THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • LGBT Helpline Scotland opens

    Brand new LGBT Helpline opens in Scotland.

    A brand new LGBT helpline, called LGBT Helpline Scotland, has opened in Edinburgh and is open every Tuesday and Wednesday from 12PM – 9PM and will offer help, information and support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community across Scotland

    Stephen McCabe, the co-ordinator for the helpline said,

    ‘I am delighted to announce that LGBT Helpline Scotland – Scotland’s first ever national helpline for LGBT people and their families, friends and supporters – will open next week on May 7th.

    ‘For some time we have identified the need for a national Scottish LGBT helpline, and thanks to funding from the Scottish Government we now have a team of fully trained volunteers ready to take calls when we launch next Tuesday.

    ‘Our volunteers are trained to answers calls relating to sexuality, gender identity, isolation, sex and sexual health, coming out, hate crime (we are able to report crimes over the phone via our Third Party Reporting Service), amongst other needs that LGBT people in Scotland may have.’

    To speak to a volunteer call 0300 123 2523

  • Gay marriage wrecking amendments fail

    Wrecking Amendments fail in marathon parliamentary debate on Gay Marriage.

    MPs in the House of Commons rejected an amendment tabled by those opposed to marriage equality, which would have prolonged further voting on the forthcoming bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the UK

    The amendment tabled by former families minister Tim Lougton MP, would have extended the option of civil partnerships to straight couples, which many supporters of same-sex marriage fear would delay or scupper the same-sex marriage bill altogether.

    The amendment was rejected by 375 votes to 70.

    Ben Summerskill from Stonewalls wrote in a statement,

    ‘The amendment, tabled by vocal opponents of equality, would have resulted in significant delays to the Bill’s implementation. Tonight’s (20th May) success means that the Bill has survived all of the attempts made thus far to undermine it.

    ‘Tomorrow (2st May) the Bill will have its Third Reading in the Commons before it heads to the House of Lords where, as always, we expect a very tough fight.”

    Equal Marriage and #AggressiveHomosexuals began trending on Twitter last night during the parliamentary debate after Sir Gerald Howarth MP, stated that,

    ‘…I fear the playing field is not being levelled I believe the pendulum is swinging so far the other way, and there are plenty in the aggressive homosexual community who see this as but a stepping stone to something even further…’

    Sir Gerald did not elaborate on what further steps would be.

  • Polari Magazine editor in savage homophobic beating

    Damon Truluck and Christopher Bryant from gay and lesbian online publication Polari magazine, attacked and mugged last night in London.

    Writing on Facebook Bryant from PolariMagazine.com said,

    “This is how my birthday ended. Pushed to the floor, kicked in the face by two guys as the other four went for Damon. “Stay down, f**king faggot”, one of them shouted….We spent 6 hours in hospital. Nothing broken, which is incredible as they kicked me in the face about 5 times. The police have been brilliant”.

    The picture was uploaded to Polari Magazine’s facebook page and has already been shared 70 times, with over 98 comments made.

    GayStarNews reports that the incident took place in South London’s Betts Park.

    The attack happened around 12:30AM.

    The homophobic beating happened just under a month after the Metropolitan Police released figures which revealed that reportings of anti-gay attacks had dropped significantly in the UK’s capital.

    Police are still investigating the attack and are looking for suspects, however Bryant told TheGayUK that,

    ‘They avoided all CCTV and were hard to see under the hoodies’.

  • Running order for Eurovision 2013 revealed

    The official running order has been confirmed by the producers of Eurovision 2013.

    France will kick off the marathon music competition, hosted in Sweden, which sees 26 participant nations from across Europe competing to win Eurovision 2013.

    The United Kingdom is placed at number 15, just over halfway through the proceedings.

    Last year the UK’s entry Engelbert Humperdinck performed first – and came 25th in the competition. He sang ‘Love Will Set You Free’

    Running Order

    France

    Lithuania

    Moldova

    Finland

    Spain

    Belgium

    Estonia

    Belarus

    Malta

    Russia

    Germany

    Armenia

    The Netherlands

    Romania

    United Kingdom

    Sweden

    Hungary

    Denmark

    Iceland

    Azerbaijan

    Greece

    Ukraine

    Italy

    Norway

    Georgia

    Ireland

    Yesterday the petitioning and human rights website, AllOut.org was encouraging people to sign a petition to empower Eurovision broadcasters, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) not to censor a woman on woman kiss during Finland’s song ‘Marry Me’ after alleged fears that Turkish broadcaster TRT pulled the transmission of Eurovision because of the kiss.

  • Has Turkey cancelled Eurovision broadcast over gay kiss?

