A petition urging the Government to hold a second referendum has been launched following the historic decision for the UK to leave the EU.
The Government’s petition website crashed after a new petition emerged demanding that they hold a second referendum after the UK voted to leave the European Union.
The petition has already gained 79,000 signatures and is asking the Government to implement another referendum due to low turnout and a result that is less than 60 per cent.
“We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum.”
The Prime Minister said that he would not leave for another 3 months, but said that the country needed “fresh leadership.”
Speaking at a press conference outside 10 Downing Street, Cameron said,
“I was absolutely clear [in the referendum] about my belief that Britain is stronger, safer and better off inside the European Union. And I made clear the referendum was about this and this alone, not the future of any single politician, including myself.
“But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction.
“I will do everthing I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months. But I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.
“This is not a decision I have taken lightly. But I do believe it’s in the national interest to have a period of stability and then the new leadership required.
“There is no need for a precise timetable today. But in my view we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the start of the Conservative party conference in October.
Voters in England and Wales voted strongly to leave the EU whilst voters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and London (60 per cent stay) voted overwhelmingly to stay within the EU.
The turnout for the referendum was 71.8% with over 30 million people turning out to vote.
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the EU in a historic referendum which will end its 40-year tie to the European Union.
The United Kingdom has voted to leave the EU after a historic referendum sees the Leave campaign win 51.9 per cent of the vote. The Remain managed to swing 48.1 per cent of the vote.
The Leave campaign was headed up by Boris Johnson and the Remain was headed by Prime Minister David Cameron.
David Cameron / Palinchak / Depositphotos
Voters in England and Wales voted strongly to leave the EU whilst voters in Scotland, Northern Ireland and London (60 per cent stay) voted overwhelmingly to stay within the EU.
The turnout for the referendum was 71.8% with over 30 million people turning out to vote.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage said that the 23rd June would, “go down in history as our independence day”.
CREDIT: Scottish Government images
Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish National Party said that the way in which Scotland voted as a whole proved that it “makes clear that the people of Scotland see their future as part of the European Union,” leaving little doubt that Scotland could be staging their own, second independence referendum.
Money Matters
As the news broke at 6AM that the UK had voted to leave the EU, the pound dropped to its lowest level since 1985. Against the US dollar it hit $1.3305. Oil prices also slumped after the news with Brent crude falling 5.2 per cent.
Against the Euro the pound dropped 7 per cent to €1.2085.
Financial instability and drops were expected in the case of a Leave vote with many finance experts expecting the markets to rectify themselves in time. The Bank of England said it was monitoring the markets saying,
“It has undertaken extensive contingency planning and is working closely with HM Treasury, other domestic authorities and overseas central banks. The Bank of England will take all necessary steps to meet its responsibilities for monetary and financial stability.”
Over the past couple of months THEGAYUK has conducted a number of flash polls to see what way readers were tending to skew for the EU Referendum.
CREDIT: EU
Referendum day is upon us and up and down the United Kingdom today millions of people will be casting their votes to secure Britain’s future in or out of the European Union.
Over the past months we’ve polled our readers in a series of flash polls to get a feeling about how people are planning to vote today.
Here are our findings:
Polling date: 23rd March
How are you likely to vote on EU?
25% Vote Leave
61% Vote Stay
14% Undecided
Polling date: 24th April
Better In Or Out of The EU?
82% Better In
18% Better out
Polling date: 22nd June
With the EU vote looming are you decided on which way you’ll vote?
56% Remain
32% Leave
10% Still undecided
Live poll:
If you’ve voted today on the #EURef how did you vote?
Doctor David Bull has shown his support for the Leave Campaign ahead of the UK’s EU referendum tomorrow.
Dr Bull, who is known for presenting BBC’s Watchdog, Newsround and Sugar Dome has spoken out about why he feels the UK should vote to leave the European Union.
Campaigners for the Out and Proud campaign were out in Soho yesterday to make a last-minute push to help people make up their minds about the impending EU referendum in which voters in the UK decide whether Britain should stay in the European Union or leave.
The Out and Proud campaign is a grassroots drive by members of the LGBT+ community who are campaigning to Leave the EU.
Dr Bull who had been a supporter of the Remain campaign switched sides.
In his video Dr Bull said,
“The UK has never really been fully in. We don’t even share the same currency, we have many opt outs and so either you get in or you get out. I think the best thing for us to do is as a Country is to vote Leave.”
“Britain is proudly at the forefront of LGBTI equality and will continue to be one of the world’s leading proponents of LGBTI rights if we Leave the EU.
There are some who purposely confuse the debate by muddling the EU and ECHR, and say that by leaving one we will leave the other. This is completely false. The EU and the ECHR are completely different treaties, and there is no question of us leaving the ECHR.
Outside the EU we will have a renewed positive global role. A role that is more attuned to our people, economic strengths, history and culture. We should Leave the EU to play a positive not a defensive and negative role in the world.”
