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  • There’s been nearly 1500 gay marriages in two month – since it became legal

    Nearly 1500 same-sex couples get married in the two months after it became legal in England Wales.

    The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today released provisional statistics showing that there were 1409 same-sex marriages since 29th March 2014 and 30th June 2014.

    However, the uptake of marriage between gay couples was lower than Civil Partnerships when they were introduced in 2004.

    Same-sex marriage was made legal in England and Wales in March 2014. Scotland is to follow with the first gay marriages to take place sometime before the end of the year.

    56% of marriages were to females, whilst 44% were male on male marriages.

    According to the ONS ‘The majority of men and women marrying had never been married or in a civil partnership before (91% of males and 79% of females). Women were more likely than men to have previously been in a civil partnership or marriage that ended in dissolution or divorce (9% of men, 20% of women). A very small percentage of marriages took place for men and women whose previous marriage or civil partnership had ended with the death of their partner (0.5% of men and 0.9% of women).’

  • MONEY: The Real Cost Of Leaving Equipment On Standby

    MONEY: The Real Cost Of Leaving Equipment On Standby

    Wondering why your energy costs keep rising and your bills are mounting, well a new report shows that households in the UK waste £227m a year on leaving appliances, like TVs on Standby.

    (more…)

  • Man vows to have gay sex everyday for a year – for art

    Mischa Badasyan a 26-year-old Berlin-based performance artist has a new project called ‘SAVE THE DATE’ when he is giving ALL to his Art.

    Literally.

    His aim is to have sex with a different man every day for a whole year, which evidently he counts as art. He wants to unselfishly use his body to shed light on the intersection of loneliness and desire created by modern hookup culture. He is also planning to use the project as an opportunity to spread the word about safe sex and condom use.

    Hoping to start the project next month Badasyan has already signed up with all the major gay networking sites such as Grindr, and got a condom supplier to sponsor him. He’s not intending to tell any of his ‘dates’ about the project but is hoping to get some sort of small token from each one.

    Reaction from the gay community to this Project has been mixed as it is by no means a unique idea, it’s just the first time this course of action attempted regularly by many gay men has ever been labelled as Art.

  • FNUR Responds To Uganda LGBTs Murder False Allegations Claims

    Yesterday, THEGAYUK reported that up to 6 LGBT men and women had been killed, by stoning, in Uganda. A number of complaints have been made about the validity of the source for the article.

    THEGAYUK published the article on the basis of this press release, that was written by the Safe Passage Fund supported by Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR), a Quaker organisation based in Olympia, Washington.

    When we ask the FNUR to clarify and give validity of the claims made in the press release, they responded with this statement:

    ‘The press release is by Anne-christine d’Adesky, Founder of Safe Passage Fund – with input from Friends New Underground Railroad.

    Friends New Underground Railroad (FNUR) is a project of Olympia Friends Meeting (Quakers).

    Home

    We are aware that there are claims that that “there is no truth to the claims made in the release.”

    We – the Quakers in Olympia, WA and the activists we support in Uganda – all understand the importance of corroborating the work they are doing. FNUR reports as much information as we can and operate this project as transparently as we are able – while protecting the identities of those whose work we support. They are on the ground working to save others. The safety and well being of the activists/conductors and their passengers is our reason for creating FNUR and it is our only consideration. We respect and follow what the security team and others we work with in Uganda ask us to reveal or not to media folks and others.

    It is unclear to us if they are calling us liars who are conning people, or dupes who have been conned and are too stupid to realize it. Or both.

    It really doesn’t matter. We are not doing this for those people’s approval.

    There is a lot of information on the FNUR website
    http://friendsnewundergroundrailroad.org/
    Updates are posted on the FAQ page and our blog.’

    THEGAYUK also reached out to the Quaker organisation in the UK, to ask whether they had heard of FNUR, they replied,

    ‘Thanks for your enquiry about Friends Underground Railroad. After our conversation I asked other staff about this work and they had no further information to add. As I mentioned on the ‘phone, we are aware that some American Quakers are involved. Quakers in Britain, have not to our knowledge, been involved and therefore I’m unable to verify your story.’

    THEGAYUK continues to research the claims made by the press release, and will endeavour to bring you an update shortly.

  • FILM REVIEW | Happy Christmas

    Jeff and Kelly are trying are trying to do a balancing act juggling their freelance careers whilst bringing up their 2year old son Jude.

