THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Welsh Lib Dems Launch LGBT+ Rights Campaign

    The Welsh Liberal Democrats are launching their campaign promoting the benefits of the Human Rights Act in advancing LGBT+ rights.

    At Saturday’s Pride Cymru, Wales’ biggest LGBT pride event, the party will be campaigning against plans by the Conservatives to scrap the Human Rights Act – plans which were blocked by the Liberal Democrats as part of the Coalition Government.

    The Human Rights Act has forced the UK Government to introduce the Gender Recognition Act, found the unequal age of consent for same-sex relationships to be illegal in 1997, and forced the Government to allow LGBT+ people to serve openly in the armed forces in 1999.

    Liberal Democrats have a strong record of defending LGBT+ rights in Wales, the UK and across the world. Most recently, the Welsh Lib Dems have led the charge to improve public services for trans people in Wales and establish a Welsh Gender Identity Clinic.

    Kirsty Williams AM, Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, said:

    “LGBT+ rights are human rights – it couldn’t get any simpler. The rights of any person of any sexuality or gender – to free speech, to protection from discrimination, to life itself – are exactly the same as anyone else’s. That’s why Liberal Democrats fight to protect them.

    “Human rights laws have been vital in protecting LGBT+ people from discrimination by the law. Without them we could still have an unequal age of consent for same-sex relationships, trans people would not be allowed to change their legal sex, and LGBT+ people would be unable to serve openly in the armed forces.

    “The Human Rights Act has made positive change happen for our country’s LGBT+ community. That’s why I’m so appalled at Tory plans to scrap these laws and do away with these protections. Liberal Democrats blocked them within Government, and we’ll carry on fighting them now.

    “As many people as possible need to oppose these proposals. That’s why we’re launching our campaign today at www.welshlibdems.wales/lgbt, and I urge everyone to back our calls.”

  • Homophobe Calls Himself Batman After Exposing His Penis

    A man has been sentenced and fined after exposing himself and using a gay slur.

    Nathan McMahon, 27, told police he was Batman after being arrested for exposing himself in a pub in Somerset in April.

    The court heard that he drunkenly called the landlord a “gay git” before pulling out his penis and exposing himself in front a customer. He went on to cause damage to plants and a for sale sign, as well as urinating in the street.

    Prosecutor Lucy Coleman said,

    “They were both drunk and after being served with a second pint McMahon called the landlord a gay git and then took out his penis and testicles and put them on the bar in front of another customer,”

    “The landlord took their drinks away but they continued to swear at him so he pressed his panic button to alert the police and they left.”

     

    McMahon also pleaded guilty to using abusive words and behaviour.

    His defendant, Tom Briggs said it was “a drunken night that went terribly wrong”.

    “McMahon had a disagreement with the landlord while he was asking for some money for the jukebox and this ended in him being abusive and he left the pub,” he said.

    “Then, with aggression inside him, he went outside and he kicked some plants, punched the sign and damaged a gate.”

     

    Manchester based McMahon has been ordered to a 12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work as well as paying £235 in compensation.

  • New LGBTI Show Planned For Football Fans

    Scotland’s resident LGBTI radio station Xpress Radio Scotland, has launched a new football show ’90 minutes’, hosted by avid fans of the sport, Iain Sharkey and David Sinclair.

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  • One In Ten Do Not Know Where The Prime Minister Lives

    Most modern Brits have no idea about UK politics – and one in ten doesn’t even know where the Prime Minister lives, a study has revealed. The poll of 2,000 adults showed nearly two-thirds of adults’ rate their political knowledge as average to poor.

    More than four in ten said their understanding was weak because they didn’t watch the news and didn’t want to read political stories.

    Top clangers include one-third not knowing the difference between Ed and David Miliband and the roles they play in government.

    One in ten didn’t even know what number Downing Street the Prime Minister lives at.

    7% of those surveyed even thought ex-PM Gordon Brown was the current Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    The research was conducted to mark the launch of the new series of Yes, Prime Minister series on Tuesday at 9pm on Gold, which found that 41% can’t keep up with government affairs as they change so frequently.

    Steve North, General Manager of Gold, said:

    ”Some terminology and policies are obviously very complex but it’s worrying that so many adults don’t know rudimentary facts such as who the current Foreign Secretary is.

    ”It would seem people really struggle with government terminology and it’s a shame such a large proportion of the country are embarrassed by their lack of understanding.”

    The poll found one quarter of respondents had no idea which party Ed Balls represents, while more than one third of adults could only name one to four British Prime Ministers.

    Only 60% knew it was the chief whip’s job to keep party rebels in line.

    Surprisingly one in twenty thought a chief whip was an MP who rode horses and 7% thought it was the head chef in Westminster.

