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  • Out and Proud IVAN MASSOW To Stand For London Mayor In 2015

    Out and Proud IVAN MASSOW To Stand For London Mayor In 2015

    London Live, the capital’s TV channel, interviewed entrepreneur and gay rights campaigner Ivan Massow on its lunchtime show the Headline Interview.

    The gay rights activist and entrepreneur Ivan Massow, 47, exclusively announced that he was standing for London Mayor in 2015. Ivan unsuccessfully ran for London Mayor 2003 as an independent candidate, but today announced that he was standing on behalf of the Conservative party. The former head of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, was once a political adviser to William Hague but left the Conservative Party over section 28 in 2000 and defected to Labour. Ivan recalls his memories of Margaret Thatcher, his argument with Tracey Emin and discusses his four key policies: devolution, transport, housing and a introducing a London card.

    Speaking about why he decided to run as mayor Ivan said,

    ‘Why I’ve got involved this time and what really drove me and rattle my cage, which was watching the devolution debate on television, seeing it all unfold with Scotland and hearing this vilification of London and realising, thinking to myself its great being in London, and I love being a Londoner – but it’s not that great here. We have incredibly expensive accommodation, incredibly expensive travel and food – it’s costly to be here. People travel for maybe an hour to get to work with a sweatshop of the United Kingdom producing vast amounts of money that pay for hospitals and schools all around the country. To hear this thing coming at us all the time made me want to get involved and do something about it.’

    The Headline Interview, London Live – Freeview 8, YouView 8, Sky 117 and Virgin 159

  • COMMENT | Are We Born Gay Or Is it A Choice?

    Are We Born Gay Or Is It A Choice? If It Is A Choice, Isn’t That Ok?

    It’s an age-old question that has been asked time and time again; is being gay a case of nature of nurture? Are we really born this way or do we choose to be gay? My personal belief is that we were born this way, baby, but I’ll accept people’s right to hold a different view.

    Drawing on my own personal experience, I knew from around five years old that I was different to other boys. I didn’t know what gay was at that age, but I did know that I wanted to marry a man when I grew up.

    On that basis, I would say that for me it has definitely been a case of nature rather than nurture. I didn’t choose to be gay; it has always felt like a natural part of who I am. Anyway, if I had a choice about my sexuality I probably would have chosen to be heterosexual as life would have been a lot easier!

    Something I’ve always found fascinating is when someone asks me when I became gay as if I simply woke up one day and thought ‘yeah I feel a bit poofy today so I’m going to be gay’. Perhaps they really mean to ask about when I came out rather than when I became gay, or maybe the question should be about when I realised I am gay, but I tend to answer by asking them when they became straight.

    In the past I have met men who say they are straight but choose to have sex with men. On one particular occasion, I had a sexual encounter with one such man, who I didn’t know was married. As he was getting ready to leave he took his wedding ring out of his pocket, put it on his finger and bluntly told me that he “wasn’t like” me. It was around that time I started to think more about the question of whether sexuality is a choice.

    I don’t think we choose our sexuality. It’s a part of who we are as human beings. Some people are gay, some are straight, and some are bi. I also believe sexuality can be a spectrum rather than people fitting into set boxes, but I don’t believe sexuality to be a choice. I do however believe that we can choose whether to embrace our sexuality or not, and whether to live the lifestyle. For example, the married man I once had an encounter with was probably gay or bisexual but was choosing to live a closeted life and have sexual encounters with men on the side.

    I am gay but the only choice I have made regarding my sexuality is to embrace it and allow myself to be who I am. I know it’s not easy for everyone to do that and I’m all too aware of how difficult and confusing it can be when realising you are gay and deciding whether to tell people. I will also accept people’s right to believe that their sexuality is a choice. Just because I hold the view that I do, it doesn’t mean that I am right. Whatever your view is, the most important thing is that you feel able to embrace who you are and live happily as a gay person. That’s a choice we can all make.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • FILM REVIEW | Hollywood To Dollywood

    ★★★★ | Hollywood To Dollywood

    One of the very first things you learn from this enchanting wee documentary is that when you are growing up gay in a Southern Baptist family in a small North Carolina town you worship both God and Dolly Parton in equal measure.

