Rarely seen such queer charitable and cultural activity as this merry month of May. Scarce attended a concert at Various Voices 09 (1-4 May, http://www.variousvoiceslondon.org.uk/) in London’s Southbank Centre, featuring more than 70 concerts from over 60 choirs from around the world, when find self jaunting along trying to keep up with the pack at Stonewall’s 6th annual 10k Equality Walk (http://www.stonewall.org.uk/) on the Bank Holiday Sun 3 May, down in Brighton – to raise funds for the gay mega-charity’s superb Education for All campaign.

So exhausted by it all, decide to head away for a short break with Nutty Neighbour, dutifully dropping off still-tiny fur-balls, Mous ‘n Cous, with my very own tiddler Toby, at his mum, Sue’s. Rarely seen such glee in my wee son’s eye’s as he fiercely pets my pets’ purring pelts – make him swear to guard the fluffy pair from his not-so-little pal Sven’s feisty mits should he pop round with Kev ‘n Em whilst am away. Nutty and I mull a bit of Swiss cottaging at EuroPride (2 May - 7 June, http://www.europride09.eu/), this year in lovely Zurich, but opt instead to catch the tail end of Maspalomas Pride on Gran Canaria (4-10 May, http://www.gaypridemaspalomas.com/). A little bit of Spain off the coast of Africa, Gran Canaria is a “mini continent” in its own right, boasting cliffs, dunes, mountains, valleys and lush forests. Third largest of the Canaries, its glorious year-round weather also attracts hoards of queers, mainly German and English, constantly and habitually flocking and migrating to its sunny southern shores, notably to Playa del Ingles and adjoining, tad classier, Maspalomas, which well-nigh explodes with camp noise and colour, come May.

Good to spy former flat mates Joshua ‘n Karl behaving like a right old cosy couple at informal Circa meet at our undertaker’s roomy lair in Fulham, shortly after my return. No roaming Charlie ‘n Boy though, touting themselves about. Glean they’ve headed down – somewhat worryingly, along with mighty Inge, who I’d hoped was now content to be a purely personal trainer – to a residential course on “how to be a better sex worker, escort or prostitute”, at Hamilton Hall in Dorset. Also troubled to discover sister, Kerrie, out on the street trying to promote her struggling glossy lifestyle mag, LABS (Lesbian And Bisexual Stimulation) – which seems to, doubtless desperately, run one “sex issue” after another (one way or t’other, don’t they all?) - as puzzled punters arrive for the evening. Aided by me, organisers eventually persuade her that gay male pros might in fact not quite be her target market. Hobbles away - to drown her sorrows in some all-girl stripper bar, I half suspect.

Field calls from a couple of young homeless teens during Switchboard stint, mid-month. LGBT people are 40% more likely to end up homeless. And some problems have worsened, because young people “come out” earlier and earlier these days - thinking society is becoming more welcoming - often only to find they have no option but to leave their homes. Last year, 1400 young people contacted gay teen homeless charity Albert Kennedy Trust (http://www.akt.org.uk/) for help. Two thirds of the young men they assisted had been offered sex, or been forced to offer sex, to get a bed for the night. Also get a call from a gay student facing problems at uni. A recent study of LGBT students found that - whilst over 90% are out to their peers – almost half (47%) claim they have been subjected to negative comments, with 20% having been forced to actually suspend their studies due to homophobia. A third (33%) of LGB uni staff say they have faced abuse from colleagues.

Boss in well-nigh jubilant, mood at one Monday morning mews meet – Birmans and Bolly tearing and splashing around to celebrate Circa’s promotion of the launch of the film MILK to DVD at the June drinks party on Friday 5 June  ! Confess still a mite inebriated as pen that week’s Circa-branded Capital Queer column, about the International Day Against Homophobia (a.k.a. IDAHO, 17 May, http://www.idaho.org.uk/). Remind readers that the UK is in fact (historically) responsible for more than half of the world’s remaining bans on gay sex, as relics of British colonial rule. Anti-gay laws in more than three dozen countries - from India and Uganda to Nigeria and Papua New Guinea - derive from a single law on homosexual conduct that British rulers imposed on India in 1860, at long last currently under review in that vast nation. Governments that inherited versions of the law but have since repealed it include Australia and New Zealand. Eleven former British colonies in the Caribbean also retain sodomy laws, derived from another, different British legal model. England and Wales themselves decriminalized gay sex in 1967, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 1981. Also remind readers re dramas in Moscow Pride (16 May), with openly homophobic Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov having warned gays visiting the city for the event that they should keep a low public profile. Organizers, who’d planned it to coincide with Eurovision also being in Moscow at that time, gambled Luzhkov would lie low himself, amidst the global media glare.

Nutty tries to drag me up North with him, for some camp end-of-the-pier fun at Blackpool Pride (16-17 May, http://www.prideblackpool.com/), plus some homo-culture at Manchester’s Queerupnorth (12-25 May, http://www.queerupnorth.com/). Can’t be arsed. Chill out in flat instead, amidst an adorable and adoring Mous ‘n Cous. Amused to read Prince Andrew’s 20-year old daughter, fifth-in-line-to-the-throne Princess Beatrice, is the “eligible female” Brit (ie unmarried/unbetrothed) most prized by lesbians, with a third (33%) of Britain’s single gay women wanting to date her - according to some gay love poll. Also spy that 44-year old Brit-born bisexual actor Alan Cumming may well have only just become a naturalised US citizen, yet his charm offensive on his adopted country continues unabated, it seems - and knows few bounds. He apparently recently spurted forth to the New York magazine: “I’d like to see Obama naked. I think great leaders, charismatic leaders and men who are so confident and who have achieved so much, usually have big penises.”

Fancy putting something back into a community you at least occasionally get something from? Whether to help others, make new friends, enhance a CV or simply get a “warm glow”, Adrian Gillan highlights a need; and gives his top volunteering tips!

Headlines of middle class equality, commercial scene hedonism and “Pink Pound” affluence distract from the realities that many LGBT individuals face.Yet,social disadvantages exist as much within the “gay bubble” as they do for society in general, and being LGBT often attracts additional discrimination.