    It’s slightly off kilter right now as Jeff is managing to work on pre-production of his next movie, but Kelly has got writer’s block since she completed her first book so has settled for full-time homemaking for the time being. The couple is however quite happy and things are going along relatively smoothly until they get a holiday visit that shatters their peace and throws the household into disarray.

    The visitor is Jeff’s rather volatile sister Jenny who’s just had a bad breakup with her latest boyfriend and she flies into town for some much needed TLC, in return for helping them out with some childcare. It is soon apparent that self-absorbed Jenny is incapable of looking after herself let alone a small helpless baby. On her first night, she goes to a party with an old friend and gets so totally wasted and passes out that Jeff is forced to go collect her in the middle of the night.

    The next time Jenny gets totally drunk is when she is babysitting young Jude at home and this time she almost manages to burn the whole house down. It then takes a lot of persuading on Jeff’s part to convince his very sceptical wife to give her sister-in-law another chance. Kelly does eventually reluctantly agree and the two women very slowly start to bond. Jenny actually encourages her to her back to writing by telling her to set aside her planned second novel and instead write a sexually explicit trashy novel to make some fast ready money.

    Suddenly Jenny has a purpose too and she looks less likely to self-destruct and even grabs herself a new beau and starts to date the family babysitter (and pot dealer) Kevin and surprisingly looks that she might live happily ever after all. Possibly.

    This is the latest movie from prolific filmmaker Joe Swanberg who as usual directs, writes and stars in it too. I will confess that I am a fan as even when the plots are slight (as this one is) there is a cast of well-rounded characters whose interplay with each other as they cope (and enjoy) their daily existence makes for fascinating viewing. Swanberg injects it all with his own tempered sense of humour, and in this instance is aided by the presence of Lena Dunham playing Carson, Jenny’s best friend. But then he always shrewdly casts his movies with what appear to be his mates Melanie Lynskey as Kelly, Anna Kendrick as Jenny and Mark Webber as Kevin.

    I’m generally on the same page as Charles Laughton when it comes to children in movies, but even I could not help but be seduced by scene-stealing baby Jude played by Swanberg’s own son.

    After last year’s Drinking Buddies this is probably Swanberg’s second most accessible work to date and part of his continued evolving from a filmmaker once known as the king of mumblecore. Long may it continue.

  • GIG REVIEW | James Blunt, Moon Landing Tour, Doncaster Racecourse

    ★★★★ | James Blunt, Moon Landing Tour, Doncaster Racecourse

    On a warm summer evening, Doncaster Racecourse presented the closing concert of James Blunt’s Moon Landing tour. Without the need for flashy pyrotechnics, elaborate sets or backing dancers James Blunt kept the crowd entertained for his 90 minute set with just his voice, his guitar and a four piece backing band.

    Blunt rattled through some of his singles and a number of fan favourites from his four multi-million selling albums. He quite rightly concentrated on the more up-tempo songs with only a few of his slower songs nestled neatly between the upbeat numbers. Blunt casually chatted with the audience and encouraged them to join in with a number of the songs. The crowd absolutely relished in singing along to “You’re Beautiful”, “Carry You Home” and his closing numbers “Bonfire Heart” and “1973”. But there were very few songs where the audience couldn’t help singing along, mainly encouraged by Blunt, which led to the crowd feeling part of the experience as opposed to detached observers.

    “High”, “Wisemen”, “Goodbye My Lover”, “Stay the Night”, “I’ll Be Your Man”, “Satellites” and “Same Mistake” were amongst some of the songs performed over the course of the show. Blunt defied the media persona that has been created around him by coming across as charismatic, enthusiastic and as someone who clearly loved every minute of being on stage. His band was fairly note perfect and the mixture of sound between the vocals and the instruments was perfectly balanced, meaning each instrument could be easily heard. The stage and lighting were functional, with a simple presentation enhanced only by a few projected backdrops. But, to be fair, the show was more about music than spectacular presentation and the straight forward staging served to allow focus on the musicians and song writing, rather than being style over substance.

    It is unfortunate that James Blunt is really a victim of his own success. Having the biggest selling album of the last decade, selling 20 million singles and 17 million albums is no mean feat, but for some reason, the media and the public have seemed to taken a dislike to him. However that does not necessarily detract from the quality of his music, the surprisingly good live performer that he is and how much the huge crowd genuinely enjoyed the show.

