It is being reported that a gay couple and their two friends, in North Yorkshire, were beaten by a group of up to 15 in a homophobic incident.
CREDIT: Google Maps
A gay couple and their two friends were left needing medical attention, after an attack by “group of about 15” outside a pub in Thornaby, North Yorkshire by what they call a “homophobic gang”.
Jayson Homer and his partner, 21, and two friends, Marc Vasey and a female friend, allege that the incident started at around 8:30 PM inside the pub, where they were enjoying a festive drink. Jayson’s partner, who wished to remain anonymous, says that he was questioned about his religion by another group at the pub. The debate escalated to verbal abuse when he said that the group started calling him homophobic slurs.
Speaking to the Gazette Live the anonymous victim said,
“At first a girl in the group started taking the mick out of me for being Jewish. Then another lad from the group came over saying being Jewish was a race.
“I was disagreeing with him and it was just a little debate really at first. But then the girl started shouting ‘queer’ at me. Every time I went to the toilet someone said it while I was walking past.”
Eventually, the couple and their two friends decided to leave the pub at 11.15 PM, when they say they were set upon and physically attacked by “a group of about 15” on Thornaby Road.
Jayson said that he was bottled in the face and had to have a CT scan at the hospital to check for brain damage. His partner suffered bruising and a black eye.
Jayson said that the attack has left him feeling suicidal and petrified to leave his own home.
He said,
“To tell the truth it left me feeling suicidal. I was petrified to go out of my front door but I’m not going to let it stop me living my life.”
According to Gazette Live this is the second homophobic attack in less than a week in Thornaby. On Wednesday 21st December a 30-year-old cyclist was assaulted, following a homophobic verbal attack by two men. His attackers were travelling in a white Mercedes, when they pulled over, shouted homophobic abuse at him, got out of their car and attacked him.
Mental health advocate, actor and icon, Carrie Fisher, has died at the age of 60 a spokesperson for her family has confirmed.
By Riccardo Ghilardi photographer (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons
The actor, Carrie Fisher has died at the age of 60, days after it was revealed that she had suffered a heart attack.
A family statement expressed a “very deep sadness” hours after her death. She had taken ill on a flight from London to LA on Friday.
The statement released on behalf of her family read,
“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning.”
“She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”
She became famous for her role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars film franchise. She also appeared in The Blues Brothers, When Harry Met Sally and Hannah and Her Sisters.
Carrie was born to actress Debbie Reynolds and singer Eddie Fisher in 1956.
An Amazon Prime Grand Tour live studio audience applauded a comment made by Richard Hammond which insinuated that eating ice cream was gay.
CREDIT: Amazon Prime
Responding to a comment made by Jeremy Clarkson on the Amazon Prime show, Grand Tour, about being unable to eat an ice cream inside of a car’s interior, co-presenter, Richard Hammond replied,
“It’s all right, I don’t eat ice cream. It’s something to do with being straight.”
🤗 hello & here's the full richard hammond 'ice creams are gay' piece and yeah, it's awful pic.twitter.com/JhDisRsc1Q
The studio audience after a few laughs erupted into applause. Questioning the applause Jeremy Clarkson, who looks slightly stunned by the comments asks the audience,
“Why are you applauding him? What do you mean? You’re saying all children are homosexual?”
Richard Hammond replies,
“What? What? Ice cream is a bit – you know… There’s nothing wrong with it, but a grown man eating an ice cream – it’s that way, rather than that way.”
The conversation then dives into a not so subtle joke about 69ing and a chocolate flake.
Many users of Twitter blasted the presenter calling him out on what they called his “casual homophobia” and demanded that he stop normalising homophobia. Some suggested the clip was aired to boost an underperforming show.
Dear @RichardHammond, casual homophobia has no place in 2016. You're in the public eye on a public TV show. Your voice is heard & it hurts.
The comments were made on the sixth episode of the Amazon Prime show, which was called “Happy Finnish Christmas”. It was released on 23 December.
THEGAYUK reached out to Amazon Prime for comment.
In 2015 Jeremy Clarkson caused offence when he tweeted a picture about fudge packing. Jeremy uploaded a picture of himself and Richard Hammond standing outside a fudge factory with the caption “We have got jobs at last. Here. As packers.”
THEGAYUK announces its 2017 New Year’s Recognition nomination list, to acknowledge the massive support and campaigning efforts that companies, organisations and individuals have made to the LGBT community in the UK.
To celebrate the contribute to LGBT+ life in the UK here are your nominees. Vote at the bottom of the page.
