THEGAYUK

Search results for: “ ”

  • TV | Prejudice and Pride: The People’s History of LGBTQ Britain, BBC 4

    Prejudice and Pride: The People’s History of LGBTQ Britain

    Programme Length: 60 mins x 2

    Broadcaster: BBC 4

    Broadcast Date: TBC

    In this unique series, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people from across the country have been digging out and sharing the mementoes and memorabilia that changed their lives over 50 years since the landmark 1967 Act decriminalised homosexuality.

    The result is a crowd-sourced collection of some of the rarest, most personal, most heartbreaking and inspiring artefacts in our history; a banned book, a nun’s habit, a passport, an original Heaven Gold card, naval discharge papers, George Michael’s autograph and the long lost panels from the AIDS memorial quilt.

    Produced by 7Wonder and presented by comedians Stephen K Amos and Susan Calman, the films chart a rollercoaster journey – from the audacity of a Gay Liberation Front commune, to the anguish of the AIDS crisis, from the struggle against Section 28 to the ecstasy of Pride ’97, from the death of friends in the Admiral Duncan bombing to the joy of a lesbian marriage – this is the story of all of us, the people we loved and the people we sometimes hated.

    From being locked up for daring to love someone, to marrying that same person 50 years on, this extraordinary history is told by ordinary people through their personal stories and most treasured possessions.

  • TV | imagine… Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures, BBC 2

    Imagine… Mapplethorpe: Look at the Pictures

    Programme Length: 105 mins

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    Broadcast Date: TBC

    imagine… presents Look at the Pictures, an unflinching and uncompromising portrait of one of the 20th century’s most controversial photographers: Robert Mapplethorpe, directed by Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey. His images elevated photography to fine art and pushed social boundaries to create a body of work which includes frank depictions of nudity, sexuality and fetishism and still lives and flowers, but not without controversy. His iconic and unmistakable photographs of 1970’s New York’s underground gay scene were frank and unmediated depictions of a lifestyle at the time deplored by many Americans. In 1989, on the floor of Congress, Senator Jesse Helms implored America to “Look at the pictures,” while denouncing Mapplethorpe’s art. Since his death in 1989 from AIDS, Mapplethorpe’s work has remained as provocative as ever. Look at the Pictures delves deeply into Mapplethorpe’s life and work to reveal the man and images which ignited a culture war that rages to this day.

  • TV | Is It Safe To Be Gay In The UK?

    Is It Safe To Be Gay In The UK?

     

    Programme Length: 60 minutes

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    Broadcast Date: TBC

    In the three months after Brexit, an LGBT anti-violence charity reported a 147% rise in homophobic attacks. In this very timely documentary, BBC 2 explores some of the stories behind the headlines from the lesbian, gay and transgender people who have been attacked as well as the perpetrators, using testimony and found footage, to ask why this rise occurred?

  • TV | What Gay Did For Art, BBC 2

    What Gay Did For Art

    Programme Length: 60 mins

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    Broadcast date: TBC

    This film invites a stellar cast of interviewees from across the arts to reflect on the contribution of lesbian and gay people to British cultural life since the decriminalisation of male homosexuality 50 years ago.

    Ranging broadly across popular culture, the visual arts, literature, theatre and film, the programme celebrates how the British arts, before 1967 and since, have been a haven to those growing up creative and gay.

    The film considers how artists’ sexuality might have shaped their art, often giving it a unique outsider’s perspective on British life, and a sometimes subversive sense of wit and style. Artists produced sophisticated work that excited audiences with its “otherness”, bringing new types of characters to television and film, gender ambiguity to pop music, and glimpses of bohemia in the visual arts.  These have remained driving forces for British art to this day. But the film also asks whether growing acceptance has been to some extent a double-edged sword for artists themselves. Has homosexuality’s move towards the mainstream made the exploration of queer themes less urgent and less interesting? Now that there’s a wide range of gay lifestyles on show in British culture, the question of how much an artist’s sexuality really matters to their art has become inescapable.

  • TV | Man In An Orange Shirt, BBC 2

    Man In An Orange Shirt

    Programme Length: 60 minutes x 2

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    In his first screen drama, best-selling British novelist Patrick Gale tells two gay love stories, 60 years apart – stories linked by family, and by a painting that holds a secret that echoes down the generations.

    Featuring a cast including Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Man in an Orange Shirt charts the challenges and huge changes to gay lives from the Second World War to the present: In 1944, British Army Captain Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) meets war artist Thomas March (James McArdle) in Southern Italy while chaos reigns all around them. Despite having a young fiancé, Flora (Joanna Vanderham), waiting at home for him, straight-laced Michael finds himself falling for Thomas’ bohemian charms. In 2017, an ageing Flora (Redgrave) looks on as her grandson, Adam (Julian Morris), tentatively forms a relationship with his client Steve (David Gyasi) in a more accepting world. But while the external obstacles have fallen away, a minefield of internalised issues and dangerous temptations still line the road to happiness.

