WHAM! on your radio, Christmas weight gain and the John Lewis Christmas ad. This year we’ve got a farting-under-the-bed Monster… but take a look at the previous year’s offerings. Make sure you have your tissue box at the ready.
2017 – Moz The Monster
2016 – Buster The Boxer
2015 – Man On The Moon
2014 – Monty The Penguin
2013 – The Bear and the Hare
2012 – The Journey
2011 – The Long Wait
British Airways, told us,
Lisa wrote into the airline’s BA Magic campaign to tell their story. She explained the couple had met in Australia in 2011 and moved together to the UK in 2012. Just before Hayley’s 30th birthday, Lisa took her to Paris and proposed. Hayley said yes, and the pair married in a beautiful ceremony in Derby surrounded by friends and family in August 2015.
The only people that couldn’t be there were Hayley’s mother, Debbie and father, Steve. Steve was recovering from Stage 4 tongue cancer and Debbie has the degenerative condition, Muscular Dystrophy, so the journey was just too much. They were there thanks to Facetime technology though, with Steve delivering a very proud father-of-the-bride speech.
The happy couple moved to Glasgow, where Lisa started her dream job as a police officer in one of the city’s most deprived areas, while Hayley pursued her passion, establishing herself as a blogger and vlogger of all things vintage.
Sadly their happy bubble burst just a year-and-a-half later when Hayley received the devastating news that Steve’s cancer had returned and was now terminal.
On Valentine’s Day this year, she rushed back to Australia leaving Lisa, their beloved pet dog, Hettie and all her friends behind in the UK.
Steve died peacefully with Hayley by his side on March 26.
Hayley has been in Australia ever since, helping her Mum sort through her Dad’s affairs and assisting her Mum through her own condition. Lisa and Hettie have moved back to Lisa’s hometown of Derby, and she is now an officer for the West Midlands Police Force.
The BA Magic team read Lisa’s letter and knew they had to reunite the pair so, with Lisa, Debbie and Hayley’s boss, Adam’s help, they planned the surprise of a lifetime.
After weeks of secretive planning, British Airways cabin crew member, Claire Allinson found herself hidden in the wings at a conference Hayley was attending, with a pair of return business class tickets from Sydney to London for Hayley and her mum, Debbie.
Under the ruse of a work request, Adam asked Hayley to remain seated at a table in the large conference room as it was cleared after lunch. As Hayley waited for him to return, a video of Lisa rolled through one of the giant screens telling her to get packed as she and mum, Debbie were flying to London the following day.
After a sleepless night for the pair, they were picked up early and welcomed at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport by the British Airways team, before boarding the aircraft early and being seated with a glass of champagne.
During the 22-hour flight Hayley and Debbie caught up on some much needed sleep on the airline’s fully flat business class beds, watched numerous films and enjoyed the in-flight catering.
Waiting for them at Heathrow was Lisa complete with balloons, flowers and their dog, Hettie, for an emotional reunion.
Hayley said: “I couldn’t believe it and it certainly didn’t sink in until I was back in the UK! It all happened so fast and was like a dream. One day I was at a conference, the next I was in a British Airways business class seat on my way to London to be reunited with my wife!
“Being able to take the trip with Mum was the most special thing and it has meant the world to her. She’d never been on a long-haul flight before and it would have been Dad’s dream to take her on holiday like this. It has awakened so many possibilities within her. This is just the beginning of a new chapter and I know there are many adventures in store for her yet.”
Lisa said: “I got in touch with British Airways more out of hope than expectation. I couldn’t believe it when they said they’d help us. The fact we could surprise Hayley and that Deb could come too, knowing she’d be comfortable and looked after on the flight, made it all the more special.
“Hayley must have wondered what was wrong with me in the run-up to them arriving as I was constantly rushing off our frequent Facetime calls as I was so worried I’d give it away!
“I barely slept a wink the night before they arrived and Hettie and I were at the airport bright and early waiting for the flight. It was so wonderful to see them both appear through arrivals and we had the most amazing time seeing friends and family, visiting Buckingham Palace, walking the gardens of Chatsworth House, touring villages with thatched roofs, savouring proper Cornish pasties and sipping champagne on the London Eye.”
Carolina Martinoli, British Airways’ director of brand and customer experience, said: “As soon as we read Lisa’s email, we wanted to help. They’ve all had an incredibly tough time and it was in our gift to make a big difference.
