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  • Government to “de-medicalise” the transition process

    The UK’s Government has announced radical new plans to “streamline and de-medicalise” the process by which transgender people can have their gender legally recognised quicker and easier.

    Today Justine Greening, the Minister for Women and Equalities announced plans that would end the medical process by which trans people must currently navigate in order to legally change their gender. In the announcement laid out today, people will no longer need a diagnosis of gender dysphoria or to prove that they have been in transition for two years before they can apply to legally change their gender.

    Minister for Women and Equalities Justine Greening said,

    “This government is committed to building an inclusive society that works for everyone, no matter what their gender or sexuality and today we’re taking the next step forward.

    “We will build on the significant progress we have made over the past 50 years, tackling some of the historic prejudices that still persist in our laws and giving LGBT people a real say on the issues affecting them.”

    Removing stigma from the Gender Recognition Act

    The consultation on the Gender Recognition Act, to be published in the Autumn will look to improve the recognition process and reduce the stigma faced by the trans community. Proposals will include, removing the need for medical diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which is currently necessary in order to change a person’s legal gender. Proposals for streamlining the entire process will also be discussed.

    Trans advocate and Labour party candidate in East Worthing and Shoreham in the 2017 General Election Sophie Cook applauded the cross-party approach saying,

    “The Gender Recognition Act forces people to jump through hoops and undergo deeply personal and intimate examination of their life including medical evidence and, if you’re married, a declaration from your spouse in order to gain a Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC).

    Since I transitioned in 2015 I have faced prejudice, abuse and even death threats and it’s time for Parliament to recognise the challenges that trans people face and work to eradicate bigotry in all of its forms.

    Despite, very obviously, being my true self and living my life in my true gender I do not have a GRC.

    My passport, driving license and all other documents identify me as female and yet under the law without a GRC my rights could potentially be in danger.

    There have been cases of trans women losing their lives because the lack of a GRC placed them in harm’s way, most notably inside our prison system.

    In the Labour manifesto we recognised that the act was out of date and pledged to change it and I’m pleased to see that the government is moving ahead with this reform.

    Everyone should be afforded the right to self-identification, no doctor, judge or politician can presume to know more about an individuals identity than they do themselves.”

     

  • Mel and Sue to bring back the Generation Game

    Mel and Sue are to present one of the most anticipated reboots of Saturday evening television.

    Bigger and better than ever before, the much-loved family gameshow The Generation Game is returning to our screens for a four episode run with Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins running proceedings.

    This classic show, from BBC Studios, combines elements everyone knows and loves from the original series, whilst being brought up to date with a hilarious selection of brand new games and challenges for families of all ages to play in studio and enjoy watching at home.

    Pairs of family members across generations will battle it out in a series of fun performance and task based games with the ultimate goal of facing the legendary conveyor belt, and taking home an array of fabulous prizes.

    All our family pairs will start the show in the studio audience and only find out which game they’re playing when Mel and Sue get them from their seats. There’s no time for rehearsals in this game show, so anything could happen on the night.

    Mel and Sue are joined by a panel of star judges, there to score our family pairs after each game and ultimately decide which pair faces the conveyor belt.

    Furthermore, special celebrity guests will be getting involved in the action along the way.

    Mel Giedroyc and Sue Perkins say,

    “It’s a cuddly toy, it’s a toaster, it’s a circular power saw, no it’s MEL AND SUE DOING THE GENERATION GAME! We can’t believe it, we are so excited!”

     

    LGBT PAY GAP at BBC

    There was a remarkable lack of lesbian, bisexual and trans personalities featured when the BBC revealed its annual report, which, in-turn revealed the salaries of 96 of the best-paid talents at the BBC. However, the list only covered talent that is directly paid for by the BBC and not by independent production companies.

    Mel and Sue were hosts of one of the BBC’s most popular formats, Great British Bake Off, but as the show is made by Love Productions the salaries of presenters and contributors like Mary Berry were left off the annual report.

    The Great British Bake Off was sold to Channel 4 earlier this year, but the new show will not be hosted by Mel and Sue. The Channel 4 show will be co-hosted by Sandi Toksvig.

