THEGAYUK

Tag: USA

  • 90-year-old man proves it’s never too late to come out as gay

    90-year-old man proves it’s never too late to come out as gay

    In a totally heart-warming story, a man in his 90s is able to finally come out after using the lockdown to come to terms with his true identity.

    90-year-old Kenneth Felts comes out as gay proving it’s never too late to live your true self.

    Kenneth who lives in Colorado used his time in lockdown to write his memoirs, which brought back lots of memories. He said he never planned to come out at all, making his sexuality a secret and taking it too the grave.

    His daughter, Rebecca says that she’s so happy he can be himself now.

    The BBC has the full story,

  • Yep, Donald Trump’s office released a memo outlining how to spot a trans person

    Yep, Donald Trump’s office released a memo outlining how to spot a trans person

    Donald Trump‘s administration allegedly sent out a memo, detailing how officials might spot a transgender person, in order to identify them if they were to try and gain access to Government-funded homelessness shelters. Specifically, the memo was looking to demonstrate how a federal employee might be able to determine if a person, standing in front of them, trying to gain access to a woman’s homelessness shelter, was a transgender woman or not.

    In a highly controversial move, the memo included information which might help an employee determine a person’s biological sex rather than gender identity. It outlined features such as height, facial hair and whether the person in question had an Adam’s apple and characteristics which “when considered together, are indicative of a person’s biological sex”, according to Snopes.com.

    According to the site, the memo was released in July 2020 and listed physical characteristics, “in order to identify incoming transgender people at federally funded homeless shelters”.

    The memo was a 29-page documentary, titled, “Making Admission or Placement Determinations Based on Sex in Facilities Under Community Planning and Development Housing Programs.”

    Read Snopes.com fact finding on their website.

  • People have been considering what a Joe Exotic presidency might have looked like

    People have been considering what a Joe Exotic presidency might have looked like

    There was a point where Tiger King star Joe Exotic was running for the presidency in the US… Now people have been wondering what that might have looked like if he had actually won.

    In 2016 Joe ran a presidential campaign as an independent candidate in Colorado and received 962 votes.

    So taking to his official Twitter account, his husband, Dillon asked Joe’s fans, what they thought Joe’s first act as president would have been… the answers were hilarious.

    https://twitter.com/joe_exotic/status/1278101897254178824

    Unsurprisingly there’s was running theme in the imaginings of his fans and many of the responses centred around one person.

    Carole Baskin’s name was brought up quite a lot in the thread of ideas of a Joe Exotic presidency would have looked like.

    https://twitter.com/theHolyToast5/status/1278829533462921217
    https://twitter.com/LiamCol69357714/status/1278106529200320514

    During the Netflix documentary series, Tiger King, the feud between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic was a central theme and Joe’s dislike for the big-cat rights activist was pretty intense.

    However, people did have other suggestions for a Joe Exotic presidency, one person suggested that the White House lawns could be turned in an animal enclosure, while another suggested that the “USA would never financially recover from it”.

  • President Trump ‘erases LGBTQ history’ by claiming Americans “won two world wars”

    President Trump ‘erases LGBTQ history’ by claiming Americans “won two world wars”

    A former Liberal Democrat MP has criticised President Trump after he claimed that the American’s “won two world wars” completely erasing the involvement of Alan Turing‘s code-breaking invention, widely thought to bring down the Nazi war machine, helping to bring WWII to an end four year early and saving over 14 million lives.

    John Leech, blasted Donald Trump after the official White House twitter account tweeted a portion of a quote which said, “Americans harnessed electricity, split the atom, and gave the world the telephone and the internet. We settled the Wild West, won two World Wars, landed American Astronauts on the Moon—and one day soon, we will plant our flag on Mars!”

    Leech replied,

    “If anyone could claim to have “won” a World War, it would be a Manchester hero who cut WWII by 4 years and saved 14 million lives with his invention, before being pushed to take his own life. His name is Alan Turing.

    “Don’t erase LGBTQ history.

    “And don’t claim it as your own”

    Unsung war hero

    Alan Turing was a British pioneering computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and mathematical biologist.

    During the Second World War, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain’s code-breaking centre. For a time he led Hut 8, the section responsible for German naval cryptanalysis and created the Turing Machine which decrypted the “unbreakable” German Enigma code.

    Turing’s pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic. It is said by some historians that Turing’s work at Bletchley Park shortened the war by two to four years and saved approximately fourteen million to twelve million lives.

    Nevertheless, Turing led a sheltered and castigated life due to his homosexuality. Whilst he was briefly engaged to fellow Bletchley Park worker Joan Clarke, it was a purely platonic relationship and they soon divorced. Turing was prosecuted by the police in 1952 for homosexual acts, when such behaviour was still criminalised in the UK.

