THEGAYUK

Tag: Anti-Gay

Read the latest news and analysis of anti-gay crime and policy in the UK and abroad. Browse THEGAYUK’s entire archive on news about anti-gay behaviours in the UK and abroad.

  • Will Young victim of homophobia after hugging boyfriend

    Singer Will Young has taken to Twitter to say that he has been a victim of homophobia after being asked to stop hugging his boyfriend in public.

    Yesterday Will Young took to his Twitter account to say that he had been a victim of homophobia saying, ‘Would you believe on the day of Gay Pride I have been the victim of homophobia. I am SO mad. #pride2014’

    The singer who won the first Pop Idol in the UK came out in 2002.

    He went on to say, ‘I shower love on the ignorant, hope for the bigots and light into the dark crevices if their unfortunate minds’

    He said that he was asked to stop embracing his boyfriend.

    ‘Essentially I was asked to stop hugging my boyfriend in a spa because it was offending another ‘conservative’ (read homophobic) spa visitor,

    ‘I am looking forward to what the hotel have to say about this cos I am still seething. I actually can’t believe it’

    The UK singer has released 5 studio albums and 19 singles since his win.

  • Gay couple attacked in London; one left unconscious by TEEN gang

    A gay couple in London were beaten by a number of teenagers in London, leaving one unconscious.

    According to the London Evening Standard, Walter Adrian, 23, and his partner, who has asked not to be named were approached by seven Bangladeshi teenagers who then assaulted the couple and called them anti-gay slurs, including ‘f*cking faggots’.

    The attack happened on Whitechapel Road, after leaving a friend’s party, on the 13th June, just before midnight.

    ‘We weren’t even holding hands or kissing or anything, but all the comments were based on us being gay.

    ‘One of them said “f**king faggots” so we wanted to try and leave and my partner pushed one of them but then they got physical.

    ‘They punched him and then there were six or seven of them just going at us while we were cornered against the wall.

    ‘They were saying, ‘this is our street, this is our area, get out of here’, just because they thought we were gay. It happens a lot round this area and East London.

    ‘We weren’t even acting gay and that’s what’s upsetting. Whether anyone is gay or not you just can’t feel safe. You’re scared of being attacked and afraid to go out by yourself.’

    Adrian was left unconscious, he has bruises to his head and stomach, while his partner had a swollen jaw.

    The attackers were described as 15-to-18 year old Bangladeshis who were wearing dark sports clothing.

    A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘We were called at 1.40am on June 13 to reports of an assault in Whitechapel Road. Investigations continue.’

    Last year anti-gay incidents were recorded in East London, where a number of men were arrested after harassing a ‘gay looking’ man.

  • Teachers Facing Homophobia

    Teachers that are identified as gay or lesbian are actually less likely to challenge homophobic language and behaviour in the classroom a recent study shows because of the fear of rumours and abuse being brought to their sexual orientation.

    In an interview, a huge number of teachers and secretaries were questioned about how they cope with homophobic situations at their schools. A vast number that were interviewed replied that they did not feel comfortable or they were slightly “un-nerved” about “coming out” at school, with many reporting that they were particularly worried about losing their jobs.

    Administrators or secretaries were found to be particularly uncomfortable to “come out” as gay.

    Over half of the teachers that were interviewed reported that they had been aware of homophobic language or they had heard it being used in the tea room at work, and subsequently two-thirds reported that they had never witnessed other teachers offer to step in and defend them when such language was being used either in conversation or in malicious ways.

    Around the same amount of teachers also reported that they didn’t get involved or try to tackle homophobic language or personal jibes when they were faced with them.

    During the interviews it was brought to light that the people grew up in an era where being called “gay” meant you were bad, even bringing up a situation where a teacher chose to use the phrase “this is so gay” to mean “this is so stupid”, again this is classed as abusive in today’s “day and age”.

    The study follows lengthy research in the United Kingdom that prioritised in stamping out homophobia in the educational environment and the results of this study are vital in the effort to end bullying and physical and mental abuse to teachers in schools colleges and universities.

     

    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.

  • Could Bad Smells Be Causing Homophobia?

    With Northern Ireland’s LGBT fight for marriage equality still hanging in the balance an interesting culprit is being eyed up.

    Last month the same-sex marriage motion was defeated 51-43 in Northern Ireland, but there maybe more than just religious traditions and conservativism that is stopping the UK from becoming entirely same-sex marriage equal. Sewage and Bad Smells.

    According to a new report, a team of psychologists and political scientists headed by: Thomas G. Adams, John C. Blanchar and Patrick A Stewart, from the University of Arkansas have found that people are less likely to support gay marriage if they’re in a smelly enviroment.

    According to the results which were published in the PLOS ONE journal, ‘Disgust is increasingly seen as playing an important role in the formation and maintenance of political and social attitudes’.

