THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Uncapped PrEP access to be rolled out across England

    Uncapped PrEP access to be rolled out across England

    Councils around England will now be able to offer uncapped access to PrEP, the revolutionary HIV prevention medication for those who need it.

    It was announced earlier this year that the DHSC had set aside a budget for local authorities in England to deliver PrEP to those “who need it most”.

    The initial budget was set at £16 million but was slashed to £11.2 million, which a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said, that the cut accounted “for the fact that the rollout of the routine commissioning of PrEP was paused during the pandemic.”

    The rollout was delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but roll out of pre-exposure prophylaxis is now expected to begin from 1 October, meaning that gay, bi, and men who have sex with men, will be able to access PrEP via their local sexual health services for free.

    PrEP advocate and campaigner Greg Owen took to social media to explain the news.

    “There should now be nothing standing in the way of this important HIV transmission prevention drug”

    Speaking about the rollout, Richard Angell, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Terrence Higgins Trust, said, “With three working days before the start of October – the delayed but finally promised launch of uncapped PrEP access in England – the Health Department has finally allocated funds to local government to start the rollout. There should now be nothing standing in the way of this important HIV transmission prevention drug finally becoming a reality in England. This follows years of painstaking battling and further delays due to Covid-19.

    “We now need to see PrEP made rapidly available right across the country – the wait has been too long. We know hard working local officials and many clinics put the wheels in motion for a start of October launch to make the most of this game-changer for HIV prevention – this allocation of funds should mean people are ready to go.

    “More work is needed to ensure all groups affected by HIV know about PrEP and how to access it, but this is undoubtedly an important step forward as we work towards ending HIV transmissions in England by 2030.”

    What is PrEP?

    Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, it is a drug treatment protocol using a prescription medicine called Truvada and has been shown in trials to be highly effective in preventing HIV in gay and bisexual men, when taken daily and used in combination with other infection prevention measures.

    Truvada contains two medicines (tenofovir and emtricitabine) and is already routinely used in combination with other medicines to treat existing HIV infection.

  • New 10 PM closure curfew restrictions force this LGBT+ bar to close

    New 10 PM closure curfew restrictions force this LGBT+ bar to close

    With a “heavy heart” Mary’s in Cardiff have announced that they are unable to keep the doors open after the latest restrictions for hospitality venues were announced earlier this week.

    Many bars and restaurants have reopened in the last month, many spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds becoming compliant to Government guidelines on being “COVID-secure”.

    A 10 PM curfew, along with other restrictions on the number of patrons bars can serve has left many venues struggling to make money.

    In a statement on social media the Cardiff bar, which is a popular venue with drag acts and cabaret performers said that due to the 10 PM closure times announced, that the bar would have to remain closed during the enforced period.

    “Not financially viable”

    They said, “It is with a heavy heart that we have to inform all our customers that due to the 10 pm closure notification that was imposed on us, that Mary’s will be closed during this period of time as it’s not financially viable for us to try and trade, maintain turnover and monitor costs with a 10 pm closure.”

    The bar had reopened once the rest of the hospitality industry was permitted to do so, and the management said that the team had worked hard to make the venue COVID-secure and work within the restrictions, “with panache”.

    They added, “It has been hard to operate Mary’s without the rest of our team, our DJ’s, Entertainment but we have done so and we have conformed fantastically to the new ways of operating

    “I like to think that even without our entertainment we still ensured you all enjoyed your visit to Mary’s”

    Fans are supporting the bar

    Fans of the bar were quick to let bar management that the community was behind the venue and fully supportive.

    One user added, “Sad to hear but once you’re reopened, we will be back. The whole community is behind you!” Another said, “I’m really saddened to read this and hope that you’ll be back soon. So many members of our community are behind you with their full support.”

  • Police are looking for these people after “vicious” homophobic attack in North London

    Police are looking for these people after “vicious” homophobic attack in North London

    Detectives investigating an alleged homophobic attack in Stamford Hill, in North London, are releasing images and moving footage of individuals they would like to speak to in connection with their enquiries.

    Police were called at 01:00hrs on Sunday, 26 July following reports of a homophobic assault and robbery near the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Amhurst Park.

    Officers attended the scene and spoke with the victim, a man in his 20s, who had suffered minor injuries and had his headphones stolen.

    The victim was walking across the junction when he was approached by two men who began shouting homophobic abuse before physically assaulting him. 

    The men are both described as white and in their mid-20s. One man is believed to be around 5ft 6ins tall, with a beard and was wearing a green baseball cap at the time.

    The other man is believed to be approximately 6ft 2ins tall with curly blond or ginger hair, and was wearing a leather jacket with a T-shirt underneath. 

    Once the men had left the scene the victim called police.

    The two men then returned and stole the victim’s headphones. They also attempted to steal his phone.

