If you thought it was just the rainbow flag you’re wrong honey. There’s over 35 – from Asexual to Agender, Pan to Poly, Bi to Lesbian and even a straight Ally flag..
See how many you can get right.
ALSO READ: 14 Polari words we need to start using again…
Nigel Brent Wilkinson, 43, of Hill Avenue has been jailed after admitting to two counts of rape and three counts of administering a substance with intent to rape and possession of class C drugs Flunitrazepam (also known as Rohypnol) and Nitrazepam.
The photographer was sentenced to 11 years at the Bristol Crown Court today.
Det Con Stacey Matthews said,
“Nigel Wilkinson promoted himself as a male fitness photographer and last summer set up an online enterprise called WilkoPhotography.
“He’d use social media to identify men he wanted to photograph and would invite them to Bristol for a photoshoot.
“The men would often stay at his home and throughout their visit he would ply them with alcoholic drinks, some of which were laced with sedatives.
“While they were in a drugged state, Wilkinson’s predatory nature would prevail and he’d commit sexual acts on them without their consent.
“We began our investigation in February 2016, when Kent Police were called by the girlfriend of the 19-year-old victim who received a concerning text message from him saying he believed he’d been drugged.
“We went to Wilkinson’s home and found the victim inside. He was taken to hospital and tests were carried out which found traces of a sedative in his system.
“He attended a Sexual Assault Referral Centre for more tests and our investigation continued, resulting in officers attending Wilkinson’s home in April to arrest him.
“When they arrived, they found a 23-year-old man asleep on the sofa. He was also taken to hospital and then The Bridge Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Bristol. There was evidence he’d been drugged and raped.
“On the surface, Nigel Wilkinson was a photographer with an interest in male fitness models. In private, he was a cunning sexual offender who used his photography enterprise as a cover and catalyst for his deviant activities.
“The victims have shown immense bravery, dignity and courage throughout our investigation and I’d like to thank them for the support they’ve given the investigation team. These crimes have had a significant impact on them and their families.
“We believe there’ll be more victims who haven’t yet come forward and I’d urge them to do so. If you’ve had any contact with Nigel Wilkinson or WilkoPhotography, or have come into contact with him through dating websites or dating apps, please call Avon and Somerset Police on 101 quoting reference number 5216165860.”
PC Mike Steven, who is leading our Force’s ongoing campaign to raise awareness of male rape and sexual assault and improve services for victims, said:
“The circumstances of this case are truly horrifying.
“The victims have all attended Sexual Assault Referral Centres and are being given continual access to any expert services they may need now or in the future.
“I’d encourage any other victim of Nigel WIlkinson to come forward and speak to us. We’re always here and ready to listen to, believe and respect victims.
“Our vital work to change perceptions and improve our response to male victims of rape or sexual assault is continuing to evolve and I hope it’s encouraging more victims to find the strength to come forward.
“If you don’t want to speak to the police, please speak to someone. Don’t suffer in silence.”
If you want to report a rape or sexual assault but don’t want to speak to the police, you can contact your local Sexual Assault Referral Centre – available 24/7, 365 days a year. Details of your local SARC can be found atwww.thesurvivorstrust.org/sarc
A law in Belize that disproportionately affects gay men was last night ruled unconstitutional by the country’s Supreme Court after a three-year wait for the judgment.
Section 53 of Belize’s Criminal Code, an old British colonial law, banned ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ and thereby made consensual gay sex between adult men in private illegal in Belize. The legal provision has been ruled ‘unlawful’ to the extent that it can be applied to same-sex activity.
In handing down the judgment, Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin agreed that Section 53 amounts to a violation of the constitutional rights to dignity, privacy, equality and non-discrimination on grounds of sex. He found that there was no justification in the form of ‘public morality’ and therefore the law must be modified. He awarded costs to the Claimaint, Caleb Orozco.
The case is the culmination of years of work by a Caribbean-led coalition of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) activists, academics and legal experts. The individual claimant is Caleb Orozco, a Belizean gay man and prominent LGBT human rights advocate.
Today Orozco said:
“This is the first day of my life in which it is legal for me to be me.
This is a history-making judgment for Belize, the country which I am proud to call home.
Our judicial system has been proven to be robust and unprejudiced. This judgment should give other oppressed minorities the confidence to speak up and stand up for themselves in situations of human rights abuse in the way I have. Our courts really are there to protect us all.
In striking down Section 53, Belize has also rejected a poisonous remnant of colonial rule. We have reaffirmed ourselves as a society built on dignity and respect for all our people.
This is a proud day.”
Simone Hill, President of the United Belize Advocacy Movement (UNIBAM) said before the judgment:
‘This is about our human rights. As citizens of this country our rights should be respected without fear or favour. Win or lose, we will continue the fight to ensure the victory of the protection of our rights.”
The case was heard in May 2013 and presided over by Chief Justice Kenneth Benjamin. Today’s ruling – some three years and three months later – upholds Belize’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans) community’s human rights to privacy, equality, dignity and non-discrimination, all of which are protected under the country’s constitution.
