THEGAYUK

Tag: Homophobia

The latest news about homophobia across the UK and the globe.

  • People are being triggered by Rainbow Laces which are trying to eradicate homophobia in sports

    People are being triggered by Rainbow Laces which are trying to eradicate homophobia in sports

    Highlighting the problems of homophobia in sport has never been so clear, as today the Premier League used Rainbow Laces to show solidarity with the LGBT+ community – making some people very very very angry.

    Rainbow laces
    CREDIT: TheGayUK

    A number of football clubs have decided to use rainbow laces to shed light on homophobia in sports. It is a Stonewall and Premier League collaboration and it’s seemingly triggered some fans spectacularly. Homophobic fans have been showing off their inability to be accepting left, right and centre.

    One of the worst threads on social media was from Manchester United’s Twitter and Facebook feeds. The club, which is supporting the campaign, tweeted that they were proud to show their support of the rainbow laces campaign and said that sport was for everyone.

    They also changed their Facebook profile picture to include the rainbow laces and it made over 8,600 people use the angry emoji. Thankfully 177,000 people managed to find their “like” button.

    Some fans on Twitter and Facebook were having none of it with at least one suggesting that all gay should be killed.

    screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-46-57 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-46-47 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-46-39 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-45-46 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-45-41 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-45-30 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-44-35 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-43-36 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-42-20 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-41-38 screen-shot-2016-11-26-at-13-38-44

     

     

     

  • People are extremely angry with Loose Women’s “casual homophobia”

    People are extremely angry with Loose Women’s “casual homophobia”

    Fans of the Loose Women show have blasted the programme after it asked its audience “Should every woman have a gay best friend”.

    loose women
    ITV

    A question posed by the Loose Women on their Facebook page blew up into a full-on homophobia row after they asked whether women should have a gay best friend.

    The post outlined that a new study had found that becoming friends with gay men may be a key part of women’s ‘mating strategies’ by making them less threatening to other women – and more appealing to straight men.

    They then posed the question which some called “offensive”.

    “Do you think every woman should have a male gay best friend? Why do you think a friendship between a woman and a gay man is so special?”

    The post received a total of 887 comments and many on social media slammed the question as evidence of “casual homophobia”.

    David from Birmingham wrote,

    “Always love a good bit of casual homophobia from you lot. Belive it or not we are people and not just an “accessory” Absolute fools.  How would you like it if it was “a menopausal best friend”Absolute jokes.”

    Nigel replied,

    “I’d love a gay best friend to add to my collection. Obviously I already have “man human friend” and “woman human friend”, but I’ve also got, and I don’t mean to show off, “black friend” and “disabled friend” and even a “foreign friend” would you believe?! I like to keep them on a shelf next to my Sylvanian families and thimbles I’ve collected from different counties.”

    Steph added,

    “Is this some kind of joke? Is a black friend an accessory too? You just collecting other minorities to use for your advantage. This is so offensive. And a new low. Disgusting.”

    GayTime columnist and Pride In London show producer Tom Knight hit out at the show to say,

    “Dear – Replace the word “gay” with any of following; Muslim, Jewish, Trans, Black… Then ask, how does that question sound?

    What do you think? Homophobic or a sensible question – use the comments below

  • Martin Roberts targeted by homophobes on Twitter, despite not being gay

    Martin Roberts targeted by homophobes on Twitter, despite not being gay

    Homes Under The Hammer star Martin Roberts has been targetted by homophobes on Twitter since his appearance on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

    Martin Roberts
    ITV

    Since his entry into the Jungle, Martin Roberts has both delighted and annoyed fans of the show with his outrageous behaviour, however, some viewers have taken to social media to homophobically abuse the presenter, despite the fact that he’s not gay.

    The flamboyant star, who normally presents the BBC’s Home Under The Hammer, has been the victim of anti-gay abuse and slurs and has even had one death threat with his perceived sexuality being a feature in the Tweets written.

    One user started a poll, which asked, “Who’s the biggest faggot in the @ImACelebrity jungle” and listed only Martin’s name

    https://twitter.com/andythomma/status/801921190625476608

    https://twitter.com/LaylaDavies_/status/801542491635929091

    https://twitter.com/ichopanimals/status/800458002708959237

    https://twitter.com/kieroncliff/status/800411367773798400

    https://twitter.com/siobhanwhite_/status/801539535637270529

     

    One user even issued a death threat towards the property guru, saying that he would suffocate him with a pillow.

    https://twitter.com/harrysxlmon/status/801540079575584773

    Martin Roberts is actually married to Kirsty Roberts. They got married in 2010 and together they have two children. They now live in Bath, Somerset with their two children. Before he went into the jungle he said that he was determined to make his two children proud of him.

