THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Police in Scotland call for condom ban in Edinburgh saunas

    Police in Edinburgh have called for a ban of ‘all items of a sexual nature’, including condoms in all saunas in Edinburgh, in a move which could put lives at risk.

    Police Scotland want condoms banned from all saunas across the Scottish Capital, including the two gay saunas that are based in the city.

    The story being widely reported is that a number of heterosexual saunas or saunas that are known to have sex workers working there are affected by the potential ban, but speaking to a gay sauna in Edinburgh TheGayUK has discovered that the ban would also have an impact on all gay saunas in Scotland.

    The police set out the contentious plans in a letter which was delivered to the city’s licensing committee, who is deciding on the license renewals on several of the city’s saunas.

    The letter asks the licensing committee to include new licensing conditions, one of which included: “no items of a sexual nature will be permitted on the premises”.

    A Police Scotland spokesman said,

    ‘Police Scotland recently provided reports to the Council Regulatory Committee in respect of a number of public entertainment licence renewals.

    ‘In cases where there was evidence of criminality or premises operating out-with the conditions of their licence, objections were made to those licences being renewed.

    ‘Police Scotland will continue to work with partners to inspect and report on licensed premises operating within Edinburgh in order to keep people safe.

    ‘Whenever criminal activity, or licensing contraventions are detected within these venues, officers will respond appropriately and report all offences to the relevant authority.’

    DRACONIAN

    The call for the ban has put Scotland’s HIV/Aids charities on red alert, with Robert Mckay, the nation director of the Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland saying that the idea was ‘Draconian’

    He went on to say:
    ‘We would be keen to see the full details of any proposals that would prevent saunas from having condoms on their premises. Taking away condoms doesn’t stop people from having sex; it does however result in unprotected sex and increased rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. It is vital that people can protect themselves wherever they have sex.’

    ‘Our point of view is to make sure that people are kept safe. Condoms have proved very successful in preventing STDs and HIV transmissions.’

    GAY SAUNA RAIDS

    Earlier in the year Police Scotland raided two gay saunas in Edinburgh, a report lodged by the police stated that:

    ‘One member of staff and six male customers were found within.

    ‘During the inspection, officers found evidence to indicate that the premises were used for activities other than those permitted by the licence, specifically sexual activity.

    ‘On behalf of the Chief Constable, I object to the renewal of the licence under the terms of Schedule 1, Paragraph 5 (3) (d) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 on the grounds that the premises have not been operated in accordance with the activities on their licence.’

  • UK Government does not support Sochi boycott

    Foreign Office rules out Government supported boycott of the Russian Winter Olympics in Sochi.

    In an email received from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) by petitioners who asked the Government, to make a political statement to the Russian Government about their anti-gay laws, by officially boycotting the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, has said it ‘does not support a boycott.’

    Over 13,000 people have signed the petition that was created by Sean Robertson earlier in the year.

    In June President Putin signed into law, a bill that could see anyone discussing homosexual relationships to anyone under the age of 18 sentenced to a prison term or fined.

    In September the Russian Government moved one step closer to introducing a bill that would remove children from gay parents.

    The statement from the FCO reads:

    As this e-petition has received more than 10 000 signatures, the relevant Government department have provided the following response:

    ‘The Government wants to see an open and inclusive games at the 2014 Russian Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi, but we do not support a boycott. The Prime Minister believes we have a better chance of influencing Russia by engaging and challenging prejudices than by boycotting.

    ‘We share concerns about changes to the law in Russia prohibiting the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” to minors. In effect, the law could prevent the LGBT community in Russia from fully enjoying the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The Prime Minister set out these concerns with President Putin in a meeting in St Petersburg on 6 September, making clear the strength of feeling in the UK and that it was in Russia’s interests to tackle discrimination.

    ‘British officials at all levels have been lobbying on the LGBT law since the first regional “homosexual propaganda” law was tabled. As well as raising the subject in bilateral meetings, we have actively supported LGBT issues in Russia for some years, including through involvement in the annual Queerfest in St Petersburg and funding for the Side-by-Side LGBT film festival held across Russia.

    ‘More broadly, we regularly make clear to Russia that human rights are universal and should apply equally to all people, as part of our overall engagement on human rights with the Russian authorities, including at the 2013 UK-Russia Human Rights dialogue in May and in the Foreign Secretary and Minister for Europe’s regular discussions with their Russian counterparts.

    ‘We have updated our travel advice for Russia to inform British Nationals of the new LGBT law. We review this advice regularly and will update further as necessary. We are committed to providing a modern and efficient consular service for visitors to Sochi.

    ‘Human rights will continue to be a central part of the UK-Russia relationship and we will continue to raise our concerns and encourage Russia to tackle discrimination and homophobia.

