THEGAYUK

Tag: Politics

The latest news, interviews, and views from the world of LGBT politics in the UK and internationally.

  • Alan Turing Law is ‘hugely historic” and “deeply emotional”

    The Alan Turing law has been welcomed by John Leech, the pardon architect and campaign leader.

    More than 75,000 people criminally convicted of homosexuality have today been pardoned under the “Sexual Offences (Pardons Etc.) Bill 2016-17”, known informally as the “Alan Turing Law”.

    The decision has been warmly welcomed by the architect of Alan Turing’s pardon, former Liberal Democrat MP John Leech, who said,

    “For years I have campaigned and fought for this moment.

    “This is a hugely historic, proud and deeply emotional day, but it is certainly not before time.”

    Mr Leech submitted several motions to parliament and campaigned hard to secure Alan Turing’s historic pardon, stating that it was “utterly disgusting and ultimately just embarrassing” that the conviction was upheld as long as it was.

    He added today,

    “I hope this will provide relief to all those that suffered with this awful and unjust burden for so long.

    “It’s an enormous step forward for LGBTQ+ history.”

    Alan Turing was a pioneering English computer scientist and mathematician whose groundbreaking work is thought to have brought WWII to an end four years early.

    However, at a trial in 1952, Turing admitted to “acts of gross indecency” before being sentenced to chemical castration. His conviction meant he lost his security clearance and was forced to stop work at Bletchley Park.

    Aged just 41, he was found dead from cyanide poisoning in 1954 with a half-eaten apple by his side. An inquiry concluded that it was suicide.

    In 2013, Alan Turing was given a posthumous royal pardon and an official apology by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, following a high profile campaign led by the former Manchester MP John Leech.

    Today, it is under Alan Turing’s name and legacy that the injustice of so many is finally brought to an end.

    Following the success of his campaign, Mr Leech turned to securing the pardon for the 75,895 other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who were unfairly convicted for similar offences.

    It was in Manchester, in 1952, that Turing was arrested for having sex with another man, whilst much of his ground-breaking scientific work was conducted at the University of Manchester. Today, mathematics students at the university attend lectures in the building proudly bearing his name.

    Mr Leech added,

    “I believe Alan Turing would be truly overwhelmed to see tens of thousands of people rightfully vindicated in honour of his name.”

    It is predicted that Turing’s work saved the lives of an estimated 14 to 21 million.

    Mr Leech said Turing’s persecution “by the state for being gay was a scandal that shouldn’t have ever been allowed to stand”.

    The first motion Mr Leech submitted called for a recognition of the “vital contribution made by Alan Turing to Britain’s war effort” and “regrets that following his years of national service he received a criminal conviction for having a sexual relationship with another man”.

    It added that there were 75,895 other gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people who were unfairly convicted for similar offences and called on the Government to ensure that they too received pardons.

    The former Liberal Democrat MP of ten years, John Leech, wrote to the SNP MP John Nicolson, who sponsored the Sexual Offences bill, to thank him for “seeing the campaign through to its very end”, adding that it was a “deeply emotional day for him and his team” who have fought for this moment for years.

  • Thousands of gay and bisexual men posthumously pardoned from old sexual offences

    Thousands of gay and bisexual men posthumously pardoned from old sexual offences

    Thousands of gay and bisexual men have been posthumously pardoned by the UK’s government.

    gay men posthumously pardoned over historic sexual offences

    Thousands of men who were charged with offences of now abolished sex offences will be posthumously pardoned by the government. The pardon effects those men who have since died and does not include those who are still living.

    It is believed that only men who have died with have their charges pardoned.

    The law is dubbed the Turing Bill, after scientist Alan Turing. Alan Turing was convicted in 1952 of “gross indecency” with a 19-year-old man. He was chemically castrated. He died two years later from cyanide poisoning in an apparent suicide. He was pardoned in 2013 with a posthumous royal pardon.

    Speaking about the historic pardons, Justice Minister Sam Gyimah called it a ‘truly momentous day’. The MP was heavily criticised last year after he filibustered a proposal forwarded by SNP MP John Nicolson, who suggested that the Turing Bill should “‘prioritise the living’. Sam Gyimah claimed that it would be very difficult to distinguish between those who had been convicted of offences that are still illegal and those that have now been abolished, such as homosexuality.

    Homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK in stages, with the law change in England and Wales in 1967, in Scotland in 1982 and in Northern Ireland in 1982.

    Those similarly convicted but still alive will also receive pardons if they have successfully applied for a disregard, or in future successfully apply for a disregard under the Protection of Freedoms Act.

    This is a breaking news story. Please click refresh to get the latest update.

  • Owen Jones calls for an “emergency protest” against Trump

    Owen Jones calls for an “emergency protest” against Trump

    Owen Jones has taken to social media to call for an “emergency protest” against President Trump’s ban on entry into the US for people from seven Muslim-majority countries around the world.