There are over 1,500 LGBT groups and voluntary organisations in the UK – from the well-known like Stonewall, to the less so, like Polari or Brothers & Sisters. They have a wide range of purposes, from campaigning around LGBT rights or providing LGBT-specific services, to simply bringing LGBT people together for social activities, to enjoy common interests or to give and take peer support.

Funding for charities is always tight, but particularly so if you are not deemed a “fluffy” or “worthy” cause. LGBT organisations often have to make less go further; and are dependent upon volunteers to assist in the delivery of services. Moreover, volunteers are not easy to recruit, retain and support; and thus getting more people to understand LGBT charities and give of their time is always important.

In relation to the wider charity sector, total income raised within the specifically LGBT voluntary sector is approximately £10 million per annum - between the 1,500 groups and organisations; with large chunks of that going to two or three bigger charities; and only 20% being raised from individual donations. This equates to 0.03% of the overall charitable income in England and Wales; so, compared to other, non-LGBT-specific charities, one can see that the money most LGBT organisations have is incredibly small.

If the Government’s estimate that 6% of the UK population (3.5 million people) are LGBT is correct, the LGBT community itself is giving just over 50p per person per year to LGBT charities.

So giving just a few extra coins can help a lot. And giving just a little volunteering time every so often can make a huge difference to any of the many small LGBT voluntary organisations around the country.

Here are just a few suggestions for LGBT-related volunteering to give you a taste…

Attend Stonewall’s star-studded Equality Dinner, at the Dorchester in Mayfair, early April. Take sis, Kerrie, as guest. Both absolutely blotto. See actors, singers and ministers all rubbing shoulders – also rubbing knees, since spend tiny bit of time, to be true, on the floor, under our table, a tad merry. Very worthy cause – loads of money raised for the gay mega-charity’s vital work, changing attitudes and hearts and minds around the country.

Catch a few films with Nutty, towards end of 23rd London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival – who can totally ignore lesser-known offerings with titles like Dream Boy or The Devil’s Cleavage? – plus a special preview of ITV’s forthcoming An Englishman in New York about Quentin Crisp’s later life. Also take little Toby – joined by Kev ‘n Em ‘n their ‘n Inge’s not-so-little Sven – along to the film fest’s now-seemingly-annual “junior gay disco for alternative families”, which the “Thunderclapper” does his best to, not uncharacteristically, stink-out and utterly wreck.

Quite a few HIV-positive guys during my main Switchboard stint, mid-month – many bemoaning the discrimination they still face, despite protective provisions in the recent Disability Discrimination Act. Over a third of people with HIV experienced HIV-related discrimination in the last year, according to a new study – often from family members and their local community, plus employers, doctors and other health professionals. The survey also found that over half of people with HIV were unhappy with their sex lives - two-thirds of respondents having experienced problems with sex in the previous year. Living with HIV is, I have little doubt, still a major challenge. Everyone I know who has HIV wishes that they weren’t infected. However getting diagnosed should not be the end of your world, I urge. People with HIV hold down good and important jobs, have loving relationships and can hope to live into old age. Refer caller to thankfully-yet-another advice-and-info site for HIV-positive gay men - www.gmfa.org.uk/positive  

Nutty tries to drag me ‘n mighty Inge along to some one-day course, designed to “help men better woo the men they like” - in bars, clubs, saunas, outdoors or even online. Instead, Inge drags me ‘n Nutty along to a hot and sweaty session at the overtly gay-friendly London Amateur Wrestlers (http://www.law-wrestling.org/) group he’s now joined. After a tentative start - squeezed into our seemingly ever-tightening Speedos - we soon enter the spirit, and grapple with the odd tackle upon tackle. Spend half my time pinned down under Inge’s massive manly form, feeling the frottage-like frisson of this supposedly long-time sport of princes and kings. Reminds me of those long-ago sessions with Inge, when we first met, he then a masseur – before he moved on to being a father, an escort, then, most latterly, a personal trainer.

Hobble round my beloved Soho, tad battered and bruised after recent wrestling bouts. Delighted to see Clonezone on Old Compton Street’s still up ‘n running. The gay retail “giant” had been forced to shut six shops but continues trading from four core outlets - in London’s Soho and Earls Court, plus Birmingham and Manchester – sex toy manufacturer Libertybelle having bought the brand up, out of administration.

Wear charity hat to pen weekly Circa-branded Capital Queer column, promoting Pride London’s search to find those people whose lives have been changed by Pride events around the country – so they can act as ambassadors for Pride London this summer (4 July; http://www.pridelondon.org/). Organisers are keen to talk to anyone with a story to tell - especially those who took part in early Prides. Maybe your first Pride parade helped you to realise it was OK to be gay? Perhaps you and your life-partner met at a Pride? Anonymity can be guaranteed, where desired.

Amused - lolling in bed with fluff-balls, Mous ‘n Cous - scouring papers, one Saturday morn (when did I last visit the gym?). Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may have recently claimed that in Iran “we don’t have homosexuals like you have in your country [the US]”, but – it seems - a study by an Iranian academic has found that 24% of Iranian females and 16% of Iranian males admit having had gay sex at least once. A high level of masturbation, likewise deemed a criminal sin in the Islamic republic, was also uncovered amongst both genders. Similarly, fail to stifle smiles as read queer crooning megastar George Michael sharing his wisdom on life, love and frankly pretty damn much everything in a national newspaper - “You don’t pay an escort for sex. What you really pay an escort for is to leave after the sex.” Also spy that gay pop megastar Sir Elton John has been named “Britain’s most iconic glasses wearer” in a poll by some optical retail giant, safely seeing off the likes of John Lennon, Dame Edna Everage, Eric Morecambe – even Her Majesty The Queen. He is, apparently, rumoured to own over 20,000 pairs!

