THEGAYUK

Category: Front Page

  • What time does Lancaster Pride start and where is it?

    With just one day to go until Lancaster Pride, this year’s pride promises to be the biggest ever.

    The incredible artwork created by the late Amy Winehouse’s tattoo artist, Henry Hate.

     

    Lancaster Pride is an LGBT festival organised by Out in the Bay, a local charity providing support to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people in the Lancaster area, as well as raising awareness for LGBT issues and campaigns.

    Speaking about what Pride mean, Robert Mee, the CEO of Lancaster Pride said, “Pride is about everyone coming together to support each other to stand side by side to challenge hate and intolerance and to be able to build a better future of equality for all of us.”

    What time does Lancaster Pride begin?

    The Lancaster Pride parade officially begins at 11:00 AM until 12:00 PM.

    Is there a parade?

    Lancaster has a parade at this year’s event, and it will be the second in the pride’s history, with the parade taking place from Dalton Square.

    The set off place for the parade is Dalton Square and will turn right on George Street and continue along Spring Garden Street. The procession will then turn right onto the A6 and proceed northwards in the right-hand lane.

    The parade will then turn right into Church Street and once located inside the pedestrianised area will temporarily halt to allow the participants a breather and to allow the procession to reform.

    The procession will turn right onto Gt John St and proceed up the left-hand lane. The procession will then turn left to finish in Dalton Sq.

    Speaking at the parade will be Clive Grunshaw, the police and crime commissioner, Erica Lewis a Cat Smith representative, Kara from the multi-faith Church and Doctor Sweeney.

    Where is Lancaster Pride?

    Most of the day’s events will take place in front of Lancaster’s Town Hall. The postcode is: LA4 4AU.

    What does Lancaster Pride cost?

    Lancaster Pride is free for everyone to take part in.

    What entertainment will there be at Lancaster Pride?

    Performing at Lancaster Pride is the singer Whigfield, who you will remember had the massive, number 1 hit, “Saturday Night”. Also appearing is a slew of talent who will be appearing on stage from 11 AM until 6:30 PM in front of Lancaster’s Town Hall.

    Does Lancaster Pride have a website?

    Absolutely. You can view all thing Lancaster Pride HERE

    What should I bring to pride?

    We’ve created a list of Pride survival ideas. Take a look – but don’t forget to bring sunscreen, money and fully charged phone!

    Need a place to stay? Check out our Hotel partners at Hotels.com for available hotels and B&Bs in the Lancaster area.

  • 7 reasons why you should start wearing boxers again

    7 reasons why you should start wearing boxers again

    For a while, the traditional boxer reigned supreme. Then tighter, more restrictive undies began to flood the market.

    Reasons why you need to rediscover boxers
    Reasons why you need to rediscover boxers

    Surely restriction is the exact opposite of what is truly needed for that area of the body. So here are seven reasons why you should reconsider the humble boxer.

    1) Let the air circulate

    Letting the air get to your pecker can only be a good thing and the problem with briefs or boxers is that they are generally tight. Tight underwear means sweaty bits. Sweaty bits mean rashes, nasty smells and even crotch rot. It’s not pleasant. Boxers allow for a little extra room and a little extra breathing space.

    Don’t forget about your fertility. Sperm production is decreased when the balls are hot. It’s why they’re outside of your body and hang low when you’re warm and all but disappear when you’re cold. Keeping them unrestricted and slightly cooler especially if you’re planning to be a sperm donor or biological father could get you better sperm production outcomes.

    2) Let the creativity run free

    Briefs, trunks and boxer briefs are quite boring let’s face it. Generally, they come in two colours. Black or white. If you’re lucky you might get a grey. Life is a rainbow, your undies should reflect that. Underwear company, McAlson have created a vibrant set of boxers. From more conservative shades to splashes of colour to suit every wardrobe.

    3) You can still get cuppage

    How do you stop ball slippage when wearing boxers? One of the biggest moans about boxers is the lack of support for your joystick and the family jewels. When the coconuts make a break for freedom from your boxers what can you do? McAlson has an insider trick, quite literally and it’s going to revolutionise your boxer experience. They’ve included a 100 percent cotton invisible support. It combines the looks of a traditional boxer, but the supporting feeling of a brief. It’s actually ingenious.

    Reasons why you need to rediscover boxers
    Reasons why you need to rediscover boxers

    4) Just as sexy, maybe even more so

    Sometimes, more is best. With briefs or boxer briefs you see it all. The tight material can reveal the outline of your Lil Buddy when maybe what you want is a little more mystique. Let’s face it, there’s no great reveal with a brief. Because boxers are just that little bit baggier, the mystery continues until the full reveal.

    5) For all sizes

    It doesn’t matter if you have a Washington Monument or a bean sprout, boxers are incredibly accommodating. Boxers are for every size and every man.

