I would have loved to see the look on the old guy’s face, comfortably oblivious of his surroundings, safe in his generic eurobox, as we exited the roundabout side by side, me on the V-Strom, cranked over will a full set of luggage. ‘Round the outside, hard on the gas, then off into the distance.
I’d like to think he would have turned to Dorris in the passenger seat and muttered, “I didn’t expect that.”
Suzuki have been in the adventure bike game for a long time. The V-strom first landed on our shores in 2002 and this is the latest incarnation. It’s got a 1037cc 90 degree V twin kicks out 100 bhp and 101 Nm torque and is huge fun.
Riding
Well, I’m actually quite new to adventure bikes. These days, the roads are in a pretty shit state and I’m older, so I thought I’d give it a go. I wasn’t disappointed. The V-Strom100XT is a big beast but so are all adventure bikes in this class. Mine had optional (and expensive) luggage too so I was a bit tentative filtering through traffic.
It’s big, very comfortable, punchy and great fun, way more fun that I expected. It turns well, handles nicely and I’d go as far as to say pretty sporty on the road. Something I particularly liked was the ability to be fast over any road surface. A few times I was riding with other guys on sports bikes on the back roads and they just couldn’t live with the Strom. It’s plush, forgiving suspension just dances over the rough, potholed roads, still giving good feedback and confidence, no doubt helped by the electronics. The guys on their sports bikes were shaken to pieces.
Details Stopping the V-Strom is easy thanks to radial mounted four-piston monobloc Tokico brake callipers biting on to twin 310mm diameter discs on the front, and a 260mm diameter single disc with a single piston calliper on the rear.
The Bosch ABS system has what Suzuki call “Motion Track Brake System¹” which uses a 5-Axis Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), which measures lean angle and front and rear wheel speeds and provides optimal ABS braking for the situation. Very clever.
There’s also 2 mode traction control.
1 is the lowest level of intervention, allowing sporty riding. It allows an amount of wheel spin so you can have fun.
2 is normal which eliminates wheel spin to ensure a safe ride. Great for riding in the wet.
You can, of course, turn it off if you want, if you were heading off road for example.
Living with it
Suzuki’s V-Strom1000XT is an awesome bike. It did everything we asked it to without breaking into a sweat. We even took a V-Strom on track, hooning it around Bruntingthorpe. Admittedly it’s not the obvious choice as a track slag but it was surprisingly good. It moves around a little when you really push on and the pegs tend to go down, but it’s very good and very funny to see other people’s reactions. It doesn’t do anything stupid, it’ll hold a decent line and doesn’t sit up on the brakes in the corners. It’s a very civilised way to do a track day. The Verdict
Why a V-Strom? The adventure bike sector is crammed with bikes. Everyone seems to do one or even several. BMW is the obvious choice and arguably, you can say they started it all.
Yamaha, Triumph, Honda, KTM, Ducati and more all play in this playground.
The V-Strom sits in between most of these interestingly. Generally, adventure bikes are around 1200cc or 800cc (ish). Suzuki’s V-Strom1000 sits in the middle. At 232kg It’s lighter than pretty much all of the competition, even the smallest capacity bikes like the Triumph Tiger 800.
It’s obviously down on power on the big capacity competition but at £9,999 it’s very well priced.
A BMW R1200GS, for example, starts at £12,400 and a Honda Africa twin starts at £11,575.
Loves
1 Comfort, you can ride for hours
2 Great handling
3 Torquey V-twin engine
Loathes 1 Optional luggage was odd shaped & pretty small 2 Vibey at low revs 3 Dashboard is pretty busy Lowdown Motorcycle – Suzuki V-Strom1000XT Price – £9.999 MPG – 58.85mpg (manufacturer claimed. We only got around 40 mpg) 0-62 – 3.1s Power – 100 bhp / 101 Nm torque Top Speed – 126 mph Co2 – 112 (g/km)
★★★★★ | Mercedes X-Class, The last vehicle you’ll ever need
It had been 3 months since Z day and at least a month since we last heard gunfire.
Peeking through the boarded up windows, the first signs of sunlight were showing through the black skies.
Our supplies were almost gone, it was time we hit the road and began our fight for survival.
I kicked open the door to the house and we emerged into what used to be the lush, green garden of the house we had been hiding in while the chaos absorbed everyone outside.
The garden was lifeless and black, dead like everything else.
There was a garage at the rear of the house. If we were lucky there would be a vehicle inside that we could use to get the hell out of here. We forced the door open and through the darkness, saw a Mercedes badge.
“A Mercedes is nice but not much good to us now. Look at the state of the roads”, said Troy. He was right. Abandoned cars littered the roads, tarmac scared with debris from the fighting and shelling.
As we opened the door further, we saw it was a pickup.
“But Mercedes don’t make a pickup” exclaimed Sarah.
“They do now thank god,” said Dutch as he threw his bag in the back of the X-Class, opened the rear door and slid into the sumptuous leather upholstered cabin.