Fun informal Circa do at our undertaker member’s, down in Clapham. Usual crowd, including Josh ‘n Karl, plus Charlie ‘n Boy - the latter, one assumes, trying to drum up “business”… wonder if they offer threesomes? Trust Prince Harry to start a row. Not that the young red-head blue-blood is actually present himself… can you imagine? But, whilst some guests think that a recently-surfaced video - showing Harry questioning whether a fellow officer is feeling “gay” or “a bit queer on the side” - is insulting to LGBT military personnel and warrants an apology, others fail to see anything offensive about the context or manner in which he used the word “queer”, vying it wasn’t said with hate, aggression or malice. Whatever the truth, there is now, however, absolutely zero doubt as to the colour of Harry’s royal pubic hair! The young prince himself all-too-readily admits to possessing lower locks of crimson curls in yet more found footage!

As Easter (10-13 April) beckons, Adrian Gillan asks the Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement’s (LGCM) new chief executive, Rev Sharon Ferguson, how she aims to build on her predecessor’s work - and why it all matters in a seemingly increasingly secular age.

What did you do before taking over running the LGCM recently?

I have worked in a wide variety of organisations including schools, prisons, charities and the private business sector. I am a psychologist and have worked, within a forensic setting, with violent sex offenders. I have also spent many years working within the field of disability - both hands on and in managerial positions. 

What do you, realistically, hope to achieve with the LGCM in coming years?

In my application for the post I stated that I wanted to make myself redundant. Unfortunately I view this as a rather long term goal. In the meantime I would like to see the work of the LGCM make a difference in the lives of both individuals and Churches, through its continued fight - against homophobia and towards full inclusion.

How do you hope to achieve this?

For individuals – by providing more opportunities to link with other LGBT Christians for fellowship and growth; for Churches – by providing more resources to assist in conversations around sexuality and inclusive liturgies; and generally – by continuing to campaign and speak out against any discrimination or homophobia or curtailment of human rights for LGBT people, whether by the government, through legislation, or by faith-based organisations.

Do your aims or strategies differ from those of your predecessor, Richard Kirker?

The LGCM’s aims remain the same, as outlined above. Obviously, I have a very different personality to Richard, and therefore my approach to achieving those aims will be different. The important issue is to achieve our aims, not how we get there.

What are the main obstacles to eliminating religious homophobia in the UK today?

There is far too much press coverage of homophobic views - which merely serves to reinforce the hatred and discrimination. If more time was given to those who promote equality and acceptance of sexual diversity then this would become the norm, bigotry banished. 

Also: procrastination! If you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem. Too many people, including many LGBT people, have become complacent. Yes, there is greater equality today than even a few years ago, but we shouldn’t stop fighting the cause until we have full inclusion and equality in every sense, in every area of life. Have women stopped campaigning for equal rights? Have ethnic minorities stopped campaigning against discrimination? NO! And neither should we!

What would you say to anyone attempting to justify homophobic views via religion?

If Christian, read your Bible - especially the Gospels. Christ made it very clear in everything that he said and did that anyone who follows him should never discriminate against another person or judge another person or reject another person. Where in this message is there any room for homophobia?

Do you think such “religious homophobia” is genuinely theological - as oft seemingly claimed - or should it rather be explained primarily in terms of social constructs?

You can find a text in the Bible to support any idea that you want to. For every theological argument presented to justify homophobia I can present an alternative. As Christians, we are supposed to follow the way and teachings of Christ. He told his disciples that he would send the Holy Spirit to be with them to continue the teaching as he couldn’t show them everything in the three years he was with them. Christ shed new light on many of the laws and modelled a new way to be in a relationship with God. It has taken the Holy Spirit a long time to teach us that slavery and the oppression of black people and women is not in keeping with the will of God. I pray that it won’t be much longer before the same is true for sexual orientation.

Are you disillusioned with continued homophobia within the Church of England (CoE)?

Exasperated would be more accurate. Statements are made that offer hope that hearts are being opened to truly listen to the experiences of LGBT people in the Church and then, when an ideal opportunity to put that into action is available, they close the door. At the Lambeth Conference last year, they were talking about sexuality and had the opportunity to listen and talk to a gay Bishop but instead they excluded him from the conference. Only when people lay down their fear will they be able to see the way forward.

Does homophobia inspired by Catholicism or Evangelicals, say - or other religions entirely - take a different form from the CoE’s; and require a different approach?

Not really, it is always based in fear of the unknown, fear of losing power, fear of the other. 

What would you say to any gay atheists who perhaps can’t understand the relevance of the LGCM’s work to themselves?

Firstly, government legislation has to be passed by the House of Lords which is largely made up of Anglican Bishops - thus homophobia in the Church will have a direct impact on their lives. Secondly, we can all stand back when we think an issue doesn’t affect us directly but this is short-sighted, as any form of homophobia will eventually impact on us all.

Do you ever worry that some gay atheists are even outright religio-phobic?

I don’t worry about it but I do find it sad. It’s true that it’s often easier to come out as gay than it is to come out as Christian these days. At the end of the day, we should all have the right and freedom to express ourselves in our fullness. For some of us, that includes expressing our spirituality through Christianity.

What would your Easter Message be to the UK’s largely secular gay community?

I read a story the other day about a father who wanted to read his magazine but his young daughter kept bothering him. In an attempt to keep her out of his hair, he tore out of his magazine a picture of the world and then tore it into a lot of little pieces. He handed her the pieces with a roll of tape and asked her to put the picture back together. He expected this task to take her quite a while and so allow him time to complete his magazine. In a few moments she was back with the picture completed - perfectly. He asked her how she’d managed to do it so quickly and she replied: “It was easy, Daddy. On the other side was a picture of Jesus and when Jesus was right, so was the world!”

The opposite of this statement is also true. When we exclude people from our world, when we discriminate against one another, then we take away from the body of Christ. Our world and Christ cannot be separated no matter how hard people try. Find Christ this Easter and your world will come together.

Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement: http://www.lgcm.org.uk/

Boss in rampant mood at first Monday morning mews meet of the month, outlining a PR strategy to woo new Circa pro male members by targeting the UK’s top gay-friendly employers. I suggest we could do worse than start with the companies and organisations named as the best places to work in 2009 for lesbian and gay people, in the latest annual Stonewall Top 100 Employers listings –namely Lloyds TSB, trailed by Hampshire Constabulary and Brighton & Hove City Council.

