THEGAYUK

Category: News

  • Popular gay bar says it might have to “call it a day” due to England’s Tier system

    Popular gay bar says it might have to “call it a day” due to England’s Tier system

    With England’s latest lockdown ending in just over a week many bars, and in particular many LGBT+ venues are really feeling the pinch. One gay bar in Birmingham has said it might be time to”call it a day”.

    One of the issues facing many bars, but in particular gay bars, is that many aren’t equipped to serve food – which is one of the requirements for pubs to be able to open in at least two Tiers of the Government’s system. Bars which solely sell drink are unable to open in Tier 2 and Tier 3. Only bars which sell “substantial” food can open in Tier 2 and can only operate as takeouts in Tier 3.

    With most of the country expected to be entered into Tier 2 or 3 when Boris Johnson announces the Tier system in the next few days, the Equator bar in Birmingham announced that it might have to close forever, adding “Equator bar is not a restaurant so will not be allowed to open in Tier 2” and added, “Maybe time to call it a day”.

    If the Equator Bar, which has been operating for over 15 years, does close it will be the second bar in Birmingham to have fallen victim to the economic woes faced by the hospitality industry due to the Government’s handling of the current Coronavirus pandemic.

    Numerous fans took to the bar’s Facebook page to share their sorrow that the bar may be forced to close.

    Speaking to THEGAYUK.com the owner said, “It’s devastating that customers cannot come to their local community bar. We haven’t had a single case that I know of…

    “I’ve been here 18 years and not sure how much longer we can stay closed with no help from the gov”.

    Give Equator Bar a follow on their Facebook page to keep up to date with them.

    Not the first victim of the devastating Tier system

    The Tier system used in England has brought economic hardship for many businesses, but in particular for social-based businesses like pubs and bars.

    Nightclubs have not been able to open since March.

    In Tier 2, which most of England is expected to enter come the 2nd of December does not allow for household mixing, meaning that friends and family from different households are unable to meet in public, including in pubs and restaurants. In Tier 3 all bars and restaurants must close and are only permitted to operate as a food takeaway.

    Bars and pubs across England have spent huge sums of money on becoming “COVID-secure” and have restricted their capacities in order to aid with social distancing, adding extra pressure on their bottom lines.

    Writing about the latest announcement from Boris Johnson, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London tweeted, “We are all stuck in the worst possible purgatory with the worst possible ruler”

    2020 has seen numerous gay bar closures. Earlier in the year, Birmingham’s Eden Bar was forced to close due to devastating restraints placed on the pub industry. Also in the West Midlands, Midland Zone magazine also fell victim to the economic downturn.

    gay Bar Broadway to close forever due to Covid

    Nottingham’s only LGBT+ club, Propaganda closed in May and in Brighton, two venues have already shuttered. This month The Broadway closed and earlier in the year Legends fell into administration, before being reopened by new owners.

    Birmingham has one of the largest gay scenes outside of London and is home to a number of LGBT+ venues.

  • Olly Alexander wants you to check your balls

    Olly Alexander wants you to check your balls

    So recently, Years and Years singer, Olly Alexander, asked his 534,000 Instagram followers to ask him questions and we learned a few things about him like he once dated a French girl, he’s learning Spanish and his ideal date would involve UFO spotting… but there was another message, which is pretty crucial…

    He cares about your balls. And as it’s Movember he was asked about guys checking their balls for lumps and bumps…

    He told his fans, “please everybody who’s got balls, please check them after you’ve had a shower or after a bath, if you feel anything that’s out of the ordinary, please go and speak to someone”

    Such sage advice. If you’ve not got a GP then use the NHS website to find one local to you and get registered.

    So what else did we learn about Olly Alexander during his Ask Me Anything?

    Is Olly a spiritual person? Well, it turns out that actually yes. Before becoming a huge pop star Olly’s first job (when he was 14) was working in a shop called Moonstones, and they sold gems and crystals.

    The Years and Years lead singer admitted that he can’t grow as moustache!