A proposal that would ban people on the US terror watch list the ability to buy guns has been rejected by the US Senate.
Just a week after the gun massacre in Orlando, Florida, which killed 49 people in a gay night club, a proposal which would see people on the terror watch list in America banned from buying a gun has been rejected by the US senate.
The US senate blocked a number of proposals which would have strengthened gun control across America. Senators rejected proposals including those which would see extremists unable to buy guns. The proposals also strengthened background checks.
Omar Mateen was able to legally buy his guns despite being included on a federal terrorism watch list for 10 months prior to the shootings in Florida.
The Senate voted largely along party lines. The Democratic party, which proposed a ban on gun sales to suspected terrorists failed by 13 votes of required 60.
The Republicans put forward a similar proposal and it was rejected by the same margin.
There are currently around one million people on the Terror watch list in the US.
The BBC reports other bills which were rejected by the Senate included:
A bill to ban suspects on terrorism watch lists from buying guns
A bill (backed by the NRA) that would allow the US attorney general to delay a gun purchase by a known or suspected terrorist, but prosecutors would need to convince a judge of the would-be-buyer’s connection to terrorism within three days
A bill that would alert the FBI to terrorism suspects who have purchased a gun, without blocking the purchase outright
American’s most sweeping anti-LGBT law is heading to Federal court in Mississippi this week.
A law that will allow Mississippi officials and service providers such as doctors to deny services to LGBT people on the basis of “sincerely held” religious beliefs is heading into federal court in Mississippi for a series of hearings before U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves.
The law HB1523 is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2016.
On Monday, June 20 at 9:30 a.m. Judge Reeves will hold oral arguments on whether to reopen Campaign for Southern Equality v. Bryant to address a provision of HB 1523 that allows public officials to recuse themselves from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Mississippi is home to over 60,000 LGBT adults and an estimated 11,400 Transgender youth and adults, according to 2016 data published by The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law.
The state is also home to 3,500 same-sex couples, 29 percent of whom are raising children.
Lead counsel Roberta Kaplan says,
“In 1776, the founders of our nation declared that ‘all men are created equal’ and that they are ‘endowed’ with ‘certain unalienable rights,’ including ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.’
“Almost 240 years later, on July 1 of this year, the State of Mississippi intends to implement a law that could hardly be more inconsistent with these principles,
“That law, HB 1523, declares that Mississippians who hold certain religious beliefs–namely, that gay people should not be permitted to marry (among others)–should have special rights and privileges, including the right to discriminate against and undermine the dignity of LGBT citizens.
“Given this obvious contradiction between HB 1523 and the core principles that our country has long stood for, we are confident that HB 1523 will not survive review by a federal court.”
Seven days ago my usual Sunday morning routine was in full swing. I was making a cup of tea, picking up my tablet and heading back to bed to eat biscuits, listen to the radio and browse the net. Seven days ago my usual Sunday morning routine was broken rather abruptly by the eight o’clock news as it reported the shooting at the Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Seven days ago, my usual Sunday morning routine was interrupted for me to write an article on the breaking story for THEGAYUK.
Photo Credit – Paul Szabo
For the remainder of the day, as the events of the night before unfolded and the scale of the tragedy became apparent; I eagerly listened to the news for developments in a story that we all wish we had never had to hear.
In the last week, I have felt many emotions about what happened that evening. Those people were groups of friends enjoying themselves in a nightclub, quietly getting on with their lives in a space that was meant to be a safe place for all members of the gay community. There are been times when I’ve been angry. There have been times when I’ve been sad. There are times when I have felt despair and there are times when I wondered exactly what this world is coming to.
But despite all of these feelings, there is one which has always bubbled to the surface and has always seemed to have overridden all of the others, forcing them to be no more than temporary swells in a turbulent sea of emotion. And, believe it or not, it has been an enduring feeling of hope.
On Monday evening, I attended a vigil in Sheffield, my home town. Sheffield does not have a particularly large gay scene and I felt it was important to go along not only to pay my respects to the victims of the tragedy but also because I felt that those who had organised the vigil at such short notice, who had publicised it and who were wanting to share their feelings with others should be supported. I wanted to take a stand and publicly say that this was not the type of story I ever wanted to hear about or write about again. As I approached the square where the vigil was to be held I was completely taken aback by the number of people who had attended. There were so many people who had come to express their sadness, their anger and to share in a common experience with others who felt the same.
And that’s when I started to look at social media. Vigils were taking place not only in my home town but all over the UK. Whilst Compton Street made national headlines and was widespread across the media, there were pockets of people; in great numbers and in few; all over the UK who were coming together as a community to be unified in their grief, anger and support. It didn’t stop there. All over the world, vigils were being held and people were uniting.
