THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Margaret Cho: It Is Not Too Soon To Joke About Paris

    Margaret Cho: It Is Not Too Soon To Joke About Paris

    Comedian Margaret Cho has explained why it’s never too soon to joke about atrocities, like the Paris terrorist attacks, as long as it’s done with Love and a political mind.

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  • Donald Trump Thinks Katie Hopkins Is A Trusted Columnist

    We’re not sure if this is the endorsement anyone would want now…

    The wannabe gay icon Katie Hopkins, has received praise from none other than Donald Trump, who tweeted to his 5.2 million followers on Twitter, his thanks for Hopkins‘ “powerful writing on the UK’s Muslim problem”.

    He then went on to suggest that the UK’s politicians should watch Hopkins as many people in the UK agree with his stance of blocking Muslims from entering the US.

    In return she thanked him and urged him to “stand strong” on his views, warning that the “liberal left” love a petition.

    Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump is currently the subject of a petition, created by Suzanne Kelly, requesting that the UK government block him from ever entering the UK, citing ‘unacceptable behaviour’.

    The petition has nearly 425,000 signatures on it, which means the UK’s government will consider the petition’s request for a parliamentary debate.
    Yesterday speaking to THEGAYUK US comedian Margaret Cho called Donald Trump a “piss bottom”.
  • Petition Started To Remove Poppers From Legal Highs Ban

    Petition Started To Remove Poppers From Legal Highs Ban

    A new petition has been created to urge the Government to drop Poppers from the Psychoactive Substances Bill.

    A petition, created by Carl Howard, is calling for Poppers (alkyl nitrates) to be dropped from the Government’s Psychoactive Substances Bill, which will see all current legal highs banned.

    The law would make selling poppers a criminal offence, with those found guilty of supplying potentially receiving a 7 year prison sentence.

    In his petition Howard says,

    “There is no evidence to suggest that in the vast majority of users poppers cause anything more than a short-lived head rush. Banning them will drive people to seek harmful alternatives. We call upon the government to exclude them from this Bill until hard medical evidence proves otherwise.”

    Speaking to THEGAYUK in August about the law, Liberal Democrat Lord, Brian Paddick said,

    “The way that the law is written, it is any substance that changes your mental state like making you feel happy.

    “So air fresheners for example… Potentially florists could be arrested because the scent given off by roses makes people feel romantic – makes them feel nice or whatever else.

    “By the strict definition of the law they are supplying a substance which when inhaled through sniffing changes your mental state. That’s how ridiculous this law is.”

  • Welsh Lib Dems Call For PrEP To Become Available On NHS

    Welsh Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott has suggested that PrEP should be made available on the NHS for people most at risk of contracting HIV.

    Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a drug, which if taken as per a healthcare professional’s advice is incredibly successful at halting new HIV infections. Welsh Liberal Democrat AM Eluned Parrott has called for the Welsh Government to take steps to ensure that the drugs are made available to people who are most at risk of contracting HIV.

    Recent results show that gay and bisexual men are still one of the highest at risk groups – with over 6500 in the UK unaware that they are HIV positive are at risk of spreading HIV even further.

     

    In 2014 the number of gay or bisexual men in the UK who were diagnosed rose by a further 110 new cases to 3360.

     

    Eluned Parrott AM, the Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for South Wales Central, said:

     

    “Over the last 20 years huge steps have been taken forward in helping people with an HIV infection to manage their condition. While this is a way from a cure yet, it still represents huge progress.

    “However prevention of HIV infection is now possible thanks to the development of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). A tablet a day can prevent people who are at risk of being exposed to the HIV virus from contracting HIV. This is a massive step forward, and yet three years after the Federal Drug Administration in the USA approved PrEP for use, it still isn’t available in Wales.

    “People who have partners with the HIV virus and other high risk groups should be offered this treatment as a matter of urgency, not only for their own health and wellbeing but also to help reduce the prevalence of HIV in the population as a whole. Perhaps one day, HIV could even be eliminated.

    “I call on the Welsh and UK governments to work together to ensure those who need it most are aware of this treatment and have access to it.”

  • Baroness Verma: “It’s great to hear us talk about ending AIDS but the job is far from over.”

    Lords And MPs met today to discuss ending AIDS by 2030 and having an AIDS free generation within 15 years.

    Parliament hosted a roundtable meeting today (World AIDS Day), bringing together a host of Lords MPs and speakers to talk about how to bring about an AIDS free generation by 2030. The talk was hosted by the All Party Parliamentary Group On Global Health and HIV/AIDS charity StopAIDS.
    Speaking at the event were MPs Diane Abbott and Chris Freer along with Baroness Masham, Baroness Liz Barker, Baroness Verma and Lord Cashman.

    A packed room heard from three speakers, Alexa, Cristian and Chan Chan who talked about their personal journey with HIV.

    Diane Abbott saluted the bravery of LGBT activists in Uganda, singling out the tremendous work achieved by Icebreakers, a support community in Uganda, for their efforts in the country, where politicians are fiercely homophobic and where HIV/AIDS medication is hard for LGBTs to gain access to.

    Lord Cashman also put forward questions on how to curve the ever-growing numbers of gay and bisexual men who were being diagnosed with HIV in the UK.

    Recent statistics revealed that new infections in gay and bisexual men have risen again – and that record numbers of men who have sex with men are unaware of their statuses.

    Baroness Verma said that she was proud that the UK was “significantly funding the Global fund”, for HIV/AIDS awareness and health campaigns, and added that we will continue to “champion key populations”, but was keen to stress that there was a “long way to go”.
    Addressing the room she said, “It’s great to hear us talk about ending AIDS but the job is far from over.”

