Will Young has blasted the Education Secretary Nicky Morgan as not “giving a shit” about mental health.
Speaking at this year’s National Student Pride singer Will Young has strongly criticised Education Secretary Nicky Morgan for ignoring the mental health needs of LGBT youth in the UK. He said that he would be picketing her offices until she addressed issues facing the UK’s LGBT community.
After a private meeting with Morgan, Young said he left heartbroken.
He said,
“It breaks my heart that there are going to be more and more generations of young LGBT people that are going to continue to have a lack of nurture and have this internalised shame which can be changed within the education system.”
“The only conclusion that I can draw is that she doesn’t give a shit about it”.
Will Young who was crowned by THEGAYUK readers as one of the top 10 gay icons of Britain confessed he is “not a huge fan” of Nicky Morgan, stating his concerns about the MP dealing with mental health issues facing young LGBTS, “I don’t see the Education Secretary, who I am not a huge fan of at all, addressing this at all.”
He then announced that he would be picketing the politician until she gives answers and takes action in schools to help young LGBT people live openly and freely.
“I am augmenting a new White Paper and then I’ll picket outside the department of education until she gives me some answers.”
MP Chris Bryant has said that Britain has left a “shocking” legacy for LGBT people living in the Commonwealth.
The out MP Chris Bryant, speaking at the Diversity Role Model’s launch last week said that thanks to a British legal legacy, 90 percent of people living in Commonwealth countries live with a legal system that makes homosexuality illegal and in some places lethal.
He said,
“Somebody told me one of the most shocking statistics that I’ve heard in my life, which is that 90 per cent of the people that live in the Commonwealth, with British legacy therefore… live in a country where homosexuality is still illegal.
“Ninety per cent. That’s what we’ve given the world as our historic legacy.”
He went on to say that it was “extraordinary” that a country like Australia still does not offer its LGBT citizens same-sex marriage.
He added,
“It’s extraordinary to me that country that is so addicted to Abba like Australia is, still has no gay marriage or even same-sex unions. That seems absolutely extraordinary.”
Commonwealth countries where homosexuality is still illegal to include the popular holiday destinations: Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Maldives.
In Brunei and Northern Nigeria, you can land the death penalty if caught in a homosexual relationship.
Older Millennial guys let me hear your war cries… We were the first generation of gay men who got to live more freely because of our forefathers’ efforts, we took fashion risks, we grew up with safer sex messages that rocked our world and we saw Charlie Hunnam get rimmed.
1) UFO clothing was everything and you had to have Buffalo shoes.
CREDIT: TheGayUK
God knows what we were thinking.
2) We played our love lifes out to Geri Halliwell’s first and best album.
Bag It Up was the theme tune to our life.
3) We remember those AIDS ads from the TV and condom usage was always a must.
That was so scary, condoms basically jumped onto our dicks.
4) Charlie Hunnam was literally everything.
Queer as folk was everything. And **that** rimming scene taught you everything you needed to know and a little bit more.
5) You remember watching watching Tony Hills and Simon Raymonds kiss for the first time on EastEnders and it was electric
Thank god there was no Twitter back then. Social media would have completely melted as these two love birds locked lips.
[adinserter block=”1″]
6) Coming Out at school was probably still a huge No No.
It can still be tough to come out at school, but it was a complete no no back in the 80s and 90s.
7) You couldn’t talk about being gay with your teachers at school. It was against the law.
Yep. Thanks to Margaret Thatcher and the Tories in the 80’s we were “protected” from talking about sexuality in schools.
8) You remember thinking as a child that Todd from Neighbours was everything.
Todd was hot. There was no way of denying it.
9) When you came out the idea of marriage was so extreme you thought you’d end up alone and always be a social pariah that never married.
(C) TheGayUK
Thank you 2004 and civil partnerships.
10) Celebrities only came out in newspaper exposés or interviews.
CREDIT: The Sun
Celebrities were either forced out or made some £££ out of coming out for national rags. Careers were often ruined and teen girls everywhere cried themselves to sleep.
11) Gaydar was really the only way to hook up online.