“Damn this is nice” i said, adjusting the electric drivers seat. I selected ‘D’ on the automatic gearbox and we slowly pulled out of the garage, down the driveway and out into the street. The huge load bed was packed with our remaining supplies. Lucky for us the X-Class can haul a huge payload of up to 1.1 tonnes. That is enough to transport 17 full 50-litre barrels of clean water in the cargo area. It’s able to tow up to 3.5 tonnes, it can pull a trailer containing three horses or easily pull an abandoned truck out of the way.
The roads were littered with debris from the battle. Burnt out cars, makeshift barricades, ruined buildings. We couldn’t have hoped for a better vehicle than the Mercedes X-Class. It was the X250 Power D 4MATIC AUTO with a powerful and torquey 2.3L biturbo 190hp diesel engine. The permanent 4MATIC all-wheel drive and the seven-speed automatic transmission got us out of trouble more than a few times. When the road ahead was blocked, i’d select 4WD low and head off road. The X-Class has serious off road ability so didn’t struggle. Our Mercedes X-Class apocalypse escape vehicle had great road manners and serious off road ability, but how did it manage to be so good on road but so good off road too? It has a double wishbone front axle and a rear multi-link solid axle which allows for great axle articulation. No old school leaf springs here. The Mercedes rolled on 225/55R19’s which certainly helped with the subtle ride.
Fortunately the X-Class X250 was really good on diesel meaning we could travel for hours without having to refuel. It really was the perfect vehicle. On road, smooth, quiet and comfortable, with 2WD engaged to save fuel. When the going got tough, select 4WD or even 4WD low range, engaging the differential lock on the rear axle and nothing could stop it. The Downhill Speed Regulation (DSR) made things even easier.
The electronic safety systems saved us on more than one occasion. With burning cars and buildings belching smoke and restricting visibility, it was hard to see what lay ahead. Active brake assist provided a welcome backup.
We drove for hour after hour and were all exhausted. Fortunately, the awesome Mercedes X-Class X250 has lane keeping assist which meant when we struggled to keep our eyes open through exhaustion, the safety system kept us on the road when we had the cruise control engaged.
Rough roads can mean unforeseen punctures. Our X-Class had a tyre pressure monitoring system to help us and LED headlamps with six LEDs to show us the way.
The 360-Degree camera made manoeuvring around burnt out cars or through partly collapsed building easy and safe. In our life before the apocalypse, features like traffic sign assist, trailer stability assist and emergency call system would have helped, but in a crumbling and uncertain world, traffic signs were the least of our concerns.
Strangely, our phones were still working although no one ever answered any calls we made. This meant we could use the Mercedes me app to access the vehicle by smartphone, calling up useful information such as fuel level and tyre pressure, find the X-Class’s location when it is parked or being driven by someone else and even program the navigation or remotely read vehicle diagnostics. This was invaluable when on a recce for supplies, split up, scattered amongst the rubble, searching.
After four full weeks on the road, hardly stopping, crossing the war-torn country from side to side looking for any signs of hope, we finally arrived at the military installation we had heard about on a radio transmission. We found other survivors who had also found their way here and had begun to rebuild their lives.
It was a relief to find other people and to hear the familiar sound of laughter.
As we sat in the canteen enjoying a simple but welcome home cooked beef pie, my phone buzzed to let me know the X-Class was on the move. When we arrived we surrendered the vehicle to the motorpool. It seemed perfectly reasonable then, but now it was like hearing that my wife was on a date with someone else.
All four of us looked at each other then looked around at the other survivors for a moment.
We’d all grown fond of the X-Class, it had literally saved us. Without speaking, without even a moment’s hesitation, in one swift move, we all got up, grabbed our bags, headed for the motorpool and for the safety and comfort of our Mercedes X-Class. We’d take our chances in the wilderness and see where the road took us. Wherever it was, the X-Class would look after us.
Although it can still be seen as a risk to their careers, even in 2018, there are some incredibly brave, talented and inspiring guys who decided to come out, giving hope to the next generation of actors that they too can be their true selves.
Here are some of the hottest openly gay, bi or queer identifying actors.
Andrew Hayden-Smith
Born: 5th November 1983, Gateshead, England, UK.
Best Known ForByker Grove, Doctor Who.
Came out in 2005 in an interview with a magazine. Andrew is an actor best known for his role as Jake Simmonds in Doctor Who and is set to star in a new drama commissioned by Channel 4 called Cucumber from Queer As Folk writer, Russell T Davies.
Charlie Carver
Born: 31st July 1988 Best Known For: Being one of the twins on Desperate Housewives & Teen Wolf Came Out:On Instagram in 2016. After Desperate Housewives Charlie went on to star in Teen Wolf as Ethan, a gay character who made headlines when MTV aired the first gay kiss, between his character and Danny played by Keahu Kahuanui.
The 27-year-old explained his worries about coming out in the entertainment industry a series of posts on Instagram.
