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  • Brands are under pressure to drop Mail Online advertising after shocking Richard Littlejohn column

    Some of the UK’s biggest brands are under pressure to stop advertising in the Daily Mail and Mail Online after one of its columnists wrote a scathing piece about Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black’s baby announcement.

    “Pass the sick bag…”

    Richard Littlejohn has written a column entitled, ‘Please don’t pretend two dads is the new normal’ in which he blasts the parents to be Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black for announcing that they are expectant fathers.

    In the column, Littlejohn firstly questions who the mother is. Then goes on to ask, what role of the mother will play in their child’s life and who the sperm donor is.

    ALSO READ: OPINION | The “mother” of all questions, who is Tom Daley’s surrogate mother?

    Littlejohn then goes on to slam a transgender woman for becoming the first trans woman in the world to be able to breastfeed a child, born to her partner, who did not wish to breastfeed the child.

    He misgenders the woman numerous times and describes the move as a selfish demand of “adults being given priority over the best interests of the unborn child”.

    He writes,

    “For a start, this person is described as a woman, but has had no surgery to transition from a man. Sorry, but I’m with Germaine Greer — someone in possession of a full set of wedding tackle is a man, not a woman.

    Secondly, if this is his/her baby, did he/she fertilise the egg in the traditional fashion? On third thoughts, let’s not go there”.

    Brands questioned

    Brands such as Jet2, Calvin Klein, Quorn and Natwest have all had their brands advertised next to or under the content on the web version of the newspaper.

    The Daily Mail was urged to fire Richard Littlejohn by over 200,000 people in 2013 after a piece he wrote “monstered” transgender school teacher, Lucy Meadows, who sadly committed suicide shortly after her transition.

    StopFundingHate a UK pressure group whose campaign focuses on changing the media via its advertisers have called upon Quorn, Natwest, Visa and VisitNorway to answer on whether they were happy that their brands were effectively funding the content on the MailOnline.

    The ads placed on the column are provided by a system called InRead, by Teads, an inventor of native video advertising.

    UPDATE: Both Center Parcs and Southbank have pulled their advertising spend for the Daily Mail.

    THEGAYUK.com has reached out to Quorn, Natwest, Visa, Jet2 for comment.

  • OPINION | The “mother” of all questions, who is Tom Daley’s baby’s surrogate mother?

    It’s none of your god-damn business.

    On Valentine’s Day, Tom Daley and husband, Dustin Lance Black announced to the world that they were expecting a baby. The announcement from Dustin (on Instagram – how modern) simply said, “happy valentines, from ours to yours” and included an ultrasound picture of their child.

    It wasn’t long before questions about the child’s mother were being raised, both on social and mainstream media. LBC Radio Tweeted a question on whether it was sinister, while one of its presenters Shelagh Fogarty wrote, “No mention of the womb and the woman or women making this possible. Nice.”

    LBC ended up apologising for the tone of its question and deleting the Tweet.

    Katie Hopkins suggested that the baby was “bought” to fix their marriage…

    Even Richard Littlejohn, Daily Mail columnist whined, “We are not told her identity, where she lives, or even when the baby is due. She is merely the anonymous incubator.

    What an incredibly creepy line of questioning Rich.

    You know what Shelagh, Richard, Katie et al., it’s none of your business who the mother is or indeed whose sperm is used. And you know, it’s not that confusing. There are millions of children in the world without a mother, a father or either, but are raised in a variety of ways. As long as there is love, food, protection, warmth and education children will survive and grow up to be productive members of society.

    Don’t let facts get in the way…

    The simple truth is that we don’t know the facts. You don’t even know the first thing about their relationship. Only what they choose to share.

    Let’s pause for a moment and think about the invasive questions or assumptions being made, especially because these two parents happen to be male. With an opposite-sex couple would you ever dream of asking the parents to be, the intimate conception details – like: Did you use a sperm donor? Did you use IVF? How long did you try?

    Those questions are answers to be offered at the parents’ own will, not questions you have the right to ask.

    You have to ask yourself why on earth do you want to know. How is it going to affect your life? I’d wager… not a dot.

    For all we know, the mother didn’t want to be acknowledged. Maybe she wanted anonymity.

    For all we know, Tom and Dustin aren’t using a surrogate. It could be that they adopted an yet unborn child.

    Stop making your assumptions and just get on with your life.

