So far there’s been 1.4 million tweets about it… #NewTwitter
https://twitter.com/wearedigique/status/875384909795348480
https://twitter.com/brandformula_uk/status/875384095546773504
https://twitter.com/nazihfares/status/875382029210316805
Dear Legal Clinic
“I’ve entered into a civil partnership about ten years ago with a guy from Poland and have since lost contact with him. I have tried for a number of years now to track him down as I would like to dissolve our partnership. As I can’t locate the guy and believe he has moved back to Poland, is there a way I can dissolve our Civil Partnership with him?
Any help would be much appreciated.”
James
Dear James,
Thank you for your question. Your situation may sound rare but it’s actually more common than you might think. In today’s increasingly international world, it’s not uncommon for someone to move back to their home city or country when a relationship breaks down.
You say you’ve tried to locate your partner for a number of years. The easiest way for you to obtain a dissolution of your civil partnership is on the basis of 5 years’ separation (dissolution is the almost exact equivalent for civil partnerships of a divorce for marriages – the forms and procedures are the same). It sounds like you might be close to the 5-year point or have already reached it. The advantage of basing the dissolution on 5 years’ separation is that you don’t need the consent of the other person. If you were to base the dissolution on 2 years’ separation you would need written consent from your partner to proceed.
The most sensible way forward is for you to petition for a dissolution based on 5 years’ separation and use your partner’s last known address on the forms. You can write to the court to submit the forms and include some information about your attempts to locate your partner. The court is likely to accept the petition as long as your attempts are genuine, sensible attempts – you don’t have to take extreme measures or go to the ends of the earth but the court does want to see you’ve at least tried.
Once the dissolution petition is sent out – one copy to you and one to your partner’s last known address – you should apply to dispense with service upon them, in other words, do away with the requirement for papers to be successfully received by your partner. You complete a D13 form which covers the steps you’ve taken to try and find your partner, including attempts to contact them through an employer, family, etc. where possible and the court makes a decision as to whether or not it can dispense with the service requirement. There is a small additional fee of around £50 for this application (on top of the £550 dissolution fee) and it adds a little extra time to the process. However, compared to staying married until your partner resurfaces, if they ever do, it may be a small price to pay.
You can download all the forms you need for the dissolution procedure, including the D8 application to start the process and the D13 form to dispense with service, at http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/.
A lot of websites offer you an “online divorce” but unfortunately, many of them simply charge you to complete and download the forms you can already download for free from the website mentioned above. I strongly recommend that, even if you start the dissolution process yourself, you take advice from a solicitor on the D13 form so that you can dispense with service quickly and easily. A solicitor will know the kinds of things you need to put down to satisfy the court you’ve done all you can.
I wish you the best of luck James and if you do need a hand with any aspect of the dissolution process, don’t hesitate to call us, or any other solicitor. If cost is an issue, you may wish to speak with your local Citizens Advice Bureau or contact the Personal Support Unit at a local court. They can’t give you legal advice in the same way a lawyer can, but they can help with forms and procedures.
Penguin Random House UK has opened applications for its year-long WriteNow mentoring programme in a bid to discover and develop new writing talent from communities under-represented on the nation’s bookshelves.
WriteNow was created in 2016 to help ensure books and publishing better reflect UK society. It aims to find unpublished voices that are currently under-represented in books across all genres, including Fiction, Non-Fiction and Children’s. This includes writers from a socio-economically marginalised background, LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer) or BAME (Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic) writers, or writers with a disability.
The programme offers 150 aspiring writers access to free regional events in London, Bristol and Newcastle where they will get one-to-one time with editors to receive expert, personalised feedback on their book, alongside access to literary agents and published authors, including Elif Shafak, Kit de Waal, Afua Hirsch and Fox Fisher.
Penguin Random House editors will work with 10 of the most promising writers over 12 months to make their manuscripts the best they can be, with the ultimate ambition of publishing these new writers.
Penguin Random House is partnering with regional writer development charities Spread the Word, Literature Works and New Writing North to launch WriteNow 2017.
