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  • FILM REVIEW | Interior Leather Bar

    ā˜…ā˜…ā˜… | Interior Leather Bar

    Director William Friedkin claims that he had to take his notorious movie Cruising about the gay S&M sub-culture to the US Ratings Board on 50 occasions before they would give him a ā€˜Rā€™ certificate that permitted it to be shown in cinemas. Whether that is totally true or not is part of the myth around the over-rated but little seen psychological thriller released in 1980 to great controversy. The gay community were its fiercest detractors, but the critics slammed it too.

    To appease the censors Friedkin was forced to cut 44 minutes of what one assumes from his inference were graphic sexual acts. We will never be sure how accurate that is and gay filmmaker Travis Mathews and actor James Franco never bothered to check with Friedkin when they set about trying to re-imagine what the footage may or may not have contained to make this curious new documentary.

    Heterosexual Franco has a growing reputation for his limitless fixation with gay culture and he used his celebrity to pull this very spurious event together. On a day and a half, he and Travis gathered together a bunch of actors – some gay and some straight – stuck them in a warehouse with a script treatment and told them very vaguely to simply get on with it. Franco himself copped out of recreating the main role played by Al Pacino in the original movie and instead persuaded Val Lauren (who has just starred in Franco’s directorial debut ‘Sal’, about yet another gay figure Sal Mineo). Lauren was either alarmingly nervous about playing gay, even for pay, or just following a script, we never really know. But he was uncomfortable to watch, and like others, annoyingly kept repeating that he had only agreed to the project because of James!

    The gay members of the cast had joked that they had only agreed to take part in the hope of seeing Franco naked, but that wasn’t going to happen. He pontificated excessively before the shoot intellectualising about sex, but on the day itself he part filmed a scene where a couple of guys are going full at it, before totally disappearing. Incidentally most of the hour long running time is taken up with all the behind the scenes angst than the actual ‘missing footage’.

    This is not the first vanity project by Franco, He made an experimental film from scraps that Gus Van Sant cut from My Private Idaho, and the main question I can only raise about his intentions with all of this, and the making of this film is, WHY?

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon

  • Big Brother House Rocked By Evander Holyfieldā€™s Homophobia

    Big Brother House Rocked By Evander Holyfieldā€™s Homophobia

    Big Brother has issued Evander Holyfield with a warning after the former World Champion boxing star said that being gay was wrong and could be ‘fixed’.

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  • Openly bisexual Ollie Locke enters the Big Brother house

    Bisexual Made In Chelsea Star Ollie Locke enters the Celebrity Big Brother House.

    Ollie Locke spoke to Star magazine about his bisexuality saying:

    ā€œBisexuality is me and that will always be the case. Iā€™ve tried to push myself to be gay, but then a beautiful woman comes up to me and wants to have sex with me, and I canā€™t say no! Itā€™s a hard life.

    ā€œThe whole country thinks Iā€™m gay. I get so many tweets every day telling me to come out of the closet. If I could, then I would. But Iā€™m just not there, Iā€™m really not. I am not lying to anyone, I am not gay. I still have amazing relationships with women.ā€

  • OPINION | The Rise And Rise of the GBF

    Another year another Hack comes forward talking about the virtue of having a gay best friend and why they are essential. Iā€™ve done the check list to make sure all the clichĆ©s are covered so you donā€™t have to do read it.

    ā€¢ In touch with his feminine side
    ā€¢ Identifying female attribute to male (Queen, flouncing ET all)
    ā€¢ ā€œsoul mateā€
    ā€¢ List of things that we share in common
    ā€¢ Allusion to gay best friend being better than a partner.

    Of course all the girls want a Stanford character in their lifeā€™s so they can play at being Carrie. The gay best friend figure is seen as someone there to provide unconditional support, impeccable fashion advice, hugs and sympathy that a straight friend are magically unable to offer. They are camp and hilarious always ready to provide some kind of double entendre. They will joke about sex but essentially they are sexless.

    This isnā€™t a TV show.

    My best friend is Nina, female and weā€™ve been friends for the past 15 years. We used to work together while going through uni. Weā€™ve both gone into different careers. She is a solicitor Iā€™m a therapist she has a term for me, itā€™s ā€œbest Friendā€. The fact that I am gay is totally irrelevant.

    As she will no doubt attest to having lived with me, I am not in touch with my feminine side and my fashion advice is anything but impeccable. We have similar interests, movies, music books etc. but donā€™t all best friends? After all why would you be friends with someone that you have nothing in common?

