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  • “Get Gays Out” chant heard in London’s Covent Garden

    “Get Gays Out” chant heard in London’s Covent Garden

    Racist and homophobic chants have been reportedly heard in the centre of London, days after London plays host to UK’s biggest Pride.

    CREDIT: ©-Chalabala-Depositphotos
    CREDIT: ©-Chalabala-Depositphotos

    Chants of, “Rule Britannia! Britannia rules the waves! First we’ll get the Poles out, then the gays!” was allegedly heard in Covent Garden, London over the weekend after over a million people participated in Pride In London.

    A group walking down Drury Lane in Covent Garden, a short distance away from where Pride took place on Saturday, was heard shouting the racist and homophobic chant just days after the UK voted to leave the EU.

    Hate crimes reports have surged 57 per cent since the vote.

    Colin Appleby told Gay Star News that he heard the chants as he went to bed.

    “I was in bed just drifting off to sleep when I heard them.

    “There had been football chants all day long from the direction of the pubs so didn’t really pay much attention until the words became clearer.

    “This is Drury Lane in Covent Garden, London, it’s the home two theatres, a plethora of restaurants and bars and it is in liberal, tolerant London.

    “To those who voted Leave but didn’t have the balls to stand up and counter the racism underpinning that campaign, I say be careful what you wish for.”

    The incident has been reported to the police.

    ALSO READ: Homophobic hate crime soars in London

     

  • WATCH | Peter Tatchell addresses Pride In London

    WATCH | Peter Tatchell addresses Pride In London

    Human rights activist Peter Tatchell addressed thousands of people in Trafalgar Square over the weekend.

    Peter Tatchell Foundation
    Peter Tatchell Foundation

    The long-time rights advocate and campaigner, Peter Tatchell addressed thousands of people at Trafalgar Square over the weekend at Pride In London.

    He spoke for just over four minutes and paid tribute to the Orlando victims as well as standing up for Muslim communities asking to remember not to “demonize” or “scapegoat” Muslim people.

    He called for “solidarity to fight all hate.”

    Remembering the Orlando victims, Tatchell said,

    “It’s hard on this day of joy to not forget the pain and anguish the people of Orlando have felt and are feeling, but we stand in solidarity with LGBT Orlando, we stand in solidarity with LGBT people everywhere who are affected by hate crime.”

     

  • CAR REVIEW | Citroen DS3 Cabrio

    ★★★ | Citroen DS3 Cabrio

    The DS range of Citroens are the more Avantgarde models and a welcome return from a manufacturer rich in a history of innovation and design. It’s also a car maker that gave us the 2CV, widely futuristic dashboards and the subliminal grand tourer with the SM. So they know a few things about cars.

    Though largely forgotten, Citroen have at one point or another offered the motorist open top fun. The 2CV and Dyane were cheap open top motoring. The short-lived 4 door Visa decapotable with its unique pram type hood. And the Plurial that was a bit of a hash job with its removable sides that had nowhere to go so you never took them off. The DS 3 is the smallest offering in this DS range and the Cabrio adds some open top fun to an already accomplished car but does it make it any better?

    The answer to that is no. It actually makes the DS 3 worse. What you need to realise is that with any open top car there is always a pay off that must be accepted for the fun a missing roof will give you.

    In this case it’s the boot. The opening is hopeless. I for one did not expect it to lift upwards. In doing so it covers up an already small hole. The boot area itself is quite large, deep and cavernous. It’s just that you can’t actually get to it. Should the boot lid drop downward then it would solve at least half these problems.

    And there lays the problem with the DS3 cabrio over its hatchback sibling. For an extra £2000 you get a boot that you can’t use. What you do get though is an electric roof that pretty much works on a one-touch system that when open causes no buffeting. Fully open (rear window gone, followed by rearward vision also) you get a gentle breeze over your shoulders and long hair gently tussled. Yes, the rearward vision is blighted when the top is completely retracted. At first I thought this would be a problem. However with a little tug and wiggle of the finger the door mirrors can be angled to pretty much rectify this and the model I had here came equipped with a reversing camera.

    All in all then it’s pretty much shaping up to be what every car with a removable top is like except this cabrio retains the sides. In essence that means it isn’t a full convertible. It also means there is no scuttle shake felt through the steering wheel thus adding to the already solid feel of the Citroen. Another thing those side do is add a little security. You can feel incredibly exposed in a full cabriolet.