     

    Bringing Back An Icon

    Charlotte Moore, Director of Content, says

    “The Generation Game is an iconic BBC One show, so to be able to bring it back for today’s audience with Mel and Sue overseeing things is a wonderful moment for the channel.”

    Kate Phillips, Controller Entertainment Commissioning, said,

    “We’re so thrilled to be bringing back this much loved show to BBC One. With the marvellous Mel and Sue at the helm, it promises to be a real treat for all generations.”

    Guy Freeman, Editor, Special Events and Formats BBC Studios, says,

    “When asked, this is the TV show that viewers most wanted to see back on their screens and so we are thrilled to be able to make that happen with Mel and Sue, who I know will have just as much fun hosting it as contestants will playing it.”

    The show has been co-commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of Content, and Kate Phillips, Controller, Entertainment Commissioning and is made by BBC Studios’, the BBC’s main commercial production arm. Nic McNeilis is the Executive Producer for BBC Studios.

    The Generation Game began on BBC One in 1971 and its longest-serving host was Sir Bruce Forsyth.

     

  • DVD REVIEW | Interior Leather Bar

    ★★★ | Interior Leather Bar

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

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

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

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

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

    Available to buy / view on: Amazon

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Twilight Song, Park Theatre, London

    ★★ | Twilight Song

    THEATRE REVIEW | Twilight Song, Park Theatre, London

    You know a show doesn’t make much sense, when, after seeing it, you and your friends don’t agree on what you’ve all just seen. To say Twilight Song is a bit confusing is putting it mildly.

    Now playing at the Park Theatre in Finsbury Park, is the late British playwright Kevin Elyot’s final play. Elyot, who wrote the award winning and very successful play My Night with Reg: (which was turned into a film in 1997), died in 2014, finishing Twilight Song right before he passed away. But the play itself is not a very good testament as a cap on his career – it’s a show muddled with characters and storylines that go back and forth in time that unfortunately raises more questions than answers in a play that’s a very very short 75 minutes.

    Most of Elyot’s plays have direct gay themes or gay undertones (My Night with Reg was very similar to the groundbreaking 1969 film Boys in the Band), and Twilight Song is no exception. In a nutshell, it’s a play about a middle aged man Basil (Paul Higgins) who lives in a North London terraced house (with an unfinished balcony) with his mother Isabella (Bryony Hannah) in the present day. Flash back to 1967 and Isabella is pregnant. But in both the present and the past (to and including a scene set in 1961), the family has secrets, secrets that they keep to themselves, and even secrets that they do not want to admit to themselves. Basil (Paul Higgins) pays an estate agent (Adam Garcia) money, not for a real estate transaction, but for sex, which happens too suddenly and out of the blue and out of character. Then Isabella unrealistically falls into the arms of the gardener (Garcia again). Meanwhile her uncle Harry (Philip Bretherton) pines for Charles (Hugh Ross), but Charles is broke because he is being swindled by a hustler (Garcia again). Twilight Song takes us all too rapidly through this family’s 50-year history too quickly. Throw in some cock talk, the unknown origin of blood on the sofa, and a very very short running time, and it doesn’t leave us much time to get to know the characters and their motivations. Director Anthony Banks gets excellent use of his actors who all give fine performances, and a set design that’s true to its time (though an annoyingly loud refrigerator in their kitchen really serves no purpose and destroys the play’s tension), but it’s the storyline that doesn’t add up, and it’s shame because it is Elyot’s last work, and it’s being poorly received.

    Another one of Elyot’s plays, Coming Clean, will have a revival at the King’s Head Theatre later this year, so perhaps hold out for that one if you can.

     

    Twilight Song plays at the Park Theatre until 12th August 2017 

  • Celebrity Big Brother 2017 has a launch date

    The Channel 5 bods have announced a Celebrity Big Brother launch date and a rather snazzy new eye logo.

    The Big Brother house is undergoing a complete redesign ready for its new star guests. It will become a high-end retreat inspired by celeb hotel hang-outs.

    But while the celebs kick back and let their hair down, Big Brother never takes a day off – after all, he wants to ensure that the celebrities will have an experience that they will NEVER forget!