    However, it does seem as though Martin does have a man crush.

    Before entering the jungle, Martin said that he’d most like to share his jungle experience with Eddie Izzard who he said would be a “riot” to hang around with and be the perfect campmate.

  • Homophobia on Twitter spiked on days around the US election

    Homophobia on Twitter spiked on days around the US election

    Statistics provided by NoHomophobes.com show that online homophobia spiked the day after the US election on the 8th and 9th of November.

    has homophobia increase in the US since Donald Trump victory
    CREDIT: NoHomophobes.com

    • Trans’ hotline report that their call volume tripled during the period.

    • Alleged abusers cite Donald Trump’s victory during their reported attacks.

    • Homophobia on Twitter reaches levels not seen since January 2014.

    Bucking the downward trend of homophobia on Twitter, the Twitter homophobia monitor NoHomophobes.com recorded a staggering increase of homophobic tweets on the 8th and the 9th of November.

    The monitoring service checks every tweet sent on the social network for one of four terms “faggot”, “no homo”, “so gay” and “dyke”. The website was created by the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, at the University of Alberta, to “show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society.”

    Since January 2014 the use of those terms has actually decreased to around 45,000 uses of the word “faggot” per week, however, on the 10th November, the term “faggot” was Tweeted over 32,000 times in just one day.

    Doctor Kris Wells, pulled the data for the use of the word “Faggot” for us and it’s pretty grim reading,

    •  March 5 – 6,509 (times the word was used)
    •  April 3  – 11,406
    •  July 24 – 6,963
    •  August 14 – 7,209
    •  Sept 11 – 7,089
    •  Oct. 16 – 5,598
    •  Oct. 21 – 3,344
    •  Nov. 4 – 5,869
    •  Nov. 7 – 6,407
    •  Nov. 9 – 10,225

    •  Nov. 10 – 32,167

    •  Nov. 11 – 8,863
    •  Nov. 12 – 6,110
    •  Nov. 14 – 7,659
    •  Nov. 20 – 6,747
    •  Nov. 27 – 6,386

    Commenting on the finds Dr Wells commented, “So we definitely see the reality of a Trump presidency kick in on Nov 10th, two days after the election”.

    Donald Trump Cited

    In fact, the spike of homophobic language on the two days around the US Election returned to levels found in April 2014. The Guardian noted that there was a spike in reports of hate crimes in the aftermath of the result. Many victims claimed that their alleged abusers cited Donald Trump’s victory as their reasoning for their attacks.

    The national trans’ hotline, The Trans Lifeline, told the Guardian that call volume had tripled on the Tuesday into Wednesday morning.

    There were numerous reports of death threats, physical assaults and anti-gay and anti-trans graffiti sprayed onto cars. One car had a note left on it which noted,

    “Can’t wait until your ‘marriage’ is overturned by a real president,” read a sign left on a car in North Carolina. Gay families = burn in hell. Trump 2016.”

    Another gay man was assaulted in an alley in Santa Monica who was told, “We got a new President you f***ing f****ts”.

    Have you experienced a homophobic assault since the US election? Get in touch to share your experience.

     

  • People are angry after Peter Kay’s “homophobic” joke on Judge Rinder

    Peter Kay has come under some strong criticism after a joke towards Strictly celeb Judge Rinder backfired.

    Peter Kay has been criticised after an interaction with Strictly celeb, Judge Rinder, who is gay, was interpreted as homophobic by viewers at home. The comedian was blasted on social media after telling Robert Rinder that his, “case was closed” after pretending that the Judge had touched his backside.

    Speaking to Judge Rinder directly Peter Kay said,

    “Hang on let me say hello to this fellow, he’s fantastic,” before the pair hugged. Peter Kay backing away continued, “Steady, watch it me lord! This case is firmly closed!”

    Almost immediately viewers on Twitter slammed the comedian for his poor judgement and “homophobia”.

    https://twitter.com/IncrediblyRich/status/800055852967133185

    https://twitter.com/JT007123/status/800244921676562432

     

     

    However many people also sided with Peter Kay and said that the joke was not homophobic,

    https://twitter.com/1980Karl/status/800284641269809152

    https://twitter.com/bignick47/status/800283999419723776

    Robert Rinder laughed heartedly at the comic, before Peter Kay continued with his job, which was read out the T&Cs of the Strictly Come Dancing phone in.