Catch up with Nick Partridge, chief executive of Terrence Higgins Trust – recently made a knight “for services to Healthcare” in the New Year’s Honours List. Nick joined THT as an office manager in 1985, just three years after it was founded, soon becoming its head in 1991 – amidst the height of the public hysteria surrounding what was then considered very much a fatal disease. He was a driving force in gaining research funding into treatment, which has thankfully in turn contributed to the discovery of life-saving and -prolonging antiretroviral therapy. Under his leadership, THT has always had strong links with the gay community; and it is something many Circa members actively support. He is already OBE; but will go “under the sword” later this year – good for him! Also hook up with Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall – himself made an OBE “for services to Equality and Diversity” in this latest New Year’s Honours List. After a successful career in journalism, Ben joined Stonewall in 2003, fronting many high profile and successful campaigns to change both laws and hearts and minds – from Civil Partnerships to Education for All in schools; and he’s also an Equality & Human Rights Commissioner. Well done, Ben!

Gets me thinking, whilst penning my weekly Circa-branded Capital Queer column: what unsung LGBT heroes do our community think deserve recognition, perhaps in the next Queen’s Birthday Honours, coming up in June? What of people like Sue Sanders – the energetic voluntary stalwart of Schools Out! since 1974; and major force behind UK LGBT History Month? Any other ideas, I ask my cherished readers?

Pop down with Inge, on one of his days-off from personal training at the gym, to Brighton Winter Pride (http://www.brightonpride.org/) - a week-long orgy of events in the famous seaside city, from clubbing to comedy. Bump into Kerry stumbling out of some women’s do, surrounded by lesbians, and knocking back the lagers. Inge strangely aroused – says he frequently indulges in steamy girl-on-girl fantasy.

Amused reading papers in bed with Mous ‘n Cous one Sunday morn – after an especially exhausting full-day Saturday session with my little Toby, who’d had Inge ‘n Em’s not-so-little Sven “Thunderclapper” round for tea, which somehow ended up over half my walls – that Sir Elton John told an audience at a recent concert at London’s O2 Arena that he’d “rather have my c**k bitten off by an Alsatian” than watch reality TV show, X Factor. Also read that Harrow Council is touting plans to name streets or local landmarks after famous former residents – such as said pop mega-star Sir Elton, who was born and went to school in Pinner, within the borough. To really get back to his roots, I muse, perhaps they should revert to using his birth-name, Reginald Dwight? Dwight Drive, rather than Elton Avenue?

Head with Nutty Neighbour to informal Circa meet to celebrate our Judge member’s B-Day, at his place up in Hampstead. Usual bumping into Joshua ‘n Karl, plus hide-and-seek avoidance of Charlie ‘n the Boy – the latter pair seemingly trolling for business, however sordid, the whores. Judge’s face betrays horror when he opens my DVD B-Day prezzi, entitled FIT, which he assumes to be a keep-fit video. Seems only slightly less horrified when sees it’s actually a prototype DVD version of Stonewall’s widely-praised play for schools (www.stonewall.org.uk/fit), featuring hip-hop dance, music and comedy. Soon won over, tho’, once realising how truly “fit” some of the young cast members on the cover are – even pledging his support, on the spot, to help Stonewall raise the £150k needed to make a pucker DVD, to take FIT to a wider audience.

Lots of young male callers, recently diagnosed positive, on my Switchboard stint, late on in the month. Luckily can recommend two new websites for advice on living with HIV - Terrence Higgins Trust’s “What Next?” (www.tht.org.uk/whatnext), and NAM’s “Living with HIV” (http://www.namlife.org/), both covering how to tell people you are positive, getting treatment, HIV and sex - and much, much more.

Toy devouring some of the, thankfully typically numerous, more erotic inclusions in the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (http://www.llgff.org.uk/), based at the National Film Theatre on London’s South Bank - the largest festival of its kind in Europe, attracting an audience of over 22,000 people each year, viewing over 120 film premieres, plus shorts, masterclasses and interviews.

Opt instead to jet off again to the Gay Snow Happening www.soelden.at/gaysnowhappening) gay ski week in Austria - since I enjoyed it so much last year. For the last decade - seduced by its world-class skiing area, rejuvenating spas and saunas, plus raucous clubs and bars - hundreds of gay men from across Europe have descended on the stunning west Austrian Tyrolean resort of Sölden, near Innsbruck: for the first, and still some will argue only, truly pan-Euro gay ski ‘n party week. Like last March, find the event perfectly scaled – not too large, not too small – with the emphasis on socialising and laughter. Seems many, like me, return year after year - notably the Germans, Austrians, Brits and a fair few gorgeous Irish – most of who all-too-gladly gad about starkers at the infamous mid-week clothes-free thermal spa night!

First Circa drinks party of the year absolutely heaving, early Feb at the swanky Arts Club in Mayfair. Nutty and I almost fail to spot Joshua’s ex, Charlie, cavorting openly with the Boy on the far side of one of the main rooms - certainly thankfully no chance of a quick hello. Missed out on winning the painting in the prize draw again, but – after a few glasses of Bolly - the odd bits of nude male art adorning the venue suffice to get me in the mood for the night ahead, at the Shadow Lounge, seemingly milling with its fair share of cute young boys.

One way or another, the same weekend seems to roll on and on, well into the early hours of the following Monday morning. Scarce conscious of what Birman-flanked Boss saying at Circa mews meet – something about “behaviour of Circa staff at official drinks parties” I think - but pass out cold, mid-spiel. Hope fellow employees Karl ‘n Kev took detailed notes! Taxi gets me to weekly Soho Park session with son Toby a couple of minutes late, but by which time am mercifully pretty much my sober self.