    6) Muffin top be gone

    Thanks to an elasticized waistband you’re less likely to get the dreaded muffin top effect, you’re likely to get with briefs. A better fitting waistband means you’ll get a much more flattering silhouette leaving your bulges to exactly where they should be. Plus how great not to be marked by the clothes you wear.

    Boxers by McAlson

    7) Less of a fumble

    When it comes to toilet time, the less time you spend fumbling around at the urinal the better. Especially if you’re at a service station. Some briefs and boxer briefs are near on impossible to fish out the little guy. Some have horizontal openings, some have multiple layers of fabric to get through. With boxers, you have a simple centre opening, with buttons. It couldn’t really be simpler.

     

    This article was produced in-house by THEGAYUK.com editorial team for McAlson

  • Has one of YouTube’s most famous gay married couples just separated?

    “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

    CREDIT: INSTAGRAM / RJ Aguiar

    Will and RJ are no more. Our hearts are breaking. The couple, who we interviewed for our “Class of YouTube” edition back in 2015 have seemingly split according to a post published by RJ (who identifies as bisexual) on Instagram. The post was a picture of the pair holding hands along with the caption, “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”

    Since the split Will hasn’t responded on Instagram.

    Many of the duo’s fans reacted with sadness to the news, with one saying, “It breaks my heart, but I really hope you both find happiness!”, while another added, “I wish you both nothing but true happiness; thank you for so many years of beautiful love! For teaching me tolerance; acceptance and how to teach the same to others!”

    The pair hasn’t uploaded a video to their daily vlog in over four months. The last one was captioned “New House Tour”. They have nearly a quarter of a million subscribers and have had over 66 million streams on the video platform.

    Back in 2017, the pair were used by Buzzfeed to see what would happen if a couple were to have sex every day for a month. 

  • This woman accidentally sent her friends a live photo, while her Fiancé got his monster out

    “It’s huge”

    Moments later the boyfriend appears with his monster!

    And we’re not talking about the rock on her finger.

    Imagine if you will, your beloved has just proposed to you and planted a huge ring and rock on your finger. Naturally, you want to send a photo of that bling to your friends / the world. But here’s where some caution is needed – especially if you haven’t swapped your photo setting from “live photo” to just normal “photo”.

    Live Photo is a feature on the iPhoto which captures a few moments before and after you click the shutter – meaning you get a small video clip instead of a single photo. Brilliant if you want to capture more than just a second in history – not so great if your boyfriend is likely to whip out his D, while you show off to the world your new jewel.

    Which is exactly what happened to this woman, who sent a Live Photo to her friends – while her hung future husband, whipped it out. Such a romantic.

     

  • In the age of #MeToo, is it right to be lusting over topless men on Instagram?

    In the age of #MeToo, is it right to be lusting over topless men on Instagram?

    As a twenty-three-year-old twink, you might think life in gay culture is bliss. But the rise of popularity on Instagram has given rise to topless men with muscle, unabashedly showing off their abs, pecks and gorgeous tans.

    Adam Rickitt body
    CREDIT: Adam Rickitt / Instagram

    I’m a young man that likes what he likes, and unfortunately, I’m a sucker for a handsome man with a six-pack. I follow a lot of men on my feed, and whilst I know they’re unattainable, it’s still fun to look.

    But in the wake of the #MeToo movement, bringing awareness to sexual assault and harassment to women, I begin to wonder if objectifying these men is going to become problematic. Aren’t we just as bad for lusting over images of topless men? Of course, the main difference here on Instagram is these men are living their best lives, and they’re uploading photos for the endless stream of attention they receive from their thousands of followers, or so we’re led to believe.

    The constant stream of cocktails on the sandy beaches of a faraway country, of sunglasses and shorts whilst I, watch a snow storm, ignites not jealousy, but instead a sense of longing. According to a recent survey, Instagram was rated the top social media app that is bad for one’s mental health. Is it any wonder that a discovery like that has been found?

    We so desperately want to quit our mundane, often dead-end jobs, for a life that seems so much better. So desperate are we that we forget that social media shows us only the good. Who uploads a photograph of them with a massive spot, dribble down their chin and from a bad angle?

    Instead, we plump for Valencia filters, with airbrushed skin and cleverly crafted digital tans. The social media culture we live in has given us the best of the best, forever making us feel like we have to keep up. When we can’t, we sink lower, finding the ebb of sadness.

    Goodness, we’ve got a bit sad here, haven’t we? For a first article, you’d think I’d show you my best side! But then I’d be playing up to the picture-perfect lifestyle you see plastered all over Instagram.