Meanwhile, the International Commission of Jurists, the Commonwealth Lawyers Association and the Human Dignity Trust were joint ‘Interested Parties’ in support of Mr Orozco.
Téa Braun, Legal Director of the Human Dignity Trust, said:
“This is a great victory for human rights and the rule of law.
Intimacy in private between two adults of their own free will should not be a matter for the law. The only outcome of such laws is to blight the lives of members of the LGBT community by fostering a climate of oppression and state-sponsored discrimination.
The bravery and resilience of colleagues across the Caribbean who have worked tirelessly on this case is an inspiration. Caleb Orozco is a hero and a trailblazer. The Human Dignity Trust is immensely proud to have worked alongside him and his legal team.”
Alex Ward, President of the Commonwealth Lawyers Association, which passed a resolution on the ‘Decriminalisation of Sexual Orientation’ in 2009, said,
“This is a sound and just ruling which we wholeheartedly welcome. It is the CLA’s mandate to uphold the rule of law across the Commonwealth and today marks a considerable success in maintaining the integrity of the Belizean Constitution and protecting its citizens’ fundamental rights.”
Livio Zilli, Senior Legal Adviser at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), said,
“The ICJ hails the courage, commitment and tenacity of the entire LGBT movement in Belize, and Caleb Orozco’s in particular, and salutes this decision as a critical contribution to upholding people’s human rights whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity.”
While convictions under Section 53 in Belize were rare, the law carried a sentence of up ten years’ imprisonment effectively for consensual homosexual sex.
There are still 76 legal jurisdictions across the world that make same-sex intimacy between consenting adults a crime. Of these, 38 countries are, like Belize, members of the Commonwealth.
IMAGE: Grindr / FILE PHOTO
The news site, The Daily Beast, has been heavily criticised after an article appeared online in which a journalist, Nico Hines, was trying to go on some dates using the gay dating app, Grindr – however the article revealed potentially identifiable characteristics of some of the sportsmen – some of whom are not out.
German Lopez, who was covering the story for Vox.com said,
“On its face, the story may seem like yet another fluffy piece about sex in the Olympic village, and not much else. But it did do one potentially awful thing: It may have outed multiple gay athletes, including one from “a notoriously homophobic country,” potentially putting people in real danger.”
In a letter the Editorial team said that they were “wrong” and “sorry” for the article and took the decision to remove it from their site in an “unprecedented but necessary step”.
ALSO READ: Tom Bosworth to buy engagement ring at Heathrow airport to make his boyfriend an “honest man!”
The editors also apologised to the athletes who “may have been inadvertently compromised” by the story.
In the statement the Editors said,
“As a newsroom, we succeed together and we fail together, and this was a failure on The Daily Beast as a whole, not a single individual. The article was not intended to do harm or degrade members of the LGBT community, but intent doesn’t matter, impact does. Our hope is that removing an article that is in conflict with both our values and what we aspire to as journalists will demonstrate how seriously we take our error.”
One Foot In The Grave actor Richard Wilson has suffered a potentially life-threatening heart attack and is now reportedly recovering in hospital. The Scottish actor came out as gay in an interview with the Daily Mail in 2013.
The 80-year-old is now reportedly recovering in a hospital recovering after going into cardiac arrest yesterday afternoon (11th August). The sitcom star’s condition is reported to be “stable”. The actor’s agent confirmed to the Guardian that he is remaining in hospital.
Wilson is probably most famous for his stint as the grumpy old Victor Meldrew in the iconic BBC series One Foot In The Grave – a character he played for 10 years. He originally turned down the part – thinking the character was actually too old for him to play.
Last week he revealed to the Aled Jones show that he was bringing the character back for the Edinburgh Fringe – in a one-man show called I Don’t Believe It, one of his character’s stock phrases.
The play was meant to run from the 16th until the 24th – all performances have now seemed to have been cancelled as the ticketing website edfringe.com has pulled the page where you could purchase tickets.
The actor is an Associate Director at the Sheffield Crucible. THEGAYUK’s Paul Szabo wrote that Wilson was an excellent director in the five star show The Nap, which the icon directed in March of this year.
Nearly 40 per cent of gay and bisexual men are having unprotected anal sex the majority of the time. A poll by GMFA has revealed that condom usage has “slipped back” since the early days of HIV and the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Of the 40 per cent that have unprotected sex 49 per cent of them identified their relationship status as single, dating or in an open relationship.
Despite the lack of protection nearly half of those surveyed also stated that they do in fact worry about STI infections and becoming infected with HIV.
Matthew Hodson [outgoing CEO] of GMFA said,
“Condom use has slipped back a little since the early days of HIV, partly because HIV is no longer a death sentence, and partly because we’re not seeing the same investment in sexual health that we saw a decade ago. With resources deployed to promote condoms and sexual health, encourage testing, challenge stigma, ensure that all gay men are well educated about HIV prevention and PrEP provided, we could end HIV within a generation.”
The latest issue of GMFA’s FS examines the current state of sexual health of gay and bi men in the UK. According to the editor, Issue 155 takes an honest look at how much unprotected sex they are actually having, and asks the question: do we need to rethink HIV prevention?