    When it comes to political jargon we have no idea either- when quizzed on terms such as MOD, GDP and FCO, many adults answered incorrectly.

    Bizarrely, one in 20 thought MoD stood for Ministry of Deportation and 15% thought GDP thought meant Government Demands Priority (opposed to Gross Domestic Product).

    When asked what a shadow cabinet was – more than one in twenty thought it was a dark grey piece of furniture and others said it was a meeting of disgraced politicians.

    15% didn’t know what a ‘white paper’ was.

    Furthermore, only 82 % knew that William Hague was the Foreign Secretary – other answers given were Will-i-am, Teresa May and William Shakespeare.

    One in five Brits had the good grace to be embarrassed by their lack of knowledge when it comes to current affairs, while 42% said they would like to improve their knowledge,

  • 50 Things We Find Totally Boring

    Party Political Broadcasts, Fifty Shades of Grey and shopping channels have been hailed as life’s biggest bores according to a new survey.

    The study which asked 2,000 adults about what causes them to switch off revealed a list of the 50 most mind-numbingly boring people, places and things Brits come across in everyday life.

    The topical winner was Party Political Broadcasts, rated as excessively boring by over half of the adults polled.

    Ad breaks, queueing in the Post Office, and a painfully slow wi-fi connection were also placed highly in the list of biggest yawns.

    Mark Walters, Managing Director of Interparcel, which commissioned the study said: ‘’It seems we Brits get bored very easily.

    ‘’And we all have different boredom triggers – many often find themselves restless and looking for things to do, while others relish their free time.

    ‘’It seems our general impatience is a common cause for boredom nationwide and that suggests our free time is very precious.”

    ‘’It’s no surprise that most of the top ten were made up of situations where we have to wait around so any areas of life where we can avoid this are embraced.’’

    The research showed many of the most hyped elements of British life prove to be a source of boredom for many.

    Sport bore a brunt of the blame, with extended football analysis, Formula 1 races and horse racing on TV all making an appearance.

    And the gentlemanly sports of snooker, cricket and bowls were added to the many sporting mentions that sent those in the poll snoring.

    Ed Miliband, David Cameron and Gordon Brown were all deemed completely boring by the poll, as well as the current affairs discussion show, Question Time.

     

    Other TV entries included the daytime classics Bargain Hunt and Loose Women, while Scrapheap Challenge and Gardener’s World were also shown to tip Brits into tedium.

    On a similar gardening theme, TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh came in as the 50th entry, accompanied by the famously boring A-listers of Kanye West, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bono.

    The world of work was another source of boredom – 14 per cent claimed to work with someone who bores them to death; while company meetings and PowerPoint presentations made the top fifty.

    But life outside of work doesn’t provide entertainment it seems, as filling in tax-returns, washing the dishes and mindless small talk were also named.

    And doctor waiting rooms, staying in for a delivery and train delays all came within the top ten pinnacles of boredom.

    Amazingly, over seven in ten adults confessed they lead boring lifestyles, and almost half considered themselves a boring person.

    Though almost a third said they’re tired of their jobs, 58 per cent said they get bored on their days off, at a loss as what to do with themselves.

     

    Mark Walters continues, “As the research clarified, the majority of us find queuing boring. What seemed liked endless queues in the Post Office was a key trigger in the development of the Interparcel.com business.

    “The emergence of the internet and the rapid development of technology mean you no longer have to queue up to send a parcel.

    “You can now easily and cost effectively arrange for a courier to come to your home or place of work to pick up or drop off your parcels and deliveries; you can drop them off or pick them up at a convenient parcel drop off point such as your local shop, garage or even an automated parcel locker at a time that suits you”

     

    “Most importantly it saves time queuing and waiting around, letting you get on with the things that you enjoy doing.”

     

    THE 50 MOST BORING THINGS OF MODERN LIFE

     

    Party Political broadcasts 50.90%

    Being kept on hold 45.95%

    Queuing in the post office 44.45%

    Traffic jams 42.90%

    Shopping channels 42.65%

    Doctor waiting rooms 37.30%

    Slow Wi-Fi 34.35%

    Waiting for a delivery 33.60%

    Train delays 32.30%

    Ad breaks 31.30%

    Football pundits/analysis 31.10%

    The Kardashians 29.65%

    Bowls 28.85%

    Selfies 28.65%

    Horse racing on the TV 28.10%

    Ed Milliband 27.35%

    Fifty Shades of Grey 26.80%

    Darts 26.30%

    Gordon Brown 25.50%

    Men playing Fifa 25.30%

    Diet chat 24.95%

    Formula One 24.60%

    Rice cakes 24.55%

    Filling in tax returns 23.10%

    Cricket 23.05%

    Bargain Hunt 22.10%

    Snooker 21.75%

    Kanye West 21.65%

    David Cameron 21.35%

    Scrapheap Challenge 21.15%

    Football 19.45%

    Other people’s family trees 19.00%

    Loose Women 18.25%

    Updating your CV 17.90%

    Top Gear 17.60%

    Shakespeare 16.85%

    Gwyneth Paltrow 16.80%

    PowerPoint presentations 16.35%

    Coldplay 16.15%

    Time team 15.30%

    People telling you about their dreams 15.15%

    The Gadget Show 15.05%

    Bono 14.55%

    Company meetings 14.05%

    Question Time 14.05%

    Buying socks 14.00%

    Washing the dishes 13.90%

    Gardeners World 13.80%

    Small talk 13.75%

    Alan Titchmarsh 12.10%

     

