THEGAYUK

Day: 22 January 2018

  • Isn’t it time UK law considered gay sex equal to straight sex?

    For those who continue to call same-sex marriage “marriage equality,” you might be interested to know that the UK government doesn’t consider your sexual activity equal.

    So when same-sex marriage came into law, it didn’t automatically spell marriage equality – it’s one of the reasons why THEGAYUK.com doesn’t use the term.

    One of those things that stopped us from fully embracing the marriage equality slogan was that in UK law gay sex and straight sex are not equal.

    How do we know this? Well, straight couples can get divorced because of adultery. Gay couples cannot. Effectively treating same-sex sexual relations differently from heterosexual sexual relations.

    Adultery is defined by UK law “voluntary sexual relations between an individual who is married and someone who is not the individual’s spouse”, but it only counts if the person is of the opposite sex. A spouse cannot commit adultery if the person they are cheating with is the same sex.

    Grounds for divorce, in this case, would have to be petitioned under “unreasonable behaviour”.

    This is also true of civil partnerships. Speaking to THEGAYUK.com last year, Andrew Smith, Associate Solicitor for Blacks Solicitors’ Family Law team told us,

    “…the definition of adultery is sexual intercourse with someone of the opposite sex outside marriage. Instead, civil partners have to use ‘unfaithfulness’ as one of a number of examples of Unreasonable Behaviour.”

    “Where is the equality?”

    Jodene Murphy is petitioning the UK government for change. Writing on the petition Murphy explains, “When the UK Government welcomed same-sex marriage and updated the Marriage Act accordingly, they neglected to sufficiently update the divorce law. We are now living in a country where same-sex couples cannot divorce under the grounds of adultery. Where is the equality? Equal rights for all.”

    The petition needs to garner over 10,000 signatures in order for the government to answer. At 100,000 signatures, the petition will be considered for debate in Parliament.

  • Facebook’s new newsfeed algorithm could be a disaster for gay media

    The changes to Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm could spell disaster for LGBT+ media.

    In case you hadn’t heard Facebook is planning to change its newsfeed to make sure the time you spend on its platform is more “meaningful”. Mark Zuckerberg suggested that he wanted users’ time on the site to be “time well spent”. Facebook wants to give you more family and friends and fewer page updates. The problem is that many smaller news publishers, such as LGBT+ media could find themselves unduly penalised by the new update.

    Many LGBT+ news sites rely heavily on traffic from social media sites like Facebook. A quick analysis of unverified traffic data from SimiliarWeb shows that PinkNews, GayTimes and Attitude had over 40 percent of their traffic driven by social media, including Facebook, in December, GayStarNews had 39 percent.

    Part of the update will also rely on a trust score from users, which Facebook will use to determine how often content from a particular publisher will show up in your timeline. For more established, huge brands such as the BBC, Guardian or CNN this could prove to be an advantageous policy. However, many LGBT+ news sites have been the target of hate trolls and could find their trust score unfairly compromised by homophobes and transphobes.

    If Facebook was to take these negative reviews into consideration, this new update could negatively impact LGBT+ media.

    Speaking out against the changes, PinkNews CEO, Benjamin Cohen asked, Facebook’s VP of news Adam Mosseri, “How will Facebook ensure that homophobes don’t label LGBTQ media as untrustworthy, anti-Semites label Jewish media as untrustworthy and at the same time trust the sources that spread hate?”

    Mosseri, wrote on Facebook, “We’re not looking to vet people. We are looking to make sure that our samples are as representative of the population as possible.”

    Scott Gatz, the founder of Q.Digital, which owns and operates Queerty, asked: “We’ve specifically had to deal with page followers who are anti-gay commenting/flagging posts/etc, we’ve even had to escalate to your management. Now I fear that this will be a quiet way for them to make us go away.”

    Mosseri added: “People can’t volunteer to weigh in on how trustworthy a page is, we pick a random sample of people to survey. Second, we only ask people who recognise a page if they trust it, so if you’re a small page we won’t have enough people and therefore this change won’t effect you.

