This video of a couple of guys who make a wedding proposal to each other has gone viral and viewed over 17.6 million times, and it might just be the most romantic thing we’ve ever seen.
In the video, one guy kisses his boyfriend before kneeling, with a ring box in hand, to ask if he wanted to get married.
With a look of shock on his face, the boyfriend put his hand to his mouth before walking away and crouching down before pulling out his own ring box out of his bag.
The onlooking crowd begins to cheer as the two embrace and kiss.
Credit where credit’s due. She apologised for her rant against PrEP.
When we usually report on Azealia Banks it’s usually to do with some awful homophobic slur that she’s used, like this, this and this.
The last time we spoke about the rapper, it was to report about an outrageous rant she went on about people using the anti-HIV medication, PrEP.
It’s not the first time Banks has taken aim at the sex lives of gay men. In September 2018 she warned against the use of poppers saying, “Stop sniffing poppers!! When you sniff poppers there’s is [the] possibility for your pain threshold to be heightened – which means you will not feel yourself being harmed until after the fact. No more poppers and fleets!!!”
During her more recent PrEP rant, she said, ““There’s no reason you need to have a fucking pill so you can just fuck whoever you wanna fuck,
“The girls are getting fucking renal failure. They’re getting liver fucking failure, they’re getting anal warts, they’re getting anal cancer, OK? That’s a fucking death trap… Y’all stay off that f*cking PrEP.”
However, Ms Banks has apologised for her rant, she took to Instagram and wrote,
“Hey guys, so…. a few weeks ago I went on a rant about Pre exposure prophylaxis meds and I am just doubling back to say I’m sorry.
“It’s not my place. It was extremely insensitive.
“Who cares if I meant well, that wasn’t the way. I’m really really sorry.
View this post on Instagram
Point Blank.
A post shared by Azealia Banks (@azealiabanks) on Nov 25, 2019 at 11:37pm PST
Bravo Banks.
What is Prep?
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Pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is a drug treatment protocol using a prescription medicine, prescribed by a doctor, which has been shown in medical trials to be highly effective in preventing HIV infection in gay and bisexual men, or anyone at risk of HIV infection. The drug can be taken daily and used in combination with other infection prevention measures.
With more and more of us sharing pictures that would make a porn studio exec blush, we asked a leading solictor what you can do if you find your pictures have been leaked online without your permission.
Phil Gorski at Blacks Solicitors reveals the steps you can take to protect your data and your private pictures if you become a victim of hacked data or revenge porn.
“The sort of easy thing to say but rather difficult thing to do is, where these images are taken consensually then you need to be thinking very carefully about whether you actually want to do it or not. Not putting yourself in the position where there are images around in the first place is the easy fix but not necessarily something that someone will always want to do.”
“If something does get out there, then the first thing that anybody should do is get in touch with the site concerned if it’s an online publication. Because, by-in-large, if a site has a good reputation, if it’s a Facebook or a Google or whatever, they will react very quickly to remove the images.
“There are systems in place where users can actually click on the right place and say, ‘This is what it is, this is where it is and you need to take it down.’”
Revenge porn is a crime. Report it.
“Last year there was a new piece of legislation introduced, which actually set out the specific crime of revenge porn. There is a specific charge that can be brought and so the option is there and should probably be taken if the information has been distributed to a large number of people.
“What the legislation says is that where you’ve got photographs and the phrasing is, “… of a private or sexual nature …” That doesn’t mean you have to be showing intimate body parts or anything like that. It can be in a sort of context that’s perceived to be sexual.
“If they are disclosed and it’s done without consent and the purpose of disclosing them was to cause distress or embarrassment, which when you think about it, it would be very difficult to not be the case. Then, there’s a potential crime that’s taken place.”
“All of these images would be considered to be of a private nature regardless of the criminal side of things. You would, where someone like me might be involved, a civil litigation lawyer would be, think about whether there’s a possibility of an injunction on privacy grounds.
