THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Sainsbury’s security guard tells gay couple off for holding hands

    Sainsbury’s security guard tells gay couple off for holding hands

    A gay couple have been left humiliated and shocked after a security guard at Sainsbury’s told them they were touching inappropriately in store.

    Sainsbury's

    A couple in London have been left shocked after a contractor security guard for Sainsbury‘s took them to one side to tell them that they had caused offence to a fellow shopper as they held hands during their shopping trip in the Hackney Road store.

    Thomas Rees and his partner Josh said they were holding hands and showed “just general public displays of affection”.

    Sainsbury's

    The incident happened after the couple had finished paying for their shopping and were in the process of leaving the store. The security guard, who is employed by an outside security contractor, called them over “with a finger” and told the pair to follow him outside.

    He told the couple that another customer had complained about their behaviour.

    The retailer, whose current pride slogan is “Sainsbury’s Loves Pride” offered Mr Rees and his boyfriend a £10 gift card as a “goodwill gesture” after Mr. Rees took to Twitter to vent his frustration.

    Sainsbury’s Twitter staff tried to resolve the matter by offering the pair a giftcard.

    Mr Rees said,

    “My blood boiled. I was shaking and dumbfounded and unable to respond. He kept repeating the customer felt our behaviour was inappropriate.”

    Speaking to ITV a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said,

    “We sincerely apologise to Thomas and Josh.

    “We are an inclusive retailer and employer and do not tolerate discrimination in our stores.

    “We will take appropriate action once we’ve concluded our investigation with our security contractor.”

  • Olympic hopeful Tom Bosworth: I hated PE and always tried to get out of it

    Olympic hopeful Tom Bosworth: I hated PE and always tried to get out of it

    Speaking to THEGAYUK, Olympic gold hopeful Tom Bosworth revealed that he hated PE at school after fellow students found out that he was gay.

    Tom Bosworth
    CREDIT: Monty McKinnen / THEGAYUK

     

    Openly gay Olympic gold hopeful, Tom Bosworth, 26, has told THEGAYUK that he hated physical education at school and always tried to get out of doing the subject. He said that his time at school was an easy time to be targeted by bullies.

    Despite his hate of the subject – Tom has gone on to be one of Britain’s most successful athletes competing in his sport, Race Walking at the Commonwealth Games, the European Race Walking Cup, the World Championships and the World Race Walking Cup.

    “Some people found out that I was gay at school. I hated, hated PE and always tried to get out of it.

    “(I) Never did any sport in school because it was a very easy time to be targeted by bullies and so that was something I avoided greatly.”

    Confiding in how he found his love for Race walking he said,

    “My parents took me to a number of sports clubs outside of school because I liked doing sport, I liked being active, I had a lot of energy so I’m really glad they did that.

    “I could just be myself and nobody knew much about me, I just made some friends and almost felt like I had another life, an escape route really from school.

    “I loved going training. I guess that enjoyment is why I did it for so long. Then it helps when you start winning.”

    Tom Bosworth will be competing at the Olympics on the 12th August in the Men’s 20KM walk.

    Speaking in an interview with THEGAYUK, Tom also revealed that he was planning to pop the question to his long-term boyfriend if all went well on the track. He told the magazine’s editor that if they had the right ring at Heathrow he’d make an “honest man” out of his boyfriend.

     

    Read our full interview with Tom Bosworth in the latest issue of THEGAYUK for FREE out now.

  • Journalist Patrick Strudwick calls out hypocrisy over gay sex

    Buzzfeed’s LGBT editor, Patrick Strudwick has called out the hypocrisy surrounding the differences between gay and straight “lifestyle” choices when it comes to sex and taking a pill.

    (C) marcbruxel Depositphotos

     

    With the nation’s attention drawn to PrEP and how NHS England must now reconsider its stance on offering the anti-HIV medication to those most at risk of infection, Buzzfeed LGBT editor Patrick Strudwick has highlighted some of the hypocrisy and some of the “arguments” made about the differences between gay sex and straight sex – or as we like to call it around these places … sex.

