THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Prince Harry takes HIV test live on social media

    Prince Harry takes HIV test live on social media

    Prince Harry has made history by becoming the first member of the Royal family to take a HIV test on Facebook live.

    Credit: Masha Maltsava, Milk Studios / Via Flickr

    Prince Harry has become the first Royal to publicly take a HIV test live on Facebook, using the platform’s “live” service.

    The popular Prince visited London’s Guys and St. Thomas’ hospital to have the pin-prick HIV test, which reveals a person’s HIV status within minutes.

    The video has already clocked up 41,000 views.

    Leading HIV charity Terrence Higgins Trust praised the Prince’s openness and awareness campaign.

    Ian Green, Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust, said,

    “Prince Harry’s decision to take an HIV test, live on social media, is a groundbreaking moment in the fight against HIV.

    “Not only does it show His Royal Highness’s genuine and personal commitment to tackling the HIV epidemic, it will amplify a message to millions all over the world: testing for HIV is easy, quick and nothing to be feared.

    “We have a real opportunity to end HIV transmissions in the UK, but it starts with each person knowing their HIV status. Too many people are either put off testing by the stigma that still surrounds HIV, or simply do not think HIV is an issue anymore. Today, Prince Harry has got people talking about HIV again and has normalised HIV testing to a global audience. In doing so, he could inspire a generation to take control of their sexual health.

    “Thanks to treatment, testing for HIV could stop you from getting seriously ill, enable you to live a normal lifespan and prevent you from passing the virus on to anyone else. That’s why it’s so invaluable to have Prince Harry’s support  as we aim to bust stigma and end the HIV epidemic.”

  • Theresa May appoints pro-gay equality Amber Rudd in key Parliament position

    Theresa May appoints pro-gay equality Amber Rudd in key Parliament position

    The new Prime Minister Theresa May has appointed Amber Rudd as the new Home Secretary.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Amber Rudd has been appointed by Prime Minister Theresa May as the new Home Secretary. Ms. Rudd who has been in Parliament since 2010, has “consistently voted for equal gay rights” according to TheyWorkForYou.com

    The MP for Hastings And Rye, who campaigned to remain in the European Union,  entered the House of Commons on 6th May 2010.

    Since the beginning of her Parliamentary career, Ms. Rudd has had to vote on six pieces of legislation pertaining to the rights of gay and lesbians in the United Kingdom. The majority of which were to do with issues surrounding same-sex marriage.

    She voted in favour of all votes, ensuring that Britain’s gay community enjoy marriage equality.

    Home Secretary is an important role for the safety of Britain’s population. It requires close contact with emergency services, such as the police and intelligence services to reduce crime and terrorism. The LGBT community will be looking to Ms Rudd to reduce hate crimes in the UK. This year in London alone homophobic crime soared 20 per cent year on year.

    Mrs May becomes the second female Prime Minister of the UK after David Cameron resigned following Britain’s decision to leave the EU.

     

  • Man found gulity of the “homophobic” murder of student William Lound

    The killer of student William Lound has admitted to his murder.

    The body of William Lound, 30, was found, with multiple stab wounds in what is now a suspected homophobic / transphobic attack in his university halls in February.

    Mr. Lound who described himself as male on his Facebook profile, was apparently known to wear women’s clothes.

    Police confirmed that they are treating his murder as a “transphobic hate crime”.

    The Liverpool Echo reports Lee Arnold, 37, of no fixed abode, admitted to killing Mr. Lound via videolink at Manchester Crown Court and apologised to Mr. Lound’s family for the “pain and suffering” he caused.

    Mr. Lound, from Southport was a first year IT student in Salford, his family said that he was,

    “Very kind, thoughtful and very caring young man.”

    “His sense of fun, very interesting character and great sense of humour culminated in him being a very charismatic individual, so well-liked and respected by so many.”

    Arnold is due to be sentenced in August.

     

  • Andrea Leadsom withdraws from Tory leadership race

    Andrea Leadson has withdrawn from the Conservative leadership race.

    By Policy Exchange (Flickr: Andrea Leadsom MP) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

    Gay marriage opponent Andrea Leadsom has withdrawn from the Prime Minister race, meaning that Theresa May will now become Brtain’s next Prime Minister.

    The controversial candidate announced that she was no longer going to go ahead with her campaign to run the country.

    Her withdrawal means that Theresa May, who has been the Home Secretary since 2010, will become the UK’s next Prime Minister.

    The race for a new Prime Minister for the UK was triggered after David Cameron resigned from his position after the European Union referendum last month saw 52 per cent of the country voting to leave the EU.

    Andrea Leadsom was criticised heavily during her campaign because of her views on key equality issues, such as same-sex marriage which she did not vote on in 2013 and said had caused “hurt” to Christians across the UK.

     

     

     

     

     

  • The new Star Trek has a gay character

    The new Star Trek has a gay character

    The new Star Trek, which comes out this month has a gay character in it – but it’s not a newbie and it’s super low key.