    James Blunt was the final concert in Doncaster Racecourses Music Live events, which has also seen the Kaiser Chiefs playing earlier this year. Having never been to a concert with a dress code before, the whole day was incredibly enjoyable with 7 flat races presented over the course of the afternoon followed by the concert. There was the opportunity of being able to enjoy dressing up for the occasion, mixing with the smartly dressed crowd and enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the day at the recently refurbished venue; even without any knowledge of horse racing or a desire to have a flutter.

    James blunt is touring the UK later in the year and details can be found on his website at http://www.jamesblunt.com/home.htm?force=show

    Doncaster Racecourse hold a number of racing events throughout the year, the next one being on the 24th august to raise money for breast cancer charities. Details can be found at http://www.doncaster-racecourse.co.uk/

  • VIDEO: Naked Boys Towel Dancing

    The dashing pair wowed the audience in France’s version of the hit reality show: Got Talent, France Got Talent. (more…)

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Dogfight, Southwark Playhouse

    ★★★★ | Dogfight, Southwark Playhouse

    San Francisco 1963 is the setting for this powerful musical, receiving its European premiere at The Southwark Playhouse. A bunch of marines are on their final night of shore leave before heading off to fight in Vietnam and decide to play a cruel and misogynistic game. They each pool their money; pick up the plainest girls that they can find and compete for who can pull the worst of the bunch and gain the prize money.

    Based on the 1991 movie of the same name starring River Phoenix, Dogfight premièred Off-Broadway in 2012, when it won the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Musical and was nominated for 5 Outer Critics Circle and 2 Drama Desk Awards.

    Eddie (Jamie Muscato) meets waitress Rose (the talented and powerful newcomer Laura Jane Matthewson) and what starts as a slightly brash testosterone fuelled piece evolves into something much more tender and touching between the two leads. The supporting cast is excellent too, giving sterling performances. Peter Duchan’s book is well written and the music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul are a perfect bend of humour, pathos and warmth. There’s a wordy Sondheim-like quality to some of the numbers that work well within the context. The choreography is good (if slightly restricted by the smallish space) and the almost bare stage is cleverly used to recreate various scenes.

    Southwark Playhouse has really picked out a gem in this award-winning premiere. There’s a moving and enthralling story, superb acting and singing and the piece delivers everything it promises and more (including a lot of hot young marines in their underwear, I couldn’t not mention that one).

  • FILM REVIEW | The Notorious Mr Bout

    ★★★★★ | The Notorious Mr Bout

    According to this new documentary from filmmakers Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin, it would seem that everybody has wildly exaggerated polarising ideas about who Viktor Anatolyevich Bout really is. None more so than Mr Bout himself who considers himself simply as a devoted family man and a highly successful international entrepreneur, and the D.E.A. who claim that his illegal arms trading and gun-running activities have rightly earned him the title of Merchant of Death. It seems that the truth may lie somewhere in the middle.

    After the fall of communism in his native Russia, Bout was determined to embrace the newly permitted capitalist society and so bravely entered the world of import/export. At first he traded in anything he could lay his hands upon, but then hit on the fact he could make even more money by buying up old Russian planes and starting a cargo service in the Third World. As well as shipping produce and home electronics he and his rather dubious partners included Bulgarian made arms in the consignments that they flew around some of the more troubled countries in Africa.

    Bout is undoubtedly a larger-than-life colourful character. One of his many excesses was his love of his video camera and whilst it made for some very intimate and extraordinary footage for this film, he also shot footage when he was cavorting with several warlords and some very shady despots, and that provided damning evidence when the authorities decided to go after him. The D.E.A. set up a covert sting operation in Bangkok where it was alleged that the shipment of arms he was selling were intended to be used to kill Americans, so he was arrested and extradited to the US where he was made an example of, by being given an excessively long jail sentence.

    According to investigative journalists who had met Bout out in the field, he was really very small fry in the world of arms trading and he did not in anyway justify either the reasoning or the ferocity of the way that he was pursued. The D.E.A. could have felt that they had been taunted by the brazen way he carried out his activities, which frankly were fueled by both his love of the limelight and his sheer naivete.

    Bout’s loyal wife Alla is a constant presence throughout the film (the very dated archival footage of their wedding is particularly wonderful) and she dutifully plays along as his supportive partner. As she deals with her husband’s trial she also proclaims her innocence too, but whilst she may not have been explicitly involved, it is hard to believe that she didn’t know what her husband was up too.