Charlie David
Born: 9th August 1980, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada Best Known For: His sexy role in the gay horror series: Dante’s Cove. Since his role on the series Dante’s Cove Charlie has become a film producer and director including titles such as I’m A Porn Star and I’m A Stripper. In 2012 TheGayUK interviewed Charlie along with Elvira The Mistress Of Darkness for their Halloween Special edition.
Chris Crocker
Born: 7th December 1987 Best Known For: “Leave Britney Alone” a viral YouTube video. Came Out: Has always been out. In 2012 he starred in a gay porn film. He made more films with Maverick Men and Lucas Entertainment.
Dan Amboyer
Born: 28th December 1985 Best Known For: Best known for his starring role as Prince William of Wales in the 2011 Hallmark Channel original film William & Catherine: A Royal Romance Came Out: In October 2017. He also announced that he had married his partner, Eric P. Berger.
Daniel Newman
(C) BIGSTOCK
Born: 14th June 1981 Best Known For: staring in the Walking Dead. Came Out: in March 2017, speaking to People he said, “I don’t want to be hidden and have to dodge the question,” he tells PEOPLE of publicly revealing his sexuality. “I’m proud of who I am.”
David Ames
Born: 10th August 1983 Best Known For: British medical soap drama Holby City Came Out: Has always been “out”, although he has appeared in both Attitude magazine in 2009 and Gay Times magazine in 2011.
Jeffery Bowyer-Chapman
(C) BIGSTOCK
Born: 21st October 1984 Best Known For: Playing Jay in UnREAL. Came Out: Has always been open about his sexuality and has played mainly gay/bi-identified characters.
Jim Verraros
Born: 8th February 1983, Crystal Lake, Illinois, USA
Best Known For: American Idol and Eating Out Came out: in 2003 with The Advocate Jim appeared in the first season of American Idol and has appeared in a number of gay movies including, Eating Out, Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild.
Jonathan Groff
CREDIT: Joe-Seer-bigstock-
Born: 21st October 1984 Best Known For: Actor who has starred numerous TV shows and films including, Mindhunter for Netflix and Frozen for Disney. Came Out: Jonathan Groff came out as gay in 2009. He was rumoured to have dated Zachary Quinto from September 2012, until July 2013. He now stars in Looking, along with Russell Tovey and he recently lent his voice for the part of Kristoff Bjorgman in the Disney hit Frozen. He also starred in The Normal Heart.
Jonathan Bennett
(C) BOSSMOSS / DEPOSITPHOTOS
Born: 10th June 1981, Rossford, Ohio, USA Best Known For: Actor who starred in Mean Girls Came Out: Jonathan played Aaron Samuels in one of the ultimate gay cult films, Mean Girls. He appeared in the US version of Dancing With The Stars, three months before he lost his father to brain cancer. He was outed by Julianne Hough during an interview with Extra. He told the Toledo Blade newspaper: “This was his favourite show on television, and when he was sick in hospice the only show he wanted to watch was Dancing with the Stars because he said this show made him feel good. So I’m doing this performance not just for myself but for my father because I know how badly he loved the show and how thrilled he would be that I’m on it. I’m also doing this dance for my mother because she passed away a year before that and they both were huge fans of the show.”
Matt Dallas
Born: 21st October 1982, Phoenix, Arizona, USA Best Known For:Kyle XY Came Out: Came out in 2013, Via a tweet announcing his engagement to Blue Hamilton. Matt Dallas is known for his no bellybutton character Kyle in Kyle XY
Matt Bomer
Born: 11th October 1977, Webster Groves, Greater St. Louis, Missouri, USA Best Known For:Magic Mike Came Out: Came out in 2012 In a speech for his Steve Chase Humanitarian Award, thanking his husband and their children.
Emmy nominated actor, Matt made his television debut in Guiding Light in 2001. He starred alongside Jodie Foster in the 2005 thriller Flightplan. He is married to publicist Simon Halls and the pair have three children together.
Kieron Richardson
Born: 12th January 1986, Eccles, Greater Manchester, England, UK Best KnownFor:Hollyoaks Came out in 2010 September, during an interview with This Morning. Kieron is best known for his role as Ste Hay in the Channel 4 television series Hollyoaks. In 2014 he will make history by playing the first gay character in a British soap to contract HIV, to highlight the growing issue of new HIV Infections in gay and bisexual men. He also hosts a radio show on the World’s largest gay radio station Gaydio.
Luke Macfarlane
Born: 19th January 1980, London, Ontario, Canada Best Known For:Brothers and Sisters. Came out in 2008 during an interview with The Globe And Mail He currently plays the lead role of Jason Howell in the Canadian sitcom Satisfaction.