    Handsome identical twins Gary and Larry Lane, now in their mid 30’s, got as far away as they could from their childhood homes when their family struggled to come to terms with the fact that they are both gay. Now they are living the lives they always wanted in West Hollywood, these inseparable brothers are desperate to fulfil their long-held dream. They want to present Dolly Parton with a movie script they have written for her based on her life story, and they also want their families to finally accept them for who they are.

    This film then is of their road trip in an RV christened ‘Joleen’ right across the country to Pigeon Forge Tennessee where Dolly is scheduled to appear in person at her famous theme park and where they are planning to get the script into her hands. They also hope that once their family see the finished documentary it will help them appreciate the fullness of the rather wonderful lives they have shaped for themselves.

    Before the start of the journey they persuade a few of their LA celebrity friends to read through the script and give them advice and any tips. They include Oscar Winning Scriptwriter Dustin Lance Black, and actors Leslie Jordan, Chad Allen & Beth Grant. None of them is immune to the boy’s infectious charm and boundless good humour.

    On the road with Gary’s boyfriend Mike doing most of the driving, the twins spend a lot of time verbalising about how childhood and in particular the rejection by their mother when at aged 25 they finally came out to her. She would not believe them and tried to make them swear on the Bible that they were not gay, and when they refused, she fell apart. Even now none of the rest of the family or their neighbours knows. Such treatment would have devastated most people but not these good-natured resilient twins who are still determined to be accepted regardless how long it takes them.

    The rest of the trip seems to be spending time with other people who also worship at the shrine of ‘Saint’ Dolly and who are so excited to give testimony with such fervour on camera as to how she has enriched all their lives. And when the boys arrive at their destination actually manage to get a brief meeting with Dolly herself, she is so welcoming and graciously accepts the script, they feel like they have died and gone heaven.

    Whether the script was any good, and whether Dolly liked it at all is really irrelevant. What makes this film so endearing is the twins unshakable faith in themselves and the people they love. And Miss Dolly Parton, who I would chose over God any day.

  • Interview | Dolly Parton: Welcome To Dollywood

    Rarely does an artist evoke a reaction like the one Dolly receives. I told a number of people I was going to interview Dolly and young and old alike knew exactly who I was talking about. You see she’s an artist who transcends demographics, she’s loved by all and sundry. This is fact. Having recently finished a sellout World Tour, headlined at Glastonbury and become one of just a handful of women to top 100 million world wide record sales, a number of journalists were invited to a press conference with the star, here is what we learnt. Dolly is an unstoppable, loveable and relatable force of nature and she’s one of the nicest ‘town tramps’ we know.

    Your connection to the gay community is strong and undeniable, is there a song or album over the years that you’ve heard from your gay fans they particularly connect with?

    Oh, I think a lot of my fans relate to different songs, a lot of them like Light Of A Blue Morning, it’s a very uplifting song, it’s really a song of overcoming different things, but I think they just relate to my songs just in general. Hopefully, I think, they relate to me more than any particular song, although, at some point, I would like to do a dance record and I have several songs that are targeted towards the gay community, like a fun little song called Just A Wee Bit Gay, it’s a great little dance tune. I do write a lot of songs along those lines for people that are different and unusual and for people that are, you know, just themselves.

    I have a lot of those good positive uplifting songs and hopefully eventually I will get (them) out there.

     

    Can you update us on Doggie Parton?

    YESSS! …We gotta call with the main people with the government and they told us that the true owners did come forward. They had reported the dog missing. It was a language barrier. I think they were from another country and they got the dog back. Everybody feels good about it. I do not get to take her home, I was looking forward to it. I was going to rename her Glassie because of Glastonbury. I was gonna say Glassie comes home, but they want her and they feel good about that and I have been very instrumental in making sure that the dog is taken care of all the way through. So now they have her back. She’s 15 years-old, they thought at one time she was seven, but she’s 15, so everyone’s happy that she’s back where she belongs. I’m a little sad, because I was looking forward to taking her home, but I’m glad she’s back where she belongs.