    Is he bookish or a TV fanatic, well, according to the singer, “I love both of those things. I want to have books and TV.

    Does Olly Alexander speak other languages?

    He speaks a little French and showed of his skills, plus he also revealed that he “loved with a French girl for a bit”. Oh and he speaks a bit of Spanish…

    What's Olly Alexander's perfect date?

    Speaking of dating, if you wanted to take Olly Alexander on a date, here’s the things that would really excite him,

    • Going into space
    • Meeting Galadriel
    • Talking about reality TV
    • An extreme assault course or physical challenge
    • playing with cats / dogs or any animals
    • Infiltrating a cult from the inside
    • ufo spotting
    • LARPing under water
    • telekenisis
    • watching reality TV
    • napping.

    BUY Years and Year music from iTunes |  Amazon

  • Tories fail to renew bullying projects aimed at ending homophobic bullying which makes classrooms toxic for LGBT+ students

    Tories fail to renew bullying projects aimed at ending homophobic bullying which makes classrooms toxic for LGBT+ students

    Funding aimed at reducing homophobic bullying of LGBT+ students in England has been apparently pulled by the Government, as new research shows that just 27% of students think that their school is a safe space for classmates to be themselves.

    A report by the BBC has discovered that funding for programmes targetting homophobic and transphobic bullying in English schools has ended, with no signs of renewal by the Conservative government.

    The funding which added up to around £4 million, was specifically set aside to help with anti-LGBT+ bullying, but according to the government, the funding was always due to end in March 2020. The programme began back in 2014, under one of the most progressive Conservative governments when it came to LGBT+ rights, under the leadership of David Cameron.

    According to the BBC, funding was “quietly” pulled in March, while the world’s attention was focused on the Coronavirus pandemic and schools began to close across the UK.

    The funding has not been reinstated.

    The Government Equalities Office said to the BBC “The anti-bullying grant fund, which provided 2,250 schools across the country with materials and training, was always due to end in March 2020.”

    Majority of students do not believe that it’s safe to come out as LGBT+

    Bullying of LGBT+ students is rife in the UK.
    Wokandapix / Pixabay

    New research by the Diversity Role Models (DRM), which received funding between January 2019 and March 2020 found that just 27% of students reported that they thought their school would be a safe environment for classmates to come out as gay, lesbian, bi or transgender.

    DRM undertook a survey of nearly 12,000 students, parents and governors of secondary and primary schools.

    It found that homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language was reported as common by 42% of year five and six primary school students and by 54% of secondary school students.

    Seventy-one per cent of teachers say that they have witnessed homophobic bullying and was it was found to be much more common than bullying related to other characteristics such as religion.

    Education works

    The survey also showed that the levels of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying decreased when schools educated their pupils about LGBT+ identities and relationships, however as it stands only 20 per cent of secondary school students report learning about LGBT+ identities.

    Chief executive of Diversity Role Models, Adam McCann comments, “These findings show how dangerous any further delays to LGBT+ inclusive RSE will be for students. Our report shows a clear correlation between learning about LGBT+ identities and lower levels of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language and bullying.” 

    “Staff, parents and carers and governors underestimate the level of discrimination in schools compared to students. It is no exaggeration to talk about the safety of these students. Action must be taken immediately to create safer, more inclusive learning environments. Bullying has an undisputed negative impact on attendance, attainment, life chances and mental health.”

    THEGAYUK understands that as it stands there has been no renewal of any of the projects.

  • BBC Radio 1 commits to not playing Fairytale of New York with THE homophobic slur

    BBC Radio 1 commits to not playing Fairytale of New York with THE homophobic slur

    The BBC has announced that it will play an edited version of the Christmas classic, The Fairytale Of New York.

    Without fail the song, which was first released in 1987 has caused an uproar every year in recent memory when it is played, in full, on radios in the UK, come to December-time.

    The song has long offended many people in the gay community and finally, the BBC has said it will play an edit of the song which does not contain the slur “Faggot” on its youth-orientated radio station, Radio 1.

