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Abdellah Taïa was destined to be a writer. Born in the public library where his father was a janitor, he grew up in Salé, a city near the Moroccan capital Rabat. Determined to learn French and study abroad, he won a scholarship and lifted himself out of his impoverished and hostile surroundings, and eventually became known as the North African country's only out homosexual. These days, he considers himself Parisian, continuing his writing practice from his Belleville studio in the 20th arrondissement. Away from his desk, nothing gives Abdellah more pleasure than his frequent trips to the cinema. New York-based, Egyptian filmmaker Ahmed Ibrahim and Abdellah spoke about gay life in their respective home countries, and Abdellah's recent stint as film director, when he adapted his most beloved book 'Salvation Army' for the big screen.

Gay liberation icon Peter Berlin (AKA the Greta Garbo of Porn) has brought his mail order photography to the ClampArt fine art gallery this month for ‘Wanted: Peter Berlin’, an exhibition of self-portraits from the ’70s and ’80s. Born in Poland and raised in Germany, Peter eventually moved to San Francisco in 1969 and became a kind of fixture, perpetually posing and cruising around in his own skin-tight sex looks.

I caught up with Bottoms — drummer Michael Prommasit, screamer Jake Dibeler, and knob twiddler Simon Leahy — in Amsterdam during their last Euro tour. For the next episode of Pillowtalk, we’re chilling with some of their fav dark wave and industrial slow jams, and previewing an exclusive Soft Pink Truth remix of their track ‘Boring’. This fall may be your last chance to see the wigged trio as the group was always ‘project based’, which is to say, she’s got a sell-by date and it’s fast-approaching. First up is Jake’s pick: ‘Dissolve’ by girl goths Switchblade Symphony.

Nick Ibanez (circa 1981, as seen above) and John Davidson (circa 1965, gracing BUTT's splash page this month) were just two of the many, many hot tamales photographed by the late, great Bob Mizer in his now-infamous Athletic Model Guild studio in Los Angeles, California.

Fans of the late great Rainer Werner Fassbinder will want to make a beeline for ‘Fassbinder — NOW’, an exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, before it closes this Sunday. Highlights include Barbara Baum’s sailor costumes from his lurid film Querelle, based on the Genet novel. There’s also a fascinating display of the director's televised interviews, ephemera and personal effects from his estate. Works by other artists, including BUTT buddy Willem de Rooij, are well-placed to complement Fassbinder’s oeuvre and underline his profound influence outside the the world of filmmaking.

Yo guys! Stuart of London likes to draw the fellas he meets online. Here, 31-year-old, rugby-playing builder Zach has put up a new offer on an adult mail order site. Know that all orders include extra loads of semen to ‘keep yourself young’. He also sells used condoms, by the way, delivered directly to you, to be enjoyed in the privacy of your own home.

The ambitious team of film enthusiasts at Dirty Looks have put together a thirty-one day program of queer interventions (mostly film screenings) in various locations across New York City during the month of July. Tonight, they show the beautifully restored version of Wakefield Poole’s experimental porn masterpiece, ‘Bijou’, at The Eagle. If you’ve never seen it, please do. I cannot imagine a better spot for it, to be honest. The program includes many other gems, including the everyday pleasures of an XTube video as well as some classics, like ‘Tongues Untied’ by Marlon Riggs.

May the leather gods smile down on Ben and Guy at Chapter Records in Melbourne, Australia for re-issuing a very trashy collection of BDSM rockers by Smokey. By the time they committed 'Piss Slave', the slap happy disco track about watersports, to tape, Smokey had already had it with being the most influential gay rockers you had never heard. Stream, listen, and...

