Love, Equally Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tipping the Velvet

Nan and Kitty become one of the most celebrated music hall acts in the theatres of 1890s London, but Nan finds it increasingly difficult to hide her feelings for Kitty while they are in public. Nan is passionately in love with Kitty and sees no reason to be ashamed of their relationship, but Kitty is far more circumspect and leaves Nan to enter a marriage of convenience in order to quosh the rumours that are beginning to circulate in theatrical circles. Nan's devastation over Kitty's desertion leads her on a self-destructive journey through the seedier side of Victorian London.

She is eventually saved from her life of debauchery by the virtuous and serious-minded Florence Banner who is herself in mourning for the woman she loved. Even though Nan and Flo could not be more different, they end up falling for each other and the book ends happily with Nan turning down Kitty's offer to resurrect their clandestine liaison in order to continue her open and honest relationship with Flo.

The wrong answers are other excellent novels by Sarah Waters which all deal beautifully, and often poignantly, with relationships between women in Victorian England in the case of 'Affinity' and 'Fingersmith' and in 1940s England in the case of 'The Night Watch'.

Answer: Armistead Maupin

The first installment of the series, also entitled 'Tales of the City', was published in 1978 and was followed by eight sequels, the last being 2013's 'The Days of Anna Madrigal'. Over the course of the books we are introduced to a cast of diverse, fascinating and often loveable characters whose lives we follow through the thirty-five year span of the series.

When we first meet 'Mouse', a young and romantic newly 'out' gay man, in the first 'Tales of the City' book he is dating a handsome but elitist and arrogant doctor called Jon Fielding. Jon and Mouse have split up by the second book but Mouse takes him back when Jon turns his back on his snobbish friends and promises to be a better boyfriend.

Their reunion is short-lived as they split up when Mouse becomes ill and Jon dies shortly after of AIDS. Mouse himself contracts HIV in the 1980s but is successfully treated with anti-viral medication and goes on to enjoy several more romances before settling down in middle age with his younger husband Ben.

There are so many brilliant characters and exciting (if not convoluted) storylines in this series that I can't possibly do justice to in a short note, so I would highly recommend reading them for yourself!

Answer: But I'm A Cheerleader

This sweet and funny film begins with Megan, a popular and cheerful high school cheerleader, being sent to the 'conversion camp' by her parents who fear their daughter is a lesbian. Megan does not realise she is gay, despite not wanting to kiss her football playing boyfriend and being far more interested in looking at her fellow cheerleaders, and ironically only comes to terms with her true sexuality while undergoing the gay conversion therapy.

When two boys at the camp are discovered to be having a relationship with one another one of them is expelled and goes to stay with two other boys who were once at the camp and are now living together nearby having been expelled in similar circumstances. Soon after this Megan and Graham are discovered and Megan is forced to leave the camp, she tries to persuade Graham to go with her but she is afraid of what her parents will say. Eventually, Megan and the other escapees disrupt the camp closing ceremony and Megan tells Graham she loves her the best way she knows how, with an elaborate cheerleading routine! Also featuring great performances from Rupaul and Mink Stole, this film does a wonderful job of parodying so-called 'gay conversion therapy'.

Answer: Mark and Benny

Tom Collins, an anarchist college professor, first meets Angel, a young drag queen, when the latter helps Collins after he is mugged. Collins and Angel, who are both HIV positive, begin a relationship and soon fall deeply in love. Unfortunately their happiness is cut tragically short when Angel becomes very ill due to AIDS and subsequently dies while being nursed by a heartbroken Collins. Roger, a failed musician and his neighbour Mimi, a young dancer, are both very attracted to each other but are reticent about pursuing a relationship as both are HIV positive and neither realises that the other also has the same status. Eventually they confess their HIV status to one another and begin a tempestuous relationship.

The relationship between Joanne, a lawyer and Maureen, a performance artist, is considerably less difficult than the other two principal relationships in the show, but they are constantly arguing over what Joanne sees as Maureen's flirtatious behaviour and what Maureen sees as Joanne's possessiveness and eventually their arguments become so fierce that they split up.

However, in the wake of Angel's death, they realise that they truly love each other and that their problems can be worked out and happily reunite. Although HIV/AIDS and the impact it can have on the lives of sufferers and their loved ones is a major theme of 'Rent' it is also a play about love in all its forms, its highs and lows, as well as about friendship, community and the importance of following your heart.

Answer: American Dad

Despite numerous hints from his wife Francine, it takes Stan a long time to realise that his neighbours are gay. Stan's views on homosexuality improve when he discovers that it is not a choice, having tried, and subsequently failed, to become gay in order to join the gay republican group 'The Log Cabin Republicans'.

He still has a long way to go however as, when Francine acts as Greg and Terry's surrogate, Stan kidnaps their baby in order to find her a 'real' family. Fortunately Stan has another epiphany and returns the baby to her rightful home. Though his behaviour still leaves something to be desired, Stan becomes increasingly comfortable with, and supportive of, Greg and Terry as the series progresses.

Answer: The Color Purple

Celie and Shug's relationship has somewhat unconventional beginnings since Shug is the former mistress of Celie's abusive husband. As well as bringing love into Celie's life, Shug also encourages her to stand up for herself and eventually to leave her husband and set up her own tailoring business, Shug is also responsible for discovering that Celie's beloved sister Nettie is still alive.

Although Shug leaves Celie to go off with a much younger man from her band, Celie remains true to Shug and when Shug's fling inevitably dies out she naturally returns home to Celie.

Answer: Modern Family

Modern Family is a delightful sitcom revolving around patriarch Jay Pritchett and his much younger wife and their young child and Pritchett's two grown up children and their families. Cameron and Mitchell have an adopted daughter called Lily. Their wedding finally went ahead despite a catalogue of disasters, including a forest wildfire, leading to three venue changes! The show has won several Emmy awards and is popular with both viewers and critics.

Answer: Blue is the Warmest Colour

Not only did the judging panel at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival unanimously vote to award 'Blue is the Warmest Colour' the Palme d'Or, but they also took the unprecedented step of awarding it jointly to the director, Abdellatif Kechiche and the two leading actresses, Exarchopoulos and Seydoux, making them the only women other than director Jane Campion ever to receive this honour.

The film was based on Julie Maroh's 2010 graphic novel of the same name.

Answer: In and Out of the Kitchen

'In and Out of the Kitchen' is a very sweet and low-key sitcom which follows Damien and Anthony through their day to day lives and uses entries from Damien's diary and various appropriate recipes as a device for moving the narrative along. In the penultimate episode of series 3, in a genuinely touching and emotional scene, Anthony proposes to Damien and he accepts.

A series of the show was also commissioned for BBC television.

Answer: The Archers

This is the second time that Adam and Ian had made history, just two years earlier they had become the first gay couple to kiss on an episode of 'The Archers'. 'The Archers' is widely considered to be one of the last bastions of so-called 'middle England' and there is often outrage expressed by fans when any storyline tackling modern or controversial issues is incorporated into the show and, sadly, the love story of Adam and Ian was not immune from this.

However, over time, Adam and Ian have become such a fixture of life in Ambridge that the initial storm in a teacup that surrounded their first on-air kiss seems to be a distant memory. 'Civil Partnerships' were the only form of legal partnership available to gay couples prior to the passing of the 'Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act' in 2014.