Nick Adams
Born: 10th June 1983 Best Known For: Theatre actor and starring in the web series Go-Go Boy Interrupted. Came Out: In 2009 He and his boyfriend were denied entry to a nightclub in Manhattan, he says, because of his sexuality. He was holding his boyfriend’s hand when the bouncer denied him entry. Taking to his blog and Twitter Nick caused a huge outcry, which led to the further recognition of him as a personality and, his sexuality.
Michael Urie
Born: 8th August 1980 Best Known For:Ugly Betty Came Out: Michael Urie came to the public’s attention with his fabulously camp character Marc in Ugly Betty. He has since become a playwright and touring actor.
P J Brennan
Born: 11th February 1986 Best Known For: Playing Doug Carter in Hollyoaks. Came Out: Has never officially come out in press interviews, but has not hidden his sexuality.
Ross Adams
Born: 5th May 1982 Best Known For:Hollyoaks Came out: In 2016 he became engaged to his partner, Philip Crusham.
Russell Tovey
Born: 14th November 1981, Billericay, Essex, England, UK
Best Known For:One Life To Love, Younger brother to Chris Evans.
Scott also starred in the campy comedy Confessions of a Shopaholic.
Todrick Hall
(C) TODRICK HALL / INSTAGRAM
Born: 4th April 1985
Best Known For: American Idol / YouTuber
Came Out:
Tituss Burgess
Born: 21st February 1979
Best Known For: Playing Titus in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Came Out: In an interview with Huffington Post, Tituss talked about his comfort in being gay.
Thomas Dekker
Born: 1983
Best Known For:Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles
Came Out: The actor who started his career in the television series of Terminator, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, publicly come out as gay after comments made by entertainment exec Brian Fuller. Fuller made comments that a gay storyline in the hit TV series, Heroes had to be axed following a dispute behind the scenes. The actor’s management allegedly threatened to pull the actor if the storyline went ahead.
Media outlets worldwide immediately went into speculation overdrive, with Thomas centring.
Zachary Booth
Born: 1983 Best Known For:Damages and the gay movie, Keep The Lights On Came Out:
Zachary Quinto
Born: 2nd June 1977, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA Best Known For:Heroes and Star Trek Came Out: Zachary Quinto is probably one of the most famous gay actors under 40 in Hollywood having secured the role of Spock in the Star Trek franchise of films. Before that, he played Sylar in the paranormal television series Heroes.
The best Sunday Roast deal in Central London, and perhaps in all of London, can be found at The Jones Family Kitchen and The Jones Family Project. But first things first.
The Jones Family is two separate restaurants. The Project is in Shoreditch and The Kitchen is in Belgravia. The roast is luckily served in both places.
For a mere £18.00 for two courses, or £25 for three courses – the offer is amazing. For your money you get a schooner of beer or a glass of house wine, a choice of starter (Soup, Smoked Salmon or Whipped Goats’ Cheese), the choice of Roast (Chicken, and of course Beef, or the vegetarian option of Nut Roast), and the dessert options of Gelato & Sorbet, Anna’s Brownie, or Amalfi Lemon Tart.
A friend from NYC and I drifted in for a late Sunday lunch (3:00 p.m.) at the Kitchen (Victoria) in the recently renovated historic and hidden enclave that is the Eccleston Yards, a short walk to Victoria Station and an even shorter walk to the bus station. Luckily the location in the yards makes the bus station and the throngs of rolling suitcase tourists seem far away. We were greeted by the fabulous Olivia, who remembered me from my visit to The Project (Shoreditch – remember?) a few weeks before. She showed us to our elegant table in the back section of the restaurant which can only be described as industrial meets contemporary. With floor to ceiling windows overlooking the yards, there is plenty of light and character in the place.
Now to the food. My starter of choice, the soup, turned out to be pumpkin – I really love pumpkin in any shape or form. And their pumpkin soup, very seasonal, was just divine. Thick but not too much, a bit puree-ey, served in an earth tone bowl, and just about perfect! My friend went for the Salmon starter – which came with pickles and sourdough, served on a bed of rocket lettuce and accompanied with tomatoes and peppers – nothing to rave about but good enough. However, when we saw, and tasted, the Roast – boy were we raving.
Talk about an abundance of food. The portion was enormous! The Yorkshire pudding just about took half the plate (see photo), and it was warm and baked to absolute perfection. And the beef was superb. I asked for mine well done – and it was! Topped with a luscious BBQ sauce (and smelling delicious), the dish included roast potatoes, honey roast parsnips and carrots, greens, cabbage, broccolini, and some mash – we both thought Thanksgiving had arrived early at our table as these types of portions are served at Thanksgiving dinners. Needless to say, my friend could not finish his though I am happy to report I ate everything on my plate, and it was absolutely delicious.
