons are both described.

Parker tells of Martin’s experience of  "a world that constantly belittled him because of his sexuality."

In 1983,  Martin was convicted of involvement in armed robbery and sent down for 25 years. He committed suicide early into his sentence.

Norman Parker spent nearly three decades in prison for murder and manslaughter.

He earned an honours degree whilst inside, and since release has pursued a career in journalism.

He wrote the best-selling book Parkhurst Tales and in his new book he travels the world in search of the world’s most dangerous people.

David Martin’s story is told in chapter 13, Dave the Rave, of Parker’s new book Dangerous People, Dangerous Places.

Two Brits make American gay list

Iconic American gay mag The Advocate has unveiled a list of 100 gay and lesbian heroes (and heroines) of the last 40 years, which is how long they been on the go!

Among a list that includes the first out police officer in LA and a man who had the sodomy laws struck down stand two British legends, both knights of the realm.

Sir Elton John and Sir Ian McKellen are on the 100 list, which The Advocate want people to vote on so they can whittle it down to 40 - one for each year, you see.

Other people you might want to vote for are Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen Degeneres, Gianni Versace, Andy Warhol, Armistead Maupin, Greg Louganis and the lovely Martina Navratilova.

Vote here for your heroes! (And heroines!)

The Advocate explained what they are looking for:

"What do we mean when we say "greatest gay hero" of the past 40 years? First, the person must be entirely out. Second, it's not enough to be supremely talented or superbly competent--that person must have done something significant to improve our LGBT lives.

If we've missed someone you'd like to nominate, go ahead and write them in under "OTHER." This is not a scientific poll, but a snapshot that reflects the awareness of our readers and editors at this pivotal moment in history."

Teenage boys traumatised by lesbian sex?

A father is taking the local council to court because his sons were exposed to "The Whole Lesbian Sex Book"

The teenage boys "found" the book, at the local library, and now their concerned father wants the council to pay £5,000 per child as compensation.

Do I really need to tell you what country this is happening in?

Yep, the Land of the Free.

“[They were] greatly disturbed” said Earl Adams his letter to the city, according to pandagon.net

“[We had] many sleepless nights in our house.”

Yeah I bet you did, lots of tossing and turning. Poor little angels.

The fact that the teenagers were apparently looking for books about military academies is more disturbing than their discovery of books about lesbianism.

The family live in Bentonville Arkansas, which as you know is a hotbed of Sapphic passion. 

JFK's gay friend

A new book will reveal that one of former US President John F Kennedy's closest male friends was in love with him.

Lem Billings first met JFK when they attended the same school, and their friendship lasted until his 1963 assassination.

Jack and Lem, by David Pitts, published in the US later this month, documents the friendship.

One of Lem Billing's lovers, Larry Quirk, told author: “There was a sexual element to his attraction to Kennedy.

"Billings loved Kennedy all his life beginning in the 1930s... Billings was the only person who loved Kennedy unconditionally, who didn't want anything from him except to be with him, and he recognised that.”

The book also reveals that Lem was offered a job in the Kennedy White House, but felt that he could be a liability if his homosexuality was exposed.

Gore Vidal, the gay writer who was a cousin of JFK, had a proper bitch about Billings' relationship with the President.

"He's the guy who carries the coat.... He's the guy who runs errands.... To Jack, Lem was a kind of idiot friend," Vidal told the author.

Catty.

Jack and Lem: John F. Kennedy and Lem Billings: The Untold Story of an Extraordinary Friendship is published by Carroll & Graf.
Available from April 28th. 

Jason Donovan's tell-all Kylie book

I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here star Jason Donovan is to write a book, and he promises to reveal all the secrets of his relationship with Kylie Minogue.

Ms Kylie, currently nursing a broken heart after being ditched by tabloid-dubbed "love-rat," French actor Oliver Martinez, dated Donovan for a while before leaving him for INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

At one point, Jason was a more successful recording artist than Kylie.

He sold more than 3m records in the UK between 1988 and 1992.

Now, in his £1m book, he will reveal his struggle with drugs, his sexual encounters with other "celebs" and his gay jibe shame.

In 1992 Jason sued magazine The Face over accusations he was a homosexualist. Although he won the libel case, he was vilified by many gay people and his recording career collapsed.

He has made a comeback in West End musicals, including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Joseph and The Rocky Horror Show.

A spokesman for Donovan said, "This is the book every Jason and Kylie fan has been hoping for.

"There is no aspect of Jason's life and relationships he has not gone into. The book will be out this autumn," he said, according to contactmusic.com 

Possible titles include Too Many Broken Hearts In The World and I'm A Kylie, Get Me Out Of Here.

photo: ITV

'N Sync star's gay autobiography

Lance Bass, who ran out of the closet last year at the tender age of 27, has announced he is writing his autobiography.

The tome will reveal his thoughts on his time as one fifth of mega-boyband 'N Sync.

That's how it is written. Honest. I checked it online. 'N Sync. Anyway while we can hold out for some revelations about band member Justin Trousersnake, it seems unlikely.

Perhaps there will be some gossip about his ex, model and former Air Force Captain, Reichen Lehmkuhl.

Yes, we had to check the spelling on that one too.  The couple split up in January, allegedly because Reichen has a bit of a problem with monogamy.

We feel for you, Lance.  They both announced the end of the relationship on their respective MySpace pages. How 21st century.

Lance's autobiography will be called - wait for it - Out Of Sync.

When he came out to People magazine in July, Lance said:

"The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumours) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms. I'm at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there's really nothing else that I worry about.

"The thing is, I'm not ashamed, that's the one thing I want to say.

"I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."

Being gay is even more fun than being in 'N Sync - official.