Despite sleeping through what feels like the ensuing few days, am only semi-conscious during nocturnal Switchboard stint – typically busy in run up to Valentine’s. Spend half an hour with a positive guy who bemoans the extra challenges of finding love – let alone keeping it - when you’re living with HIV. Getting a second date on the gay scene can be a challenge in itself, so how do you tell someone who you hope likes you enough to want to start a relationship with you that you’re positive? Not only is there the fear of rejection and that they might run a mile when you tell them; there’s also the added worry that they might tell other people about your status. And if you are successful in starting a serious relationship, and you’re living with HIV, then your status can also have a big impact. If both of you are HIV+ then there are issues around supporting and coping if one of you gets ill. If only one of you is HIV+ then there can be issues of guilt from both sides - guilt that you are HIV and you could infect your partner; and guilt that you are negative and somehow “lucky”. Refer him for more specialist advice at THT Direct on 0845 1221 200.

Stick with health theme for my monthly Circa-branded Capital Queer column, championing Terrence Higgins Trust’s new campaign aimed at raising awareness of the levels of undiagnosed HIV in gay men. “THIVK you’re still negative?” includes gay press adverts, condom packs, posters and scratch cards. The Health Protection Agency estimates up to 10,000 gay men in Britain – a third of all gay male cases – may have HIV without knowing. Moreover, late diagnosis brings a much higher likelihood of serious illness and premature death, can reduce treatment options and obviously has an effect on onward transmission of the virus. Details of local testing clinics at http://www.tht.org.uk/

Catch up with mags and papers, lying in with Mous ‘n Cous one Sunday morn in sunlit Soho pad. Amused to read Sir Paul McCartney responding to claims, in a new John Lennon biography, that his great songwriting pal - murdered in 1980, and rumoured by some to have had a brief gay fling with Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, in the 60s - was secretly gay and had had a crush on he himself. “John never ever tried anything, I slept with him a million times,” quips Macca, additionally assuring: “I’ve seen him on tour roaring drunk… always with a female.” Also spy that over a third (36%) of Britain’s lovesick lesbians say Carol Vorderman is the famously brainy female Brit they’d most like to date, according to some new poll - a third (34%) of gay male singles likewise yearning for an intimately stimulating tête-à-tête with wiry Scottish intellect, Andrew Marr – ahead of Professor Stephen Hawking and Ian Hislop, no less!

Valentine’s looming, toy with trying out one of those mass speed dating sessions, like last year, but recall I was just about the only participant still left on the shelf at the end of the event – even my mates copped off with each other, a year ago! Also toy with another ski jaunt, this time the Valentines Gay Ski Week, in Sestriere, Italy – where participants either bring their boyfriend or husband; or come ready to meet someone new and help them keep warm amidst the swirling snow! In the end, opt to stick closer to home. Ah, the dreamy spires and homo-hoards of bright, brainy boy babes who’ve just left home, hungry for new knowledge - a significant portion of whom seem to be either queer, or constantly questioning. Yet - scarce an hour from London - anyone can say they “went to Oxford” these days! Recently voted one of the most romantic cities in the UK, it’s also perfect for a quick Valentine’s treat – whether for doting couples on an amorous gay weekend away; or for lonesome lovesick singles, like myself, out on a boy bender binge!

With February being the UK’s 5th LGBT History Month (http://www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/), go with sister, Kerrie, to see “Marlene Dietrich - the greatest gay icon of all” - an affectionate tribute, by veteran gay humanist journalist Terry Sanderson, to the complex personality of one of the 20th Century’s greatest entertainers – at the Conway Hall, in Red Lion Square, Holborn. Wonderful, well worthy of a transfer or longer run.

Then the vexed question of where to find some winter sun, to mop up more of my seemingly endless Circa hols. Mull Melbourne’s Midsumma Festival, Sydney Mardi Gras, Rio Carnival, Cape Town Pride and Miami Winter Party – but simply couldn’t stand the long-haul, or the ensuing lag. Jet off instead, with Inge – who’s finding being a personal trainer at the gym pretty dull after his escorting – to catch the climax second half of Sitges Carnival! On the most popular days we find more than 300,000 partygoers dancing on the major streets across this resort, south of Barcelona… Barcelona… you know… that place near Sitges!

Very pleasant lunch with Stonewall chief Ben Summerskill, early on in New Year, he outlining his organisation’s priorities for 2009, Stonewall’s 20th birthday annus – including its Education for All campaign in schools and making FIT, its widely-praised play for schools, into a DVD so every school pupil in Britain gets the chance to see it; plus growing its hugely successful Diversity Champions Programme, promoting fair treatment in the workplace; plus achieving the passage of a new Equality Bill, requiring, amongst other things, public services to actively promote equality; plus continuing to promote fair coverage of lesbian and gay people in the print and broadcast media. “Changing the law is always only a first step,” vies Ben, as we share a discreetly light desert. “Stonewall’s campaigning now has a more direct impact at grassroots level. We’re not complacent about work still to be done.” Half consider touting myself as a new Stonewall trustee, what with my marketing expertise and business contacts, but think their latest selection bout is now past.

Busy on Switchboard early Jan – lots of people picking up the pieces after overly debauched festive queer cheer. Several guys anxious they may have overdone the mulled wine - then got frisky, then risky. I reckon there are many possible reasons, often found in combination, why some people take sexual risks and engage in unprotected sex – including raw sensual pleasure sans condom; thrill seeking; depression and low self-esteem; loneliness and the desire for extreme intimacy; the alluringly disarming mist of “real love” in a relationship; safer-sex fatigue; disinhibition through drugs or alcohol, especially around this time of year; peer “pressure”, since so many others seemingly eschew condoms, either openly or just in the sack; basic denial, and the ill-founded belief that “I’m OK and he looks OK”; rebelling against the forbidden etc etc. I also believe greater awareness, understanding and discussion of such factors may help when trying to promote better sexual health, not least amongst gay men.

Disastrous outing with Nutty one Sunday afternoon mid-Jan. He thought he’d located another fetish club for us to try out, enticingly and promisingly called the London Cruisers (http://www.cruisers.org.uk/) - only for us to discover it’s a queer basketball club, to whose practice session we unwittingly show-up. Unfortunately, we only realise our faux pas after we’ve both removed our clothes and launched ourselves into the middle of the hall, mere moments before a dozen rather shocked gym-slipped giants come bounding and bouncing onto the scene… at least two of whom I knew!