    CREDIT: paramount pictures

    Sulu is apparently gay. Who knew? Apparently this is a known thing for some in ST world, but Sulu is like properly coming out in this new film. Although it’s not a big song a dance moment.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Sulu, who was originally played by George Takei, himself gay in real life, is now portrayed by John Cho – and in the new movie is shown with his same-sex partner and his daughter.

    Speaking about his character’s sexuality Cho said,

    “I liked the approach, which was not to make a big thing out it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicise one’s personal orientations,” said Cho.

    Star Trek Beyond is out on the 22nd July

  • Andrea Leadsom | Gay marriage hurts Christians

    Andrea Leadsom says she’s “not happy” about gay marriage laws because of the hurt it has caused Christians.

    By Policy Exchange (Flickr: Andrea Leadsom MP) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

    Andrea Leadsom has claimed that she was never happy with the current marriage laws in the UK because of the “hurt caused to many Christians”. The Prime Minister candidate abstained from voting in 2013 when same-sex marriage was being debated in Parliament.

    ALSO READ: OP ED: David Cameron wanted us to believe that the Tories had changed – but it’s bullshit politics as usual.

    ALSO READ: Where do the PM candidates stand on gay issues?

     

    The candidate, who if successful, will become the unelected leader of the UK, called the laws “divisive” and “absurd” in 2013 and maintained in an interview this morning on ITV that marriage was, “a Christian service that was for men and women who wanted to commit in the eyes of God”.

    During her interview Leadsom said,

    “I believe the love of same-sex couples is as every bit as valuable that of opposite sex couples – absolutely committed to that. But nevertheless, my own view actually, is that marriage in the biblical sense is very clearly from the many many Christians who wrote to me on this subject – in their opinion – can only be between a man and a woman.”

    She said that she would have preferred for civil partnerships to be made available to both gay and heterosexual couples.

    She continued,

    “I think we’ve muddled the terms of marriage, civil partnership, church etc. I would have liked that to have been clarified.I didn’t really like the legislation – that was the problem. But I absolutely support gay marriage.”

     

  • Donald Trump u-turns on anti gay and trans HB2 bill

    Donald Trump u-turns on anti gay and trans HB2 bill

    The presumptive Republican candidate Donald Trump has now flip flopped on his HB2 stance, insinuating to Fox news that White House directives shouldn’t protect tiny parts of the population and that civil protections should be left to individual states.

    Embed from Getty Images

    It’s the bill that’s divided the nation. Musical legends have boycotted the state because of it, cities have lost hundreds of millions in investment and millions in lost revenues – and now Donald Trump has flip-flopped on his stance – saying that he disagrees that federal laws should support, “such a tiny part of our population”.

    HB2 bans all LGBT+ right ordinances in North Carolina.

    In March North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory signed a law which would allow business owners to discriminate against LGBT people on the grounds of religious belief.

    The law also requires trans people to use the public toilet that aligns with the gender that is on their birth certificate.

    Previously Trump had said that the law was unnecessary, but has seemingly u-turned after President Obama recently issued directives which called upon public schools to allow trans students to use the toilets they were most comfortable using.

    Trump told Fox News,

     ‘Well, it’s not fine. ‘I would generally speaking leave it to the states to decide. Obama’s getting into a very tricky territory. We have to protect everybody … but this is such a tiny part of our population. I would really leave it up to the states.

  • “Heartless” lesbian couple sentenced to life in prison for murder of two-year-old son

    “Heartless” lesbian couple sentenced to life in prison for murder of two-year-old son

    A mother and her civil partner given life sentences for the murder of Liam Fox, Rachel’s two-year-old son.

    Rachel Fee and her civil partner Nyomi handed life sentences in prison after being found guilty of the murder of Liam Fee, the two-year-old son of Rachel.

    The toddler died from blunt force trauma which caused his heart to rupture. The court heard that he also suffered numerous injuries including bone fractures.

    Rachel Fee, 31 and Nyomi Fee, 29 denied that they had murdered Liam, but were found guilty after a seven week trial at the High Court in Livingston, Fife, Scotland.

    Rachel Fee was sentenced to 23 and a half years in prison and Nyomi Fee was sentenced to 24 years.

    Passing sentence judge Lord Burns told the pair that they had, “subjected to a prolonged course of violent behaviour” on Liam.

    Prosecutor Alex Prentice QC told the court the women were guilty of “unyielding, heartless cruelty”.

    Rachel Fee’s defender Mark Stewart QC maintained that Ms. Fee maintained she was innocent of Liam’s murder whilst Brian McConnachie QC, defending Rachel Fee said that Ms. Fee thought there had been a “miscarriage of justice”.

  • Are we heading for a sexual health crisis? 10 per cent increase in STIs for gay and bisexual men

    Figures published by Public Health England (PHE) today show that once again that Britain’s gay and bi men’s sexual health is heading into a crisis.

