THEGAYUK

Author: News Desk

  • Marks And Spencer Reverses Gay Ban On Website

    One of Britain’s leading retailers Marks And Spencer has reversed its policy banning the word gay from its online store.

    • Customers were banned from using words like “Gay” and “Christ” for personalising gifts.
    • Marks And Spencer makes a U-Turn on its policy and apologises for “any offence”.

    Previously customers were not able to enter the word “gay”, when writing a personal message for products they bought as gifts on the M&S website. Customers were however were able to use the words queer, lesbian and bisexual. Marks And Spencer have updated their policy this morning to allow the word gay.

    A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer said: “We apologise for any offence caused, it was certainly never our intention. We have revised the words included on the automatic phrase checker which is in place to prevent the use and misuse of certain words.”

    When the story surfaced, THEGAYUK checked with three other online retailers, Selfridges, Debenhams and John Lewis and none of those retailers had a similar policy in place.

  • What Do The Gays Think About Madonna?

    It goes without saying that Madonna has a large gay following and sometimes as a gay man it’s expected that you have your membership card all paid-up and subscribed…

    Madonna’s been entertaining the masses for decades, reinventing herself, releasing hit after hit and much of her success has been won by exciting one of music’s three big marketing “Gs” – The Gays. The others in case you’re wondering are: the Golden Oldies and the Girls. She’s been a strong ally in the fight for equal rights for the LGBT community and she’s been a leader in pushing gender boundaries for years. Leading US magazine Advocate claim that she is the greatest gay icon. But she has also been criticised by the gay community. Notably, she upset many when she called Kale, yes the green leafy veg, gay.

    However, we asked our readers what they thought about the Vogue superstar now and the answers were slightly surprising.

    The responses were 50/50 positive / negative. So has Madge lost her touch with the gay community? Or aren’t we the stereotypes that everyone expects us to be?

  • March 2015

    March 2015

    Issue 9 Pam Ann THEGAYUK

     

    Inside Issue 9

    Pam Ann – bigger, bolder & dirtier than ever, Freddie Fox, Russell T. Davies, Bianca Del Rio, BIBA and many more… PLUS: Turn your home into a sanctuary, Lunchtime facelift, Louie Spence v’s Joey Essex, Milan Darlings and a Cucumber Overload. 2015 already? It’s like living in the future! Download the latest issue to check you’re still on trend. Enjoy.

  • Eleven Facts About Judge Rinder

    Eleven Facts About Judge Rinder

    He’s been taking Daytime by storm on ITV… Now we want to get to know Rob Rinder a little better.

    1) He’s not actually a real life judge… But he is a barrister and knows his legal ins and outs so to speak! He worked for the 2 Hare Court law firm for 12 -years before becoming the UK’s Judge Judy…

    2) Gavel gavel... He loves a bit of banging of the gavel, however we don’t actually use them in the UK…

    3) Benedict Cumberbatch is bessie mates with Robert, he actually married him to his partner, Seth Cumming, in a ceremony that took place in Ibiza. Sadly he and Seth got divorced just three years later.

    From ITV Studios

    4) He’s also bessie mates with former Tory London Mayoral candidate Ivan Massow.

    5) Laughter… When asked what the hardest part about his job was the judge replied, not laughing.

    “I broke down in a fit of laughter during a case involving a mother and daughter suing and counter-suing each other.

    “But I insisted that the production team keep the scene in.”

    6) With over 100 episodes under his belt Judge Rinder still has a long way to go to beat Judge Judy which has over 5328 episodes.

    7) He loves paper… it’s the key to your success. If you’ve watched any episodes you’ll notice that if you can prove your case with a sign receipt or contract, you’ll mostly likely win the case against your opponent.

    From ITV Studios

    8) He’s not too mean. He told Digital Spy,

    “I would never ridicule somebody for the public’s entertainment. I really wouldn’t, and I speak to the people who come on the show as I would my own clients…”

    9) He loves fitness. Away from the courtroom you’ll find Rob in the gym. He has run marathons in New York and London.

    10) Litigants phone in or are found from newspapers. According to the Judge researcher scour the UK for real people with real legal issues.

    11) He was in the closet… After one disgruntled participant was so mad at the Judge’s ruling, backstage, Rob hid in a closet after he started screaming at him.

    Apparently, the unhappy complainant wanted to make Rinder’s face look like a Picasso.

  • EastEnders To Make History By Introducing a Trans Character

    Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Executive Producer of Eastenders, revealed at National Student Pride this afternoon that he is set to create a trans character for the iconic British soap.

    (more…)

  • Hunks Of Daytime On ITV

    Ah, daytime TV – a guilty pleasure in TheGayUK office. It occurred to us that the day time team on ITV, is particularly hot.

    Men of daytime, we salute you, from Phillip Schofield to Judge Rinder, these are our top Hunks of Daytime TV on ITV.

    Philip Schofield, ITV, This Morning

    The original silver fox, many will know Phillip from his original stint on Going Live, however, he’s now firmly embedded in the daytime schedule at ITV, one of their enduring and successful hosts.

    Jessie Pavelka, ITV Good Morning Britain

    He’s fronted numerous health magazines and apparently smokes cigars (well according to Wikipedia). He’s a trained fitness expert and specialises in extreme weight loss. Here in the UK he also fronts the popular programme: Obese: A year to save my life, on Sky 1. He is married to actress Sitara Hewitt.