    THEGAYUK.com reached out to the BBC for comment.

     

  • Two men jailed after slashing man’s face in homophobic attack

    Two men jailed after slashing man’s face in homophobic attack

    Two men have been jailed after they were found guilty of robbery and wounding with intent, which left a man in his fifties fearing for his life.

    Pair jailed after homophobic attack in Nottingham
    Nottingham Police Force

    Two men have been jailed after a court in Nottingham found them guilty of robbery and two counts of wounding with intent. Ryan Leverton of no fixed abode was served an eight-year prison sentence and Ashley Deavin of Melford Road, Nottingham was handed down a 15-year jail term.

    The duo attacked and robbed a man in his fifties, shouting homophobic abuse at him in his Nottinghamshire home. The sustained attack took place in May, in which the victim said he felt he had to “fight for his life” and that he “thought he was going to die”.

    The victim was left with slash marks on his body, hands and head after Deavin “waved knife at him during the assault” according to a statement released by Nottingham Police.

    The court also heard how the victim was threatened with having his fingers cut off unless he handed over money. Once they were inside the victim’s home, the court heard how Deavin started punching the victim to the face, causing him to fall to the floor. Deavin and Leverton frogmarched him around the flat as they continued to demand money from him.

    In a witness statement, the victim said Deavin threatened to cut his fingers off unless he gave him the money. His little finger was cut but he managed to wrestle out of Deavin’s and Leverton’s grip.

    Deavin and Leverton were sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court on Friday 4 November after being found guilty of the charges.

    The victim, whose wounds needed stitching and glueing at the Queen’s Medical Centre, said it was a totally unprovoked attack which he believed was due to his sexual orientation.

    Temporary Detective Sergeant Sharon Powar, the officer in the case, said,

    “We’re pleased with these sentences which show just how committed we are to taking hate crimes seriously.

    “The victim in this case showed immense bravery in coming forward and we’d encourage anyone affected by hate crime to contact us without hesitation.”

  • A gay couple were homophobically abused in London

    A gay couple were homophobically abused in London

    Two men were subjected to sustained homophobic verbal abuse as they held hands walking across the Jubilee footbridge towards Lambeth.

    homophobic incident in London
    Supplied

    Detectives from Westminster Borough have released footage of a man they would like to speak to in connection with a homophobic incident in Charing Cross close to the Heaven nightclub. The incident took place on August 13th and footage from the rant has just been made available to the public with cops asking the public for information to find the suspect after no arrests have been made.

    Police were called at 02.00am on August 13th after the two men were subjected to anti-gay slurs.

    The two men -aged 28 and 26- walked down the street holding hands they were approached by a man who shouted homophobic abuse at them. The man continued to shout at the victims as they walked west along Jubilee footbridge towards Lambeth.

    One of the victims was able to record the suspect on his mobile phone.

     

    The suspect is described as white, slim and in his early 30s. He was wearing a black top, dark hooded jumper, jeans and trainers.

    Police Constable Emma Rogers, from Westminster CID, said,

    “This is a shocking incident that has left both victims very distressed. We are keen to identify the man in the footage so we can speak to them about the incident. We would also urge anyone who witnessed the incident to contact us.”

    Anyone with information or any witnesses are urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

    Homophobic hate crime has continued to rise in London. In April statistics from the Metropolitan Police showed that homophobic crime has soared nearly 20 per cent in one year.

     

  • DILEMMAS | My new flatmates are homophobic

    DILEMMAS | My new flatmates are homophobic

    This week, Dannii Cohen answers the fears of a Uni student who has moved into a new home only to find that one of his flatmates is homophobic.

    CREDIT: Janeb13 / Pixaby /CC
    CREDIT: Janeb13 / Pixaby /CC  / FILE PHOTO

    Dear Dannii,

    I’ve just moved to Manchester to start university and rather than stay at the halls of residence I’ve decided to share a house with some people from the course. I know one of the guys already, a good friend who’s straight, but the other two people are new to me.

    I’d not yet had chance to come out to the household when one of the guys said something really homophobic, which upset me. Even more upsetting was my friend who knows me also said nothing. I’m not sure what to do as the guy is a lot bigger than I am and I’m not sure how he would take me telling him I’m gay. I don’t want to cause problems in the house as I have signed up for 12 months. What should I do?
    Many thanks for helping,

    David.

    Dear David,

    Thank you for writing in.
    Oh, what a horrible situation and difficult to find yourself in. Feeling unsafe in the place where you are supposed to unwind and study is terrible.

