THEGAYUK

Category: Front Page

  • Trump’s ban on transgender service people fails

    Trump’s ban on transgender people being able to serve in the military has failed.

    Trump's ban on transgender service people fails

    President Donald Trump’s ban on transgender men and women serving in the US military has been halted by the Defense Secretary, General Jim Mattis.

    Transgender personal will be able to continue serving in the US military for the time being after Secretary Mattis has said that the ban’s implication needs further scrutiny.

    In a statement, Mr Mattis said, “current policy with respect to currently serving members will remain in place”.

    The Independent reports

     

  • Nurse Jackie actor comes out as gay and a “total bottom”

    We at TGUK tower have seen a lot of coming out news and the various ways celebs decide to come out, but this is a first…

    Nurse Jackie cutie, Haaz Sleiman has come out as gay – and not just gay – but a totally bottom – spelling it out for people, he said, “Not only am I a bottom, but I’m also a total bottom, which means I like it up you-know-where.”

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BYHGXeqhses/?taken-by=haazsleiman

    In a video, which he posted to his Instagram page the actor, stated, ““I am a gay, Muslim, Arab-American man, and I’m going to take it even further. Not only am I gay, but I’m also a bottom.”

    He made the post in reference to the news that more LGBT+ people have been killed in the US so far this year, than in the whole of 2016, excluding the Pulse Massacre.

    The 41-year-old actor had a message for homophobes as well in his message,

    “To all the homophobes living in the United States of America and across the globe, Why not?

    “If you ever come to me to kill me just because I’m gay, I will destroy you. I might be gay, and I might be a nice guy, but don’t get it twisted because I will f*ck you up.”

    This isn’t the first mention on the subject of sexuality, however, the hunk has been laying down a lot of LGBT+ positive messages on his social feeds recently, but it’s the first time he’s officially said the words!

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BXuxnvbBr-W/?taken-by=haazsleiman

    However, he did say, that women were better kissers than men – our advice? Keep trying – there are some stunners out there!

     

     

     

     

  • Colin Jackson, BBC presenter and Olympic star comes out as gay

    A former Olympian and BBC presenter has come out as gay in the most chilled way.

    Colin Jackson, 50, a former Olympic hurdler and now BBC sports commentator has come out as gay on Swedish television.

    The 50-year-old came out in a TV interview with SVT reporters Kajsa Bergqvist and Peter Häggström. He had previously denied rumours about his sexuality when a kiss and tell story surfaced about him in the mid-noughties.

    He said that he previously decided not to come out because he worried that the press would ‘sensationalise’ his private life.

    The news was revealed on the Swedish series Rainbow Heroes because of what he described as their careful and “in-depth” choice of questions.

    He told Kajsa, “The way you asked me, it was a whole storytelling kind of thing and you were just interested in the way it affected me sports-wise, emotionally-wise and my preparation.”

    Bravo! Another sportsman comes out – shatter that sports cupboard/closet!

     

     

     

     

  • Fresh hopes for the iconic Black Cap in London

    There are new hopes for the reopening of the Black Cap, the iconic gay pub and cabaret venue on Camden High Street, which closed its doors in April 2015.

    Members of the Black Cap Foundation community campaign group to reopen the venue met representatives of Kicking Horse, who own the freehold of the Black Cap site. Representatives of Camden council and the GLA culture-at-risk team were also present.

    All sides agreed to work together to identify a new, third-party leaseholder to reopen the Black Cap as an LGBT+ venue with cabaret performance at its heart as soon as possible.

    Black Cap Foundation director Alex Green said:

    “We’re thrilled at this agreement. This is a crucial step towards our goal of reopening the Black Cap, and we welcome the cooperation of the freeholders and the support of Camden council and the GLA in making that a reality.

    “We’ve always believed the Black Cap’s unique, irreplaceable legacy of community and culture is worth fighting for, and can’t wait to see how it will be reinvented next.” 

    A spokesperson for Kicking Horse said:

    “We very much hope to find the leaseholder with the right vision, experience and resources to begin a brand new chapter for this world-famous venue.”

    The Black Cap has been a space for the gay community since before partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. Known as the ‘Palladium of Drag’, it has hosted residencies by groundbreaking performers such as Lily Savage, Mrs Shufflewick and Regina Fong, after whom the pub’s first-floor Shufflewick Bar and Fong Terrace are named. More recently, it was home to the Family Fierce, who showcased acts from RuPaul’s Drag Race.