Dessert really had to be done, and I was very satisfied with my choice of the Amalfi Lemon Tart with créme fraiche. Small, yet deliciously sweet, and I enjoyed it. My lunch companion was semi-happy with his Anna’s Brownie. Nice tasting sorbet and the chunks of brownie were good but the bed of rice pudding had no taste and was not really necessary. He did, however, have an amazing Bloody Mary (for an extra £8), while I thought their coffee was just right. Mimosa’s are also £8 extra, or perhaps an Aperol Spritz (£7.50) or a Lost Negroni (£10). I had decided to have the Sangria Sunshine, which was white, and included Soave, orange and peach, and was just so refreshing, and my friend also had to have one! It was actually hard to choose a cocktail as there were so so many choices on the menu.
Everything was just about perfect about our lunch, except for the service. It started out very very good, but since we had arrived at the near end of the Sunday lunchtime, as the time went on we noticed most of the wait staff tucking into their own Sunday Roast in the corner, which left one girl on the floor to wait on the quite a few tables finishing their meals.
Needless to say, our dessert took quite some time to be delivered, while a table of 8 which sat down after us received their dessert much much quicker. But this is a minor quibble to a restaurant that’s got pretty much everything going for it; location (either Belgravia or Shoreditch), great value, and excellent food. Thumbs up to the Jones Family – think they will adopt me?
Writer Simon Sayers-Franklin urges you to think carefully about being an ally to trans people in our community and what you can do to help with the soon-closing Gender Recognition consultation.
Transgender women ARE women… Sadly this is something that is contested by an increasing number of so called feminists. These vicious groups of Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists have made it their business to demonise and hurt trans people at all costs.
They make the most bizarre claims, ranging from: “Trans women can never be women because they have experienced “male privilege”” to “Any man could pretend to be a trans woman in order to gain access to female spaces with a predatory intent.”
The activist group, Fair Play for Women, just the other day took a whole page spread in the Metro, a free newspaper which is mostly distributed on public transport and therefore reaches a large audience. Their message not only displayed crude language but an absolute lack of understanding about transgender people and demonstrated a strange obsession with genitals. The ad questions whether “men” should be able to compete in sport with women. Whether “fully intact men” should be allowed to live in women-only prisons and the list goes on. The cost of this vile ad? £45,000. Now, that sort of money does not come from nowhere. These groups have some serious funding coming from somewhere and while we don’t know where it’s from, we can assume they have big sponsors somewhere. Don’t we deserve to know who it is so we can boycott or take appropriate action against them?
While Ofcom have said they will look into complaints surrounding the ads, we will have to wait and see what their decision is. Judging by the recent outcome of the Ashers Bakery “Gay Cake” legal battle, which did a U-turn on the second appeal, it’s a worrying prospect.
This ad comes just weeks after a billboard in Liverpool had to be removed within hours, following complaints. The group Standing for Women, had placed a plain, black billboard with white writing stating that “woman” means “adult human female.” Word got out and many quickly tweeted the company who had no idea about the motive behind the ads. The company were deeply shocked and upset. The billboard was quickly removed.
Standing for Women, reacted with: “As you may have read, the billboard has been deemed transphobic and is being removed in an act of grotesque misogynistic rage. We are seeking legal advice and will make a full statement in due course.”
We are still waiting for that full statement.
Sadly, facing such hatred is the norm for transgender people in this day and age. The bullying is relentless and groups like Standing for Women, etc, keep pushing on and nobody seems to help. It’s a heart breaking statistic that almost half of young, transgender people have attempted suicide. This should not be happening and we need to do something.
I recently met with Dr Adrian Harrop (@DrAdrianHarrop) who is an LGBTQ+ activist and is very passionate about taking a stand for transgender people’s rights and speaking up against these anti-trans groups. He has developed quite a name for himself for doing so, speaking on TV and radio as well as his twitter. The groups paint him out to be a monster but they couldn’t be further from the truth. He is warm, friendly and keen to make a positive change in the world.
During my chat with Dr Harrop, we discussed the issues faced by transgender people in the modern world with smear campaigns in the media, the government not caring enough to do anything to help and abuse in the streets.
The comparisons to paedophiles, perverts and sexual predators are no different to the abuse that the gay community faced in the past. It is scarily close to the attitudes of the 80s and early 90s at the height of the AIDS crisis, except now there’s no escape from the constant bullying. Online, anti-trans activists swarm like flies around any remote mention of a trans issue and let rip.
For lots of us under thirty, we don’t remember a world with such dangerous hostility towards LGB people. We were too young to properly remember the AIDS crisis; we saw the back end of Section 28 in our school life, sex was legal for us sat 16. We have been very lucky to grow up in a world where battles have been fought and won by people who had a much harder time than us. Sadly, a majority of these heroes are no longer with us but we still owe it to them, to continue their fight. While the world is still not entirely accepting of LGB people it is so much easier than it was and now is the time to stand up for our transgender brothers and sisters.
As cisgender gay men we are very privileged and we must use that to our advantage. Our transgender family have fought along side us for so long. We cannot forget that there is a T in LGBT and we must make a stand and fight alongside these people as they did for us.