    The insides of the DS 3 are above par for this kind of car. It’s all well put together. The materials chosen are tactile and the dashboard has a feel that makes you want to squeeze it. However in this model it comes with a gaudy strip across the dashboard in what looks like really cheap carbon fibre you’d find someone sticking on their 1991 Vauxhall Corsa. Check out Citroen’s option packs and spec sheets. This can be rectified. It absolutely ruins an otherwise nice interior. Thankfully this is a £150 cost option so you don’t need to have it.

    Everything works as it should on the move. The clutch is light and the gear change direct. Strangely more so than in the 208GTi Sport I tested a month or so ago. In total it felt more fluid. What wasn’t quite so fluid in its execution was the ride. Where I had praised the Citroen C3 hatchback for being fantastic in its ride and handling, the DS 3 can’t match it. It rides a little to harsh for me. It also makes the handling a little skittish when pushed hard.

    The engine on the other hand is from the PSA award winning range of power packs. So smooth in its operation that you could be confused into thinking this is more than a 4 cylinder. It’s easy to live with and the 1598cc engine delivers its 165bhp with little effort. Sometimes you feel that 165 horses just isn’t enough. You feel the DS3 needs more urge. It’s only when you look at your speed do you then realise that you need to back off a little.

    With the roof folded back it is quite cosy. The heater and its many vents positioned to keep you warm even on the cold days. You can select to have the roof back as far as you’d like. Quite pointless if I am honest. You’ll probably find that you will have it as far as it will go on most days. With the roof up it cosseted you with the exact same feeling you would have with a hatchback. I’ll come clean though and say that apart from at night when I parked it up, l had the roof open as much as I could. You don’t buy a car like this to keep the roof up yet we Brits seem to do just that.

    The week was over, the DS3 had to go back. From the Citroens I had in my motoring career (and there have been a fair few) Citroen isn’t what it use to be.

    Twangy doors and creaky trim are a distant memory. Build quality is up there. Some of it felt better than the Germans. I liked the DS3. I could live with the challenges it possesses but it would have to be as a second car. It’s too flawed in its everyday areas to warrant me to trade in my old nail.

    Likes

    Engine
    Roof operation
    Little buffeting with the roof open

    Loathes

    Boot opening
    Carbon fibre dashboard trim
    Infotainment system difficult to see with the roof open

    The Lowdown
    Car – Citroen DS3 Cabrio THP 165
    Price – £23,340 (as tested)
    MPG – 50.4mpg (combined)
    Power – 165 bhp 6000 rpm
    0-62mph – 7.6 seconds
    Top Speed – 135 mph
    Co2 – 129 (g/km)

  • BAR REVIEW | Myki Sand Bar Sails into Soho

    ★★ | Myki Sand Bar

    Archer Street Bar Soho, oddly enough on Archer Street, when mentioned might send an immediate dentist-implement-touching-nerve to your heart. This used to be the bricks and mortar that housed a guaranteed-tug-in-the-toilets bar and felt like throwing-shapes-on-three-week-old-pina-colada dance floor, once known as Barcode Soho. The good old days: still missed by many, we are sure.

    What London needed, and of course what this great country needed, was another heterosexual establishment. Archer Street Bar draws a clientele that travels to Ascot by coach, buys their fascinators from Debenhams and still thinks holidaying in Ibiza is cool.

    Myki Sand Bar is located on the lower ground floor where the sticky dance floor once resided, and is billed as ‘London’s first beach club bar’ – a pop-up until late 2016. White and blue sails hang from the ceiling, white painted wooden boards, blue cushions, sandbox seating areas and some scattered beach balls – an impersonation of Neptune’s from ITV’s Benidorm.

    It would have been quicker to fly to Mykonos and sample an authentic Greek cocktail – the beach boys behind the bar were as quick as a deflating lilo.

    Parched, but eager to sample, we started with a Myki’s signature cocktail, Heatwave: Ciroc vodka, peach liqueur, chilli bitters and orgeat served martini-style at £12.50. Peachy with a sand-in-ya-eye chilli twist – worth its weight in budgie-smugglers.

    Corporate functions and those who think they are worthy of a ‘VIP booth’ (Myki’s has a few) will like the setup.

    Our next tipple, Boys of the Summer: Ciroc pineapple, blood peach puree, lime juice, vanilla topped with Billecart Salmon champagne. It was like drinking breakfast juice – maybe they thought one cocktail was enough for us gays and didn’t add the alcohol. At £14.50 a pop we could have better spent on two bottles of Factor 15 Piz Buin – what a waste.

    If you want sand this summer head to Kent’s Botany Bay or hop on a plane.  If you want over-priced but decent cocktails, head to Ham Yard Hotel or The Blind Pig at The Social Eating House – both in Soho. And if you want to wear a Hawaiian shirt – best not to leave the house.