    The changes will see the amount of news displayed in your newsfeed reduced from five percent to four percent.

  • Does will i am have a wife?

    Is Will I Am Married?

    IS will i am married?

    With The Voice UK starting up again, the questions surrounding the star’s love life have started to emerge and people are interested to know if will i am is married or not.

    Will.i.am is extraordinarily private about his love life and has complained that he’s too busy with work to find love. So it’s difficult to determine his sexuality or whether he is in a relationship with anyone.

    What we do know is, is that Will I Am is very pro-LGBT. He has spoken up for gay rights in the past. He was pro-gay marriage saying, “People should be able to marry and be with who they want, and let’s focus on the real issues… which are education, health and the things that kill people.”

    He once released a song which included lyrics about same-sex love. He said, “That song is for all types of people… People have been showing love.”

    So is he married? No will is not married.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Woman Before a Glass

    ★★★★☆ | Woman Before a Glass

    Lanie Robertson’s Lady Day at the Emerson Bar and Grill looked at Billie Holiday’s heroin fogged last days. Here his razor sharp wit is turned towards wealthy art collector Peggy Guggenheim.

    1960s Venice and Peggy is pontificating on the terrace of her palazzo with an arm full of designer dresses, wondering what to wear for a TV appearance. She’s in the mood for chatting and addresses the audience of the tiny Jermyn Street Theatre directly. Brash, vulgar and monstrous, she’s a vision of bouffant hair, free-swinging breasts and is mistress of the crude comment. Looking back at her life she stalks the stage, swigging gin martinis and smoking. She amusingly refers to numerous ‘fucks’ including a few of the local gondoliers and lovingly reflects on her modern art collection, spitting venom when talking about that bitch who her uncle married. Beneath the campy veneer of tasteless monstrosity, there’s inner sadness as she talks about her father (who drowned on the Titanic), her great love who tragically died and her troubled depressive daughter, Pegeen.

    This is a tight script with the 90 minutes broken down into three sections. The character of Peggy is well rounded and thoroughly credible. At points, it’s a bawdy comedy but it veers towards tragedy as this strong woman regales us with her triumphs and troubles.

    Judy Rosenblatt is nothing less than stellar and her Peggy is a force to be reckoned with. Whether you’re already a devotee of Peggy Guggenheim or sadly unaware of this colourful character, this is a performance worth seeing.

    Woman Before A Glass is playing at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 3rd Feb 2018

  • Are Jedward gay?

    The ever bubbly Jedward have been making headlines since their discovery on X Factor in 2009… But there’s one question thousands of people want to know… apparently.

    Are jedward gay?

    Are the Jedward brothers gay?

    In 2011 brothers Edward and John insisted that they weren’t gay and they are attracted to women and have dated girls. They hit out over speculation that their OTT and flamboyant performance style made some fans think the duo were gay. The brothers maintain that they “like lots of girls” revealing that they don’t care what people think about them or about their sexuality.

    The pair have been incredibly tight-lipped about their love life, choosing to never talk openly about the people they’ve dated.  Speaking to Dan Wooton at The Sun, Edward said,  “We meet girls all the time. Our fans have always know who we are. But others knows a different type of Jedward on from the different shows.

    “I think because on stage we wear sequins people go ‘oh they must be a bit out there’.

    John added, We do whatever what we want to do. We know who we are and what we are a lot of guys try so hard to be masculine and we’re able to have stubble and play guitar. We have had relationships. I’ve had two long-term relationships that were private. That wasn’t part of my career.”

    So there you have it. John and Edward have said they aren’t gay or bisexual. It’s 2018 does it really matter anyway?

     

  • Guys, here’s why you might be finding it hard to get hard

    When a reader confided that he can’t stay hard, we decided to have a look at some of the reasons why your erection might be elusive.

    I'm Finding It Hard To Get A Hard On

    Last year Jeff, asked THEGAYUK why he kept on losing his erections. There are many reasons from stresses to tiredness, medical to emotional. There are many reasons. So here’s what we found out.

