THEGAYUK

Tag: Gay Marriage

All the latest breaking news on gay and same-sex marriage. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features, articles and updates on gay and same-sex marriage.

  • This man proposed to his boyfriend with the help of Jess Glynne

    This man proposed to his boyfriend with the help of Jess Glynne

    This cute couple just got engaged in front of a 6000-strong audience at a Jess Glynne concert.

     

    On Thursday night, Lewis Nicholls gave his boyfriend, Darren, the ultimate surprise by organising with superstar Jess Glynne to proposed to him live on stage in front of 6000 people at her concert at the Eden Project.

    Lewis told THEGAYUK that he messaged Jess’s manager weeks before the concert to say how much he loved his boyfriend and wanted to show everyone how he felt and to see if he could propose to Darren live on stage.

    He said,

    “To my disbelief they replied and was so excited to make it happen.

    “During the concert we went on the stage (he thought it was just to watch a song) and then Jess came out and  got us out on stage and introduced us on stage to the crowd.”

     

    It was then Lewis got down on one knee and proposed – telling Darren, that he was the “happiest he had ever been.”

    “It was just amazing, the crowd were cheering so loud, chanting and showing so much love, we also got a photo with Jess on stage and the 6,000 people are behind us”

     

    jess glynne

    Jess then hugged the pair, saying she’d “never ever forget” the proposal.

    Watch it unfold on YouTube

    So cute… Congrats guys!

     

  • Bermuda slams down gay marriage

    Bermuda has overwhelmingly voted against same-sex marriage.

    (C) TheGayUK
    (C) TheGayUK

    The British Oversea Territory of Bermuda with a population of 65,000 just had a vote on gay marriage and it overwhelmingly voted against it. They held a non-binding referendum on the issue of same-sex marriage and were asked two questions:

    “Are you in favour of same-sex marriage in Bermuda?”

    and

    “Are you in favour of same-sex civil unions in Bermuda?”

    Both votes were lost by 69 per cent and 63 per cent respectively with just 46.89 per cent of the electorate turning out to vote on the issue. The low turn out makes the referendum invalid according to The Royal Gazette.

    The Premier said,

    “With yesterday’s referendum, Bermuda has expressed its democratic right to vote on two questions that have been the focus of discussion and debate for more than a year.

    “Based on the Referendum Act 2012, a referendum question shall be taken to be unanswered if less than 50 per cent of the persons registered in the parliamentary register vote at the referendum.

    “And with the results indicating a majority ‘no’ vote, and a less than 50 percent turnout, the Government will now consider the next steps that respects and reflects the views of the people.”

    Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1994 however the LGBT community do not have equality in terms of age of consent.

  • THEATRE REVIEW: This Much (or An Act of Violence Towards the Institution of Marriage)

    “A wedding is just paying lots of money so that your friends will treat you like a famous person for a day” ★★★

    (more…)

  • The Most Common Songs At Gay Weddings Revealed

    The Most Common Songs At Gay Weddings Revealed

    The formal planning of a wedding or civil partnership often takes a year. More often than not the most memorable part comes from the party and entertainment where guests can relax and let their hair down.

    The Most Common Songs At Gay Weddings Revealed

    Therefore we thought we would get the official list of most requested songs for weddings during the last calendar year 2015.

    The company favoured by mobile DJ’s across the globe www.DJEventPlanner.com gave us permission to print the formal list for industry eyes only which summarises over 2 million requests worldwide at nuptials of all sorts.

    We spoke to a number of well-known mobile wedding DJ’s and they unanimously said that the music chosen or that works tends to be largely the same whether they are entertaining a straight, gay or lesbian wedding – fun music is fun music period.

    With the exception of sometimes a different first song choice that a gay couple may choose like: The Mama’s And Papa’s Making Our Own Kind Of Music or Whitney Houston’s All The Man That I Need the rest of the night is indistinguishable from heterosexual weddings and defaulting to say In The Navy/It’s Raining Men/I’m Coming Out or Dancing Queen is seen as not treating the LGBT audience with the respect due on a couples’ big night.

