THEGAYUK

Search results for: “ ”

  • Guy covers himself in Mentos and jumps in bath of coke

    It has to be seen to be believed.

    So, do you remember those experiments where they put Mentos in a bottle of diet coke and the whole thing explodes in a frothy climax – very much like us whilst listen to Bette Midler atop our unicorn. (Watch the original below) Well, this guy from Japan has tried the ultimate Mentos challenge.

    He starts by unwrapping hundreds of packets of Mentos, then covers his body with sellotape and plunges himself into the world’s smallest hot tub full of Coke Zero. However, the results aren’t exactly as expected.

    The clever bods at iflscience.com explain, “When the candy’s porous surface, gelatin, and gum arabic combined with the potassium benzoate, aspartame, and carbonation in the soda, the CO2 gets released incredibly rapidly, producing a tremendous amount of foam. When forced to go through the bottle’s narrow opening, this creates a huge geyser.”

    It’s been watched over 22 million times… Go on add a few more views. He needs to pay off the costs of his Coke Zero and Mentos.

  • Rugby player announces his engagement to his long-time boyfriend

    Sam Stanley has announced his engagement to his long-term partner, Laurence Hicks.

    The former rugby champ, who came out in 2015, has announced that he is now engaged to his long-term partner Laurence. The pair has been in “each other’s lives” for nearly seven years.

    On a social media post Sam wrote,

    “After being a part of each others [sic] lives for almost 7 years, Laurence has been my pretend godfather, uncle, cousin and many others in order to make sure no one found out about us and that we were a couple.

     

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BTeLakejB4r/?taken-by=samstannerz

     

  • TODAY IN GAY | The Admiral Duncan Bombing

    TODAY IN GAY | The Admiral Duncan Bombing

    In 1999 a nail bomb went off in the popular gay pub The Admiral Duncan, killing three people.

    Three people were killed and dozens injured when a bomb, left in an unattended bag, placed by David Copeland, exploded on the 30th April 1999.

    Andrea Dykes 27, Nik Moore 31 and John Light, 32 were killed. Andrea was four months pregnant at the time. Around 70 people were injured.

    David Copeland was captured that same evening. He had terrorised Londoners with two other bombings, one in Brixton on the 17th and one in White Chapel on the 24th. His two other bombs, fortunately, did not kill anyone. It was thought that Copeland was trying to stir up race and homophobic tensions.

    Copeland was convicted of three murders and three offences of planting bombs on 30 June 2000 and given six life sentences. The minimum time he’ll spend behind bars is 50 years.

    Read more about the attack here and to see pictures from the attack click here.

  • Here’s what Theresa May thinks about gay sex

    Theresa May has been asked whether she thinks “gay sex” is a sin and it appears as though she doesn’t.

    Theresa May was asked point blank whether she thought sex between two men or two women was a sin on this morning’s Andrew Marr Show on the BBC. The Prime Minister was quick to answer “no”.

    The question comes after the Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron was initially unable to answer repeated questions on what he thought about the sinfulness of being gay and gay sex.

    Andrew Marr alluded to the previous questioning of Mr Farron and asked, “You’re also a Christian. Do you think that gay sex is a sin?”

    Ms May was quick to answer “No”.

    She went on to say, that anybody,

    “…who is a leader of a political party who is putting themselves up for election and is asking the public to trust them is bound to get a whole range of questions from a whole range of different groups”.

    However, the decisive answer that she gave does seemingly go against Ms May’s previous stance on LGBT matters having previously voted against the equalising the age of consent in 1998 and allowing gay couples to adopt children in 2002. She was absent from a number of key votes such as the repeal of Section 28 in 2003 and discrimination on the grounds of sexuality in 2007.

    She has voted positively on a number of views such as civil partnership and same-sex marriage.

