THEGAYUK

Author: News Desk

  • Pride in London slams accuracy of advisory board’s inclusion report

    Pride in London have hit back at the accuracy of the report by the group it created to advise on decisions of inclusion, governance and operational issues.

    A recent report by the Pride In London Community Advisory Board (CAB) has been slammed by officials at Pride In London for not being accurate and disrespectful to the many volunteers who help make the event happen.

    In the report, the CAB suggested that future prides in the capital need to focus on the bisexual, BAME and other marginalised groups amongst other suggestions.

    A spokesperson for PIL said,

    “We deliberately gather feedback from many sources, including our volunteers and the wider community through open meetings, surveys and online reporting.
    “We do not believe the CAB report reflects the majority view nor takes in to account these other sources of data, it is also inaccurate in many places which is disrespectful to the many volunteers that work hard to deliver the event. Their report was not shared with us in advance and therefore we were not able to correct these inaccuracies.
    “We will be looking at each of the points they raise and we have invited them to meet with us.
    “Unfortunately the CAB has suffered from some long standing vacancies (such as a women’s rep), which has adversely affected its ability to provide us with consistently strong and balanced guidance.

    Who are the CAB?

    The Community Advisory Board was established by Pride in London’s owners, London LGBT Community Pride CIC to give it advice on how to improve engagement and to act as a sounding board on difficult or contentious issues.
    The spokesperson for Pride continued,
    “Since the collapse of London’s Pride event in 2012; under community ownership, Pride in London has become one of the world’s largest and most successful Pride events.
    “It remains volunteer-led and free to attend and enjoys strong support from agencies, partners and sponsors. Diversity and inclusion is at the core of all we do, from deciding on acts to perform, to volunteer recruitment but we are not complacent and are always looking at ways to do more.
    “We believe we now have a strong foundation to continue to make progress in improving on diversity and inclusion amongst other issues.
    “Already this year, we were able to represent our community in new ways through our Pride in London Live series reaching millions through social platforms, our largest and most diverse Pride Festival and Parade, and our first ever national TV adverts reaching millions of UK homes.
    “We are also proud to have achieved Silver Accreditation from Attitude is Everything which recognises the standards of accessibility of the main event.
    “We’re looking forward to announcing our vision and plan for the next 5 years of Pride in London.  The LGBTQ+, community will remain at the heart of everything we do and we constantly strive to do better at representing and supporting it.”

     

     

  • Who are the Pride In London CAB?

    The Community Advisory Board (CAB) is an organisation established by Pride In London

    The Community Advisory Board was established by Pride in London’s owners, London LGBT Community Pride CIC to give it advice on how to improve engagement and to act as a sounding board on difficult or contentious issues.

    Who is in charge of the CAB?

    The CAB has 19 official positions – of which 12 are filled. There are seven vacant positions including a Women’s Rep and Straight Ally Rep which are new to the board.

    Chair: Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett
    Deputy Chair and Bisexual People’s Rep: Edward Lord OBE (BiUK)
    Secretariat: Mark Delacour (LGBT Consortium)
    Arts and Literature: Simon Tarrant (Winter Pride UK)
    Black and Minority Ethnic People’s Rep: Ozzy Amir (Queen Mary Students’ Union)
    Campaigning and Political Groups: Open for nominations
    Disabled People’s Rep: Open for nominations
    Faith and Belief Groups: Richard Unwin (Galha LGBT Humanists)
    Health Rep: Open for nominations
    Local Groups Rep: David Robson (Wandsworth LGBT Forum)
    Older People’s Rep: Peter Scott-Presland (Opening Doors London)
    Performers Rep: Dr J (The Queer Embassy)
    Professional Groups: Open for nominations
    Sports Rep: Fabian Valencia (Out for Sport)
    Straight Ally Rep: New position and open for nominations
    Trans* People’s Rep: Megan Faulkner (Trans Network London)
    Young People’s Rep: Lukasz Koniezcka (Mosaic LGBT Youth Centre)
    Women’s Rep: New position and open for nominations
    Open Place Rep: Open for nominations

    What does the CAB consult and advise on?