    In a tweet entitled simply: “When gay men have sex” – he outlined a number of differences between gay and straight sex.

    He wrote:

    When gay men have sex without a condom it’s called “bareback sex”

    When straight people have sex without a condom it’s called “sex”.

    When gay men have sex it’s called a “lifestyle choice”

    When straight people have sex it’s called “sex”.

    When gay men take a pill to prevent HIV it’s called a “lifestyle choice”.

    When straight people take a pill to prevent pregnancy it’s called a “responsible”.

    Earlier this month the editor slammed the Daily Mail for its coverage of the historic and landmark ruling that NHS England must offer the anti-HIV “lifestyle” drug to those most at risk of infection.

  • Christopher Biggins to visit concentration camp after Big Brother removal

    Christopher Biggins has announced that he is going to visit a Nazi concentration camp after being removed from Big Brother for unacceptable comments.

    Christopher Biggins
    Celebrity Big Brother 2016

     

    Christopher Biggins was removed from the Big Brother house last week after it was revealed that he had a made a series of offensive comments about bisexuals and one comment about Jewish people to former X Factor star and fellow housemate Katie Wassiel.

    The 67-year-old told The Sun that he is going to visit the Krakow-Plaszow concentration camp to witness, first hand, the horrors that prisoners endured at the hand of the Nazis during the second world war.

    He told the Sun

    “It will be my first time. I know it’s going to be horrible.

    “I know it’s going to be ghastly. I know it’s going to be emotional.”

     

    ALSO READ: Housemates heartbroken after Christopher Biggins booted out of the house

     

    Biggins and his partner Neil Sinclair will visit the camp for five days in October.

  • Out diver Tom Daley takes home Bronze with Daniel Goodfellow

    Out diver Tom Daley takes home Bronze with Daniel Goodfellow

    Diving duo Tom Daley and Daniel Goodfellow have taken home a Bronze medal at this year’s Olympic in Rio.

    CREDIT: Tom Daley / Instagram

     

    The duo took home a bronze in the 10 metre Synchronized diving. This is the second bronze Tom has won at the Olympic games. He won his first at the London 2012 Olympics in the 10 metre platform diving event.

     

    Taking to social media, Tom said,

    “OLYMPIC BRONZE MEDALISTS!! I can’t believe it!! So proud of you @dannielgoodfellow :)”

     

  • One LGBTI person killed every day in Brazil

    According to a Brazilian LGBTI advocacy group almost one LGBTI person is killed everyday in Brazil.

    ©-ia__64-Depositphotos
    ©-ia__64-Depositphotos

    As the world’s media focuses on Rio during the Olympic, stark information has been revealed about the LGBTI community in Brazil. Over 1,600 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex people have been killed in hate related attacks in Brazil over the past four years according Grupo Gay da Bahia.

    Micro Rainbow International (MRI), a group which helps LGBT people set up small businesses to “step out of poverty” in Rio de Janeiro, said in a statement,

    “Internationally, Brazil projects an image of tolerance and openness, where expressions of sexuality during Carnival are nurtured.  However, when it comes to lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people’s daily lives, Brazil can be ranked as one of the world’s deadliest places.

    “Brazil’s culture of machismo paired with nearly a quarter of Brazil’s population being evangelical Christian and very outspoken in their opposition to homosexuality, creates a hotbed of violence and discrimination toward LGBTI people.”

    MRI has trained 20 LGBT people, in setting up small businesses. The training is part of a bigger programme funded by the European Union which supports LGBT people in Rio de Janeiro to improve their skills and set up small businesses as a way out of poverty.

    Lucas Paoli, MRI’s project manager said,

    “Low income LGBT people in Rio experience discrimination across several aspects of their lives – such as employment, education and family – and additionally, they face regular violence and abuse, at times extreme, such as murder.”