    Owen Jones
    CREDIT: By Miquel Garcia [CC BY 2.5 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons
    Left-wing political activist and columnist for The Guardian, Owen Jones has called on his fans to join him in protesting President Trump‘s ban on entry to the US for people from seven Muslim-majority countries, which some on social media are calling #MuslimBan. Owen is also protesting against the British Prime Minister Theresa May and her “silence” with regards to the policy.

    Reaching out to his 525,000 fans on Twitter Owen called for an “Emergency protest against Trump’s and ‘s silence, this Monday”.

    He is urging supporters to gather outside 10 Downing Street from 6:00 PM. So far 10,000 people on Facebook have said that they are going.

    The controversial policy was announced by the Trump administration on Friday, 27th January. The 90-day ban applies to travellers who are citizens from seven countries including, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen and Libya.

    The ban does not include travellers who have already got a green card.

    Nearly 500,000 people have signed a petition calling on the UK Government to prevent Donald Trump from making a state visit to the United Kingdom. The petition will be considered for debate in Parliament and will get an official response from the Government.

     

  • The UK’s “last anti-gay law” looks like it’s going to be scrapped

    The UK’s “last anti-gay law” looks like it’s going to be scrapped

    A little known anti-gay law looks like it’s going to get scrapped and it’s known as the last anti-gay law.

    Oi Oi Sailor!

    The UK’s last anti-gay law is looking like it’ll get scrapped. The law actually allows shipping firms to sack a “seafarer on a merchant navy vessel” for an act of “homosexuality” and it was introduced in 1994 by the Conservative government of the day, led by Prime Minister John Major. It is known as the “last anti-gay law” because it was actually the last anti-gay law to be passed in the UK.

    Equality laws, such as the Equality Act 2010, that have been introduced since 1994 have actually made the law defunct, but it remains on the statute books.

    A group of MPs want to make it officially defunct.

    Conservative MP John Glen said he wanted the law to be scrapped because being gay has no impact on a person’s ability to doing their job and told MPs that there was no place in society for employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

    He said,

    “When it comes to employment, in the merchant navy or anywhere else, what matters is a person’s ability to do the job—not their gender, age, ethnicity, religion or sexuality.

    “Many will be surprised—astonished, even—to learn that this anomaly still remains on the statute book. There is no place in our society today for employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”

    There is no provision in the law that exists for heterosexual acts.

  • Michelle Visage points out the HUGE difference between Obama’s Big day and Trumps

    As inaugurations go, President Trump’s wasn’t the smallest in history, but as Michelle Visage has pointed out it certainly was no match for President Obama’s in 2009.

    CREDIT: Whitehouse Photographer

    Hundreds of millions tuned in to watch the inauguration of Donald Trump, however, the turn out to watch the event live in Washington DC was well below that of Obama’s 2009 swearing in.  Michelle Visage was quick to share a shocking image showing the poor turn out, where huge areas of land outside the Capitol Building in Washington DC stand empty.

    In 2009 Obama’s inauguration set a new record for attendees, although there is no official count. It was considered that over 1.8 million people turned up to watch the event. Donald Trump was unable to match the 44th President’s numbers or approval rating at the time of their respective inaugurations. Obama’s was 68 per cent. Trump’s is 37 per cent.

    https://www.instagram.com/p/BPgZuFfgtf2/?taken-by=michellevisage&hl=en

    According to Washington DC’s own transport system passenger numbers were well down.

    They tweeted that as of 11 AM on Trump’s inauguration 193,000 trips had been made compared with 513,000 on Obama’s inauguration in 2009. Even Obama’s second term swearing in had over 317,000 trips made.

    Within hours of Trump becoming the 45th President, there was panic amongst some in the American LGBT community as the Whitehouse’s official website scrubbed it’s LGBT page, leaving users with just an empty white screen.

     

  • White House website removes LGBT page

    White House website removes LGBT page

    Concerns have been raised after the White House’s official website removed the LGBT page after President Trump’s inauguration.

    Donald Trump
    CREDIT: By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Donald Trump) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
    As the world was watching Donald Trump becoming president, tech teams at the Whitehouse.gov were removing some key pages on the website including the LGBT page that President Obama’s adminstation posted to assure the community on their committment to LGBT rights and equality.

    Vistors to www.whitehouse.gov/lgbt are now greated with a clear white page with no writing.

    Former Star Trek actor George Takei was one of the first stars to draw attention to the deletion.

    https://twitter.com/GTremblayVoice/status/822533037271511041

    One commentor on Twitter pointed out that the site’s adminstrators hadn’t removed the meta tags from the bio.

