THEGAYUK

Day: 10 November 2013

  • Lady Gaga warns about communications over the internet

    It seems as though Mother Monster, Lady Gaga, is a firm believer in Astrology as she Tweets a warning about communications over the internet.

    “Applause” singer Lady Gaga took to Twitter today to let her followers know you’ll not be able to ‘side-step the consequences of the things you say on the internet’
    She continued:

    ‘Today is a VERY important day for the ‘resetting’ of communication. Protect your karma, spread love, and THINK before you tweet.

    ‘Be compassionate to those around you who experience consequences for their 2013 communicative choices TODAY, its kingdom come. #ARTPOP2NIGHT

    Quite! Mystic Meg eat your heart out…

  • COLUMN | Bully Boy

    Secondary school was a pretty grim time for me.

    In spite of being bright, having lots of friends and attending a pretty good school, it was a hideous time in my life and one that I shudder to recall. Markedly effeminate and obviously gay, I was a sure fire target for the homophobic bullies and there’s nothing like a touch of bullying to make life a living hell. I still recall evenings at home sitting and crying in my room, the lurching nausea of a Sunday night with the prospect of school the next day and the soul-destroying erosion of my confidence.

    30 years later, I wondered what advice I might give my 12-year-old self, should I discover that elusive time machine. Here are my top five tips to mini Chris. I’m sure that they won’t apply to everyone and I know that facing up to a bully is a complex issue but here’s what I’d tell myself. Hopefully it might have some advice transferable to others too.

    1) Tell people about it

    The worst bullying of all came from a sport’s teacher (clichéd, I know but people often do behave in a way so tediously true to the expected norm). The belittling comments and name calling during sports lessons set a precedent. If it was acceptable for a teacher to call me ‘the poofter’ in front of the class then it was acceptable for everyone, surely? The resolution came when he blacked my eye (accidentally) by throwing an icy cold football at my face with velocity whilst shouting some retro homophobic name at me. Cue a minor inquiry and a partial resolution of his nasty behaviour (it was the ‘80s, people could get away with more bad stuff than now). It’s easy to see, in retrospect, that I could have made it end a lot quicker had I spoken out sooner to maybe my parents or a sympathetic teacher. At the time this felt terrifying and impossible but I realise now that I didn’t deserve this and that whatever I did to speak out then the moron couldn’t hurt me any more than he already was doing.

    2) There’s safety in numbers

    Take comfort in your allies and if possible, befriend the like minded. I’d tell 12-year-old Chris that he has a great bunch of friends who actually seem to like him and will stand up for him. I made friends with two other gay teenagers and that was an incredibly lucky thing for me. I was lucky that they existed and we got on. We’d hang out together and to our surprise, it was harder to bully three people than one. My loyal female friends were a support too. There was a memorable incident when a boy tripped me over on the way home and my female friend punched him squarely on the jaw. He didn’t cross me again for fear of her firm left-hook. Naturally, I wouldn’t ever advocate violence but I really wish I’d known before that my group of friends were so willing to take no nonsense whilst I was prepared to take so much.

    3) What they’re saying is rubbish

    Just because you have a crush on the singer from Duran Duran and like a good show tune doesn’t make you inferior. Whatever names they might call you are utterly irrelevant. The opinion of someone who terrorises someone due to his or her sexuality really doesn’t count at all. It’s worth less than zero. In fact it’s worth less than that even. It needs a whole scale of its own; it’s so beneath contempt.

    4) Look for positive role models

    Not so easy in the 1980s but this is a bit easier now, hopefully. Even back in the bad old days of leg warmers and The Kids from Fame, there were strong positive people to look up to. It was a revelation to me, at the age of 14, to discover gay literature. I devoured books by Edmund White and Felice Picano and took a keen interest in historical figures like Harvey Milk who had fought so strongly for the cause. Pop music gave me idols too and Andy Bell and Jimmy Somerville were strong and unashamedly gay figures. These people taught me more about humanity and strength than any meathead sports teacher or vile acting teenager with an axe to grind.

    I also found comfort from a local gay youth group and the local gay switchboard. I was amazed that other people understood what the strife I was going through and that I wasn’t alone.

    5) Remember: You really are a lot more fierce and fabulous then they’ll ever be

    Nothing to say about this on except: fact!

    This is just my advice to myself and doesn’t apply to everyone. Bullying is a hard thing to stand up to and to get through alone. If you are being bullied because of your sexuality or any other reason, whatever age you are, then please get some professional help and advice.

    Here’s some useful links:

    http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Bullying/Pages/Homophobicbullying.aspx

    http://www.standupfoundation.com/

    http://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/advice/children-young-people.aspx

    http://www.eachaction.org.uk/about-each/

    And for more contacts visit: http://www.thegayuk.com/Bullying

  • INTERVIEW | The creatives behind the Laramie Project in Brigton

    Next month, the Academy of Creative Training brings The Laramie Project to Brighton, 15 years after the murder of Matthew Shepard. We speak to Kordian, Paolo and Sarah about the groundbreaking show and why it’s still so important so many years on.