    Diversity and inclusion at Pride
    Engaging different groups (e.g. trans*, BME) as volunteers, participants and audiences
    Future themes and the purpose of Pride
    Event plans
    Parade design and management
    Festival events and acts
    Diversity and inclusion training
    Financial governance

  • Christian dating site just used this iconic Drag Race queen for their adverts – and she didn’t know

    Christian Dating site, ChristianMingle.com just used a famous DragRace star…

    Christian dating site just used this iconic Drag Race queen and she's not happy

    US TV favourite, Kelly Mantle has found herself the star of an online advertising campaign and she had no idea. The dating site, which is primarily targetted at US Christians and boasts that it’s “responsible for more Christian marriages than all other dating sites”, used a stock photo of the TV star, to which she said, “Umm why is ChristianMingle.com using a pic of me in their promo ads??”

    Kelly Mantle appeared in the sixth series of RuPaul’s Drag Race, however, she was an already known TV star before the show having starred in The New Normal, Mike & Molly and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

    ChristianMingle.com is owned by Spark Networks, a dating conglomerate, which owns a number of brands including JDate, BlackSingles, College Love and Adventist Singles.

    THEGAYUK.com reached out to ChristianMingle.com for comment.

     

  • Man who survived Manchester bombing was caught up in Barcelona terrorist attack

    A man who survived the terrorist attack at the Manchester Arena earlier this year, has escaped the devasting attack in Barcelona with his boyfriend.

    Chris Pawley, 30 and his partner, Corey Lorde – survived the terrorist attack in Barcelona which has killed at least 13 and injured dozens more. The couple arrived at the scene just moments after a white van ploughed through the popular tourist area.

    The pair had been visiting Barcelona for the annual Circuit Festival, one of the world’s biggest gay festivals.

    The event manager, who lives in Manchester City centre also uploaded footage of the aftermath of the terrorist attack on his Facebook account.

    Taking to social media the Manchester resident said,

    “Can’t believe we are in the same place as another terrorist attack! Hope everyone is ok in Barcelona!”

    “Just to let everyone know me and Corey are ok, gettin a lot of messages. It’s crazy here, the shops have put all there shutters down and the army is out but hope everyone is ok who’s been injured!”

    Mr Pawley was also caught up in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack which killed 22 people. Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, he said that he had walked past Martyn Hett just moments before the suicide bomber detonated his explosives.

    The Circuit Festival issued a statement via social media, saying that the party would not continue in “respect and solidarity with the victims”.

  • Michael Barrymore entitled to “substantial” payout from police over wrongful arrest

    Michael Barrymore’s legal battle against Essex police has resulted in the entertainer set to get a substantial payout for the wrongful arrest over the death of a man in his home in 2001.

    A High Court judge has ruled that the Michael Barrymore was entitled to “more than nominal” damages over the manner in which he was treated by the police.

    The star was detained in 2007 over the death of a man at his home in 2001.

    Stuart Lubbock, 31 was found dead at the star’s Essex home in March 2001. In June 2001 Police arrested Barrymore, his partner and another man in connection to Lubbock’s death but no charges were brought forward. The same three men were arrested again in 2007 but the case was dropped again after three months. No one was charged.

    Essex Police has admitted the arrest was unlawful and that the arresting officer did not have reasonable grounds to suspect that Mr Barrymore was guilty.

    In 2009 the IPCC found multiple failings with the original police investigation.

    Mr Barrymore’s legal team, who brought the action under Mr Barrymore’s real name, Michael Ciaran Parker, argued that the entertainer suffered “devastating” damage to his reputation following on from the investigation. There are some suggestions that the value of the payout could be over £2.4 million.

    Mr Barrymore’s lawyer  Hugh Tomlinson QC said,

    “This arrest was made without any proper evidential foundation.

    “However, the fact that it had happened, and the worldwide publicity it received, destroyed the claimant’s career.”

  • Pride In London needs to be more bi-focused report finds

    The Pride In London(PIL) advisory board has made a recommendation that London’s pride should focus more on bisexual people, including making the next pride’s theme Bisexuality.

    A report from the PIL’s Independent Community Advisory Board has suggested that future prides need to focus on the bisexual, BAME and other marginalised groups.

    The report made several recommendations that PIL needed to ingrate BAME (Black Asian and minority ethnic) LGBT+ people in all areas of pride, not just at UK Black Pride – which is a separate event that takes place on the Sunday after the main event on the Saturday.

    Their suggestion is:

    “Full involvement and integration of BAME LGBT+ people into Pride in London is essential to achieve a cohesive and inclusive event, and recommends that the best way to achieve this is to support and resource UK Black Pride, and ensure that BAME LGBT+ people are represented not just at Pride in the Park, but on all stages and in all Pride events”.

