THEGAYUK

Day: 1 June 2017

  • Twitter unveils new Pride icon for Pride Month 2017

    Twitter has changed its Pride and #LoveIsLove heart icon from a singular rainbow to  a rainbow along with a blue and pink element.

    Twitter has added a gender element to its #LoveIsLove and #Pride2017 heart icon to celebrate the start of Pride month across the world. The full rainbow icon was launched last year with the trending of the #LoveIsLove hashtag, but has now had a blue and pink element, which echoes the transgender pride flag, added to the left-hand side of the heart, which some had said has added a sense of unity for the community.

    Twitter users took to the social network to show their love for the new design, with many users commenting how “cute” the new design was.

    https://twitter.com/Tsar_8781/status/870320055921324032

    https://twitter.com/femmina/status/870303950091599872

    https://twitter.com/dongyuck/status/870294724875354112

    https://twitter.com/opskuldd/status/870303385014095873

    If you’re a fan of the hashtag #LoveIsLove check out these mugs from TheGayShop.co.uk

  • Police are appealing for information after “homophobic abuse” on train

    The British Transport Police (BTP) has released CCTV footage following a “homophobic” incident on a train in London.

    (PICTURE REMOVED)

    The images of three men caught on CCTV have been released as police by they look to question them in connection with an alleged homophobic incident on a train.

    The 21-year-old victim was travelling on a London Overground train from Highbury & Islington to Willesden Junction when he was allegedly targeted with homophobic abuse.

    A statement from the BTP said,

    “Officers have conducted a number of enquiries and are now in a position to release CCTV images of three people they would like to speak to in connection with the incident, which took place around 10.30pm on Friday 31 March. Do you know who they are?

    Anyone with information is asked to text to 61016 or call 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 386 of 31/05/2017. Alternatively, ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

     

  • Trial delayed for man accused of killing his boyfriend

    Brian Canchola’s trial has been delayed until October after witness illness cancels a court hearing.

    The family of Stephen Sylvester will have to wait until October to learn the outcome of court proceedings against Brian Canchola, who stands accused of killing his boyfriend. The 18-year-old victim was found unconscious by police at his home, but died later from injuries sustained in an attack.

    Kxan.com reports that a witness illness caused the delay after a hearing on Friday was cancelled. The judge pushed the trial until October 16th 2017.

    Canchola was charged with first-degree murder after allegedly beating his 18-year-old boyfriend, Stephen Sylvester, to death. According to Canchola’s co-workers, the pair had been dating for two months.

    In 2015, a roommate told police that he had heard fighting between the two boyfriends after he arrived home in the early morning and it was then that Canchola accused Sylvester of cheating. An alleged fight apparently escalated with the roommate hearing “banging and violent crashing”.

    According to an affidavit, supplied by the roommate, the roommate also heard Sylvester’s pet dog crying out in pain after Canchola reportedly threatened to kill it.

    The roommate found Sylvester after the fight, conscious but with bleeding coming from the back of his head and transported him to University Medical Center Brackenridge. However, Sylvester left the hospital before receiving medical treatment. He returned back to his apartment, where he lost consciousness, was transported back to a hospital and later died.

    Canchola, who is now 22, is currently out on bond.

     

  • Three things to remember if you’re going to wear flip flops

    We’re all sticking to our knickers, the sun has come out to play and your plates-of-meat want to follow suit. You’ve put away your brogues, Converse and winklepickers – it’s the season to let your tootsies see some light. Out come the Havie’s, Prada sandals and the good old faithfuls, Muji flip-flops.

    Three things to remember if you're going to wear flip flops

    Your extremities are on display for all to see – basic grooming is essential so as not to repulse or alarm friends or potential mates with your unkept talons.

    Here are three tips for you chaps:

    1) Pterodactyl toes are a big no-no

    If your toenails are longer than Caitlyn Jenner’s manicure, and you can not only scratch an itch on your chin, but clamber to the top of the Shard with said sharp appendages – get ya arse down to the reptile department at London Zoo. One of the keepers, shears in hand, will make light work of your prehistoric claws.