    What is The Laramie Project about
    Kordian: The Laramie project is about the killing of a young boy in a rural town called Laramie. The boy’s name was Matthew Shepard and it is believed that he was killed because of his sexuality. The Laramie Project is an interview- style play where a theatre company called ‘The Tectonic Theatre Company’ run by Moises Kaufman travels to Laramie over the course of two years to talk to Matthew’s close friends, family and the residents of Laramie, Wyoming. The play is a collection of interviews that have been put together in such a way that it gives the audience a chronological image and structure of the run up to the killing, the brutal murder itself and the aftermath.
    Sarah: The Laramie Project is a true story about the aftermath of a hate crime. An unprovoked gay beating.
    The events in the play are real versions of events. When you watch the play you are listening to what are the real words of the townsfolk.
    The style and form of the play is ‘epic theatre.’ which means everything is kept as real as it was as much as possible, even the words. It is like being a ‘fly on the wall’ or watching a documentary

    Paolo: The Laramie Project is about people, is about us. Is about your home town and its people, from the neighbour who asks you for glass of milk to the police officer who gave you a ticket for having parked your car on double yellow line.

    Do you think that the Laramie Project will resonate with the UK public?
    K: I hope that this play will stay with the people who come to see it and I hope that they will pass on their thoughts and feelings about the play and about the major issues that are still prominent within our society.
    S: Absolutely. The play is about hate crimes and there are many worldwide motivated by sexuality, beliefs, what people look like. The list goes on !
    I think the play will resonate with any parent as well. I am a mother of a five year old boy. I cannot imagine what the parents of Matthew went through. In fact you hear his Father’s actual words at the end of the play when he is in court making a statement. I will be very surprised if there are dry eyes at the end of show !

    P: I believe it will, it’s a play for everybody and so whether you agree with the general moral of the play or not it is a great piece of entertainment worth watching, it will make you think and feel. Brits love that 😉

    Why is it such a powerful story?
    K: A young man was killed by two other boys who were the same age as him and knew him. There are murders every day of this kind and worse. The ‘story’ is not important, the act itself is the most important thing, we are doing terrible things on a day to day basis and the killing of Matthew Shepard was one of many.
    P: Because you are taken on a journey with the people of this small Wyoming town, Laramie, feel love with them, feel anger, sadness and joy with them; you will laugh and cry and that’s why the Laramie project is such a powerful story.
    Why is it important to do a play like the Laramie Project?
    P: Like Moises Kaufman once said, this wasn’t the only hate crime ever committed in America, or in the entire world, but the Tectonic Theatre Project chose this particular tragic event. It got involved in so many different aspects and changed so many lives, starting from the people who were involved, the people of Laramie, and consequently the whole nation because of Fred Phelps and the media etcetera … that it had to be told. People had to know. Not only because hate crime is wrong, but people had to understand and still have to understand how the death of one person can affect other’s lives, minds and beliefs.

    What’s the most touching thing about the film and play?
    K: The fact that what’s written in the play is the complete truth. People aren’t going to be sitting in the theatre thinking ‘ blah, blah, blah, lines, lines, lines’, they will be (hopefully) listening closely to what’s being said because what’s being said is what real people have said after a horrific event that shook their town. That is the most touching and important aspect of the play I believe.

    S: The play : Dennis Shepard’s (Matthew’s father) court room speech. He advocates life to the people that have murdered his son, against his gut feeling.

    What is touching about both Matthew Shepherd’s parents is that they have fought endlessly since Matthew’s death to stop hate crimes and to stop prejudices about gay people, with people like Ellen de Generes and Elton John. And in April 2013, Barack Obama passed a hate crime bill with Judy Shepherd (Matthew’s Mother.)

    P: You’ll have to come and see it so YOU can tell us what that is!

    Does the film and play differ?
    S: We make sure, as actors we don’t watch the films associated with any of our productions as we don’t want to copy or emulate any parts. We gather the source material ourselves and make our own versions of the characters.

    Do you think the minds of people like the Westboro Baptist Church will ever be changed?
    K: No. They will only ever struggle with their own beliefs and the conflicts created by them and those who oppose them will push them further into believing whatever it is they believe.

    S: Some people when they have their minds made up, there is nothing you can do to change it. It is just very sad to see that there are people in this world that are so full of hate.
    Fred Phelps hates Jews, Catholics, he hates Barack Obama.
    But underneath it all, he hates himself the most.

    P: I don’t think it will. I don’t expect them to change their beliefs anyway. It’s their religion and they are free to believe in what they want. What I hope is that they understand we have our beliefs too and there are no reasons why they should hate us because of that. That is unnecessary.

    The Laramie Project is in Brighton at the Nightingale Theatre Brighton

    Dates: 14th- 18th December 2013, nightly at 8pm
    Where: Nightingale Theatre Brighton BN1 3PA
    Tickets: £10.50/8.50
    Buy online: www.actbrighton/whatson.php
    Phone: 01273 818266

  • Glee Boys Get Semi Naked With Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato

    An all new episode of Glee goes jungle for Katy Perry’s Roar & Lady Gaga’s Applause as cast mates welcome Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato and get semi nude in loincloths.

    Producers of the show are pulling out all the stops as most of the male cast of Glee goes semi naked for a Lady Gaga and Katy Perry special.

    The episode also sees the cast welcome American Idol star Adam Lambert and Demi Lovato.

    Chord Overstreet looked pumped for his performance of Gaga’s Applause…

    Special guest Adam Lambert, lights up the screen with his smile, guesting on vocals for Roar along with Demi Lovato and the rest of the Glee cast.