    He accepted treatment with oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison and became incredibly depressed. He committed suicide in 1954. Turing’s wartime heroics were not celebrated until he received an official pardon from Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009 following an internet campaign, and then a further royal pardon from Queen Elizabeth II in 2013.

    In 2019, Alan Turing was honoured in the UK by becoming the face of the £50 note.

  • TODAY IN LGBT HISTORY | Marsha P. Johnson dies

    TODAY IN LGBT HISTORY | Marsha P. Johnson dies

    Marsha P Johnson was born in August 1945 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Ms Johnson was found dead on the 6th of July 1992. She was 46-years-old at the time of her death.

    Ms Johnson was a drag performer and LGBT+ activist and usually used female pronouns for herself, but also referred to herself as “gay, as a transvestite or simply as a queen” She was a well-known character in the New York Greenwich district and is widely considered to be a key figure in the Stonewall Riots of June 1969.

    She was heavily involved in the advocacy of AIDS patients and homeless LGBT+ folx.

    When did Marsha P Johnson die?

    In 1992 Ms Johnson went missing on the 4th July, two days later her body turned up in the Hudson River, New York. Police and an autopsy ruled her death a suicide, but friends and relatives believe that she would never end her own life.

    The authorities, under pressure from the community, reclassified her death as “death to drowning from undetermined causes”.

    In the David France documentary film, The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson, her death and its possible causes are discussed as large (available to stream on Netflix)

    Was her death an accident, suicide or something more sinister? This is the question that activist and crime victim advocate Victoria Cruz from the New York Anti-Violence Project has set out to determine as she launches her own investigation into the death of one of New York‘s most prominent LGBT figures.

  • Could Ellen’s show be coming to an end?

    There are rumours that Ellen DeGeneres‘s show is in trouble.

    Falling audience numbers and rumours of Ellen’s alleged behaviour towards showrunners and staff have created “whispers” that the comedian’s long-running show Ellen could be heading for the chop.

    According to The Sun, the show’s drop in ratings is cause for concern and there are the ongoing complaints from staffers and former production members that her behaviour has been problematic. Several people have come forward to make claims that the star has been “mean”.

    In April she was also subject to a Twitter firestorm after comedian Kevin T. Porter tweeted, “Right now we all need a little kindness. You know, like Ellen DeGeneres always talks about!

    “She’s also notoriously one of the meanest people alive. Respond to this with the most insane stories you’ve heard about Ellen being mean & I’ll match every one w/ $2 to @LAFoodBank.”

    TVNewsCheck reveals the show’s rating tumbled 14 per cent during season 17.

    However, the production reps told The New York Post that the rumours of cancellation or concerns about falling ratings were “untrue”

    They said, ““Telepictures can confirm it’s untrue.”

    During the current COVID-19 pandemic Ellen has been forced to broadcast her show remotely from her home.

  • Demand surges for Christopher Columbus statue to be replaced with one of Marsha P Johnson

    Demand surges for Christopher Columbus statue to be replaced with one of Marsha P Johnson

    Nearly 80,000 people have called upon officials to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus removed and replaced with LGBT+ icon, Marsha P Johnson.

    A petition to the City Of Elizabeth, New Jersey, US, is calling for the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus widely credited to have discovered the Americas. However, as the petition points out the land was already occupied by indigenous groups.

    Embed from Getty Images

    The petition continues,

    “Many believe celebrating Columbus is glorifying European colonialism. Columbus is not a figure to be celebrated, as he enslaved and killed the Taíno.

    “Him and his men also sexually abused Taíno women and girls, some as young as 9 years old. He was even arrested in his own time for crimes he committed against Spanish colonists, which included flogging and executions without trial.”

    Instead the petitioners have suggested that the statue be replaced by Stonewall Riot icon, Marsha P Johnson, who was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

    “We should commemorate Marsha P. Johnson for the incredible things she did in her lifetime and for the inspiration she is to members of the LGBT+ community worldwide, especially black trans women,” said petition starter, Celine Da Silva.

    This petition comes during the 51st anniversary of the 1969 Stonewall Riots (June 28 – July 3), a series of riot demonstrations by members of the gay community in response to the discrimination and raids by police in New York City. These important events were a catalyst to the first gay pride marches in the US Johnson was a key figure in the Stonewall Uprising and movement.

    The call to replace the statue joins a growing movement of racial justice petitions that advocate for the removal of names on buildings and statues that represent a cynical and racist past.

  • Joe Biden makes a promise to LGBT+ people that can’t be ignored

    Joe Biden makes a promise to LGBT+ people that can’t be ignored

    As the Trump administration dials back LGBT+ protections and rights, Presidential hopeful, Joe Biden makes a solemn promise to LGBT+ people in the US as Pride Month draws to a close.