    Detectives are releasing CCTV footage of two men seen running from the scene shortly after the incident, as well as two e-fit images.

    Detective Sergeant James Rush, said: “This was a vicious attack on the victim, all the more appalling because of the homophobic abuse the victim received. I implore any witnesses to this incident to get in touch to tell us what you saw.

    “I would also appeal to the men in the CCTV footage or anyone who knows them to contact us as we believe they could have significant information. The victim has also worked with us to create efit images of the two suspects which we are also releasing in the hope someone may recognise them. 

    “Any information you have no matter how small may be pivotal to our investigation. The Met stands against hate and will make every effort to track the suspects down and hold them responsible.”

    In an earlier appeal, officers were looking to trace two witnesses. One of those individuals – a man in the back of a large black car, passing at the time – has now been spoken to police. But a woman in a white car who asked the victim if he needed help remains outstanding, and officers are still keen to hear from her; as well as any other witnesses.

    Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police on 101, quoting CAD 580/26Jul. 
    Alternatively, tweet @MetCC or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

  • UK gov vows to make changing your gender “kinder” and more straight forward

    UK gov vows to make changing your gender “kinder” and more straight forward

    According to the Government, transgender people in the UK, who want to legally change their legal sex are about to find the process “kinder” and more straight forward. The government says it has changed elements of the GRA (Gender Recognition Act), that trans people themselves had raised as concerns about.

    The consultation was answered by 108,000 people, 7000 of whom identify a transgender. Of those who had completed their transition, around 2 in 5 said that they had a Gender Recognition Certificate, a higher proportion than is often believed. The survey then asked those who had not applied what had prevented them from doing so. They were able to choose as many reasons as they wanted.  

    Thirty-eight per cent of respondents said the process was “too bureaucratic” so the process will now be put online. Thirty-Four percentage that the process was too expensive and to address this the government will decrease the cost of obtaining a certificate from £140 to just what it called a “nominal amount”.

    Three new gender clinics

    The government have also stated that they will open three more gender clinics, a process that will apparently cut the waiting list by around 1600 people.

    “The full benefit of the increases in clinical capacity that we’ve been able to secure will lead to greater patient choice, shorter waiting times, better geographical coverage and easier access.  It will also make it easier to fulfil the medical requirements of obtaining a GRC”.

    According to the Minister for Women and Equalities Liz Truss MP, the UK Government said,

    “Britain leads the world as a country where everybody is able to lead their life freely and treated with respect and that, for many years, transgender people have been widely accepted in British society; able to use facilities of their chosen gender; and able to participate fully in modern life.    

    “At the heart of this is the principle of individual liberty. Our philosophy is that a person’s character, your ideas, and your work ethic trumps the colour of your skin or your biological sex. We firmly believe that neither biology nor gender is destiny

    “The Equality Act 2010 clearly protects transgender people from discrimination. The same act allows service providers to restrict access to single sex spaces on the basis of biological sex if there is a clear justification”.

    “Missed opportunities”

    A spokesperson for Amnesty International said that it was disappointed that the government had not taken the steps to demedicalise the process of changing your legal sex.

    Amnesty International UK, Liberty and Human Rights Watch released a co-statement, saying,

    “It’s hugely disappointing that the Government has missed this vital opportunity to update the process for legal gender recognition so it meets human rights standards.

    “Research has found that medical barriers to gender recognition for trans people are unnecessarily intrusive and can harm their physical and mental health. With medical requirements still in place, trans people will continue to be forced through harmful processes to have their gender legally recognised.  

    “After a three-year wait, we’re presented with a few administrative changes, which, whilst a step in the right direction, only scratch the surface of what we need to ensure all trans and non-binary people can live equally, freely and fully.”

  • Popular gay magazine has YouTube channel cancelled for nudity, but you guessed it, there was NO nudity

    Big tech’s battle against gay/bi male bodies and sexuality continues, as the world’s largest video platform, YouTube, deletes meat Magazine’s entire channel.

    Meat’s channel, the platform said, had violated their rules on nudity, except it is impossible to see whether the guys who appear in the video are naked or not – as they all appear waist up, without their tops on.

    This isn’t the first time the publication has been targetted by big tech companies, like the Facebook owned Instagram, having had its Instagram pages shut down and pictures removed.

    The video that allegedly broke YouTube’s nudity rules was a promo video for the latest issue of meat‘s 2021 calendar, which featured 12 men, who only appeared topless in the video.

    Taking to Twitter the magazine wrote, “It appears that we have once again fallen foul of the Social Media Nazis. @youtube have suspended the meat account for posting this video. WTAF???!!!!!”

    In a statement to THEGAYUK.com Adrian, the magazine’s owner and photographer said, “I appealed stating that there wasn’t nudity in the video and that the calendar is queer/body positive rather than sexual and they responded to say that I’d contravened their policy on nudity and my account wouldn’t be reinstated.”