    ‘Self-reported socio-political attitudes were compared between participants in two experimental conditions: 1) an odorless control condition, and 2) a disgusting odor condition. In keeping with previous research, the present study showed that exposure to a disgusting odor increased endorsement of socially conservative attitudes related to sexuality. In particular, there was a strong and consistent link between induced disgust and less support for gay marriage.’

    779 people took part in the experiment, the majority of participants were Caucasian/white self-described Christian and heterosexual.

    Time to get the JPG out boys…

  • Facebook Users Demand Action To Remove Homophobia

    A picture of Adolf Hitler cooking a Jew in an oven is the latest picture on Facebook to be deemed ‘not offensive’ by the social network as a group of users continue to demand a public meeting with Facebook representatives claiming the site is actively permitting content that incites racial and homophobic hatred to go unchecked.

    Three weeks after its creation, the group “Facebook –No To Hatebook”, has attracted over 8000 members from around the world, and has claimed some success after multiple complaints in forcing the network to take down pages or content on pages that range from “HOAX OF GAS CHAMBERS”, “HOMOSEXUALz DESERVE IMMEDIATE DEATH”, “Death To Queers” and “Death to Islam”. However, frequently the pages or the content is put straight back up under a slightly different name.

    The Group notes also that the social network’s policies are still preventing the removal of many clearly racist or homophobic pages, with Facebook saying they are ‘not offensive’.

    Speaking on behalf of the group, Jonathan Glass said:

    “There is now a clear palpable anger growing towards Facebook for the way that its users are being treated. We all love Facebook. It has reconnected us with old friends from around the world and we strongly see it as a force for good.

    However, it also provides an outlet for people to spew violent hatred into the world more easily than ever before. This is not Facebook’s fault but it is their responsibility to do its best to remove these pages from its site. And not only are they failing miserably, but they rub salt into the wounds of those who are trying to combat this poison by sending an automatic 20 second response stating that the page does not violate their policies, regardless of clear racism, anti-semitism or homophobia on these pages. The page owners are then able to ban those of us fighting them from their pages, rather than Facebook banning them and their pages.”

    Glass goes onto explain how

    “There are literally thousands of racist, anti-semitic and anti-gay pages that Facebook delivers around the world,” and while “we are huge believers in free speech, when posts cross the line into incitement and violent threats Facebook has to decide if it wants to be a force for good in this world or a force for evil.”

    The group says it has received many public and private messages of support from people and has invited Facebook to explain them in a public forum and for an open dialogue to commence.

    The group makes it very clear that they want to be Facebook’s partner in helping combat and remove the hate from the social network and has multiple suggestions on how they may do so which include:

    1. Stronger algorithms to pick up and remove hate sites and individual posts on a more timely basis

    2. More user support to respond to complains of hatred on a timely basis, improving what appears to currently be an automated non-responsive system

    3. Creation of a watch list, which would monitor specific known individuals and organisations who promote and regularly publish hate

  • Gay Language School Hit By Anti-Gay Hate On Facebook

    The UK’s first English language school for LGBTI people is being attacked on Facebook and elsewhere by homophobes from countries including Spain, Portugal, Greece, Bulgaria, Croatia, Ukraine and Poland.

    (more…)

  • Obama warns Uganda against anti-gay law

    The US President, Barack Obama has warned Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni that an anti-gay law could complicate relationships that tie the two nations together.

    The new law proposes that anyone engaging in homosexual acts could face life imprisonment and that anyone who does not report the crime would also fall foul of the law. Even talking about homosexuality without condemning would be a crime under the new bill.

    For the first time the new bill also covers lesbian relationships.

    Obama, who previously called the law ‘odious’ has once again hit out, saying that if the new law was approved that the relationships between the two countries would be ‘complicated’. The US is of Uganda’s biggest aid donors.

    His criticism of the anti-gay move was not limited to Uganda; he also noted the increase of harassment and violence against gay people in Russia and Nigeria.

    President Yoweri Museveni refused to approve the law initially, however the bill can still be passed with a two-thirds vote. However Yahoo is reporting that a spokesperson for the President said that the bill would be signed after local ‘scientific’ analysis. The team was asked to “study homosexuality and genetics in human beings.”

    The scientists found that;

    ‘There is no definitive gene responsible for homosexuality,

    ‘Homosexuality is not a disease but merely an abnormal behaviour which may be learned through experiences in life.’

    Last year a controversial law that was named ‘Kill the gays’ was halted, the law was amended and the death penalty was removed.

  • Vile Homophobic Reaction To Gay Kiss On EastEnders

    Vile Homophobic Reaction To Gay Kiss On EastEnders

    Numerous Twitter users took to the micro social network to call actors and characters in Eastenders ‘Gay Kiss’ f*ggots, queers and batty boys.

    (more…)

  • Ugandan MPs pass “Jail The Gays” bill

    Life in prison a possibility after Ugandan MPs passes anti-homosexuality bill.

    The Ugandan Parliament has passed a law which could see thousands of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the region jailed for life.

