Nutty Neighbour pops round saying he’s “undergoing research”. Seems gay men’s health charity GMFA is producing a guide to cruising for sex that will help gay men “develop their cruising skills and make decisions that will protect themselves and their partners”, and is asking gay men, just like our Nutty, to anonymously submit their experiences - both good and bad, and whether online, in bars and clubs, or outside – at www.outspokenonhealth.com/cruising. Having outdoor sex is not illegal per se, reassures Nutty – who seems to have much of value to researchers; but participants do risk breaking the law if seen by peeved passersby; or, de facto, if they have sex in so-called public toilets.

Pre-Xmas Bolly bubbling all round at main monthly Mon morn mews meet, be-tinseled-Burman-flanked Boss fair exuding seasonal joys! Big visions for the future as champers likewise full-flows, ranging from a major “outreach” to recruit more remote rural members, to increased online activity, Boss having been especially impressed with Stonewall‘s recently-launched YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/stonewalluk) featuring clips from events and interviews with politicians and top celebs.

Highly enjoyable informal Circa meet round our new Tory MP member’s home in Chelsea. Reveals that a book chronicling the history of homosexuality in the Conservative Party - and how its attitudes have changed from the post-war years to today - is to be published in coming weeks. Apparently, Michael McManus, author of the book – working title, Over the Blue Rainbow – even assisted closet gay PM Ted Heath with his autobiography; and has been collecting some pretty juicy stories for this latest opus. Absent Charlie and Boy are still seemingly parted – the former back on the game; the latter back on the bottle. Or so says, Kev, who has popped along, “having a night off” from Em’ ‘n not-so-little Sven; and who might be entering another “bisexual phase”, he coyly confides. Joshua ‘n Karl as inseparable as ever, although formerly-gym-fit Karl’s now puffing out like a ball, and both are bemoaning the state of the country - claiming they’d leave for Italy tomorrow, if only their UK civil partnership would be recognized overseas. While EU member states are already indeed required to simplify entry and residence for couples in recognised relationships, regardless of gender, they are not yet explicitly required to recognise gay couples in marriages or civil unions – thereby leaving same-sex couples who visit, or move to live in, other EU countries without protection in areas like benefits, pensions, healthcare and non-biological parental rights.

Call still-down-in-dumps recently-diagnosed-positive Inge to draw his attention to a range of new online and face-to-face services being developed to help transform the way people with HIV manage the disease as a long-term condition. There are now almost 100,000 people living with HIV in the UK, with around 7000 more diagnosed each year – each new diagnosis costing the tax-payer £350k in associated lifetime treatment costs. These new services - due to launch early 2011, and developed by Terrence Higgins Trust - are designed to relieve pressure on the NHS and focus clinical expertise where most needed.

Heaps of calls to Switchboard from young gay males already stressed out about eating too much in the run up to, and during, Xmas. Yet despite their numbers increasing, men with eating disorders feel invisible and unable to seek professional help, according to research by the South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM). It is now estimated that at least 10% of binge eaters, anorexics and bulimia sufferers are male. Whilst rates among men are on the rise, rates among women have remained largely static over the past decade. Refer callers to SLaM’s Eating Disorders Service: www.national.slam.nhs.uk/eatingdisorders

Use monthly Circa-branded Capital Queer column to ask, “10%, 6% or 1.5%: just how rare do you think us LGBs really are?” Only 1.5% of the UK adult population say they are ‘gay/lesbian’ or ‘bisexual’ in a recent Office for National Statistics poll. LGB charity Stonewall and the government currently use a figure of 6%. Other studies suggest the figure may lie between 6%-10%. Some commentators claim these latest ONS stats undercount true numbers since the survey uses the phrase ’sexual identity’, not ’sexual orientation’; and since, despite anonymity being guaranteed, many respondents may still find the question too intrusive.

- Farquharson claiming he actually called Stewart a “fat git”; and that two gay male American students from New Jersey have seemingly broken the world record for the longest continuous kiss - locking lips for just under 33 hours! Matty Daley and Bobby Canciello - who are apparently “just friends” but who dutifully practiced “for months”, supposedly to overcome “lockjaw” and “muscle strain” - hope to win a place in the Guinness Book of World Records once their outstanding oral feet has been ratified. Rules state contenders must not sit down, use the loo - or wear nappies.