    ‘This e-petition remains open to signatures and will be considered for debate by the Backbench Business Committee should it pass the 100 000 signature threshold’

    The petition is still open and the deadline is 15th January 2014. If you wish to sign it click here.

  • Anti-gay tweet controversy hits Made In Chelsea

    The brand new series of Made In Chelsea has been marred by reports of homophobic tweets made by new cast member.

    Miffy who was in our top 6 Males of Chelsea article was swiftly removed yesterday from the page after a reader notified us that the Made In Chelsea actor had allegedly made anti-gay remarks via twitter before he appeared in the E4 show.

    A screen grab of @MiffyUK shows that Miffy real name Dave Mifsud had retweeted a homophobic slur aimed towards X Factor contestant Rylan Clark, which read:
    “Bye Rylan you queer tw*t.”

    However, the first offensive tweet read:

    “It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve #gaymarriagef***off.”

    Which was tweeted on the 21st May, the same day that the same-sex marriage bill was voted on in the House of Commons.

    The bill passed its third reading by 366 votes to 161.

    He deleted the offending tweets before his appearance on the show however one Twitter @LadyHz user took a screenshot before he managed to delete it.

    A spokesperson for the show told OMG,

    “Made in Chelsea does not condone homophobic behaviour of any kind. We have spoken to Miffy about his personal Twitter account and appropriate action has been taken.”

    However another twitter user tweeted directly at MIC’s Twitter account,

    “So @E4Chelsea says they “do not condone homophobic behaviour of any kind” so why is @MiffyUK still in the show? He’s still homophobic.”

    THEGAYJK contacted the press team at Channel 4 to ask them what ‘appropriate’ action had been taken. A spokeswoman for the channel said,

    ‘…Both C4 and E4 have a strong and proud background of tackling this type of prejudice and it’s something we take seriously as a portfolio of channels. Even on a rare and isolated occasion like this I would want people to get a clear message that we don’t tolerate this kind of behaviour personally nor professionally. It has been made clear to Miffy that any such activity is completely unacceptable and that Miffy was genuinely sorry for his ill-judged comment.’

  • THEATRE FEATURE: From Russia, With Love

    A theatrical fundraiser which aims to tackle homophobia in Russian is to take place on Sunday 27th October 2013.

    (more…)

  • The 6 Weirdest Things You Searched For On THEGAYUK Last Week

    So, we took a look into the analytics vault of THEGAYUK to discover what our readers Googled for on TGUK last week – here’s a few of our favourites:

    top 10 things to say during gay sex
    Firstly does one need to say anything during sex? Secondly, 10 things to say whilst having sex? Seriously? You’re making whoopie not collecting an award for best climax.

    what former teen queen turned to ebay to help clean out her closets in summer 2006
    We have no idea who or what you’re talking about dear… Odd what search requests can bring you to the pages of THEGAYUK… Teen (check) Queen (check) Closets (check) Ta da!

    x factor sam callahan coming out the water
    Just like Daniel Craig or a more masculine Ursula Andress – We also love watching the video of X Factor‘s Sam Callahan coming out of the water butt naked.

    anal and lesbian
    Now these aren’t usually two words you’d put together – but hey on TGUK anyone goes… However, it did link to one of our most popular posts from last week, in which writer Daniel Browne asked: Are Lesbians More Accepted Than Gay Men?

    is Harvey milk an icon in the gay community
    Dear person, please remove yourself from under the rock from which you have been holed away. Yes. Yes he is.
    Check out our little homage to the great man.

    matt demon white speedo
    Despite the fact you spelt Damon wrong, we’ll forgive you – for the pictures of Matt Damon are quite spectacular. So good we’ve posted them again! Did you know Behind The Candelabra is out today!

  • Airline apologises for “I Am Gay” sticker on passenger’s bag

    A passenger on one of Australia’s biggest budget airlines Jetstar was ‘utterly disgusted’ when he found his baggage had stickers attached which read ‘I Am Gay’

    Taking to twitter @aaronpp wrote: “Utterly disgusted to find my luggage front and center on the @JetstarAirways luggage carousel looking like this,” he wrote.

    Writing on his blog, http://onesleepydad.blogspot.com.au he continued:

    ‘Yesterday I tweeted a photo of my luggage after a Jetstar flight from Perth and it has caused quite the stir on social media.

    ‘I would like to point out that Jetstar has contacted me and offered a very sincere apology. For which I am grateful.

    ‘They are also conducting a “serious” investigation that I am assisting them with. Their PR machine is making all the right noises and saying all the right things. I have set no expectations of Jetstar with regards to their procedures or outcomes.’

