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  • Record Number Of Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual MPs Voted In

    More than 25 openly LGB politicians have gained seats in this parliament. However no trans candidates have been elected.

    A record number of openly gay, lesbian and bisexual candidates have been successful in turning their campaigns into seats for parliament. There are over 25 out MPs in the UK now. However no trans candidates managed to win a majority in their constituencies.

    Ruth Hunt, Chief Executive, Stonewall:

    “We’re encouraged that people took to the polls and voted. More than 25 openly lesbian, gay or bisexual MPs have been elected, making this the largest group of openly LGB MPs elected to date. Our Parliament is richer and stronger for the diversity of voices and experiences within it, however, it is certainly disappointing not to see any openly trans people represented amongst our MPs.

    Looking ahead, our MPs cannot forget the manifesto commitments they made to the LGBT community. We must see those words translated into tangible actions. The Conservatives, alongside the Liberal Democrats, have had an impressive track record at Westminster over the last five years, and we look forward to working closely with the new government towards achieving equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people, here and abroad.”

    Emily Brothers, Labour’s first out trans candidate lost out in Sutton and Cheam.

    Three openly HIV-positive candidates failed to win any seats. Two Lib Dem and one Green candidates who revealed their HIV status in the run up the election lost out in yesterday’s election.

    Religious parties who would have looked to undo the rights of gay people in England, Wales and Scotland failed to achieve 7000 votes.

  • Luxembourg: Only Gay Prime Minister In The World To Marry?

    Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel is to wed his partner Gauthier Destenay next week, according to Yahoo News, just a few months after the tiny duchy legalised same-sex marriage.

    Bettel, who became prime minister in 2013 at the age of just 40, has said little about his plans in a bid to minimise press coverage in the tiny, conservative and mostly Roman Catholic duchy.

    “He does not want to put his private life in the public spotlight and he has turned down requests from the celebrity magazines to cover the event,” one of the sources said.

    In August, Bettel said he would marry Destenay, an architect, with whom he has been in a civil union since 2010.

    “He asked me and I said ‘yes,’” he told the Los Angeles Times.

    Mr Bettel is currently the only out gay Prime Minister in the world, although previously there were Belgium’s Elio Di Rupo and Iceland’s Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir .

  • Chris Hemsworth: Massive Penis Is Basically Everything

    Thor actor Chris Hemsworth has shown off his rather impressive body and what appears to be an incredibly long schlong in the new trailer for Vacation.

    The 31-year-old actor who is currently starring in The Vacation, voted as People Magazine‘s Sexiest Man Alive, is showing off an impressive body and equally impressive member, through his rather thin boxer shorts.

    The film is due to be released in the US in July. Warner Bros have yet to announce a date for the UK release.

    No word has been released yet on whether the shockingly big outline is actually the actors.

     

  • Religious Political Parties Against Gay Rights Fail To Achieve 7000 Votes

    Two political parties that would have would have looked to undo equality for LGBT people in the UK have faired terribly in the UK general elections as fewer than 7,000 people voted in favour of religious based politics.

    The Christian People’s Alliance which was staunchly against the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples and would have looked to repeal women’s right to choose, by abolishing the 1967 Abortion Act has at time of publish just 3260 votes failing to declare any seats in Parliament.

    The Christian Party faired no better with just 3205 votes.

    According to the The Christian Party’s website it believes that there is a “homosexual agenda” and a “militant homosexual lobby” and they are alone in “opposing the redefinition of marriage to include civil partnerships”.

    The CP would have wanted civil partnerships to be redefined to a civil contract.

    On their official website the Christian Party suggest that the “homosexual agenda” is a moving one, which began with the campaign to decriminalise what two people do in the privacy of their own homes, toleration, equality and fairness, coming out and now it believes“, and it is now in the coersion phase; it plans to move on to the paedophilia phase soon”.

    Neither party managed to gain any seats in any of the constituencies they were standing for.

    Currently, the Conservatives have 325 seats with over 11 million votes, Labour has 228 seats with 9.2 million votes, and Liberal Democrats has 8 seats with 2.3 million seats.

  • This woman wants to sue you, for being gay

    You Are Being Sued – panic not, as we will all be in the dock with you if Sally Ann Driskell gets her own way.

    The Nebraska resident who identifies as an ambassador for God and Jesus Christ has filed a Federal Lawsuit in the US against ALL homosexual people on the planet for breaking “religious and moral laws.” (We are assuming she means Earth.)