    Since the 2015 closure, the Black Cap Foundation has maintained a weekly Saturday afternoon vigil outside the pub, celebrating the venue’s past and sharing stories with local residents while campaigning for its reopening.

    The Black Cap’s new leaseholder will take on a 25-year lease for the five-storey building at 171 Camden High Street. The site has Asset of Community Status and sui generis planning use class and requires significant capital expenditure.

     

  • Guess how many things Davey Wavey put up his b

    In the name of gay science internet sensation Davey Wavey agreed to have a number of objects stuffed up his b-hole.

    So Davey and adult star Brent Everett had a day of butt stuffing, but first, they had to decide who got to be the stuffer and the stuffee – a quick flip of an electronic coin it was decided that Davey would be the stuffee… We’re kinda reminded when Davey tried to find his g-spot on YouTube!

    Brent then took it in turns to put 10 – yes 10 items up Davey’s butt (not all at the same time). They ranged from glass sex toys to a dragon fruit. Davey it seems is a pro at guessing because he managed to get the majority right!

     

    Anyways, it’s hilarious and a bit of a turn on!

    Enjoy the video…

     

  • AUSTRALIA, Here’s 11 things that failed to happen when same-sex marriage became law

    So much happened… but at the same time so little did!

    We thought we’d take a look at what HASN’T happened since marriage between two people of the same gender got the right to be treated like everyone else. Despite the warnings from right wing, religious fundamentalists these are the things that have failed to happen.

    1) The sanctity of straight marriage will crumble, wilt and die.

    Except of course for divorce, which has always been a bit of blight on the ‘death-do-us-part’ bit of marriage

    2) The floods…

    Won’t somebody think of the floods and the pestilence, the fire and brimstone? Some UKIPPER, whose name I can’t remember, not really care to remember said that gay marriage would bring about lots and lots of rain, of a Noah and Ark amount. Okay, there has been a little more precipitation than usual scientists are putting that down to global warming rather than gay marriage, because you know, that’s actually what’s happening…

    3) Children are still being born in and out of wedlock.

    The world realised that you don’t need a man and a woman to marry in order to have kids. Children are still being born, they are still being educated, fed and loved by their parents. Bob and Fred getting hitched at the end of the road had no impact on parents being able to have children – and actually, people understand that you don’t need to be married to make children – there isn’t a switch that is suddenly turned on when you say “I Do”.

    4) Pastor Rich Scarbrough didn’t combust or set himself on fire.

    Yep, this saint of a Christian man threatened to set himself on fire if marriage equality passed. We’ve been waiting patiently with a fire blanket in hand, but nothing. Not even a puff of smoke.

    5) Parents will have no say in the sex ed that their kids are taught in school…

    Well they do… and if you don’t want little Joanie to find out that actually what she’s feeling is totally normal, rather than her hiding away, feeling shame and alone – then perhaps you need to look at your parenting credentials.

    6) Equal rights for gays, bis and lesbians

    Even though we have marriage equality, we’re still not actually legally equal. Non-consummation doesn’t count (meaning basically that the law doesn’t recognise gay sex as equal to straight sex) for grounds for divorce…

    7) Bakers will be forced to make gay cakes.

    In the UK you can’t discriminate against people because of their sexuality or gender identity – but you can just refuse an order and not give a reason… So if you’re still a total f*ckwit bigot you still have your rights, you just have to be quiet about them, but actually when you do, it lets us all know to avoid you like the plague.

    8) Churches will be forced to have gay marriages.

    Nope. We’re still not allowed to get married in your sacred places. But we can come and be a guest and totally upstage your day with how fabulous we are. Especially if we start on the white wine before the first note of “Here Comes The Bride” starts.

    9) Man will be able to marry his pets

    Nope still not legal. And dear god Mary, why are you even thinking about animals marrying?

    10) Straight marriage will carry less kudos.

    People were concerned that gay marriage would cheapen the brand. Not like Britney’s 55-hour marriage.

    11) The world’s end

    Those fascinating people (read in a sarcastic tone) at the Westboro Baptist Church said that we’d all die and go to hell, but as I sit here – in Cashmere and I look out of the window, we’re still very much here.

