THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Same-Sex Couple Told To Stop Showing Affection In London Restaurant

    A woman and her partner were told to stop showing affection in a London restaurant, after being told ‘This is a family restaurant’.

    Lydia Cawson, said that she was told by a staff member at the Canteen eatery at the Southbank’s Royal Festival Hall, to move away from her partner whom she was consoling at the time.

    The couple had met at the restaurant during a break and Ms. Cawson was consoling her partner after a stressful week at work – with an arm around her shoulder and a ‘peck on the cheek’.

    Allegedly the couple were approached by a member of staff and asked to move away from each other.

    She told London Live ‘I didn’t notice any adverse reaction in the restaurant, myself. Then the lady came over to us and said “can you stop what you’re doing please, this is a family restaurant”.’

    Her partner then asked the member of staff, ‘Is it a family restaurant or is it a homophobic restaurant?’

    Ms. Cawson also added, The first thing is that we were really shocked by this challenge.

    We didn’t feel like we were overly affectionate. Yes, it was an intimate moment, but consoling her and just a simple loving reaction.

    The second comment was that it was a family restaurant and it made me feel; ‘why does that matter? Is it because children are present – not that there were any children present at that time – anyway, why should it matter if it is a family restaurant?’

    Taking to Twitter, Canteen owners tweeted, ‘Everyone is welcome at Canteen, gay / straight/old/ young regardless of sexuality. We are horrified at the thought of being labelled anti gay – half of our team are gay. At Canteen, we pride ourselves on being a modern, equal opportunities, open and accessible business. We want everyone to feel welcome in our restaurants.’

  • Masturbating Man Forces Emergency Landing

    A man who was found masturbating on a Virgin America flight caused panic as he tried to open a door mid flight.

    The flight from Boston to Los Angeles made an emergency landing on Monday morning, in Nebraska after an American passenger, named as Doug Adams, was caught masturbating according to police reports, which were acquired by NBC.

    Adams was reportedly wearing a hospital bracelet and after an argument with a fellow passenger, he attempted to leave the aircraft.

    Another passenger Sam Slater, who filmed the incident said after returning from the toilet the unruly passenger had an argument with a woman next to him. He then said that Adams asked a flight attendant to move the woman away from him.

    ‘He at that point was fidgeting and began to remove the plastic covering from the emergency exit door and tried to pull open the door.

    ‘Fortunately there were a couple of Boston police officers on the flight that were there at that point to help as well.’

  • Popstarz Closes The Doors For The Final Time

    The gay scene in London was forever changed with the introduction of Popstarz in 1995. Now nearly twenty years later the alternative gay night life brand is being put to bed.

    In an interview with PinkNews.co.uk, head DJ and promoter Tommy Turntables lamented the ever decreasing gay scene in London saying, ‘the G-A-Y brand doest appeal to every gay person, in fact I’d say it doesn’t appeal to the majority of gay people, but there’s always new interesting things happening, a lot happens out East, you just have to dig for it more these days.’

    The Popstarz night was the brainchild of Simon Hobart, who died nearly 10 years ago. When asked what Simon’s legacy would be, Tommy said, ‘His legacy will be showing the gay scene that not everything has to be the same, cut from the same cloth, that there is brilliance in our differences.’

    Advance tickets have sold out, but there will be 400 £20 tickets available at the Coronet on New Kent Road, London from 10pm tonight.

  • 23-Year-Old Man Commits Suicide After Coming Out To His Family

    A young man killed himself by jumping off the Severn Bridge an inquest in Gloucestershire heard.

    His distraught mother told the corner’s court in Gloucestershire that she thought he might have been embarrassed after coming out – despite the family ‘fully accepting’ he was gay.

    The body of the 23-year-old man, named as Darren Crotty, was found near the Sharpness Dock on the River Severn on the 29th April. He had been reported missing on the 5th March 2014.

    Police had put out an appeal for Darren, who lived in Bishopston.

    He has been reported missing by his flatmates after they found a suicide note under his pillow.
    Ms. Crotty said, ‘He was a quiet, intelligent boy with a good sense of humour.

    ‘He told us he was gay and we had no issues with that but I think he was embarrassed and perhaps unsure of his sexuality.’

    His housemate, Martin Leefield said, ‘I found the suicide note and he had written that he intended to jump off the Severn Bridge so I immediately contacted the police.’

    A calendar at Darren’s house had been marked with the letter “S” on the 31st January.