    We have supported each other through so much over the years; to list it here would be the most depressing checklist ever. The respect and support is mutual. As is the judgement that comes from your best friend when you are in the wrong, is always conveyed in no uncertain terms. We laugh together and cry together, we have seen marriages and relationships of our mutual friends fall apart while we are still standing strong.

    If I marry my partner, she will be the best Woman. Iā€™m still a groom and she is still a woman. We have joked that on the wedding day I will make her wear a wedding dress for the photos. Mainly just to mess with peopleā€™s minds. We also have the same warped sense of humour.

    Weā€™ve fallen out of bars together, seen each other through bad relationships, embraced new fads that have come along and now quite happily exchange recipe tips over a brew. Weā€™ve changed and evolved together and provide each other with a mutually supportive relationship. We both have partners that we are quite happy with and there is nothing lacking in our lives.

    So is it time to retire the ā€œGBFā€ title?. Last year Tesco had a gay best friend doll on sale as a novelty gift that was swiftly withdrawn. Why? Maybe the times has changed, a friendship should be based on commonality and loyalty rather that sexuality. Every so often another one of these articles will appear praising the attributes of the gay best friend and talking about how essential they are to the authors lifestyle. But ask yourself this, are they describing a caricature from a bad movie or a real flesh and blood person. By using the term ā€œGay Best Friendā€ , they are prioritising the sexuality and losing the essence of the person and the relationship. Its not homophobic just a narrow-minded and outdated way of thinking.
    I am not her gay best friend, she is not my straight best friend. Weā€™re best friends

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • Danny Dyer Tells Bigots Where To Put Their Opinions

    Danny Dyer Tells Bigots Where To Put Their Opinions

    As we reported a few days ago, a storm was brewing on the Twitters about the gay kiss between Sam Strike and Gary Lucy in EastEnders – well Danny Dyer has waded into the storm.

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  • Tom Daley Returns In Splash! TonIght At 7:20

    Get ready to make a Splash (see what we did there) with Tom Daley and his Speedos tonight as 6 more celebrities take to the diving board.

    Splash! returns to ITV with Olympic Bronze medal and British and European Championship winner Tom Daley. Hosted by Gabby Logan and Vernon Kay another set of celebrities will be pitched against each other to prove what goes up must come down as they learn to dive.

    The first show will see TV presenter Michaela Strachan, Diversityā€™s Perri Kiely, TOWIEā€™S Gemma Collins, actor and ex EastEnders star Ricky Groves and Hollyoaks actress Gemma Merna don their swimwear and take to the diving boards as they try to master one of sportā€™s most difficult disciplines.

    Splash! sees the celebrities mix determination, drive and daredevil stunts after being trained by a team of professional coaches. As they push their limits and overcome their fears will they master the grace, skill, athleticism and accuracy needed, to perform dives from the high board?

    The famous faces perform live each week in the electric atmosphere of a packed Olympic size pool ā€“ in front of a panel of expert judges as the public vote for their favourites. Back on the judging panel are Team GBā€™s Diving coach Andy Banks, comedienne, writer and actress Jo Brand and former Olympic diving medalist Leon Taylor.

    At the end of each show, the contestant at the top of the leader board will go through to the semi-final whilst the next two contestants face a Splash!-off. The judges will then decide which diver was the most successful in the Splash!-off and they too will go through to the semi-final.

    Eddie ā€˜the Eagleā€™ Edwards was the 2013 winner but who will be crowned 2014 Splash! winner?

    Splash is based on an Eyeworks format and will be produced by Twofour. It was commissioned by ITVā€™s Director of Entertainment and Comedy Elaine Bedell and Commissioning Editor Asif Zubairy and will be executive produced by Claire Horton of Twofour.

  • Celebrity Big Brother housemates revealed

    Lookie look at the new celebrity housemates for this series of Celebrity Big Brother.

    So there Casey Batchelor, Jim Davidson, Lee Ryan, Dappy, Evander Holyfield, Jasmine Waltz, Linda Nolan, Lionel Blair, Liz Jones, Luisa Zissman, Sam Faiers and openly bisexual Ollie Locke…

  • Terrence Higgins Trust Appoints New CEO

    Dr Rosemary Gillespie appointed as Chief Executive of Terrence Higgins Trust.

    HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Rosemary Gillespie as its new Chief Executive.
    Dr Gillespie joins the charity from the role of Chief Executive of international HIV awareness charity AVERT. Her previous roles have included Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Policy and Research for Breast Cancer Care, and Chief Executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.

    Dr Gillespie said: ‘I am delighted to have been appointed as Chief Executive of this outstanding and iconic charity. I look forward to working with staff and volunteers in the next phase of development, growth and innovation, as we face new challenges in the fields of HIV and sexual health, and continuing attempts to eradicate prejudice and discrimination.’

    Professor Chris Bones, Chair of Trustees at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: ā€œThe Trustees are delighted to have secured Dr Gillespie as the new CEO. She brings a remarkable combination of clinical practice, health management and charity leadership at a critical time for our development. No organisation can stay still in the current economic climate and Dr Gillespie’s track record of successful change and innovation across a number of sectors will help us meet the challenges ahead in both HIV and the wider area of sexual health.ā€

    The recruitment process was provided by executive search firm The Talent Business, working on a pro bono basis. Kate Harrison, Partner at The Talent Business, said: ‘The Talent Business is used to leading ā€˜C Suiteā€™ talent searches on a daily basis, but it has been a particular pleasure to partner Terrence Higgins Trust in the search for a new CEO. From the outset I believe we had real alignment in what was needed from the future leader of the charity, and both the process and outcome were designed innovatively as a result. I believe the organisation deserves an inspirational leader to help it grow to the next level, and this appointment should help secure a bright future from a bright past.’

    Dr Gillespie will begin her role as Chief Executive on Tuesday 1st April. Paul Ward will remain in post as Acting Chief Executive until March.

  • 700 million now living with gay marriage

    A new analysis undertaken by Melbourne-based LGBT rights activist, Tony Pitman, has revealed that there are now 700 million people worldwide living in jurisdictions with full marriage equality.

    Pitman, a spokesman for Melbourne Ports Residents for Marriage Equality, first undertook this analysis in July 2013. At that time the figure was 607 million people. Now, six months later, the number has risen to 700 million.

    ā€œThatā€™s an increase of 93 million in just six months. Itā€™s quite extraordinary! It also means that marriage equality is now a reality for almost 10 per cent of the entire worldā€™s population; another extraordinary figure!ā€ said Tony.

    ā€œIt makes you wonder how many more people will achieve marriage equality before Australians also attain this basic human right. 100 million? 300 million? Itā€™s embarrassing that Australia is so far behind the rest of the world on this issue.ā€

    Last month same-sex marriage law was overturned by the High Court in the only part of Austraila where it was legal in the Capital Territory.

    Over the last six months the jurisdictions that achieved marriage equality were England and Wales, as well as five states of the USA; New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico and Utah.

  • EASTENDERS | Johnny Carter is coming out

    BBC 1 will air an emotional scene tonight where Sam Strike’s character Johnny Carter comes out to his father.

     

    After hiding the truth from his family for so long, Johnny finally breaks down in his fatherā€™s arms and admits that he is gay.

    A touching moment this evening when Mick talks to his son Johnny about being gay.

    EastEnders continues tonight at 8:00PM on BBC1

    Earlier in the week we reported that numerous homophobic tweets had been sent after Gary Lucy and Sam Strike kissed for the first time on the Soap.

    Pete Lawson who wrote the episode on Monday said on Twitter: “2014, and gay teens kissing on a soap still draws complaints. Makes me even prouder to have written that ep.”

  • Nick Griffin Cares For The Gays?

    Well this might be a turn up for the books… Newly bankrupt Nick Griffin has Tweeted his somewhat support of gay people, but only through warning people of the ‘Dangers of Islamism’

    Openly gay showman Derren Brown tweeted the hashtag #PrayForNick after news of the BNP leader’s bankruptcy. However in a crude turn, Nick tweeted back:

    ‘@DerrenBrown @TheStaggers Don’t worry Derren, it doesn’t stop me being an MEP & warning of the danger Islamism poses to you & yours! X’

    So it seems that Nick Griffin is on the side of gay people – as long as it’s against Islam? We’re not quite sure, but I’m pretty sure we’re ok without your support Nick – Thanks anyway.

    In 2012 Nick Griffin called upon his legion of followers to make their ‘merry’ way to the house of Michael Black and John Morgan who won their discrimination case against a B&B owner who wouldnā€™t allow the couple to stay the night at her business, in what was seen as a incitement to abuse the couple.

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