CREDIT: GayDar
This was the golden age of ASL
12) You totally had one of these
In either grey or pink. So so millennial.
13) You wore t-shirts that changed colour when you went clubbing.
It was so important for people to see you sweat.
14. If you were in London the Astoria was the only place to be if you were a twink.
CREDIT: Secretlondon at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [CC BY-SA 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0), GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons
Shiz didn’t get more real. Millennials played out their entire social lives in the mid-level bar.
15. It was the golden era of boybands.
And we all wanted to look like them.
16. Pushpops taught us a lot.
Pushpops taught us that you have to get something up before you can suck it.
17. Will And Grace changed the game.
NBC/KoMut
We all wanted Karen as a friend.
18) Basic bitches had this phone
CREDIT: Depositphotos.com
19) Posh gays had this one.
CREDIT: Depositphotos.com
Millennial guys could do everything by text. It was basically the only way to get anything done. If you had money you had a Razr otherwise it was Nokia 3210 all the way.
20) We are a crossover generation learning to become more comfortable with a more accepting world.
Whoever had control of John Partridge’s Twitter whilst he was in the house is literally boss.
CREDIT: Channel 5
It’s fair to say that while he was in the Big Brother house actor John Partridge cause a bit of a stir outside in the real world. It wasn’t long before the trolls left their riverside dwellings to have their say on Twitter. Well John Partridge’s Twitter HQ took it in its stride.
Whoever was controlling his social media was literally boss and knows the true meaning of “Bye Felicia”, owning every single negative comment that came toward’s the star’s official Twitter account.
Whoever it was, proved that they had as much sass as the real life John and slayed troll after troll. The social media team’s withering put downs kept coming and coming. They were on point.
Jaymi Hensley has joked that there must be something in Union J’s water as his bandmate George Shelley comes out.
Taking to Twitter the out singer Jaymi Hensley has said how proud he is of his bandmate George Shelley after he addressed the speculation surrounding his sexuality.
In his video George said,
“I’ve had girlfriends that I’ve loved, in amazing periods of my life, but I’ve also had boyfriends.
“I want you to know that whether I decide to be with a girl next or be with a guy next it’s because I love them.
Jaymi asked the band’s fans to support George and show the same love that he was extended when he came out, before joking that there must be something in the waters.
Obviously you support for George is very close to my heart! I couldn't be prouder of how he has shown such strength over this recently….
Jungle King and Union J singer Has Come Out, but refuses to label himself as gay or bisexual.
Taking to his YouTube channel Union J singer George Shelley has addressed speculation about his sexuality saying that he has had girlfriends and boyfriends and that labelling sexuality was “old fashioned”.
22-year-old Shelley is most notable for his appearance in the ninth series of the X Factor as part of the boyband Union J and then his appearance in the latest series of I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, where he came runner up to Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison.
In his video the singer said that he didn’t want to put a label on his sexuality, but he no longer wanted to live scared.
The smiley star said,
“I’ve been on a personal journey and I want you to be part of that journey from now on. I want to start 2016 with a clean slate. I don’t feel that I should hide anything. I went into the jungle and it gave me a lot of time to reflect on what’s important to me – and it’s important to me that I can be myself and I don’t feel I should hide on me.
“I’ve been reading a lot of speculation online as to whether I’m, straight, gay or bi. It’s all these labels and it’s a little bit old-fashioned and this is why I’m not going to label it myself.”
He went on to clarify,
“I’ve had girlfriends that I’ve loved, in amazing periods of my life, but I’ve also had boyfriends.”
“I want you to know that whether I decide to be with a girl next or be with a guy next it’s because I love them.
George is not the only member of Union J to have come out. Jaymi Hensley came out in 2009.
Earlier this week toy maker Mattel released their new range of diverse Barbies, which included a variety of body types, skin and eye colours and hair styles. Now someone has done the same for Ken and we love it.
As soon as the new look Barbie was released social media users demanded to see a diverse range of Ken dolls and Lyst have manned up and stepped up to the plate to show what a diverse range of Ken dolls could look like.