“That’s something that you would have to be a rich celebrity to afford, unfortunately.”
“There’s a really interesting case in relation to privacy law that dates back a while involved Barbara Streisand and … and it’s led to something called the Streisand effect, which basically (means) sometimes you’re much better off not making a fuss because the coverage of your legal proceedings lead to far more attention than there was in the first place.”
A young man was assaulted in a homophobic attack on the streets of Salford, Manchester, police have said and now they are looking for a group of young people in connection with the incident.
A man, in his 20s, was walking along Lower Broughton Road near the junction with Clarence Street at around 5.15 pm on Saturday 23 November 2019 when he was subjected to homophobic abuse and hit by a plastic bottle.
He stopped to challenge a group of around six people and, as he walked away, was punched from behind causing him to fall to the ground.
He was then subjected to further abuse and at least two people are believed to have continued attacking him while he was on the ground.
Motorist Hero
The offenders ran away when a passing motorist stopped to help.
The victim required hospital treatment for face and arm injuries and has since been discharged.
Two of the men are described as being white, around 19-years-old and dressed in black sportswear. One is described as having ginger hair and the other blonde curly hair. There were two girls in the group, one is described as wearing a red winter coat.
Officers are appealing for eyewitnesses and the public’s help to identify those responsible.
Detective Constable Derek Nellany of GMP’s Salford Division said:
“This was a hate crime and serious assault.
“We know there was at least one motorist who stopped and we are appealing for any others who saw what happened to contact us.
“We are determined to find those responsible and bring them to justice as we strongly condemn this behaviour.”
Anyone with any information about the assault should contact police on 0161 856 5251 quoting incident number 2496 of Saturday 23 November 2019.
Parents are no longer permitted to protest outside of primary schools over the teaching of subjects such as LGBT+ equality.
A judge has ruled that parents, mainly from an Islamic background, but included members from other religious backgrounds, will not be able to protest outside a school in Birmingham.
Parents were angered by the No Outsider lessons which said went against their religious beliefs. This led to reports that hundreds of pupils had been removed from the school by their parents. Parents have also claimed that the No Outsider lessons are not “age-appropriate”.
Anderton Park School and Parkfield Primary School in Birmingham became the focal points for protesters earlier this year after the schools started to deliver lessons to students, which covered LGBT+ families and gender expressions.
An injunction against the protesters was created back in June – and Birmingham City Council “sought a court order to further protect the school and extend the ban, which has now been granted by High Court judge Mr Justice Warby” according to Sky News.
Birmingham City Council claimed that the noisy protesters were disrupting lessons and causing stress to students and staff at the school alike. According to sources, 21 staff members were treated for stress relating to the protests.
The judge ruled that the injunction did not “amount to unlawful discrimination against the protesters” adding, that the protesters had misunderstood and misrepresented that is being taught at the school”
Founder of the Birmingham South Asians LGBT group, Khakan Qureshi told THEGAYUK,
“I’m absolutely elated though we do need clarity on several points raised. This includes how to identify people who take part in protests and how to bring them to justice and having tighter regulations in having the power to arrest.
“Bear in mind, it wasn’t the content of the lessons which were contested but the nature of the protests. They were anti-social, caused a nuisance, disrupted the teachings of young children and caused potentially psychological harm.
“On a practical level, the protestors obstructed the highway and disturbed residents in the neighbourhood.
“It’s a really good day for teachers, pupils, the education system, councils and the LGBT+ community when common sense prevails”
THEGAYUK.com conducted a flash poll to find out whether viewers of this year’s Drag Race UK thought it would be a good idea to expand the casting pool to include “Bio Queens” those drag queens who are biological females, non-binary and transgender drag queens and kings.
The debut season of the show saw the majority of queens, who were cast, identifying as part of the gay and bisexual male community. There were no out/open trans queens or bio queens.
Over 420 people took part in the poll, in which they were given a binary choice, “yes open it” and “no keep as is”
46 per cent of those who answered the survey said that the casting pool should be opened up. The majority of people, (54%) said that the casting should stay as is.