Both Twitter and Facebook were awash with rainbow flags, with the hashtag #loveislove, and with people outpouring not only their grief but also their support of the gay community. World leaders stopped to draw attention to the tragedy. All across the globe, people both gay and straight were coming together to tell the world that this tragedy is not acceptable. They were coming together to tell the world that prejudice will not be tolerated and they were coming together to tell the world that the fight will not cease until equality is achieved.
And if there is a silver lining to this blackest of clouds, it hit me as I stood in the rain, surrounded by around 200 other people and holding a candle in Hallam Square in Sheffield. Despite the hatred that we so often see, hear about and experience; thankfully incidents like this devastating tragedy are rare. What it has highlighted to me is not the hate for the gay community that people hold; but actually how many people love, welcome and embrace the gay community; how many people support the gay community and, in particular, how the gay community support each other.
I’m writing this article on Father’s Day. I can’t stop thinking that there are fathers in Orlando who are missing their sons or daughters today. I can’t stop thinking about how, for the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, Father’s Day is going to have a very different meaning this year. It made me realise even more that all over the world there are fathers and mothers who are missing their sons and daughters because of hate crime and homophobia. But the outpouring of love and support across the globe in the wake of the Pulse nightclub shooting proves two things to those who hate – that love is stronger and that the numbers of people who offer love far outweigh those who offer hate.
Whilst nothing can bring back those were needlessly murdered 7 days ago, we should celebrate their memory and their lives by remembering that on that very bleak day of the 12th June 2016, the World stood together and said that “love is love”; and that those taken from us left not only many happy memories for their family and friends, but also left the global gay community with a legacy of hope.
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.
MP Jo Cox has died after being shot and stabbed several times in an attack in her constituency.
The 41-year-old Labour politician had only recently begun her career in the Houses of Parliament after being voted in as the MP for Batley and Spen near Leeds in the latest general election in 2015.
A man, Tommy Mair has been arrested and is being questioned by police.
West Yorkshire police said,
“At 12.53 today, police were called to a report of an incident on Market Street, Birstall, where a woman in her 40s had suffered serious injuries and is in a critical condition.
“Armed officers attended and a 52-year-old man was arrested in the area. There are no further details at present.
“Police presence in the area has been increased as a reassurance to the community.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn condemned the attack on Cox saying,
“The whole of the Labour Party and Labour family – and indeed the whole country – will be in shock at the horrific murder of Jo Cox today.
“Jo had a lifelong record of public service and a deep commitment to humanity. She worked both for Oxfam and the anti-slavery charity, the Freedom Fund, before she was elected last year as MP for Batley and Spen – where she was born and grew up.
“Jo was dedicated to getting us to live up to our promises to support the developing world and strengthen human rights – and she brought those values and principles with her when she became an MP.
“Jo died doing her public duty at the heart of our democracy, listening to and representing the people she was elected to serve. It is a profoundly important cause for us all.
“Jo was universally liked at Westminster, not just by her Labour colleagues, but across Parliament.
“In the coming days, there will be questions to answer about how and why she died. But for now all our thoughts are with Jo’s husband Brendan and their two young children. They will grow up without their mum, but can be immensely proud of what she did, what she achieved and what she stood for.
“We send them our deepest condolences. We have lost a much loved colleague, a real talent and a dedicated campaigner for social justice and peace. But they have lost a wife and a mother, and our hearts go out to them.”
Ms Cox is survived by two children and her husband Brendan Cox.
Members of the Scottish Parliament fell silent to remember those who were massacred in the Orlando gay club shooting.
Scottish ministers held a minute silence yesterday in memory of the Orlando gay nightclub massacre victims before going on to discuss the importance of LGBT+ education in Scottish schools.
Patrick Harvie, the co-convener of the Scottish Green Party, questioned First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on her plans to tackle homophobia in Scottish schools, after she lent her support to the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign, which is calling for school staff to be trained in how address LGBTI issues, during this year’s parliamentary election.
He said,
“There are, sadly, still people – including young people – subjected to the ideology that says certain sexual orientations or gender identities are inherent moral defects.”
“The First Minister has described herself as a huge supporter of the TIE campaign – how long will it be before all schools in Scotland actively promote the equality and dignity of all of their young people, including LGBTI young people?”
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister, who has committed to the idea of better LGBT+ education, but failed to put in place a timetable to implement strategies said,
“I don’t want to live in a country, yet alone be First Minister of a country, where any young person has to feel that, somehow, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, they are subject to judgement or made to feel in any way less than any other individual in our society. I have given a commitment to working with the campaign for inclusive education.”
“The Scottish Government will continue to work to ensure that, whether it’s in a school or any other part of our society, the environment for any young people growing up – regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity – is one in which they feel comfortable.”
Sturgeon also encouraged MSPs to attend Scottish prides in 2016 saying that politicians needed to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with the LGBT+ community.