    It will, however, continue to play the original version complete with the problematic lyric on its other mainstream radio station, Radio 2. DJs on 6 Music, will be able to choose from both versions.

    Fairytale Of New York will have its homophobic lyric removed by BBC Radio 1

    On Radio 1 DJs will instead play an edited version, with a different lyric sung by one of the song’s singers, Kirsty MacColl, the corporation said. The addition lyric was sung by MacColl on Top Of The Pops in 1992, eight years before her death at the age of 41.

    A BBC spokesman said, “We know the song is considered a Christmas classic and we will continue to play it this year, with our radio stations choosing the version of the song most relevant for their audience.”

    This isn’t the first time that Radio 1 has used an edited version of the song. In 2007, the station censored the offending word, but soon reinstated it after a public backlash. So it will be interesting to see if a similar backlash happens in 2020.

    What’s the problem with “Fairytale of New York”?

    The problem with “Fairytale of New York” is the line, “You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot.”

    Some in the LGBT+ community find the word offensives, while others don’t.

    The one key element is that songs that contain other offensives slurs often use edited versions, which either bleep out a slur or have another word dubbed in. Up until now, the original version of Fairytale Of New York did not have an edit to play.

    Last year, there were hundreds of complaints after Gavin and Stacey characters Nessa and Bryn sung the unedited version in a Christmas special broadcast on the BBC.

    In 2018 the song was crowned the nation’s favourite Christmas song.

  • Nearly 40% of older LGBT people feel that COVID has made them more lonely

    Nearly 40% of older LGBT people feel that COVID has made them more lonely

    The COVID pandemic has had a deep impact on older members of the LGBT+ community a new report has found with nearly 40 per cent saying that they feel more lonely than usual.

    The report, by the charity, Opening Doors London revealed that the UK’s lockdowns due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, have had a severe impact on older gay, lesbian, bi and transgender people as they are less likely than their heterosexual peers to have the support of children or other family members. 

    According to the charity, during the first six weeks of lockdown back in March, staff and volunteers of Opening Doors London made over 1,000 phone calls to members and reconfigured essential services to address their needs. Normally the charity organises activity groups and other social interactions, all of which had to come to an abrupt halt when the Government mandated a national lockdown in March.

    During their phone calls, Opening Doors found that half of the respondents reported that the lockdown had caused a “negative impact on their psychological wellbeing”.

    Older people weren't able to socialise during the COVID lockdown leading to feelings of loneliness.
    Photo by Ihor Malytskyi on Unsplash

    Nearly a quarter (23%) said that their physical health had worsened, while 27% said they felt they never have someone to talk to.

    Sadly, nearly 40 per cent (37%) said that they felt more lonely than usual as lockdown meant that people were able to socialise in the normal ways.

    One gay man in his 60s told the charity, “I feel more depressed than usual and I have thoughts of suicide coming into my mind” while another added, “I have found myself becoming tearful for no reason at all”

    “Covid-19 and lockdown has disproportionately increased psychological distress and other vulnerabilities among many older LGBT+ people,” said Prof Ben Thomas. “Many have been forgotten or overlooked. It’s time statutory services and local communities stepped up to meet their needs, and provide care and support, connection and interaction.”  

  • The erections joke are strong as Viagra maker says it has a COVID vaccine

    The erections joke are strong as Viagra maker says it has a COVID vaccine

    The pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and BioNTech has announced that it has developed a vaccine it says is 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 and the jokes are in.

    The firm said in a statement, “Pfizer and BioNTech said the vaccine was “found to be more than 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in participants without evidence of prior Sars-CoV-2 infection in the first interim efficacy analysis”

    Although it’s not publicly available yet, the new vaccine, which could be used in the global fight against COVID-19 is apparently “90% effective” according to numerous media outlets, including The Guardian.

    Pfizer the vaccine’s maker, also makes the erection pill, Viagra.

