THEGAYUK

Author: News Desk

  • HIV campaigner and advocate dies, 25

    A campaigner who devoted his time to erasing stigma for those living with HIV has died at the age of 25.

    Jacob Alexander an immerging designer, a former student at the University of the Arts London and HIV campaigner has died at the age of 25. It is believed he ended his own life, according to PinkNews. He was just 25.

    Alexander had devoted the last few years campaigning against HIV stigma and had created The Positive Project, which hoped to enlighting people about living with HIV. For his campaign, he created a t-shirt range and an app with the proceeds going to HIV research.

    Alexander has not been heard from since October 5 when he wrote a message on Instagram which read, “Date In private, love in private, be happy in private, live in private, that way, you can take your losses, in private, maintain in private rebuild yourself in private.

    In the caption, the campaigner wrote, “pay attention to the last line and understand where I’ve been hiding back soon”

    It is understood that Alexander’s family will continue the work of The Positive Project.

    According to his website, Jacob was diagnosed with HIV in 2015 and following on from his diagnosis, the designer struggled to come to terms with his status. He launched The Positive Project in 2016.

    His website states, “He wanted to combat this stigma and try to shed a positive light on the HIV virus and those living with it by raising awareness through inviting the general public (and a few familiar faces too!) to take part in The Positive Project. As mentioned in Jacob’s TEDx talk in March 2016, he feels as though HIV based charities have been pushed aside in current news by larger run charities such as Cancer Research UK for example. Help Jacob get HIV in the headlines again, and together help him make a difference”.

    Tributes have been pouring out for Alexander with Greg Owen, co-founder of I Want PrEP Now, tweeted: “I am shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of @jacobalxndr. He was such a sweetheart. Rest in peace.”

    Many people have also taken to his Instagram page to write their condolences on his last message.

    If you’d to help continue the good work of The Positive Project please consider buying a t-shirt.

    If you feel you need to talk to someone about issues raised in this article please reach out to the Samaritans on 116 123 or write to jo@samaritians.org 

  • What are these zits on my balls?

    Is it normal to have zits, spots or whiteheads on your scrotum?

    I have little whiteheads on my balls

     

    We asked Medical Director Dr Nitin Shori from Pharmacy2U whether finding little spots or zits on your ball bag is something to be concerned about.

    Dr Nitin told us, “You can get rashes on your testicles as you can any other part of your skin” and they are often caused by anything from blocked pores to allergies or heat irritation.

    “If anything, this area is a bit more sensitive so treat it with care,” Dr Nitin adds.

    Apparently, shaving can often cause spot like symptoms as could using a new body wash or new washing powder for your laundry – so if you have a break-out see if either of these could factors.

    Also, when the weather turns humid this can cause rashes through sweating.

    Dr Nitin says, “You need to ensure you wash regularly and properly dry yourself before dressing as rashes love moist, damp places! If you shave you need to keep the area clean afterwards”.

    But rashes can also be a sign of a sexually transmitted disease warns Dr Nitin, “if it (the zits) don’t clear up, do go and see your GP or local GUM clinic just to make sure. The majority of STDs can be treated quickly and efficiently the earlier they are diagnosed.

    “You can also get an STD testing kit online if you just want to put your mind at rest and rule that out”

     

    The advice listed above is not intended to replace or take the place of that of your own doctor, GP or medical professional who knows your full medical history. If in any doubt make an appointment with your doctor as soon as possible.

    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?

  • Is Gordon Ramsay gay?

    The ever-present celebrity chef is on our screens constantly, but people are wondering who he is in a relationship with.


    CREDIT: www.davepullig.co.uk/

    So is Gordon Ramsay gay? The short answer is, No. Gordon has never identified as gay and has been married to his wife Tana Ramsay since 1996. Together they have four children, Megan, Holly, Jack and the youngest Matilda, who is a TV presenter in her own right. Gordon and Tana live in London.

    So does it matter if he’s straight or gay? Nope, as far as we should be concerned with is that Gordon is a talented chef and host to numerous, successful TV shows including, The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares and Hell’s Kitchen.

     

     

  • Dilemmas

    Have you got a problem you’d like to share with us and have the team at THEGAYUK answer?

    We’ve got a team of experts – doctors, specialist nurses, lawyers, councillors and people who are willing to give their opinion and thoughts on all manner of issues.