     

     

  • COMMENT | Northern Ireland: Wedged between equality

    As Northern Ireland continues to reel from the recent collapse of Stormont and consequent election, many others quietly anticipate what possible changes will come should a new power-sharing executive be formed or get pushed through by Westminster should the current stalemate persist and direct rule be reinstated, one example being marriage equality.

    While MLAs voted for marriage equality by a majority in the most recent motion it was blocked by NIs largest political party, theDemocratic Unionist Party (DUP), who used a petition of concern to effectively veto the vote. Petitions of concern were incorporated into The Good Friday Agreement, which ended years of bloodshed in the province, as a mechanism to prevent disagreement if the vote would be on a cross-community basis, rather than a simple majority. This petition requires the signature of 30 executive members which previously the DUP had but with the loss of 10 seats in election 2017 comes the loss of their ability to use it if or when a new government is formed meaning the next motion put forward would almost definitely pass. If direct rule should be reinstated the DUP will no longer have a choice in the matter of marriage equality as well as the many other issues they continue to oppose, in spite of public opinions, such as reform on abortion laws.

    “Living in Northern Ireland as a gay person can be a surreal experience, the civilisation of same-sex marriage has already been introduced just a few miles down the road in Southern Ireland as well as a few miles across the sea in Scotland, England and Wales, while we remain oppressed by a so called democratic party, it’s rather like being an outdated sandwich filling wedged between two slices of fresh modern bread”

    However optimistic, most of the LGBT community in Northern Ireland remain reserved, fearful that hopes of achieving the equality we are wedged between will once again be dashed. Living in Northern Ireland as a gay person can be a surreal experience, the civilisation of same-sex marriage has already been introduced just a few miles down the road in Southern Ireland as well as a few miles across the sea in Scotland, England and Wales, while we remain oppressed by a so called democratic party, it’s rather like being an outdated sandwich filling wedged between two slices of fresh modern bread. On occasion I have felt like there is no place for me as a gay man in this society and considered leaving Belfast for pastures new where bigotry is not so engrained in politics, just like gay people have had to do for decades, when it occurs to me that this is not the 1960s or 70s anymore, this is 2017 and the majority of people in Northern Ireland along with politicians are in support of equality, understanding and humanity towards the LGBT so why should I leave?

    There is a place in society for the LGBT community whether it’s in Belfast or Baghdad, Grozny or Moscow, there is no place for the oppression inflicted on so many people around the world purely based on their sexual orientation.

    With bars, support services and the gay scene as we know it gradually disappearing it’s more important than ever that we stand together as an international community offering support to our fellow brothers and sisters. This is not just a fight for equality or for us to feel accepted by society, it’s a fight to belong and for us to accept society instead of rejecting it as being incomprehensible and lacking in compassion.

     

    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.

  • Jack Monroe thanks Katie Hopkins for funding her election campaign

    Activist and writer Jack Monroe thanked Katie Hopkins for funding her forthcoming election campaign after announcing that will stand for the National Health Action (NHA) party.

    Jack Monroe has announced she will run in the Southend West constituency and will stand for the NHA party.

    On Twitter, the writer thanked Katie Hopkins for funding her campaign.

    Jake Monroe successfully sued Katie Hopkins earlier in the year and was awarded £24,000 in damages.

    On hearing the news some Twitter used suggested that she’d lose her deposit but Ms Monroe wrote,

    “I may well do, but you should be directing your glee to my campaign sponsor, Katie.

    “Because nothing feels more right than using money earned through division and hate, to instead promote unity, community, and care.

    “So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Katie for your generous – if unwitting – contribution to saving the National Health Service.”

    WHO ARE THE NATIONAL HEALTH ACTION PARTY?

    The NHA does not consider itself a single issue party, on their website, they write:

    The NHA is not a single issue, although as single issues go the NHS is huge. But the NHS doesn’t function in a vacuum. Housing, education, support for the unemployed, unwell and disabled, good employment opportunities – all of our domestic policy issues which are the business of government – combine to promote good health or make us ill. These are the ‘social determinants of health’, and are also key party policies.