    Of course, it didn’t take too long for Twitter to climax with boner jokes, with Piers Morgan, leading the way saying,

    https://twitter.com/tonysheps/status/1325787888332713984
    https://twitter.com/SazzTwtz/status/1325785278204801024

  • Dave Chappelle jokes about AIDS, Freddie Mercury and COVID-19 in “disgusting” sketch

    Dave Chappelle jokes about AIDS, Freddie Mercury and COVID-19 in “disgusting” sketch

    Comedian Dave Chappelle was filmed telling a joke about Donald Trump’s Coronavirus infection but tied it into the AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s along with the death of Freddie Mercury. Freddie Mercury died of AIDS-related illnesses in November 1991.

    Over 238,000 people have died from Coronavirus-related complications in the USA since the beginning of the pandemic. Worldwide over a million people have died and there have been over 10 million reported cases.

    Dave Chappelle made the observation during a piece for a Saturday Night Live broadcast on NBC, and the joke has been panned by many on social media as unfunny and awkward.

    The joke was “Trump getting Coronavirus was like when Freddie Mercury got AIDS. Nobody was like, “well, how did he get it?”

    Matthew Hodson the Executive Director of AIDSMAP and a long time HIV advocate, in response to the clip, wrote, “AIDS jokes. Not funny in the 1980s. Not funny now.”

    Model Theo Ford wrote, “Why the fuck is @NbcSNL airing jokes about AIDS?? David Chappelle was poor choice this week….”

    Hit maker and Pride stalwart Hazell Dean slammed the sketch as “disgusting”.

    https://twitter.com/THE_THEO_FORD/status/1325609933207969792

    Writer, Jack King wrote, “forever exhausting that people will deem it acceptable to exploit queer trauma for laughs”.

    No stranger to LGBT+ controversy

    Chappelle is no stranger to using language and material that critics have slammed as transphobic and homophobic. In the past, he targetted Caitlyn Jenner by saying,

    “I read in the paper that Caitlyn Jenner was contemplating posing nude in an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated.

    “And I knew it was politically incorrect to say, so I figured I’d just say it for everybody — yuck.

    “F***, man, I just want to read some stats, like why are you cramming man-pussy in the middle of the sports page like that?”

    It seems Chappelle’s go-to voice to portray gay men is “high-pitched, over-enunciated, effete” notes The New Republic. In one joke over deciding which man of a same-sex partner was “the wife” he quipped, “whichever one of you is gayer, that’s the wife.”

    In 2018 he made a joke about Star Trek Discovery actor, Anthony Rapp and his sexual abuse accusation against Kevin Spacey, seemingly suggesting that Rapp was okay as he “grew up to be gay anyway. and “And not to victim-blame, but it seems like the kind of situation that a gay 14-year-old kid would get himself into.”

  • Here’s Owen Jones’ challenge to right-wing media after the Guardian cut his YouTube channel

    Here’s Owen Jones’ challenge to right-wing media after the Guardian cut his YouTube channel

    One of the UK’s most known LGBT+ journalists, Owen Jones, is set to open his own media platform, that won’t be funded by corporations or billionaires, but by its subscribers. He hopes it will become a viable challenge to right-wing media and the “broken media landscape”.

    On a video posted to social media, Jones said that the questions, the debates and the path that the channel would ultimately follow would be decided by its viewers.

    Channel cut by The Guardian

    The move comes after Jones said that his YouTube channel which had attracted hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of views had been “cut” by the Guardian, the news outlet which Jones currently works for.

    It’s unclear whether Jones will be moving on from his post at The Guardian or will be working on the media channel during his down time, although he did suggest there would be a Sunday show as well as documentary films.

    As of publishing this article, his Patreon account has 1357 patrons, which at a minimum means Jones has managed to raise at least £4,071 towards his goal.

  • Anderson Cooper just called Trump “an obese turtle”

    Anderson Cooper just called Trump “an obese turtle”

    CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said that Donald Trump was like “an obese turtle on its back flailing in the hot Sun” after the 45th President of the US threatened legal action over the hotly contested Presidential election.