    At the end of this excellent and compelling documentary it’s clear that the ‘notoriety’ in the title really split between Bout’s activities but also with the questionable motives of the D.E.A. At Bout’s trial, the Judge made a point of mentioning that prior to the entrapment operation that the D.E.A. had set up, there was no evidence at all that Bout had broken any American laws.

    It seems that they wanted to make a scapegoat/example of someone and so they chose Viktor Anatolyevich Bout. This is a distraction from the main picture as just before the credits role, someone makes the point that most arms trafficking in the world is done by Governments trying to help their friends, and this is rarely considered illegal.

    Highly recommended

  • Lady Gaga in the world’s most serious #IceBucketChallenge

    Here it is folks, the world’s most serious #IceBucketChallenge, from Lady Gaga.

    The usually OTT Lady Gaga seemed serious today as he poured a silver dish, not a run-of-the-mill bucket, of ice cold water over herself, the craze that is running around the internet, called #IceBucketChallenge

    She then nominated: Adele, Michael Rapino, Vincent Herbert, and Arthur Fogel.

    For the challenged she opted for a leather, studded swimsuit, black lipstick, and heavy eyebrow makeup.

    A number of celebrities have already taken part of this craze of pouring buckets of freezing water over themselves. We’re trying to establish whether this is a means of creating a reality check for themselves or whether they are all just barking… (probs barking…)

    Last week Lady Gaga showcased the artwork for her new fragrance Eau De Gaga.

  • UPDATED: Crisis in Uganda: Six LGBTs murdered in Uganda in a week

    Unconfirmed reports are being made that at least six LGBT people have been stoned to death in Uganda, after the Country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act (AHA) was annulled.

    We are in the process of validating this story – to read the full statement by the Friends New Underground Railroad, please click here.

    Ugandan LGBT activists have reported that at least 6 gay, lesbian and transgender individuals have been killed in rural areas of the African nation.

    Three gay men, two lesbians and one transgender person were allegedly amongst the victims.

    ‘One who survived (still breathing after stoning) was burnt alive using kerosene / paraffin and a matchbox,’ a witness and a source to the Friends New Underground Railroad FNUR, a Quaker solidarity imitative helping LGBT people in Uganda, stated, according to this press statement.

    A seventh gay man was reported to have been attacked, by a mob. He died from his injuries a day later.

    According to the source, a rural vigilant mob attacked the 28-year-old gay man in a different zone on August 5th. ‘I went to the scene,’ wrote the eyewitness in an email. ‘I saved him, when I lied to the mob that let me take him to the police.’

    The witness stated that he was able to convince the mob he would deliver the victim to the police, but instead put him on a boda boda, (motorcycle) and rescued him. The victim was later denied medical care, he alleged, because he lacked funds to pay.’

    The news comes after around 200 LGBT activists and allies celebrated the annulment of the AHA.

    On August 1st, Uganda’s AHA (Anti-Homosexuality Act) was annulled after it was discovered that the bill was passed without Quorum.

    However 215 of 375 MPs have already signed a petition to reintroduce and ‘fast-track’ a revised law.

    ‘I am confident we shall have the bill retabled and passed into law overwhelmingly,’ MP Latif Ssebaggala told IRIN News.

    The repealed AHA calls for up a 14 years sentence for anyone found guilty of “homosexual acts” and a life sentence for those convicted of “aggravated” offenses – such as those committed by HIV-positive individuals, or involving the disabled, minors or serial offenders.

    The promotion of homosexuality is outlawed, and citizens have been urged in the media to denounce and ferret out presumed LGBT people.

    A wave of evictions has also followed, as families and landlords kicked out LGBT individuals, fearing arrest themselves under the AHA.

    TheGayUK hasn’t been able to confirm these reports.

    We reached out to FNUR for comment on whether the accusations were true, a statement from the organisation stated,

    ‘The press release is by Anne-christine d’Adesky, Founder of Safe Passage Fund – with input from Friends New Underground Railroad.

    ‘We are aware that there are claims that that “there is no truth to the claims made in the release.”

    ‘We – the Quakers in Olympia, WA and the activists we support in Uganda – all understand the importance of corroborating the work they are doing. FNUR reports as much information as we can and operate this project as transparently as we are able – while protecting the identities of those whose work we support. They are on the ground working to save others. The safety and well being of the activists/conductors and their passengers is our reason for creating FNUR and it is our only consideration. We respect and follow what the security team and others we work with in Uganda ask us to reveal or not to media folks and others.’

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