THEGAYUK

Author: Jason Reid

  • Vigil Outside Daily Mail Offices Following Death Of Transgender Teacher Lucy Meadows

    In memory of Lucy Meadows: Vigil Against Monstering.

    Following the tragic death of popular primary school teacher Lucy Meadows last Tuesday, a ‘vigil against monstering’, in Lucy’s memory, has been planned to take place tomorrow evening, (25th March 2013) outside the Daily Mail offices in Kensington.

    Online anger has being growing after the emergence of an article written by Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn.

    The piece entitled: ‘He’s not only in the wrong body… he’s in the wrong job’ was first published on December 20th 2012. Littlejohn, who referred to Meadows as ‘he’ throughout, claimed her decision was due to ‘personal problems’ and inferred that by proceeding with gender reassignment surgery showed she didn’t care for the children she taught.
    The original article, which was removed after the announcement of Meadows’ death, can be read here:http://web.archive.org/web/20121221195332/http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2251347/Nathan-Uptons-wrong-body–hes-wrong-job.html.
    It’s claimed that following Littlejohn’s column, Meadows, who was transitioning at the time, was routinely hounded by the press. In a New Year’s Day email to a friend, reported by the Guardian, Meadows complained that the media had published one of her wedding photos, and had lifted other photos from her siblings’ Facebook pages. She described the lengths she had taken to avoid being photographed. “I became pretty good at avoiding the press before Christmas. I live about a three-minute walk from school so they were parked outside my house as well as school. I’m just glad they didn’t realise I also have a back door. I was usually in school before the press arrived and stayed until latest I could avoid them going home.”

    Two online petitions calling for Littlejohn to be fired and issue a formal apology have received huge support over the weekend. The tally of signatures, combining the Change.org and Sum of Us petitions stands at almost 90,000 today.
    http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/the-daily-mail-fire-richard-littlejohn-for-victimizing-lucy-meadows-leading-to-her-possible-suicide

    http://action.sumofus.org/a/daily-mail-littlejohn-lucy-meadows/1/1/?sub=homepage

    The Daily Mail have vehemently defended Littlejohn. A spokesman said: “It is regrettable that this tragic death should now be the subject of an orchestrated Twitterstorm, fanned by individuals – including former Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell – with agendas to pursue.”
    Campbell had previously tweeted: “I hope journalists are doorstepping Dacre Murdoch and Littlejohn for their reaction to Lucy Meadows suicide. The Mail really is scum.”

    David Allen Green, legal advisor to Trans Media Watch, a charity for transgender people, told BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight: “There is no public interest in the story whatsoever. The only part of the story which seems significant is that there is a gender reassignment, what used to be called a sex change.”

    “What makes it especially easy for tabloids is that transgendered people are very unlikely to fight back. They are usually members of the public and have no experience of dealing with media and all they want to do is to make it go away.

    “In a way, tabloids treat transgendered people the way they would treat anybody if they could get away with it.”

    “There is a sense that transgendered people are fair game for sensationalist reporting. These are people who are going through the most traumatic experiences you can imagine and they are suddenly humiliated by these stories in the tabloids.”

    We at TheGayUK stand strongly against any forms of discrimination. The T in LGBT needs to be supported as strongly the LGB. We must all stand together to change attitudes.

    Details of the vigil:
    Monday 25th March at 6.30pm.
    Outside Daily Mail HQ,

    Northcliffe House,

    2Derry Street,

    Kensington

    London

    W8 5TT
    Nearest Underground station: High Street Kensington (District and Circle)

    www.thetube.com

  • Celebrity Big Brother Round Up

    It’s been a busy old week in the Big Brother house. What with Paula’s eviction – such a shame; I reckon there was a lot more fun to be had there.

    And then Sam’s eviction. He was the good looking guy. Scottish. Really quiet. Remember? No, I know, I barely do either… Heidi and Spencer spiced it up when they were assigned a task, to spy on the other housemates – which unlike the previous dozen tasks they refused to do, they had no qualms in doing this one. Odd that. Big Brother ‘pimped out’ the basement and they watched all the goings-on in the house for forty eight hours.

    They sat there watching the rest of the house slag them off as they themselves slagged them off. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander, I say. Anyway, they returned to the house and the sparks flew, predictably, and after Rylan cried a river it culminated in Razor only having to raise his voice once, causing ‘big man’ Spencer to flee to the basement again. It’s all very tense in there right now and after Heidi and Spencer nominated Rylan and Claire, on Friday, to face the public vote, they themselves, along with Lacey, were also added to the mix on Sunday when the rest of the house nominated. Here’s how I place them, so far:

    1. Rylan Clark – He’s had a hard time of it in there. A lot of which comes from him over-analysing himself and situations too much. He’s great TV and he comes across as a lovely fella. He just needs to relax back and stop caring about what people think. A lot easier said than done, I know.