    2) Smooth away crusty heels and flaky paws

    If your feet look like you’ve been trekking up and down the Pyrenees barefoot for three months, and your heels have more cracks than Greece’s economy – not to mention the built-up dry skin that would make a rhinoceros’s feet seem velvety – book an emergency appointment at your local chiropodist. Failing that, nip down to B&Q and grab some heavy-duty sandpaper.

    3) Say goodbye to hairy hobbit hooves

    If you’re sporting more hair on your tootsies than your head, and you’d have breezed an audition for Lord of the Ring’s trilogy with ya plates-of-meat alone – it’s time to de-fuzz. Wax, shave or Veet: Middle-earth feet aren’t a look for any summer.

    Peddyliscious feet mean more toe sucking, tootsies rubs and dazzling plates-of-meat.

     

  • COMMENT | Are you suffering from “straight jealously”?

    I wanna hold your hand (and other straight jealousy)

    As the title says, it’s a simple request; all I want to do is hold a hand, specifically my partner’s hand. We’ve been together for 8 years and I’ve never openly held his hand or been overly affectionate in public, and a video posted recently of two men in Russia just walking down the street holding hands painfully illustrates the kind of reactions that we would get. Obviously, the UK is far more liberal than Russia when it comes to gay rights, but I would still feel nervous about what could potentially happen.

    I consider myself a strong guy mentally, and if someone is openly homophobic I will stand up for myself, but it’s the subtle type of reactions that bother me more. The whispers and stares from people we would get for doing something so benign that straight people don’t even have to think about it. I do feel a pang of sadness and jealousy when I’m walking along with my partner and see couples holding hands or being affectionate, completely oblivious to the world around them, thinking of nothing more than their eventual destination or what’s for dinner that night.

    Straight people take for granted how easy it is for them to display affection towards their significant other, and while there may be a very small minority of people who might stare at a straight couple, if they are of, say different races or different physicality, it is nowhere near the level of hostility a gay couple would endure.

    I also very rarely visit “straight” nightclubs on a Friday or Saturday because it only takes one person saying something to ruin a night out. I feel constantly on edge, always wary of the kind of people who are about and how they might react to me, and obviously, with alcohol involved, this becomes more of a minefield. Most straight people can go to a nightclub and have a great night out without the fear of either having something said or worse, being attacked. Yes, it can happen that anyone can get into an incident in a nightclub, but as a gay person, the odds are stacked far more against me.

    I’m lucky in the fact that I’ve only ever experienced a few incidences of outright homophobic verbal abuse, and I’ve never been physically attacked and I consider myself fortuitous that the most I’ll get from friends and work colleagues would be considered nothing more than friendly banter and natural curiosity to me. However, what is friendly banter to me, could be incredibly hurtful to someone else and in the younger LGBT population especially, who may still be struggling with their identity this can be potentially dangerous.

    To some straight people reading this, they may question why I would be jealous of them, and this is where the problem lies, they don’t see a problem. They don’t have the need to see an issue, something I and the LGBT community don’t have the luxury of.

    The reason we have Pride events is so that as a community we can feel safe enough to be ourselves, where the worst we’ll get is from a few sad people in anoraks quoting bible verses at us, who are easily ignored. I’ve had it asked to me and others many times “Why do you have pride marches?” And my usual reaction is “be thankful you don’t need one”. The fact we have had to fight to be given basic rights, and it took until the 21st century to even be allowed to have a civil partnership shows there it still a long way to go to change people’s attitudes. We simply haven’t come far enough to stop the fight for our right to exist and to be recognised.