    Turkish national broadcaster TRT has cancelled transmission of Eurovision tomorrow night following reports that it cancelled the broadcast because of the gay kiss between to two women in Finland’s entry – ‘Marry Me’

    According to All Out, ‘Turkey has just banned the show from being broadcast and now the press reports that there is pressure on Eurovision to cancel the kiss before Saturday’s final. Eurovision organisers are worried other Eastern European countries might ban the contest too.’

    The Eurovision final is due to be broadcast on Saturday night (18th May 2013).

     

    The organisers face a choice: will they stand up for a Eurovision that is about unity, creativity and fun – or will they give in to pressure from countries who discriminate against gay and lesbian people?

    If tens of thousands of us sign it could be reported in newspaper articles today and tomorrow, showing Eurovision organisers that there’s a public outcry demanding they keep the kiss.

    Sign the ALLOUT petition now

    www.allout.org/eurovision

    The petition has over 13,000 signatures.

    When an interviewer asked how Finland’s Siegfrids thought viewers in countries such as Belarus and Azerbaijan might react to her performance she said: ”I think that everybody should have the right to do that. It’s no big deal, it’s not big deal to me. It’s a show, and it’s about love and love is beautiful in any form.”

    Pinknews are reporting:

    The TRT station claimed that the cancellation of the broadcast was due to low ratings, but last year a quarter of Turkish households tuned in to watch.

    Eurovision starts at 8:00PM on BBC 1

    You can follow all of TheGayUK tweets athttp://www.twitter.com/TheGayUK or using the Hastag #TGUKEurovision

  • IDAHO in London

    Join in with Pride and IDAHO London on May 17th, 5pm in Trafalgar Square.

    From 17:00PM – to 20:00 there will be an outdoor event in Trafalgar Square, London to mark IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia 2013.

    Wendyl Harris from Pride in London said,

    “We are honoured to join the global community marking this important international event. Homosexuality remains a criminal offence in 76 countries around the world, and punishable by death in a further 8 countries, yet many of our LGBTQI friends oversees will be celebrating IDAHO and looking to London for inspiration. IDAHO’s theme this year is marriage equality which compliments this year’s Pride Parade on June 29th: Love (& Marriage)

  • UK Tops The List Of Best Place For LGBT People To Live In Europe

    UK Tops The List Of Best Place For LGBT People To Live In Europe

    To mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (17 May), ILGA-Europe launches its Rainbow Europe package reviewing the human rights situation and assessing what life is like for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex (LGBTI) people in Europe in 2013.

    Best places to be gay in Europe 2013

     

    At the national level, we see that developments are at times taking completely opposite directions. Some countries are moving towards marriage equality, better protection mechanisms against discrimination and violence, ensuring easier and more humane procedures for legal gender recognition. However these advances are often accompanied by a social backlash, including increased violence. In other countries, the most worrying development is the introduction of more restrictive and discriminatory measures such as the laws banning ’homosexual propaganda’.

    The UK managed to achieve 77% towards what the ILGA describes as ‘Respect of human rights – full equality’

    At the bottom of the list is Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia with just 8% and 7% respectfully.

    Best places to be gay in Europe 2013

    Martin K.I. Christensen, Co-Chair of ILGA-Europe’s Executive Board, said:

    “Our Rainbow Europe package clearly shows that full respect of LGBTI people’s human rights remains a long-term aspiration rather than a goal which will be reached in a near future. Not a single country in Europe fulfils 100% requirements of our Rainbow Map. In many countries, the fight is still for fundamental civil and political rights that most of us living in democratic societies take for granted. And it is particularly worrying that some of these countries are in the EU.”

  • Isle Of Man Gay Couple Refused Rental Accommodation

    A couple from the Isle of Man are petitioning for a change in the law after they were refused an accommodation agreement on the basis of their sexual orientation.

    Kira Izzard and Laura Cull from the Isle of Man’s capital, Douglas, said they were ‘shocked’ to discover there was no law in place to protect them from discrimination based on sexuality.

    The BBC is reporting that the couple have launched a petition calling for introduction of the UK’s Equality Act 2010.

    The petition has gained the support of over 1000 people.

    You can sign the petition here
    http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/equality-act-2010-on-the-isle-of-man.html

    Chief Minister of the Isle of Man, Allan Bell MHK said:

    “I am extremely disappointed that this type of ugly, out-dated prejudice survives after all the work that has been done over the past 20 years or so to make the island a more tolerant place

    “I do believe that our society today is generally much more tolerant than it used to be. But this incident shows that there are still isolated pockets of bigotry that can only be tackled through legislation.

    “An Equality Bill, based on the UK Equality Act 2010, is already in the drafting process and will deal with discrimination of this kind. I have asked that preparation of this legislation be accelerated.