Over 2,000 writers applied for WriteNow last year, with 150 invited to attend regional events. 98% of writers attending said that being part of WriteNow had increased their confidence as a writer. Benjamin G. Wilson from London was one of the twelve writers selected to take part in the first mentoring programme. He shares his experience of WriteNow,
“A lot of my writing life has, till this point, felt incredibly risky. As a crazy person with no qualifications, austerity has not made being an artist easy. Choosing to write has often meant turning down work which has meant, in effect, living unsure if I could keep my flat or feed myself, but this novel in particular has involved a lot of emotional risk. Being told that the work was good, and that it could reach people, has meant the world.”
Fox Fisher, author of Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl? and WriteNow 2017 mentor said,
“I got involved with WriteNow to encourage other members of underrepresented groups to step up and gain confidence in writing by having the support of a mentor. This is such a fantastic scheme, one I would have pounced on if it was available when I was growing up. Seeing yourself represented in literature is such an important thing, to better understand ourselves and to feel a sense of belonging in the world.”
Tom Weldon, CEO, Penguin Random House UK, commented,
“We are determined to publish a wider range of voices and books to more fully reflect the diverse society we live in.
“Books and reading can make an enormous difference to people’s lives, expanding our imaginations and empathy and helping us make sense of different perspectives.
“As the UK’s number one publisher, our job is to tell the stories which aren’t often told. That’s why with WriteNow we are taking our teams outside of London and into communities to meet and mentor aspiring authors. We want to find and bring to life writing that connects with all readers, bringing the best new under-represented voices to bookshelves.”
Alongside launching WriteNow 2017, Penguin Random House has set itself a company-wide goal to ensure its new hires and the books it acquires reflect UK society by 2025, in terms of social mobility, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexuality. The publisher wants to see a positive shift towards this goal every year through to 2025.
To measure progress towards this goal, Penguin Random House will ask newly acquired authors and new employees to complete a voluntary Inclusion Tracker. Penguin Random House will voluntarily publish this data on its website each year: www.penguinrandomhouse.co.uk.
“I remember telling my friend Maz. Her reaction shocked me at the time. She shrugged her shoulders, said “and…”, and walked off. She didn’t care and was the first person to not make a big thing of it. I was upset at the time and wondered why she didn’t care. How dare she not make a big thing of her fabulous friend being gay”.
Coming out appears to be a constant process. From coming out to friends and family, to coming out to every person who becomes part of my life, it seems never ending.
I recently accepted a teaching job and as the first class approached, I began to feel nervous. Not because it was the first time I would be teaching, but because a key component of the teaching is that I am myself and open about who I am to a certain degree. That’s because the course I am teaching is helping people to train as therapists. As students, it’s important the class are open about who they are and their life experiences. It’s also important that as their tutor, I am also able to draw on my own life experiences and be open about who I am. It helps the learning process.
As I was driving to Birmingham for that first class, I started to think about all of my coming out experiences. It started back in school with wanting to come out, but not feeling able to due to the homophobic bullying I suffered. Although I didn’t come out at school, I was perceived to be gay and therefore hounded every single day for years by bullies. It traumatised me. I felt that if I ever came out, I would be rejected and ridiculed by everyone. So I kept my sexuality a secret.
Eventually, I did come out to some friends who didn’t go to the same school as me. They reacted positively but did make a big thing of it. Suddenly I wasn’t just a friend; I was their gay friend, much like an accessory.
Years later, I plucked up the courage to tell my family and other friends. There was a dramatic reaction from most, and the majority seemed to want to make a big thing of it. Perhaps I wanted them to. I certainly started to look forward to people’s reactions.
Although most people were accepting of my sexuality, there was some who could not accept it. I lost some friends and there were family members who I started to have less to do with as a result. Some of those relationships have never recovered.
At 18 years old and coming out to everyone just for the reaction, I remember telling my friend Maz. Her reaction shocked me at the time. She shrugged her shoulders, said “and…”, and walked off. She didn’t care and was the first person to not make a big thing of it. I was upset at the time and wondered why she didn’t care. How dare she not make a big thing of her fabulous friend being gay.
In hindsight, that was actually the best reaction I received. Maz didn’t care what I was. She cared about who I was as a whole person, and being gay wasn’t a big deal to her. I was still the same Dan that I was before.