    So use the form below to send us your dilemma or problem and you could be featured on our pages.

    We can anonymise your name and we won’t share any personal data.

  • Courtney Act missed the premiere of her show because of this very awkward situ

    Courtney Act missed the premiere of her show because of this very awkward situ

    Queen of reality TV, Courtney Act missed the first ever episode of The Bi Life because of this very awkward situation.

    The drag queen host of The Bi Life, Courtney Act revealed on Twitter that she missed the entire first episode of her brand new show because firstly she couldn’t find the remote, but then, even more awkwardly,when she did find it, she realised that she didn’t even have a subscription to the channel on which the show is broadcast on, E!.

    The former Drag Race star took to Twitter to share her frustration saying,

    Come on E! sort that Queen out with a subscription!

    The ten-part dating series follows a group of bisexual+ or questioning British singletons on an adventure to find love abroad. The cast live together, party together and help each other navigate the rocky road of bisexual+ dating. Throughout the experience, the cast support and encourage each other as they date and meet new people in sunny Spain. For some, this will mean exploring who they are for the very first time.

    The show has already been praised by fans on Twitter for the way it portrays the usually underrepresented bisexual community.

     

  • The Naked Rugby Players are up for a prestigious Calies award

    The Naked Rugby Players are up for a prestigious Calies award

    The Naked Rugby Players 2019 have been well studied to become a finalist in The Calies – UK Calendar Awards. Oh, and they’ve released some new pictures to celebrate!

    © The Naked Rugby Players + Monty McKinnen Photography

    Having fought off hundreds of entries from major brands the guys are now up against four other calendars to win the title of Best Charity Calendar 2019.

    The prestigious awards are judged by major high street brands including John Lewis, Waterstone, HMV and Calendar Club to find the best in 2019 Calendars. Winners will be announced during an awards ceremony in central London on the 28th November.

    © The Naked Rugby Players / Monty McKinnen Photography
    © The Naked Rugby Players + Monty McKinnen Photography

    Calendar Creative Director, Jake Hook, said, “To be nominated for this award alone was fantastic news, to make the final has been incredible and I’m so proud of each and every one of the seventy-one players who gave up their time, and clothes, to help support their teams and Balls To Cancer. The 2019 Calendar sold out in just three weeks this year meaning we had to re-print. This is fantastic news for the charity and for encouraging more guys to regularly check themselves for signs of cancer, which tragically takes many lives each year.”

    The Naked Rugby Players returned earlier this month with a Renaissance themed calendar following the success of their first calendar.

    © The Naked Rugby Players + Monty McKinnen Photography
    © The Naked Rugby Players + Monty McKinnen Photography

    The six inclusive rugby clubs from around Britain stripped off to raise awareness for both inclusive rugby and to help shine a light on the importance for guys to check their tackle for lumps and bumps regularly, in partnership with the Balls To Cancer charity.

    200,000 men are diagnosed with cancer every year. 80,000 of those will die from their cancer.

    As with the first calendar, a proportion of the money raised through the sales of the calendar goes to Balls To Charity and to the inclusive rugby clubs involved.

    © The Naked Rugby Players + Monty McKinnen Photography

    The Naked Rugby Players can be purchased from TheNakedRugbyPlayers.com, Amazon and TheGayShop.co.uk

  • Milo defends mail bomb Instagram post

    Milo defends mail bomb Instagram post

    “Journalists have made it too dangerous for my husband and I to go out for dinner together”

    (C) PR Supplied

    Controversial author and journalist Milo Yiannopoulos has defended a post in which he praised the recent bomb threats in the USA towards top Democrats.

    In his original post, which has now been deleted, Yiannopoulos wrote, “Just catching up with news of all these pipe bombs, Disgusting and sad (that they didn’t go off, and the daily beast didn’t get one).”

    The Clintons, the Obamas, CNN and other Trump critics were all targetted in the recent mail bomb campaign.

    Initially, Instagram refused to delete the post, despite a backlash, with the Daily Beast running a story about Instagram’s decision not to remove the post.

