Lifestyle › ES Magazine Meet the LGBTQ+ Londoners shaking up sexuality and gender Fifty years after sex between gay men was decriminalised, Kate Spicer meets the Londoners changing perceptions of sexuality and gender today * Kate Spicer -- express no gender, to drag kings and drag queens. Likewise, our understanding of gender has evolved, moving away from the strict binary choice of male or female as prescribed by born sex. Sexuality, too, is viewed with more nuance; as writer and activist Charlie Craggs points out: ‘We’re in an interesting time, moving towards a more liberal age. Fifty per cent of millennials don’t consider themselves straight and see gender and sexuality in shades of grey, not black and white.’ The city has risen to the occasion, as it always does, as a place where -- I’m me,’ says lifelong Londoner Shabazz, whose highly politicised cabaret pieces can provoke ‘shock, rolled eyeballs and tuts’ at their commentary on sexuality, race and class. Shabazz is also a teacher, working for clients including Camden Council, the British Museum and the V&A, and ‘once did a vogueing workshop for OAPs’. Shabazz’s -- will present Werq: A Voguing Ball to a crowd of 700 at the Barbican. Given that he has had his house set on fire, been kidnapped and been stabbed because of his sexuality, it’s unsurprising that he thinks ‘we still have a long way to go’ in terms of collective attitudes. ‘The gay scene is still so segregated,’ he says. ‘Where can we go to be one big -- lives in New Cross, has also been a (reluctant) muse and model for several London designers. After a few attempts at nailing down how he feels about his sexuality and gender, he settles on ‘non-binary, gay man’. (Johnny Cochrane) -- Chiswick. ‘We’re not just millennial aberrations.’ (Johnny Cochrane) More about: | sexuality Show{{#moreThan3}} {{value_total}}{{/moreThan3}} comments Reuse content -- (BUTTON) Meet the LGBTQ+ Londoners shaking up sexuality and gender 1/12