THEGAYUK

Author: News Desk

  • “I’m Muslim And I’m Against Homphobia” Magazine calls for support

    Online magazine Aswat is calling upon Arab citizens to speak out against homophobia.

    Aswat Magazine is publishing user-submitted photos aimed at reducing discrimination faced by the gay community in the Arab world as part of its ‘Love For All’ campaign.

    The magazine is sharing the images on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

    Interviewed by Tunisia Live, activist Maher al Haj spoke about the campaign, ‘We aim to educate not only the LGBTQ Arab community but also reach out to others as well who might have many misconceptions about us.

    ‘We are humans like others, we exist everywhere and we deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated within the fabrics of our societies like all other groups in society.’

    The ‘Love For All’ campaign is organised to coincide with this year’s International Day Against Homophobia on 17th May.

    For more on the story click here

  • Plug pulled on Galliano master class

    Parsons, the New School for Design announced that it has cancelled a number of discussions to be held by openly gay designer John Galliano.

    The school received a number of complaints with regards to Galliano after it announced that the designer would be teaching a master class and was even sent a petition against the classes which amassed over 2000 signatures.

    The Gibraltar-born designer, once considered one of the most talented names in fashion is making a comeback after he was fired by Dior in 2011 for allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks on camera in a Parisian cafe.

    Galliano, 52, cited an addiction to drugs and alcohol as the cause for his out of control behaviour and that he was determined to make amends.

    In a statement released to the press, Deborah Kirschner, a spokeswoman for the school, said,

    “We could not reach consensus with Mr. Galliano on the conditions of this conversation, and the program could not move forward.”

    The New York Times is reporting that a source close to the school said that the classes were cancelled because, ‘the size and the makeup of the audience that had been debated between the school and the designer. An agreement between them had never been finalized.’

  • ‘Geoff And His Two Dads’ Book Aims To Help It Gets Better Project

    ‘Geoff And His Two Dads’ Book Aims To Help It Gets Better Project

    In what is believed to be the first of its kind, Wompi Studios have released their first Book App.

    (more…)

  • Troll Tells Duncan James “I Hope You Get AIDS And Die”

    Blue frontman Duncan James has spoken out about some of the homophobia he’s endured after ITV aired The Big Reunion.

    (more…)

  • TOM DALEY: Enjoying Downtime On The Beach

    Olympic champion Tom Daley looks like he’s enjoying himself during some downtime during training sessions in Florida.

    Tom who is 18, wore a pair of striped board shorts, showing off his chiselled body, whilst making the most of the break time in between training.

  • Homophobic assault appeal cancellled by British Transport Police

    British Transport Police (BTP) officers investigating a homophobic-related assault in Lancashire have cancelled their appeal for assistance.

    Officers have called off an appeal for information issued on the 7th May 2013, after three women were subjected to a homophobic attack on a train between Blackpool North and Preston.

    The BTP released an image of a man who they wanted to question with regards to the matter, who has now come forward and will be spoken to officers about the incident.

     

    PC Tony Greenwood said:

    “The men became extremely offensive and hurled homophobic abuse at the women before spraying them with a bottle of shaken-up lemonade.

    “As the offensive behaviour got more extreme one of the men became violent and knocked a 21-year-old woman to the floor before further assaulting her.

    “As a result the woman suffered bruising and swelling to her face, head and arms and has suffered from partial memory loss since the incident.”

    PC Greenwood added:

    “This was a particularly nasty and vicious assault which all began with unwarranted and totally unacceptable homophobic abuse.

    “Everyone has the right to travel in a safe environment free from abuse and violence. Sadly some people seem intent on causing trouble and we will use all tools at our disposal to bring them to justice.”

    After the man came forward, PC Greenwood thanked the media and public for their assistance saying,

    “I’d like to thank the media and the public for their assistance in this matter. As a direct result of the appeal we now have a number of leads to follow.”

  • Delaware Becomes 11th State To Legalise Gay Marriage

    Eleven states of fifty in the US now recognise same sex marriages, after Delaware’s state Senate approved the gay marriage bill 12-9 after a 3 hour debate.

    Just a week after Rhode Island passed a law recognising same sex marriage, Delaware has become the 11th state in the US to legally recognise gay marriage.

    However the bill, which comes into force on the 1st July, doesn’t offer same-sex couples any more rights or laws than they already have under civil unions.

    The state began recognising same-sex civil unions just under a year ago, the new bill is more of a symbolic win for the state’s many lesbian and gay people.

