Shawn Syms

Alison Wearing’s dad, Joe, was everything that a father is supposed to be in our culture—a consistent provider, a loving protector, a man who cheered on his adored offspring at every assembly, performance or gymnastics meet. He was also deeply enamoured of musical theatre, French cuisine, prancing along sidewalks and lounging in silk pyjamas. In other…

Men attracted to other men have long contributed to the cultural canon of Western society—even if they have not always either acted upon that desire or written about it. But the formation of organized LGBT communities in the liberalized post-Stonewall era led to an outpouring of cultural dispatches directly concerned with the lives of gay…