“It looks like they’ve had an amazing trip to London and we were delighted to hear that it has opened up a world of travel for Debbie again and shortened the distance between Lisa and Hayley seeing each other next. It’s lovely that we’ve been able to help them create some incredible memories and we wish them all the very best for the future.”
British Airways is asking customers who have booked a trip with them to email their stories in, in the hope of making their trip a little bit more magical.
Customers can visit the BA Magic page (https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/destinations/where-in-the-world/bamagic) to watch Lisa’s and Hayley’s video and share their own story.
Twitter stood accused earlier this week bi erasure, by the bisexual community when its platform effectively deleted the #bisexual hashtag from showing photos, videos and news items which used that tag.
The social media platform was slammed for effectively erasing all bisexual content that was identified with that tag. When users tried to use that hashtag in the search bar, they were met with a “no results” page.
The platform said at the time,
“Online behavior [sic] continues to evolve and change, and at Twitter, we have to ensure those changes are reflected in our rules in a way that’s easy to adhere to and understand. Today, we’re publishing a new version of the Twitter Rules to clarify our policies and how we enforce them. While the fundamentals of our policies and our approach have not changed, this updated version presents our rules with more details and examples,’ the company wrote.
“In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch separate pages for each of our policies to provide even more context about what each policy covers and our rationale for enforcement.’
.@TwitterSupport we’re surprised to see some searches for #bisexual and #gay blocked. We urge you to fix – #LGBTQvisibility matters.
Twitter responded to the huge outcry, saying “We’ve identified an error with search results for certain terms. We apologize for this. We’re working quickly to resolve & will update soon.”
The fix has now been installed and content which uses the tag is now viewable.
Presiding officer,
I am grateful for this opportunity to address the chamber. Today marks an important milestone in achieving true equality for Scotland’s LGBTI community.
This morning, the Historical Sexual Offences (Pardons and Disregards) (Scotland) Bill was published.
Scotland has travelled so far in recent years, in relation to LGBTI equality, that it still shocks us to recall that as recently as 1980 – well within my lifetime – consenting sexual activity between men was still classed as a criminal activity in this country. And the age of consent was only lowered to 16 in 2001, two years after this parliament came into being. Before then, hundreds of people in Scotland were liable to be convicted as criminals, simply for loving another adult.
Presiding Officer, the words inscribed on this Parliament’s Mace set out the values which we seek to uphold and promote – integrity, wisdom, justice and compassion. Yet even within the lifetime of this parliament, this nation’s laws have created suffering and perpetrated injustice.
The legislation we have published today addresses that injustice. It provides an automatic pardon to men convicted of same-sex sexual activity that would now be legal.
In addition, the bill establishes a new procedure, so that people can apply to the police for their offence to be disregarded from criminal records. This means it will never appear on a disclosure certificate.
The legislation therefore has both a symbolic and a practical value. The pardon sends an unequivocal message to anybody convicted of an offence for an activity which is now legal. The law should not have treated them as criminals and they should not now be considered as such. Instead, this parliament recognises that a wrong was done to them.
And the disregard has an important practical consequence. It allows people to ensure that their past criminal record will no longer have an impact on their day to day life. And that will change people’s lives.
At present, as the Equality Network and others have highlighted to us, there are some people convicted merely of showing love and affection to their partner, who still have to explain their criminal record every time they move job or apply for a promotion. That is unacceptable and we are determined that it will end.
So the bill we are publishing today rights a historic wrong.
However Presiding Officer, I want to go further today and do something that legislation on its own cannot do. A pardon is, of course, the correct legal remedy to apply for the convictions we are talking about today – but the term “pardon” might still, to some people, imply that Parliament sees them as having done something wrong. That is, after all, a common context in which a pardon might be granted.
However, as all of us know, that is not the case here. For people convicted of same sex sexual activity which is now legal, the wrong has been committed by the state to them, not by the individuals. Those individuals deserve an unqualified apology, as well as a pardon.
That apology can only come from the government and from Parliament – not from the justice system. After all, the courts, prosecutors and the police were enforcing the law of land at the time.
The simple fact is that parliamentarians in Scotland over many decades supported or, at the very least, accepted laws which we now recognise to have been completely unjust.
Those laws criminalised the act of loving another adult; they deterred people from being honest about their identity to family, friends, neighbours and colleagues; and by sending a message from parliament that homosexuality was wrong, they encouraged rather than deterred homophobia and hate.
So today I, as First Minister, categorically, unequivocally and wholeheartedly, apologise for those laws, and for the hurt and the harm that they caused.