    Over the last year MRI has trained over 80 LGBT people in setting up small businesses, has facilitated training opportunities to an additional 20, has recently secured employment opportunities for LGBT people in poverty at the Olympic games and has trained 18 local employers on the barriers faced by LGBT people in the workplace.

    Sebastian Rocca, MRI’s CEO said,

    “In a period of economic and political crisis, actions like MRI’s offer a lifeline to many LGBT people who would otherwise be left behind,

    “On this occasion we celebrate the determination and the courage of 20 LGBT people who chose to fight discrimination and to take their future into their own hands.  We celebrate 20 new small businesses, from plumbing to sushi catering to online recruitment, we could not be prouder.”

  • Orlando shooter autopsy shows he was shot 8 times before being downed

    Orlando shooter autopsy shows he was shot 8 times before being downed

    The autopsy report of the Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen has revealed that he was shot 8 times before cops finally downed him.

    Omar_Mateen

     

    Eights shots to the head, chest, abdomen, lower leg and foot were recorded by the Orlando County medical examiner’s office, as Florida’s law enforcement fought to bring down shooter Omar Mateen during his murderous rampage through the Pulse nightclub in which he killed 49 people and injured a further 53.

    The SWAT team, which comprised of 13 people engaged the shooter at just after 5:00AM on the 12th June, and fired 150 bullets when they breached the back wall of the Pulse nightclub.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The Sentinel reported that the eight bullets passed “through and through and the majority entered his body from front to back, suggesting he was shot while facing police, likely during the standoff.”

    The 17-page autopsy reveals that he had no drugs or alcohol in his system – but anabolic steroids was found in his urine.

    The autopsy reports of 31 of his victims have also been released with the remaining 18 due for release in the forthcoming weeks.

    The autopsy reports of the victims released include: Akyra Murray, Christopher A. Leinonen, Christopher Sanfeliz, Darryl Burt, Eddie Justice, Edward Sotomayor, Enrique Rios, Eric Ortiz Rivera, Jason Josaphat, Javier Reyes, Jean Mendez Perez, Jerald Wright, Juan Chavez-Martinez, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Jonathan Camuy Vega, Juan Chavez-Martinez, Juan Rivera Valazquez, Kimberly Morris, Luis Conde, Luis Ocasio Capo, Luis Vielma, Luis Wilson Leon, Martin Benitez Torres, Mercedez Flores, Miguel Honorato, Oscar Aracena Montero, Paul T. Henry, Peter Gonzalez Cruz, Shane Tomlinson, Stanley Almodovar, Xavier Serrano Rosado and Yilmary Rodriguez-Solivan.

     

    ALSO READ: Editor’s letter: The Orlando shooter took our last safe space

    ALSO READ: FBI find no evidence to suggest the Pulse massacre was a hate crime

    ALSO READ: The US senate blocks gun control to known terrorists just days after Orlando shooting

     

    The FBI are still investigating the attack. According to 911 phone transcripts released after the attack Mateen swore allegiance to ISIS.

  • So… It’s UK National Underwear Day Today

    So… It’s UK National Underwear Day Today

    Briefs revealed as underwear choice of the British man

    Men underwear
    CREDIT: Aaron Holloway

    Men underwear
    CREDIT: Aaron Holloway

    In a survey of 1,300 men in the UK, men’s subscription box and online retailer The Gents Pack revealed that trunks are the underwear style of choice for the typical British man, with 27% of men revealing that they only wear trunks on a daily basis!

     

    Men underwear
    CREDIT: Aaron Holloway

     

    In addition, almost 17% of men surveyed revealed that they only wear briefs and 45% of men surveyed admitted chopping and changing between a variety of styles depending on where they were going and even the weather.

    Follow Aaron Holloway on Twitter

  • WE ASKED | What things do you really hate about the gay scene in 2016

    WE ASKED | What things do you really hate about the gay scene in 2016

    We asked our readers what they really hated about the gay scene in 2016…

    As always you were open, honest and sometimes damming.

