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Yes – Show number 850 – a good reason to have a bit of a break – for four months at least. In the meantime checkout our back catalogue of podcasts.

In this show, Gordon tells us of his royal travels and having a man-servant. We envy the life-style he enjoyed while away at sea and we welcome him back to reality.

In honouring some ‘gay-sters’ from the past, we talk of Doris Day born 3/04/1924 and still alive and kickin’. She was often portrayed in film in the squeaky-clean image of ‘an ideal wife to-be’ but noting that she played a rootin’ tootin’ not-so maidenly woman of the Wild West in the film Calamity Jane – much to the delight of some gay women. She was also teamed with Rock Hudson which helped him hide his preferred identity (gay).

The Dane Hans Christian Anderson (born 2/04/1805) wrote some twisted fairy stories, often revealing his own tortured life as a closeted gay man.

Also having a birthday around this time was Rudolph Nureyev – Russian Ballet star – born 17/03/1938, who shone with vigour and masculinity in ballet, but succumbed to HIV/AIDS on 6/01/1993.   Both he and Rock Hudson humanised the face of AIDS in America, both reluctantly coming out of the closet in doing so.

Liza Minelli born 12/3/1946 (daughter of Judy Garland) was at one time married to Australian Peter ‘boy from Oz’ Allen. Liza created the illusion that Peter was possibly not gay (?). He too died from AIDS.

Teenage Ryan White (USA) received HIV-tainted blood in a transfusion for his haemophilia and he died on 6/04/1990. His innocence as a straight boy, was no barrier to being hounded out of town and ostracised by his community. He was an example of the hysteria around HIV at that time.

In our anniversaries, we mention the birthday of Marlon Brando (b 3/04/1924) – USA film-star and director. Brando was a charismatic actor, baby-faced but with a mature presence – a sex-symbol for both women and men.

From international sources, we are reminded that ‘poppers’ once had a medicinal use in the management of angina pains – and film-star comedian Lucille Ball is said to have been a user.

In a lighter vein, we note that on 6/04/1644, the English Parliament ordered the removal of all Maypoles as part of the Reformation and ‘banned anything happy’. Maypoles were part of spring-time pagan traditions in Europe, being sexually explicit and therefore not to be celebrated.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon and Phil.

Show #850                  First broadcast on 2 April 2019   

We welcome Will to the program for his second show while Gordon is away on the high seas.

Chris tells of two great films from the recent Melbourne Queer Film Festival, which included some scenes of the early days of modern closeted gay societies in Hollywood and in New York, when everything was listed as illegal but people continued enjoying their sexuality. There are also horrifying scenes of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, which shocked the world.

In our anniversaries, we mention the birthdays of Elton John born on 25/03/1947 – UK singer musician and part of the popular music scene since 1960 and AIDS activist, and the forthcoming film called Rocketman which covers his early years when he was “broken and damaged”.

We also celebrate the birthday of Diana Ross born on 26/3/1944 – a musical legend of the modern era, starting with the group The Supremes and moving on to a long solo career.

With our tongues firmly planted in our cheek, we celebrate the birth on 21/03/2233 of James T Kirk, who will become Captain of the Starship Enterprise in the Star Trek adventure.

Will shares his intimate knowledge of  modern commercial aircraft and he tells us about how various parts and systems function – those bits that we use but don’t know how or why; think of oxygen masks, aircraft slides and baggage handling, etc.

From international sources, we learn of the suggestion in early March 2019 that HIV-Negative men can take the modern protective AIDS medicine PrEP (Truvada) for safe and casual sexual activities, but by the end of the month we learn of a circumstance in Sydney, which may indicate that this plan has some short-comings.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Phil, Will and Chris.

Show #849                  First broadcast on 26 March 2019   

While Gordon is on the high seas, we welcome Will to the program for 2 shows, and he will share his knowledge with us.

At this sad time, we offer our sympathies and concern for those innocents in the recent dramatic events in Christchurch NZ. We can’t help noticing the increasing frequency of natural and man-made events where there are a great losses of lives, and we hope that this is not the ‘new normal’ for our world.

In our anniversaries, we mention the birthday of gay Jim Parsons on 24/3/1973 – the star of the TV Show Big Bang Theory, where he plays a socially-inept nerdish character sharing lives with others members of his TV social circle. In his private life, Parsons is proudly married to his male partner.

Gay writer Arthur C Clarke was born on 16/12/1917 and died on 19/03/2008.  He was a science-fiction writer and futurist; and the author of 2001: a Space Odyssey. Many of his predictions in the film have since come to pass – like iPads, geo-sync satellites, home computers, Skype, email and even smart watches. Fantasy comes to life.

Will entertains us with tales from air-side – he works as an aircraft engineer with a major airline and we learn about the recent dramas with Boeing’s new B737 MAX 8 aircraft which have some handling issues (!).