Ian Howley, [incoming Interim CEO] of GMFA believes that relationship status has to be taken into account,
“We know that the majority of gay and bisexual men use condoms some of the time. There is an idea out there that everyone doesn’t use condoms, and for a lot of people who responded to this survey this is the case. But many of these men are in long term relationships, or are married/civil partnered or said they were in a monogamous relationship. When you look at these stats, it’s only a small percentage of gay men, who are having lots of unprotected anal sex, who are at a high level of risk.”
Polari was a form of slang in Britain used by actors, showmen, merchant navy sailors, sex workers was adopted by gay subculture.
It’s been around since at least the 19th century – some have found its origins as far back as the 16th century.
It’s had its ups and down, but it’s a rather Fantabulosa way of expressing yourself.
So we’ve dragged out our Polari dictionary to rediscover 14 words we need to start using again…
Earrings think subtle…
The trouser bulge
Your buttocks
Hairdresser
Fabulous/ Wonderful
Money
Effeminate gay man
Food
Awful, dull, hetero
Telephone
Homosexual… Is he so?
Bottom to bottom – sex between two passive guys
Sex- or a potential sexual partner.
Tart up your hair
Actor Colton Haynes, 28, has revealed in a heartbreaking interview with Out.com that he was told his father killed himself after he came out as gay earlier this year.
His father died earlier in the year after swallowing 40 oxycodone pills. There’s no evidence to link his father’s suicide to Colton’s coming out – the Teen Wolf star said,
“I was told that my dad killed himself because he found out I was gay.”
After hearing that, Colton says he “lost it” and questioned how anyone could say something like that.
The Arrow actor also revealed that although nobody would ever know the truth about why his father committed suicide, when his mother and his brother went to collect his father’s belonging the only picture on his fridge was Colton’s 8th Grade school photo.
Will Young has been confirmed as the second celebrity contestant on the BBC entertainment show Strictly Come Dancing which starts its 14th series in September. The first contestant to be announced was politician Ed Balls.
The multi-million selling artist said,
“As a fan of Strictly for years, I have always imagined myself on the show, but the timing has not been right… until now! Music is my passion and the dancing I have done has always been with a microphone in hand. Now there will be no microphone or band, just me, my partner and the dance floor. Strictly is a show with fantastic live music and has an ethos of positivity and growth. I practice these two things every day, and I will try my hardest to be the best dancer possible,”
One question remains, as Will Young is openly gay, will he have a same-sex partner on the dancefloor?
UPDATED: 11th August 2016
Boyfriends Jakub and David had no idea that the band Roxette would ever see their video of “Some Other Summer”, let alone love it – but that’s what happened.
The multi-platinum selling Roxette shared the video on their official Facebook, saying “Nice One, Cheers” after the video was upload 3 weeks ago.
The video was shot by the boyfriends, aided by Chris and Michael whilst they were on holiday. Michael who wrote to THEGAYUK to share the video said,
“(It was) Really amazing gesture from the pop icon and huge pleasure for them. It’s really cool and happy and I’m also proud cause I was helping them with montage.”
During last night’s Channel 5 programme, Celebrity Big Brother host Emma Willis announced live to the house that the celebrity with the fewest votes and therefore, the second celebrity to leave would be Siara.
Following the announcement, broadcaster Siara said her goodbyes and left the house, greeted by Emma and a mixed reaction from the crowd.
CHANNEL 5On asked by Emma how it feels to be out Siara grinned: “Its’ just great to see normal people.”
On having other ‘big characters’ in the house Saira said: “I don’t know, for me I just felt I was either being two faced or being alright.”
On seeing that James, Chloe, Aubrey, Katie, Heavy D all nominated her, “I’m surprised by Katie just because I didn’t get to know her but think she’s quite influenced by her little clique.”
On forcing her opinions on people, “I an opinionated person and we come from different place, I think I should use this (mouth) less and listen more. I knew that some people in there got me like Ricky and Sammy Fox.”
Siara added: “I have an opinion and I find it very different when people don’t, I think a lot of people are sitting on the fence, I am opinionated, I don’t think it’s a bad thing, I tried my best to reign it in but it is a madhouse.”
On Bear, “I have had a journey with him, honestly, he’s a prankster, he’s a young lad having fun, he’s on the trip of his life, he takes it too far, if you give him attention…, deep down he’s a good man, I felt it, I don’t think I would say that if I didn’t mean it.”
On Lewis and Marnie’s ‘relationship,’ “It’s been 12 days, in 12 days, I think you make a friend, they say it’s genuine, all I can do is respect that.”
Siara added, “I’ve come out and I see people, and myself in a different light, it’s been a journey.”
Finally, Emma asked her who she would like to win, “Samantha Fox.”
Emma then announced the next CBB bombshell – the 3 safe Housemates had to deliver killer nominations face-to-face.
Over the next three days, Housemates will play a game of chance during a week of risk taking. Every decision will come with a cost that will leave one housemate paying a hefty price.
Big Brother returns tonight at 10.30pm.