THEGAYUK

Day: 11 January 2019

  • “Bad News, I’m not dying” Piers Morgan jokes from his hospital bed

    “Bad News, I’m not dying” Piers Morgan jokes from his hospital bed

    Piers Morgan jokes on Twitter that despite many wishing him ill health, he’s not dying despite a shocking picture of the GMB star resting up in a hospital bed.

    Piers Morgan appears to be resting up after some time in hospital. But it’s good news for Piers fans after the outspoken presenter announced on social media that he’s not dying, after posting a picture from a hospital bed on Twitter with tubes up his nose.

    Piers is currently resting at a private hospital in the uber-rich borough of Kensington in West London, where, from his bed, he let his 6.5 million followers on Twitter know that was doing okay, joking, “Bad news, I’m not dying. I can only apologise for all the distress I know this will cause some people.”

    From ITV Studios

    He’s been in poor health since before Christmas with bronchitis, sinusitis and laryngitis. The gender-fluid critical presenter was even forced to cancel his New Year’s Eve plans due to poor health.

    Taking to Twitter he wrote, ‘Wildest New Year’s Eve for decades… went to bed at 8.59pm with two strong Italian Tachipirinas & had one helluva steamy sleepless night.

    ‘Hope yours was anywhere near as wild. Happy New Year!’

    In the last Good Morning Britain of 2018, Piers Morgan wished a Merry Christmas to non-binary and genderfluid people.

    Piers who has been critical of the non-binary activists in recent years was showing off pre-written cue cards in homage to the famous Andrew Lincoln Love Actually scene, where the actor holds up cards explaining his true feelings to co-star Keira Knightley.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Is Ben Whishaw gay, who is his partner?

    Is Ben Whishaw gay, who is his partner?

    Actor Ben Whishaw was made a household name due to his appearance in Bond films, London Spy and A Very English Scandal, but what else do we know about the actor?

    CREDIT: Denis-Makarenko bigstock

    James Bond and London Spy actor Ben Whishaw has also appeared in the new Paddington-the-bear films playing the inquisitive bear himself. In 2017 year he starred in the acclaimed A Very English Scandal. In 2015 he starred in London Spy which earned him a Bafta nomination.

    Is Ben Whishaw gay?

    It seems as though Ben Whishaw is gay and not bisexual. In 2014 he talked about his coming out experience saying it was “intense” but that ultimately everybody around him was supportive.

    Is Ben Whishaw married?

    Embed from Getty Images

    Here is Ben with his husband Mark, inbetween the pair is actor Naomie Harris.

    Ben is married to his husband, Mark Bradshaw. They got married in a civil partnership in August 2012. Although he’s is notoriously secretive about his private life, telling Out Magazine in 2011 that actors have the right to privacy and mystery. He said, “I don’t see why that has to be something you discuss openly because you do something in the public eye. I have no understanding of why we turn actors into celebrities”.

    The couple met around 2009 on the set of Bright Star where Whishaw played the role of English poet John Keats.

    His husband Mark Bradshaw is an Australian composer who is best known for his music for television and film. He was working on the film Bright Star when he met his future husband.

    CREDIT: (C) WTTV Limited – Photographer: Joss Barratt

    How much is Ben Whishaw worth?

    According to Celebrity Net Worth Ben is worth $2 million which is about £1.56m

    How old is Ben Whishaw

    Ben was born October 14 1980 which makes him 38. He was born Born in Clifford, Bedfordshire, England, UK.

     

  • COMMENT | Six Stripes Were Enough

    Manchester Pride have this week unveiled the design of their new flag design.

    The 2019 Manchester Pride Festival will use a design with eight stripes, which was flown outside Philadelphia’s City Hall in 2017, instead of Gilbert Baker’s classic flag design, which has become synonymous of the LGBT community across the world

    Mark Fletcher, the chief executive of Manchester Pride, said in a statement to THEGAYUK: “We have seen that the iconic rainbow must adapt to reflect the modern society that we live in.

    “A lot has happened but there is still a long way to go, especially in the recognition of people of colour in the LGBT+ community,” he continued.

    The decision of Manchester Pride to release this as their 2019 design has received a backlash on social media, with many users questioning the inclusion of race in a flag that has for many years represented sexuality, with one user on Twitter commenting ‘When was sexuality about color? Never. You only just made it about color by adding that. Are you going to put white in there too?’

    And they have a point. The six colour flag, created by Gilbert Baker, has developed over a number of years and has represented life, healing, vitality, nature, serenity and spirit, with the missing colour on the Pride flag to represent the lack of equality for the LGBT community.

    The Pride flag has been used for the last forty years, without issue.

    Despite the Chief Executive of Manchester Pride stating we ‘must adapt’ to reflect the society we live in, we need to remember the meaning behind the flag that has represented a community for this length of time; It’s about sexuality, rather than the race of individuals within the community.

    A study last year found that 70 percent of gay people were opposed to the new flag, while most white people and members of the Baby Boomer generation were also against the move.

    In contrast, Millennials, people of colour and trans people were more likely to be in favour of adopting a flag with black and brown stripes.

  • Milo is the second most popular name of 2018

    Milo is the second most popular name of 2018

    Naturally Milo Yiannopoulos is revelling.

    (C) PR Supplied

    “My influence is everywhere,” says Milo Yiannopoulos after it was revealed that his first name, “Milo” is the most popular boys’ name of 2018.

    Taking to Instagram, the right-wing provateur revealed that Milo came second, pipped by Atticus and topping Jasper to be named second “most popular names” by website Nameberry in 2018.