    For men, it’s hard to discuss body confidence issues. It’s not talked about often, and so we tend not to mention it. I’m one to say I have body confidence issues, and I’m sure there would be others out there that say I have no right to be self-conscious about the way I look. But I do, and it’s common for people of all shapes and sizes to have those issues.

    A common problem for men is the fear that their size is just not good enough. Straight men know their girlfriends or potential partners will discuss a ‘perfect size’, and in the gay community, we also discuss men’s sizes. The myth of the penis size is a strange one. On one hand, many people simply don’t mind. On the other, it’s preference. Body confident Instagram men show off everything, and leave very little to the imagination. With strict Instagram guidelines on nudity, the toned gods have found ways around this, showing blurs and imprints in the tightest fabrics you could ever see. It’s very unlikely to see anything other than a hand full in images like this.

    It’s easy to believe that the hot men we see on Instagram don’t think like this. We imagine them earning money for every post, spending a second in the gym and getting a killer body, and spending hour after hour taking in culture, relaxing by pools, and drinking refreshing drinks. It’s easy because that is all we see of these complete strangers.

    We don’t know their lifestyle, not really. We see what they want us to see. It’s hard to remember that when we’re sat in a dilapidated house, wondering how we’re going to afford rent at the end of the month.

    If you ever feel like you are comparing yourself to others, it’s time to find that unfollow button, and click unfollow. Take some time away from the glossy too busy to model men, and instead focus on what’s around you.

  • Want to watch porn in the UK? You might need to ask your newsagent

    The Conservatives are forging ahead with a new law that means that if you want to watch porn on the internet, you will have to prove you are over the age of 18.

    The new system will allow people to buy an anonymous pass to watch porn in the UK.

    Plans are being made to make “porn passes” available at local newsagents, which will allow people in the UK who want to watch porn to bypass inputting personal data which proves their age to various porn sites, according to The Independent. It is a way in which people can access porn anonymously once the new law comes into force.

    The law means that you have to prove you are over the age of 18 before you can access porn sites in the UK and is part of the Digital Economy Act. The rules will apply to any website or platform which offers porn on a “commercial basis”.

    Advocates for the new rules hope that the measures will protect children from online porn.

    “PORN PASS”

    How do you feel about giving over your details to prove your age?

    Buying a “porn pass” means that you will have to hand over personal information to your local newsagent, who will be able to issue you with an anonymous pass, which will allow you access to adult sites in the UK.

    A spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, which is responsible for the new legislation, said, “We are in the process of implementing some of the strictest data protection laws in the world.

    “A wide variety of online age verification solutions exist, or are in development, and they will have to abide by these high standards. We expect data security to be a high priority in the BBFC’s guidance on age verification arrangements.”

    In December 2014, pornography produced in the UK was subject to strict rules under the David Cameron’s Tory government. The types of scenes which studios could film were severely restricted with an amendment to the 2003 Communications Act.

    Some of the activities banned by the Conservative government could overtly affect the porn consumption of gay men in the UK – including those who watch BDSM, rimming (facesitting) and fisting.

    Thoughts?

     

     

  • Steve Coogan and Paul Rudd gay it up for new movie Ideal Home

    A new gay comedy is about to hit our screens, but instead of hiring gay actors to play gay roles, Ideal Home has comedy legend Steve Coogan partnered with Paul Rudd.

    Living the high life and “playing as hard as they work” and described as “flamboyant” (because that’s what gay men in films are) Steve Coogan and his long-term director boyfriend Paul’s (Rudd) self-centred lives are turned upside down when Coogan’s estranged grandson, Bill (played by Jack Gore), unexpectedly turns up at their door, after his father is taken away to serve time in prison.

    Oh no. You mean the gays are going to have to be responsible?

    Oh, and you can’t unsee the scene where Coogan is being topped by Rudd.

    We’ll leave the trailer here for you.

    Oh if you want to feel just a little bit more offended by this… here’s the poster

    In cinemas from 6th July 2018

  • In defence of gay hotels and resorts

    Our editor in chief, Jake Hook looks at why gay resorts and hotels are still necessary in 2018.

    I’ve just come back off holiday – and while I battle the post-holiday, aeroplane lurgy, I can’t help thinking that one of the most memorial moments of the holiday was our 2 days in a gay-only hotel.

    There was a time when the idea of choosing a “gay hotel” as a place to vacay was totally off the cards. Why would I want to segregate myself from the rest of society? Why would I want to just limit myself to “gay conversations”? And anyway, aren’t guys who go to gay resorts just after one thing?

    Perhaps some of them are. But here’s what I learned from my stay at Key West’s The Equator Resort, in Florida.

    Not everyone who’s at the resort is looking for sex

    Okay, some are. Whacking on your Grindr will identify those around you who are looking for something a little more than a suntan, but there aren’t people actively pursuing you around the pool. Guys are there to chill, check out the sights, get to know new people and generally hang out in a safe, non-judgemental space.