    Their core principles include:

    Restore the NHS to public ownership

    Halt unnecessary hospital downgrades + closures

    Prioritise mental health

    Renegotiate Private Finance Initiative (PFI)

    Fight EU-USA trade deal TTIP

    Safe maternity care

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Pam Ann, Leicester Square Theatre, London

    ★★ | Pam Ann: Touch Trolley Run to Galley 20th Anniversary Tour, London and other UK cities

    Trolley Dolly Pam Ann returns to London with her 20th Anniversary tour – Touch Trolley Run to Galley – but it’s pretty much the same schtick she’s been doing year in and year out.

    Australian Pam Ann (real name Caroline Reid) has been making the rounds as the self-described ‘Queen of the skies’ for the past 20 years all around the world, and in this show she lets us know it. Now playing at the Leicester Square Theatre, the show begins with a video montage of her previous shows and the famous people she’s hung out with. Yes, from the minute the video starts we are reminded that the show is all about her. She lets us know that she’s an iconic international celebrity air hostess who has developed cult status over the years with her fans (most of whom are gay and who love her bitchiness and candor). And then when she’s out on stage she picks four audience members and invites them onto the stage to create a new Spice Girls band (who are also celebrating their 20th anniversary). On the night I saw the show, she conveniently picked four gay men from the audience (after all, gay men are so much more likely to ‘get her’) to ‘become’ the Spice Girls. Picking on audience members is a time and tested old tradition used by comedians when they don’t have enough material to fill a show (‘what’s your name?’, ‘where are you from?’ is the usual repertoire), and it’s a bit lazy to do so at the beginning of a show! Anyways, Pam Ann was very good with them; she was quick with one-liners and put-downs, and the men took it all in jest. It’s funny, but I wanted more jokes about the current state of the airline industry and the in-the-news bad treatment of passengers (she did open up with a joke about the United Airlines fiasco but it was a bit too short and too quick).

    The second half of the show had her bring out a trolley filled with, of course, alcohol, as well as a bevvy of dolls that represented airline stewardesses from all over the world (an Australian transgender doll was quite funny). But we’ve seen this from her many many times. Pam Ann tells us why she loves BA, and her alter ego Lilly ‘comes out’ all too briefly, and of course, she makes fun of Ryanair (who wouldn’t?). But as the show goes, it’s ‘we’ve seen and heard it all before’, and two hours in she leaves the stage and tells the audience to expect something great – but when she comes back out all she presents to us is a glittering outfit where she then proceeded to take selfies with the audience members whom she chose to be the Spice Girls, and then thud, the show ended, with not a laugh in sight. Pam Ann: Touch Trolley Run to Galley 20th Anniversary tour is 2 hours and 20 minutes long, but this consisted of a 20 minute interval and 20 minutes of video footage, including two videos of her interspersed into scenes from the Great British Bake-off – it would’ve been a bit funnier if she would’ve done this live, but that would’ve been perhaps too much effort?

    Pam Ann plays at Leicester Square Theatre until 27th May 2017

     

    For more information about Pam Ann and the rest of her UK tour, please visit:
    pamann.com / @pamannairbitch / facebook.com/pamannairhostess

  • Ten Musicals That Failed In The UK

    Musicals are an expensive business and when they go right it can be a cash cow for the producers, theatres and the entire West End, but get it wrong and you might never work in show business again.

    Musicals that failed in the West End

    Here are some of the musicals that couldn’t cut the mustard in the West End or on their UK tour. Some of them should have been successful, and some of them should never have left the drawing board.

    Viva Forever

    I mean this musical had everything going for it, apart from the sales. Backed by the Spice Girls, written by Jennifer Saunders; sounded as though it should have been a shoo-in, but just six months after it opened it closed its doors for the last time. So dire was the show that even our reviewer couldn’t bring himself to love it. Apparently, the show’s producer Judy Craymer and her backers lost millions on the project.