Nominees
Activism, Awareness and Politics
Mhairi Black
By Scottish National Party (SNP) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klq9GBqRsFU) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Mhairi Black is a Scottish politician. She has been the Member of Parliament for Paisley and Renfrewshire South since 2015, when she defeated Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander. She is the youngest openly lesbian MP to ever be elected into British politics.
Britain’s first Muslim Drag Queen. Shot to fame in 2015 during a Channel 4 documentary which highlighted the Asian LGBT scene in Britain. Asifa has gone on to become a strong and vocal LGBT activist and advocate for gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans Muslims.
Past recipients: Stephen Fry, Shane Bitney Crone, PinkNews, Allout.org, C4EM, David Cameron
Health
GMFA
GFMA is one of the UK’s leading sexual health charities which was founded in 1992. It was created to promote safer sexual health amongst gay and bisexual men during the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It was founded by a group of gay men who felt that not enough was being done in HIV prevention.
Darren Batey
CREDIT: Darren Batey / Twitter
Darren Batey was hailed as a community hero for Bolton Pride before his death in December last year. He was described as being instrumental to Bolton’s first pride event in October 2015.
Hailed by MP Chris Bryant as “Unambiguously Brilliant”. Diversity Role Model Charity organises volunteer LGBT spokespeople go into schools across the UK to talk about their experiences of growing up as gay, lesbian, bi or trans. Diversity Role Models (DRM) was established in 2011 to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in UK schools with the aim that all children and young people would be able to learn safely at school without fear of bullying.
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Peter Tatchell Foundation
Endlessly battling the injustices of the world the Peter Tatchell Foundation has fought to promote and protect the human rights of individuals, communities and nations, in the UK and internationally, in accordance with established national and international human rights law.
Past recipients:Bridegroom (Documentary film) Bisi Alimi, Human Rights Campaign, Shaun Dellenty, Tim Franks, NoHomophobes.com, RUComingOut.com and Wayne Dhesi.
Producing queer theatre throughout the year since 2008. It was founded by creative director Peter Bull. It is an award-winning theatre in Vauxhall London.
Past recipients:Graham Norton, Adam Lambert, Theatre 503, Doctor Christian Jessen, Geo Wyett, Soho Theatre
Sports
Tom Bosworth
CREDIT: Monty McKinnen / THEGAYUK
Tom is an Olympic British race walker who made headlines when he came out as gay on the Victoria Derbyshire show in 2015. In an interview with THEGAYUK Tom revealed that as a student he hated PE after fellow students found out that he was gay. He said that his time at school was an easy time to be targeted by bullies. He took part in this summer’s Rio Olympics and beat his personal best times.
Remarking on Hirst’s decision to come out as gay LGBT advocacy charity, Stonewall said his words were “powerful” and that his words “will inspire many”.
Nigel Owens
The only international rugby referee to come out as gay, doing so in 2007. Nigel made the Wales Online Pinc List which celebrates the top 40 unsung heroes of the LGBT community.
Past recipients: Tom Daley, Jason Collins, Clare Balding, Nicola Adams MBE, Lee Pearson CBE, Greg Louganis
It has been confirmed that British singer George Michael has died at the age of 53. He was found dead in his Oxfordshire home in Goring. His manager, Michael Lippman, confirmed that the singer has passed away at 11 PM Christmas day, peacefully after suffering heart failure. Police are reporting that the death is unexplained but not suspicious.
Writing on Twitter and calling Michael by his family nickname of “Yog”, his former bandmate from Wham!, Andrew Ridgeley said, he was,
“heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend, Me, his loved ones, his friends, the world of music, the world at large. 4ever loved. A xx”
The singer’s family announced his death in a statement issued through the singer’s publicist.
“It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period,” it said.
“The family would ask that their privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. There will be no further comment at this stage.”
George Michael was one of the most successful British solo artists with a career spanning several decades and selling over 100 million records. Some of his biggest solo hits included, Careless Whisper, Outside and Faith. He found fame in a band he started with Andrew Ridgeley called, Wham!, their hits included Last Christmas and Wake Me Up Before You Go Go.
George Michael had a unique work ethic and was considered a great multi-tasker as an artist, who not only sung, but wrote and produced most of his hits.
George came out as gay during the late 90s after initially identifying himself to his band mate, Andrew, as bisexual.
Rachael McCoy is an award winning sex and relationship coach who is driven and inspired by helping others to achieve the relationship and sex life they have always wanted. THEGAYUK asked how to spice up a long term relationship.
CREDIT: Bigstock
Aim to take it in turns to surprise the other person with a gift or experience that they really enjoy. Although Christmas is a bit of gift giving time, while not surprise your partner before the big day…. A great tip on how to do this is to listen when your partner says things they like. Make a note in your phone and when they are least expecting it, spring it on them. They’ll be so grateful that you remembered.
