The experience of uncovering the widely misreported crowd figures at the Manchester Pride parade has given me a healthy scepticism towards anything I read in the press.

A popular theme in the news these days is that the BBC is short of cash. But this is never put into a historical context. It seems that journalists are either too lazy or over-worked to look into it in any depth. So I decided to find out for myself… (more…)

It’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans History Month.

If you grew up in Britain in the 1960′s or 1970′s then you probably remember the 13-part series Robinson Crusoe on BBC Television. This French production was shown many times between 1965 and the early 1980′s, often during school holidays.

Featuring handsome Robert Hoffman, most people remember the programme for the music, which was composed by Robert Mellin and Gian-Pero Reverberi, and for the distinctive dubbed English language narration. However most would be hard-pressed to name the actor who spoke those words and even fewer know of the love story behind the screen credit.

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A marvellous Colgate toothpaste ad from the early 1980′s based on ‘Baggy Trousers’ by Madness.

And here’s a version for the US market with some of the same kids. But with every trace of Britishness and most of the Madness imagery removed it doesn’t quite ‘get it’ and ends up looking like a dog’s dinner.

When William Lygon, the 7th Earl of Beauchamp was outed as a homosexual by his brother-in-law, in June 1931, his family banded together to protect him.

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