    But what can be done, should all gay couples just hold hands and sod the reactions? Sadly this isn’t as easy as it sounds. In some places in the UK, this could potentially result in a violent reaction. LGBT people have been attacked and or killed, and over 35,000 incidences of homophobic hate crimes go unreported every year. Does this illustrate that the LGBT community are so used to these kind of reactions that they consider it pointless to report it anymore, or is there something of a more deeply disturbing trend when it comes to homophobic abuse, in that LGBT people don’t feel anything would be done even if it was reported and would that then result in worse treatment from the perpetrator after they got their slap on the wrist. Statistics show that fewer than 1 in 10 homophobic hate crimes that are actually reported lead to a conviction.

    Times they are a changing though, and the general overall attitude towards gay people is positive and accepting, and as people become more educated about the LGBT community the more people will not think twice about seeing two men holding hands.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • 10 Things Gay Men Hate On The Gay Scene

    10 Things Gay Men Hate On The Gay Scene

    The scene… hold on I hear you say? Why do I hate the scene? It’s the place to be, to socialise and meet other like-minded individuals! But as you shall see my friends, The Scene is fraught with obstacles and dangers that lurk in the dark underbelly of that glitter infused world

    10 things gay guys hate on the gay scene

    1. The Shade, The shade of it all…

    This one would probably be the most obvious of things to dislike about the gay scene. The natural bitchiness that seems to infest the community. Whether it’s simply snide comments, or outright nastiness, there is a constant feeling of being judged by your taste in music, or who you are, if you don’t subscribe to the idea of perceived gay perfection.

    2. It costs a lot of money to look this cheap…

    Recently there is a fashion to go towards having the most up to date underwear, the most on fleek eyebrows and enough makeup on your face to smother a cow. I’m first to admit I’ll happily slap a thin layer of foundation and powder on in order to have a more even skin tone, but taking out shares in Boots makeup counter is not something I really feel the need to do. Plus hotels probably charge for leaving that amount of fake tan on the pillows.

    3. You can’t sit with us…

    Unless you’re 18, with perfectly styled hair and weigh enough to make a Twiglet look morbidly obese, you’re painfully looked down upon. God forbid you should be over 30 with a receding hairline and carrying a few extra pounds and still want to go out and have a dance and a drink. Cliques are frustrating if you simply don’t fit into one. Yet trying to find a group of people you do fit in with, can usually result in meeting people who probably strangled small animals as a child.

    4. Jimi Hendrix deceased, drugs. Janis Joplin deceased, alcohol. Mama Cass deceased, ham sandwich…

    Most club DJ’s seem to forget any music existed between 2000 and 6 months ago and before 1990 and unless you ask for it, the brilliant music from the past is completely passed over for the mind-numbing tunes that you’re not entirely sure where one ends and the next begins because of the same beat traversing through the tracks. Not every gay person enjoys the same music, and even the most dedicated of club goers can get bored by the same tracks being played week in week out

    5. Nissed as a pewt…

    With the way most jobs are these days, shift work causes a natural tendency to go out and get absolutely wrecked on alcohol. I don’t just mean louder and not caring how you look on the dance floor drunk, I’m talking as drunk as possible before passing out. And this can lead to many unfortunate accidents and waking up next to the creature from the black lagoon. Find your limit of where you’re still an acceptable human being to be around and bloody stick it.

    6. We’ve got one night only…

    Let’s face it, the gay club scene is usually not where you’re going to find the love of your life. But most people seem to expect it and this leads to disappointment that Prince Charming didn’t come in on a white horse and sing at you. But it is disheartening when the most you can usually expect is a fumble behind a skip

    7. Calm down Beyonce…

    We’ve all seen them, and we’ve all been on the receiving end of them. The diva queens who insist they are the dog’s proverbials. Strutting around like the world owes them something, pushing in at the bar because they think they should be served first, but as soon as you call them out on it, it’s like you’ve somehow insulted THEM and aren’t bowing down to their sense of entitlement.

    8. No, no, you said it. It’s out in the open. We have to live with it now…

    The girl that guy is trying to get with goes to a club with her best gay friends, he tags along, and then acts surprised by the fact he’s in a gay club. Then the questions start… the endless questions and the protestations of: “no I’m fine with gay guys, just don’t come on to me”

    Consider it flattery, just say you’re straight and move on. Don’t act offended, you’re in a flipping gay club with men who are attracted to men.