  • Are you Patsy Stone? 12 Signs You Might Be Patsy

    Man loving, alcohol swigging, chain smoking, power dressing magazine icon. Patsy Stone we love you.

    On Smoking

    “Smoking is good for you…”

    On Her Drinking

    “The last mosquito that bit me had to book into the Betty Ford Clinic.”

    On Sex

    “My ring needs resealing, I know the gutters sagging a bit but how about a quick plunge up the waste pipe?”

    On Work Ethics

    “It’s 7– 7:30? In the…? Why, that means nothing to me!”

    On Driving

    “Keep driving, Eddy. You haven’t hit anything yet.”

    On Fashion

    “Are you mad? I’ve got nothing to wear on public transport?”

    On Safi

    “You may dress like a Christian, but the similarity ends there. I think you do it on purpose. How long does it take you to get the crease so crisp down the front of your jeans, you torturer?”

    More on Safi

    “Oh you little BITCH TROLL FROM HELL.”

    On People

    “She’s emaciated, like her brain!”

    As A Fashion Editor

    “The only label she wears is “Drip Dry”.

    On Brand

    “One wiff of a cocoa bean and our customers would fly like vampires before garlic. Jeremy’s must remain a sterile oasis, free from street eaters and coffee carriers. Aseptic and razor-sharp as our customer’s hipbones. These women shop for lunch! Labels are their only sustenance! Their skeleton legs in Manolos have worn trenches down the pavement of Sloan Street. Their arm sinews have just enough muscles left in their arm to lift up a credit card.”<

    On Motherhood

    “Nothing, and you shouldn’t have to. I mean, look at you. You’ve been a fantastic mother. You’ve let them ruin your figure. Your stomach’s stretched beyond recognition, you’ve got tits down to your knees, and what for, for God’s sake? For a potholer who’s worn nothing but a purple nylon tracksuit and a Gazza t-shirt for the past two years. Cut the cord, darling.”

  • CBB star Chad Johnson gets his lob on!

    Chad Johnson put on a bit of a show for the camera the other night after housemate Sarah Harding rubbed him up the right way!

    Chad Johnson’s Johnson was getting a partial airing as he got intimate with Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding.

    The pair were canoodling, after the rest of their housemates were in ZZZ land – and the loved up pair started groping above the sheets before Chad, 30, thought better and covered them both up – but not before he got a good ole peen massage from Sarah!

     

  • Journalist Liz MacKean dies aged 52

    The award winning journalist who unveiled the sheer hate towards gay people in Russia and Africa has died at the age of 52.

    Liz MacKean was a veteran journalist who worked for both Channel 4 and BBC. She worked hard to expose the injustices faced by people, including LGBT people suffering absolute hate in Russia and Africa.

    It is reported that she died of a stroke.

    Her shocking Dispatches documentaries Hunted on Channel 4 was a stark view into how hate mobs hunted gay men with dating apps and hook up websites to lure them to beatings and humiliating angry encounters.

    In Gay and Afraid, MacKean’s documentary focused on LGBT persecution in Africa.

    In 2014 she was crowned Journalist of the Year in 2014 and then Journalist of the Decade in 2015 by Stonewall.

    Before working at Channel 4 she worked at the BBC for 20 years, starting at BBC Hereford and Worcester.

    She leaves behind her wife and two children.

     

     

  • COMMENT | What about straight victims of homophobia?

    Why is it so often the case that the struggle for equality can feel like one step forward and three back?

    In the UK, equalities minister Justine Greening has announced plans to allow trans people to change their gender more easily, with less intrusive medical assessments, as part of a welcome shake up of equalities legislation. It’ll also be easier for gay men to give blood. This is good news, and updates to the Gender Recognition Act have to be welcomed.

    On the other side of the Atlantic, our American friends have taken a few steps back, after President Trump’s ban on transgender people serving in the military, proving that pointless and nasty political tokenism is alive and well in the west. In-keeping with Trump’s consistency as a president thus far, the legislation is poorly thought-through, with no obvious route to implementation. Hopefully, it will be quickly struck down.We can’t afford to be sanguine about gay rights in the UK, and although most of us agree there is still some way to go, there are areas of disagreement over what to prioritise in moving towards equality. Because of my own experiences, one area I am passionate about is addressing the reality that homophobia affects more than just gay people. Bear with me on this if it’s not something you’ve previously considered. It’s great and right that we can report homophobic abuse to the police and have it taken very seriously (speaking from experience), but the story doesn’t begin and end there. Homophobia isn’t self-contained.

