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LGBT Equality Is The Defining Civil Rights Struggle Of Our Time
These are words of the remarkable outgoing US Attorney General Eric Holder who persuaded President Barak Obama to get on board and support same-sex marriage. In an op-ed piece in USA Today the Attorney General writes about the issue that the US Supreme Court will revisit this year.
“This week, the Justice Department will file a brief setting forth our position that state bans on same-sex marriage violate the fundamental constitutional guarantee of “equal protection of the laws.” It is clear that the time has come to recognise that gay and lesbian people deserve robust protection from discrimination.
Nothing justifies excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage. Denying them the right to marry serves only to demean them and their children, to degrade the dignity of their families and to deny them the full, free and equal participation in American life to which every citizen is entitled.Marriage bans inflict concrete harms that touch nearly every aspect of daily life for gay and lesbian couples. The bans intersect with issues as varied as workers’ compensation, taxation and inheritance, posing challenges to basic financial security. Same-sex couples living in states with bans too often face obstacles to adopting and raising children together. And restrictions on medical decision-making and hospital visitation impose devastating burdens during the moments when a partner is needed most.
The mental and emotional injuries are just as acute. A marriage ban written into state law broadcasts the state’s view that same-sex couples and their children are second-class families, undeserving of the rights and protections offered to opposite-sex couples. It creates a stigma that pervades society, encouraging individuals to harass or belittle even their loved ones because of pressures brought by their community. And it harms relationships between family members by perpetuating a destructive notion that some individuals — and some children — should be shown less love and support simply because of who they are. That is a view the Department of Justice flatly rejects. And with our brief, we will make clear that the United States stands firmly on the side of equality.’
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Perez Interested In Strictly After Proving He Is Ratings Gold
Perez, the most controversial celebrity Big Brother contestant of all time is apparently desperate to do more British reality TV.
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Marks And Spencer Bans The Word Gay
The word gay has been banned when you try and buy a gift from the Marks And Spencer website.
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The Overtones Feared Heavily Pregnant Sam Bailey Would “Pop” Over High Notes
Gorgeous manband of the moment The Overtones have just released their 4th album and talk about the time they feared heavily pregnant XFACTOR winner Sam Bailey might pop, after hitting the high notes.
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Marks And Spencer Reverses Gay Ban On Website
One of Britain’s leading retailers Marks And Spencer has reversed its policy banning the word gay from its online store.
- Customers were banned from using words like “Gay” and “Christ” for personalising gifts.
- Marks And Spencer makes a U-Turn on its policy and apologises for “any offence”.
Previously customers were not able to enter the word “gay”, when writing a personal message for products they bought as gifts on the M&S website. Customers were however were able to use the words queer, lesbian and bisexual. Marks And Spencer have updated their policy this morning to allow the word gay.
A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer said: “We apologise for any offence caused, it was certainly never our intention. We have revised the words included on the automatic phrase checker which is in place to prevent the use and misuse of certain words.”
When the story surfaced, THEGAYUK checked with three other online retailers, Selfridges, Debenhams and John Lewis and none of those retailers had a similar policy in place.
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THEATRE REVIEW | Bathhouse, The Musical
★★★★ | Bathhouse, The Musical
For their second production of 2015, Above The Stag have chosen to revive their hugely successful production of Bathhouse The Musical.
It comes with a few changes of cast and new choreography by Carole Todd, a choreographer of some renown, who comes with an impressive list of credits which includes West End musicals as well as work at the Royal Opera House and Sadlers Wells.
What was always a hugely entertaining and hilarious show now emerges slicker, tighter and cleaner.
In case you missed it last time, the show is set for its entirety in a Bathhouse, with the cast wearing nothing but towels throughout. The story (such as it is) revolves around the adventures of young Billy, who starts out a bathhouse virgin, but finishes a lot more experienced. He is guided through his adventures by the disembodied voice of Giles Brandreth.
The score is a wonderfully witty amalgam of styles ranging from hoedown to full out Broadway ballads with quite a few other musical references between. With song titles like I’m a Bear Chaser, the hilarious Penises Are Like Snowflakes, Clickin’ for Dick and Seduction Tango, the jokes aren’t exactly subtle, but nor are they meant to be.
In a show that is such an ensemble piece, it would be invidious to single out any one individual. Each and every one gets their moment to shine and they are all excellent, so kudos to Will Ferris, Matthew Harper, John R Harrison, Ryan Lynch, Luke Webber and Tim McArthur, who also directs the fast-paced production, which doesn’t flag for one second.
Great entertainment, not so pure and simple.
Bathhouse the Musical runs at Above the Stag until 29 march 2015.
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What Do The Gays Think About Madonna?