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

  • Catholic group criticises Tom Daley for baby news

    “Tom Daley’s baby will be deliberately deprived of a mother”

    Without knowing any of the facts surrounding the birth of a baby for Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black, a spokesperson for the  Catholic pressure group, Catholic Voices has described the decision for Tom and Dustin to have a child is depriving the baby of a mother and its loss of identity.

    Neither Tom or Dustin have announced whether a mother will be involved in the upbringing of their child, nor have they released any details on whether they are using a surrogate mother.

    It’s also not known whether the mother involved has asked for anonymity.

    On Valentine’s Day, both Tom and Dustin released a picture of an ultrasound, featuring a baby. The news was met with both praise and horrendous homophobia.

    Elizabeth Howard from Catholic Voices told news outlet, Christian Today, “A baby is always a blessing and someone of inestimable value.

    “However, Tom Daley’s baby will be deliberately deprived of a mother, and no matter how much Tom Daley and his partner love the baby, it will not make up for the enormous loss inflicted on him or her.”

    Ms Howard describes herself as a “donor-conceived person” and said that growing up without her genetic parent meant she felt a “huge loss of identity” and had a sense of “not belonging”.

    Catholic Voices describes itself as a project to “improve the Church’s representation in the media”.

    Why are the Christians so obsessed with Tom Daley?

    This isn’t the first time a Christian based group has criticised Tom Daley.  In 2016 an article claimed that Tom was “seduced into sodomy” after the tragic death of his father.

    The article by Stephen Green argued, that a “degree in psychology” wasn’t needed to work out why Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black were in a relationship together.

    Stephen Green wrote, “Tom Daley, he was seduced into sodomy by an older man, not very long after the untimely death of his beloved father.  You don’t need a degree in psychology to work out what’s going on there.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • CAR REVIEW | Volkswagen Arteon R-Line

    ★★★★☆ | Volkswagen Arteon R-Line

    The Avant-Garde Fastback With A Name To Match.

    I wrote recently about Volkswagens Passat. I said it was a nice car. Indeed it is. Nothing nasty about it. All quite nice.

    I almost mentioned what Passat had done to offend the UK buyer – delete the hatchback option. Unlike our European cousins, we Brits do love a hatchback. So when it was discontinued in 1988 many suburbs of England tutted loudly with disgust. The result was those who wanted a hatchback for tip runs and garden centre expeditions went over to Ford and Vauxhall to get their fill of the lift back.

    VW now want to rectify that by giving us the Arteon. Is that how you say it? Art-e-on? Ar-Teon? Air-ton? It was said to me in as many different ways as there are languages in the world. However you pronounce it, it is a car to puzzle over.

    NEXT: Inside The Car

    Inside the cockpit, it is pretty much pure Passat. The usual three time clocks to look at in the front, none in the rear. Switchgear and controls etc are all pure Passat. Even on the move, it is Passat with that nice feel about it.

    Thankfully it is a little more than Passat nice. For a start, the designers have given it pillar-less doors. For some reason, a pillar-less door adds some sex appeal. And the front has been given a more purposeful look with both upper and lower grills integrated into one massive mouth. Sadly from some angles, it can look a little Audi-ish.

    All the fun for the British buyer is at the back. Forget the massive amounts of legroom you now get over the Passat sibling for the moment. Your prayers have been answered, you have a boot that lifts up high. High up into the sky to reveal a load capacity of epic size and all in a hatchback style body that VW would rather you refer to as an avant-garde fastback saloon style. It is deceptive. Design wise you do expect it to be another saloon. It was only when l went to lift the boot that l realised something was wrong. It’s a big heavy door to lift. It took me by surprise at first. The ‘nice’ was being eroded.

    NEXT: The Drive

  • Will Young has something to tell you about his pop career

    Done… Dusted… ?

    Will Young, the first ever winner of Pop Idol in the UK, has said that he may never return to his pop career. Instead, he’s said he is considering a job as a psychotherapist, a teacher or a gardener.

    Will doesn’t miss his pop career at all and has said that he may never return to it despite releasing six hit studio albums. He had a string of hits in the early noughties including, “Leave Right Now” and “Light My Fire” both of which reached number 1 in the UK. Speaking to the Press Association, he said,  “I don’t miss it, not at all.

    “It’s not right for this time in my life. I don’t look back at it with negativity.

    “I don’t know if I will go back to it or not, this is what I’m doing at the moment, but I might become a psychotherapist, a teacher or a gardener.”