    You can order your copy by visiting the meatzine website here.

  • Piers Morgan called “cis” and it went as well as you’d imagine

    Piers Morgan called “cis” and it went as well as you’d imagine

    Once again, the team at GMB decided to tackle Trangender issues following on from JK Rowling’s new book, Troubled Blood about a crossing dressing killer.

    Over the weekend, the author’s new book stoked a huge backlash on social media, with #RIPJKRowling become a worldwide trend, after transgender activists took issue with the book’s concept.

    Piers and Suzanna were hosting a debate on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday morning, about the public’s reaction to JK’s new book and who should have the right to write about books where the main character was transgender.

    GMB booked Benjamin Butterworth (again) to speak about issues surrounding identity politics (because clearly there’s no one else to talk to about transgender issues…) and was answering a question on whether Piers would be able to write a book about a transgender killer, which Benjamin thought might be a problematic concept.

    When pushed by Piers to see if it would be okay for him to write about a “person like me” doing all the killing, Benjamin answered, that there were a lot of “cis, rich white men…”

    This is when Piers pushed back on the language used by Benjamin saying, “I’m not cis. Don’t call me cis. I’m a white guy. Just call me a white guy.

    “Cis is language you use that I don’t even understand.”

    We’re not entirely sure why Piers Morgan gets so upset up about gender politics, especially as he does (or has, we can never keep up) identify as a penguin.

  • Hazell Dean terminates relationship with record company after hate crime investigation

    Hazell Dean terminates relationship with record company after hate crime investigation

    Hazell Dean, singer of the hits, “Turn It Into Love” and “Whatever I do (Wherever I Go)” has terminated her 10-year association with Energise Records after images were published on the company’s website.

    The images has since been deleted.

    Ms Dean notified the police that she believed the images were malicious. After an investigation by Sussex Police, “the police found the images to be malicious and that they constituted a hate crime” according to a statement from the singer.

    According to the statement, a Community Resolution Order, was issued by the police.

    Speaking about the incident, Ms Hazell said that she felt, “shock, anger and disgust” at the way she was targeted.

    She wrote,

    “Nobody should have to experience, or witness hate crime, as this can significantly impact mental health. It can lead to social anxiety, self-harm and in some instances, suicide.

    “I urge anyone who is a victim of, or who is a witness to hate crime, no matter how small, to report it via their local police service or STOP HATE UK.”

    https://twitter.com/HazellHD/status/1306531497919348737

    The record company also represents, gay icons, Sinitta and Eurovision legends Sonia and Nicki French.

    A statement left on the record company’s Facebook page in mid-August, apologised to Ms Dean after “some very upsetting” pictures were listed for sale by the company.

    The company stressed that the person who responsible for the postings had resigned and was no longer responsible for the maintenance of the company’s website.

    Hazell Dean has been a stalwart and vocal supporter of LGBT+ rights and can often be found performing at Prides across the country.

    THEGAYUK.com reached out to Energise Records for comment.

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  • TikTok is censoring LGBT+ words and phrases

    TikTok is censoring LGBT+ words and phrases

    One of the world’s largest social media platforms, the Chinese owned TikTok has admitted that it is blocking certain LGBT+ words and phrases like gay, lesbian and transgender a new report as shown.

    The tech giant said that it had taken to banning words in various languages, like Russian, Estonian, Bosnian and Arabic. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) found that many terms had been “shadow-banned” where a post may not be officially removed, but it is hard for other users to find the content because it doesn’t show up in searches.

    In September the ASPI wrote to TikTok to ask why various terms were shadow-banned. They created a list of terms, these included,

    • #acab – English, an acronym for “all cops are bastards,” use of which began during the George Floyd protests in the United States

    • #GayArab – English

    • #гей – “Gay” in Russian

    • #يلثم_سنجلا– “Gay” in Arabic

    • #ялесбиянка – “I am a lesbian” in Russian

    • #ягей – “I am gay” in Russian

    • #gei – “Gay” in Estonian

    • #gej – “Gay” in Bosnian

    • #لوحتملايسنج – “Transgender” in Arabic

    • #لوحتلا_يسنجلا – “Transgender/transitioning” in Arabic

    TikTok said, that it was conforming to “relevant local laws” while other terms had been banned due to pornographic content.

    However it seems as though TikTok is going above and beyond the law here as it’s not illegal to be gay or lesbian in Russia, Estonia or Bosnia.

    Read their full statement:

    “As part of our localised approach to moderation, some terms that the ASPI provided were partially restricted due to relevant local laws. Other terms were restricted because they were primarily used when looking for pornographic content, while the Thai phrases the ASPI supplied are either readily found when searched or do not appear to be hashtags that any TikTok users have added to their posts.