    Celebrity Big Brother’s Bit On the Side will return weeknights with Rylan Clark-Neal. Joining him will be a variety of celebrity panellists, talking heads and an audience of CBB fans to debate hot topics, reveal exclusives and go behind the scenes of the main show.

    The new show launches on the 1st August at 9PM Channel 5

  • Ten stress busting life hacks

    Top 10 stress busting ideas to get you feeling on top of the world and ready to take on any situation.

    1) Breathing.

    via GIPHY

    It sounds silly as we do it automatically every few seconds of every day. I guess because if we didn’t then we wouldn’t have any stresses at all to worry about! Though I still often hear the phrase, “don’t forget to breathe” and why because when we panic we take short little breaths which can make us feel tight and agitated. So when you find yourself in a stressful situation do two things for me. One – Close your eyes. Two – Take in a deep breath to at least the count of six or seven, then control your out breath to a count of ten or eleven. Then repeat. IF YOU START TO FEEL DIZZY STOP! The closed eyes will allow you to focus on your breath and your breathing will help slow and calm the body allowing you to regroup to tackle any problems.

    2) Go for a walk.

    via GIPHY

    If you’re in the office then leave your desk and take a walk around the office, be it to the coffee machine or to the toilets. If you’re on a lunch break then try to leave the building. Fresh air and a different surrounding will really help to take away any work related stresses. Even if you have a deadline approaching a quick five mins walk can help save more time in the long run when you come back refreshed.

    3) Eating.

    via GIPHY

    What are you eating and when? Try not to skip meals like breakfast or lunch. Starving the body means it will fight for you attention and when you have a boss fighting for your attention also you don’t need the extra stress of a flagging body! When you do eat try to have something balanced. A good bowl of fruit and cereal for breakfast then a pasta lunch will do you wonders. Don’t replace meals with fizzy drinks or chocolate snacks as they’ll give you a five minute rush then you’ll feel more tired than you started.

    4) Ditch the phone.

    Having yourself available for contact 24hrs a day is not good for your health. You need ‘you time’. Switch off the phone for an hour in the evenings and treat yourself to spending some time with yourself or a loved one. When a phone is switched off you don’t have to worry about life outside of you. If it’s important they can leave a message. I also urge to ditch the phone whilst sleeping. Turn it off and leave in another room, or if it’s your alarm clock then put it as far away from you in the room. Give the brain some time to relax from the positive energies of the phone that still engulf a room when not in use.

    5) Drink.

    Most of us like a good drink now and then. If anything we all think we may drink a bit too much. I know I do, yet I try to convince myself it’s to help me unwind, to help me relax. True, in moderation! If you’re drinking a bottle of wine a night then it’s likely you won’t be getting a good nights sleep and feel groggy in the morning. Tonight why not ditch the bottle and have a peppermint tea instead? It has no caffeine so won’t keep you awake!

    6) Sex.

    Yes, it can be a great relaxant. A good steamy session or even some quality alone time can help muscles to relax and relieve some tension from the body. However please be careful as sex can also cause a lot of stress to your life if you’re having it unprotected and with people you don’t know. A trip to the GUM clinic is not going to help you achieve a more relaxed you!

    7) Chocolate.

    via GIPHY

    Yes I know I said chocolate and fizzy drinks are bad, but only if they are replacements for your main meals. A little nibble of chocolate (though for me if it’s open, it’s gone!) can give you a little life buzz. It’s these little buzzes that help us to enjoy life.

    8) Smiling.

    via GIPHY

    It’s true! If you smile you instantly feel better. Go on try it now and prove me wrong. Think of anything that makes you smile. For me there’s a whole bank of ‘smile moments’ in my life, mostly at the expense of family members, sometimes at myself, such as the time I walked into a glass door whilst trying to enter a bar in NY. I may have had a bit to drink and missed the sign that said push but nose first I left an imprint like an owl does when it’s hit a window at night. My eyes were certainly as wide!