    So let’s see what possibilities there are for you:
    In your letter, you say you don’t want to cause trouble. The thing is: you have every right to speak out. You matter as much as any other person living in that household and deserve to be who you are without fear.

    The first point of action should be your friend. Try to get him alone one evening, maybe for drinks, and discuss your feelings. Tell him you feel uncomfortable and what could be done.

    This might seem like a very difficult thing to do, but you have to find out if your friend has your back. He either went along with the joke because he didn’t realise how you felt or he might be a different person with his other friends. You have to know this before you talk to anyone else in the house.

    When you know this you can sort things out: If your friend has your back you can start talking to the others and get some other people on your side. If this works you might gradually feel better.

    If your friend does not have your back or if talking to the group does not resolve anything talk to the teachers and counsellors at school. Maybe there is a place open somewhere else and they can help get you out of the twelve months you signed up to. These are circumstances beyond your control so there has to be a way for you to get out of your contract. No-one should be forced into a situation where they feel uncomfortable or unhappy every day.

    If you are out to your family or other friends, maybe they can help you too. Talk to them about it.

    Have you made new friends on campus who you think might understand, talk to them too? Even if you are sure they don’t know anything it is always good to talk. And who knows they might surprise you. Create your own network of support.

    Remember, if you ever feel unsafe in the house for whatever reason: get out immediately. No point in waiting for something bad to happen.

    Always with love,
    DANNII

    Have you got a question for Dannii? Use the form below to get in touch

  • Clothing retailer blasted for “Homophobic” Twitter campaign

    Clothing retailer blasted for “Homophobic” Twitter campaign

    Clothing retailer Jacamo has been blasted for “homophobic” and “gender shaming” adverts which question clothing and accessory choices for “real men”.

    jacamo-real-men-advert

    Menswear retailer Jacamo, is finding out the hard way how not to run an online Twitter campaign as its #RealManRunway campaign has backfired, with many on social media blasting it for its “homophobic” and “gender shaming” undertones.

    The online picture campaign focuses on two men, one male model and one “real man” and always contains the slogan, “real men don’t…”

    The campaign which was devised to, “make men feel represented on the high street and to celebrate the diversity of the UK’s men” has seemingly failed to make its point in practice.

    The advert which has caused the most offence shows two men, one posing with a “man bag” and the other with a football. The slogan reads, “Real men have balls, not man bags”.

    Twitter users have called for the deletion of the Tweet and for Jacamo to explain itself.

    One user, Mr Onion-Bucket, replied,

    “Real companies don’t advertise using homophobic undertones.”

    YouTuber and gender activist Georgie Aldous blasted the company in a statement,

    “Just seen that the brand that’s all about equality and having clothes accessible for bigger people Jacamo have made a new homophobic advert on their Twitter about what it is to be a ‘real man’. Stating that men who wear man bags aren’t real men and that men who “have balls” aka like football are.

    “I feel like I am constantly trying to be shoved into a category that I do not want to be in, I feel like I should have to like football, not like the colour pink, shouldn’t dye my hair and should have a girlfriend because I’m a man. But you couldn’t be more wrong.

    am my own person and my gender does not define me or my actions. I like perfume, I wear make-up and I like guys. Does that not make me a real man?”

    BACKLASH

    It wasn’t long before the backlash against the company snowballed with many calling for the sacking of its marketing department and the deletion of the account and the Tweet.

    Big Brother 2014 star, Mark Byron told THEGAYUK,

    “(I’m) fuming about this… How dare they. It’s scandalous.”

     

    MORTIFIED

    A spokesman at Jacamo, which has been trading for 9 years, responded to the criticism by saying that the company was “mortified” and that its aim was, “championing (the) male body and diversity”.

    Speaking to THEGAYUK.com Ed Watson said,

    “Here at Jacamo championing male body and fashion diversity is really close to our hearts.

    “We want to encourage all guys to feel confident – regardless of age, size, shape, colour or sexual orientation and that’s why we launched our Real Man Runway competition, to make more men feel represented on the high street and to celebrate the diversity of the UK’s men. Encouragingly we have loads of entries which are testament to this aim.

    “Our social tweets were supposed to be a fun way of illustrating that there is more than one type of man something that the Real Man Runway competition is trying to do.

    “We are mortified that this caused any offence and of course apologise.”

  • OPINION | Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you aren’t a homophobe

    OPINION | Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you aren’t a homophobe

    Homophobia is alive and well in 2016… And it’s not just straight people who are guilty of it.

