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  • Only 40 per cent of gay men will attend a pride in 2019

    Only 40 per cent of gay men will attend a pride in 2019

    According to a new survey, only 40 per cent of gay men will attend one of the UK’s 150+ prides this year.

    New research from online-dating specialist Gaydar, has revealed that while the UK’s LGBT+ community is planning a big summer of Pride celebrations, not everyone is feeling included.

    Over 500 people completed Gaydar’s survey. While many respondents were excited about being part of Pride celebrations, having their voice heard, and playing their part in ensuring LGBT+ visibility, 32% of respondents have decided that they won’t be attending a Pride event this year, and a further 28% have not yet decided.

    Barriers to attendance identified by the survey included – geography, cost, age, disability, not feeling included, or having no interest or connection to Pride events. A number of respondents felt that Pride events have become over-commercialised, or that they don’t represent who they are.

    Over 150 different Pride celebrations will be held across the UK in 2019.

    While some of the biggest events will be held in cities such as London, Brighton, Manchester, and Birmingham, survey respondents confirmed that they will also be enthusiastically supporting local events in their hometowns.

    “This is going to be a big year for Pride…” said John Edwards, Managing Director of Gaydar. “It’s the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which is a major milestone for our community. This year, Gaydar will also be celebrating our 20th anniversary. Plus, it’s been a particularly political year here in the UK – I’m sure that will also be reflected in our Pride marches.”

    Survey respondents were asked to indicate the key issues that they were passionate about and keen to see addressed in Pride marches.

    Issues identified included – a need for more inclusion, Trans rights, anti-discrimination protections, equality, highlighting those countries where homosexuality is illegal, support for older LGBT+ people, HIV stigma, and climate change. Also, quite a lot of respondents feel that Pride should not be addressing social or political issues, or that they have no personal interest in any social or political issues.

    “Gaydar has a long tradition of supporting and being part of Pride events across the UK and around the world…” said John Edwards. “We’re excited that as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we’re going to be helping LGBTQ communities across the UK to celebrate Pride, tocelebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, and work towards creating a better future for LGBTQ people around the world.”

  • Aaron Carter clarifies that “inappropriate” statement about Michael Jackson

    Aaron Carter clarifies that “inappropriate” statement about Michael Jackson

    Aaron Carter has made clarifications on his non-committal statement that Michael Jackson had done something “inappropriate” to him when he was younger – and apparently, it wasn’t sexual.

    Aaron Carter is amending his statement that Michael Jackson did something “inappropriate” to him when he was young, reconfirming his stance that Michael was “an amazing guy”.

    Taking to Twitter the singer said,

    “Everyone having my back I appreciate you,” he wrote.

    “My reasoning for even speaking on this subject is to tell my truth, be real and to also have his back based on my experiences with Michael. He was an amazing guy, I stand by that. So I ask u not to turn this into something it isn’t.”

    In response to a question he wrote,  “In my opinion, it WAS a Little inappropriate what’s the problem with that? What I achieved? I’m not trying to achieve anything except telling my story to validate he didn’t f—ing do anything sexual! Are you all this stupid? Honestly?”

    Embed from Getty Images

    During an interview in a new show, Marriage Bootcamp, Reality Stars Family Edition Aaron Carter revealed that Michael Jackson did do something inappropriate with him. After the show’s filming, he said that the counselling in the show had helped him work out some of his feelings towards the late, now disgraced singer.

    Aaron said, “Michael was a really good guy, as far as I know, He never did anything that was inappropriate except for one time. There was one thing that he did that was a little bit inappropriate.”

    He continued, “I in no way shape or form accused him of being a child molester,” he added, writing another tweet, “I’m sorry but where in the definition ‘inappropriate’ does it mention sexual misconduct?”

    “My story VALIDATES in MY OPINION that Michael didn’t do anything sexual to others,” the singer continued.

    Aaron finished by writing, “I’m not worried. Just had to set everyone straight and I’m not done either.”