    9) Massage.

    via GIPHY

    Having someone else rub oils all over your body and rub all the built up tension dirt from inside your muscles away is fantastic. I love it. Then again I just like being touched and It can sometimes be a great lead up to tension busting tip number 6. However not everyone is as free with their bodies, so if you hate the idea of someone else’s sweaty palms prodding you all over then try this. Take a tennis ball and place it on the back of a chair and roll your back over it. This also works for rolling your feet over it to relieve any foot stresses.

    10) Hot Bath & Candles.

    via GIPHY

    Sounds like a cliché but really can do the trick. I love a hot bath filled with fiery spices, light a couple of tee lights and turn the lights off. No phone nearby, no glass of wine, no partner wanting to get frisky, just you, the bath, and your deep thoughts. Breath in for six and out for ten, let your mind be free to wander. Breathing. In and out. Stresses of work, relationships, family will try to take over your clearing head as you breath in and out. In and out. The best advice I was ever given was when a thought enters you head don’t worry about it appearing, just let it drift away as it drifted in. Breath in and out. Let you thoughts evaporate into the steam of the bath. In and out. You have no worries. You have no stresses. You are enjoying the simplicity of life. Enjoy…

  • First trans actor in EastEnders sad that the character didn’t get “happy ending”

    Riley Carter Millington is “disappointed” his ‘EastEnders’ character didn’t get a “happy ending” and a chance to lead a “normal life”.

    The 23-year-old actor played Kyle Slater in the BBC soap between 2015 and 2016 and was the first transgender man to play a regular transgender character on a British soap.

    However, Riley felt “frustrated” that his character didn’t get a chance to have a “normal life”.

    He told The Sun,

    “I was disappointed it was not shown that Kyle had a normal life. He had the big coming-out story and it was dramatic and emotional, but we didn’t get to see a happy ending, like a relationship of any sort other than the reunion with his half-sister, Stacey. It was frustrating. I felt I let myself and the fans down as I could have pushed for something. It’s a shame to have gay characters and then you have to say goodbye.”

    When Riley quit EastEnders, he revealed the reason for his departure was because producers believed his character Kyle’s story had reached a “natural end”.

    He said at the time,

    “When I landed a six-month contract at EastEnders it was a dream come true. For that to be extended to a year was something I never expected.

    “However, as the time comes for Kyle to depart Walford I am looking forward to taking on new roles and who knows, Kyle may find his way back to Walford one day.”

    When he was cast in the role, Riley admitted he had achieved his two biggest dreams.

    He shared,

    “I am extremely excited to be joining ‘EastEnders’. I can honestly say that I have now fulfilled my two biggest dreams – to be living my life as a man and to be an actor. I cannot wait to really get stuck in with filming and I look forward to seeing what is in store for my character.”

  • Greyson Chance comes out as gay

    Singer Greyson Chance who was discovered aged just 12 after doing a school performance of the Lady Gaga song Paparazzi has come out as gay aged 19.

    http://gty.im/531343320

    Chance who was signed by Ellen Degeneres’s record company after appearing on the show soon after his video was released and went viral has taken to Instagram to confirm his sexuality. Talking on the social media site and sharing a rainbow picture, he said

    “I came to fully recognize that I was gay when I was sixteen. I decided not to publicize my sexuality largely due to a matter of privacy, as I was still trying to find comfort and confidence within my own skin”

    Chance who has a steady following on social media took the decision to talk about his sexuality after a message from a fan inspired him come out and share his sexuality with his followers.

    You can read the full post from Greyson Chance on his Instagram here and see his famous Paparazzi performance here

    Much love to Greyson, and welcome to the family

  • Vince Cable becomes new leader of the Liberal Democrats

    The new leader of the Liberal Democrats has been announced as Sir Vince Cable after no challengers stepped forward.

    Vince Cable becomes new leader of the Liberal Democrats

    Sir Vince Cable, 74,  has been revealed as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats after Tim Farron stepped down as the leader shortly after the General Election.  Tim Farron faced a lot of criticism during the general election due to his dismal ability to answer questions on the sinfulness of being gay and gay sex. Although the Liberal Democrats managed to increase their number of seats from nine to 12 Farron’s leadership failed to ignite the passion at the ballot box despite record levels of membership for the party.