    Further cast includes Laura Carmichael, Julian Sands and Angel Coulby.

    Patrick Gale says,

    “As a lifelong BBC Two animal, I’m thrilled my first original television drama will broadcast there. The wide social ramifications of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality are still being felt today and had huge implications not only for gay men (those over 21 at least) but for marriage. The two parts of my drama try to show how far reaching those ramifications were and I know the rest of the Gay Britannia season will as well. I can’t wait to watch every bit of it.”

    Diederick Santer, Executive Producer for Kudos, says: “It’s been a delight to work with Patrick and the BBC on this timely and highly original drama. I’m thrilled with the cast we assembled and the ambition of the production, and look forward to it playing at the heart of the Gay Britannia season.”

  • TV | Against The Law, BBC 2

    BBC 2’s Against The Law

    Programme length: 82 mins

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

    More than ten years before the partial decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu (Mark Edel-Hunt) and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

    With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

    The drama also features Mark Gatiss (Taboo, Sherlock) as Wildeblood’s prison psychiatrist, Doctor Landers and Charlie Creed-Miles (Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) as Superintendent Jones.

    Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Jane Eyre – National Tour

    ★★★★ | Jane Eyre – National Tour

    Following being orphaned, Jane Eyre is placed in the ward of her cruel aunt, who favours her own children over Jane and eventually sends her to school, where Jane meets Helen, who teaches her that “there are no evil people, only evil deeds”. Growing into a strong, confident young woman, Eyre becomes a teacher and eventually a governess, and she takes employment at Thornfield Manor, where she meets and falls in love with Rochester, her employer. But Rochester is a deeply complex man who harbours dark secrets and carries with him the weight of a past which is about to come back to haunt him.

    Charlotte Bronte’s seminal work needs very little introduction and under the impressive direction of Sally Cookson, the story is beautifully brought to life in this National Theatre production, using a slew of innovative and varied theatrical techniques to provide a highly contemporary take on a classic tale. The set, consisting of a white curtained backdrop and multi-level wooden platforms accessed by a series of ladders and steps proves to be incredibly versatile and surprisingly effective in its portrayal of the various locations. The cast scramble over the set with energy and enthusiasm as they portray multiple characters meaning that there is an almost constant flow of movement on stage.  Simple props and a healthy dose of imagination on behalf of the audience provide for an effective, original and inventive presentation.

    Nadia Clifford’s portrayal of the titular character is one which is full of confidence, life and determination, and Tim Delap’s performance as Rochester compliments it well, with his aloof and brooding quirkiness. Overseeing events is Melanie Marshall, who observes and narrates key aspects of Eyre’s life with bursts of jazz infused song utilising her beautiful and distinctive voice. The remainder of the cast play numerous roles with clear demarcation between characters and, in the case of Paul Mundell, with a little humour injected into the proceedings.

    Quite what Bronte purists will make of the production is unknown, as, whilst the production sticks closely to the source material and lifts out text, passage and prose from it, this is not your run of the mill period costume drama. Instead, it is a refreshingly inventive, highly stylised and imaginatively presented piece which never loses the spirit of the novel, and which is as trailblazing and as forward thinking as the central character herself.

    Jane Eyre is on National Tour calling in at numerous venues including Leeds Grand Theatre, Belfast Opera House, Glasgow Theatre Royal, Cardiff Wales Millennium Centre, Milton Keynes Theatre, Norwich Theatre Royal and Brighton Theatre Royal and is currently booking until 23rd September 2017. Visit the National Theatre Website for details. Many thanks to Sheffield Theatres for facilitating this review.

     

  • RECIPE | Italian Chicken Liver Pate

    Pate is renowned for being ridiculously fatty, but I try and keep that to an absolute minimum by using only 1 tbsp of butter. In fact, I used a dairy-free alternative the other day when making this and it was perfectly fine. Although the cholesterol content of chicken livers is high it does provide us with a good intake of vitamin A, B-12 and folic acid.

    CREDIT: Jordan Lohan

    The Italian spin on this French classic comes from anchovy, capers, sage and parmesan- and it really is tasty! Don’t be put off by the anchovies- I’m not a lover of them on there own but in dishes like this it really takes the flavour up a notch!

    Ingredients.
    250g chicken livers, defrosted if frozen
    1 tbsp unsalted butter
    1 shallot, finely sliced
    1 clove garlic
    2 anchovy fillets
    ½ tbsp capers, chopped finely
    3 sage leaves
    80ml white wine
    small grating of lemon zest
    30g parmesan, grated

    Method.
    1. Prepare your livers by getting rid of any fat, or greenish parts.

    1. Melt the butter and a glug of olive oil in a large frying pan, and begin to cook the shallot, garlic, sage, capers, and anchovy fillets until they are golden.