    © sakkmesterke | Depositphotos
    © sakkmesterke | Depositphotos

     

    Figures released by PHE today show that in total there were 434,456 sexually transmitted infections reported in England in 2015. Well over 10 per cent of those (54, 275) were from gay and bisexual men. The greatest impact age group for those presenting sexual transmitted infections is within the 25 and under age bracket.

    The increase of 54,275 gay and bisexual men reporting sexual transmitted infections represents a 10 per cent increase on 2014’s statistics.

    Overall there was a small decrease, around three per cent, in reports for the entire population, but gay and bisexual men bucked that trend.

    Dr Gwenda Hughes, head of STI surveillance at PHE said,

    “The new statistics show STI rates are still very high among gay men and young adults.

    “We need to do more to raise awareness about STIs and how they can be prevented, especially the effectiveness of using condoms. We recommend that anyone having sex with a new or casual partner uses condoms and tests regularly for HIV and STIs. It is also vital to ensure there is easy access to STI testing and treatment services that meet the needs of local populations.”

    NHS England came under intense criticism earlier this year when it “washed its hands” on providing PrEP for the gay and bisexual community.  It announced it was removing the anti-HIV drug known as PrEP from the the official commissioning process.

    The PHE have reiterated their advice for sexually active men, suggesting,

    Consistent and correct use of condoms can significantly reduce risk of infection and regular testing for HIV and STIs is essential for good sexual health.

    Anyone under 25 who is sexually active should be screened for chlamydia annually, and on change of sexual partner. Gay and bisexual men should test annually for HIV and STIs and every 3 months if having condomless sex with new or casual partners.

    THEGAYUK runs an online Q&A sexual health service for free – ask your questions anonymously here.

  • Gok Wan | Tackle homophobic bullying in the playground

    Gok Wan | Tackle homophobic bullying in the playground

    Designer, cook and TV presenter Gok Wan has spoken out in support of LGBT young people, ahead of his keynote speech this Friday 8 July in London at lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality Stonewall’s Education for All Conference.

    CREDIT: Rixie / BigStock
    CREDIT: Rixie / BigStock

     

    Gok Wan said,

    “It’s so important for all of us to do everything we can to help prevent and tackle prejudice and discrimination – and we know that this sort of behaviour starts in the playground. Bullying is never acceptable, but making people feel threatened and alienated because of who they are and what makes them different is heart breaking.

    “We need to teach young people that this is not the way to behave and encourage them and in fact all people to understand that what’s ‘banter’ to some can be deeply hurtful to others. For us to get this right in schools, it’s vital that we recognise the role that teachers have to play, and ensure that they have adequate training to deal with this as it arises.

    “Stonewall is doing just that – which is why I am a proud supporter of the work it does. Whether you’re LGBT or not, we all have a role to play in standing up against hate, which recent events have taught us now more than ever before”.

    Stonewall’s annual Education for All conference, kindly supported by Prudential, is Britain’s leading event on preventing and tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying among young people.

    It brings together hundreds of education professionals through a series of panel discussions and interactive workshop as well as a dedicated youth stream for 150 young people.

    Yvette Cooper MP, mental health campaigner Johnny Benjamin, Muslim drag queen Asifa Lahore, trans activist Fox Fisher, Maria Munir, Juno Roche and Leo Waddell (from documentary I Am Leo) are amongst other speakers at the conference this year.

  • Stephen Crabb: Gay cure support “complete fabrication”

    Stephen Crabb: Gay cure support “complete fabrication”

    PM hopeful Stephen Crabb has said that any suggestion of him being homophobic or that he supports so-called gay cures is “complete fabrication”.

    Embed from Getty Images

    MP Stephen Crabb has said that any suggestion that he supports so-called gay cures or that he is homophobic is a “complete fabrication”. He also called the idea of gay cures reprensible.

    Speaking on the Radio 4 show, Today, the MP for Preseli Pembrokeshire said, “I don’t believe that being gay is a sin” and idea of “gay cure” is “reprehensible”

    As a member of Parliament Stephen Crabb has voted against every piece of legalisation that would protect or equalise the rights of gay and lesbians in the UK.

    In 2007 Crabb voted against the Equalities Act (Sexual Orientation) which protects gay people from discrimination in the provision of goods, facilities, services, education and public functions because of their sexuality.

    In 2013 Crabb voted against allowing same-sex couples the ability to marry. He was then absent for all other votes concerning the interests of LGBT people in the UK, including allowing Armed Forces based outside the UK the ability to marry.

    Crabb has stood by his voting decisions by saying, “It wasn’t a clear-cut vote for me, but I don’t regret any vote I’ve taken.”

    Last week THEGAYUK emailed each of the five candidates for assurances that if they got into power that gay rights and LGBT equalities would not be eroded or rolled back.

    Today, four days on, only Michael Gove’s office has responded.