Editor’s Letter
I’m writing this editor’s letter in the wake of last week’s publication of the Cass Review – an investigation into the UK’s youth gender care services. In the eyes of many, myself included, the review’s final recommendations undermine the right of young trans and non-binary people to advocate for the medical support they need – setting a dangerous and invalidating precedent.
The 2020s have seen relentless attacks – from the right-wing media, from politicians – on queer and trans people’s ability to freely live their lives. In times like these, it’s important to look towards the myriad ways we have supported and held one another as a community over the decades. When faced with gatekeepers who have tried to shut us out and deny our existence, we have always found ways to create our own infrastructure and culture.
With this in mind, the May issue of GAY TIMES celebrates the power of a queer, DIY ethos across both the personal and political spheres. Heading up the issue is legendary musician and synth pioneer Beverly Glenn-Copeland. At 80 years old, the trans elder has inspired musicians such as Arca and Blood Orange, yet only received his flowers later on in his career, when his pioneering 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies was rediscovered in 2015.
However, despite only taking on a public-facing role in recent years, he has lived a full and vibrant life: becoming one of Montreal's McGill University's first Black students in the 1960s, performing on children's TV for twenty-five years, and publicly identifying as a trans man from 2002 onwards. For our May 2024 cover story he reflects on love, queer legacy and inspiring the next generation in conversation with Christine Kakaire, with intimate, at-home portraits supplied by Wynne Neilly.
While our first cover story reflects on themes of legacy, our second cover star is a Gen Z favourite: Norwegian singer-songwriter girl in red, who at only 25-years-old is at the beginning of her creative journey. She speaks to GAY TIMES Features Editor Zoya Raza-Sheikh in a candid interview exploring her progress with social anxiety, leaving behind her lo-fi indie sound and embracing her "goofy era" of renewed self-confidence after a mental health break.
Continuing in the realm of culture, journalist Eli Cugini interviews punk author and artist Brontez Purnell about his poetic memoir Ten Bridges I've
Burnt and his realisations from twenty years of living – and making art – in the queer underground. Turning inwards, towards more intimate territory, writer Katie Baskerville explores one particularly divisive, postbreakup dilemma: deciding what to do with the strap-ons and vibrators you’ve used as a couple.
Wrapping up the issue, GAY TIMES’ May edition is anchored by two, community-led features – the first of which speaks to prominent members of Berlin’s trans+ community about Germany’s landmark ‘Self-Determination’ law, which creates a more simplified process for updating your legal name and gender marker. The second of these features interviews queer locals in order to explore how the small Yorkshire town Calderdale, best known as the historic home of so-called ‘first modern lesbian’ Anne Lister, has become a queer capital of the North.
While our rights are subject to debate and we continue to be excluded from the mainstream, queer survival is dependent on our ability to come together and find grassroots, DIY solutions – let this issue be a reminder of the power that we hold.