Nothing this parliament does can erase those injustices. But I hope that this apology, alongside our new legislation, can provide some comfort to those who endured them. And I hope that it provides evidence of this parliament’s determination, in so far as we can, to address the harm that was done.
The final point I would make is that while today’s legislation marks an important milestone in Scotland’s progress towards LGBTI equality, our journey is not yet complete.
Considering how recently it is, that the laws I have just discussed were in force, it is remarkable, and indeed inspiring, that Scotland is now considered to be one of the most progressive countries in Europe when it comes to LGBTI equality.
Indeed, one of the proudest moments of my 18 years as an MSP – and, I know, one of the proudest moments for many MSPs across this chamber – was in February 2014, when people from all parties came together to support equal marriage.
But as all of us know, until we live in a country – in fact, until we live in a world – where no young person suffers hate or fear or discrimination or prejudice, simply because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity, then we have still got work to do.
That’s why have promised to improve our gender recognition legislation. We know that we need to ensure that it reflects the experiences and the needs of transgender and intersex people.
It’s why I attach such importance to the Scottish government’s work with the TIE campaign – ensuring that our young people do not have to fear bullying in school.
It’s also why we are reviewing hate crime legislation – to ensure that our laws provide the right protections against bigotry and hatred.
And it’s why I hope that today’s apology – in addition to its specific significance for gay men – sends out a wider signal to the LGBTI community. The Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament are utterly committed to delivering true equality for LGBTI people in Scotland. Wherever there are societal, cultural, legislative or regulatory barriers to achieving that, we will seek to remove them. We will never again accept laws or behaviours which discriminate against you and hurt you.
And so although today is a day for looking back and apologising for past wrongs, it is also a day which points to a better future.
And it is a day when this chamber promotes, and lives up to, our shared values – integrity, wisdom, compassion and justice.
Due to licensing this article must be read on our website
Scotland is on the verge of pardoning thousands of gay men once convicted for having sex. Under Scottish law, consensual homosexual acts between men were considered a crime until 1981. A new bill would pardon everyone who was prosecuted under those laws, living and dead. (more…)
During 2015, Kim Davies, 52 stubbornly refused to issues marriage permits to gay couples in her state of Kentucky. It’s now come to light that she is running for re-election – despite her jail time. Five couples sued her and a judge even ordered her to issue the licenses.
She assumed the office in 2015 after filing as a Democrat candidate for county clerk. She narrowly won the vote with 53.2 percent of the vote. She has now moved from being a Democrat to a Republican.
According to Fox News, Mat Staver, the founder of the law firm who represents Davis said, “She loves her job and she loves the people,”
“I’m sure (the election) will probably have more attention because of who she is, but you know she doesn’t have any major concerns about it.”
After her release from jail, Davis modified marriage licenses so that her name would not be included. The state legislature changed the law soon after so that clerks do not have to sign their names on licenses.
Due to licensing this article must be read on our website
A Nevada father shot and killed his 14-year-old son because he couldn’t accept his son’s sexual orientation, according to the son’s former foster mom. On Thursday afternoon, 53-year-old Wendell Melton shot his son, Giovanni Melton, in the apartment where Giovanni lived alone. (more…)
Twitter has come under fire after it amended its search algorithm to effectively erase photos and videos that use the hashtag #Bisexual. Anyone who tries to use the hashtag to search for Photos, Videos or News will be shown a no result page.
Other terms such as #gay and #lesbian were reportedly blocked too, but are now visible.
In a blog post by Twitter, it clarified its new rules on which types of behaviour would get users banned from the platform. It wrote,
“Online behavior [sic] continues to evolve and change, and at Twitter, we have to ensure those changes are reflected in our rules in a way that’s easy to adhere to and understand. Today, we’re publishing a new version of the Twitter Rules to clarify our policies and how we enforce them. While the fundamentals of our policies and our approach have not changed, this updated version presents our rules with more details and examples,’ the company wrote.
“In the weeks ahead, we’ll launch separate pages for each of our policies to provide even more context about what each policy covers and our rationale for enforcement.’
Other terms that have been removed include #Transexual.
.@TwitterSupport we’re surprised to see some searches for #bisexual and #gay blocked. We urge you to fix – #LGBTQ visibility matters. pic.twitter.com/RTjcCdl7Pc
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) November 5, 2017
Twitter has now responded to the huge outcry, saying “We’ve identified an error with search results for certain terms. We apologize for this. We’re working quickly to resolve & will update soon.”