  • Theatre Review | Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Sheffield Theatres

    Theatre Review | Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – Sheffield Theatres

    ★★★★★ | Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

    Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake beautifully reimagines the traditional and well- loved ballet. Bringing the story into modern, regal times, it tells the story of The Prince who struggles with the repression of his life, but this changes when he meets The Swan, a powerful yet tender figure who offers comfort, solace and the belonging that The Prince longs for.  But as The Prince struggles with his relationship with his icy mother, things start to unravel as a familiar looking stranger attends the Royal Ball.

    Bourne’s signature contemporary twist on the classic ballet is simply outstanding and leads to a beautiful, moving and breath-taking piece of theatre. This version is perhaps best known for using an all-male ensemble for the bevy of swans, but whilst there is no denying the spectacular and dramatic impact of that, there are so many other elements which elevate this piece of dance to the dizzying heights it reaches. From the almost monochrome opening scenes in the palatial bedchamber to the vibrant explosion of colour in the Swank Bar, the modern twists provided by Bourne culminate in a fresh and vivacious production which constantly surprises and delights in equal measures

    Utilising his flawless cast, Bourne’s choreography flows back and forth from the frenetic to the tender and from the comedic to the dramatic; infusing many different styles of dance seamlessly with the traditional Tchaikovsky score. Whilst the replacing of the female swans with a male ensemble brings with it a sensual homoeroticism to the piece, it also provides for a beautifully told love story between two men, something seldom seen in dance theatre.

    Both Will Bozier as The Swan and Dominic North as The Prince simply excelled in their lead performances, with Bozier’s strength and fierceness being beautifully counterbalanced by North’s vulnerability and yearning.  Equally Katrina Lyndon was utterly delightful as The Girlfriend, but it seems slightly unfair to single out any dancer from an ensemble who universally oozed such talent and charisma.

    From the opening scenes to the terrifying and tearful finale, this show has everything to recommend it including humour, style, spectacle, originality and genuine emotion; and as the curtain fell, I could have happily had them reset the stage and start again. As a piece of theatre, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake is simply sublime.

    Swan Lake is rounding off its national tour at Sheffield Theatres, so don’t miss your last chance to see this magnificent production. Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures are also currently touring his new ballet, Romeo and Juliet, and his award winning The Red Shoes will be returning for another UK tour commencing in November 2019.  

  • The Spice Girls reveal their EPIC staging for the upcoming tour

    The Spice Girls reveal their EPIC staging for the upcoming tour

    Baby, Scary, Sporty and Ginger have revealed what the staging of their upcoming tour looks like and its EPIC.

    (C) Andrew Timms

    With just days until their tour is set to begin the Spice Girls have unveiled what their staging looks like. They also released some pictures of them in rehersal.

    The band are joined in rehearsals with their own ‘House’ of dancers. Each house is made up of five dancers dressed in their correlating house colours – ‘House of Baby’, ‘House of Sporty’, ‘House of Ginger’ and ‘House of Scary’. The dancers were unveiled on Instagram and picked from 5000 applicants from across the world. The dancers are choreographed by Paul Roberts.

    However the most impressive sight has to be the staging.

    The graphics for the tour are designed by Kate Moross who has also designed the band’s 90’s inspired new merchandise as seen on Melanie C (in the photo)

    See an interview with Kate Moross on her involvement in the Spice World tour here.

     

    MAY 24TH 
    Dublin – Croke Park 
     
    MAY 27TH 
    Cardiff – Principality Stadium 
     
    MAY 29TH 
    Manchester – Etihad Stadium
     
    MAY 31ST 
    Manchester – Etihad Stadium
     
    JUNE 01ST 
    Manchester – Etihad Stadium
     
    JUNE 03RD 
    Coventry – Ricoh Arena Stadium
     
    JUNE 04TH 
    Coventry – Ricoh Arena Stadium
     
    JUNE 06TH 
    Sunderland – Stadium of Light
     
    JUNE 08TH 
    Edinburgh – BT Murrayfield Stadium
     
    JUNE 10TH 
    Bristol – Ashton Gate
     
    JUNE 13TH 
    London – Wembley Stadium
     
    JUNE 14TH 
    London – Wembley Stadium
     
    JUNE 15TH 
    London – Wembley Stadium
  • Is Jazon Mraz gay, bisexual or straight?