Will also treats us to little-known aspects of what happens out of sight before every flight, why we mustn’t use our smart phones in flight, and how the flight recorder ‘black boxes’ work and survive in a crash.                  Will also debunks various theories about the missing B777 / MH 9M-MRO / MH370 – see picture. Disappeared but crash site never found.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Phil, Will and Chris.

Show #848                  First broadcast on 19 March 2019   

In this week’s show, we talk about our Labour Day holiday which has morphed into Moomba. The origins of the 8-hour working day are being forgotten in the modern world of low wages, poor working security and conditions, and the attitude ‘the fittest survives’. Meanwhile Moomba has become a multicultural festival providing a wonderful festive occasion for all our citizens.

In our anniversaries, we are reminded about the Partnerships Bill passed in Victoria on 14 March 2008, whereby couples could register their relationships and enjoy some rights and respect for their relationship. This was a forerunner but not quite a substitute for equal rights and same-sex marriage.        On 11 Feb 1969, Michael Kirby (later to be High Court judge) met his life partner Johan van Vloten and on the 50th anniversary of that event, the two were married under the recently passed marriage-equality legislation.

We also talk about the realisation that biodiversity is dwindling in nature, and that the insect populations are disappearing at a dangerously fast rate. We suggest that we humans are overusing insecticides and creating mono-cultures in crops and vegetation. Other casualties as a result of clear fell forestry are birdlife and forest animals – including Leadbeater’s Possum, our Victorian fauna emblem since 2nd March 1971.

From the international press, we learn that a Malaysian politician has pronounced that there are no gay people in Malaysia, much to the amusement but consternation of the gay community, who are now proudly declaring their existence. When Malaysian students leave their country for higher education courses, many find a new freedom away from prying eyes and they discover their latent sexuality. Meanwhile, attendees at an Arab States Conference were made aware of the acceptance in many other countries of gay citizens as part of the Human Rights charter of the United Nations.

Finally, Gordon boasts of his forthcoming sea cruise.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #847                  First broadcast on 12 March 2019   

In this week’s show, we chat about the Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras telecast and what pleased us (as viewers) – and note that the parade was enthusiastically received by the crowds lining the streets. There was so much colour, movement, joy and pride; it really is coming-out in a wonderful safe and welcoming event.

In our anniversaries, we feature items about John Inman best known for his portrayal of Mr Humphries in the BBC TV comedy “Are you being Served?”.  Born on 28 June 1935, he died on 8 March 2007.

UK comedian Matt Lucas was born on 5 March 1974, and is best remembered for the irreverent TV series “Little Britain”.

Someone less well-known is Angela Morely who was born on 10/3/1924 as Wally Stott and became a famous and popular musician, composer and orchestra conductor for the BBC, before transitioning in 1972, continuing her musical profession with musical compositions for Hollywood block-busters. She died 14 January 2009 and is honored in a plaque.

We also talk about the forthcoming Melbourne Queer Film Festival which includes an expose on the radical and provocative still-photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who died on 7 March 1989, being born 4 November 1946, seen here with Patti Smith.

From the international press, we learn that equality comes with small steps – this time, we are told that a US airline has replaced their limited gender option when making a travel booking, with an extra field to allow travellers to opt out of the binary description. Also in the US, it is some 50 years since the Stonewall Riots in New York, when the local gay community rose up against the police force’s unjust practices. Since then many gay voices have rallied to drive political agendas to seek equality for our communities, as there is much more to be obtained – irrespective of what has already been achieved.

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #846 – First broadcast on 5 March 2019   

In this week’s show, we discuss how Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is planning to become ‘carbon neutral’ with the reduction of rubbish after the parade, and elimination of glitter (gasp) and balloons.  We are pleased to know that the 41st parade will still proceed at dusk, probably with plenty of political guests – in this year of state and federal elections.

From international sources, we learn what happened when a lesbian waitress in US was denied a tip for being gay and how she calmly obtained justice; and in Disney TV a gay character turns around a homophobic situation with wise words.  The President of the US (POTUS) professes ignorance of his administration’s proposal to launch a global campaign to decriminalise homosexuality.   And a researcher at the University of Montreal, Canada has concluded that gay dads make great fathers.

In our anniversaries, we feature items about UK soul singer Dusty Springfield (died 2/03/1999) who suffered with her sexuality; Lou Reed (Walk on the Wild Side), US rock musician (who was born 2/03/1942 and died 27/10/2013) – who endured reparative ECT treatment for his depression and latent homosexuality. We also talk about US film screen legend Elizabeth Taylor (born 27/02/1932) who befriended many gay film stars and was a great support to fellow film star Rock Hudson in his final years, living with HIV AIDS. This lead to her philanthropy for AIDS Research. Also having a birthday at this time is gay Matthew Mitcham Australian Olympic diver (born 2/03/1988).

Listen to these stories, opinions and more – presented with some merriment (where appropriate) by Chris, Gordon & Phil.

Show #845 – First broadcast on 26 February 2019