    But he will be returning to the stage as he’s about to star in the West End show, Strictly Ballroom, which starts on the 29th March 2018 at the Piccadilly Theatre.

    So would you have Will Young digging up your weeds?

     

  • Cheyenne Jackson bares all in raunchy X rated film

    OH MY…

    Out actor and American Horror Story star Cheyenne Jackson just got our hearts aflutter. In his latest film, Hello Again, he’s seen in all his glory having a proper old romp with his male co-star Tyler Blackburn.

    The pair are seen completely starkers, rolling around together in what looks like an incredibly hot moment between the two actors. Although they did it in front of an audience of 30! That might be a turn on for some, but for Cheyenne it was “super weird”.

    Speaking to Billboard about filming the scene, Jackson said, “It’s super weird and awkward because in life, it would just be you and that other person. And not 30 other people standing around. You have to let go of your self-consciousness as much as you can. And your vanity. I can’t worry about what my ass looks like in the shot — my ass looks like what it looks like. So let’s just get into character and let’s just kinda really commit to what I’m singing or what I’m thinking about in this scene. In American Horror Story: Hotel, three years ago, I did my first nude scene ever at 40. So, you know, whatever.”

    See the NotSafeFW pictures CLICK HERE

  • When is Dale Winton’s Florida Fly Drive on TV?

    Dale Winton is returning to our screens in a brand new programme called, Dale Winton’s Florida Fly Drive.

    Is Dale Winton gay

    Dale Winton is showing the world his travelling skills as he embarks on a 1500 mile journey around Florida, US. Taking in the sites and sounds of all that Florida has to offer.

    The new show is on Channel 5 on Thursday nights at 9 PM.

    Who is Dale Winton?

    Dale Winton is probably most famous for his stint as a daytime telly presenter. The programme, Dale’s Supermarket Sweep catapulted him to fame in the early to mid-1990s. The show ran from 1993 to 2007. After the programme ended he also presented, In It To Win It and Hole in The Wall. He’s also worked in radio and has appeared in various charity TV shows.

    Is Dale Winton Gay?

    Yes, Dale Winton is openly gay. He wrote about being gay in his 2002 autobiography My Story. In the book, he revealed that he never told his mum that he was gay before she died from suicide, which it has been said is something that he regretted. Although he is gay, he’s not open about his relationship status. It is known that a break up of a relationship did cause him to suffer from long-term depression.

    When asked why he came out as gay so late, he told The Times that he had remained in the closet for so long because the subject never came up – or anyone asked him in interviews.

    Is Dale Winton Married

    Is Dale Winton Married?

    As far as we know, Dale is not married. However, Dale has spoken about his depression after breaking up with a partner. In 2016 he revealed that some of it was related to the breakup of that relationship.

    What else?

    In May 2016, in a surprising move for some, Dale admitted that he had fallen for Donald Trump during his presidential campaign – and felt compassion for the now president. He revealed himself to be something of a fan for Us politics. Drawing a comparison to his and Donald’s tan he said, “As one who has spent his entire professional life being ridiculed for my ‘fluorescent tanned complexion’, I felt compassion for the man before he even uttered a single word.”

    Dale also said that he thought that Mr Trump was “truly authentic” and “fearless” and praised his battle against political correctness.

     

     

  • Blackpool Tower did something amazing for this couple’s proposal

    Get your hanky ready…

    Darren and Daniel got engaged yesterday, on Valentine’s nights in front of the world’s famous Blackpool Tower. The couple, Darren, 30 and Daniel, 18 spent the day at their favourite seaside town, before Darren got down on one knee and proposed to his now fiance.

    To celebrate the happy couple’s good news, The Blackpool Tower turned the lights to rainbow colours and put their names in the giant love heart light at the front of the Grade 1 listed building.

    Darren, 30, said, “It was a magical evening. We have a strong affinity with Blackpool, it’s where we spent our New Year’s Eve so it only feels right to get down on one knee at our favourite spot in the resort.”

    The pair were then treated to an intimate champagne reception at The Blackpool Tower, something they’ve always dreamed of but never been able to do.

    Darren added, “I’m so thankful to the team for going out of their way and making this Valentine’s Day even more special.

    Daniel and Darren were one of five couples chosen by The Blackpool Tower to have their name blazoned on the side of the iconic Blackpool landmark. Each of the couples was then treated to a special romantic evening at The Blackpool Tower.