Now, the main question is “How do I become an effective transgender ally?” When we met, Dr Harrop explained how we can effectively help our transgender family. Here are some simple steps to being a trans ally:
1. Respect and validate people without question. People know themselves better than you do. It’s a fact. Nobody should be made to feel like they need to explain themselves or that they need to validate their existence and their right to be who they are. This would never be expected of any other minority.
2. Be prepared to call out transphobia. Most people would be confident to call out racism, lots would also be confident to call out homophobia… transphobia is no different. Call that out too whether it’s online or in person. Transphobia can sometimes be difficult to spot but it must be tackled. Examples include small things (which actually have a massive impact on the person receiving the abuse) like misgendering and calling someone by their dead name (their birth name) to more extreme cases where someone’s identity is being questioned with hurtful words and/or violence.
3. Be supportive. Be kind. Be human.
4. There is currently a consultation about the GRA (Gender Recognition Act) which involves a long, dehumanising and hurtful process for transgender people to “prove” their gender. If we make our voices heard, we can change this and make life much easier for our transgender family. Filling in the consultation is quick and easy and is a great way to start your journey to being a trans ally.
Daniel Doheny is the star of Netflix’s brand new gay film, The Package, and people want to know if he’s been in any other shows.
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Daniel Doheny, star of the brand new Netflix film, The Package is a relative newbie in showbiz. However, this is the second film that Daniel has appeared in for Netflix. His first was the gay romance, Alex Strangelove. He’s also appeared in Adventures in Public School, Human Town and False Fiend.
What is The Package starring Daniel Doheny about?
Netflix describes The Package as “When five teens go on a spring break camping trip, an unfortunate accident sets off a race against time to save their friend’s most prized possession”. It was directed by Jake Szymanski and released by Netflix in August 2018.
What part did Daniel Doheny play in Adventures in Public School?
Daniel played the part of Liam Heap in the Canadian comedy, Adventures in Public School.
Is Daniel Doheny gay?
Often when an actor plays a gay part, there’s a certain amount of questioning around that actor’s sexuality. However, Daniel has never spoken openly about his sexuality. Actually very little is known about the actor’s private life. He did, however, speak about his time in high school and dating, revealing, “I had enough on my plate in high school just trying to figure out how to date the people I wanted to date and not being able to. It’s such a mess. It’s a muddy, confusing, emotional time, I wanted to have sex as much as possible but I couldn’t get anybody to do it with me”.
The article does allude to Daniel identifying as a “straight kid”.
Daniel in the new Netflix film, Alex Strangelove
How tall is Daniel Doheny?
Daniel is 5 foot and 8 inches.
Does he have social media?
Daniel has a couple of social media accounts but isn’t particularly active. He is on Instagram at @dohenyd. On Twitter, his account is the same – @Dohenyd.
Where is Daniel Doheny from?
The 20-year-old star was born in Vancouver BC in Canada. He was born on the 13th December 1997, which makes him a Sagittarius.
Does Daniel have a partner?
There’s nothing to suggest from Daniel’s social media accounts that he is currently dating anyone and the rumour mills surrounding Daniel’s love life have been quiet, so far.
The MG3 comes in a 3 car model line up from £9495 for the base Explore to £12,795 for the Exclusive. MG has been slow and steady sellers and numbers on the road are beginning to increase. Recently the MG3 went through a facelift and it’s attractive changes that MG have made.
Is there any carryover from MG of old I hear you ask? The British have a thing for MG and there is no getting away from the fact that today’s MG has nothing to do with those of old except for the octagon badge. But is this a bad thing, or does it need that MG thing to make it a desirable car?
Driving
This is a bit of a letdown and shows that it isn’t like previous generations of MGs. For a twin cam 1.5 petrol with initials like VTI-TECH, you’d expect something a little lively. On the road, it turns out to be more leisurely than lively. You need to work the gearstick around a bit to get the best out of it.
The ride is what you would expect it to be and it’s not that bad. Due to the lack of engine excitement you’d probably not get to exploit its handling.
Inside
It’s pretty simple and basic where it needs to be. You need to remember that MG is still winning fans and price is key. Door cards, for example, are plain and simple and the dashboard as normal as you can get. That hasn’t stopped MG having some fun and the silver trim with silver printed tartan is a nice touch to break up the expanses of black.
The infotainment system is also simple to use, effective and nicely laid out. Some of the larger manufacturers could learn from this system.
Living With It
One of the nicest touches the MG3 comes with is hill hold control where for a brief moment in time, it’ll hold the brakes. For this price, it’s a rare treat.
It’s a small 5 door hatchback that does what you would expect a car to do and if that’s what you want, then you could live with this.
The lack of engine excitement does disappoint me somewhat. I’m sure underneath there is a better car waiting to shine. A bit like MG’s of old. So perhaps there is some of that old MG magic in there, somewhere.
The Verdict
For the money, you get a car. I can’t really jazz it up in any other way. That car is attractive in Exclusive guise. Explore comes with 14” steel wheels and is a little on the basic side visually.