Treat my little Toby and not-so-little Sven “Thunderclapper”, plus newly re-joined Kev ‘n Em, to a fun rendition of Cinderella at the Lyric Hammersmith – boo, hiss, boo! Duly encouraged, treat Joshua and Karl, plus a few good Circa pals, to a night of fun and laughter at the little New End Theatre in Hampstead. No‘l at No‘l featured a singer and pianist performing many of Noel Coward’s best-loved songs laced with witty anecdotes. On a roll, also treat sis Kerrie - plus mum, up from Essex - to the iconic gay musical La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse Theatre in the West End, with Irish comic-cum-presenter Graham Norton in the drag queen role of Albin, belting out queer anthem, I Am What I Am. Runs ‘til 25 Apr 2009 (http://www.lacagelondon.com/).

Manage to work on the old on-piste skills with an all-too-short stint at Aspen Gay Ski Week (11-18 Jan 2009, http://www.gayskiweek.com/) – near Denver, Colorado - reputedly the world’s first official gay snow fest, whose history now spans three decades. Top DJs, ice cool pool parties, downhill costume parades, meet-and-eat events and other frosty frolics take one nightly through into the wee small hours - just in time to hit those virgin slopes, again and again, cum morn!

Relax in bed, thighs and groin heartily aching, on return from US (who needs the gym when you’ve got the slopes?) - purring Mous ‘n Cous playfully scurrying and lolling around under duvet; and Boyzone’s Greatest Hits album blaring away, a kind gift from Charlie and the Boy, who seem to have found a little love-nest to rent, somewhere in salubrious Kilburn, the mind boggles. Am half amused to browse in papers that gay singer-cum-actor, John Barrowman, has been apologising after being heard “exposing” himself on a live BBC Radio 1 programme, he somewhat limply mitigating that, “I didn’t take the whole thing out.”

Talk about New Year’s Resolutions! Hook up with once-mighty Inge at a Soho boozer – pleasantly shocked to find he’s now hooked on orange juice, and has given up escorting altogether, to work as an instructor again, back at ye olde gym - new manager seemingly unaware of his famed past indiscretions with punters in the steam room… hope he’s more discreet this time. We both bemoan the fact that our erstwhile watering hole, the Coleherne, one of London’s most historic gay venues, has recently closed its doors – apparently to make way for a family gastro-pub! Once frequented by the likes of Freddie Mercury and Rudolf Nureyev - not to mention serial killers Dennis Nilsen, Michael Lupo and Colin Ireland – its demise is the latest in a series of closures to blight the waning Earl’s Court scene.
Of course, I do do some work in January, too! Hook up with Boss and Birmans to celebrate Circa hitting its 35,000th member, with a few bottles of finest fizz – and to hear fierce growth projections for the coming year, recession shallow or no! Also pen Capital Queer column, explaining just what London hosting a fortnight-long World Pride - during the “Olympic summer” of 2012 (provisional dates, 23 June - 8 July 2012) – could do for our already-famous capital.

Also rather surprise myself by – for the first time since an altar boy, aged 10, when my mates and I used to down the (unconsecrated) wine and delicious wafer hosts “backstage” before appearing – attending a mass. LGBT Catholics (http://www.sohomasses.com/) hold them at the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption & St. Gregory, Warwick Street, in Soho at 5pm on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month. Spiritual quest or unconscious guilt, I wonder? Nice occasion, whatever. Shame about the Pope!

Lonesome this Valentine’s? Disillusioned by bar and scene? Beating Soho’s streets, solo, gazing in at all the queer candlelit couples? Try our alternative Top 10 Tips for finding long-term love…

1. Join a gay sports or social club! From rambling to wrestling, from choral singing to classic cars, LGBT sports and social groups are a great way to meet other gay guys with shared interests, well away from the prevalent, pressured smoke-filled, sex-fuelled scene. Sporty stuff’s great for your health too! For clubs and events in London and the UK, sift Circa’s own fab community and events listings, or check out www.gmfa.org.uk/theguide! Or, if shy but into reading, simply hang out at the gay sections of larger bookshops and strike up conversations with guys browsing interesting covers!

2. Volunteer! A great way to meet other people who have more than one thing on their mind – themselves – whilst putting something back into a gay community you at least occasionally get something from! From HIV buddying (www.tht.org.uk) to Switchboard (www.llgs.org.uk), thumb through Circa’s own brill community listings to see what tickles, and get in touch.

3. Campaign! What better way to meet a real hero - whilst helping the cause of global gay rights? Keep apace of gay news by reading your very own Daily Circa and get involved in rights issues that affect you and those around you. Many’s the time true love’s ignited under fire – demos are full of heroes - or romance has bloomed behind bursting barricades. www.stonewall.org.uk; www.petertatchell.net

4. Mix business with pleasure! Join and fully immerse yourself in a gay social professional network club like Circa (www.circa-club.com) – which meets regularly in the flesh in central London, and has thousands upon thousands of other contacts online! Especially useful if you’re looking for an ambitious, high-earning, career-minded type - and more than just a business partner!

5. House party! The latest retro chic. Not vast warehouses on urban fringes! Parties around people’s homes are coming back in vogue. Large bars and clubs are ace; but it’s hard to beat a good old-fashioned house party for meeting, and actually spending good time chatting with friends and, more to the point, friends of friends – in an intimate setting with fewer distractions; and all for less cash! So get back on the domestic circuit fast. Accept every domestic invite you get! Or throw a party yourself!

6. Take Pride! But for the really big annual parties, and a whole day of breezing past, and getting to know, new people: Pride Season is mere months away; so get ‘em in your diary! Buy or borrow a dog to take along with you: never fails! 2009 listings at: www.gaytoz.com

7. Speed date! Intensive get-to-knows! Cram them in! Meet-and-grill as many men as you can probably stomach at these fun, fast and furious events: www.pinkdate.co.uk

8. Date online! As if sifting and filtering out all the thousands of potential business and life partners at Circa (www.circa-club.com) weren’t enough! Europe’s largest serious gay and lesbian dating site, www.gay-PARSHIP.co.uk, now boasts well over 330,000 members, and counting! The unique PARSHIP psychometric compatibility test uses simple questions to gauge the ways people think and interact with others. When matched with someone with the right balance of similar or complementary characteristics, it’s more likely to last!