    The site is just in transition as Trump’s own team looks to update information and bring forth their own policies. As with each new adminstration the official White House website, Twitter and other social media accounts are all archived for history.

    So far the current adminstration have uploaded policies on energy, jobs and growth, making the military strong, standing up for law enforcement and trade deals.

     

  • Will Donald Trump dance with Caitlyn Jenner at his inaugural ball?

    Apparently Donald Trump is being urged to dance with Caitlyn Jenner at his inaugural ball…

    CREDIT: andykatz / bigstock

    UNPOPULAR: The incoming president of the US, Donald Trump is very unpopular with the LGBT community. Will a dance with Caitlyn Jenner mend bridges?

    In a move some are suggesting might prove that he is “in touch” with the LGBT community, President-elect Donald Trump is apparently being urged to dance with trans star Caitlyn Jenner.

    Many LGBT advocates are fearful of the backward steps a Trump administration might mean for the LGBT community in the US over the next four years, with some fearing that gay marriage could be repealed once he comes into power. Trump has said that same-sex marriage is “fine” with him.

    The Daily Mail is reporting that his advisors believe that a dance with one of America’s most visible trans stars could build bridges with the community.

    CREDIT: © Jean_Nelson / Depositphotos.com

    REPUBLICAN BEAU: Caitlyn Jenner was a supporter of the Republican party before she transitioned. She is reportedly attending the inaugural ball, but not as an official invite by the President Elect.

    Speaking to pagesix.com a member of the incoming administration said that image of Donald dancing with Caitlyn was a “brilliant idea”. 

    Richard Johnson reports that the Republican aide said,

    “The image of Trump dancing with Caitlyn would send a strong message that he supports gay rights and trans rights,” the Republican said. “A picture is worth a thousand tweets.”

    Caitlyn’s publicists hasn’t confirmed whether the star would be up for a dance… saying,

    “Can’t deal in hypotheticals. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

     

  • Lib Dems go to war on dating apps like Grindr

    John Leech, the former MP for Manchester Withington, has declared war on Tinder and Grindr, accusing the companies of a “serious and shocking lapse in care.”

    CREDIT: ©-Vadymvdrobot-Depositphotos

    The prominent Liberal Democrat has launched a campaign publicly calling on the dating apps Tinder and Grindr to display safety notices and dramatically increase the safety of users after a spike in related sexual assaults. Mr Leech wrote to the two leading applications after discovering that neither provided any notice of safety before allowing users to speak with complete strangers.

    His demands come after he uncovered that 58 incidents across Greater Manchester, including rape and serious violence, were linked to the two apps.

    John Leech, who will now lead a campaign to get dating apps to display safety notices, stressed his concerns saying:

    “It is completely unacceptable that neither of the two leading dating apps display safety alerts or notices at any point from download to real life use, not even anything as simple as meeting somewhere public and letting a friend know where you’re going.

    “Something as serious as rape has an enormous and life-shattering impact on so many lives, from the victim to their friends, family and co-workers. One is too many, but 17 in Greater Manchester is just unacceptable and these dating apps need to start taking preventative steps immediately.

    “Tinder and Grindr should not be let off the hook over such a serious and shocking lapse in care to their users.

    “They must introduce safety alerts immediately and dramatically increase the safety of users, and they must do it now.” 

    John Leech’s heavy words come as a Freedom of Information enquiry made by the former MP revealed that more than 58 crimes across Greater Manchester have been linked to the use of dating apps Tinder and Grindr, including rape and serious violence. 

    Of the 28 incidents related to Grindr, four resulted in rape, with a further ten other sexual offences. Theft, non-sexual violence and drug trafficking were also reported.

    A much higher number of 13 out of the 30 reported Tinder incidents resulted in rape, with other violent offences making up a further 15.

    John Leech, who now stands as the sole opposition on Manchester Council, added,

     “I am extremely concerned to see that Manchester has one of the highest numbers of incidents, and in what I would desperately like to be seen as a safe and welcoming city, these numbers are distressingly high and must be tackled immediately.

    “I fear that these worrying incidents are just the beginning of a much wider issue surrounding a serious lack of sexual and relationship education that must also be confronted.

    “In an evolving and increasingly digital age where many people have found their perfect match through these dating apps, the real dangers of online dating must also be highlighted to ensure that these horrific and life-shattering crimes are avoided.”

    Across the country, officers reported at least 162 sexual offences, including 63 rapes, linked to the two apps, which are used by more than 60 million people.

    Tinder launched as a smartphone app in 2012 and Grindr, used largely by gay and bisexual men, in 2009.

    Jane Brophy, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of Greater Manchester, said,

     “These numbers are a serious cause for concern, and as more and more people use these apps we must get better at tackling the safety of users.”