    The report also suggested that more marginalised groups, should be given “pride of place” at the parade. The report also suggested that PIL should follow the example of Tel Aviv Pride, where the theme for the year was bisexuality.

    The report reads,

    “Pride in London should follow the example of Tel Aviv Pride this year, by making bi people the central focus of the Pride Parade in 2018 or 2019, which would require full engagement of bi people and groups in both planning and execution. Going forward, it may be appropriate that each year, one of the more marginalised sections of London’s LGBT communities – for example, BAME, bi, trans, and intersex people – should, on rotation, be given pride of the place in the Parade”.

    This year’s theme for Pride In London was Love Happens Here.

    The board’s Chair, Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett said,

    “After each Pride in London, the Independent Community Advisory Board sit down to discuss if this year’s event has achieved its objectives. When I took over as Chair in February 2016, I made diversity and intersectionality my priority.

    “We have asked members of LGBT+ communities, both individuals and respected third party organisations, to give us their view in writing so we have evidence and documentation to back up our assertions.

    “For every criticism in the report, and there are many, we have suggested a reasonable and practical  solution, and where we think further transparency and openness is required, we have asked to see those conversations brought to the CAB well in advance of any decision.

    “We also felt that there has been significant disquiet across the LGBT+ communities, around Pride’s corporate nature, lack of inclusion, bad handling of sensitive intersectionality issues and it felt that we needed to live up to the expectations of the role and that is providing a frank but honest report on the experiences not only from CAB members but also opinions across our communities.”

    THEGAYUK reached out to Pride In London for comment.

     

     

  • Spotify has removed tracks from known White Supremacists

    Music giant Spotify has removed music from artists known as white supremacists.

    In a statement, a spokeswoman for the world’s biggest streaming service explained that “illegal content or material that favours hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us.”

    BRAVO.

    The removal comes on the back of a post by  Digital Music News titled “I Just Found 37 White Supremacist Hate Bands on Spotify.”

    “Spotify takes immediate action to remove any such material as soon as it has been brought to our attention,

    “We are glad to have been alerted to this content — and have already removed many of the bands identified today, whilst urgently reviewing the remainder.” Per Billboard, Spotify is “also reviewing the possibility of blocking this type of content from future music recommendations.”

     

  • Gay men just aren’t using condoms… new research finds

    New research by GMFA has shown that the majority of gay men asked didn’t use condoms the last time they had sex.

    Gay men just aren't using condoms... new research finds

    A new report from GMFA has revealed that gay and bisexual men aren’t using condoms when they have sex. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said that they didn’t use a condom the last time they had anal sex. Eight percent who had bareback sex were on PrEP.

    “The results of the survey has shown that sex is complicated and there is no one size fits all safer sex strategy,” says Ian Howley, Chief Executive of GMFA. “First we need to define what is risky sex in this day and age.”

    “Safer sex in 2017 is more complicated than it was twenty years ago when your only options were condoms or abstinence as a way to protect yourself from HIV and STIs. The advancement of treatment, the fact that gay men who are on HIV treatment and have an undetectable viral load so can’t pass on HIV, added to the increased number of gay men who are taking PrEP, means that gone are the days when sexual health education was just about telling people to use condoms. We now must do more to increase gay men’s knowledge about all the options open to them.”

    “Of course condoms still play an important role in preventing other STIs and should still be a major part of a safer sex strategy, however, it’s not a one size fits all approach anymore. We need to meet gay men where they are in their lives. We need to keep on pushing the message that there is more than one safer sex strategy. We need to increase people’s knowledge about PEP, PrEP and what HIV-undetectable actually means in the real world.”

    Just what is “risky sex” in 2017?

    PrEP and successful HIV treatment has changed the landscape of what it means to have ‘risky’ sex, particularly when it comes to HIV. FS surveyed 523 gay and bi men and asked them about the last time they had sex, what type of sex it was, when they were last tested and what risky sex means to them.