    2. Add in the chicken livers and continue to fry until well browned.

    3. Add in half of the white wine, whilst stirring the pan until the wine has been almost absorbed.

    4. Add in the final half of wine and repeat stirring.

    5. Take the pan off the heat and transfer to a small food processor. I like mine completely smooth, so blitz until my desired consistency is reached.

    6. Finally add in a small grating of lemon zest, along with the parmesan. Give a final pulse and stir with a spoon to ensure zest and parmesan are incorporated within the pate.

    7. You can now serve warm spread on crositini, or alternatively spoon into ramekins and cover in the fridge until you’re ready.

  • Does your manhood get smaller as we get older?

    An article by Doctor Phil Hammond has suggested that perhaps our manhoods are getting smaller… He explains…

    CREDIT: © stnazkul Depositphotos

    We have a lot of data about the size of men’s penises, thanks mainly to Grindr (that is research isn’t it?) however penis size from 60 years ago is near impossible to obtain, so finding out whether our penises are getting smaller as we age, is difficult to compare to previous generations of men.

    However, it is suggested that perhaps because we are living longer up to 30 years longer, (one in three of us now lives past the age of 100), and are weighing a lot more than we used to, so we are carrying around the excesses of our lives for 30 years more. Meaning that as we get older, unless we retain good health and a flat tummy, our dicks could be shrouded in fat…

    Doctor Phil Hammond wrote in The Telegraph,

    “A big belly makes your penis look smaller, and if you can’t see it at all when you look down you need to get a grip quickly. You’re at high risk of type two diabetes and arterial disease, which can also affect the frequency and firmness of your erections.

    “The bottom line is that a good erection is a sign of good physical and mental health, but for most women, your smile and smell are far more important than actual size.”

    So what do you think?

  • Politicians’ views on homosexuality aren’t necessarily a barrier for the LGBT community

    Politicians’ views on homosexuality aren’t necessarily a barrier for the LGBT community

    In a flash poll taken by THEGAYUK, readers were split on whether a politician’s views on gay sex were an important consideration to them.

    CREDIT: Ocus-Focus-bigstock

    When asked if a politician’s views of what LGBT people do or don’t do in bed was a sin, an equal number of those surveyed answered yes and no. A flash poll undertaken by THEGAYUK showed that 47 percent of people thought that a politician’s views on the subject was an important factor to consider, whilst 47 percent did not. Six percent were unsure.

    The poll comes after the leader of Liberal Democrats, Tim Farron was asked about his views on homosexuality. The committed Christian has been asked over and over on whether he considers homosexuality sinful.

    Channel 4 News’ Cathy Newman asked him four times on the subject during two separate interviews. It was only during a parliamentary debate in the House of Commons, where he was asked by Tory backbencher Nigel Evans on whether he thought being gay was a sin, the Westmorland and Lonsdale MP answered,

    “I do not.

    “I tell you what, I am very proud to have gone through that lobby behind him there in the Coalition Government where the Liberal Democrats introduced gay marriage, equal marriage and, indeed, did not go as far as it should have done in terms of recognising transgender rights.

    Replying to our poll, would be members of the electorate were keen to point out that “straight answers” to a simple question would be “refreshing” and that religious views would only be a problem if politicians wanted to “enforce that belief through politics”.

    Guardian writer, Owen Jones however Tweeted,

    “Tim Farron refusing to say whether gay sex is a sin is horribly damaging to young LGBT people struggling with their sexuality.

    “So many LGBT people fear rejection by society. Hearing a national politician refuse to say whether gay sex is sinful causes hurt.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Jeremy Joseph is going for a world record at the London Marathon

    Jeremy Joseph is going for a world record at the London Marathon

    But it’s probably not what you think…

    G-A-Y owner Jeremy Joseph wants to set a new world record. He wants to set a new record for the number of comments on a Facebook post. He’s urging people not to share, not to like, but comment to support equality everywhere.

    The club owner is famous for his marathon running and has raised over £400,000 for his chosen charity, Elton John AIDS Foundation.

    In his campaign, Jeremy outlined the many inequalities levelled at the LGBT community, including the number of countries in which it is illegal to be gay, the countries in which being gay attracts the death penalty. He also outlines the access to HIV testing available to the LGBT community in the UK.

    Globally 9 out of 10 gay and bisexual men do not have access to comprehensive and stigma-free HIV and STI prevention services.

    Speaking about why he chose EJAF he told THEGAYUK,

    “The reason why the Elton John AIDS Foundation is important, is because I decided several years ago that I wanted G-A-Y to focus on one charity.

    “I chose the Elton John AIDS Foundation because they distribute money, rather than finance one thing.

    “It means by raising money through Elton John Aids Foundation, you’re raising money for lots and lots of charities.

     

More posts