    9. A dog’s not just for life, it’s for Christmas…

    The girls who are on the lookout for a new “pet gay” Their old one has moved on, or got into a relationship and these girls are on the shop. While it’s always nice to make new friends, we certainly aren’t looking for someone who only wants a gay friend as some kind of fashion accessory and to boast to their lady friends. We also shouldn’t be used by these female strangers as a way for them to call judgement on and or pull the tall guy we fancy ourselves, and no I won’t come shopping with you tomorrow.

    10. My god, it’ll be beautiful…

    When your local club announces it’s going to have a “refurbishment” and closes down sections for weeks with endless announcements of the re-opening with all the special promotions that go with it. You gussy yourself up, get all your friends out. Have a few pre-drinks, because those club drinks don’t come cheap. You queue outside anxiously waiting for this little slice of gay heaven to open it’s doors. You go in with sparkles and rainbows in your eyes to be greeted with a new mirror ball, a smoke machine that fails after an hour and the walls being painted blue. Oh the humanity!

  • 3 survival tips for first dates

    First dates are much like The Kooples’ mid-season sale – it’s never certain you’ll be taking something home.

    Whether you were squiffed out of your brain and sucked faces with a hottie while throwing shapes at East Bloc and swapped numbers, or, you woke up to discover a mystery chap in ya boudoir after a Cinzano-fuelled bender and feel the need to meet again. Or a pal has the perfect match for you and sets up a blind date. And let’s not forget Grindr, Tinder, or Scruff to name but a few.

    1) Two-drink rule

    Never meet for dinner on the first date – drinks only. If you’re staring into the eyes of Ryan Gosling and your sides hurt from his witty repartee – great, go and fill ya Paul Smith dip-dyed black-leather Claude-boots. You don’t want to be stuck in a situation where your date is as scintillating as Lewis Hamilton and you have to painfully watch him devour a couple of courses before you can scarper. Buy a round each, then off you toddle.

    2) Have an early morning excuse up your sleeve

    Nowadays, with smartphones, everyone’s David Bailey. You can filter, crop and enhance any snap taken on your iPhone or Android. A lot of men seem to have mastered this art: you think you’re meeting David Gandy and you end up sitting opposite David Hasselhoff. So come prepared for such a situation. If you’re faced with the Hoff, drop into the conversation early on that you’ve an important dawn’s crack meeting, a 7 AM military-style personal training session or you’re having your genital warts removed first thing. The two-drink rule, then you’re out of there.

    3) Finishing the job properly

    You’ve executed the two-drink rule, the blind date organised by your chum wasn’t your cup of Manuka honey and Rooibos, and said date has a twitch in is trousers every time he thinks about you. After the night in question arrives the text: “Great to meet you, let’s do it again.” If you’re not interested, don’t string him along with ambiguous messages – and certainly never ignore, that’s just rude. A simple few words: “Lovely to meet you, you’re a really nice guy, but for me, no chemistry – have fun at your second-cousin-twice-removed’s wedding x”.

    Job done.

    Follow these three and you’ll avoid long evenings better spent watching QVC, plucking your nose hair or texting guys you don’t really fancy because your Grindr’s gone quiet.

  • Orlando Massacre survivor dies in tragic car crash

    A survivor of last year’s ISIS attack on a gay bar in Orlando has died following a head-on car crash in Orlando.

    Jahqui Sevilla has tragically passed away after a head-on car crash nearly one year on from the Pulse nightclub massacre which left 49 people dead. The 20-year-old college student died on State Road 417 when her vehicle drifted into the opposite lane and hit another car head-on. Both drivers were killed.

    Sevilla survived last year’s terrorist attack on the Pulse nightclub. After the gunman opened fire, one of her friends was hit in the forearm, Sevilla applied pressure to the wound and stayed with the friend, helping her move to safety, outside the club where emergency services were able to help.

    Police are investigating the cause of the crash.