October 28th Nicola Adams
Nicola Adams is our next black LGBT+ icon. She’s a boxer who won Gold at two Olympics, plus the World, European & Commonwealth titles. In 2020 she became the fist Strictly Come Dancing contestant to be partnered with a professional dancer of the same sex.
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Whether you’re a pro power bottom 2.0 or a novice and just getting into the swing (metaphorical or otherwise) it’s always interesting to know what other guys’ experiences of bottoming are. These guys share their best experiences of bottoming.
First, I had about 7 drinks and was drunk. My bf drilled me for about two hours and it felt great (I finished three times)
Second, was a few weeks ago my bf woke me up in the morning jerking me off which led to him fucking me doggy. I also took my time riding his cock to warm up. VIA
The day I realized that trying a different position would make it so it wasn’t painful. VIA
I haven’t had many good experiences personally…. I have IBS and a pretty sensitive ass so all of this isn’t great for bottoming… The best ever was by a Chinese guy who had a 4-inch thin dick. He was very controlling which I found very sexy, grabbed my hair and basically dominated me. Cos his penis was on the smaller side and my butt just happened to be cooperating with me that day (IBS is very temperamental) it felt so good. Reached round to force him in harder. VIA
My ex fucked me until I was a mumbling mess, it felt so good. I don’t know if I finished or not. VIA
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Best ever was a guy I came home from the bar with one night in college. The night before was a blur, but I know we fucked for a while. But he woke me up in the morning already inside me, and I’ve never felt anything like it. Whenever I jerk off and don’t have any porn around, this gets me every time. VIA
My only good experiences bottoming and topping were with my second ex. He was a toxic, alcoholic, drug addict, trash wanna be rich boy, cheating whore monger, but it was some of the best sex I ever had as a top and a bottom. We came at about the same time or shortly before or after each other. He was the only one who could make me cum that way, and cum as fast as I did and be that horny for sex whenever. He dick was bigger but I got used to it even though he did tear me once. He was still a good bang. Haven’t been able to match that since. VIA
It was in a sling hanging from the ceiling, had straps for my feet up in the air. It was so awesome. I got in and he just stood there and moved the sling back and forth toward him. It was the most relaxing sex I ever had. VIA
Both Ellen DeGeneres and Jeffree Star, have found themselves atop the unpopular list in 2020, as fans abandoned the pair after a rather controversial year.
The celeb who lost the most followers on their social media in 2020 was Ellen DeGeneres. The talk-show host lost over half a million followers on Instagram (estimated potential loss of £1,706.69 per sponsored post) and over 612,000 followers on Twitter. Earlier this year she became embroiled in controversy over the treatment of staffers on her show.
Ellen is known for her world-famous talk show, The Ellen Show, which is what caused her dispute – current and former employees accused Ellen and other senior team members of harbouring a toxic work environment.
Coming in second was makeup guru Jeffree Star, who lost over 487,000 followers on Twitter and 444,000 followers on Instagram.
Jeffree Star’s cosmetic account ranks third with a loss of nearly 445,000 Instagram followers. Jeffree is a well-known influencer, makeup artist (MUA) and Youtuber. Star has been repeatedly accused of using racist language and most recently accused of manipulation regarding one of the most dramatic public feuds within the beauty industry.
Following a backlash over the writer’s stance on transgender people, J.K Rowling lost nearly 351,000 followers on Twitter.
With cancel culture being such a volatile concept, GamblingDeals.com were keen to investigate the impact surrounding celebrity controversies in 2020. They analysed the statistics of notorious figures on SocialBlade.com to see who lost the most followers and whether their estimated potential earnings took a hit as a result.
Ellen DeGeneres places first again as the celebrity with the most Twitter unfollows with a loss of 612,005 followers. However, she still has 79,539,440 followers and ranks as the ninth most-followed account on Twitter.
In second place is Jeffree Star with a loss of 487,151 followers between June and September. Jeffree is the cover picture of controversy yet somehow survives the scandals, considering since September 2020 to the end of October he has already gained 12,616 followers – this begs the question of is ‘cancel culture’ effective?