Excite and Exclusive are probably where you’d want to spend your money.
What will probably sell this car more than its dynamics will be the 7 years or 80,000-mile warranty.
It is illegal to display any form of same-sex relations in several destinations and in extreme cases you could be arrested or sentenced to death. If you are part of the LGBT community, it is critical for you to be wary of such destinations when making travel plans. Ending up in a foreign jail doesn’t sound so pleasant. If your next holiday wish is around Asia, then you are in luck. There are several LGBT-friendly zones where you can enjoy the best vacay with your partner. Find the list below:
When Japan comes to mind, a traditional religious country flashes through my brain. Despite being a robust spiritual state under Shintoism, they don’t oppose any form of gay sexual activity. If asked, I would even say they commend it. A recent poll indicated that 54% of the citizens believe that people should be free to associate with whoever they want to sexually. Maybe the people are so open-minded because their forefathers practised it. In fact, in the 11th-century men would take other male lovers and sign brotherhood contracts for exclusivity. With the belief rooted in so deep, it is safe to conclude that Japan has been safe for the LGBT community for a while. It’s only a matter of time before political parties rise to create supportive laws.
Being gay, lesbian, transgender or bisexual is fully allowed in Cambodia. Everyone is permitted to have whichever sexual orientation and any sexual activity is permitted as long as both parties are consenting adults. They even have a traditional Khmer culture, which, tends to support gay people within the community. The culture recognises the male and female as equals under the term, (kteuy), and, also has a provision for a third gender in between (the Thai katoey).
In the year 2004, King Sihanouk publicly announced that he was impressed with same-sex marriages in San Francisco and would be willing to replicate the same laws in his country. Since then, several gay pride walks have been peacefully held. You can visit Cambodia almost any time of the year as the weather is nearly always perfect. However, we have to warn you that you may not want to leave this little heaven.
Before the year 2001, homosexuality was listed under types of mental illnesses in China. The LGBT community has similar legal rights as of other people with different sexual orientations. They are only allowed to practice any sexual activities in private as are the other people.
Similar to Japan, China has traces of homosexuality dating centuries back. In 1840, many emperors were believed to have had sexual relationships with the same-sex partners. This was way before the Western influence. The gay scene in China today is growing tremendously, with clubs, bars and saunas opening every other day. This is one excellent vacation stop to put on your bucket list.
As much as Indonesia is predominantly a strict Muslim region, Bali does not comply with the rules of the state. Bali feels like an entirely different state. The people there are free-spirited as they embrace all types of people regardless of their religion, sexual orientation, class, age or race.
Perhaps, being a top destination spot with tourists from every part of the world has forced the people there to embrace this new culture.
There are a bunch of gay clubs, the landscapes are breath-taking, the ocean is beautiful, and it is one of the best most affordable destinations in the world. A Bali vacation is always a good idea.
If you are gay and you are planning a vacation with your partner, you probably want a destination where no one will bat an eyelid if you hold hands. Phuket is the place for you. The rest of Thailand, however, is not so gay-friendly, there have been instances where gay tourists have been victims of assault from residents. In Asia most states are like this; part LGBT-friendly, part LGBT-hostile.
In Phuket, you will be completely safe. There is also an infamous Bangla Road, where gay pride walks, gay parties, and sex shows are popular. Make this your next holiday stop and you will not regret it.
Manila is completely LGBT-friendly. The most surprising thing is that the Philippines state is entirely religious. It is a traditional Catholic state, but we are lucky this doesn’t translate into oppression. The people there are very open-minded, I would say.
They accept people for who they are without being judgmental. The place is also very affordable, the flights, hotels, restaurants, and activities. In addition to all this, the scenery is spectacular, food exquisitely mouth-watering and it has an abundance of things to do.
We can’t leave out the most recent country in Asia to ban sexual discrimination against sexual orientation. Taiwan despite its political controversies with China claiming it as its own, is the safest place for the LGBT community. They have a Taiwan gay pride, which is held annually in October and tourists from all over the world attend. Last year alone, it had over 120,000 event attendants. This is one of the most liberal countries in Asia with an overflow of activities for the LGBT community. Now you can start packing!
The other Asian countries that are taking great steps towards accepting the LGBT community are Vietnam, South Korea, Nepal and Israel among others. We hope soon more and more states adopt the same attitude towards LGBT+ people.
You should steer clear off Bangladesh where same-sex sexual activities are punishable by life imprisonment. Bhutan and Pakistan also criminalise same-sex sexual relationships. The worst is the Maldives where a guilty individual could be punished by death. Now you know where to go when planning your next vacay. May you and your partner have the best vacation!
In a tweet, Owen Jones has called upon the Natural History Museum to cancel an event hosted by the Saudi Embassy.
(C) National History Musemn
According to Guardian Journalist, Owen Jones, the Saudi Embassy is to hold an event at the Natural History Museum tonight. He called upon the museum to cancel the event saying, “The Saudi dictatorship is massacring thousands in Yemen and is currently accused of kidnapping and murdering a journalist.”