    The Mirror reports that the Senior coroner for Gloucestershire Katy Skerrett, said, ‘He left a detailed suicide note and apologised for the stress this would cause but he always planned to do this.

    ‘The trigger for him taking his own life we will never know but it was probably related to his coming out as being gay.’

    If you are facing difficulties with your sexuality, the London Lesbian And Gay Switchboard is available to take your calls from 10AM- 11PM seven days a week. Their number is: 0300 330 0630 or you can use the Instant message system at http://www.llgs.org.uk/instant-messaging.html

  • Google Play Criticised For Selling Gay Hunting Game

    The Google Play store is receiving online criticism for allowing a game to be sold that lets players hunt gays and kill them.

    The game Ass Hunter is a very basic shooting game where the player clothed in green safari outfit and holding a shotgun, moves around the screen shooting ‘gays’ – depicted here as naked men with waving tackle!

    You could be mistaken into thinking that the game is just another war game with men shooting other men, however, the developer’s almost comical homophobic description explains that you are indeed hunting gays here.

    ‘Play and do not be gay!’

    ‘Legendary game, where you are a hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can.’

    ‘Gays may be hidden in bushes and unexpectedly catch you.’
    ‘Remember! When they catch you they will do with you whatever they want ;)’

    The ‘whatever they want’ turns out to be a rape of the hunter of he loses a life. BarryDennen12 on YouTube has very kindly provided his walk through of the game.

    Of course, not everyone thinks this game is legendary leaving one star reviews on Google Play Store.

    ‘Homophobic filth A disgusting piece of trash Google you should be ashamed to have even published this.’ – Fifi Anderson

    ‘Abhorrent app This abhorrent app is disgusting. I too downloadabled so I could rate and report it. Google should remove this game immediately.’ – Ron Gowans-Savage

    The Google Play store has now removed the game, and Google have been approached for comment on the game.

  • Homophobic Ass Hunter Game Removed From Google After Complaints

    After numerous complaints online, the Ass Hunter game has been removed from Google Play.


    It is unclear at this point whether Google itself removed the offensive game, which sees gay men hunted and killed, or if the game makers themselves: Jay, Phil and Graphics by Stef, have removed the game.

    The game Ass Hunter is a very basic shooting game where the player clothed in a green safari outfit and holding a shotgun, moves around the screen shooting ‘gays’ – depicted here as naked men with waving tackle!

    You could be mistaken into thinking that the game is just another war game with men shooting other men, however, the developer’s almost comical homophobic description explains that you are indeed hunting gays here.

    ‘Play and do not be gay!’

    ‘Legendary game, where you are a hunter and your mission is to kill gays as much as you can.’

    ‘Gays may be hidden in bushes and unexpectedly catch you.’
    ‘Remember! When they catch you they will do with you whatever they want ;)’

    The game is still widely available on other gaming sites such as GameBroad.com and Flashgames247.com

    Google does not comment on indivdual apps, but the app has been taken down.

  • Out and Proud IVAN MASSOW To Stand For London Mayor In 2015

    Out and Proud IVAN MASSOW To Stand For London Mayor In 2015

    London Live, the capital’s TV channel, interviewed entrepreneur and gay rights campaigner Ivan Massow on its lunchtime show the Headline Interview.

    The gay rights activist and entrepreneur Ivan Massow, 47, exclusively announced that he was standing for London Mayor in 2015. Ivan unsuccessfully ran for London Mayor 2003 as an independent candidate, but today announced that he was standing on behalf of the Conservative party. The former head of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, was once a political adviser to William Hague but left the Conservative Party over section 28 in 2000 and defected to Labour. Ivan recalls his memories of Margaret Thatcher, his argument with Tracey Emin and discusses his four key policies: devolution, transport, housing and a introducing a London card.

    Speaking about why he decided to run as mayor Ivan said,

    ‘Why I’ve got involved this time and what really drove me and rattle my cage, which was watching the devolution debate on television, seeing it all unfold with Scotland and hearing this vilification of London and realising, thinking to myself its great being in London, and I love being a Londoner – but it’s not that great here. We have incredibly expensive accommodation, incredibly expensive travel and food – it’s costly to be here. People travel for maybe an hour to get to work with a sweatshop of the United Kingdom producing vast amounts of money that pay for hospitals and schools all around the country. To hear this thing coming at us all the time made me want to get involved and do something about it.’