    The law was first introduced in 2009 – and sparked world-wide condemnation – a petition by AllOut to Uganda’s President, Yoweri Musevni, reached nearly 250,000 people.

    In the original draft of the bill, lawmakers had suggested a death sentence tariff for “aggravated homosexuality”, which would have included: sex where one person is infected with HIV, serial offenders and sex with minors.

    The law was post-poned after the world’s media shone a spotlight on the proposal, with President Obama calling the bill ‘odious’.

    Human Rights groups have called upon President Yoweri Museveni to veto the bill. In order for the bill to become law, it requires his signature in 30 days.

    Deputy Africa Director at Amnesty International, Aster van Kregten, said:

    “President Museveni must veto this wildly discriminatory legislation, which amounts to a grave assault on human rights and makes a mockery of the Ugandan constitution.

    “Passing the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was a retrograde step for Uganda’s Parliament, which has made some important progress on human rights in recent years, including criminalising torture. It flies in the face of the Ugandan government’s stated commitment to ensure all legislation complies with human rights.”

    Violation

    ‘The new anti-gay law violates Article 21 of the Ugandan constitution and Articles 2 and 3 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights – both of which guarantee equal treatment and non-discrimination to all people,” said human rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell, Director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.

    ‘It is part of a broader attack on civil society and is symptomatic of Uganda’s drift to Mugabe-style authoritarianism. This wider repression includes a clamp down on protests, strikes, the media and opposition activists.’

    ‘Ugandans have been anxiously waiting for this bill. This day will be a good day for all Ugandans,’said Benson Obua Ogwal, a member of parliament for Moroto.

    The law maker of the new piece of legislation, David Bahati said:

    “This is a piece of legislation that is needed in this country to protect the traditional family here in Africa, and also protect the future of our children.”

    Summary of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill
    “The Bill extends the existing penalty of life imprisonment for same-sex intercourse to all other same-sex behaviour, including the mere touching of another person with the intent to have homosexual relations,” added Mr Tatchell.
    “Life imprisonment is also the penalty for contracting a same-sex marriage.
    “Promoting homosexuality and aiding and abetting others to commit homosexual acts will be punishable by five to seven years jail. These new crimes are likely to include membership and funding of LGBT organisations, advocacy of LGBT human rights, supportive counselling of LGBT persons and the provision of condoms or safer sex advice to LGBT people.
    “A person in authority – gay or heterosexual – who fails to report violators to the police within 24 hours will be sentenced to three years behind bars.
    “Astonishingly, the new legislation has an extra-territorial jurisdiction. It will also apply to Ugandan citizens or foreign residents of Uganda who commit these ‘crimes’ while abroad, in countries where such behaviour is not a criminal offence. Violators overseas will be subjected to extradition, trial and punishment in Uganda.
    “This bill is in some respects even more draconian than the extreme homophobic laws of countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran,” added Mr Tatchell.

  • Glaad accuses Baldwin of “degrading gay people” new new anti-gay slur storm

    Glaad accuses Baldwin of “degrading gay people” new new anti-gay slur storm

    Alec Baldwin is being accused of ‘degrading’ gay people by GLAAD in new video released by TMZ.

    Alec Baldwin
    CREDIT: Joe Seer / Bigstock

    In the video, the 30 Rock actor is heard calling a photographer a ‘c**ksucker’ although a media storm has been created after it was suggested that Baldwin actually called a photographer a ‘C**ksucking F*g head’. Baldwin is insisting that he said ‘Fathead’ and has threatened to sue TMZ for suggesting that he used a homophobic word.

    Baldwin said that acoustic analysis of the recording proves the word said was ‘fathead.’
    You can hear the audio here:

    In tweets released by GLAAD the organisation said:

    ‘Mr. Baldwin can’t lend his support for equality on paper, while degrading gay people in practice,

    ‘It’s clearly time Mr. Baldwin listens to the calls from so many LGBT people and allies to end this pattern of anti-gay slurs.’
    Baldwin took his own Tweet feed to reply:

    ‘If c’sucker offends, then I apologize. Anti-gay? Never.’

    He later delete that message and offered:

    ‘1-Rich Ferraro from @glaad informs me that c’sucker is an anti-gay epithet. In which case I apologize and will retire it from my vocabulary,’ he tweeted.

    ‘2- you learn something new every day.’

    The incident happened outside his apartment, after the sentencing of his stalker Genevieve Sabourin in New York.

  • Westboro gets vine

    Now if only these people spend their time doing their hair, makeup or generally keeping fit, the WBC would be a much nicer place to hang out for gays.

    We love a bit of Westboro shenanigans; we find their updates and interest in our sexuality most heartening. That’s why when we found that they had discovered Vine we just had to watch. And predictably, like a hideous car crash or Liza Minnelli on stage, it’s utterly captivating.

     

    https://vine.co/v/hwQM9ewrmeW