     

    STEPHEN DOYLE

    Hen nights. P*ss off down your own clubs with your fancy dress and blow up penises.

    JOHN CHARLES

    Well a straight strip club is about to open in Birmingham gay village. The sh*t will hit the fan, it’s right across from the Nightingale Club.

    JAY JAY PINKABELLE

    Screaming queens who think LGBT culture is American f*cking drag race!

    JACKSON PERRY

    Casual racism “no Asians, no blacks” how about no c*nts???? They need to p*ss off.

    PAUL HOLMES

    The guys who carry their bags on their limp wrists around town, the very feminate (sic) ones with screaching (sic) voices and the camp ones. I know each of us are different, but can’t they tone it down a bit.

    MARK MARSH

    Ageist attitudes, and A list queens looking down their surgically enhanced conks at us lesser mortals.

    This was taken from Issue 20. Download now for free.

  • TEAM GB Tom Bosworth: I’m going to buy my engagement ring on the flight out to RIO

    Olympic hopeful Tom Bosworth told THEGAYUK that if the Jewelers Tiffany’s had the perfect engagement ring, he might propose to his boyfriend at Rio 2016.

    CREDIT: Monty McKinnen for THEGAYUK

     

    Olympic Race Walker Tom Bosworth told THEGAYUK’s editor, Jake Hook that if the jewelers, Tiffany’s, had the perfect engagement ring at Heathrow he might buy it before his flight out to Rio in order to propose to his long-term boyfriend at the Olympic games.

    He said,

    “If Tiffany’s in Heathrow has the ring that I want, I might even make it official when I’m out there.”

     

    The athlete came out as gay last October live on the Victoria Derbyshire show and is just one of a handful of out Olympians taking part in the 2016 games.

    In the latest issue of THEGAYUK (issue 21) the Race Walker talked about how he met his boyfriend, saying,

    “My female friend decided to hit on him. She quite liked the look of him.

    “Me and my other friend were sat there trying not to laugh as we quite clearly could see that he perhaps didn’t bat for that team (laughs).

    “She got very offended when he said, “You’re not my type.” He was trying to be polite.

    “She couldn’t understand why and it was at that point that I walked up to my friend and said, “I think he’s probably more my type, than your type.”

    “We got talking from there. The rest is history.”

     

    Be sure to download a copy of THEGAYUK ISSUE 21 for free. Out now on all good digital newsstands.

     

    CREDIT: Monty McKinnen for TheGAYUK

  • Drag mayhem on top of Snowdon

    Drag mayhem on top of Snowdon

    A cock in a frock on a rock… Drag queens are gearing up to scale Wales’ tallest mountain, Snowdon.

    Next summer, a gaggle of drag queens are set to climb Mount Snowdon, one of the UK’s tallest mountains in aid of four charities.

    Organiser, Miss Roxy Ritz said,

     “I was supporting one of my drag queen colleagues, Crystal Ball, who was performing at a local venue and went outside to get some fresh air.

    I was speaking to one of the venue locals who mentioned that they lived in Wales near Snowdonia, which got me talking about Priscilla Queen of the Desert (don’t ask how!). After going back inside I did a little thinking and then it came to me… Queens of Snowdonia!”

    “The idea of drag queens hiking up Snowdonia excited me, so for the next couple of days as I built on the idea, I asked a few people to see what they thought about it and, lo and behold, Queens of Snowdonia progressed from conception, so to speak.”

    The challenge was accepted by Miss Jason, Betty Swollocks, Sissy Sucks and Stephanie Von Clitz and even Dave Lynn.

    © AMzPhoto Depositphotos

     

    Miss Roxy Ritz wants to ultimately get a minimum of 20 drag queens to take part with the aim of raising £10,000 for the causes. You can find out more on their facebook page.

    The four charities the queens aim to raise the cash for are: Macmillan Cancer Research, Terrence Higgins Trust, Cancer is a Drag and Sussex Beacon.