    In true Milo style, he released a defence of the post saying,

    “Journalists have made it too dangerous for my husband and I to go out for dinner together in new york with the lies and name-calling they have been doing for YEARS to try to destroy me. I need private security whenever I appear in public. but they cry when I make a joke — about a false flag designed to distract us from the Democrat funded and organized illegal migrant caravan. utter scum. I won’t mourn them. I WILL NEVER EVER EVER STOP MAKING JOKES ABOUT WHATEVER THE F**K I WANT AND NO ONE WILL STOP ME AND I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES ARE. YOU WILL NEVER SILENCE ME. YOU WILL NEVER CENSOR ME. PERIOD”.

    Instagram have since removed the post, saying that it didn’t follow their community guidelines.

    Milo responded by saying, “It doesn’t matter whether your post violates their terms of service or not—only whether enough social justice warriors complain about it. Mob rule”.

  • What’s the difference between marriage and civil partnerships?

    Are there differences between civil partnerships and marriage? Andrew Smith, Associate Solicitor for Blacks Solicitors’ Family Law team, answers the question.

    Is there difference between Civil Partnerships and marriage?

    What are the legal differences between a civil partnership and a marriage?

    “There are very few ‘legal’ differences between a civil partnership and a same-sex marriage. Civil partners cannot refer to themselves as ‘married’ and it is a different ceremony. On a certificate of civil partnership, both parents are named rather than just the father on a marriage certificate; but there is legally little difference between the two.”

    “The main differences are similar to those between a religious marriage and a civil ceremony undertaken by heterosexual couples; in regard to the formation, the ceremony, the administrative process and the certificates.

    “Somewhat controversially, one of the main differences is that civil partners are unable to cite the specific act of Adultery as the main reason for why the civil partnership has broken down. This is because 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.”

    What about divorce? Can civil partnered couples get divorced?

    What about divorce? Can civil partnered couples get divorced?

    “A married couple will have a ‘divorce’ whilst civil partners will have a ‘dissolution’ if they choose to separate. Therefore the answer is technically yes as although the terminology is different, it does mean the same thing in principle.”

    What about pension rights, are they the same between marriage and civil partnerships?

    “Up until very recently, this had been a grey area for those who retired prior to when the act was introduced.

    “The Walker v Innospec [2017] case which recently made the headlines challenged this and saw the Supreme Court unanimously allow Mr Walker’s appeal for his employer to pay his pension to his spouse in the event of his death, despite his service predating December 2005.

    “This fantastic result will pave the way for all same-sex couples in a similar situation, who are either married or in a civil partnership, to be able to leave their pension to their spouse.”

    If you have a LGBT legal query you would like to discuss with Andrew, please email him on AJSmith@LawBlacks.com or visit the website for more information: www.lawblacks.com

  • How did House Of Cards kill off Frank Underwood?

    How did House Of Cards kill off Frank Underwood?

    Arguably one of Kevin Spacey’s most famous roles, Frank Underwood has been effectively killed off on the Netflix hit, House Of Cards, but how did they write him out?

    How did House Of Cards kill off Frank Underwood?
    House Of Cards

    Disgraced actor, Kevin Spacey has left House Of Cards and along his department goes the ultimate anti-hero, Frank Underwood. It’s impossible to think that the show could continue without the conniving, backstabbing, pure genius evil that was President Underwood, but the writers of one Netflix’s most important shows, House Of Cards have come up with a story.

    Now the production team at House Of Cards have remained tight-lipped about the demise of Frank Underwood, so we won’t be able to reveal how they managed to write out the character, but come the 2nd of November all will be revealed.

    However, at the end of Season 5, Frank Underwood suddenly resigns with Claire Underwood being sworn in as the new President, and she is extremely peed with Frank for not running his resignation through her. What’s more, Frank needs to be pardoned by the new President for crimes committed during his premiership, but Claire is not answering her phone.

    The last scene focusing on Claire Underwood who has become the new President, saying rather chillingly, “My turn”.

    So what happens to Frank? Is he killed off, is he written out, what’s the cause of his demise? We’ll have to wait until the 2nd November 2018, when the new series lands on Netflix.

     

     

     

     

  • Tim Cook: being gay ‘is God’s greatest gift to me’

    Tim Cook: being gay ‘is God’s greatest gift to me’

    Apple CEO has revealed that he believes that being gay is a gift from God.

    (C) CNN

    In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Apple CEO Tim Cook discussed why he chose to come out as gay as well as the Trump Presidency’s policies on taxes, trade with China and immigration.