It was then that I began to consider my approach to coming out. The way I had been coming out to everyone I spoke to and seeking a strong reaction or some kind of validation from people was making me look like a joke. I didn’t particularly feel any better either. I was still traumatised from my experiences at school.
Since that ridiculous coming out period, I have of course come out to many more people. Whether it’s work colleagues, new friends or women hitting on me in clubs (because I was a hotty in my younger days – a “stud muffin”, as my Dad used to say), coming out really is a constant process. I now don’t make a habit of telling everyone that I am gay, but if it comes up in conversation I casually mention it like it’s a tiny part of who I am. That’s because it is a small part of who I am, albeit an important part.
As the first class got off to a start, my students were taking turns to introduce themselves. They had to say their name, where they are from, a bit about their life, and something interesting about themselves. Each person spoke about their partners and families. Once the students had finished introducing themselves, they looked in my direction as if to tell me it was my turn to talk about who I am. So I said: “I’m Dan, your tutor for this year’s studies. I’m 32 years old, I live with my partner, and he is called…”. I thought that if my students are going to be honest and open about who they are, the least I can do is take the lead on that.
There wasn’t a reaction from the class. It was totally fine, at least publicly, and a non-issue. They’re there to learn, not to make judgements about their gay tutor. Again, it was the most perfect reaction. I’ve learnt over time that no reaction is the best reaction. Because being gay really shouldn’t be an issue. It should be the same as a heterosexual person talking openly about their husband or wife.
I long for the day when coming out is no longer necessary; not that I’m sure it is necessary these days anyway. Straight people don’t come out as such, so why should gay people? Of course, we all know that life isn’t like that and we’ll spend the rest of our lives coming out to people time and time again.
The reactions, or non-reactions, from people, have got better over time. I’m still affected to a degree by the homophobic bullying I was subjected to at school, but it’s not going to impact on me being my true authentic self. I’m Dan, I’m gay, and I don’t care what you think about that.
A tweet sent by Oscar Isaac is melting twitter.
In a tweet that loops in an old Tweet from the late Carrie Fisher, which just simply says, “gay” Oscar replied “yes” and posted a film still of him and John Boyega together. The pair plays the characters Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega).
https://twitter.com/realOscarIsaac/status/875323822261624832
Earlier this year the head of LucasFilm, Kathleen Kennedy, confirmed that there had been discussions about the introduction of a same-sex couple in the Star Wars’ franchise.
Kathleen Kennedy said in an interview with eCartelera,
“We’ve talked about it, but I think you’re not going to see it in [upcoming film] The Last Jedi.”
“After 40 years of adventures people have a lot of information and a lot of theories about the way these stories can take, and sometimes those theories that come up are new ideas for us to listen to, read and pay attention to.
“[It’s] clear that the fans are as much masters of this franchise as we are.”
So there you have it. Gays in space… Who have thunk it.
A clip of Matt Bomer’s new film, Anything has hit YouTube. The film has already received criticism, even before its release for having a cis male actor play the part of a transgender person.
The film is about a transgender woman falling in love with a straight man. Mark Ruffalo is an executive producer on the film. Defending the decision to cast a cis-male in the role of Freda, Mark said that he had a “profound experience” working with Matt in The Normal Heart.
Watch the clip below… add your thoughts in the comments…
First, it was UKIP’s leader, Paul Nuttall, now it’s the turn of the Liberal Democrat’s leader, Tim Farron to bow out of party leadership.
The leader who was consistently asked about his views on the sinfulness homosexuality during the election campaign said that he was “torn between living as a faithful Christian and serving as a political leader”.
During a press conference, Mr Farron said that he recognised that he should have dealt with certain questions that related to his faith “more wisely”.
During the campaign, Mr Farron was asked numerous times about his thoughts on the sinfulness of homosexuality and whether gay sex was a sin. Although he did manage to answer once on both questions, he found it almost impossible to give a straight answer whenever he was questioned on the subject.