    1 Pharrell Williams Happy

    2 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars Uptown Funk

    3 Killers Mr. Brightside

    4 Kings Of Leon Sex On Fire

    5 Whitney Houston I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

    6 Bon Jovi Livin’ On A Prayer

    7 Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling

    8 Bryan Adams Summer Of ’69

    9 Journey Don’t Stop Believin’

    10 Robin Thick featuring Pharrell & T.I. Blurred Lines

    11 Queen Don’t Stop Me Now

    12 ABBA Dancing Queen

    13 Maroon 5 Moves Like Jagger

    14 Bruno Mars Marry You

    15 Beyoncé Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)

    16 Taylor Swift Shake It Off

    17 Rihanna featuring Calvin Harris We Found Love

    18 Daft Punk Get Lucky

    19 Dexys Midnight Runners Come On Eileen

    20 Foundations Build Me Up Buttercup

    21 Amy Winehouse Valerie

    22 PSY Gangam Style

    23 Van Morrison Brown Eyed Girl

    24 Beyonce featuring Jay-Z Crazy In Love

    25 Arctic Monkeys I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor

    26 B-52’s Love Shack

    27 John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John Grease Megamix

    28 Guns N’ Roses Sweet Child O’ Mine

    29 Stevie Wonder Superstition

    30 Ed Sheeran Thinking Out Loud

    31 Clean Bandit Rather Be

    32 Michael Jackson Billie Jean

    33 LMFAO Sexy And I Know It

    34 OMI Cheerleader

    35 OutKast Hey Ya!

    36 Olly Murs Dance With Me Tonight

    37 Kenny Loggins Footloose

    38 John Legend All Of Me

    39 House Of Pain Jump Around

    40 Avicii Wake Me Up!

    41 Katy Perry Firework

    42 Wham! Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go

    43 Oasis Wonderwall

    44 Beatles Twist And Shout

    45 Cyndi Lauper Girls Just Want To Have Fun

    46 DJ Casper Cha Cha Slide

    47 LMFAO Party Rock Anthem

    48 Jacksons Blame It On The Boogie

    49 Neil Diamond Sweet Caroline

    50 Proclaimers I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

    The number one Introduction – Marry You by Bruno Mars

    The number one first dance – Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

    The number one processional – Canon In D  by Pachelbel

    The number one recessional – Marry You by Bruno Mars

    The number one for cake cutting – How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You) by James Taylor

    The number one Last Dance – Never Forget by Take That (Internationally Don’t Stop Believing by Journey)

  • LEGAL CLINIC | What If I Don’t Want To Get Married? What Are Your Rights

    LEGAL CLINIC | What If I Don’t Want To Get Married? What Are Your Rights

    The introduction of gay marriage into UK law (except in Northern Ireland) could be described as the most significant step in gay and lesbian rights since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1969.

    (more…)

  • MP Chris Bryant | Britain’s “Shocking” Anti-Gay Legacy To The World

    MP Chris Bryant has said that Britain has left a “shocking” legacy for LGBT people living in the Commonwealth.

    The out MP Chris Bryant, speaking at the Diversity Role Model’s launch last week said that thanks to a British legal legacy, 90 percent of people living in Commonwealth countries live with a legal system that makes homosexuality illegal and in some places lethal.

    He said,

    “Somebody told me one of the most shocking statistics that I’ve heard in my life, which is that 90 per cent of the people that live in the Commonwealth, with British legacy therefore… live in a country where homosexuality is still illegal.

    “Ninety per cent. That’s what we’ve given the world as our historic legacy.”

    He went on to say that it was “extraordinary” that a country like Australia still does not offer its LGBT citizens same-sex marriage.

    He added,

    “It’s extraordinary to me that country that is so addicted to Abba like Australia is, still has no gay marriage or even same-sex unions. That seems absolutely extraordinary.”

    Commonwealth countries where homosexuality is still illegal to include the popular holiday destinations: Singapore, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Pakistan, and the Maldives.

    In Brunei and Northern Nigeria, you can land the death penalty if caught in a homosexual relationship.

    Only 4 Commonwealth countries outside Great Britain recognise same-sex marriage. Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the Pitcairn Islands have all made same-sex marriage legal. The Pitcairn Islands is the smallest country in the world to have legalised same-sex marriage.

     

  • Peter Tatchell Has Changed His Mind On Gay Cake Ruling

    Peter Tatchell has said that he was “wrong” about the gay cake row and that he has changed his mind.

    In 2014 a bakery in Northern Ireland refused to make a cake with the inscription “support gay marriage” citing the owner’s religious beliefs. The cake was order by an gay right’s activist called Gareth Lee, who subsequently took Ashers Bakery to court. The court found that the owners acted “unlawfully” in denying service to Lee.

    At the time the judge said,

    “Whilst defendants have right to religious beliefs they are limited as to how they manifest them.”

    Writing in the Guardian today leading human rights advocate Peter Tatchell said that he was “wrong” in supporting Lee’s legal claim and has said that the law “should not require bakers to promote gay marriage”.

    Two days before the Asher’s is considered by the Appeal court Tatchell has changed his mind saying that he wants to “defend freedom of conscience, expression and religion” as well as defend the rights of the gay community.

     

    Speaking about his U-turn Tatchell said,

    “I profoundly disagree with Asher’s opposition to same-sex love and marriage, and support protests against them. They claim to be Christians and followers of Jesus. Yet he never once condemned homosexuality. Moreover, discrimination is not a Christian value…

    “Nevertheless, on reflection, the court was wrong to penalise Ashers and I was wrong to endorse its decision…

    “For sure, the law suit against the bakery was well intended. It sought to challenge homophobia. But it was a step too far. ..