    Urinetown

    Now Urinetown deserved to be more successful, tongue in cheek humour, fantastic songwriting, worldly issues discussed, brilliantly performed but a name that nobody could get into…

    Happy Days The Musical

    Mondays, Tuesdays happy days, Wednesday, closed. Despite massive profile building on a Channel 4 show, a member of Buck Fizz and backed by the Fonz himself, Happy Days couldn’t get the bums on seats in its UK Tour.

    I Can’t Sing

    It was more like I Can’t Sell Tickets, we could have told you that, in fact, I think we did. This was the worst idea for a musical, like ever. It ran for just two months and costing producers allegedly millions of pounds. First of all knocking Geri Halliwell’s singing is the death knell to any project. That Spice has fingers in all sorts of pies. Geri-Spice-hands… The world has had enough of X Factor; dwindling viewing figures tell you that – it’s only a number 1 show because there is nothing else to watch come those cold dark nights (in August).

    Wag! The Musical.

    Oh dear god, I mean where do you go with this? People actually hate wags, so making a musical about them is almost like writing a musical about Josie Cunningham and Katie Hopkins. No wait that actually might work.

    Gone With the Wind.

    After just 79 performances GWTW closed, so bad was it that many reviewers couldn’t give a proper critique of the show, as they had to leave in the second half. Described as long, half-hearted and with forgettable music no wonder nobody wanted to go and see it.

    Stephen Ward

    The musical closed after just four months. Despite the backing and creative genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber and a reported £2.5 million pumped into it, people just couldn’t get into or care about the Profumo Affair. Speaking to the Telegraph ALW said, “I haven’t had a hit in 20 years, I’ve written six musicals in that time.” Has he lost his touch as…

    The Beautiful Game

    Lasted just 11 months. I mean a musical about Football. The first rule of musicals, know your audience.

    From Here To Eternity

    Was anything but. Lasting just five months – despite rave reviews and Darius as the lead, people weren’t interested in watching a musical about Pearl Harbour.

    Lord Of The Rings

    Lasted 12 months, but at £25m it was one of the most, if not most expensive musicals to be mounted. Described by the Guardian as the most costly ‘musical mistake in West End History’. Wizard….

  • RECIPE | Pistachio & Pomegranate Chocolate Cake

    A flourless, intensely rich chocolate cake laced with pistachio and pomegranate jewels, perfect for showing someone a bit of home-baked lovin’ this Valentine’s.

    Ingredients.
    Prep – 20 mins
    Cook & Decorate – 1hr – 1hr 20mins

    225g butter
    365g plain chocolate
    250g caster sugar
    55g blitzed pistachio kernels (or bash in a bag if you don’t have a food processor)
    6 medium eggs
    30g cocoa powder
    1 tbsp milk (I used Koko)
    1 tbsp honey
    1 tsp vanilla extract

    Method.
    Decoration; pomegranate seeds (dry with kitchen towel before decorating) & more blitzed pistachio kernels. I also used pink candy pearls I found in the supermarket. You could also use desiccated coconut.

    Pre-heat your oven to 200c / 180c (fan) / Gas Mark 6

    1. Using a 9 inch circular spring-form tin, place on greaseproof paper and draw an outline of the cake tin. Cut the circle out.

    2. Spray the tin with a bit of cooking oil, place the greaseproof paper circle inside the tin and spray once more with cooking oil.

    3. In a small saucepan, melt on the lowest heat, only 250g worth of the chocolate with all of the butter.

    4. Once completely melted and combined, transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat in the sugar.

    5. Adding your eggs once at a time, continue to beat and combine.

    6. Tip in the cocoa powder and blitzed pistachios and stir a few times to combine.

    7. Pour the cake mix into the prepared spring-form tin and into the oven for 45-60 minutes (depends on your oven, mine took 1hr).