Baker Beach
Black's Beach
Capocotta
Cherry Grove
Clifton 3rd
Coco Beach
Es Cavallet
Fire Island Pines
Ginger Rogers State Beach
Gunnison Beach
Haulover Beach
Herring Cove
Hi Beach
Hilton Beach
Hollywood Beach

54-year-old Scot Jimmy Somerville arrives at his manager’s office on bicycle, whizzing past the photographer and I, who have stopped to gawk at a parked Maserati among the council estates. He’s compact and fit, perfectly suited for the hazards of cycling in London. With his former bandmates in Bronski Beat, Jimmy wrote two of the most iconic gay anthems, ‘Smalltown Boy’ (pink triangle emblazoned across its seven inches) and ‘Why?’ in 1984, when queers had few allies under Reagan and Thatcher. With his alarm call of a voice, which extends over three full octaves and has been known to shatter glass on occasion, he had continued success with The Communards, plus a steady stream of solo records. This year, he released ‘Homage’, a collection of instant disco classics, and now his sound is taking a surprising detour.

Fabulous illustrator Robert W. Richards is in Berlin to present a book from his exhibition by the same name, ‘Stroke: From Under the Mattress to the Museum Wall’, in which he collected some overlooked, but definitely worth-looking-at pornographic illustrators who drew during his heyday in mags like Freshmen, Torso, and Honcho. One of twenty-five artists from the catalog, Michael Kirwan, never liked his men pretty: “old, fat, ethnic, plain, disabled and unusual queers exist and are equally deserving of being depicted”.

This time, I’m curling up with 24-year-old New Jersey rapper and big spoon Rashard Bradshaw AKA Cakes da Killa, now sitting pretty in his room at the Hampshire Hotel Eden in Amsterdam. He gives me the lowdown on his nastiest lyric ever, his cocoa butter obsession, and what it’s like being an emotional juicer. We also listen to some tracks from his last EP, #IMF, which is totally gorgeous and lush, by the way, and has Cakes showing off his more vulnerable side.

'Tom of Finland: The Pleasure of Play', opening this week at Artists Space in New York, is perhaps the most complete look at the iconic artist's work ever, including more than six decades worth of drawings. The exhibit's a boon for those looking for insight into the illustrator's process...

27-year-old singer — and possible lovechild of Klaus Nomi and Laurie Anderson — Colin Self delves into full-on fantasy mode with this track from his luscious debut USB album, Elation. 'Aflame' sees Colin projecting beams of woozy Mamas & Papas-esque vocal harmonies, which are then subjected to a rigid chopping and muting. Stream, listen and...

Versatile Roddy Bottum is currently in the middle of a fifty-nine date tour, tinkling the ivories with MTV Generation rockers Faith No More. Of course West Coast indie pop kids know him on guitar/vox in bubblegum group, Imperial Teen. Recently, he previewed his first opera (about Bigfoot) in New York where he's been hanging out for the last couple years, threatening to take his music to a more theatrical place. But Roddy grew up in Los Angeles, near the Wilshire Country Club, in a stimulating environs where no one ever went to a dinner party without at least three topics for conversation.

In the Sonoran Desert, just outside of Tucson, Arizona (where temperatures are expected to reach 86˚F this weekend), there’s a magnificent formation of boulders where you can strip down and partake of a DIY hot stone massage. That’s exactly what Alec did on that massive granite outcropping near the creek’s edge — his favorite spot for sunbathing and swimming during the (almost) lazy days of summer.

Ah, to be a young homosexual, coming of age under the watchful eye of one’s doting mother. London-based writer and broadcaster Richard Scott — who characterizes his relationship with his mother as good by the way — submitted two poems, which we suspect will touch and excite BUTT readers this Mother’s Day. Although his poems are not always autobiographical, Scott explains, “They play around with the idea of being confessional…”

It’s May and cock rocker Roddy Bottum unzips for artist-photographer Milan Zrnic in Bronson Canyon, one of the many cruisy corners of Griffith Park, Los Angeles. The area, which is home to the original Batcave, has also been a go-to shooting location for Hollywood B movies for years.

If AA Bronson was a card in the tarot, he would be The Magician. That card is all about discovering and making use of one’s might. For his first solo show at Maureen Paley, AA Bronson: Hexenmeister, he has brought his unique combination of esotericism and homosexual subculture to the London gallery.