Julian Aubrey, who was fifty-five, was pronounced dead at his home in west London, when emergency services attended a call out. They found a man with stab injuries. Police say the attack on him was violent and are calling for witnesses or anyone with information to come forward.
Two men – [A] aged 48 and [B] aged 56 – were arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder; both remain in custody at a west London police station. A third man [C] was arrested yesterday and was been taken to a north London police station for questioning.
Officers were called at approximately 13:45hrs on Monday, 30 October to reports of a man found suffering stab injuries at a residential address at Shaftesbury Place on Warwick Road, W14.
A post-mortem examination took place at St Georges Hospital Mortuary on Tuesday, 31 October and gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds.
Julian previously worked with London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea LGBT liaison group, he was also a counsellor with victims of sexual abuse.
DCI Luke Marks, said, “I am appealing for anyone who was recently in the area of Shaftesbury Place and who may have heard a disturbance coming from one of the flats to contact us.
“I would also like to hear from anyone who may know why Julian was targeted in his own home in such a violent way.
“Any piece of information, however small, may prove vital to my investigation.”
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8358 0200 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
The theatre for which Kevin Spacey was the artistic director from 2004 to 2015 has released a statement and is now offering support to anyone who might have been unable to come forward with their own allegations.
Bosses at the theatre said they were “deeply dismayed to hear the allegations levied against Kevin Spacey”.
They went on to affirm their position on “inappropriate behaviour” by saying,
“Inappropriate behaviour by anyone working at The Old Vic is completely unacceptable. We aim to foster a safe and supportive environment without prejudice, harassment or bullying of any sort, at any level, as set out in our joint statement with the theatre industry on 23 October. We want our employees to feel confident, valued and proud to be part of The Old Vic family. Any behaviour we become aware of which contravenes these goals will not be tolerated”.
Is it not clear whether there have been further allegations against Spacey whilst he was the theatre’s artistic director.
A confidential email has been set up for anyone they say might not have felt able to raise complaints in the past. They added, “Any experience shared will be treated in the utmost confidence and with sensitivity. We have appointed external advisors to help us deal with any information received”.
Since the allegations of “sexual advances” was revealed yesterday, Netflix has announced that its flagship programme, House Of Cards for which Spacey is both a star and exec producer, will end after its sixth season, which is currently in production.
House Of Cards actor Kevin Spacey has come out following allegations from Star Trek Discovery actor, Anthony Rapp that the actor made “sexual advances” towards him when he a teenager. Reacting to the allegations, Spacey said, that he did not remember the encounter but owed Rapp a sincere apology.
The allegation dates back to 1986 when Spacey allegedly befriended Rapp whilst the teenager was performing along with Ed Harris in the Broadway show, Precious Sons. Rapp revealed to Buzzfeed that he was 14 at the time Spacey was 26.
Rapp who is now 46, told Buzzfeed that he joined Spacey for a party at his Manhattan apartment saying that he was the only non-adult at the party and soon got bored. After a while, Rapp said that he wandered into the bedroom, watched TV until well past midnight. He then alleges that Spacey was standing at the bedroom door and that everyone else had left the party.
Rapp said, that Spacey picked him up “like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold”. He continues, “But I don’t, like, squirm away initially, because I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ And then he lays down on top of me.”
Spacey, who has 4.92 million followers on Twitter, responded to the report on Twitter saying,
I’m beyond horrified to hear this story, I honestly do not remember the encounter, it would have been 30 years ago. But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.
“This story has encouraged me to address other things about my life. I know that there are other stories out there about me and that some have been fueled by the fact that I have been so protective of my privacy,
“As those closest to me know, in my life I have had relationships with both men and women. I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life and I choose now to live as a gay man,
“I want to deal with this honestly and openly and that starts with examining my own behavior.”
— Kevin Spacey (@KevinSpacey) October 30, 2017
Taking to Twitter, Rapp said,
“I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out to shine a light and hopefully make a difference, as they have done for me.
“Everything I wanted to say about my experience is in that article, and I have no further comment about it at this time”.
I came forward with my story, standing on the shoulders of the many courageous women and men who have been speaking out 1/3
— Anthony Rapp (@albinokid) October 30, 2017
Both Rapp and Spacey now star in Netflix shows, Star Trek: Discovery and House Of Cards, respectively. It is unclear what, if any actions Netflix will take on either of their shows.