Summer is the queerest season. Hot sun, bare skin, bodies dancing so close into the early hours. I’ve felt my most free on vacation, like I can be some version of myself I’m not at home. The kind of person that drinks a bottle of Whispering Angel at lunch on Formentera and walks straight into the sea in a black dress and swims back to the boat (pictured!).
Now I’m a queer parent to an 8-year-old, summers are a bit more about surviving, but my wife and I have an openness that blooms at this time of year, with us both taking individual trips that allow us the small joy of stepping out of daily family life to explore ourselves as individuals.
We’ve been to festivals with friends, on solo work trips, writing retreats, party weekends and later in the month you can read about the five days my wife spent with a famous TV intimacy coach in San Francisco! As I’ve gotten older I’ve appreciated more and more what beautiful possibilities there are within queerness to do things differently and make our own rules. Being married, having a kid – these ostensibly heteronormative life choices don’t need to close doors, they can be radical in their own way.
It’s something JJ Croucher explores for the August issue as he argues that there’s no ‘palatable’ way to be gay and we belong to the full subversive spectrum whether we like it or not. Disagree? Mistress will see you now! Yep, Sapphic Mean Girls are here to put you (safely and consensually) in your place. Pass the whip and don’t miss Katie Baskerville’s brilliant guide to the FLINTA dominatrix scene.
Elsewhere this month Joe Stone writes about the highs and lows and lols of the gay group trip which is all sundowners and hookups when you’re there, and all SplitWise pings and detoxes as soon as you get home. And this being our big summer issue, it’s only right we share the has-been queer hotspots around the world and tell you where to go instead. News Flash: Mykonos is still over.
Also this issue we have the truth behind the top shortage (don’t miss Tom George’s great piece), the thrill of small penis humiliation and the emotional cost of amicable queer divorce. Become a paying subscriber to enjoy all these excellent long-reads and so much more.
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Scientists have found that summer is when we queers are at our hottest and horniest (yes, I’m the scientists). From Pride month to end of season parties we are doing the most and making it matter.
Jessie Ware’s song ‘16 Summers’ is a love letter to her children, but – bear with me – could it also be about how few summers we have left looking and feeling this good? Gah! Book the first flight to Mykonos, I mean Anafi!
Did I mention that Jessie is this month’s cover star? Who could be better to turn up the heat than this British disco diva, Mother of the gays and all-round good-time gal? Jessie Ware and I caught up as she prepared to release her most unapologetically camp, fun and steamy single yet ‘Sauna’. We’ll be screaming, crying, throwing up in the front row of her O2 show in London in November. And Americans, you’re in luck – she’s touring stateside from October (tickets here).
Before I go, a quick PSA: next time you buy an iced matcha this month, may I urge you to note that it’s less expensive to subscribe to Gay Times Magazine, and the buzz lasts longer. From hot-takes to hard-hitting journalism, our content puts you at the centre of queer life and culture. The best LGBTQ writing, insight and opinion, curated for you, by us. Support our work by subscribing today, it beats a Jet2 Holiday.
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Enjoy the summer
Lotte x
@lottejeffs
(Editorial Lead, Gay Times Magazine, August 2026)