    Is Jazon Mraz gay, bisexual or straight?

    So what do we know about Jason Mraz’s love life?

    Of course, in this day and age does sexuality really matter? But in the spirit of visibility in the LGBT community, yes, US singer Jason Mraz does identify as part of the LGBT+ community.

    In 2018 Jason Mraz came out as bisexual in an interview with the New York Post, although many people suspected he was LGBT+ when in June 2018 he penned a “love letter” to the LGBT+ community. In an interview with Billboard, Mraz even admitted that he had experiences with men.

    In his interview with the NYP Mraz said that his hidden bisexuality was a “very stressful secret”.

    Speaking about how everything unfolded in the summer of 2018, he revealed, “I didn’t anticipate it. It kind of caught me by surprise, but I strive to continue to learn and grow and evolve and know myself.

    “It was tough, ’cause not even my mom knew it, you know?” says Mraz. “And I realized that’s the struggle that people in the LGBT community have. It can be a very stressful secret that we carry.”

     

     

     

  • This MP nailed equality for all in the most perfect way

    This MP nailed equality for all in the most perfect way

    MP Jess Phillips managed to explains how the equality act protects Muslims and LGBT people – ‘you don’t get to pick and choose what equality you have’.

    Jess Phillips talks with a protester Shakeel Afsar outside the Anderton School in Birmingham

    The Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley Jess Phillips managed to explain her belief that the current equality act protects Muslims and LGBT+ people, saying that the current protests against teaching LGBT+ education, in programmes like the No Outsiders campaign, is “damaging the reputation of a peaceful and loving community”.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Speaking outside a school in Birmingham where mainly Muslim parents have been protesting, the MP said, “I don’t agree with these protests, I don’t agree that you get to pick and choose which equality you can and cannot have.

    “Our equality laws protect us all. I want them to protect you. Actually I want to protect the Muslim community, which is getting a terrible… I want our Muslim community to be completely protected.

    “The worse thing about it is it’s damaging the reputation of a peaceful and loving community that I have lived in my entire life.”

    She continued to say that she was advocating for an exclusion area around the school to protect children the current wave of protests.

    Parents have been protesting outside the Anderton Park school in Birmingham in demonstrations similar as seen outside Parkfield Primary school last month.

     

  • This company is trying to sell Manchester Bombing victim Martyn Hett’s homepage

    This company is trying to sell Manchester Bombing victim Martyn Hett’s homepage

    It’s two ago since Martyn Hett was killed along with 21 other people after a bomb exploded at the Manchester Arena.

    Today, just shy of two years on, Martyn Hett‘s former website is up for sale for $1995 by the company HugeDomains.com, a company that sells domains it describes as “premium domains”.

    Martyn has become a Twitter legend since his death, with his name trending numerous times since his death in 2017. A heartwarming hashtag #BeMoreMartyn is reminding people to have fun and not to take life too seriously.

    MartynHett.com is still linked from his official Twitter account. Visitors who visit his URL are greeted with a sales page, offering the domain for nearly $2000. The original domain would have most likely cost under $20.

    HugeDomains.com is offering the deceased PR manager and reality TV star’s former website for a whopping $2295 or in 12 monthly payments of $167. As part of their sale’s pitch, the seller reminds potential customers, “Besides being memorable, .com domains are unique: This is the one and only .com name of it’s kind. Other extensions usually just drive traffic to their .com counterparts.”

    HugeDomains is not the only company selling the domain, name.com is selling it for $1965.

  • MP Kate Hoey blasted over “supporting the suppression of journalism”

    MP Kate Hoey blasted over “supporting the suppression of journalism”

    The MP for Vauxhall, Kate Hoey has come under fire for a tweet in which she suggests that an alleged ban on Channel 4 news at political events is a “sensible decision”.

    Kate Hoey, the MP for Vauxhall and ardent Brexiteer, despite the majority (over 77 per cent) of her constituency voting remain in the 2016 EU Referendum, has been blasted for a tweet in which she appears to suggest that banning a mainstream broadcaster from attending a political rally was a “sensible idea”.

