[garinda]

He was the first boyband member to come out as gay, even if it was just before he was about to be outed by the press.

Even though their fan base was mainly young girls, the public acknowledgement of his sexuality didn't affect their popularity, and that shows just how far we've come, certainly amongst the younger generation, who couldn't really give two figs about the gender of someone else's partner.

I've read the article, and there is a subtle homophobia, by the use of words such as natural, strange, and lonely. It's the Daily Mail for goodness sake, edited by a right-wing Catholic, who thinks contraception is evil, so I'm not greatly shocked they employ a columnist who makes use of such terminology to get across her distaste of his lifestyle.

He died very young, and like any such death, that's sad. Though no more sad than anyone else's, which happens before their time.

I suppose if I'd been a fan, and he'd been part of my growing up, I might have found the public brouhaha, The People's Pop Princess's flower strewn journey to his final resting place on Craggy Island, a little more palatable.

Like others have said, what disgusts me more isn't the early natural death of a popular singer, but the pointless, daily deaths of our armed services.