    Kenny Mew, the general manager at The Blackpool Tower, said: “We are thrilled that we could be on hand to help the happy couple celebrate their engagement. I would like to pass on my congratulations from all the team here.

    “We have hundreds of people that come to The Blackpool Tower every year to propose. With over 123 years of history, The Blackpool Tower has such a special place in a lot of peoples’ hearts. You simply can’t find another more romantic venue quite like here anywhere else in the country!”

    The Blackpool Tower Eye also offers special engagement packages, perfect for those wanting to make their proposal extra special. The package includes access to The Blackpool Tower Eye as well as a bottle of bubbly, handpicked bunch of roses and chocolates to celebrate.

  • Gay Police Association changes its name to Scottish LGBTI Police Association

    The Scottish LGBT+ policing group has changed its name.

    The GPA (Gay Police Association) has changed its name to a more inclusive Scottish LGBTI Police Association. The changes include changing the official Facebook URL and name.

    Along with the name change, the old GPA logo will disappear and will be replaced with a new logo.

    The change has come to mark LGBT History Month. Every February it is LGBT History Month in the UK.

    A statement from the association’s website states,

    “Our Association has a long and proud history spanning 27 years…

    “At our AGM in 2016, members took part in an exercise in order to review how the Association was structured, the Aims and Objectives, what could be improved and examine ways to encourage membership engagement and inclusion.

    “Following the 2016 AGM, a number of recommendations came to light which would form the basis for a “Re-structuring Strategy”. Following 12 months of discussion within the Executive Committee, the Strategy became a proposal which was passed at the 2017 AGM.

    “This is far more than simply a name change and re-branding. A new General Board will replace the former Executive Committee. The Association will now include Transgender and Intersex as well as LGB. The Aims and Objectives have been replaced with a simple Mission Statement backed up with key priorities. There will be a new focus on localism with the creation of Local Coordinators. We will retain important aspects including our independence and remain an association of members.”

    The full change over is due to happen on the 16th February 2018.

  • Tom Daley and Dustin face horrendous homophobic abuse after baby announcement

    Moments after Olympic Diver Tom Daley and husband Dustin Lance Black announced that they are expectant fathers, the trolls come out in force.

    CREDIT: TOM DALEY / DUSTIN LANCE BLACK / INSTAGRAM / TWITTER

    Despite the news that Tom Daley and his husband are expecting a baby, some on social media couldn’t hide their contempt for the gay fathers to be.

     

     

    The loved-up pair are apparently due to become fathers. They both shared an ultrasound picture of an unborn baby on their social media profiles. Along with the picture Dustin, 43, captioned it, A very happy #ValentinesDay from ours to yours.” He included the two male and child emoji in the message.

    Tom released a photo to coincide with husband’s picture and wished his followers a Happy Valentine’s as well.

    The pair were married last year have talked about starting a family.

    Speaking on BBC Question Time, Dustin said, “I’m here from the United States of America. I didn’t get to vote on Brexit, because in this country because I fell in love.

    “Because I call it home and because I hope to raise a family here.”

  • Can lesbians call themselves “gay”?

    What’s in a label? Some women who love women love the term lesbian while some, prefer the term gay, so which is right?

    It turns out both.

    A Quora user asked whether she could say she was gay rather than use the term lesbian and people were quick to suggest that either was acceptable – however there may be some, who according to user Robert Pfaff who might be “vehement about the distinction”.

    Chrys Jordan helpfully added, “If you are a woman who likes other women, you can call yourself a gay woman or a lesbian, or both.”

    Lily added, “You can absolutely say you’re gay. That’s your choice and I think we all know what gay means. It’s about what you think and feel about yourself.”

    What does Lesbian mean?

    What does lesbian mean?

    The dictionary defines Lesbian as a “homosexual woman”. The late 19th-century-word “lesbian” originates from the Greek word, Lesbios from Lesbos, which was the home of Sappho, who wrote poetry about her affection for other women.

    Lesbian when used as an adjective about the people of Lesbos, describes someone from the island of Lesbos.

    GLAAD defines the term lesbian as, “A woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay (adj.) or as gay women”.

    We asked readers of THEGAYUK.com on Twitter for their reaction… Here are the results:

     

    We are in the age of self-identifying and definition – so ultimately define yourself in whatever way makes you feel comfortable.

    What do you think? Use the comments below to have your say.

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