    Myki Sand Bar Opening Hours: Thurs–Sat: 4pm–1am

    Private Hire: Monday – Saturday

    Capacity: 220

    Archer Street |3-4 Archer Street Soho London W1D 7AP T – 020 7734 3342 www.archerstreet.co.uk
    bookings@archerstreet.co.uk

  • Building firm fined over half a million for the deaths of gay couple

    Building firm fined over half a million for the deaths of gay couple

    A construction company has been fined over £500,000 after a gay couple fell to their deaths.

    CREDIT: Facebook / Evening Standard

    Gavin Brewer, 32, and Stuart Meads, 34, both fell to their deaths in October 2013 after making contact with hoarding on a building which gave way sending both men down a 12ft drop.

    Both Gavin and Stuart were pronounced dead at the scene following their fall.

    Monavon Construction pleaded guilty to the corporate manslaughter of Gavin Brewer, 32, and Stuart Meads, 34, at the Old Bailey on Monday, 9 May.

    The Metropolitan Police launched a joint investigation with the Health and Safety Executive. This investigation found that the hoardings had been fixed in such a way that only negligible force would have been required to make them give way.

    Monavon Construction were responsible for a building site in Netley Street at the junction with Hampstead Road, NW1. Work had been ongoing at the site for approximately three years and construction was nearing its conclusion.

    Part of the site bordered Netley Street and plywood hoardings had been put in place there which covered the pavement. On 14 October 2013 work began to change the hoarding so the pavement could be reinstated. On Friday, 18 October this work had been completed leaving the hoardings, measuring approximately 4ft in height, fixed by wooden struts to a wall behind which measured between 130mm to 280mm in height.
    Behind this wall was a drop of approximately 12ft down into a basement area.

    Monavon was fined £250,000 each for the deaths of Gavin Brewer and Stuart Meads as well as £50,000 for heath and safety breached. They were also ordered to pay £23,653 prosecution costs.

    Mr Meads’s father told the London Evening Standard shortly after his death,

    “Stuart was a wonderful son and is a huge loss to our family. We are in shock. It is a very difficult time.”

  • ORLANDO DOCTOR | I still see their faces

    ORLANDO DOCTOR | I still see their faces

    A doctor who treated victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting says he is haunted by the thought he could have done more to save lives.

    Orlando Massacre

    Dr Joseph Ibrahim told the BBC’s Panorama programme: “I still run through it in my mind. Did I do everything I could?”
    Over two weeks have passed since the attack, in which 49 people were killed.
    Dr Ibrahim, who, like the attacker, Omar Mateen, is the son of Muslim immigrants, said he could still picture the faces of those who died in the trauma unit he runs.
    He said he expects to carry the tragedy with him “for the rest of my life, I have no doubt.”

    Watch Panorama: The Orlando Nightclub Massacre Monday 27 June 830pm on BBC One
    ALSO READ: Who were the victims of the Pulse massacre

  • MP Angela Eagle Resigns

    Another high-profile out MP has resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet.

    MP Angela Eagle joins 27 other MPs who have resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition party. She follows Chris Bryant as two of the most prominent gay MPs to resign from the shadow cabinet.

    She told the BBC that she made her decision to quit after not hearing from Mr. Corbyn for 24 hours. She criticised his lack of communication with his shadow cabinet.

    A number of Labour’s MPs are upset at the apparent lack of leadership by Corbyn during the run up to the EU Referendum which saw the UK vote, by a slim majority to leave the European Union.

    Ms. Eagle has stepped down in her role as the Shadow Business Secretary and First Secretary of State and hasn’t denied her own ambition to be the new leader of Labour, if Corbyn resigns or is forced out.

    Taking to twitters Ms. Eagle said,

    With deep regret, and after nine months of trying to make it work, I have today resigned from the Shadow Cabinet

     

  • MP Chris Bryant quits shadow cabinet

    In the wake of the EU referendum and as confidence in Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the opposition weakens, one of Britain’s most visible gay politicians quits the Shadow Cabinet.

    CREDIT: CC flickr.com:photos:sicliff:

     

    The Shadow Leader of the House Of Commons, Chris Bryant, has resigned after revealing that he has lost confidence in Jeremy Corbyn’s ability to lead Britain’s opposition.

    In a week of political turmoil Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour has been put under tremendous pressure with 12 of his front benchers quitting their roles.

    The resignations have forced Corbyn to announce a new cabinet.