    During the interview, Cook says he came out publicly as gay after receiving letters from kids who “going through being bullied, being pushed out of their homes, very close to suicide”.

    Cook goes on to say, coming out as gay has been “God’s greatest gift” to him as it has given him empathy towards those not in the majority.

    He added, “My strong view is that everyone should be treated with respect… I became public because I started to receive letters from kids who read online that I was gay and they were going through being bullied, being pushed out of their homes, very close to suicide, things that really just pulled my heart and I started thinking I’m a private person and I’ve kept me to my small circle and I started thinking that is a selfish thing to do. I need to be bigger than that, I need to do something for them and show them that you can be gay and still go on and do some good jobs in life… to me, it’s God’s greatest gift because in doing so, I learnt what it was like to be a minority which gives you a feeling of empathy for other people who are not in the majority and you begin to look at life a bit differently.”

    Read the full article over at CNN

  • Protesters at the Bohemian Rhapsody over cuts in the NHS

    Protesters at the Bohemian Rhapsody over cuts in the NHS

    Protesters from ACT UP and the NHS Anti-Swindle Team have protested at the Bohemian Rhapsody premier today

    (C) Levi Hinds

    Protesters from two pressure groups have disrupted the Bohemian Rhapsody launch calling for HIV treatment that is “comprehensive and easily accessible treatment for all people, in all countries”.

    The film, which features Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury has also attracted criticism for its “pacification and sanitisation” of the singer’s life. Freddie Mercury died in 1991 from complications from AIDS just days after he announced that he was living with the disease.

    The film and particularly the trailer has received a great deal of attention for its meagre perception of the huge contribution that sexuality, the AIDS crisis and the stigma associated had on Freddie Mercury’s life.

    Speaking about the decision to protest, Hywel ap Dafydd said, “Queen was the soundtrack of my childhood. Freddie died when I was twelve, it was the first time I heard of AIDS and HIV.

    “I’ve been living with HIV for the past eight years thanks to medication that came too late to safe Freddie and the millions of people who died because of AIDS.

    “There’s a drug called PrEP which stops people from catching HIV but the NHS rations it so not everyone who needs it can get it. “It’s disgraceful that the NHS denies people this opportunity that neither I nor Freddie had.”

    Jeremy Goldstein from ACT UP LONDON said, “Freddie ‘Killer Queen’ Mercury was a migrant who died from AIDS and today HIV+ migrants are some of the most oppressed in the HIV / AIDS community. We are here today to highlight the ongoing crisis. Farrokh Bulsara was professionally known as Freddie Mercury was born in Zanzibar in 1946. The son of Parsis, he spent most of his childhood at boarding school in India. At seventeen he and his family became refugees fleeing from the Zanzibar revolution. After an epic career with Queen Freddie sadly died in 1991 his home in Kensington the day after he publicly announced he was living with HIV. We demand that all HIV+ migrants are treated with upmost dignity, that HIV services stop being closed down and an end to all illegal detention of HIV+ migrants.”

    (C) Levi Hinds

    “Greedy pharmaceutical”

    Han Smith from ACT UP LONDON said, “Much has changed since then but our sexual health is still under pressure. Due to price gouging by greedy pharmaceutical companies, our NHS rations access to new medication for Hep C and HIV while yet another sexual health service bites the dust. We want access to HIV and Hep C drugs for all. We want stigma education for all. We want sexual health clinics for all. We want it all and we want it now.”

    Kenza Simon from  ACT UP LONDON added, “I am eighteen and I am involved in Act Up London because it is very important for me to fight for our rights. As an LGBT woman who was born in a century where AIDS medicine is more accessible for people, I feel lucky but I realise that we still have a lot to do even in 2018. Our aims changed, AIDS not. This is the reason why I want to be dedicated to this struggle. Activism change the world, let’s do this.”

    Four decades on and we’re still fighting

    dan glass, ACT UP reminded us, “In the fourth decade of this crisis, ACT UP LONDON fight to ensure comprehensive and easily accessible treatment for all people, in all countries.  This includes not only medications but also mental and social health services as well as housing and economic equality. Here in the UK, we are united with the coalition of activists fighting to keep our National Health Service free, publicly run, and fully funded. In a time of continuing stigma, silence, and isolation, we combat discrimination against and promote the visibility and leadership of those living with HIV and AIDS – including this hugely important biography of our icon Freddie Mercury.”