    Ben Shephard, ITV, Good Morning Britain and Tipping Point

    Forty-four-old Ben Shephard is the current presenter of Tipping Point on ITV Daytime. His career in television started in 1998 when he began hosting the Channel 4 spin-off show, The Bigger Breakfast along with Melanie Sykes and Dermot O’Leary. He’s married to Annie Perks and the couple have two children, Jack and Sam.

    Robert Rinder, ITV, Judge Rinder

    Robert Rinder has been making waves with his daytime jewel, Judge Rinder. Benedict Cumberbatch married him to his husband in 2013. His first series had 20 episodes; it was so successful that ITV ordered 50 more.

    Sean Fletcher, ITV, Good Morning Britain

    40-year-old Sean is an American-British journalist and grew up in Essex and Zimbabwe. although he was born in New York. In 2014 he became a celebrity ambassador for the UK charity, Balls To Cancer. He learnt to speak Welsh because his wife is from Wales.

    Jeremy Kyle, ITV, The Jeremy Kyle Show

    There can’t be anyone in the UK who doesn’t know the name, Jeremy Kyle. 49-year old Kyle was born in Reading and is married to Carla Germaine. He has 4 children. He started his career as a radio presenter for Orchard FM in Taunton, before being signed by Kent’s Invicta FM in 1996.

    Vernon Kay, ITV, 1000 Heartbeats

    40-year-old Kay is famous for his presenting of All Star Family Fortunes, Beat the Star and Tom Daley’s Splash!. One of his first TV gigs was Fully Booked for BBC one followed by a five-year stint with T4 on Channel 4.

    Jeff Brazier, ITV, This Morning

    Born in 1979, Jeff was former partner to Jade Goody and is the father to their two children Bobby and Freddie. He made his television debut in Channel 4’s reality show Shipwrecked. Jeff’s father was Stephen Faldo, who was the skipper of the Thames pleasure boat Marchioness, which sank in 1989 after being hit by a dredger. He was killed along with 50 other passengers.

    Matt Johnson, ITV, This Morning

    32-year-old Welsh-born Matt Johnson is currently dating Ashley Robert former singer with The Pussycat Dolls. His TV career begun in 2009 when he joined ITV Wales.

    Phil Vickery, ITV, This Morning

    Married to Fern Britton, Phi, 53, is a noted celebrity chef, who has written 14 books, including the enticingly named Cooking Naked, which was released in 2007.

  • Fans Shocked By Brutal Storyline In Channel 4’s Gay Series, Cucumber

    Fans Shocked By Brutal Storyline In Channel 4’s Gay Series, Cucumber

    Fans of Russell T. Davies’s new drama on Channel 4, were shocked last night at the brutal murder of one of its lead characters.

    Cyril Nri
    CREDIT: Ben Blackall / Channel 4

    During last night’s episode of Cucumber, Lance, played by Cyril Nri was dealt a lethal blow that kills him in one of the most shocking homophobic attacks ever shown on TV.

    Viewers of the episode were clearly distressed as they took to twitter to share their thoughts. Many had a sleepless night because of the hard-hitting storyline. Nri, the actor who played Lance said,

    “I feel utterly privileged to have anything to do with this episode.”

    https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/571111423578902529?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

     

     

     

  • Sam Smith Becomes Third Openly Gay Man To Win British Breakthrough Brit

    Sam Smith has become the 3rd openly gay man to win British Breakthrough act at the Brits and the first to win the BRITs Global Success Award.

    (more…)

  • If Sam Smith Wins The Brits He’ll Be The Third Openly Gay Man To Win

    If Sam Smith wins the Brits tonight, he’ll be the third openly gay man to do so in the history of The Brit Awards.

    (more…)

  • Kelly Clarkson Loves Her Gays

    Speaking with London Live, pop diva Kelly Clarkson admits playing at a gay London nightclub was her best gig… Ever.

    • Kelly Clarkson was the first ever winner of American Idol in 2002.
    • Once said, “I can’t support Romney’s policies as I have a lot of gay friends and I don’t think it’s fair they can’t get married.” when questioned about who she would vote for.
    • Has released 7 albums since 2002.

    We love a bit of “Miss Independent” and it seems Kelly Clarkson loves us too. Speaking with the capital’s TV station, London Live.

    During her interview, the American Idol winner said that G.A.Y in London, was the best gig she ever played!

    “I loved it, it was so much fun and I love the intimacy of small theatres and you don’t get to do that a lot” she said about her G-A-Y experience.

    In fact, she loved the experience so much she tweeted it was the best audience, so did everyone go insane for the Stronger singer?

    “Ever. Like so insane. When I was singing my new song, they were singing every word, to the point where I was on stage and I was perplexed like ‘this is a new song, right?’ They were singing just as much as the other ones, they knew all the words and it was like a big giant jumping pit of awesome-ness.”

  • Apple Plans To Launch Gay Emoticons

    In a move which should please everyone who isn’t a WASP, Apple has announced plans to release a diverse selection of emojis including gay and lesbian families.

    According to sources, Apple plans to release around 300 more emojis which include gay couples as well as male and female faces in six different skin tones. The ethnically diverse icons include a Santa in the 6 colours.

    The current icons do include gay men and women, however, no black faces. There is one Asian man wearing a Chinese cap and an Indian man wearing a turban.

    The new icons will now include LGBT Families including same-sex parents with one of two children. Gay characters first appeared in the emoji menu in 2012.

    The emojis will be made available later in the year with the release of iOS 8.3.

    Last year Facebook launched a number of gay pride icons for users to celebrate Pride season.