    The Chief Minister concluded:

    ‘I have a clear message for those inside or outside the Isle of Man who still think this is an outpost of old-fashioned prejudice. This is a modern, caring, compassionate and inclusive society and we do not want to be associated with bigots who live in the past.’

    Ms. Izzard and Ms Cull are planning to be civilly partnered later this year. The couple were told by the Citizen’s Advice Bureau that the landlord was acting within the law

    Homosexuality was outlawed under Isle Of Man law until 1992. Civil Partnerships were legalised in April 2011. Same-sex couple are also legal able to adopt.

  • Possible Homophobic Murder Puts Russia’s Gay Community On Edge

    A man has been killed in what is being reported as a possible homophobic attack in the southern Russian city of Volgograd, early on Friday morning.

    The 23-year-old man who has not yet been named was found dead in the courtyard of an apartment building. His wounds included multiple stab wounds including some in the genital area, the federal Investigative Committee said on Saturday.

    Reuters is reporting that, a 22-year-old acquaintance of the victim and a 27-year-old ex-convict had been detained on suspicion of murder.

    Andrei Gapchenko, who is investigating the killing, said the victim had been drinking with the two men – who then attacked him after revealing his sexuality.

    Leading gay rights activist Nikolai Alexeyev said a bill to outlaw spreading “homosexual propaganda” among minors, given preliminary approval by parliament in January, would make Russians less likely to fear consequences for attacking gays.

    “This monstrous incident in Volgograd demonstrates the fruits of the homophobic policy that is being conducted in this country, including the initiative to ban homosexual propaganda,” Interfax news agency quoted Alexeyev as saying.

  • Anti-Homophobia Campaign Launched By Two Straight Fifteen Year Old

    “Take the Pledge” Anti-Homophobia Campaign Campaign Launched by Two Fifteen Year Old Straight Teens with the LGBT Network

    Two heterosexual teenagers, Nathan and Ross have launched a campaign to encourage people to “Take The Pledge” in support of the LGBTQ community. The web based campaign on www.skelat.com/LGBTQ.html urges supporters to download a template which has space for their name and a paragraph on why they support the LGBTQ community. Participants are then encouraged to take a photograph of themselves holding the completed “pledge” and upload it to the Skelat.com website.

    The fifteen year olds are based in Merseyside (England, UK) and despite being heterosexual, decided to setup the campaign to garner support for the community as they have witnessed the increase of casual homophobia and transphobia. Skelat.com was set up in January 2013 and is funded by the teenagers themselves and has grown to include blogs, useful tips, information sharing sections and various fundraising initiatives supporting different charities.

    Over half (55%) of lesbian, gay and bisexual young people have experience bullying at School. The school report: the experiences of young gay people in Britain’s schools (PDF). http://bit.ly/ZEUPTJ London: Stonewall.

    When asked what inspired him to set up the LGBTQ project, Nathan from Skelat.com said:

    “People need to say enough is enough when it comes to discrimination, it is something we see all too much. Whether it is in our workplace, our play grounds or even our social networks, it’s something which needs to stop. People should only be judged by the content of their character Take The Pledge was born to give people the opportunity to share their opinion and support the community in a very visual and engaging manner and I would ask everyone to log onto the website and Take The Pledge.”

    “In 2013 it is unacceptable that homophobic and transphobic bullying still blights the lives of millions of young people the world-wide. Young LGBTQ people are exposed to homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools and increasingly on-line from their bedrooms, the very place they should feel safe and protected. More work needs to be done to highlight this problem and the LGBT Network is thrilled to support this campaign from Skelat.com. The ‘Take the Pledge’ campaign allows people to affirm their support of the LGBTQ community in a very personal and visual manner. It is truly inspiring that two 15 year old heterosexual allies would show their commitment to equality in this way and they are a credit to their families and the communities within which they live.”

    – Rob McDowall, Chair of the LGBT Network

  • “I’m Muslim And I’m Against Homphobia” Magazine calls for support

    Online magazine Aswat is calling upon Arab citizens to speak out against homophobia.

    Aswat Magazine is publishing user-submitted photos aimed at reducing discrimination faced by the gay community in the Arab world as part of its ‘Love For All’ campaign.

    The magazine is sharing the images on their Facebook and Twitter pages.

    Interviewed by Tunisia Live, activist Maher al Haj spoke about the campaign, ‘We aim to educate not only the LGBTQ Arab community but also reach out to others as well who might have many misconceptions about us.

    ‘We are humans like others, we exist everywhere and we deserve to be acknowledged and celebrated within the fabrics of our societies like all other groups in society.’

    The ‘Love For All’ campaign is organised to coincide with this year’s International Day Against Homophobia on 17th May.

    For more on the story click here