    8. Check your cake is cooked through via skewer test, ensuring it comes out clean and the top is firm to the touch.

    9. Remove and set cake aside in it’s tin to cool for 10 minutes.

    10. Place a plate on top of the cake tin and invert, flipping it upside down. Release the spring-form tin, and remove the greaseproof paper that’s now on the top side of the cake. Leave to cool further.

    11. Meanwhile you can begin the glossy glaze to top the cake with. Melt remaining 115g of chocolate with 3 tablespoons of butter. Stirring until smooth.

    12. Take off the heat and stir in the honey, vanilla extract and milk. Now set this aside to cool slightly.

    13. You want your cake to be completely cool before topping with your glaze. Pour it onto the centre of the cake and use a spatula to spread over the top and sides of the cake.

    14. Top with some more pistachio kernels (some blitzed, some whole if you like), and pomegranate seeds. Be as extravagant or as minimalistic as you feel with the decoration.

    15. Cover and leave in the fridge for the half an hour or until you’re ready, to allow the glaze to set and harden.

  • GREEN PARTY | Isle of Wight MP “unfit to represent”

    Speaking out against, MP Andrew Turn, who stepped down after alleged homophobic comments were made to a sixth form class, the Green Party has called the Conservative MP “unfit” and says only the Green party can offer protection to LGBTs.

    MP Andrew Turner who has represented the Isle of Wight for 16 years has resigned after reports emerged that he said he thought it was “wrong” to be gay, and that he thought that it was “dangerous for society”. He allegedly made the comments to sixth form students at the Christ The King College in Newport.

    The Green Party has called the minister “unfit” and said that his comments were abhorrent. Reaching out to the LGBT community,

    Vix Lowthion, Green Party candidate for the Isle of Wight, said,

    “Andrew Turner was unfit to represent the Isle of Wight and his recent, abhorrent comments left his place in Parliament completely untenable. People here deserves someone who will stand up for them. Today the Green Party announced radical plans to protect LGBTIQA+ refugees, provide decent HIV protection and promote rights for intersex and trans people – that is the kind of politics people in the Isle of Wight need and only the Green Party can offer.”

    In their latest manifesto aimed at the LGBT community, the Greens are keen to bring in a raft of new policies which would secure rights for non-binary, trans, asexual and aromantic people.  The word bisexual is mentioned once, lesbian and gay are mentioned four times, intersex 10 times, non-binary 12 times and the word trans is written 19 times.

    However, they did use language such as “men who have sex with men” which has largely been disapproved of by the gay and bisexual male community. The manifesto also does not mention changing current divorce law to equalise it with opposite-sex marriage. They also failed to make policy on how to tackle LGBT+ homelessness.

    It is, however, the first political party to present its LGBT+ manifesto.

     

  • Channel 4 announces season of programming for the 50th year of gay decriminalisation

    Channel 4 will be marking the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK by broadcasting a raft of programming to celebrate LGBT life in the UK.

    A number of landmark productions are set to be broadcast on Channel 4 as it marks 50 years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales.

    Not Guilty charts the stories of some of the 15,000 British men criminalised for offences under long-defunct anti-homosexuality laws. Epidemic (working title w/t) reveals how an unlikely coalition of gay campaigners Tory politicians, and pioneering doctors came together to fight AIDS in the 1980s – and changed Britain forever in the process. In 50 Shades of Gay (w/t) Rupert Everett, in a series of surprising encounters with gay people of all ages, delivers his own personal take on the changes in gay life and culture that have happened in Britain in the past 50 years. And Coming Out (w/t) reveals how while campaigners were battling Parliament for legal reforms,  the real frontline in the fight to win acceptance for gay culture was the arena of pop music.

    Rob Coldstream, Commissioning Editor, Special Factual said,

    “History can tell us as much about the present day as it does about the past and I’m thrilled to announce this slate of programmes – its incredibly wide ranging but at its heart is brilliant new journalism, and a fresh lens onto the past that offers new insights into our own times.”  

More posts