Mr Farron became the party leader in 2015 after a close battle with Norman Lamb. His leadership was backed by one of the UK’s highest-profile openly gay peers, Brian Paddick, who yesterday also resigned, citing concerns over Tim Farron’s views.
Possible successors include Sir Vince Cable, Jo Swinson, Sir Ed Davey and Norman Lamb.
Post-election, the Liberal Democrats did manage to add seats in the latest election, however, it was a far cry from the hoped-for resurgence of the Lib Dems since most of their seats were wiped out following a coalition with the Tories from 2010 to 2015.
One of the UK’s most powerful LGBT Peers and the Liberal Democrat’s highest profile gay member, Brian Paddick has, today, resigned his position as the Shadow Home Secretary over “concerns” about Tim Farron’s views.
Taking to Twitter Brian Paddick said,
“I’ve resigned as LibDems Shadow Home Secretary over concerns about the leader’s views on various issues that were highlighted during GE17.”
https://twitter.com/brianpaddick/status/874976886069374976
During the GE2017 campaign, Tim Farron was unable to answer, numerous times, about his beliefs surrounding the sinfulness of homosexuality. Although did say that he didn’t think that homosexuality or gay sex was a sin, he failed to answer further questioning on LBC’s breakfast show.
Lord Paddick did not go into detail about which of Mr Farron’s views he had taken issue with.
In 2015, Mr Paddick had been a vocal supporter of Tim Farron’s during and after the announcement of Farron as the new Lib Dem leader, telling THEGAYUK,
“Tim Farron has come under a lot of criticism from people who either deliberately or simply misread Tim’s position when it came to votes in the House of Commons on equal marriage,
“He did ask for a change in the timetable to allow more discussion over complex issues around people who have honestly held beliefs who are currently employed as registrars, for example, who would feel very uncomfortable because it conflicts with their faith to conduct an equal marriage ceremony. He felt not enough time had been allowed in the parliamentary time belt to discuss those issues.
“As the Liberal Democrats’ gayest highest profile member I am absolutely confident that I can vote for Tim Farron and that he is absolutely 100% behind LGBTI rights.”
The Liberal Democrats did manage to add seats in the latest election, however, it was a far cry from the hoped-for resurgence of the Lib Dems since most of their seats were wiped out following a coalition with the Tories from 2010 to 2015.
Orange Is The New Black has rolled out some male hotness this season in the form of Evan Hall, who plays a hotter than hell prison officer, CO Stratman.
Well, Stratman is persuaded to do a striptease for the inmates of Litchfield… and we wholeheartedly approve this message.
Despite the criticism and homophobic they have faced in their homeland, Polish couple Jakub and Dawid have finally tied the knot, although not in their own country because Poland does not yet have same-sex marriage.
In a statement the couple said,
“It’s sad that we cannot get married in Poland but we are aware that’s not gonna be changed anytime soon in our country, so decided to have it abroad.
“I wish our grandmothers and grandfathers were with us but the journey would have been too exhausting them so we really missed them. If we were allowed to have this ceremony in Poland they would have been allowed to share these moments with us”.
The couple invited 20 members of their family and friends including Dawid’s mum, two brothers and Jakub’s sister according to guests at the wedding the couple’s “dreams finally came true”.
Congrats guys!!!
Arlene Foster has defended her party’s policies on LGBT+ equality, after a huge online backlash formed when it became apparent that Prime Minister Theresa May would need to do a deal with the DUP in order to maintain some kind of majority in Parliament. Nearly one million have signed petitions of no-confidence in a deal between the Conservatives and the DUP.
Ms Foster yesterday had a meeting with the UK’s Prime Minster, Theresa May.
Theresa May’s gamble to hold a snap General Election to fortify her party’s stronghold in government backfired spectacularly last week leaving her party fewer less seats than they needed in order to form a majority government.
Speaking on ITV News the DUP’s leader, Ms Foster said they were not homophobic but they “take a particular view in relation to the definition of marriage”, she described the backlash as “hyperbole”.
The Northern Irish government have failed to legalise gay marriage 4 times, with the DUP being the main obstruction to equality. Northern Ireland remains the only place in the UK which does not allow gay couples to marry. It does, however, have civil partnerships.