9. Go celibate (temporarily)! Don’t they say “abstinence makes the heart grow fonder”? And what better way of breaking the “addictions of the flesh” and refocusing the mind than with a healthy, albeit temporary, stint of voluntary celibacy? According to gay abstainers, you save years of time and mountains of dosh not hunting down men. You put megatons of physical and emotional energy thus saved into other more creative interests and wider, deeper friendships. Plus: doesn’t no sex beat bad sex? And: the right man tends to come along when you’re not quite so desperately looking for him.

10. Enter therapy! If you have been unhappily out-of-love for too long for your own liking, or stumbled from one too many stalled relationship to another - and suspect you may be your own main obstacle to a sincerely-sought fulfilling partnership - you might seek advice from a good friend, or even from a professional councillor or therapist (www.pinktherapy.com). Although, you may well also reach the conclusion that you are – in fact – genuinely far happier: as a singleton!

Adrian Gillan looks back upon some of the key events of 2008 in the gay UK…

• JANUARY - Sir Ian McKellen is made a Companion of Honour in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. Former Stonewall and Women and Equality Unit chief, Angela Mason, is upgraded from OBE to CBE; and Kylie Minogue gets an OBE.
• FEBRUARY – Minister Kevin Brennan speaks at Schools OUT’s annual conference, which coincides with the start of the 4th LGBT History Month.
• FEBRUARY – Following an employment tribunal, The Bishop of Hereford is ordered to pay more than £47k to gay youth worker John Reaney, whose appointment he blocked in 2006.
• MARCH - Queer clubbing legend, DJ Tallulah, dies, unexpectedly, age 60.
• APRIL - Stonewall’s 10th star-studded Equality Dinner sees actors rub shoulders with ministers at the Dorchester Hotel in London, raising £320k for the gay mega-charity’s campaigning work.
• APRIL - Veteran campaigner Peter Tatchell, ambushes a bus bearing the Olympic torch, as it passes through central London.
• MAY – 81-year old Reverend Ian Paisley, Northern Ireland’s First Minister - once famous for his “Save Ulster from Sodomy” campaign – stands down.
• MAY - The House of Lords passes new protections against incitement to homophobic hatred.
• MAY – Tory Boris Johnson is elected the new Mayor of London; pushing gay Lib Dem candidate Brian Paddick into third place.
• MAY – 58-year old Paul Patrick, Co-Chair of Schools Out and LGBT History Month, dies.
• JUNE - Iris Robinson, wife of the First Minister of Northern Ireland and MP for Strangford, tells BBC radio, “I have met people who have turned around to become heterosexual” - subsequently claiming that gay people are worse than paedophiles.
• JUNE - Thousands of walkers – including celebs Dannii Minogue and Alan Cumming - make the annual 10k Crusaid Walk for Life through central London, aiming to raise £400k.
• JUNE - The British Government initiates an official project requiring its 261 embassies, high commissions and other assorted diplomatic outposts around the world to proactively support and promote LGBT human rights in their respective countries.
• JULY - An estimated 500,000 people throng the streets of the English capital for the annual Pride London celebrations.
• JULY - A tribunal decides in favour of Islington registrar Lillian Ladele, who refused to conduct same-sex civil partnerships on the grounds that it conflicted with her religious beliefs.
• JULY - 51-year old Alan Duncan becomes the first Tory MP, and the first member of either the Cabinet or Shadow Cabinet, to enter a civil partnership.
• AUGUST - Former MP, Leo Abse - who helped secure the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality in 1967 – dies, aged 91.
• AUGUST - A spokesperson for 45-year old George Michael claims that the veteran gay pop icon is “not going to play any more big arenas” after the climax shows of his 25 Live tour – although he subsequently does!
• SEPTEMBER - 67-year old Christian pop legend Sir Cliff Richard confesses he has shared his life with a former Roman Catholic priest for the past 7 years – and is tired of the speculation.
• SEPTEMBER- Treasury Minister Angela Eagle enters into a civil partnership with her partner-of-eighteen-years - becoming the first lesbian MP to so do.
• OCTOBER - Hitherto gay EU Commissioner for Trade, Peter Mandelson, is made a Lord and appointed Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform in a Cabinet reshuffle - having twice previously resigned from former PM Tony Blair’s top table.
• OCTOBER - Little Britain star Matt Lucas becomes the country’s first celebrity gay divorcee.
• OCTOBER - The House of Commons passes the new Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill which, amongst other things, protects the right of lesbian couples to access NHS clinics.
• OCTOBER - Former Mr Gay UK, 36-year old chef Anthony Morley, is sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his former boyfriend in Leeds back in April. Morley cut his victim’s throat, and stabbed him repeatedly, before cooking and eating part of his thigh.
• NOVEMBER - The 3rd Stonewall Awards are hosted by actor Richard Wilson. Winners include Hero of the Year, openly gay US Bishop of New Hampshire, Rt Rev Gene Robinson .
• DECEMBER - A new Equality Bill, is announced in the Queen’s Speech, that should place a duty on public bodies to actively promote LGBT equality in all their services.
• DECEMBER - Sometime-icon Boy George is convicted of “false imprisonment” after keeping a 28-year old Norwegian escort he had met on Gaydar, at his London flat, against his will.