Saudi Arabia is also one of the countries where being gay can still attract the death penalty for those found guilty.
It’s been leaked to me that the Natural History Museum is hosting a reception for the Saudi Embassy tonight, 7-9pm.
The Saudi dictatorship is massacring thousands in Yemen and is currently accused of kidnapping and murdering a journalist.@NHM_London must cancel and apologise. pic.twitter.com/1ogRDyHTEE
The Natural History Museum, which sees 5.2 million people pass through its doors every year, is often used to host charity and gala events in its iconic building in London.
Amnesty International notes,
“Women and girls continued to face discrimination in law and practice, despite the government’s promised reforms. Women were required to have permission from a male guardian – their father, husband, brother or son – to enrol in higher education, seek employment, travel or marry. They also remained inadequately protected against sexual and other forms of violence”
“Courts continued to impose death sentences for a range of crimes, including drug offences or for conduct that under international standards should not be criminalized, such as “sorcery” and “adultery”. Many defendants were sentenced to death after unfair trials by courts that convicted them without adequately investigating allegations of coerced “confessions”, including under torture.”
Commercial events bring an “important source of external funding”
Speaking to THEGAYUK.com a spokesperson for the museum said,
“The Natural History Museum was booked by the Saudi embassy over two months ago as a venue for an external event to celebrate Saudi Arabia Day. No Museum staff are attending as guests or speaking at the event.
“Enabling commercial events to take place outside of public opening hours in our iconic spaces brings the Museum an important source of external funding, which allows us to maintain our position as a world class scientific research centre and visitor attraction. We hold a wide variety of commercial events and it is made clear to any host that doing so is not an endorsement of their product, service or views.
“We have an Ethics Policy and a Third Party Engagement Policy. These policies are publicly available on the Museum’s website.”
“We appreciate that this looks like tit for tat, and it is”
(C) PERFOCAL
Perfocal, a photographer booking agency just refused service to the Ashers Bakery following on from the UK Supreme Court ruling yesterday which said that the bakery had not discriminated against a customer because of his sexuality, but because of the political message, he had asked the cake, “Support Gay Marriage” to be emblazoned with.
Perfocal enables members of the public to book photographers in major UK cities is, after learning of the details of a job they were booked for, refusing to share the photographs taken with The Christian Institute, a charity and lobby group supporting the owners of a Northern Irish bakery at the centre of a discrimination row.
Charity and lobby group The Christian Institute, paying the legal fees for the family that owned the bakery, used a photographer booking website to capture the moments before and after the case was heard. With estimated legal fees of £450,000 between both parties, the £36.50 cake has been described as ‘the most expensive cake in UK history’.
Private companies can accept bookings and then cancel if it offends their sensibilities.
The founder of the photographer booking website, Perfocal.com, has said in a statement on the company’s blog that the photographer booked on the day has been paid in full for their time by Perfocal, and the Christian Institute has been refunded. The Christian Institute paid for a 3-hour photography session, photo edit, all photos and extra for a 24-hour turnaround as opposed to the company’s usual 48-hour service. The statement made is within that 24-hour period, and the customer has been contacted.
The statement, including details of the £239 (+ £28 for rush delivery) booking, can be read here
In a statement, Tony Xu, the founder of the photographer booking site Perfocal.com said,
“It’s been accepted in the highest court in the UK that private companies can accept bookings and then, if they feel that it goes against their morals, refuse that booking if it offends their sensibilities and it not be counted as discriminatory.
“We appreciate that this looks like tit for tat, and it is. We had no idea what the case was when the booking was made – we simply see the basic information, date, time, location. When our photographer on the ground learned what it was while doing the job, they felt immediately uncomfortable with the situation, as many members of the public are, but remained professional. As soon as I found out though, I realised this was an opportunity to highlight exactly why this kind of result is damaging. This isn’t just about standing up against discrimination, I hope our stance serves as an example of exactly where this kind of judgement could lead us. Where does it end?”
In the blog statement, Xu highlighted that the company is ‘proud to have been booked for many religious ceremonies’, including Christian, Jewish and Muslim celebrations and same-sex weddings, including high-profile individuals, and that they welcome customers from all backgrounds.
Adam Lambert will star alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Meghan Trainor in a brand new movie.
Adam Lambert has been named alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Meghan Trainor, Anya Taylor-Joy, Gabriel Bateman and Jim Gaffigan in the voice cast of new animated-live action hybrid movie Playmobil: The Movie.
Adam Lambert will also sing an original song for the film, which is due out next year and voice the character of villain ‘Emperor Maximus’.
Last month, Queen and Adam Lambert completed 10-show Vegas residency ‘The Crown Jewels’.
He is currently finishing up recording his fourth solo album. Adam’s last solo album, The Original High, was a top 10 hit in the UK and took his overall worldwide sales to over 3 million units.