    Chris Bryant, one of the UK’s most visible gay politicians  and MP for Rhondda in Wales Tweeted,

    “We need someone new to unite and lead Labour.”

    His resignation letter to Corbyn said,

    “If you refuse to step aside I fear you will go down in history as the man who broke the Labour Party.”

    “Sadly, the referendum has shown that you and your team cannot run an effective national campaign and that you do not command the support of the country.

    “I urge you, because you are a decent man to do the decent thing and take the only action that can avert potential disaster by stepping aside.

    “If you do so I believe future generations will praise your selflessness.”

     

    Jeremy Corbyn has refused to step down as Labour’s leader saying,

    “I regret there have been resignations today from my shadow cabinet. But I am not going to betray the trust of those who voted for me – or the millions of supporters across the country who need Labour to represent them.”

     

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Barbu

    ★★★★ | Barbu

    What can be better on a rainy summer night in London than sitting in an atmospheric, mirror lined, wooden tent (once graced by Marlene Dietrich) and watching a troupe of hairy male acrobats strip down to their skimpy pants? Not much if you ask me. I quite like a hairy man in black pants. Cirque Alfonse have returned to London Wonderground after their hit show “Timber!” with another testosterone-fuelled show of daring circus skills. “Barbu” is absurd, silly and above all entertaining.

    Accompanied by a live band, who set the tone with a throbbing and dirty soundtrack, they roller skate, backflip and form human pyramids. The awkward yet thrilling dancing is a site to behold and there’s more perineum and hairy thigh flashed onstage than in a night in a backroom in Playa Del Ingles. Naturally they’re not just pieces of gristly, fleshy meat with beards (but oh what flesh). They’re also consummate performers who are self-mocking and raucously funny at times. Whilst not the most thrilling of circus shows around, there are moments that set the audience’s pulses racing. It’s also an incredibly raunchy show, provided dirty and sweaty gets you off. There’s a moment of pure beauty when they set a whole new standard of pole dancing with an ensemble horizontal twirl. It’s a wry and witty piece that’s good (if not clean) fun.

    The show starts a little too slowly and although there’s nothing limp about these men there’s the occasional flaccid moment in the first half hour or so. Prepare to be wowed when it warms up though. There’s real skill here and whilst the movements are less balletic than gruff bearish male strutting and lumbering this just adds to their charm. The physical performances are definitely spectacular too.

    The Southbank’s Wonderground is a stylish funfair themed go to venue for early evening drinks and there’s a frenetic feel to this show that mixes well with alcohol and groups of friends. It’s not hard to see why this show was such a hit in Edinburgh last year.

     

    Reviewed by Chris Bridges, follow on Twitter

  • That 2nd referendum petition just hit 3 million

    That 2nd referendum petition just hit 3 million

    A petition calling for a 2nd EU Referendum has hit over 3 million signatures.

    CREDIT: EU
    CREDIT: EU

    Over 3 million people in the UK are calling on the Government to effectively retake a EU Referendum.

    The petition which was launched before the British referendum on the European Union calls for “a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based on a turnout  of less than 75% there should be another referendum”

    Within hours of the EU ref results, which saw just a slim majority of the electorate voting to leave the European Union over 70,000 people had voted for a second referendum.

    Now just two days after the result which has left many in a state of shock, over 3 million people have voted on the  petition for a second referendum, which is sure to become one of the largest petitions to be delivered to 10 Downing Street.

    As is stands Petitions which garner over 100,000 votes are eligible to be discussed by MPs in the House of Commons.

    The petition is asking the Government to carry out another referendum due to low turnout and a result that is less than 60 per cent.

    “We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.”

     

    During the run up and during the voting on the EU, THEGAYUK asked its readers in a series of Flashpolls which way they were planning or hoping to vote. Overwhelmingly the readership said they were in the Remain camp, with 60 per cent saying they had voted for Stay.

     

    ALSO READ: David Cameron will resign in October

    ALSO READ: David Cameron booed at Pride after vowing to step down as PM

    ALSO READ: 79,000 people have voted for a 2nd referendum

     

  • Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black in bed together

    Ever wondered what Tom Daley and Dustin Lance Black might look like in bed together?

    Well now you know… it might not be exactly what you were expecting (or wanting  – you dirty minxes) but Olympic diver Tom Daley has posted a cute picture of him sharing a bed with his fiance the Oscar-winning Dustin Lance Black.

    He captioned the picture, ”

    “Someone has jet lag ☺ ❤????❤”

     

    The adorable picture also shows Dustin holding Tom’s arm as he rests up.

    So so cute.

     

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