Lyst’s ‘Fashionisto’ Ken line-up includes Beach DadBod Ken, Bearded Hipster Ken, and Balding Ken, alongside black, Asian and petite Kens all designed by the incredible @jamiephillipstv
To dress the new figures, the team at Lyst looked at the most popular fashion products purchased by men during the last year, taking into account sizing data for the global menswear market. The new Ken dolls reflect modern man’s real appearance, plus real fashion tastes.
Gemma Collins seems to be the “pantomime villain” of the 2016 CBB series after being greeted by loud boos and chants of “off off off” during her eviction interview.
TOWIE star Gemma Collins is the seventh housemate to be evicted from the Celebrity Big Brother house. She was greeted with a wall of boos and chants of “off off off” during her eviction.
Asked how she felt about being back in the real world, Gemma told Emma,
“I’m gonna be in my shop tomorrow. I’m desperate to get back to work. I’ve had an amazing time, but I do feel there was other people in the house that were much better at the tasks than me, that deserve to go on to win the show. I’m not a task type of girl.”
Emma asked Gemma about her reaction from the crowd. She told her,
“I take it as a compliment. There’s always gonna be a pantomime villain somewhere. I know who I am as a person, honestly it doesn’t phase me one bit. It was my time to go.”
Emma then goes on to ask how she really feels about going. Gemma said,
“It was a massive thing to come in here. I didn’t walk out, I managed to stay for the four weeks. You know I learnt some things about myself in there. I am actually really happy with my life and the things that I’ve achieved so far. I just want to carry on and keep doing the things I’m good at like my clothes designing, my shop. I know who I am as a woman. Just don’t ever ask me to play a game again.”
Emma questioned whether Gemma enjoys winding people up and Gemma told her,
“I was on a reality show for nearly four years. For me, you see one hour of it. We live in there 24 hours with the same people and it’s kind of a bit boring. For me, I had to make my own mischief in there. No one can ever judge it until you’ve been in there.”
Asked about the difference between Gemma and GC, Gemma said to Emma,
“My special friends know Gemma and my family. That’s how I kind of like it to be honest. I’m not ready to totally give Gemma yet. That’s my bit of protection.”
Emma asked Gemma who she wants to win and she told her,
“I would love to see Tiffany or Scotty T win, and of course Danniella. You know, she’s come such a long way.”
Celebrity Big Brother returns tomorrow at 9pm on Channel 5. Emma will be back on Friday at 9pm for the live final.
MP Chris Bryant Hailed the Diversity Role Model Charity As Unambiguously Brilliant, but warns there is still much to do to stop LGBT acceptance from going in the wrong direction.
Out Labour MP Chris Bryant has, today, championed the Diversity Role Model (DRM) scheme, which sees volunteer LGBT spokespeople go into schools across the UK to talk about their experiences of growing up as gay, lesbian, bi or trans, as “Unambiguously Brilliant” and something to “jump up and shout about.”
Speaking about how necessary the role of the charity plays, Byrant said, that although life in this country had changed towards LGBT people and perceptions surrounding LGBT issues had progressed, much “more work needed to be done” and there was cross party support for the project.
Despite the progress that has been made to be more inclusive in Britain the MP warned,
“There is a phenomenal amount of work still to do to protect the gains we’ve made. After all, the most liberal place in the 20th century in Europe was Germany in the late 20s and then it went in the wrong direction in the 1930s.
“So we have to protect the gains we’ve made, but there are still too many young people who leave school frightened to express their sexuality, terrified to tell their parents or their family or their best friends that they are gay or lesbian.”
Diversity Role Models (DRM) was established in 2011 to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in UK schools with the aim that all children and young people would be able to learn safely at school without fear of bullying.
In its first three years, DRM reached over 13,000 young people in 78 schools and trained 136 volunteer role models.
![CREDIT: Secretlondon at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [CC BY-SA 1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/1.0), GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/www.thegayuk.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/LondonAstoria.jpg?resize=649%2C600 "20 Things You Get Only If You're A Early Millennial Gay Man 9")