Have at least one night a month where you promise to turn all tech and outside distractions off and just spend time together. In this modern day we all have tablets, phones and other forms of gadgets that distract us away from quality time together.
Show gratitude. In long term relationships it’s easy to forget to say the little things like ‘Thank you’ ‘I love this about you’ or ‘I’m so grateful for’. This mainly happens because we’ve said it so many times before and we just expect the other person to know. But it is imperative that you always remember to tell your husband/ wife these things regularly. It will make all the difference to your marriage and help ensure that it’s a long and happy one.
Erotic massageis a great treat that never gets old. When you know your husband/ wife has been having a stressful time, greet them one day after work with some massage oil, a candle lit (warm) room and work your magic to massage their stress away.
Taking the time to cook your partner a nice mealis a lovely gesture as it shows your spending time and energy to do something thoughtful for them. Actually sitting down and eating together (not in front of the TV) is becoming less common these days too so make sure the table is set and you can both talk about your day/ week or life in general.
Get a red light bulb and swap it with your normal bulb. It completely changes the look and atmosphere in the room, instantly making it feel very seductive and naughty.
Going out with friendsmay not seem romantic at the time but socialising and ‘representing’ as a couple with friends is a really fun thing to do. In other people’s presence we tend to be more playful. It will give you lots of things to talk about and it’s something you can both enjoy together.
Some spontaneous oral sexis always a pleasurable treat for a loved one. Catch them when they are nice and clean but not expecting your sexy treat. Make the effort to spend a decent amount of time working their ‘goodies’ with your lips and tongue.
For an incredibly sentimental gift idea, how about putting together a collage of images. It will be even more romantic if you do it for no apparent reason, just to make them happy. There are plenty of apps that do this now or you could print off your favourite picture memories and cut them to fit nicely in a frame. It proudly shows your declaration of love and will definitely show your partner you care.
Doing things separately may seem the opposite of romantic but actually it’s a very healthy thing to do in marriages (and relationships in general). As much as you love each other, living in each other’s pockets can become suffocating and predictable. Doing hobbies separately creates desire and interest into the other person, giving you both some great conversation too.
Ether Joey Essex is the dimmest person on the planet or he lives under a rock. In his Christmas special, which was broadcast on ITV2 he was asked to define what he thought Homophobia was, so here goes, he answered,
“Some people don’t like to leave the house. They’ve got home-ophobia?”
By the same logic we wonder if he thinks racism is people who don’t like taking part in athletics or the egg and spoon race.
Lately, there’s been a boom in music from LGBT artists and as acceptance of gay people grows and grows worldwide we look to see who are the names you need to be looking out for in 2017.
CREDIT: Kenny Rials
Sponsored by
Kenny Rials
Broadway star (yes he starred in Hedwig And The Angry Inch) turned recording artist, Louisiana native, turned full-on Brit, Kenny Rials (photo above) has a brand new album out called Second Chances, which is a follow-up to his debut EP, Time Doesn’t Stand Still, which featured the club smash “Not Yet, Someday”. Kenny is a strong advocate for anti-bullying and his latest album contains the self-penned anti-bullying anthem, “It Never Rains Forever”. Speaking about his experience with bullying the star revealed, “I kept my head down and tried to be invisible. In my lyrics, I ask those still being tormented to please hold on, it will be our time to shine soon”. He’ll be touring the UK and USA in 2017 check out date and more info at his website.
Adam Lambert
Adam released a brand new song “Welcome To The Show” in July which amassed over 8 million streams on Spotify and nearly 2 million views on YouTube. Well, it hints that perhaps there will be a new album for 2017. His last album The Original High was released in 2015 so it’s about time there was a new one.
Sam Smith
CREDIT: kathclick / bigstock
Surprisingly Sam Smith, despite his huge worldwide success, has actually only released one album and okay it is a whopper having shipped over 6.5 million units, but that was in 2014. So will Sam be releasing new music in 2017? The star revealed that he was going deeper than ever for the next one, saying, “Every day I’m having little epiphanies and changes and loving it. But all I can say is that I’m putting my heart even more out on the (expletive) line. I’m going even deeper. I can’t believe I’m even doing it, but I’m going even deeper.”
Steve Grand
CREDIT: Steve Grand / Instagram
Steve Grand is as famous for his shirtless crowdfunding of albums as he is for his actual music. His last album All American Boy was in 2015 so 2017 could be the year for new music from the star, which he hinted at could be on the way soon with the release of a duet, “Look Away” released in March. Bring it on Stevie.