It goes without saying that Madonna has a large gay following and sometimes as a gay man it’s expected that you have your membership card all paid-up and subscribed…
Madonna’s been entertaining the masses for decades, reinventing herself, releasing hit after hit and much of her success has been won by exciting one of music’s three big marketing “Gs” – The Gays. The others in case you’re wondering are: the Golden Oldies and the Girls. She’s been a strong ally in the fight for equal rights for the LGBT community and she’s been a leader in pushing gender boundaries for years. Leading US magazine Advocate claim that she is the greatest gay icon. But she has also been criticised by the gay community. Notably, she upset many when she called Kale, yes the green leafy veg, gay.
However, we asked our readers what they thought about the Vogue superstar now and the answers were slightly surprising.
The responses were 50/50 positive / negative. So has Madge lost her touch with the gay community? Or aren’t we the stereotypes that everyone expects us to be?
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March 2015
Inside Issue 9
Pam Ann – bigger, bolder & dirtier than ever, Freddie Fox, Russell T. Davies, Bianca Del Rio, BIBA and many more… PLUS: Turn your home into a sanctuary, Lunchtime facelift, Louie Spence v’s Joey Essex, Milan Darlings and a Cucumber Overload. 2015 already? It’s like living in the future! Download the latest issue to check you’re still on trend. Enjoy.
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Eleven Facts About Judge Rinder
He’s been taking Daytime by storm on ITV… Now we want to get to know Rob Rinder a little better.
1) He’s not actually a real life judge… But he is a barrister and knows his legal ins and outs so to speak! He worked for the 2 Hare Court law firm for 12 -years before becoming the UK’s Judge Judy…
2) Gavel gavel... He loves a bit of banging of the gavel, however we don’t actually use them in the UK…
3) Benedict Cumberbatch is bessie mates with Robert, he actually married him to his partner, Seth Cumming, in a ceremony that took place in Ibiza. Sadly he and Seth got divorced just three years later.
From ITV Studios 4) He’s also bessie mates with former Tory London Mayoral candidate Ivan Massow.
5) Laughter… When asked what the hardest part about his job was the judge replied, not laughing.
“I broke down in a fit of laughter during a case involving a mother and daughter suing and counter-suing each other.
“But I insisted that the production team keep the scene in.”
6) With over 100 episodes under his belt Judge Rinder still has a long way to go to beat Judge Judy which has over 5328 episodes.
7) He loves paper… it’s the key to your success. If you’ve watched any episodes you’ll notice that if you can prove your case with a sign receipt or contract, you’ll mostly likely win the case against your opponent.
From ITV Studios 8) He’s not too mean. He told Digital Spy,
“I would never ridicule somebody for the public’s entertainment. I really wouldn’t, and I speak to the people who come on the show as I would my own clients…”
9) He loves fitness. Away from the courtroom you’ll find Rob in the gym. He has run marathons in New York and London.
10) Litigants phone in or are found from newspapers. According to the Judge researcher scour the UK for real people with real legal issues.
11) He was in the closet… After one disgruntled participant was so mad at the Judge’s ruling, backstage, Rob hid in a closet after he started screaming at him.
Apparently, the unhappy complainant wanted to make Rinder’s face look like a Picasso.
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THEATRE REVIEW | Yarico, London Theatre Workshop
★★ | Yarico, London Theatre Workshop
Yarico, an Amerindian beauty, is a young woman with a fierce, independent spirit. Bored of the monotonous routine of small island life, she longs to escape. When Inkle, the third son of a British merchant is shipwrecked on her island, he faces certain death at the hands of the islanders. Yarico intervenes and saves him from his fate, marking the beginning of a story that ultimately takes them to the island of Barbados where fate has a horrific surprise in store for her.
This new musical is based on a true story that fired the world’s imagination and contributed to a social movement against the slave trade. It’s a story of great historical significance that has been told from the 17th century onwards and one that caused a change in attitudes towards slavery.
Sadly, the musical doesn’t quite do justice to the power of the underlying story. Performing a musical in a small space has inherent difficulties and the staging of this piece doesn’t lend itself to an intimate theatre. The performers are bawdy, expressive and, at times, brash. In a larger venue this would work but in this case, it made the action seem like a pantomime at times. There are some very powerful musical numbers but equally, there are some incredibly weak ones and the dialogue is also very hit and miss, leaving a mixed bag of a show. The humour is often juvenile, dated and laden with double-entendres; failing to raise more than the occasional titter and a few tumbleweed moments on the night I saw the show.
Credit to the leads though: Newcomer Liberty Buckland as Yarico gives an exceptional performance in a vehicle way beneath her fine acting and vocal talents. The very able Tori Allen-Martin does her best to enliven a weak role as Yarico’s friend Nono and Alex Spinney shows fine vocal performances if slightly less polished acting skills at times.
Ultimately this felt like a musical that had potential but failed to deliver. It didn’t seem to know what it was: an educational story, a love story or a bawdy romp? None of these elements quite worked and they certainly didn’t gel in a story that was at times rushed and unconvincing.
In spite of all of this, it’s worth going along just to see Liberty Buckland who is surely bound for great things.
Yarico runs until the 14th of March 2015
Buy tickets here: http://londontheatreworkshop.co.uk/yarico/