    On your newest album Blue Smoke, Lay Your Hands On Me and Miss You Miss Me are great songs about strength and comfort, can you talk about the background of those and what you would say to kids who are feeling broken or rejected?

    Lay Your Hands On Me, I just always loved that song and when I first heard it years ago it just sounded like a gospel song ‘cause I grew up in the church where people did, you know, lay hands on just to pray for the sick or just to make you feel better as a spiritual thing. So I just thought it’d make a good song to turn into a gospel song – just having a conversation with God. I asked Jon Bon Jovi and Richie if they’d reconsider reworking it and working it into a gospel tune and they were willing to do that and it’s actually one of my favourites and as far as the Miss You Miss Me track I actually had a niece who was going through a divorce and my little grand niece who was part of that whole divorce, was feeling like she didn’t quite understand why there were such problems between her Mum and her Dad and that’s what inspired that particular song. I just think that so many children get caught up in the divorce and children are left to be made to feel like they’ve done something wrong when two grown people, even if they can’t get along should be more considerate where the children are concerned.

    You mentioned being disappointed about not being able to take Doggie Parton home with you, do you think you’ll get a new dog to adopt from the Happy Landing Shelter?

    Well, no, I don’t believe we’re looking, I have a big responsibility at home. My heart went out to this particular dog, because of the way, it was like it was meant to be somehow. It was just so touching to me, that she got lost there at the festival where we were. I would definitely want to make sure when we all became aware, that this dog was lost and found. It just really broke our hearts, that someone could abandon it, but I’m not looking to adopt another dog. This one was the one I was definitely going to make sure she was okay, no matter what. I would have not been able to take her had they not found the owner, because she was not in great health. They thought it would have traumatised her. So I guess God knows what he’s doing. Everything is back in order and I’m thankful that everyone played their part and I was not going to drop the ball nor the dog… (laughs)

    We heard that you shipped your buses from Australia to Europe for this tour, what prompted you to do that?

    Well, because I love living on the bus. We’ve been on tour so many times through the years, I found that I just love living on the bus as opposed to going in and out of hotels. I can always keep all of my things on the bus so we have two buses running all the time on these tours. If we have to fly from point A to point B we have one of the buses, which are almost identical; that are stocked almost the same way, so it just gives me a feeling of being home all the time. I can scatter my stuff and I don’t have to carry all that luggage in and out of hotels. I’m just a gypsy this is my caravan (Laughs).

    Is there a significant difference between overseas’ audiences and American audiences? Perhaps in the way they react or respond to certain songs?

    Yeah, I think the main difference is in America they’re great, I mean I love all my audiences and they’re all wonderful. But in America they know they’re going to get to see you because you’re there all the time. The main difference is when we’re overseas, you don’t get to come that often and they really, really go out of their way to let you know how much they love you, how happy they are to see you and if they don’t see you again they remember that they appreciated you being there. So there’s an excitement that you can’t hardly describe. It’s really just the time and the space I suppose. ‘I don’t know when I’ll see you again so let’s just make the absolute most of it’ and that’s how I respond to them. I try to give them everything I possibly can, incase I don’t get chance to come back for years and years or ever… But they’re a wonderful audience and we just love them all. Don’t take nothing from my American audience though… Them also!

    How would you, Dolly Parton, get over a heartbreak?

    Laughs… The way everybody else does. You have to let time heal all wounds. I’m one of those people – I wound easy, but I heal fast. I always thought that a broken heart is like a broken bone. I wrote about that in a song. It’s like a broken heart is like a broken wing, it must have its time to mend. It’s like any other injury. Usually a terrible, terrible heart ache takes about a year to really heal, but some of us can heal a little faster. You just gotta look at it like an injury and just try to think positive, try to live above it, try to live beyond it. But you gotta wallow in that sorrow while it lasts – You can’t out run it, you got to roll with the sorrow too.