  • Porn Star’s Death Ruled A Suicide

    The death of porn star Dimitri Kane has been ruled a suicide by coroners.

    Gay porn star Dimitri Kane’s death has been ruled a suicide by coroners in the US. Friends have been left completely “shocked” telling South Florida Gay News that the model who had starred in films for Men.com that he seemed happy the night before he took his life.

    They said,

    “He was entirely happy on Saturday evening. Nothing seemed to be wrong.”

    The Broward County Medical Examiner classified the death as a “suicide.”

    Mr Kane’s death was the second death of a young porn star reported last week. Zac Stevens died at the age of 25.

    If you are affected by issues raised by this article and need to talk to someone you can call Switchboard the LGBT+ helpine on 0300 330 0630

     

  • Woman Who Wrecked Gay Bar Fined Just £165

    A woman who created £4500 worth of damage to a gay bar in Crawley has been order to pay just £165 in damages.

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  • Shoreditch Gay Pub Closes Down

    The George And Dragon in East London has pulled its last pint.

    According to the landlords of the George and Dragon in East London “dramatically increased” rents have forced the closure of the gay pub which opened in 2002. The pub is just one of many venues that have closed in London in 2015. In findings by THEGAYUK over 90 LGBT venues in London have closed since 2000. The last date of the George And Dragon’s lease is the 1st December.

    A Facebook post released in August stated the owners were looking for another venue to reopen the bar, they said,

    “We will be looking for a new opportunity and hope very much that some of our dear G&D fans will be able to join us on this new journey soon.

    “We’ll try to be as open as we can throughout this process as we’d love as friends as possible to join us for a drink as we begin to bid farewell to our beloved old pub.”

    Taking to Facebook once again the owners said,

    “It’s almost 13 years since we opened our doors and from pretty much that night we have been blown away with the amazing response and all the amazing things which have their origins inside Number 2 Hackney Road, a former Victorian boozer, squatted and turned into a shoe shop which we reboozerified back in 2002.

    “We are due to surrender our lease on Tuesday 1 December and a new owner will sign a new lease at the same time. We wish them every success. They inherit good times, good memories and a whole lotta love. We move to a new venue as soon as possible, hopefully within the week. The jungle drums are beating and from what we hear they’ve got it bang on.

    “Today we open at 4pm and hope as many of you as possible can pass by and raise a glass, maybe even last the whole 8 hours. Music comes from Princess Julia, Richard Mortimer, Wayne Shires, Charles Jeffrey and The Lovely Jonjo.

    “Tomorrow night we’ll be putting the last things in boxes and draining the brandy bottle – so if you can’t make today or prefer a more somber occasion there’s your chance.

    “From the bottom of our hearts and written in the sky: Thank You

  • What Do You Need In A Rug? A Fertility God… Obvs

    A giant rug has gone on sale on EBay featuring a giant penis…

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  • Nigel Farage HIV Patients “Struggling To Get The Drugs” Because Of Immigrants

    According to the UKIP Leader many HIV patients in the UK have written to him to say that they are struggling to get HIV drugs because of immigration.

    Speaking on LBC, UKIP Leader Nigel Farage was answering a question from Nick Ferrari about whether he and UKIP were politically toxic. Answering, Farage brought up the controversy he caused during a leaders’ debate earlier in the year, when he made “outrageous” claims about “health tourism” with immigrants with HIV – testing positive in the UK, obtaining medication on the NHS costing £25,000 per patient per year.

    During the debate he said, He didn’t believe in health tourism and “We need to put the National Health Service there for British people and families.”

    However Farage said, that since the debate and making those claims he has received letters from “lots of HIV sufferers in this country” who have said that their “local clinics are unrecognisable (with) the number of people that are here”.

    He went on to say that people were “struggling to get the drugs” they needed.

    However THEGAYUK reached out to the NHS media team to ask if they were aware of any problems of drug shortages in clinics.

    A spokesman for NHS England said,

    “We have not been made aware of any capacity or drug shortage issues in HIV clinics.”

  • Rules Surrounding Gay Men Blood DonationsTo Be Reviewed

    Great news from the gay men’s blood donation campaign.

    Public Health Minister Jane Ellison MP has just announced that the advisory body will now review who can safely donate in 2016.
    As it stands gay and bisexual men who have had penetrative sex in the last 12 months are unable to legally donate regardless of whether they are in a monogamous relationship, they use protection whilst having sex or they test negative for HIV.In 2011 the outright ban for gay and bisexual men to donate blood was removed and reduced to a one year ban. Meaning only gay or bisexual men who haven’t had sex within a year can donate blood. A practice many believe is discriminatory. In Northern Ireland the life time ban is still in force.Ethan Spibey from the Freedom To Donate campaign said,

    “The FreedomToDonate team have worked tireless with our brilliant supporters to raise the case for a review into who can safely donate blood. I’m extremely happy that this morning the Public Health Minister Jane Ellison MP in answer to a question on the FreedomToDonate campaign confirmed that this review will take place in 2016. Those that can safely donate blood should be able to donate and securing this review is a step towards that. It’s time for the FreedomToDonate.”

    Shaun Griffin, Executive Director External Affairs, Terrene Higgins Trust said:

    “We welcome today’s news. The 2011 review that the one year ban was based on is now out of date, and the rules need reviewing to fit the facts today.

    “The review announced today, as well as considering the latest available data, should also address the contradictions attached to the lifetime ban on former sex workers and past intravenous drug users, which were not addressed in 2011.

    “The safety of the blood supply must come first – but the one year ban, and the information the decision was based on is out of touch with the reality of conditions like hep C and HIV in 2015.”