    If you keep up to date with the news, you may have seen the article about homophobic attacks in the UK rising by 147% since the Brexit vote. While I’d love to say that it’s simply a dramatic headline that has no truth in it, I cannot do that. My own experiences tell me that homophobia is alive and well in 2016. I believe we should be concerned.

    Earlier this month I attended the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON) conference in Birmingham. As the chair of Warwickshire Pride, it was great to be part of such a positive, inspiring weekend. We learnt, shared and supported each other in order to achieve our common goals. It was during the conference that the aforementioned article appeared online, detailing the rise in hate crimes against LGBT+ people since the Brexit vote. It really brought home the fact that Pride is still needed and that it continues to have a purpose. Then something happened to me that confirmed this again.

     

    As I was walking back to my hotel, a group of people were heading towards me. They were clearly drunk and being quite rowdy. As I walked passed them, one of them looked at me and shouted: “are you a f***ing queer?”. Normally I’d be inclined to challenge such a person, but common sense told me to put my head down, ignore him and walk away quickly to avoid there being a more serious confrontation. Part of me was disappointed that I chose to react in that way, but sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry.

    When I got back to my hotel room, I felt upset that within Birmingham’s gay village someone had shouted something homophobic at me. Surely that is somewhere LGBT+ people are relatively safe, but apparently, that’s not the case.

    Something else that happened on the same weekend was the appearance of Bratavio on the X Factor. As a friend of Bradley Hunt, I was excited for him. It was then that I began to see some of the comments that he and Ottavio Columbro were receiving online. Much of the trolling was homophobic in nature, with some people even wishing death on Bratavio. It was yet another example of homophobia being rife in the modern day. Despite great strides forward in terms of legal equality, I sometimes feel that socially we are going backwards.

    However, the thing that disappoints me the most about the hatred and homophobia aimed at Bratavio is the fact that so much of it has come from other gay people. One would hope that gay people would be supportive of each other and celebrate our differences, as we know what it’s like to be put down for being who you are. But no, that’s not the case. The mountain of homophobia coming from gay people is sickening, with many branding Bratavio embarrassing to the gay community. I have to disagree. In fact, my view is that it’s those trolls who are the real embarrassment to gay people.

    Of course, I may be slightly biased as I happen to know one-half of Bratavio, but ultimately celebrating people for who they are is a big part of who I am. Having an opinion is one thing, but abuse and homophobia are never ok.

    So what’s the answer? I’m not sure I have it. It’s clear that hate crime laws need to be tightened and that there needs to be a zero-tolerance approach to homophobia. This is something our government and police forces need to action as a matter of urgency. We cannot continue to live in fear and should not have to deal with this kind of abuse in 2016.

    As for the gay people being abusive towards other gay people, that’s a whole other kettle of fish. The cracks within our LGBT+ family appear to be widening and I worry about where we are going to end up. As I’ve said before, our community is eating itself from the inside out. With so much hatred being directed at our community, we should be sticking together, not turning on each other.

    Follow Daniel Browne on Twitter

     

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

  • Gay couple threatened with a “gun” in Poole

    Gay couple threatened with a “gun” in Poole

    Two university students have said they were left fearing for their lives after being threatened with a gun and verbally attacked.

    CREDIT: Google Maps 2016

     

    A gay teenager and his partner in Poole has spoken about how they were verbally abused and had what looked like a gun pointed at them. According to the students, a driver and passenger in a silver Peugeot stopped to abuse them in the early morning of 26th September.

    Speaking to the Bournemouth Echo, 18-year-old Darren Mcswiggan said that a car sped up to him and his boyfriend, who were walking towards Poole Quay. Mr Mcswiggan then said that he and his boyfriend Michael King were subjected to a homophobic verbal assault.

    Mr Mcswiggan then said that he and his boyfriend Michael King were subjected to a homophobic verbal assault.

    During the verbal abuse. Mr Mcswiggan said that what looked like a gun was waved at them. He told the newspaper that he thought that he and his boyfriend were going to be killed.

    The driver is described as: in his 20s white and messy dark hair. He spoke with a Polish accent. The passenger is described as: in his 20s, slim and long messy hair.

    Dorset Police said that they are investigating the incident.

    A spokesperson said,

    “It was reported two 18-year-old men were walking along the pavement when a car drove up to them. The driver shouted homophobic abuse toward the pair and then threatened them with what was believed to be a pistol.

    “The victims were not physically injured in the incident.

    “The vehicle – described as a silver Peugeot 106 or similar – drove off at speed.

    “A search of the area was carried out, however the offenders were not identified.”

    Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call police on 101.