GamblingDeals.com can reveal that JK Rowling ranks third. The Harry Potter author lost nearly 351,000 Twitter followers from May to the middle of October 2020 – however, her follows are on the rise again.
Interestingly, a few celebrities such as Jeffree Star, Kanye West and JK Rowling are now recovering since their controversy as their followers are back on the rise, indicating that cancel culture has an expiry date. Kanye West, for example, now boasts 1,703,314 more followers since his lowest number in June.
Jimmy Fallon, Tyra Banks, Kanye West, Lana Del Ray and Nick Cannon all lost tens of thousands of followers following various controversies in 2020.
GamblingDeals.com scoured SocialBlade.com to find the top ten celebrities with the highest Instagram and Twitter unfollowing in 2020. Estimated maximum potential earnings per sponsored post on Instagram was calculated by the number of followers*£0.00313.
There are few symbols as widely used as the famous red, crossed ribbon worn on the lapels of many people during December, but what does it mean and why do people wear it?
The strong, vibrant red, a symbol that has become synonymous with every 1st December, was designed in 1991, since then the 1st of December has become known as World AIDS Day and is marked every year.
A decade after AIDS began its stranglehold, decimating communities and revealing a woeful response from governments around the globe, a coalition of 12 artists gathered to devise a plan to raise awareness for Visual Aids, a New York arts organisation which raises awareness of HIV.
The 12 people consisted of photographers, painters, filmmakers and costume designers. After a short collaboration they came up with the striking, but simple idea of the red ribbon, inspired by the yellow ribbons tied on trees at the time, to denote support for US military fighting in the Gulf war.
Pink and rainbow colours were rejected because of their association with the LGBT community, and the designers were keen to show that HIV went beyond gay people and could potentially affect everyone.
The ribbon is worn to signify awareness and support for people living with HIV.
According to WorldAIDsDay.org, “When the artists sat down to work on this project, their aim was to get people talking about HIV. This was during a time where HIV was highly stigmatised and people living with HIV were suffering behind closed doors, some too scared to even tell their loved ones they were living with the virus. The artists wanted to create a visual expression of compassion for people living with, and affected by, HIV.’
“In the very beginning the artists made the ribbons themselves and distributed them around New York. ‘Within weeks of the red ribbon idea being born, world-famous actors starting wearing the red ribbon to high-profile award ceremonies such as the Oscars and talking about why it was important. The media also cottoned on, and within a short space of time the red ribbon symbol became universally recognised”, Explains the website.
In our interview with David France, director of How to Survive A Plague told us, “In one of the worst moments we ever faced we rose above it. We took care of each other. It was extraordinary and beautiful”.
To support the causes that the red ribbon is there to promote, it’s always best to buy directly from the National AIDS Trust where they have an amazing variety of Red Ribbon products or from WorldAIDSDay.org. This year to help raise money during the Coronavirus pandemic, organisers are sending out a 100 free red ribbons to help people raise much-needed funds for the cause. Organisers are asking that people who want to fundraise pledge to raise at least £15 to cover the cost of the ribbons and postage.
New for 2020, National AIDS Trust, the UK’s HIV rights charity has teamed up with the charitable shopping app Kindred to create a range of products raising HIV awareness as they call on the public to #RockTheRibbon.
From stylish organic cotton t-shirts adorned with the iconic HIV awareness red ribbon to handy travel cups, the collection gives shoppers the chance to show their solidarity for people living with HIV this World AIDS Day. Money raised from the sale of products will support the vital work of the National AIDS Trust.
The main mission behind this collaboration is to help stop HIV from standing in the way of health, dignity and equality and put an end to new transmissions.
October 27th Skin
Today’s black LGBT+ icon is Skin. As the lead singer of Skunk Anansie, she has been trailblazing for over 25 years.
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Laurence Fox, who recently called numerous LGBT+ people paedophiles on Twitter has waded into another LGBT+ issue; whether transgender people are biologically men or women.
Seemingly for no reason, (as he was originally calling on people to resist the government’s lockdown policies) actor turned politician Laurence Fox waded into a debate on whether trans women are women after being asked by one user of Twitter, “Do you agree that trans women are women?”.