    They discovered,

    • 65% of respondents said that they didn’t use condoms the last time they had anal sex.
    • 32% of those respondents said it was bareback but they knew the other guy was HIV-negative
    • 14% of them said it was bareback but one or both were HIV-undetectable
    • 11% said it was bareback but didn’t think about or worry about the risk.
    • 8% said it was bareback but one or both were on PrEP.
    • 27% of total respondents consider themselves to have a risky sex life

    Ian Howley goes on to say,

    “We at GMFA recommend the following. If you are someone who is comfortable using condoms then keep on doing that. It’s the best strategy that helps prevent HIV and STIs. If you are someone who is HIV-negative and has condomless sex then we would recommend that you get yourself on PrEP. It won’t stop STIs but it’s been proven to stop people becoming HIV-positive. Also check out PEP. It can help if you’ve put yourself at risk.

    “If you are living with HIV and undetectable then keep on taking your medication. HIV-positive men who are undetectable cannot pass on the virus to anyone. If you are living with HIV and are not undetectable yet then we suggest you still use condoms with HIV-negative men, unless they are on PrEP. And all sexually active men, whether HIV-negative or HIV-positive should have regular check-ups at a GUM clinic. We recommend once every six months or more often if you are having condomless sex. Gay men need to learn about the option open to them. It’s the only way we can finally stop HIV transmissions.”

  • Gay marriage blocked once again in Northern Ireland

    It seems our lesbian & gay family in Northern Ireland will have to wait even longer to enjoy same-sex marriage after Northern Ireland’s High Court ruled to keep the ban in place.

    Gay marriage blocked once again in Northern Ireland

    Despite same-sex marriage being legal in England, Wales and Scotland, Northern Ireland is the only nation within the UK that doesn’t allow its gay and lesbian couples to get married. Instead, gay couples are only permitted to have Civil Partnerships, which are legally different to marriages.

    Two cases, specifically about Northern Ireland recognising same-sex marriage made outside the nation were rejected by the High Court. This means, even if a same-sex couple is married anywhere else in the UK, their marriage will not be valid in Northern Ireland.

    The two cases were heard together, due to the legal similarities. The first was known as Petition X, and was brought by a gay couple who were married in London in 2014. When they moved to Northern Ireland their marriage was changed to a Civil Partnership.

    The second case was brought by two couples in civil partnerships – Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kane. They contended the ban breaches their human rights.

    Both cases were rejected by Mr Justice O’Hara  who said the ban did not violate the rights of gay and lesbian couples. He added that it was for the nation’s politicians to decide social policy in Northern Ireland.

    Delivering the verdict the Judge said,

    “It is not at all difficult to understand how gay men and lesbians who have suffered discrimination, rejection and exclusion feel so strongly about the maintenance in Northern Ireland of the barrier to same sex marriage,

    “The judgement which I have to reach is not based on social policy but on the law.”

    The subject of same-sex marriage has been voted on five times by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Each time it was blocked by the DUP, the party Theresa May is relying on for her parliamentary majority after the General Election provided a slim majority for the Tories.

     

  • Perez overwhelmed by the support he’s received following emotional video fearing for his kids’ future

    Perez Hilton has said that he is “overwhelmed” by the support he’s received since his video of him crying for his kids’ future went viral.

    THEGAYUK.com was the first to bring the news that Perez Hilton was “sorry” and afraid for his children’s future because of who their father is – since then the Internet gossip as tweeted that the outpouring of support has been “really overwhelming”.

    In a heartbreaking video to his fans, celebrity gossip, Perez Hilton opened up about how he was recently let go from a “life changing” job opportunity by the powers that be, because of who he is and his past actions.

    Speaking candidly Perez spoke about how sometimes he feels he isn’t allowed to move from the person he once was – who gave celebs nasty nicknames and doodled inappropriate drawings on photos.

    Without revealing what the job was, Perez sobbed as he said sorry and then feared for his kids’ future because of who he is and what he used to represent.

     

     

     

  • Obama’s anti-racist tweet is the most liked ever

    President Obama’s anti-racism tweet is now the most liked ever. Surpassing the tweet that Ariana Grande sent after the attack at her concert.

    A tweet by President Obama has become the world’s most liked tweet, surpassing the one sent by American pop star Ariana Grande directly after the terrorist attack that rocked her Manchester concert, killing 22 people.

    Obama’s tweet which is a quote from the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela,  was sent just after the violent far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

    The tweet read, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…

    “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…”

    “…For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela

    So far, the initial tweet has been liked more than 4.2 million times and Retweeted over 1.5 million times. Twitter confirmed that Obama’s moving message is also the fifth most retweeted post of all time.

    He followed the tweet with two more heartfelt messages