    Committing to tackling the concerning rise, Jane Brophy added,

     “Seeing an increase in sexual, health and relationship education, and a decrease in these assaults will be part of my plan to step forward for Greater Manchester.”

  • Government votes against introducing compulsory sex and relationship education

    Government votes against introducing compulsory sex and relationship education

    Conservative MPs have voted against compulsory sex and relationship, including gay and LGBT sex and relationship education in schools.

    Parliament
    CREDIT: TheGayUK / Jake Hook

    • 15 MPs voted on the tabled amendment 10 Conservative 5 Labour

    • The amendment would have made provision to add same-sex sex and relationship advice

    • The amendment would have made sex education mandatory to all UK schools, including faith schools.

    As the law currently stands state schools must provide sex education from a biological point of view, which leaves the UK’s gay and bisexual pupils at risk of not learning about gay sex and LGBT relationships. Free schools and academies, including faith schools, are allowed to opt out of giving these classes.

    No schools are required to teach their pupils about the emotional aspects of sex or relationships.

    A new amendment to the Children and Social Work Bill was tabled this week by an all-female group of MPs. The amendment would have provisioned that all UK schools must make lessons on “sex and relationships education, same-sex relationships, sexual consent, sexual violence and domestic violence” mandatory.

    The amendment was voted on by 15 MPs. Ten Conservative and 5 Labour. All the Conservative MPs voted against the amendment, all the Labour MPs voted for it.

    No other political party was represented on the bill committee.

    Conservative MP for North Dorset, Simon Hoare said that the amendment did not offer religious schools who oppose homosexuality enough protections.

    He said,

    “Some form of protection is needed for those who run faith schools, all faiths, to make the position absolutely clear.

    “I have little or no doubt that I will receive emails from constituents who happen to read my remarks. They will say that this is all about promotion, and this or that religion thinks that homosexuality—or another element—is not right.

    “To provide a legislative comfort blanket, for want of a better phrase, the new clause needs to include a clear statement that we are talking not about promotion, but about education, and where sex education is delivered in a faith school environment, those providing the education should not feel inhibited about answering questions such as “What is the thinking of our faith on this particular aspect of sexuality?”

    The number of sexually transmitted infections amongst the UK’s gay and bisexual teenagers and young adults has soared in recent years and Public Health England warned in 2016 that 36% of new infections in 2015 were found in those aged just 15 to 24, the highest increase in a single age group.

     

  • How did Buzzfeed react to being called “failing pile of crap”

    How did Buzzfeed react to being called “failing pile of crap”

    1. So unless you were just under a rock, President-elect, Donald Trump just held a press conference in New York.

    Donald Trump just held a press conference in New York and didn’t hold back in telling news outlet Buzzfeed and CNN what he thought of them. In answering a question about an “unsubstantiated” report, according to the Guardian, he called Buzzfeed a failing company and that they were a “failing pile of garbage”

    So you might think they’d be upset by that – but according to Tracy Clayton, co-host of Buzzfeed’s Another Round, she said the “entire newsroom broke out in laughter”.

    She went on to question what was humanity, if not a failing pile of garbage.

     

  • Lord Michael Cashman blasts Jeremy Corbyn over New Year’s Honours

    Lord Michael Cashman blasts Jeremy Corbyn over New Year’s Honours

    Lord Michael Cashman has spoken out about the decision to give an MP a Knighthood and placed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in his sights.

    CREDIT” BBC

    Taking to Twitter, Lord Cashman blasted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on New Year’s Eve, over his nomination of an MP for a New Year’s honour. The MP in question has voted against LGBT equality at almost every vote.

    Tweeting directly to Jeremy, the Lord and former actor, asked,

    “Why @jeremycorbyn have you given knighthood to Lab MP who voted against repealing Section 28, against gay adoption & against equal marriage?”

    The MP in question is David Crausby who is the Labour MP for Bolton North East. The MP has an abysmal voting record on matters involving gay rights. He has voted against equalities for gay people numerous times including laws pertaining to adoption, marriage and Section 28. He did vote to allow Civil Partnerships in 2004 and for the age of consent to be aligned with heterosexual partnerships in 1998.

    He has been the MP for Bolton North East since the 1997 election.

    When asked by social media users why Lord Cashman was blaming Jeremy Corbyn he answered that recommendations for Knighthoods came “from the leader’s office, signed off by the leader.”

    After his Tweet Lord Cashman was accused of “weaponising LGBT+ issues” by one social media user who suggested that he was having a ” factional dig” at Corbyn.

    The former EastEnder’s actor replied,

    “Give me a break! Weaponising! Holding one’s party leader accountable for giving someone with an appalling LGBT voting record a knighthood.”

     

    THEGAYUK.com is running its own New Years Recognition for those individuals and organisations which have made a positive impact on LGBT+ live in the UK. You can still vote, click here