THEGAYUK conducted a flash poll via its Facebook page to discover what percentage say they have registered to vote in the forthcoming UK General Election on the 12th December 2019.
In total 111 people cast their vote, with 93 per cent saying that they had registered to vote, while seven per cent said that they hadn’t yet registered.
The cut off for registration is the 26th November 2019.
Here we have the 7th generation Vauxhall Astra. It’s been with us since 2015 and as a result it is still very much a Vauxhall designed product under General Motors. In 2017, Vauxhall was bought by PSA Groupe.
There are 8 models to choose from in the Astra range, priced from £18,905 to £26,295. The mid-range Elite starts at £23,95 before options.
From the outside, the Astra is a good looking 5 door hatchback. As you would expect, it is an improvement over the previous generations and is now less nondescript than ever. Of note is the size of the boot opening. Finally it has become a bit more square at the bottom. Doesn’t sound much, but as practical hatchbacks go, having a narrow bottom on your opening can hinder loading and unloading.
It’s around the back that you notice a design faux-pas. The stylish kick-up in the rear doors stretches into the 3/4 panel. Here sits a triangular piece of plastic. To be honest, I’m not a fan of this. It feels cheap and doesn’t serve any purpose whatsoever.
As well as a heated steering wheel, the Elite model also gives four heated leather seats and the leg room is comfortable all round, even for those sitting behind 6 foot tall drivers. There is even a touch of opulence with an attempt at illuminating the door cards. It’s a nice try and just needs a bit of work. Like many others, the rear doors are void of any such niceties though they do get largish rear door bins.
The hottest item in this Astra Elite is the engine. The small capacity turbo is the current darling of the motoring world. Powering through 3 cylinders with a turbo, the engine makes for an interesting topic of conversation. You don’t need to rev the engine to its redline to get the maximum 145PS of power from it for it to feel sprightly and useful. In the day to day running around you also won’t need to use 3 of its 6 gears either.
And here is the strange driving style this Astra has to offer. The engine is its shining star. It surges forward with quite a lot of likeable charisma. Gear changes are effortless and ignoring the change up indicator, makes for an engaging power unit. Power delivery certainly doesn’t feel like that from a little engine. The only giveaway is the thrum emitted by the 3 cylinders.
There is also enjoyment to be had with this when added to the chassis. The suspension set up is nothing out of the ordinary and it allows for enthusiastic driving. The chassis, while not being the most compliant in the ride department but not hard in an over sporty set up, whizzes along with aplomb. It’s quite sad then that when it gets to the twisty bits, the steering totally lets it down.
This steering is the Astra’s Achilles Heel. In the straight line, it feels wooden. Give it a few flicks and it won’t inspire much confidence and it’s this confidence that takes sometime to build on because the level of adhesion from the 225/45 17 Conti’s is exceptional. With just a bit more feel, it would make for an inspiring drivers car wrapped in a simple hatchback body. Something you can’t say about many of today’s popular SUV’s.
And therein lies many of the Astra’s problems. It’s just a little too safe even down to the usual over paranoid parking sensors that seem to be inflicted on the Vauxhall owner.
As cars go, the Astra Elite, in the cold light of day, is one of the best allrounders. It’s like a friend. You know the friend, the one who can be a little curt in conversation. The one you go to when you want to be told the truth. No bullshit, no messing, just straight up honesty. There is no fooling around. Trouble is, you don’t always want to be with that friend.
According to OutRight Action International (ORAI) one of Haiti‘s most prominent LGBT+ advocates, Charlot Jeudy, was found dead at his home in Pétion-Ville outside of the capital of Port-au-Prince on the morning of Monday, November 25th.
The organisation claims that the cause of his death is still unknown and that an autopsy must be undertaken to determine what killed Charlot.
ORAI fears that Jeudy’s death made have been a hate crime as he had reportedly been receiving threatening and anonymous phone calls.