  • 71 Per Cent Of Londoners Would Be Happy If London Mayor Was Gay

    A poll for radio station LBC has found that 71 percent of Londoners would be happy if the next Mayor of London was gay.

    The poll of 1100 adults found that most Londoners would be happy if the next Mayor of London was gay. Sixteen per cent said that they would be uncomfortable with a gay person taking the position.

    As it stands there is are three out candidates declared in the mayoral race which will see a new Mayor take over from Boris Johnson in 2016. Peter Whittle, UKIP’s mayoral candidate and the Conservative’s Andrew Boff are both out candidates, whilst Benali Hamdache is the chair of LGBTIQ Green Party.

    The poll by YouGov revealed that only 55% of those questioned would be comfortable with a Muslim Mayor and 31% said that they would be uncomfortable.

  • “Dramatic” Rent Increase Forces The Closure Of Yet Another London Gay Bar

    The George and Dragon pub in Hackney is to close after a lease review dramatically increased the cost of the rent.

    The George and Dragon is another LGBT venue which is set to close with the pub owner, Richard Battye blaming a lease increase which he decribed as “dramatic.”

    The pub, which was opened in 2002, still has seven years remaining on the lease, but the owners don’t feel that they will be able to meet the payments so have decided to sell on the pub “a little earlier than intended.”

    The owners are actively looking for a new space so there is hope that the George And Dragon will exist as an LGBT space in the future.

    Battye said in a Facebook post,

    “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.”

    A number of LGBT pubs and bars have closed in the past year.

  • PRIDE: Four Days Until Pride Cymru…

    This weekend, 15th August, sees Cardiff hold their 2015 Pride Cymru – Wales’ largest annual celebration of equality and diversity. Run entirely by the charity of volunteers, its purpose is to promote the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender, race, religion and others who have been faced with adversity from society.

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  • New Report Released on Gay Hate Crime Challenges

    A new report has been released by Nottingham Trent University that has for the first time examined the perspectives of police officers and the issues they face preventing hate crime.

    Carried out by Nottingham Law School on behalf of the Hate Crime Steering Group, it involved in-depth interviews conducted with frontline officers from Nottinghamshire Police. The outcomes of this are to be shared among UK forces by the government.

    The reports author, Dr Loretta Trickett, has claimed: “many of the officers I interviewed were not fully engaged with the current format” and that while officers are clear on what hate crime is and know the procedures to follow, more training from external agencies on how to sufficiently deal with complicated cases is vital.

    Hate crime is currently an area of priority for the police, including five monitored areas, two of these being sexual orientation and gender identity. The crime itself makes up 1% of overall crime, with 44,480 incidents being recorded by police in 2013/14.

     

  • RIP: Mr Gay World 2010 Has Died, Aged 33

    LGBT campaigner and Mr Gay World 2010 has died at the age of 33.

    After a short battle against lymphatic cancer, Mr Gay South Africa 2009, Charl van den Berg has died at the age of 33. He won the Mr Gay South Africa title in 2009 and then won the Mr Gay World title in Olso in 2010.

    A statement released by the Mr Gay World organisation said,

    “It is with deep sorrow that we learned of the passing of one of the prominent members of the Mr. Gay World™ family, Charl van den Berg, Mr. Gay World™ 2010 from South Africa who lost his mercifully short battle with lymphatic cancer.

    “Charl always conducted himself in a friendly, approachable and exemplary fashion, keeping his feet firmly on the ground and doing the job he was chosen for without airs and graces. His infectious laughter and warm character made him an absolute pleasure to work with.”

    An announcement on his Facebook page said that a funeral will take place on the 14th August.

    The former title holder said upon winning the world-wide Mr Gay World competition that it was his aim to “break down stereotypes and differing mindsets in the global community and promote oneness and equality for all people by bridging the gap between those mindsets.

    “It is my understanding that people are people before we are different.”

  • Passengers Overhear Homophobic Bus Driver Blaming “Bum Busters” For Traffic

    A petition is calling for the sacking of a bus driver in Northern Ireland after using a homophobic slur during Belfast Pride.

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