    Mr Cable is the MP for Twickenham and was the only candidate on the ballot paper for the leadership contest.

    Vince Cable On Gay Rights

    Vince Cable has a good history when it comes to his pro-gay rights voting history and has always voted in the positive – including reducing the age of consent and on the repeal of Section 28. He has never negatively voted on an LGBT+ rights issue.

    However, he has, according to TheyWorkForYou.com been absent from a number of votes. Analysis of his voting history shows that Vince Cable was absent from 12 votes between 1999 and 2014.

    ForeFront of LGBT+ Equality

    Speaking to THEGAYUK the LGBT+ Lib Dem group said that Sir Vince would keep the Liberal Democrats at the “forefront of LGBT+ equality”. They also said they would work with him to work on PrEP availability, transgender rights and the situation in Chechnya.

     

     

     

  • FILM REVIEW | Scribe

    An unemployed accountant takes a job that puts him in the middle of a political conspiracy in the new film “Scribe.”

    FILM REVIEW | Scribe

    “Scribe (La Mécanique de l’ombre)” is a timely taut French thriller that builds its suspense in events that lead up to a political election. François Cluzet is Duval, a recovering alcoholic who takes a job as a transcriber that is literally offered to him with no questions asked. He is tasked with typing telephone conversations from tapes that are numbered and left for him in a nondescript flat where he is all alone. He is told by his boss Clément (Denis Podalydés) to keep to himself, to remain unnoticed, and to not smoke in the flat. He is supposed to open the curtains when he arrives at 9 a.m. and to close them when he leaves at 6 p.m. But as the days go on and the conversations on the tapes he transcribes become all too realistic and downright criminal, it’s clear to Duval that the organisation he is working for is somehow involved in trying to manipulate the upcoming election. After a high profile figure is murdered, the conversation of which is on one of the tapes, it’s just a matter of time before Duval gets caught up in the conspiracy, and a murder,
    and eventually, his life is in danger by the very organisation that employs him.

    Scribe has all the ingredients of being a great political thriller in the same vein as The Manchurian Candidate and 2006’s Oscar winning German film The Lives of Others. Director Thomas Kruithof superbly builds the tension while at the same time not giving too much away during the film until its explosive ending. This film is well worth a watch.

    “Scribe” is in cinemas and on demand from 21st July

  • Sinitta has “ridiculous” CBB demands

    Sinitta is approached for Celebrity Big Brother every single year – but bosses swiftly retract their offer when they hear her “ridiculous” demands.

    Sinitta has "ridiculous" CBB demands

    The ‘So Macho’ hitmaker has admitted she’s asked to enter the famous abode every time bosses put the line-up together but, although they’re put off by her terms and conditions, she’s adamant they’ll come round to her way of thinking sometime soon.

    Speaking on ‘Lorraine’ on Thursday (20.07.17), she said,

    ” Well they said my demands were ridiculous – I said they were reasonable.

    “We’ve been talking for years and we’ll go on talking. I’m going to live for a few more years and I think they’ll come around to my way of thinking.”

    However, the 53-year-old singer certainly has her hands full this year as she’s confident that her friend Simon Cowell will ask her to help him with the Judges’ Houses round of the forthcoming series of ‘The X Factor’ after he replaced her with Mel B last year.

    She explained,

    “Remember Simon last year invited me back live on air? So you know we’ve got that, we’ve got that recorded.

    “But I did read recently that he offered Cheryl Tweedy £500,000 to come back to do Judges’ Houses. Rude, just rude. I mean I don’t know – hopefully he’s just being funny.”

    And, although she thinks the 57-year-old music mogul – who has a three-year-old son called Eric with his girlfriend Lauren Silverman – is “sexy”, she doesn’t fancy him.

    She said,

    “They said, ‘do I still think he is attractive now that he has sort of become more cosy and softer’ and I said, ‘he is still a very handsome, sexy man’. Does that mean I still fancy him? … Because I know he is not really that scary but obviously he can be to people he doesn’t know but I’m kind of like sister/mother/daughter. We’ve got a very strange relationship but it is an honest one.”

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