    In a reply to a claim that Channel 4 News had been banned from future Brexit Party events, the MP wrote, “As Never Ever has said anything positive about Leaving the EU this sounds a sensible decision”

    The tweet comes off the back off a tweet from Paul Waugh, HuffPost’s executive editor of politics, in which he reveals that he’s heard that the Brexit Party has banned Channel 4 from attending all future events hosted by the party, who counts Ann Widdecombe as one of its star players.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The journalist Patrick Strudwick was quick to comment on the tweet saying, “A member of parliament supporting the suppression of journalism – essential for democracy. This is astonishing.”

    Others were quick to suggest that Hoey was in the wrong, with one adding, “An MP supporting the suppression of journalism? You really should be ashamed of yourself” while another commented, “Censorship is, of course, one of the key weapons of the hard right with which Ms Hoey seems to be more and.more a fellow traveller. How is she still pretending to be a Labour MP?”

     

  • Aaron Carter admits that Michael Jackson did do something inappropriate

    Aaron Carter admits that Michael Jackson did do something inappropriate

    In an interview, Aaron Carter admitted that Michael Jackson once did something inappropriate with him.

    During an interview in a new show, Marriage Bootcamp, Reality Stars Family Edition Aaron Carter revealed that Michael Jackson did do something inappropriate with him. After the show’s filming, he said that the counselling in the show had helped him work out some of his feelings towards the late, now disgraced singer.

    Aaron said, “Michael was a really good guy as far as I know,

    “He never did anything that was inappropriate except for one time. There was one thing that he did that was a little bit inappropriate.”

    Embed from Getty Images

    Embed from Getty Images

    Aaron Carter who first met Michael Jackson when he was just 14. He asked the young singer to appear on the charity single, “What More Can I Give”.

    However, the 31-year-old didn’t elaborate further. Whether he’ll continue with his story or if more details will come out after the airing of the show remains to be seen.

    The statement seems at odds with Aaron’s unwavering support of Michael Jackson’s behaviour over the years, particularly over the child abuse revelations from the documentary film, Leaving Neverland.

  • Big Brother star Hughie Maughan got a Brazilian bum lift

    Big Brother star Hughie Maughan got a Brazilian bum lift

    Big Brother star Hughie Maughan is recovering after having a slew of procedures including lipo on his tummy, sides and chin and a bum lift.

    Big Brother star Hughie Maughan is in full recovery mode after undertaking a slew of procedures including lipo on three parts of his body and bum lift at the Serene Cosmetic clinic in Marbella.

    According to the star, his swelling is going down and is starting to see the results after just three weeks. Taking to social media the reality star showcased some of the incredible results, including a much slimmed down stomach, a flat chest and a perky looking butt from his Brazillian bum lift.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxp2QB-A1dn/

     

    Hughie explained in the video, that there was still a little bit of tenderness in his torso area, where he had liposuction, but this was to be expected after just three weeks after his procedures.

    He went to say that there was still a bit of swelling left, but he is “so so so pleased” with the results and can’t wait to show off his new body with his fans.

    He went to show his bum, looking “much perkier” in his undies.

    He said, “I had a belly, I had man boobs, I had everything, and it does (now) look so much better. My bum sticks out now, it’s not flat. I’m just so much happier with my overall results.

    He added that he felt that he was a lot more confident after his body makeover.

  • People thought this was Gino D’Acampo’s husband

    People thought this was Gino D’Acampo’s husband

    Well, this is awkward.

    It appears that many people thought that the chap that Gino D’Acampo was standing next to in a red carpet photo at the British Academy Television Awards was his husband, but it turns out the guy is actually the TV chef’s 17-year-old son, Luciano.

    The Chef was forced to clear up the misunderstanding in Tweet, days after the BAFTAs, as rumours that Luciano was in fact the star’s husband, started to circulate over a picture Gino had posted on the evening of the BAFTAs.

    In a tweet, the Celebrity Juice favourite, said he was standing with his older son and not his husband, “With my older son last week, not my husband as many of you asked”.

    Gino has three children with his wife, Jessica. They married in 2002. The couple have three children together Luciano born 2002, Rocco born in 2005 and his only daughter, Mia.

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