Jessica Stern, Executive Director of OutRight Action International, commented:
I knew Charlot as a bold LGBTIQ leader and fierce advocate fighting for the rights of his community. Even though the cause of death is yet unconfirmed, we fear it is part of a larger pattern of anti-LGBTIQ violence underway in Haiti, potentially focused on people visible within LGBTIQ organizations. We call on on the police to carry out an immediate, credible and transparent police investigation into the death of Jeudy Charlot. Haiti must protect LGBTIQ people from violence.
FACSDIS, an organization that works to safeguard the rights of the LBTIQ community, is reporting unprecedented violence and attacks against people based on their perceived sexual orientation and gender identity. Four members of FACSDIS were victims of an attack on October 17, 2019, where several members sustained physical injuries.
OutRight received evidence of a further incident: an angry mob threatened at least three members of FACSDIS on November 18.
As a result of these and other attacks, LGBTIQ community members in Haiti are remaining at home, afraid to leave for work or school or to buy groceries, and some members of the community have even sought temporary relocation to flee the violence.
Neish McLean, Caribbean Program Officer at OutRight Action International, commented:
As a part of OutRight’s work with KOURAJ and other partners in Haiti, Charlot and I worked closely together. I’ll remember Charlot for his fierce and unrelenting work to end the violence and discrimination against LGBTIQ people in Haiti. His warm smile and tenacity will be missed deeply. His legacy will live on in the work reflected by the courage and perseverance of those who remain.
Kennedy Carrillo, Caribbean Research Officer at OutRight Action International, commented:
Charlot was one to never be silenced and his tenacity and commitment to the fight for LGBTIQ justice and equality will not be forgotten. Now more than ever we must loudly condemn his death and the continuous attacks on the LGBTIQ community in Haiti.
LGBT Rights In Haiti
In Haiti homosexuality and sex between people of the same sex is legal however many LGBT+ people face opposition from the strongly religious population. Roughly 80 per cent of Haiti’s population is follow Catholism, followed by Protestantism and Islam.
There are many reported hate crimes against visible LGBT+ people.
Complaints have been levied against the police force who, according to some, do not take crimes against LGBT+ people seriously.
LGBT+ people have no protections in law to protect them from discrimination and Haiti does not recognise same-sex couples or marriage.
Looking for the best LGBT+ / gay-themed films Amazon has to offer with your Prime account, look no further. Here’s a list of THEGAYUK’s favourites including some incredible biopics and dramas.
Updated: November 2019
Green book (Biopic)
To be gay in America in the early 1960s was not easy. But to also be black, and discriminated against on every level, was an entirely different thing, no matter how famous you were.
Green Book is a true story, and directed by a subdued Peter Farrelly (There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber) it’s as slow as molasses on a hot day – but Mortensen lightens up the screen in every scene he is in – he’s fantastic and is the take away of this film. Ali, while good, seems a bit stiff throughout, and I don’t understand why he is winning all the awards (Richard E. Grant is so much better in Can You Ever Forgive Me.) Nevertheless, Green Book is a good study in race relations in America at that time when JFK was President and Marilyn Monroe was the star of the moment. (Tim Baros)
Blanchett is magnificent as Carol, who risks losing her daughter yet has strong feelings for a much younger woman. Mara is even more superb as Therese, her innocence and naivete in full display. Both actresses are excellent, yet it’s Mara who ups Blanchette in the acting arena. The movie basically revolves around Therese and her coming of age not just with her career but with her sexuality as well.
Chandler is also excellent as Carol’s husband – he’s got an ideal 1950’s look about him.
Carol, based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith, was written at a time when it’s subject was considered scandalous, which Haynes truly captures. (Tim Baros)
Based on the real-life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, The Imitation Game portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain’s top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
With such a fascinating story and a stellar cast (Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Mark Strong, Matthew Goode, Charles Dance) this is a film that is destined to be a major success. Already garnering critical acclaim, it’s not hard to see why.