    “The judge concluded that service providers are required to facilitate any “lawful” message, even if they have a conscientious objection. This raises the question: should Muslim printers be obliged to publish cartoons of Mohammed? Or Jewish ones publish the words of a Holocaust denier? Or gay bakers accept orders for cakes with homophobic slurs? If the Ashers verdict stands it could, for example, encourage far-right extremists to demand that bakeries and other service providers facilitate the promotion of anti-migrant and anti-Muslim opinions. It would leave businesses unable to refuse to decorate cakes or print posters with bigoted messages.

    “In my view, it is an infringement of freedom to require businesses to aid the promotion of ideas to which they conscientiously object. Discrimination against people should be unlawful, but not against ideas.”

  • Trump Would “Consider” Reversing Same-Sex Marriage In US

    Presidential hopeful Donald Trump has told Fox News that he would “strongly consider” the reversal of same-sex marriage in the US.

    If made President of the USA, Donald Trump said he would “strongly consider” reversing the landmark ruling which extends marriage to same-sex couples across all fifty states of the US, despite saying last year that the issue was a “dead issue”.

    He was being interviewed by Chris Wallace on the Fox News Sunday programme.

    When asked whether he would appoint new justices to overturn the ruling Trump replied,

    “I would strongly consider that, yes.”

     

     

    Last summer when questioned about whether he would pass an amendment to the law, Trump said that he would not oppose the  law, saying,

    “Some people have hopes of passing amendments, but it’s not going to happen… Anybody that’s making that an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it”

    Up until this point Trump was the only Republican candidate who did not oppose same-sex marriage.

     

     

     

  • COLUMN | Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down

    Brace yourself everyone. If you think we’ve had to put up with quite a lot of abuse over the last few months, then it’s no doubt going to get worse over the next week.

    (more…)

  • Slovenian Rejection Of Gay Marriage Is “Victory For Our Children”

    Slovenians have rejected same-sex marriage by 2 to 1 in a referendum. (more…)

  • 11 Things That Failed To Happen When Gay People Were Finally Allowed To Marry

    Same-sex couples have been able to marry in the UK for over a year and in the US it’s coming up to the 6-month anniversary.

    We thought we’d take a look at what HASN’T happened since marriage between two people of the same gender got the right to be treated like everyone else. Despite the warnings from right wing, religious fundamentalists these are the things that have failed to happen.

    1) The sanctity of straight marriage will crumble, wilt and die.

    Except of course for divorce, which has always been a bit of blight on the ‘death-do-us-part’ bit of marriage

    2) The floods…

    Won’t somebody think of the floods and the pestilence, the fire and brimstone? Some UKIPPER, whose name I can’t remember, not really care to remember said that gay marriage would bring about lots and lots of rain, of a Noah and Ark amount. Okay, there has been a little more precipitation than usual scientists are putting that down to global warming rather than gay marriage, because you know, that’s actually what’s happening…

    3) Children are still being born in and out of wedlock.

    The world realised that you don’t need a man and a woman to marry in order to have kids. Children are still being born, they are still being educated, fed and loved by their parents. Bob and Fred getting hitched at the end of the road had no impact on parents being able to have children – and actually people understand that you don’t need to be married to make children – there isn’t a switch that is suddenly turned on when you say “I Do”.

    4) Pastor Rich Scarbrough didn’t combust or set himself on fire.

    Yep, this saint of a Christian man threatened to set himself on fire if marriage equality passed. We’ve been waiting patiently with a fire blanket in hand, but nothing. Not even a puff of smoke.

    5) Parents will have no say in the sex ed that their kids are taught in school…

    Well they do… and if you don’t want little Joanie to find out that actually what she’s feeling is totally normal, rather than her hiding away, feeling shame and alone – then perhaps you need to look at your parenting credentials.

    6) Equal rights for gays, bis and lesbians

    Even though we have marriage equality, we’re still not actually legally equal. Non-consummation doesn’t count (meaning basically that the law doesn’t recognise gay sex as equal to straight sex) for grounds for divorce and there are pension issues that you can read more about here.

    7) Bakers will be forced to make gay cakes.

    In the UK you can’t discriminate against people because of their sexuality or gender identity – but you can just refuse an order and not give a reason… So if you’re still a total f*ckwit bigot you still have your rights, you just have to be quiet about them, but actually when you do, it lets us all know to avoid you like the plague.

    8) Churches will be forced to have gay marriages.

    Nope. We’re still not allowed to get married in your sacred places. But we can come and be a guest and totally upstage your day with how fabulous we are. Especially if we start on the white wine before the first note of Here Comes The Bride starts.

    9) Man will be able to marry his pets

    Nope still not legal. And dear god Mary, why are you even thinking about animals marrying?

    10) Straight marriage will carry less kudos.

    People were concerned that gay marriage would cheapen the brand. Not like Britney’s 55-hour marriage.

    11) The world’s end

    Those fascinating people (read in a sarcastic tone) at the Westboro Baptist Church said that we’d all die and go to hell, but as I sit here – in Cashmere and I look out of the window, we’re still very much here.