    First of all, don’t give yourself a hard time about not being able to get a hard-on. It happens to the best of us at the worst of times – and stressing about it can actually make the situation worse. So take a moment and breathe.

    It sounds as though you’re suffering from erectile dysfunction (ED). Lots of things can cause ED; from being too stressed out at work to money worries. Even lifestyle choices such as too much alcohol or drug taking can hinder a strong erection.

    The problem might also be prescribed medication. For instance, some depression medications say that ED is a potential side effect. You can read more about that here. You might want to check and see if any side effects listed by the meds include ED. Do not come off any prescribed meds with out talking to your GP first.

    There are a variety of things you can do to try to get your little Mr back up and working again, but first of all, see whether you can get an erection when you’re by yourself – or during your sleep.

    Take the erection test

    There’s a very simple test to see whether you get erections during your sleep. One of the tests is the famous stamp test. If you can still get a row of stamps that are joined by a perforated edge you can perform this in the comfort of your own home.

    Before you go to bed put a row of four or five joined stamps around the shaft of your flaccid penis and seal by moistening the two ends together. If any of the perforations between the stamps is broken in the morning you’ll know that you are getting nocturnal erections, because your enlarged penis will naturally break the perforations between the stamps. This test can help you rule out a more serious erectile dysfunction because you know that you can physically have an erection.

    If this is the case take a look at external factors such as your workload or your alcohol consumption. As frustrated as you might be, you just might need to take your time with this.

    If you don’t break the perforations, then you might consider getting an appointment with your GP, who should be able to help you find a medical solution.

    There are a number of other at home tests you can do like the Rigiscan and The Penile Plethysmograph.

    Meds?

    You could try Viagra or a herbal supplement available in Holland and Barratt called Horny Goatweed. You should definitely seek the advice from your doctor if you’re planning to try out medications.

    Condoms Problems

    If your problem is being caused by wearing condoms then you’ll be able to find a wide variety now that are different shapes, sizes and yes, there’s even a musical one. Don’t let your Jonny be a problem for your Johnson.

    You might not need a full erection to have full on sex

    It’s important not to let this ruin your sex life – there are many options available to you – and you can even have sex without having a full erection or taking the pressure off yourself by focusing on your partner rather than your erection.

    Communication

    Talking your issues over with your partner may also help as well. It’s important to keep communication open between partners if you’re going through a tough time.

     

    OTHER QUESTIONS: HIV | WILLY WONDERS | HOLES | DOING IT | STIs | LUMPS & BUMPS | BACK TO SEX CLINIC HOME PAGE

     

    Got a problem you’d like advice on? Click here to get ask your question.

     

  • Here’s why you should definitely keep your shoes on during a flight

    Maybe you shouldn’t kick ’em off just before take off.

    You know the drill, you’ve settled in for your flight, you’ve got your thimble of champers (if you’re in business/first) the aircraft has just pushed back from the gate and you kick off your shoes and make yourself a little more comfortable. But one expert suggests that perhaps you should keep them on, at least for take off – and then again for landing.

    Take off and landings are the most dangerous part of the flight most air crashes happens during takeoff or landing.

    One expert on Quora has suggested that keeping your shoes on, could, in fact, save your life in case of an emergency.

    Tony Luna suggests that after a crash a lot of debris could litter your exit route and that litter could include shards of glass and scraps of metal. Not having shoes on could literally shred your feet and stop you reaching safety.

    via GIPHY

    Remember that scene with Bruce Willis in Die Hard?

    If you’re thinking that you could just slip them on in the case of an emergency, Tony warns that in a cabin filled with panic and chaos every second counts.  He explains, “during an emergency, all sorts of debris and unpleasant ground surface will block your way towards the exit, as well as outside the aircraft.

    “If your feet isn’t [sic] properly covered, you’ll have a hard time making your way to safety.

    “Imagine destroying your bare feet as your run down the aisle covered with broken glass, fires and metal shards. Kinda like John Mclane in Die Hard, but worse.”

    But before we all melt into worry about flying, to put an accident into perspective, in 2017 there were no major air crashes involving a passenger jet. Flying remains one of the safest ways to travel.