Joe McElderry
Credit Mark Yeoman
Joe’s recorded music career has been quiet of late, having not released anything since 2012’s Here’s What I Believe which reached number 8 in the UK. Joe will be back on the road with Joseph And The Technicolour Dreamcoat in January. There are dates planned for Northern Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales.
Danyl Johnson
CREDIT: Monty McKinnen / THEGAYUK
Danyl has been working on some new music and you should expect more music in 2017. Speaking to THEGAYUK earlier in the year Danyl revealed since his time on the X Factor that he had travelled to Nashville, USA, to work on material with some great, talented songwriters.
Sponsored by Kenny Rials. Produced by THEGAYUK editorial team.
This is a regular subject matter for gay films these days and we have chosen these 10 from right across the spectrum.
CREDIT: Edge of Seventeen / YouTube
BEGINNERS
Christopher Plummer’s Oscar-winning turn as newly widowed 75-year-old Hal who declares to Oliver his son (Ewan McGregor) that he is now gay and is determined to make the most of the time he has left. Sweet and very funny.
This sentimental story set in small town America in 1984 teaches High School student Eric that love and sex are not the same things and he almost goes back into the closet. Great period piece, well acted and a neat happy ending.
A heartstring-tugging story of forbidden love between an Israeli and a Palestinian in Tel Aviv where the latter risks his life if he comes out to his family. It’s all the more remarkable that after all the horrors the pair goes through, that the overwhelming feeling that one comes away with from this film, is of hope.
A remarkable and unpredictable drama that deals with a repressed Polish Catholic priest’s personal struggle with his homosexuality. Brave, controversial and extremely moving: it worn a prestigious Teddy Award for best LGBT film at Berlinale.
Bram a good looking Belgian/Turkish 20-year-old gets thrown out of his family home in Antwerp when he comes out, although his father is happy to house his other sons who are crooks, which is far better than being gay. An intelligent drama that becomes an entertaining romance.
Nick, the youngest son of a wealthy Chinese/American family tries to put the pieces together of his older brother’s life after he was tragically killed in a car crash and discovers that he had wanted to ‘come out’ to him before he had died. Very endearing.
In this hot and steamy German tale, one straight trainee policeman discovers that probably shouldn’t be getting married to his pregnant girlfriend after all, when he has a very physical relationship with one of his colleagues. Very well written, and beautifully acted.
This coming-of-age story tells of two teenage girls, who are best friends, dealing with all the restrictions of growing up in Iran today. The girls are exploring their emerging sexuality as they become part of Tehran’s underground party scene. Superb, if not scary, look at some of the conflicts and struggles in contemporary Iran.
From 1996 this wonderful British film version of Jonathan Harvey’s hit play about two gay teenagers finding themselves and each other in a Council Estate in London.
An award-winning Brazilian film about a blind school boy and his virginal innocent friend who are slow to realise their feelings for each other. Tender, with some neat touches of humour … We predict that you will so fall in love with this one when you see it.
A 16-year-old boy, who had dreams of becoming a lawyer committed suicide in September shortly after coming out as gay and being dumped by his boyfriend. He had been a victim of bullying in the years before his death.
An inquest heard that Zenon Bartlett, 16, committed suicide days after his first relationship with another boy ended. His mother found him hanged in his room after Zenon’s, boyfriend ended their relationship
The schoolboy had recently come out as gay. The Mirror reports that he had struggled for three years with “persistent rumours about he and another boy”.
Zenon’s mother, Lynda Bartlett, told the inquest that he found her son’s body at their home in Four Acres, Botley, Hants., on September 6.
She said,
“I had my lunch and just went upstairs and walked into the bedroom.
“I had seen Zenon’s legs sticking out the wardrobe – they didn’t look right and when I walked in and saw what he’d done I was screaming ‘no’ and just calling for help.
“I went downstairs screaming for help. I phoned for an ambulance and ran upstairs with my mobile phone.
“If I had thought for a minute that he would self-harm or he would come to us to say he was depressed we would have taken him to the doctor’s or I would pay for a counsellor.”
During the investigation into his death, it was found that he had reached out to Childline where he was offered help.
Paying tribute, Mrs Bartlett said about her son,
“In his 16 years, Zenon touched so many lives, we are so proud he was part of our family.
“Our wish for this in the future is for people to not be afraid and to talk and get help if they are feeling low or suicidal.”
Samaritans (116 123) operates a 24-hour service available every day of the year. If you prefer to write down how you’re feeling, or if you’re worried about being overheard on the phone, you can email Samaritans at jo@samaritans.org.