    How have you sustained an abundant positive energy for almost five decades of your career?

    I have a good attitude. I love my work. I think it’s important that people be busy, stay busy, try to be creative and I don’t think the years matter so much if you really make yourself busy. Of course you see yourself getting older, you notice little things as the years go by, but that doesn’t mean that you should stop. You just need to take care of those things as they come along. But keep a good attitude above everything else. I just keep myself creative and busy. I have good doctors – good makeup – and a good attitude and whatever it takes to keep myself looking better and better. That’s what I’m gonna try and do from now on…

    You just performed Jolene at the Glastonbury Festival, 40 years after its release in 1974. How does it make you feel that this song is still so recognised?

    Well, Jolene, a lot of people don’t realise is the song that is recorded more than any other song, by other artists throughout the world. I still enjoy singing it. It makes me feel great. I think it’s just so easy to sing. It’s got that bouncy little feeling. I think a lot of people relate to it. So I’m very proud of Jolene. I’m glad that people are still liking it.

    Any future plans for touring after this summer? Working on any new music?

    I’m gonna take off for a little while, I’m doing my life story as a musical. I’m also doing my life story as a movie, which also has a lot of music in it. I may possibly do some television, and some producing so I’ve got a lot of business stuff in mind, but I do not plan to do any more touring in the near future. We’ve done this world tour and we’re winding that up pretty soon, I’m sure as years go by we’ll be doing other things, but for now I’m gonna concentrate more on the business end of things and the creative stuff like the musical, the movies and the TV.

    You talk about the movie business and you had a part in From Hollywood To Dollywood, but we’ve not seen you in a movie since Joyful Noise, is acting something you’re likely to get back into?

    Well, only if I get good scripts. I’m not opposed to it. I’ve got a lot of things I’d like to do, but I do hope to do some more movies. I would like to do, as I mentioned, some TV things as well. Maybe some TV movies. If I get a great script for a movie, I’m certainly not opposed to do it. Always looking for a good script though!

    We’d like to know how it felt to perform to a staggering 100,000 people at Glastonbury at this point in your career?

    Well, there were a lot of people there. It was a sea of people, but to me I enjoyed it. It didn’t scare me. I’ve worked in front of a lot of people before – and that was a lot of people, but to me I look at those fans, and I just love them all. There can be 100,000 or 10,000 and I’ll just play to them all the same… But looking out, I have to say, at Glastonbury, it was more people than I’ve ever seen at one time. We had a really good time. They seemed to enjoy it. Got a lot of great, positive press, I was really shocked and surprised we did as well as we did! I wasn’t expecting anything other than just to go out and do my show, but it’s turned into something really special and it makes me feel real good that they accepted me that well.

    You’re about to go Platinum with your Cracker Barrel exclusive: An Evening With Dolly Parton, how does it feel to still be putting out a Platinum album?

    Well, you know, anything good that happens to me I’m just grateful for it. I don’t care how old I get. Any little award I get or any kind of acknowledgement, the fact that people still love my music, and the fact that I still want to do it. I always said that I’d still be doing my music, even if I had to sell it out the top of my car… So it makes me feel good, and my relationship with Cracker Barrel has been great. We make a great team.

    You said that the town tramp was a fashion inspiration for you, and you’ve been such a fashion icon for many people, what is it about the town tramp you like so much and are there any fashion icons today that you’re excited about?

    Well, I actually love anything that glitters and shines. I love a lot of colour and close fitting clothes. I always say I buy my clothes two sizes too small and then I have them taken in… I just love my clothes to fit me good and that was the thing about the town tramp – she had a lot of colour, a lot of flare. She showed her legs, she showed her boobs, she showed her waist line, she had her nails, she had her hair all piled up, she was just really beautiful – and that’s the way I felt inside. I’m not a natural beauty, so I have to kinda paint n’ powder and put it all on, so that the way I dress kinda fits the way I feel. I’ve always been very comfortable with that, it honestly is the truth that I patented my look after that, because I was impressed. To me that was what beauty was. And that just fits my style. and I still love the flare and the gaud.