He answered the question in the negative, saying, that he believed that trans women are biological men. “They are not biological women and never will be”.
The question came from a Twitter user Perky Warbeck.
He also called on the BBC to be defunded after the corporation used its platform to educate children on the importance of gender identity and pronoun usage.
Celebrity Big Brother star and journalist India Willoughby responded to Fox’s tweet, saying “I’m a woman. I’m biological. I didn’t choose this. I’ve had to walk through fire to put things right. Merely existing is tough. We have nothing. The whole world is against us.
“Anyone offering a pat on the head or conditional acceptance after what I’ve been through can jog on.
“Lost count of how many non-trans people insist that can’t possibly be so. Based on what? Their own life experience? Born in the wrong body is definitely a thing. Wires get crossed. It’s frustrating and disorientating. Nothing fun or titillating about it.
“Trans people literally can’t win. If you’re a kid they campaign to deny treatments to “protect” you. But become an adult and have the treatment anyway, and the same “protectors” will attack.”
To celebrate it’s birthday Instagram has installed a secret easter egg on its app, where you can change the app’s logo on your home screen to a different logo, including a Pride inspired one.
Instagram was first launched in October 2010 and since its birth has become a major social media platform, now owned by Facebook.
Since the launch of Instagram the company has had a number of different logos including the famous brown and beige Insta camera – before ending on the current orange to purple gradient logo.
By finding the secret easter egg in the app you can change the’s logo on your home screen from 12 different choices, including a prelaunch “codename” logo. But one of the logos Instagram has chosen to provide is called “pride” and features the Philadelphia flag colours (that’s the flag which contains the black and brown stripe)
From the opening screen inside the app find the settings button (location may differ on different operating systems) and click on it.
Then with your finger scroll upwards (away from all the links like Notifications, Privacy etc)
Keep scrolling and eventually your screen will reveals some emojis – scroll a little further and your screen will be filled with confetti and the logo options will open up!
Recently Instagram has faced criticism over its policy of deleting, without the possibility of appeal or review photographs of LGBT+ content, particularly of the male body.
Last week the platform deleted numerous photos and threatened to cancel the account of The Naked Rugby Players, a charity calendar which celebrates body diversity and bring awareness of male cancers. However the pictures which were removed did not contain any nudity.
The platform did reinstate the pictures and issued an apology directly to The Naked Rugby Players, but has since deleted, without appeal or review, at least two more of the pictures from the account and once again issued its threat to delete the account.
Fans of the calendar called Instagram a “shambles” and the policy “discriminatory”.
After years of reports of how bad things have gotten for LGBT+ people in Poland, the Council of Europe, the continent’s “leading human rights organisation” is to send an investigation team on a “fact-finding” mission to find out about the issues facing LGBT+ people in the country.
LGBT+ people living in Poland have become increasingly targeted because of their sexuality and gender identity. The country recently reelected the EU’s most homophobic leader, Andrzej Duda, who, as part of his election strategy, used anti-LGBT+ rhetoric in his campaigning.
The mission, according to the Council of Europe has been organised after members of the Polish parliament requested it, after increasing attacks and discrimination against gay, lesbian, bi and transgender people.
The delegation, which will investigate on the 2nd and 3rd November will meet with various Polish authorities including: Hanna Gill- Piątek, Coordinator of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Cities, Krzysztof Śmiszek, Chairman of the Parliamentary Intergroup on Equal Rights of LGBT+ Community, Adam Bodnar, Commissioner for Human Rights, Anna Schmidt-Rodziewicz, Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment from the Ministry of Family, Labour and Social policy, and MEP Robert Biedroń, founder of the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH).
Meetings with local and regional governments include Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, Nina Gabryś, Chair of the Council for Equal Treatment of Krakow, Witold Kozlowski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lesser Poland, Jaroslaw Stawiarski, Marshall of the voivodeship of Lublin, Paweł Okrasa, Mayor of Wieluń, Zygmunt Frankiewicz, President of the Association of Polish Cities, and Olgierd Geblewicz, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Union of the Provinces of the Republic of Poland.