    Bodies come in all shapes and sizes

    My historical success with nudity is somewhat patchy, but what I learned from this stay was that us gay men come in all shapes, colours, sizes and well dick sizes – and it’s all good. Yes, even I may have slipped off my trunks in the pool.
    Even better, however, is that seeing all those bodies really helped me tackle my own body insecurities. Seeing others in the altogether help me reevaluate my relationship with my love handles.

    There’s no heteronormativity

    We live in a world where 99.9 percent of everything is geared towards heterosexual couples and gender binaries. Hanging about with other guys who identify as gay or bisexual, makes being gay at the front and centre. Gay literally becomes the norm at a gay resort.

    You don’t have to watch what you say

    You probably realise that there aren’t many subjects that are off limits when you hang around with other gay guys. Everything goes: anal to sunscreen, hooking up to the best restaurant in town to coming out. Honestly, my conversations were so varied.

    There are no screaming kids

    There is nothing worse than seeing that the expensive resort you’ve booked has a “kids’ zone” or “kids’ pool”. I don’t want to spend my holiday listening to screaming, whining kids. I can whine enough for anybody. I simply don’t need the competition. Sorry, not sorry.

    Lifelong friends

    I’ve been on a gay cruise and stayed at two gay resorts, every time making new friendships that have lasted. The moment you arrive, there’s always someone to talk to, get to know – and you know, if it feels right to take things further.

    Here’s to gay stays and long may they last.

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Colton Haynes files for divorce six months after marriage

    US on-screen actor Colton Haynes has petitioned for divorce from big-name flower vendor Jeff Leatham.

    (C) JEFF LEATHAM / INSTAGRAM

    TMZ affirmed the news after acquiring Colton’s court documents, which referred to “irreconcilable differences” as the explanation behind the couple’s split.

    Gossip surrounding their breakup started a week ago when rumours circulated about Jeff cheating on Colton after the actor released a song which contained lyrics about a cheating partner. The American Horror Story actor put the rumours to bed, however, saying, “Jeff would never cheat. He is an amazing man. Please stop being mean to him. The song I wrote was about a past relationship.”

    Despite Colton removing his wedding name “Haynes-Leatham” from his social profiles, Jeff still has the name written on his Instagram account.

  • Former pop star’s underwear leaves NOTHING to the imagination

    Former O Town boybander has left some of his fans a little hot under the collar after revealing a little too much on his Instagram.

    (C) ASHLEY PARKER ANGEL / INSTAGRAM

    Ex-Boybander turned Broadway star, Ashley Parker Angel has stunned fans after displaying a rather sizable packing in a cheeky picture he uploaded to his Instagram account.

    The picture which THE 36-year-old uploaded received a fair amount of attention, with one fan just getting straight to the point “Nice penis, dude”

    See the picture here (Kinda NSFW)

  • Some people in the UK are really not happy about gender neutral toilets

    New research has shown that over half of British people would say “No” to gender-neutral toilets.

    Despite suggestions of turning public toilets to gender-neutral toilets by London’s mayor Sadiq Khan, most people in Britain are still uncomfortable with the idea or all-gender loos. More than half of Brits said that they would avoid them in research recently conducted.

    The Gender Identity Research & Education Society (GIRES) estimates that 1% of the British population are gender non-conforming to some degree.

    London Mayor, Sadiq Khan championed plans to increase the number of shared facilities in the capital last November but it appears the plans are not as popular as originally thought.

    A new survey by Bathroomtakeaway.co.uk reveals that 55% of Brits would avoid using shared facilities.

    Of the 45% of Londoners who said they’d welcome gender-neutral loos, just one in five of those would actually use them.

    Those living in Yorkshire and the Humber are most opposed to the facilities, with 75% saying they’d shun them, followed by 70% from East Anglia and 69% from the North East.

    Despite these figures, the North East also had one of the most receptive groups, with one in ten saying they would rather use shared facilities.

    All-gender toilets are public toilets that can be used by anyone, regardless of their sex. They can provide a welcome space to individuals who don’t identify with the male or female gender binary. Unisex toilets can make it easier for trans people at various stages of transition.

    However, when quizzed, 65% of those that would avoid gender-neutral toilets said they would do so to avoid feeling awkward.

    Just under half of cis females (49%) claimed they would feel unsafe in shared public loos.

    Beatriz Pardo, Marketing Manager at Bathroomtakeaway.co.uk: “We were keen to see how open-minded Britons are when it comes to public loos.

    “The notion of gender-neutral toilets have been in the headlines recently but it is clear most people in the UK feel very uneasy about them.

    “Our research has revealed some surprising statistics and it seems these plans aren’t as popular as originally thought, so we’ll be interested to see how they work out!”