    Did you ever keep in touch with the town tramp? Does she know how much she inspired you?

    Oh absolutely not. I knew her name, but I would never ever ever use it. I didn’t know if her folks knew that she was the town tramp! I don’t even know if she knew she was the town tramp! That’s just the way everybody saw her, she probably wasn’t a tramp! She may have been very much like me, just somebody who wanted to be more…

    They always say less is more, I always thought that was the biggest crock I ever heard. More is more, Less is less… (Laughs…) I want more!

    What did you think about all that nonsense about whether you were miming or not at Glastonbury?

    Oh you know what, every-time I go on tour I hear that. I just like people to come and watch what I do and then you tell me what you think… But they say that about every artist. I’m not getting into that. I’m there, I’m Dolly and I’m singing. Someone’s always gotta have something negative to say, so I just roll with the punches.

     

    You’ve been crossing over into pop for decades. How do you straddle the country music image where the media portrays them as this kind of conservative, right wing, anti-Obama, anti-abortion… Verses liberal left-wing Hollywood – how do you straddle that line and how do you suggest other artists to do the same?

    Well, I don’t usually get into any of the political stuff, I’ve been Dolly all the way through, people know who I am. They know that I’m very open and loving of all people. Accepting of all things. I’m an American girl, I’ve got the freedom to do whatever, and I’ve always been blessed with that. So I just write my songs, I just do my thing and say what I say and either people accept it or don’t. I’ve been around so long people just kinda think of me as a family member and I think they know I’m not out to do any harm, nor to get too political on anything. I’m just a living human being, trying to do the best I can.

     

  • Interview | Jonathan Lemieux: Dollar Survivalist

    Writer Chris Jones first came across this artist on Facebook, he was a friend of a friend on there and the posts sparked his curiosity. This guy survived on what we’d call pound store food and lived to write a best selling book on the subject – being a starving artist suddenly takes on a new aspect.

    (more…)

  • Sean Haynes Gets Married

    Sean Hayes is no longer “Just Jack”

    Actor Sean Hayes is best known for playing Jack McFarland in the ground-breaking TV Series Will And Grace married his partner of 8 years composer Scott Icenogle in Los Angeles this week.

    Although Hayes played the most visible outrageously gay characters on mainstream television for 8 years, he didn’t publicly ‘come out’ as gay until 2010.

  • Astonishing List Of Negative Traits Of Being Male, Through The Eyes Of A Nine-Year-Old

    An incredible insightful list of negative feelings towards being male has surfaced on Twitter written by a Nine-Year-Old boy.

    The list of nine concerns from the nine-year-old, unidentified boy, includes ‘Not Being Able To Be A Mother,’ ‘Suppose To Play Football’ and ‘Boys Smell Bad’.

    A teacher in the US, asked students to make a list about what they didn’t like about being their gender.

    The crushing list features his worries which include thoughts about his career path and the responsibilities of being a bread winner, and the restrictions are placed on men by society, such as not being allowed to be a cheer leader, to biological restrictions such as being a mother.

    His full list was:

    – Not being able to be a mother

    – Not suppost to cry (sic)

    – Not allowed to be a cheerleader

    – Suppost to do all the work

    – Suppost to like vilence

    – Suppost to play football

    – Boys smell bad

    – Having a automatic bad reputation

    – Grow hair everywhere

  • Andrea Faustini To Give Full Diva With Whitney Houston Classic

    Okay, who is looking forward to Andrea Faustini’s rendition of a Whitney classic.

    Andrea Faustini is bound to wow a national audience tonight live on the XFACTOR as he takes on the classic Whitney track, I Have Nothing.