    “…My parents received an ultimatum from one of my siblings:

    boycott the wedding and disown me,

    or have their grandchildren removed from their lives.

    When my husband and I announced our engagement and intention to marry, my parents received an ultimatum from one of my siblings: boycott the wedding and disown me, or have their grandchildren removed from their lives. My parents attended my wedding and are no longer a part of those grandchildren’s lives. Yet my father’s thriving business was taken over by his homophobic child, and their wedding and a deposit for their first home was lovingly paid for out of my parents’ pockets. Prior to my husband and me tying the knot, my parents played a full and active role in that child’s life, and even more so once the grandchildren arrived, who adored their grandparents.

    At first, they tried mediation. Their requests were ignored. They were so desperate to be reunited with their grandchildren that they used their life savings and pursued their last legal option, taking their case to the family courts. There, they found that the organisation Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) doesn’t take matters like homophobia into account in assessing what is best for children. As long as children are being looked after at home, then matters like their parents’ homophobic views and actions hold no weight. Similarly, grandparents have few, if any, access rights to their grandchildren. Most cases like this are as a result of acrimonious divorce, and grandparents on one side or the other invariably lose. Ultimately, in this instance, the judge repeatedly commented that she considered it a profoundly sad case and was aware of the gross injustice my parents were fighting, but was powerless even under these circumstances, with homophobic motivations on the other side, to grant my parents direct access, offering indirect access instead.

    Believe it or not, the consolation prize was a better outcome than my parents had been briefed to expect. A different judge may have dismissed it outright.

    Parents get to decide who can and cannot see their children, and bring them up in a homophobic household if they wish.

    One major concern here though: what if a child in such a household is gay? There is a reason suicide rates in gay people is higher than average, and family hostility almost always plays a major part in such tragic cases.

    It is clear to me that my parents are the victims of homophobia which has, in their old age, destroyed their happiness. They have reached the end of the road and now have to accept the outcome. This strikes me as a grievous wrong, and I hope many readers feel the same.

    So what of the indirect victims of homophobia? I would be interested to hear others’ views, especially if anyone has known a remotely comparable situation. Whilst the homophobia my husband and I have suffered from within my family has been hurtful, it has been easy, painless and for the best to simply sever contact with the sources.

    My parents’ suffering goes on. They are the real victims of homophobia here, not me.

    For fear of further reprisals, the author wishes to remain anonymous, but please post your comments below.

     

    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.

  • Gay marriage blocked once again in Northern Ireland

    It seems our lesbian & gay family in Northern Ireland will have to wait even longer to enjoy same-sex marriage after Northern Ireland’s High Court ruled to keep the ban in place.

    Gay marriage blocked once again in Northern Ireland

    Despite same-sex marriage being legal in England, Wales and Scotland, Northern Ireland is the only nation within the UK that doesn’t allow its gay and lesbian couples to get married. Instead, gay couples are only permitted to have Civil Partnerships, which are legally different to marriages.

    Two cases, specifically about Northern Ireland recognising same-sex marriage made outside the nation were rejected by the High Court. This means, even if a same-sex couple is married anywhere else in the UK, their marriage will not be valid in Northern Ireland.

    The two cases were heard together, due to the legal similarities. The first was known as Petition X, and was brought by a gay couple who were married in London in 2014. When they moved to Northern Ireland their marriage was changed to a Civil Partnership.

    The second case was brought by two couples in civil partnerships – Grainne Close and Shannon Sickles and Chris and Henry Flanagan-Kane. They contended the ban breaches their human rights.

    Both cases were rejected by Mr Justice O’Hara  who said the ban did not violate the rights of gay and lesbian couples. He added that it was for the nation’s politicians to decide social policy in Northern Ireland.

    Delivering the verdict the Judge said,

    “It is not at all difficult to understand how gay men and lesbians who have suffered discrimination, rejection and exclusion feel so strongly about the maintenance in Northern Ireland of the barrier to same sex marriage,

    “The judgement which I have to reach is not based on social policy but on the law.”

    The subject of same-sex marriage has been voted on five times by the Northern Ireland Assembly. Each time it was blocked by the DUP, the party Theresa May is relying on for her parliamentary majority after the General Election provided a slim majority for the Tories.