    The Headline Interview, London Live – Freeview 8, YouView 8, Sky 117 and Virgin 159

  • Astonishing List Of Negative Traits Of Being Male, Through The Eyes Of A Nine-Year-Old

    An incredible insightful list of negative feelings towards being male has surfaced on Twitter written by a Nine-Year-Old boy.

    The list of nine concerns from the nine-year-old, unidentified boy, includes ‘Not Being Able To Be A Mother,’ ‘Suppose To Play Football’ and ‘Boys Smell Bad’.

    A teacher in the US, asked students to make a list about what they didn’t like about being their gender.

    The crushing list features his worries which include thoughts about his career path and the responsibilities of being a bread winner, and the restrictions are placed on men by society, such as not being allowed to be a cheer leader, to biological restrictions such as being a mother.

    His full list was:

    – Not being able to be a mother

    – Not suppost to cry (sic)

    – Not allowed to be a cheerleader

    – Suppost to do all the work

    – Suppost to like vilence

    – Suppost to play football

    – Boys smell bad

    – Having a automatic bad reputation

    – Grow hair everywhere

  • Country Star Billy Gillman Comes Out As Gay

    Another Country singer, Billy Gilman, comes out as gay via a YouTube Video.

    (more…)

  • At Home HIV Testing Service To Resume In UK For Gay And Bi Men

    HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust is to mark National HIV Testing Week (22nd – 30th November) by relaunching its highly popular postal HIV testing service for gay and bisexual men.

    The Fastest Direct service is a collaboration between Terrence Higgins Trust and Public Health England, with additional funding and support from HIV Prevention England. It is available free of charge to gay and bisexual men living in England. Men wanting to test will be able to place an order at www.startswithme.org.uk and receive an HIV test kit delivered to their door. The process involves a simple finger-prick blood test, which is then posted in a pre-paid envelope to a laboratory for testing. Results are returned within 14 days, either by text message (for negative results), or with a telephone call to provide support and referral to a specialist HIV service (for reactive results).

    In 2013, there were an estimated 43,500 gay and bisexual men living with HIV in the UK, one in six of whom remain undiagnosed. Undiagnosed infection is widely recognised as a key factor driving the UK’s HIV epidemic, as someone who remains undiagnosed is much more likely to pass the virus on unwittingly than someone who has tested and is on treatment. National HIV Testing Week was established by Terrence Higgins Trust and HIV Prevention England in 2012, in a bid to reduce high levels of undiagnosed and late-diagnosed HIV among gay men and Africans in England.
    In 2013, Terrence Higgins Trust ran a pilot postal HIV testing scheme in England, which demonstrated significant demand and acceptability for the option to test for HIV at home. Around 32% of those who returned a test had never tested for the virus before, and 25% had not tested in the last 12 months. 97% of users agreed that they would use the service again.

    Cary James, Head of Health Improvement for Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “There are more than 7,000 gay and bi men in the UK who have HIV but don’t yet know they have it. To slow the spread of the virus, we need to take every opportunity to get more people testing more regularly, and that includes finding new ways to reach people outside of the clinic. We are very pleased to be relaunching Fastest Direct, and we would encourage anyone who hasn’t tested before, or perhaps hasn’t tested in some time, to take advantage of the service and be sure of their HIV status.”

    In April 2014, the sale of HIV self-testing kits – where a person performs an HIV test on themselves and receives an immediate result – became legal in the UK. However, no kit has yet been approved that is available for sale.
    For further information on HIV testing, or to request a postal HIV test, please visit www.startswithme.org.uk.

  • Mike Nichols, director of The Birdcage dies

    The acclaimed film and theatre director Mike Nichols has died in New York at the age of 83. Nicholls was one of the few people ever to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award.

    He won his Oscar back in 1967 for his groundbreaking film The Graduate and went on to be nominated for another 4 Oscars after that. Nichols’s stunning TV miniseries of Tony Kushner’s political epic about the AIDS crisis during the mid-eighties Angels In America earned him a Best Director Emmy, one of 9 that the series was awarded.

    Much loved by the gay community… he did, after all, start his film career directing the magnificent Elizabeth Taylor in Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Wolfe? he will always be remembered by us for his hilarious and joyous camp movie The Birdcage with its glorious performances by Robin Williams and Nathan Lane.

    Meryl Streep who worked with Nichols on “Silkwood,” “Heartburn” and as well as “Angels in America.” Said today: ‘He was an inspiration and joy to know, a director who cried when he laughed, a friend without whom, well, we can’t imagine our world, an indelible irreplaceable man.’