    Also on the list were: Jack, Asher, Silas, Theodore, Wyatt, Henry and Declan.

    2018 was also the year where THEGAYUK.com’s third most popular story of the year involved Milo and a disgusting looking meal that was served to him at a restaurant.

     

     

  • This UK Pride is going to use the Black and Brown striped Rainbow Flag

    This UK Pride is going to use the Black and Brown striped Rainbow Flag

    The Pride’s CEO has decided that Manchester will adopt Philadelphia’s black and brown rainbow flag which recognises and includes people of colour.

    The “more colour” rainbow flag or “Philly flag” which includes a brown and black stripe will be used by Manchester Pride in 2019. The flag was first introduced by the city of Philadelphia in 2017 to “fuel the important conversation” of “recognizing people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community”. The US city has a large Black or African American community, which stands around 43 per cent of the population. Manchester in the UK is home to a large Asian community, which stands around 17 per cent and about 9 per cent for black people.

    Mark Fletcher, the CEO of Manchester Pride told THEGAYUK, “We have seen that the iconic rainbow must adapt to reflect the modern society that we live in. A lot has happened but there is still a long way to go, especially in the recognition of people of colour in the LGBT+ community.

    “To highlight the importance of this we’ve decided to adopt the 8 stripe flag created by the city of Philadelphia, USA as part of our logo.”

    The Rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 and has been adapted over the years. It originally contained two extra colours, Pink and Cyan, which were later dropped to have just six colours, which is the most recognised version of the iconic symbol.

    The symbol for the LGBT community made its debut in San Franciso in 1978. It was displayed at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day parade in 1978. It has since gone on to be recognised worldwide as the symbol for LGBT spaces, venues and pride. The longest ever version of the flag was debuted in Key West, Florida in 2003.

    Want to buy a version of the flag for yourself? Head on over to THEGAYSHOP.co.uk to purchase your very own More Colour Rainbow Flag.

    THEGAYUK.com reached out to UK Black Pride for comment on the move by Manchester Pride.

  • Gay rapper, Kevin Fret shot dead in Puerto Rico

    Gay rapper, Kevin Fret shot dead in Puerto Rico

    Kevin Fret has died at the age of just 24 after being shot on the streets of Puerto Rico.

    Gay rapper Kevin Fret has died after being shot 8 times while he was riding a motorbike in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. He was just 24.

    Fret was reportedly riding his motorcycle when he was shot at around 5:30 AM. He was taken to hospital after his shooting where he was pronounced dead.

    The BBC reports that an investigation is underway.

    His murder is the 22nd in Puerto Rico this year already.

    Fret’s best-known song was “Soy Asi” which managed to rack up half a million views on YouTube, after its release in 2018. He is described as Latin Trap music’s first openly gay recording artist.

    His latest single, “Diferente” featuring Mike Duran clocked up over 1.8 million hits.

    Fret’s manager Eduardo Rodriguez confirmed his death saying,

    “There are no words that describe the feeling we have and the pain that causes us to know that a person with so many dreams has to go.

    “We must all unite in these difficult times, and ask for much peace for our beloved Puerto Rico.”

    It is not known if Fret was targetted specifically or if his killing was an act of random violence or whether there is a hate-crime element to his death.

    He would have been 25 on the 2nd Feb.

    Is Puerto Rico LGBT+ friendly?

    Puerto Rico has a good recent history with regards to LGBT+ rights. Gay people in the country are afforded many rights including, marriage, adoption there are discrimination laws to protect LGBT+ people.

    Puerto Rico is known to have a high crime rate and something it has been struggling with for decades.

    It has a homicide rate of 30.6 per 100,000 people. In the UK the homicide rate is 1.20 per 100,000 people.

     

     

  • Did you survive the week? Apparently more people die this week than at any other time in the year

    Did you survive the week? Apparently more people die this week than at any other time in the year

    More people will die this week than at any other time of the year – with one death every 44 seconds, it has emerged.

    aitoff / Pixabay

    Figures from the ONS show the second week in January sees an average of 13,670 deaths – 1,953 every day or 81 per hour – mainly due to cold weather and an increase in bugs and illnesses.

    The rest of the year sees an average of 9,756 deaths every week.

    And that means scores of families will have to find cash for funerals.

    A separate study by SunLife revealed the average basic funeral now costs £4,271, meaning around £58 million could be spent on funerals for loved ones who pass away this week.

    In fact, the total cost of funerals in the UK during January could hit more than £229 million.

    SunLife marketing director Ian Atkinson said: “This week will see more deaths than any other week in the year, and for those families dealing with bereavement, searching through quotes is probably the last thing on their minds.

    “You need to choose a funeral director fairly quickly so they can take away the body, and most people have not thought about which one they would use.

    “But with the average funeral now costing £4,271, it is crazy to think we are just paying the bill without thinking about whether the funeral services they are using are right, for them.”

    SunLife figures mirror the ONS stats with an average of 9,031 death claims on policies in January – compared to 7,314 each month for the rest of the year.

    But research carried out by SunLife found 37 per cent have made no provision for their own funeral, instead leaving loved ones to pick up the bill.

    And even of those who did plan for their send off financially, they didn’t leave enough to cover the total bill.

    It also emerged that rather than shopping around, most will also just pay the first funeral director they speak to without getting any other quotes.

    Just one in five will get more than one price before booking a funeral.

    • SunLife has launched its Funeral Planning Mapper, an independent online tool which maps funeral services locations across the UK.