    According to the Lincoln Journal Star, 63-year-old Ms. Driskell argues in a seven-page, handwritten petition delivered to the US District Court of Omaha that:

    “Homosexuality is a sin and that the homosexuals know it is a sin to live a life of homosexuality

    “Why else would they have been hiding in the closet(?)”

    Sadly spelling is not one of her better skills and so she challenges US District Judge John M. Gerrard to not “judge God to be a lier (sp),” and slams gay people as “liers (sp), deceivers and thieves” in the case, filed simply as Driskell v. Homosexuals.

    “I never thought that I would see a day in which our Great Nation or our Great State of Nebraska would become so compliant to the complicity of some people(’s) lewd behavior,” she notes.

    “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail not.”

    Don’t rush to go pick out a little black number to wear as it is most unlikely her petition will not go any further.

    It’s a pity as we think it could have been fun taking the Stand.

  • Gay comedy Vicious coming back to our screens

    Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi and Frances de la Tour return to ITV in the second series of hit comedy Vicious.

    The new 6 part series returns viewers back into the boisterous world of Freddie Thornhill (played by Ian McKellen) and Stuart Bixby (played by Derek Jacobi) as we follow more of their adventures and mishaps.

    The loving (and bickering) couple of over 50 years soon discover it’s all change amongst their close circle of friends as we catch up with Violet (Frances de la Tour), Ash (Iwan Rheon), Penelope (Marcia Warren) and Mason (Philip Voss).

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Oh What A Lovely War, Theatre Royal Stratford East

    ★★★★ | Oh What A Lovely War, Theatre Royal Stratford East

    Oh What A Lovely War, written by Joan Littlewood in 1963, depicts the essence of the First World War unbelievably well. Littlewood galvanised the idea of hunger, loss, bravery and even fear very convincingly. She said she wanted to write songs that were gritty and truthful to the events of the trenches. The most moving moment in the musical was when the soldiers sang I Don’t Want To Be A Soldier after having been shown real-time war images that showed trenches where men had been blown up or even the image of a few soldiers managing to brave a smile for the passing camera, as there was destruction in the foreground.

    I was touched by the homage that The Theatre Royal Stratford East production paid to the fallen 2.5 million men who fought bravely in WWI. Even as an audience member in 2015, I felt that the pain and sadness felt at the time were shared across the spectators during some scenes and the use of multimedia was the best I have seen in a long time. In occasional scenes, a screen would come down and facts of the number of deaths during the different stages of the war were displayed, as the action ensued, which added to the nostalgic effect.

    As an ensemble, The Theatre Royal Stratford East performed formidably, with natural singing, dancing and acting flair, in particular, Alice Bailey Johnson whose voice was sublime, and multi-part played roles in a dynamic fashion, especially with different accents. Ian Redding, who most might remember as Tricky Dicky in Eastenders, was a delight to watch. His comedic timing was outstanding, and the funniest part of the show for me was when he played the Sergeant. In this scene, Ian’s character was shouting at his platoon, but instead of words, he was just spitting spluttering and talking gibberish at them.

    Although the set was ornate and well designed, it appeared to look unstable, as when actors leaped onto certain staircase-like stages, it wobbled and did not look safe. However, this did not distract us from the action, as the cast leaped around beautifully.

    The ending was the most moving moment of all. After singing They Didn’t Believe Me, the audience were shown more images of the First World War and it paused on the last picture, where four soldiers smiled and it looked as though they were staring right at us. Here, the cast paused too and looked up to screen in respect to the spirited soldiers.

    Not only did this show break the fourth wall, it also summoned onto the stage the emotions that would have been felt during the era of 1914-1918, where the Great War took place. A must see, but with a word of warning: bring your own tissues, to contain your tears of joy, but also of grief.

  • Gay Marriage: Our Tomorrow

    More than 100 LGBTQ organisations have launched a social media campaign called “Our Tomorrow” in advance of the Supreme Court ruling on marriage in June.

     

    The campaign encourages LGBTQ individuals and allies to “share their hopes, fears and ideas in their own words.”

    Masen Davis, Our Tomorrow’s outreach director announced:

    “Our Tomorrow is dedicated to engaging the full diversity of the LGBTQ community — from all parts of the country and all walks of life — in helping to shape our future.”

    Yesterday the group released a launch video containing seven inspirational stories.

  • Do You Have Facial Faeces?

    Sporting a lumbersexual beard may not be as hot as you think according to a survey conducted by a TV news crew in New Mexico.