    “We also identified, and fixed, an issue where some compound phrases in Arabic were being incorrectly moderated because part of the phrase may relate to pornography.

    Separately, a couple of English phrases were incorrectly moderated, and we have resolved the error. We are currently conducting a review of those terms that were moderated in error and will look for ways to improve our processes to avoid similar issues in the future. In addition, we want to be crystal clear that TikTok strongly supports our LGBTQ creators around the world and is proud that LGBTQ content is among the most popular category on the platform with billions of views.”

    Is social media stiftling freedom of expression?

    Last year the Guardian newspaper found that TikTok’s local moderation had led to bans on any content that was deemed to be pro-LGBT+.

    Many of the world’s largest social media companies have come under fire for banning or deleting users’ content.

    For instance, Facebook uses an algorithm to check messages sent privately between users for sexualised content like photos.

    In 2018 Facebook announced it’s “horrifying” policy on content that you could share about yourself on its platform.

    Instagram falls foul of erasing men’s body particularly, with numerous users and brands finding their accounts deleted or the content shared removed.

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  • Have Grindr’s “really annoying and irrelevant” ads become too much?

    Have Grindr’s “really annoying and irrelevant” ads become too much?

    Ads for games about killing people and irrelevant ads are making guys want to delete Grindr and find another app.

    It’s been said that Grindr can be a necessary tool in order to get hookups or dates in the men who sleep with men scene, but its adverts are starting to take a toll on some users, who say they have had enough.

    Taking to a site called, UserVoice, although there are numerous other forums on the subject, one person simply stated, “stop the annoying ads, you’re killing the app” a statement which seemingly resonated with lots of people.

    The Great Switch Off?

    Of course, ads are unavoidable for a platform like Grindr or even THEGAYUK for that matter to exist, after all, if you’re getting the product for free, then payment comes from your eyeballs on sponsors’ messages. But too many and you’ll have people complaining and switching off.

    Relevancy of the adverts shown is also an issue. That issue was pointed out by one user, who wrote, “Very negative ads about killing people is too much” while another added, “Too many ads for ridiculous games aimed at a completely different target audience”

    People also complained that they were still getting ads even though they had paid for Xtra or Unlimited.

    [totalpoll id=”122461″]

    Return on investment?

    Grindr was recently bought by a new company, after its former Chinese owners, Beijing Kunlun Tech was forced to sell because the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS) the United States, ordered the company to sell off a majority stake in the company in 2019.

    Its new owners San Vicente Acquisition Partners, who installed Jeff Bonforte and Rick Marini (both straight) as the CEO and COO respectively, reportedly paid over $600 m for the app.

    Now, as you can image, they’ll be looking to make returns on that investment.

    They’ve already started to sell profile boosts to ensure that your picture remains at the top of other people’s feeds for an hour or so and the apps also sell upgrades to Xtra and Unlimited. ◾️

    THEGAYUK reached out to Grindr for comment.

  • A new emoji of a man in a wedding veil has been released and people aren’t happy, of course

    A new emoji of a man in a wedding veil has been released and people aren’t happy, of course

    Ah new emoji day, it’s never not controversial as emoji designers add new graphics and look to increase diversity and inclusion in those little pictures we all take for granted.

    At one time every emoji that depicted a human was yellow. Families were depicted as one man, one woman and one child. Firefighters were male and nurses were female. It was just a sea of yellow, now however most people emojis have multiple choices because only The Simpsons are yellow in real life.

    In the latest update to the world of emojis, dozens of new pictures have been added to the Android 11.0 set, including one with a man wearing a white veil, holding a small bunch of flowers.

    Mixed reaction

    The review from social media users was a mix of derision and confusion it’s fair to say.

    One person asked, “How do I downgrade to version 10”

    Another added, “Oh the gays will have a field day with this one”

    While others were celebrating the rise of the femboy. Femboy started off as a derogatory term for effeminate guys in the 1990s however it has become more widely accepted as a positive term which rails against toxic masculinity, according to Urban Dictionary.

  • Nicola Adams clarifies that she’s lesbian, not bisexual

    Nicola Adams clarifies that she’s lesbian, not bisexual

    Boxing Champ turned forthcoming Strictly Come Dancing star Nicola Adams has confirmed that she’s actually lesbian, not bisexual as widely reported.

    Taking to social media the champ uploaded a video in which she clarifed her sexuality.

    https://twitter.com/NicolaAdamsOBE/status/1302518033605423107?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1302518033605423107%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk%2F2020%2F09%2F08%2Fstrictly-come-dancing-nicola-adams-coming-out-sexuality-lesbian-bisexual%2F

    She previously ID’d as bisexual when she came out to her family at the age of 15.

    Earlier this month Nicola made headlines after it was announced by the BBC that she would form one half of the first-ever same-sex competing couple on the flagship show.