    Taking to social media on the last day of Pride Month, Joe Biden wrote how, if he is elected president in the forthcoming elections, he will be the “most pro-equality president” in the nation’s history.

    “LGBTQ+ rights are human rights”

    Embed from Getty Images

    He affirmed his stance on LGBT+ rights by adding, “LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and we can’t rest until everyone is treated with dignity and respect under the law.”

    His statement is in stark contrast to the actions of President Trump’s administration, which has, from his first week, removed support and visibility for LGBT+ people in the United States.

    In his most recent actions against LGBT+ people, his administration removed healthcare protections for LGBT+ people that prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, which announced on the anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub massacre, which killed 49 LGBT+ people in 2016.

  • US Supreme Court rules that it is not lawful for employers to discriminate against LGBT+ people

    US Supreme Court rules that it is not lawful for employers to discriminate against LGBT+ people

    In a landmark ruling, decided by a 6-3 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled overwhelmingly that discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a form of sex discrimination and therefore prohibited by the Civil Rights Act.

    Voting in favour were Justices Gorsuch Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, and Chief Justice John Roberts.

    This is a critical case for the USA, where more than half the states do not have explicit protection against discrimination for LGBT+ people.

    The ruling comes at a time when the Trump administration has rolled back numerous advances in the protection of particularly trans people, including the Department of Health removing protection from discrimination for trans people in healthcare on Friday, 12 June 2020.

    washington dc, court house, architecture
    Photo by retzer_c / Stockpack / Pixabay

    The Justice Department argued that Title VII doesn’t cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

    Embed from Getty Images

    Executive Director of OutRight Action International, Jessica Stern, comments, “The Supreme Court stating explicitly that under the Civil Rights Act discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is a tremendous victory.

    “The decision comes at a time when the Trump administration has been viciously attacking the rights of LGBTIQ people, in particular trans people. It will protect millions of Americans from discrimination in the workplace, and sends a powerful message – that political power-play can not erase basic human rights. This judgment will have implications for LGBTIQ people everywhere – governments and movements are inspired by each other, and landmark judgments are quoted by courts across the world. OutRight welcomes, and celebrates this ruling!”

  • Gay Dating | What is a bear?

    Gay Dating | What is a bear?

    Decoding the bear – if you see “Bear” in someone’s dating or Grindr profile, here is what it means.

    Bears are guys who are generally thicker and hairier – a bit like a bear. There’s a whole community and they even have their own flag, which you may see during pride season.

    Bears are generally a subset of the gay community and tend to be older guys, younger bears to be are called cubs.

    The bear community is widely thought to have begun in 1970’s San Francisco, USA. The term bear was popularised by Richard Bulger. Bulger and his partner of the time, Chris Nelson created what was thought to be the first-ever magazine catering to Bears and their admires called Bear Magazine.

    What is the bear flag?

    The flag, which is made of seven stripes ranging from Brown, orange to Black and Grey was designed by Craig Byrnes who created this flag in 1995.

    There is a debate as to how a bear and the community is defined as a whole, while some suggest that bears are the epitome of masculinity and ruggedness and the rejection of effeminacy, there are many who feel that bear culture is very inclusive and rejects the stereotypical views of mainstream gay culture, which historically always vaulted for a more “twinky” or muscly aesthetic.

    Whats the difference between a bear and an otter?

    Otters, who are also a subset of the gay/bi community tend to be slimmer but still hairy.

    Unlike bears, otters do not have a name for younger guys.

    Dating Apps for bears

    As with most communities under the LGBT+ umbrella there are quite a few dating and hook up apps for bears, cubs and their admirers.

    Growlr and Scruff are probably the most famous. THEGAYUK also has a bear chat group, which is free to check out.

    Check out more gay dating terms.

  • Gay Dating | What does BB stand for?

    Barebacking is anal sex without the use of condoms. It has become more and more common on dating and hookups for guys to ask for BB sex, as the availability of anti-HIV medications has risen.

    You may see “Negative on PreP” on a person’s profile to indicate that they are potentially up for condomless sex.

    The rise of BB could also be linked to the rise in bareback porn being filmed by studios.

    After the rise of AIDs and HIV in the gay community during the 80s and 90s condomed sex was advocated by community leaders and health professionals as a way to combat the spread of HIV.

    In recent years, however, with the availability of PrEP for “at-risk” communities, condom use is no longer seen, by some, as entirely necessary, particularly in the fight of ending new HIV infections.

    Previously BB sex was seen as extremely risky, however, due to the invention and availability of PrEP, bareback sex is safer from becoming infected with HIV, however, BB sex can lead to other sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis.

    Check out more gay dating terms.

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