    When microbiologist John Golobic, of Quest Diagnostics swabbed a few beards even he was shocked at what he discovered. Several of them contained normal bacteria, but some contained so much poo they were comparable to toilets.

    Mr. Golobic announced that if there were similar samples in the water system, then it would have to be shut down for disinfecting.

    ‘Those are the types of things you’d find in (fecal matter),’ he added.

    Urgh. So think twice before you kiss your man with his hairy face, unless of course you actually are turned on by this news.

    by @rogerwalkerdack

  • Call For New Psychology Standards For LGBT Community

    Collaborating counselling psychologists at Regent’s University London, Dr Markus Bidell and Professor Martin Milton, are calling for the development of international lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) psychology and psychotherapy standards.

    winter depression

    Both academics say that LGBT people encounter serious mental health disparities that can be critically worsened by discriminatory and prejudicial LGBT policies and human rights violations.

    In an international symposium at the British Psychology Society’s (BPS) annual conference in Liverpool over 5-7 May, Dr Bidell and Professor Milton will highlight the psychosocial problems negatively impacting many LGBT individuals, along with the historic and current role of psychologists in addressing LGBT civil rights in the UK and US.

    Most significantly, they add, prejudice and discriminatory policies in many countries are directly connected to mental health problems and civil rights violations experienced by many LGBT people.

    Dr Bidell explains:

    “UK and US psychological organisations have played a defining role in furthering LGBT human rights by supporting professional policies, clinical treatment, research, and training which reject biased perspectives that LGBT people were mentally disordered, immoral, or social deviants.

    “Current psychological standards in the US and UK affirm LGBT people have a sexual orientation and gender identity that is normal, healthy, and legitimate.

    “These shifts amongst US and UK psychologists have had tremendously positive social, policy, and legal implications for LGBT civil rights, such as same-sex marriage, discrediting conversion therapy, employment protection and transgender equality.

    “However, we’ve been shocked by the number of international psychologists who’s thinking is not just outdated in this area, but extremely damaging to LGBT people. By creating an international set of LGBT psychological standards we hope to strengthen and advance equality, public policy, and human rights for LGBT across nations.”

    Professor Milton adds:

    “The psychology standards we are proposing mirror the very best research, treatment and training available. Our goal is to create an established code of LGBT affirmative psychology, which will strengthen LGBT equality in our countries and advance similar types of LGBT civil rights and public policy advancements in countries that still criminalise and pathologise LGBT people.”

     

  • NYC Hotelier: “Gays Are Cheap”, “Gays Are Entitled”

    A gay hotelier who was slammed last week after hosting an anti-gay Republican Senator has hit out at the gay community, calling them “entitled” and cheap, complaining that his venture the Out NYC hasn’t yet shown a profit.

    Speaking to New York Magazine, Ian Reisner, was talking about how hard he has found it making profit from the gay community. Last Monday a rally was organised outside his New York hotel The Out, after he controversially hosted a reception for Republican Senator Ted Cruz, who has opposed marriage equality, protecting LGBTs from discrimination and banning conversion therapy.

    Reisner said that he wanted to invite everyone at the boycott in for an open dialogue, however the police and security suggested that he didn’t.

    Speaking about hosting Mr Cruz, Reisner took to Facebook to say:

    “…I made a terrible mistake.

    “I was ignorant, naive and much too quick in accepting a request to co-host a dinner with Cruz at my home without taking the time to completely understand all of his positions on gay rights.

    “I will try my best to make up for my poor judgement. Again, I am deeply sorry.”

    However in his latest interview with New York Magazine speaking about the incident out side his Hotel he said,

    “You know, it’s so ironic — I wanted to build kind of a community center in the gateway to Hell’s Kitchen, which in 2008–2009 was already a gay place and now it’s even gayer.

    “Very close to Broadway. We decided there’d be so many different ways to give back to the community. We show gay artists there.

    “For gay performers, we have let this cabaret club go on for three and a half years. And you don’t make money when you let drag queens in on Tuesday night and 30 people drink at $10 a drink and you have to pay five people to watch over the place.

    “You don’t make money … My only point is, this has not been a profitable venture. Gays are cheap. They’re frugal; gays are frugal. Let me retract that … gays are entitled …

    “Do you know how challenging it is to make a penny off a gay person? ‘I’m gay, I don’t pay cover. I’m gay, where’s my comp drink?’ [Everyone laughs.]

    No, I’m being serious! The Out NYC has not shown a profit yet …

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