World AIDS Day (1 Dec, http://www.worldaidsday.org/) proffers perfect excuse to skip first monthly Monday morning mews meet, on grounds of attending a “life-savingly unmissable awareness-raising event”, I tell Boss, reminding her there are 33 million people now living with HIV worldwide; and, whilst HIV has affected every country and community, gay and bi guys remain one of the communities most affected, globally. Indeed, as I subsequently learn, new gay-specific “HIV hotspots” are emerging around the planet as I type. In Asia gay men are over 18 times more likely to have HIV than the rest of the population; and in every major Asian city there are now epidemics of HIV among gay men. In America, gay men are over 33 times more likely to have HIV than the wider population. And in Latin America gay men make up anywhere from half to 90% of all infections. Africa, too, is beginning to recognise its own HIV epidemic among gay men, with Kenya, Senegal, Sudan and South Africa reporting that gay men are almost 4 times more likely to have HIV. It is impossible to say how many gay men are living with HIV around the world as some countries still refuse to even recognise that gay men exist; whilst, in others, stigma and discriminatory laws leave the true state of affairs unknown. And even here, in the UK, a worrying trend is emerging. While the number of heterosexuals diagnosed with HIV each year is beginning to fall, diagnoses amongst gay and bisexual men continue to rise. Over 2,700 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed last year here; and there are now over 30,000 people living with HIV in the UK. Over a quarter of them do not know it, because they haven’t been tested. Scarce a half of all gay men in the UK have ever had a HIV test.

Raucous Circa Christmas Drinks Party at Arts Club in Mayfair on Fri 5 Dec. Drag Karl and Joshua along, newly ensconced since their splittings with Kev ‘n Charlie, respectively – Kev now back with Emma and her ex Sven’s not-so-little Inge “Thunderclapper”, Sven having gone AWOL; Charlie seemingly hooked up with the Boy, of no fixed abode… can hardly keep track. Bolly flowing freely. Lots of goss flying… like Prince Harry seemingly being “first in line” when it comes to gay love, with over a third (34%) of Britain’s gay single men wanting to date him, thereby pipping older brother, William (23%) - according to a recent poll. 10% apparently want a double-date with both young princes. However, a quarter (23%) of Britain’s lovesick lesbians say Willy’s Kate is their date of choice, trumping Harry’s Chelsy (18%). Laughter and hilarity: the Royals’ most vibrant modern-day function!

Party season hitting festive stride, lesbian sister Kerry lures me along, mid-Dec, to a social do at GLAM (Gay, Lesbian And Mensan - http://www.glam.org.uk/) - the independent group for LGBT members of Mensa, the high-IQ society, which currently boasts about 100 members throughout the UK. That said, if there are 3.6 million LGBTs in the UK, as Government estimates suggest, and they have the same general intelligence distribution as the wider population, then 72,000 LGBTs – the top 2% in terms of IQ - are actually eligible for Mensa, hence GLAM, membership. And if you followed this last calculation, you may well be one of them! If already LGBT and a Mensa member, contact Corinne on 020 8466 5632 or e-mail info@glam.org.uk - quoting your Mensa membership number. If not yet a Mensa member, but think you might qualify to so be, contact British Mensa at http://www.mensa.org.uk/. Kerry’s now a GLAM regular – less due to her doubtless dazzling cerebral hemispheres, more since her latest girlfriend is a member, and so she thereby automatically qualifies, as a partner! And I’m just blagging along in tow. Bit out of our depths, truth to tell. Soon find myself yearning for tad more earthy banter down my local Wardour Street boozer; or to be larking around with my weebie son, Toby!

Greatly in demand on Switchboard in run up to Xmas, our busiest time. Hardly surprising, given that LGB people are 50% more likely than straights to have suffered depression or anxiety disorders - according to latest research. We are also, seemingly, more susceptible to substance abuse and attempted suicide, scientists claim – adding that the high correlation between poor mental health and sexual orientation is most likely caused by sustained stress brought on by discrimination and exclusion, by families or wider society. Rarely more so, alas, than in the “season of goodwill”.

Nice relaxing time with my own mum back in Essex over Xmas, glad to report – a great gay-detox from my usual neon pink lifestyle… a kind of extreme non-scene… my queer lifeblood gradually leached out of me, by bowl upon bowl of Xmas pud, plus countless lashings of steamy vanilla sauce. Regardless, still find self yearning for the sights, lights, nights of the capital - and my beloved Soho. Give kitties Mous ‘n Cous some festive treats when back in pad – doggy bag leftovers from my Boxing Day lunch with Nutty, all the trimmings. Horrified to read in papers that evening that the Vatican - which is supposed to have something to do with Christmas, isn’t it? - has approved psychological selection tests to root out those wannabe priests with “deep-seated homosexual tendencies” or “uncertain sexual identity”: despite Catholic priests being officially celibate. According to new guidelines, “psychological defects, sometimes of a pathological kind, reveal themselves only after ordination”. The tests are voluntary, but refusing to undergo one would most likely bar candidates from the priesthood. Also spy in papers that London School of Economics “humour researcher”, Deborah Finding, is certainly not amused – fiercely attacking the popular BBC comedy show, Little Britain, arguing that self-proclaimed “only gay in the village” Daffyd gets his laughs by ridiculing, and reinforcing mainstream fears about, gayness; claiming the series “does far more to promote racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism and classism than it does to satirise them.”

Pen final – if hardly seasonal - Capital Queer column of year, prompted by another newspaper report. A quarter (24%) of the British public apparently want gay sex to be re-criminalised, according to The Observer Sex Poll 2008 – despite all the recent legal advances; and despite 1 in 8 (13%) admitting at least some sexual contact with someone of the same sex during their lifetime, rising to 23% amongst specifically 16 - 24 year olds! Over half (56%) of those polled think gay couples should not be allowed to adopt children; 45% oppose gay marriage; and 40% want a higher gay age of consent. I ask whether homophobia is merely lightly sleeping below the PC surface of the Great British psyche? And whether it might even impinge on the implementation of our seemingly now-fair laws - if jurors, say, take an unduly dim view of any gays in the dock.

Steam me up Scottie! I take the high road to Scots capital, Edinburgh, with a bunch of Circa pals for a right old Gay Hogmanay - to mark the year’s end, and bring in the new! From medieval Old Town with Castle and Royal Mile, to Georgian New Town with stucco squares, this “Athens of the North” blends historic heritage with living culture and even boasts its very own “inner-city mountain”, Arthur’s Seat. Most of the gay action happens in the Broughton locale around folly-filled Calton Hill – up which great views abound, and men oft “take airs”; and, at the foot of which, pubs and bars keep pumping tunes and booze into the wee small hours. Not least when kilts are flying around New Year – an utter homo hoot!