The script, period detail and performances are all exemplary. Cumberbatch is pitch-perfect in his portrayal as Turing, portraying the strengths and vulnerabilities of a man with little social skills who is driven by his passion for his work and his intellect. He’s ably supported by Keira Knightley as the feisty Joan Clarke; a woman of great intellect who has to fight to the constraints of a society that devalues and oppresses women.
Mark Strong as a particularly dashing MI6 agent and Matthew Goode as a fellow code-breaker, are equally strong. (Chris Bridges)
Stonewall is a drama about a fictional young man caught up during the 1969 Stonewall riots. Danny Winters (Jeremy Irvine) is forced to leave behind friends and loved ones when he is kicked out of his parent’s home and flees to New York. Alone in Greenwich Village, homeless and destitute, he befriends Ray (Jonny Beauchamp) and a group of street kids who soon introduce him to the local watering hole The Stonewall Inn; however, this shady, mafia-run club is far from a safe-haven. As Danny and his friends experience discrimination, endure atrocities and are repeatedly harassed by the police, we see a rage begin to build.
This emotion runs through the entire community of young gays, lesbians, drag queens and trans people who populate the Stonewall Inn and erupts in a storm of anger.
With the toss of a single brick, a riot ensues and a crusade for equality is born. Directed by Roland Emmerich.
So, here’s the thing, I can be an old, hard cynical fart when I want to be – but occasionally, just occasionally along comes something that makes me weep like a baby. This film is one of those things.
What starts out as a simple story of love and acceptance quickly turns into one of bigotry and spite – leading to an unexpected ending. Based on a true story, this is one emotional roller-coaster.
A strong cast and crew make this one of the best films of its kind in a long time with Travis Fine doing a great job as director, writer and producer. (Chris Jones)
In filmmaker Jeffrey Schwartz’s very upbeat documentary into this unique entertainer and character, we learn that Divine had always dreamt of being a movie star since he was a kid who had been picked in and bullied at school as being both effeminate and fat. And he did deservedly become one and was just about to parlay his major underground success into the mainstream with a (non-drag) part in a nationally syndicated TV sitcom when he dropped down dead in Hollywood after a massive heart attack the very day before filming was due to start. He was just 42 years old. Manager, Bernard Jay poignantly claimed that as Divine was at the peak of his career, he had at least died happily.
Schwartz beautifully captures both the joyous nature of Divine’s flamboyant life and also the great sense of sheer enjoyment he had. He includes the completely tasteless clip from Eat Your Makeup in which Divine played Jacqueline Kennedy in a grotesquely amusing re-creation of the Kennedy assassination just two years after the event. But he also shows the scene from Multiple Maniacs where Divine’s character is raped by a giant lobster! A perfect epitaph. (Roger Walker-Dack)
Beautiful Something beautifully explores the need for us gay men to seek out romance and adventure in the hopes of finding something, anything, meaningful. Director and writer Joseph Graham successfully captures a night these men, nor us, won’t forget.
Four gay men, all with issues in their lives, experience a night of mystery and sex in the beautifully told Beautiful Something. (Tim Baros)
Thorpe’s somewhat light-hearted investigation starts with him accepting that he dislikes gay-sounding voices, especially his own and he wonders if with professional help it can, in fact, be changed.
A very pushy speech therapist has him working on his ‘nasality’ and long vowels to get a ‘go-too’ voice whatever that maybe. She, thank goodness, is not the only figure that Thorpe seeks advice from and his interviews with some legendary gay figures make both sound, and also hilarious, contributions to his quest. (Roger Walker-Dack)
For three weeks in the summer of 2012 filmmakers, Cory James Krueckeberg and Tom Gustafson (the producer/director behind the cute Mariachi Gringo and the gay cult film Were the World Mine) followed two guys all over New York with a camera and a script and nothing else.