Representatives of several NGOs, namely, Lambda Warsawa, Lublin Equality March Association, Love Does Not Exclude, Tęczowy Białystok, Trans-Fuzja and Atlas nienawiści have also been invited to meet with the Delegation.
The results of the fact-finding will be brought to the attention of the Congress and other bodies. They will also provide input for the Congress report on “the role and responsibilities of local governments in protecting LGBTI+ persons”.
The Council Of Europe has 47 members, 27 of which, including Poland are in the EU.
Arthur Rimbaud was born in Marseille, France in 1854. He died from cancer just after his 37th birthday. Rimbaud was described as a restless soul who travelled on three continents before he died.
In 1951 many years after his death the French Postal Service issued stamps featuring Rimbaud and his lover Paul Verlaine.
Rimbaud met Verlaine in the summer of 1870 when he was 16. A friend of Verlaine was less than impressed and described him as, “a tall, gawky young man, very thin, with the look of a rather fierce street Arab”, however, Verlaine was so taken with the younger wayward man, he deserted his wife and child and ran away to London.
It didn’t go well for the two. Their relationship ended in Brussels and during an argument, Verlaine shot Rimbaud in the arm. Rimbaud, however, did not press charges.
France decriminalised sodomy in 1791, becoming the first West European country to do so. In 1832 an age of consent of 11 years-old was adopted for both homo and heterosexual relationships before being raised to 13 and then 21 for homosexual relationships and 15 for straight ones.
It was equalised once again in 1982.
Edmund White writes and the life and times of Rimbaud in his book Rimbaud: The Double Life of a Rebel
October 26th Rikki Beadle-Blair
Today’s black LGBT+ icon is Rikki Beadle-Blair. He is an actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, singer, designer, choreographer, dancer and songwriter.
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Since 2015 there has been a 165% rise in the number of sexual orientation discrimination cases brought against employers, according to new data from compliance training specialist DeltaNet International and the Ministry of Justice.
The study analysed over 120,000 discrimination cases that went to employment tribunals and included cases of sexual orientation, disability, race, age, gender and pregnancy-related complaints.
Sexual orientation claims have increased 165% since 2015/16 to almost 500 cases in 2019/20.
The statistics show that discrimination has increased across 7 categories, with only discrimination on the basis of age declining in number of cases since 2015. The following points show the percentage increase in cases:
Jayne Harrison is Head of Employment Law at Richard Nelson LLP. Speaking of the study, she said,
“It has become far more accessible for employees to lodge sexual orientation discrimination cases. Tribunal fees were abolished on 26 July 2017 and since then tribunals have seen an increase year on year with claims being lodged as now an unhappy employee can use the tribunal system without it costing them anything.
“Previously the fees were around £1200 for an unfair dismissal case but much less (£390) for a wages claim/unlawful deduction. This seemed to act as a bar to potential litigants and one of the main reasons why the fees were abolished when they were challenged by the unions.”
Darren Hockley, MD at DeltaNet International, comments,
“As the data reveals, the best method of avoiding employment tribunals is to treat staff with fairness, dignity, and respect – and to follow clearly laid-out procedures.
“As employers, it’s important we offer training to those we trust in managerial positions on the basic requirements of employment law. Managers should know how to handle sexual orientation discrimination grievances respectfully and transparently and should be regularly updated about the businesses’ statutory and contractual requirements.
“Without this knowledge, it’s hard for staff members to remain fair and consistent, and this is when many organisations may find themselves in hot water.”
A gender-fluid employee at Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) was awarded £180,000 in compensation earlier this month after employment tribunal case against JLR on the basis of sexual orientation discrimination.
In a statement, JLR apologised to the employee, Mx Taylor and said they will continue to work on improvement in this area. Mx Taylor had worked for the company for over 20 years and presented as male before identifying as gender-fluid in 2017.
A transgender employee of Amazon is currently in the process of claiming against his employer after claiming he was denied promotion after announcing he was pregnant.
Under the non-discrimination law passed in 2010, a UK employer cannot discriminate against an employee on the basis of a number of protected characteristics including sexual orientation and gender reassignment.