    The comment came after the 45th held a press conference at the White House to claim that the Democrats were stealing the election with voter fraud, a claim that has not been proved.

    Embed from Getty Images

    As it currently stands the Democrats and former Vice President, Joe Biden are ahead, with 264 electoral college votes, while Trump has 214. The next President of the US must have 270 votes to claim overall victory.

    There are still five states yet to declare.

    “Sad and it is truly pathetic”

    After the press conference, Cooper said, “I don’t think we’ve ever seen anything like this from the president of the United States and I think, as Jake [Tapper] said, it’s sad and it is truly pathetic and, of course, it’ll go through the courts, but you’ll notice the president did not have any evidence presented at all, nothing, no real actual evidence of any kind of fraud”.

    “That is the president of the United States, that is the most powerful person in the world and we see him like an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot Sun realising his time is over.

    “But he just hasn’t accepted it and he wants to take everyone down with him, including this country.”

  • Yet another Brighton LGBT bar falls victim to 2020. “Terrible loss” and for the community

    Yet another Brighton LGBT bar falls victim to 2020. “Terrible loss” and for the community

    2020 has turned out to be a truly unsustainable year for so many industries, but LGBT+ venues are getting a real battering right now, thanks to the tier system, uncertainty surrounding lockdowns and the controversial 10 PM curfew enacted by the government.

    Bar Broadway in Brighton has announced that it is closing and many former patrons and performers are mourning its loss, including Drag Queen Tanya Hyde who said the closure was a “terrible loss for Brighton and the scene”.

    The bar, which is relatively new on the Brighton gay scene, opening in 2014, had been an incredibly busy and distinct venue for the area.

    Brighton’s Gay Men’s Chorus, wrote, “All of us at Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus would like to express our deep sadness and regret on hearing the news that Bar Broadway has had to close its doors for the last time. Having spent many unforgettable nights there celebrating after our own shows, it will be a huge loss, not only to us, but to the whole community. We wish the management and staff all the best for the future and hope that this is only just the start of something new for them all.”

    Drag Queen Maria Gardner wrote, “Bar Broadway was far more than a bar to me. It was a place that gave me the opportunity to start my drag career, they comforted me through a tough breakup, they gave me space to heal and sing for so many likeminded Disney lovers, I hosted my first Fringe shows there, collab shows with Alfie Ordinary, MenTalkHealth and 2 hilarious birthday bashes plus I made some of my closest friends I could ever ask for in this space.”

    Earlier in the year, the iconic Legends fell into administration, but since the report was brought back into existence.

  • UNDER THREAT: Council Of Europe “concerned” For Safety And Rights Of LGBT+ People Of Poland

    UNDER THREAT: Council Of Europe “concerned” For Safety And Rights Of LGBT+ People Of Poland

    Delegates from the Council of Europe have said that they are “concerned” for gay people’s rights and safety in Poland after a fact-finding mission in the country found that some local and regional authorities had adopted so-called “anti-LGBT ideology”.

    In a statement they wrote,

    “Sexual orientation has become a polarising issue in Polish society; this is also increasingly reflected in local and regional authorities, some of which have adopted so-called “anti-LGBTI ideology” resolutions and declarations, and family charters” noted the members of the Congress delegation.

    They added, “We are concerned about the negative impact this situation has on LGBTI people’s lives, rights and safety”.

    Fact-finding

    On 2 and 3 November 2020, the delegation gathered facts and insight from the government, parliamentarians, the ombudsman, local and regional authorities and their associations, and NGOs.

    Referring to the European Convention on Human Rights ratified by Poland in 1993, the delegation recalled that Article 14 expressly prohibits discrimination on all grounds and protects everyone including LGBT+ people.

    “Local authorities have a crucial role in upholding citizens’ rights as well as promoting dialogue and social cohesion”, they stressed.

    Embed from Getty Images

    A report on the fact-finding mission will be submitted to the Congress and other Council of Europe institutions and the findings will serve for the preparation of a report on “the role and responsibilities of local authorities in the protection of LGBTI people” to be considered by the Congress early 2021.