THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Here's an interesting little tidbit in a NY Times ( 8/17 ) review of the book Saudi Arabia Exposed ( by John R. Bradley ) : 'It comes as a shock to find that Saudi Arabia has something like a gay scene ... . In severely repressing all forms of interaction between men and women, the country leaves a large social space open to men who are free to pursue relations with one another. 'I don't feel oppressed at all,' one gay man tells the author. 'We have more freedom here than straight couples. After all, they can't kiss in public like we can, or stroll down the street holding one another's hands.''

OK, OK, so maybe the Chicago Tribune's trying to liven up its stodgy image ( 8/18 ) , but folks you still need to edit: on its Personals page ( read 'People' imitation ) there is a little article about Jude Law's butt. Someone's posted a blog of him dressing, a poll was done and 1,000 fans chose his as best screen tush. But what's with this sentence: 'British fans give a big thumbs up to his bottom'?

In a story on Urban Legends ( you know, alligators living in sewer systems ) the Chicago Sun-Times ( 8/14 ) mentions a couple of gayish ones: the idea that pre-packaged foods can cause people to turn gay because of too much estrogen and the idea that there is a kind of hand shake that indicates the other person wants sex with you. ( The second is no U.L.—gay men have been using the pinkie twitch hand shake, just so, for years. )

No doubt causing more frothing at the mouth by fundies screeching about the breakdown of civilization, a new book Meet the Beatles: A Cultural History of the Band that Shook Youth, Gender, and the World ( Steven D. Stark's the author ) , reviewed in the Chicago Sun-Times ( 8/14 ) , argues that the Liverpudlian 4 feminized the culture, looked and sounded more feminine than most rock writers and were more fem in their group dynamic [ ? ] . Plus their manager, Brian Epstein, was gay, they wore unisex clothing, they were British ( famous for boarding school homosexuality ) , and were from a port city where sailor-sponsored same-sex sex was popular—and this is why they were so influential. Well, maybe, says the reviewer, James Bosen, but … could their influence be more along the lines of being better musicians than anyone else because 'Nobody did it better'?