This really is guerrilla filmmaking at its best. No crew, a Kickstarter budget of $10K, one actor and one real-life go-go boy in an innovative hybrid of documentary, narrative and art film that is such a delight. Following hot on the heels of movies such as Weekend, Keep The Lights On and Hors Les Murs this wee drama is part of a very welcome new movement of edgy queer cinema. (Roger Walker-Dack)
P. David Ebersole’s documentary Hit So Hard tells the story of former Hole drummer Patty Schemel’s rise from working-class kid in Marysville, Washington to the drummer for one of the biggest grunge bands of the nineties.
Arguably because of its low budget, the film has a student-like feel to its production, although most technical faults are forgotten when viewers get the chance to see the never before seen tour footage that was shot by Schemel on Hi-8 while in the band.
Despite, its faults Hit So Hard is a time capsule of nineties nostalgia and ultimately it is the raw and deeply personal footage that makes this film a must-see for fans of Hole or Nirvana. (Domenico Sansalone)
This screwball comedy follows a young couple who discover a secret room filled with cash while house-sitting for celebrity friends who die under mysterious circumstances while overseas… but can they make a clean getaway with the money? Featuring an all-star cast of fan favourites, including Queer As Folk USA‘s Randy Harrison and Ugly Betty‘s Michael Urie.
When Tanner is accidentally outed in school, whilst the other boys in his class may resort to taunting and bullying him, the girls start to seriously compete for his attention.
It’s all very cute, has a few really good one-liner’s like the one on Mormon’s ‘they smile to your face, then Prop 8 you in the back,’ but it is a squeaky clean teen-movie that is meant to be for the young… or at least the young at heart. (Roger Walker-Dack)
It’s the late 1950s and ageing Hollywood director, James Whale, best known for his iconic Frankenstein films, is languishing in his Los Angeles house.
Whale is incapacitated by a series of strokes that have left him frail and prone to crippling headaches, dark moods and memory lapses. In spite of his infirmity, he hasn’t lost any of his impish ways with young men, persuading them to swim in his pool or pose naked for portraits. Old habits die hard. Unashamedly gay in an era of repression, Whale is a singular and striking personality. Enter pneumatically muscular new gardener, Clayton Boone who becomes the object of Whale’s lust and an unlikely player in the final drama of his life. Starring Ian McKellen (Chris Bridges)
The cinematic fascination with The Beat Generation continues regardless, following on the heels of Walter Salles’ take on Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, which the critics were quick to dismiss. We now have this new movie which, set in the mid-1940s, is essentially a prequel to the movement that was about to begin. It’s Lucian Carr’s story, a central figure in Allen Ginsberg’s coming out, and the wittiest member of their clique at university, who ended up killing his obsessed older ex-lover David Kammerer who just wouldn’t leave him alone. Starring Daniel Radcliffe. (Roger Walker-Dack)
Joe Meek was a pioneer of the 60’s music landscape. Joe Meek was a gay producer and songwriter, who wrote the hit “Telstar.”
Set in homophobic 60’s Britain, where to be gay was still illegal, the film delivers a powerful marker to how far the gay movement has come.
The casting for this film is very strong, Con O’Neill plays a magnificently, out of control Meek, delivering a truly brilliant performance of a tone-deaf musical genius. The film’s strengths are it’s brilliantly comic (albeit all true) characters and its thought-provoking end – the demise of Joe Meek. (Jake Hook)
Five stories are interlinked in this film by Kevin Elyot and Adrian Shergold. It centres on the life and experiences of gay men during a 36-hour period in the Clapham area of London.
Sean Penn, plays the central role of Harvey Milk and putting aside the hotly debated discussion of whether LGBT people should fill the roles of LGBT character’s in the films, Penn does a brilliant job.
No ham involved. A remarkably sensitive portrayal of this pioneer in a backwards, gay loathing, backstabbing system. Of course, there is a certain bit of eye candy – that being one Mr James Franco.
It is easy for us of a certain age, to forget or not to acknowledge those who went before in the equal rights cause and I say films like this need to be produced more and more, so that we never forget, how and why we are able to live in the western world freer than we’ve ever been able to. (Jake Hook)