    THEGAYUK reached out to Jetstar, but no one was immediately available to comment on this story.

  • Turkish Cypriots to repeal gay ban by Christmas

    Two years after Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Derviş Eroğlu promised Conservative MEP Marina Yannakoudakis to repeal the north part of the island’s ban on homosexuality, the London MEP has returned to Cyprus to revive the process.

    While proposals for a repeal were put before lawmakers this year, early elections meant that any plans for a repeal need to be re-tabled.

    Mrs. Yannakoudakis met the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), which is currently the largest Turkish Cypriot political party as well as its partner the Democratic Party. She also met with the leader of the smaller Communal Democracy Party (TDP).

    All three parties promised to enact a decriminalisation of homosexuality giving a timeframe of 1-2 months.
    Male homosexuality has been illegal in Northern Cyprus since the island gained independence from British colonial rule in the 1960s, if found guilty, a custodial sentence of up to three years in prison can be ruled as punishment. Female homosexuality is exempt from the law.

    Southern Cyprus decriminalized homosexuality in 1998 in order to acquiesce to the European Union. However the North’s stance on homosexuality puts it outside of the European Convention of Human Rights.

    The desire to repeal the gay ban before the end of the year was echoed by Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Eroğlu who, in a meeting with Mrs. Yannakoudakis today, said:
    “We are going to help them (the political parties) to do it in a much more speedy manner,” adding “I am going to spend effort to have this law go to the assembly.”

    Mrs. Yannakoudakis welcomed the positive response saying, “The time is right and it seems that the political will is finally there. Now the Turkish Cypriots must act and keep their promise to me to respect human rights.”
    Mrs. Yannakoudakis, who also met with representatives of the LGBT group Queer Cyprus and other supporters of decriminalisation, shared the activists’ cautious optimism, “The Turkish Cypriot LGBT community has waited long enough for decriminalisation.

    “I call on all the stakeholders to work together to ensure that a single set of measures to decriminalise homosexuality are tabled without delay.

    “When I next visit the island next year, I look forward to celebrating with my LGBT friends in the north part of Cyprus as they embark upon a new era of equality.”

  • Consulting firm disputes the “1.5% homosexuality rate” in the UK

    LGBT consulting firm Out Now, has issued a statement to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) that disputes the data that relates to the number of gay, lesbian and bisexual people in the UK.

    Out Now Consulting, the global LGBT marketing agency, has today written to the Director General of the Office for National Statistics, requesting the immediate withdrawal of data relating to gay and lesbian people on the grounds that it is inaccurate and misleading.

    Out Now says that a flawed and poor research methodology used by the ONS renders it incapable of providing a correct measurement of homosexuality and bisexuality in the UK.

    The ONS claims that research, part of the Integrated Household Survey, shows that “1.5 per cent of adults in the UK identified themselves as Gay, Lesbian or Bisexual.”

    Out Now disputes this figure, saying:

    ‘This claim is not only inaccurate as a true measure of the prevalence of homosexuality and bisexuality in the United Kingdom, it is dangerous as it is prone to misreporting and may lead to funding problems for organisations focused on the health of LGB people.
    ‘The research methodology you have employed is not suitable for the purpose of obtaining an accurate measure of homosexuality and bisexuality in the UK.’

    The ONS is the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics and is the recognised national statistical institute for the UK. It is responsible for collecting and publishing statistics related to the economy, population and society at national, regional and local levels. It also conducts the census in England and Wales every ten years.

    An ONS spokesman said: ‘The question on sexual identity was developed and tested on a number of surveys in 2008 and was added to the Integrated Household Survey (IHS) in 2009. A prototype question was developed using focus groups to gain an understanding of the concept of sexual identity, and piloted on an ONS survey prior to inclusion in the IHS.

    ‘The sexual identity question was asked of respondents aged 16 years and over; it was not asked by proxy, and the question was asked in mainly face to face with some telephone interviews. The data have been collected to provide accurate statistics to underpin the equality monitoring responsibilities of public sector organisations and to assess the disadvantage or relative discrimination experienced by the lesbian, gay and bisexual population.

    ‘The sexual identity measure is based on what the respondent to the IHS self declare. It is possible that a proportion of responders who are LGB answer with an alternative response to the ONS survey, however the ONS trials and pilots did not suggest this was the case to a significant degree despite concerns that it might be being raised at the time.

    We are responding directly to the comments made by OutNow and we will examine their concerns.’
    Out Now founder and Ian Johnson today wrote to the ONS saying:
    “The data you are responsible for publishing is not fit for purpose and risks being used by those who may not ‘like’ gay, lesbian or bisexual people to undermine their rights. It may be used similarly to seek to reduce funding for government and NGO initiatives focused on LGB people in the UK.”