    2. Neil ‘razor’ Ruddock – The unlikely relationship between Razor and Rylan is so lovely to watch. There’s absolutely no messing about with Razor – as we saw when he put Spencer in his place. That single moment has been the highlight of the series so far, for me, and Razor has been consistently lovely throughout. Although, if I shared a bedroom with him, his snoring would have me tearing my hair out.

    3. Gillian Taylforth – Gillian has said little or done little but she’s there lurking in the background, not offending viewers or housemates; and is the only one that Heidi and Spencer didn’t accuse of being ‘two-faced’. Good actress? Just a genuinely lovely person? I can’t figure it out until I see more of her. She seems to be a favourite with the other housemates.

    4. Claire Richards – Claire is really not living up to my expectations. And I thought she handled the whole Heidi and Spencer thing quite badly. Instead of having it out with them, like Rylan did, she just kept quiet. Then moaned and groaned about it for the next two days. She’s lovely though. I hope she comes into her own a bit, and I’m hoping she’ll survive this weeks eviction.

    5. Heidi & Spencer – As much as I really, really, really cannot bare them, the task and following explosions were the best part of the series so far. The thing is, you could tell they relished it and were thriving on the chaos it would cause. Great telly but rather unpleasant characters.

    6. Ryan – I liked his spat with Spencer, that ended up in the argument, but apart from that Ryan has been about as exciting as a bucket of cold sick. He also comes across as quite sneaky to me. A game-player?

    7. Lacey Banghard – I thought Lacey was going to be a right pain in the hoop when she first went in but she’s grown on me a tiny bit. I did enjoy watching her doing the task, whilst Razor was waxed. God love her though, living up, ever so slightly, to the dumb bimbo stereotype throughout those questions.

    8. Frankie Dettori – I think the producers have sneaked in and replaced Frankie with a cardboard cut-out in the last week. Very odd. The first week he was in it constantly but he seems to have slipped into a semi-coma like state, as I’ve hardly seen him. He needs to up his game If he wants to be in with a chance.

    9. Tricia Penrose – Tricia is a fence-sitter and she’s going to get a sore arse sat up there soon. She also cries at the drop of a hat and should leave the house soon before her ovaries explode all over everyone

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Merrie Hell

    ‘Tis the season to be jolly cynical and brutally honest. David Hoyle’ s new show, in which he teams up with Richard Thomas, writer and composer of the Olivier award winning, Jerry Springer: The Opera, was transfixing from the very second Hoyle took to the stage. (more…)

  • FILM REVIEW | Pam Ann Live From New York City

    ★★★★ | Pam Ann Live From New York City

    When I moved to London as a pink faced, wide eyed young lad from the midlands, live cabaret was quite an alien concept to me. In those heady days I’d bounce from bars, where bar boys would be doing camp Steps routines, to club nights where the likes of Mariah and Madonna would play, all whilst supping on a bottle of hooch.

    Way back then, Pam Ann was one of the first cabaret acts that I ever saw and even though I’d never even set foot in an airport, let alone on an aeroplane, at that point in my life, I still howled at every bit of her sharp observational humour and the garish persona she had invented.

    Thirteen years on and whilst so many things have come and gone, Caroline Reid, the woman behind the potty-mouthed trolley dolly, is not only still commanding packed out venues in London, she has seemingly charted a meteoric rise to fame worldwide. With a world tour in 2011, sell-out performances at the esteemed London Palladium and the Hammersmith Apollo, Pam has set her sights firmly on breaking America and she’s doing a damn good job of it. In her latest DVD, Pam Ann Live from New York, Pam plays to her ‘gays’ at ‘Joes Pub’: a celebrated showcase venue that has seen the likes of Kiki and Herb, Amy Winehouse and Alicia Keys grace it’s stage.

    Pam’s knowledge of her subject really is astounding. If you’re going to do stand up focussing on such a niche topic then you have to be on the ball and the devil really is in the detail. Pam gives a master class in it. Rolling off gags about every possible airline you know, and some you have never even heard of; mocking certain mannerisms and nuances that she has picked up and exaggerated for comic effect, whilst also working the audience into as much of the show as she can. The content is fresh and appealing and is mixed well with tried and tested older material; with references to recent aviation developments such as British Airways’ recent initiative, ‘what would Kate do’ and Ryanair threatening to introduce porn to their flights (shudders).

    If you’ve never seen Pam before then you’d best buckle up because she doesn’t mince her words and it’s certainly not a DVD for you if you’re at all twee about swearing and sexual suggestiveness. She does love to go on about her appreciation of big black cock A LOT.

    A highly entertaining show that will really put a smile on even the glummest of faces. Pam’s unique brand of stand up is as risible now as it ever was.

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon

  • INTERIEW | Myra Dubois

    Rotherham’s finest export since Paul Shane, Myra Dubois, is one of the fastest rising and sought after cabaret artists around right now.

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  • THEATRE REVIEW: What Would Beyonce Do?

    I had absolutely no idea what to expect from Luisa Omeilan’s solo show, What Would Beyonce Do’, preferring to go into reviews knowing as little as possible, which tends to give me a fairer overview of the piece and boy was I in for a ride with this show.

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