    The new law doesn’t force religious establishments to perform same-sex marriages that conflict with their beliefs, but under an existing law enforced in Delaware is a ban on business owners discriminating based on sexual orientation.

    According to The Republic.com Minnesota is next on the list of states to legalise gay marriage, the mid west state, is poised to make the new law, after a Democratic speaker of the state house said, ‘that a gay marriage bill endorsed by the governor and likely to pass in the state Senate also now has enough backing in his chamber. The House will vote on the measure Thursday, and if it passes, the Democratic-led Senate could vote on it as soon as Saturday.’

  • Stonewall raises £65,000 to tackle anti-gay bullying

    Stonewall, Britain’s largest lesbian, gay and bisexual charity, raised £65,000 in 10k Equality Walk through Brighton.

    Over 800 Stonewall supporters took to the streets of Brighton for the charity’s tenth annual Equality Walk on Sunday. The annual fundraiser – supported by American Express and Square Peg Media – made over £65,000. Stonewall will use the funds to support its new DVD film for primary schools, FREE, which will help strengthen the charity’s campaign against homophobic bullying.

    Zoe Lyons hosted this year’s walk and was joined for a picnic in the Royal Pavilion Gardens by hundreds of families and fundraising teams. MPs John Bercow, Caroline Lucas and Simon Kirby, and the Mayor of Brighton & Hove Bill Randall, also attended the 10k walk, which ended at sea-front bar Coalition. There Zoe congratulated the top fundraising team (PwC, who made nearly £2,700) and the best individual fundraiser, Jason Sloan, who made over £1,000 and won a weekend in Paris courtesy of American Express.

    Stonewall Head of Education Wes Streeting said:

    ‘We’re truly bowled over by how hard our 800 walkers worked to raise such a huge sum for our anti-bullying work. While we all enjoyed the sunshine, we always keep in mind the fact that over half of gay young people in Britain face a gloomy nightmare of homophobic bullying at school. Every penny raised this weekend will help us make sure those young people can look forward to better days.’

    Stonewall’s new DVD for primary schools, FREE, will help teachers tackle homophobia, which is one of the most common causes of bullying in primary schools. The film follows the success of the charity’s popular secondary school film FIT, which was distributed to every secondary school in Britain. Playwright Rikki Beadle-Blair produced FIT and has returned to work on Free, which is currently in production and will be released later this year. For more information about FREE visit www.stonewall.org.uk/free

  • Take a listen to Mariah’s new single Beautiful

    Mariah’s new single #Beautiful made its radio debut on US radio today – and is now available to download

    Mariah’s new duet with R&B star Miguel is now available to download in the UK and the US. Mariah’s last number 1 in the UK was in 2000 when she sang a duet with Westlife on ‘Against All Odds’.

    The glittered diva is reportedly working on a follow up album of her 2009 album Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.

  • Westboro Church Protest Made Fabulous By Chris

    A man known only by the name Chris, picketed a picket organised by anti-gay church Westboro Baptist Church.

    A picket that was organised by the American church Westboro Baptist Church was made fabulous when a musician named Chris did this…

    The extremist church was protesting outside the Oklahoma City and Houston Rockets NBA playoff following Jason Collins’ decision to come out as gay last week (April 2013)

    The shirtless man, had a US flag draped across his shoulders and posed in front of the church’s demonstrators, and pictures of his solo crusade of fabulousness has made it on the front of many news sites across the world.

  • Iconic ‘Some People Are Gay’ Poster Gets The Star Trek Treatment

    Iconic ‘Some People Are Gay’ Poster Gets The Star Trek Treatment

    The UK’s biggest lesbian, gay and bisexual charity – Stonewall reveals iconic ‘Some People Are Gay, Get Over It’ Poster in Klingon.

    Stonewall
    Stonewall

    Boldly going where no slogan has gone before, Stonewall’s internationally renown ‘Get Over It!’ campaign has become intergalactic after the charity revealed two posters translating it into Klingon, to coincide with the UK release of Star Trek: Into Darkness.

    Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Ruth Hunt said:

    ‘Klingons may be renowned for their determination to fall out with people but, as Spock would say, even gay Klingons should be able to live long and prosper.’

    The campaign, which hit the headlines last year after appearing on the sides of many buses across the country, has actually existed for 6 years. The simple text ‘Some People Are Gay, Get Over It!’ has been translated into 10 languages including: Russian, Chinese, Welsh and Hebrew, all of which are available online at www.stonewall.org.uk/international.

    The images are available for download from Stonewall’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stonewalluk