    Social media users, have taken to Facebook and Twitter to also disagree with the claims from the ONS. Antony Simpson on Facebook wrote:

    ‘Disagree many, many more!’

    Another wrote:

    ‘I think there’s many more gay people out there. So many are married to women and living a heterosexual life (with some ‘fun’ with men on the side, as we all know if we log on to Grindr and the like). Admittedly many of those people in marriages will perhaps be bisexual, but still I imagine there are a lot more gay people than anyone realises.’

  • Kuwait plans medical test to ensure no gay people enter the country

    Kuwait Public Health Department has announced plans to conduct ‘medical screening’ tests to “detect” gay people entering the anti-gay region.

    IBTimes.co.uk is reporting that the director of public health in Kuwait, Yousouf Mindkar said that ‘routine clinical screening of expatriates coming into the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) will include tests to identify LGBT people who will then be banned from entering the country.’

    ‘Health centres conduct the routine medical check to assess the health of the expatriates when they come into the GCC countries,’ he told local daily Al Rai.

    ‘However, we will take stricter measures that will help us detect gays who will be then barred from entering Kuwait or any of the GCC member states.’

    Homosexuality is illegal in the region with a potential punishment of 10 years in prison for anyone engaging in homosexual behaviour.

    Details have not emerged on what form these tests may take, however numerous commenting members on Queerty have said that the Kuwait government have used rectal tests to determine whether a person has had receptive anal sex.

    ‘And one of their “tests” for homosexuality involves a rectal exam to reveal whether or not you’ve had penetrative anal sex.’ wrote Kenover on the site.

  • World’s largest pasta firm, Barilla, in hot water “won’t include gays in our ads”

    World’s largest pasta firm, Barilla, in hot water “won’t include gays in our ads”

    Barilla, one of the world’s largest pasta makers is facing a boycott today after its Chairman, Guido Barilla, said it would never use a gay couple in any of its adverts.

    Barilla, the world's biggest pasta manufacturer
    ©-jovannig-Depositphotos

    The company which was founded in 1827 and reportedly made €3.9b in revenues in 2010 has come under fire today after its chairman Guido Barilla, gave an interview to La Zanzara Radio24.

    He was answering a question regarding the lack of gay families in the company’s advertising. He suggested that gay couples would never been used saying,

    ‘ Our family is a traditional family,’ he added that he,

    ‘wouldn’t do an ad with a homosexual family not because I disrespect gays – they have their right to do whatever they want without disturbing others – but because I don’t think like them and I think that the family we try to address is anyway a classic family’.

    Barilla then went on to suggest that if gay people didn’t like the company’s value, they could ‘eat another brand’.

    The BBC are reporting that the gay rights group Equality Italia have called Barilla’s comments ‘offensive provocation’ adding,

    ‘We accept the invitation from the Barilla owner to not eat his pasta’.

    To read the full translation click here

    Aurelio Mancuso of Equality Italia urged for a boycott of the company’s pasta, sauces and other snacks.

    On Thursday the company’s press department released a statement called: ‘Guido Barilla’s Clarification on gays’.

    The statement reads,

    ‘With reference to remarks made yesterday to an Italian radio program, I apologize if my words have generated controversy or misunderstanding, or if they hurt someone’s sensitivity’.

    ‘Boycott Barilla’ became a trending topic around the world yesterday as thousands of users took to Twitter to complain about Barilla’s comments.

    One Twitter user wrote @RonGunzburger wrote,

    ‘Count me in for the #boycottbarilla! Lots of pasta brands out there. I don’t need to buy from an anti-gay bigot.’

    None of the UK’s big four supermarket’s stock Barilla’s pasta.

  • Hillingdon’s First Support Group For LGBT People With Mental Health Issues

    Hillingdon Mind has recently employed a dedicated LGBT project coordinator whose sole role is to develop a support service for LGBT adults with mental health problems in the borough of Hillingdon.

    Support services that are to launch in early November will consist of a social group meeting once a week, trips and other enriching activities decided by members on a quarterly basis. There will also be a mentoring and buddying system that will aim to support those most in need.

    “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people are more likely to suffer mental health problems due to social isolation and prejudice attached to those identities, if we add to it the stigma attached to mental health, we have a very vulnerable group. I am pleased that Hillingdon Mind recognises it.” – Lukasz, LGBT Project Coordinator

    The project is still in its infancy, but Lukasz is already receiving enquiries. If you would like more information you can contact him via mobile: 07415151185 or email: lgbt@hilligdonmind.org.uk or visit Hillingdon Mind’s website for more information: www.hilligdonmind.org.uk/lgbt