    Speaking about performing at the live shows, Andrea said, ‘I just want to sing my heart out, show everyone who I really am, and give everything I have. I think this is the greatest chance I’ve ever had in my life. I still can’t believe it right now.’

    Andrea, who is the bookies’ favourite to win this year’s XFACTOR said in an interview that he felt overwhelmed when it was announced that he would be taking part in next year’s XFACTOR Tour. The tour features the finalists of the show.

    Here’s what the other contestants are singing:

    Girls
    Lauren Platt – How Will I Know?

    Groups
    Only The Young – Something About The Way You Look Tonight

    Stereo Kicks – Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me

    Overs
    Ben Haenow – I Will Always Love You

    Fleur East – I’m Every Woman

    Stevi Ritchie – I’m Still Standing

    Tonight’s show is the Whitney Vs. Elton John, you can watch it on ITV1 from 8:00PM

  • Has Pierre Fitch Got a New Boyfriend?

    Pornstar and DJ Pierre Fitch has been sharing his kitchen with a hot guy – and isn’t afraid to show him off.

    In an Instagram post, Pierre asked his followers, ‘Who is the sexy guy making veggie sushis in my kitchen !’

    This isn’t the first time the unidentified lad has been posted about by Pierre. On the 18th November Pierre posted a picture of the same guy, prompting questions from his fans about whether this was Pierre’s new boyfriend.

    Pierre Fitch is one of the world’s most popular adult stars, having amassed over 215,000 likes on his Facebook page.

  • Country Star Billy Gillman Comes Out As Gay

    Another Country singer, Billy Gilman, comes out as gay via a YouTube Video.

    (more…)

  • At Home HIV Testing Service To Resume In UK For Gay And Bi Men

    HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust is to mark National HIV Testing Week (22nd – 30th November) by relaunching its highly popular postal HIV testing service for gay and bisexual men.

    The Fastest Direct service is a collaboration between Terrence Higgins Trust and Public Health England, with additional funding and support from HIV Prevention England. It is available free of charge to gay and bisexual men living in England. Men wanting to test will be able to place an order at www.startswithme.org.uk and receive an HIV test kit delivered to their door. The process involves a simple finger-prick blood test, which is then posted in a pre-paid envelope to a laboratory for testing. Results are returned within 14 days, either by text message (for negative results), or with a telephone call to provide support and referral to a specialist HIV service (for reactive results).

    In 2013, there were an estimated 43,500 gay and bisexual men living with HIV in the UK, one in six of whom remain undiagnosed. Undiagnosed infection is widely recognised as a key factor driving the UK’s HIV epidemic, as someone who remains undiagnosed is much more likely to pass the virus on unwittingly than someone who has tested and is on treatment. National HIV Testing Week was established by Terrence Higgins Trust and HIV Prevention England in 2012, in a bid to reduce high levels of undiagnosed and late-diagnosed HIV among gay men and Africans in England.
    In 2013, Terrence Higgins Trust ran a pilot postal HIV testing scheme in England, which demonstrated significant demand and acceptability for the option to test for HIV at home. Around 32% of those who returned a test had never tested for the virus before, and 25% had not tested in the last 12 months. 97% of users agreed that they would use the service again.

    Cary James, Head of Health Improvement for Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “There are more than 7,000 gay and bi men in the UK who have HIV but don’t yet know they have it. To slow the spread of the virus, we need to take every opportunity to get more people testing more regularly, and that includes finding new ways to reach people outside of the clinic. We are very pleased to be relaunching Fastest Direct, and we would encourage anyone who hasn’t tested before, or perhaps hasn’t tested in some time, to take advantage of the service and be sure of their HIV status.”

    In April 2014, the sale of HIV self-testing kits – where a person performs an HIV test on themselves and receives an immediate result – became legal in the UK. However, no kit has yet been approved that is available for sale.
    For further information on HIV testing, or to request a postal HIV test, please visit www.startswithme.org.uk.

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