THEGAYUK

Tag: Politics

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

  • 50 Things We Find Totally Boring

    Party Political Broadcasts, Fifty Shades of Grey and shopping channels have been hailed as life’s biggest bores according to a new survey.

    The study which asked 2,000 adults about what causes them to switch off revealed a list of the 50 most mind-numbingly boring people, places and things Brits come across in everyday life.

    The topical winner was Party Political Broadcasts, rated as excessively boring by over half of the adults polled.

    Ad breaks, queueing in the Post Office, and a painfully slow wi-fi connection were also placed highly in the list of biggest yawns.

    Mark Walters, Managing Director of Interparcel, which commissioned the study said: ‘’It seems we Brits get bored very easily.

    ‘’And we all have different boredom triggers – many often find themselves restless and looking for things to do, while others relish their free time.

    ‘’It seems our general impatience is a common cause for boredom nationwide and that suggests our free time is very precious.”

    ‘’It’s no surprise that most of the top ten were made up of situations where we have to wait around so any areas of life where we can avoid this are embraced.’’

    The research showed many of the most hyped elements of British life prove to be a source of boredom for many.

    Sport bore a brunt of the blame, with extended football analysis, Formula 1 races and horse racing on TV all making an appearance.

    And the gentlemanly sports of snooker, cricket and bowls were added to the many sporting mentions that sent those in the poll snoring.

    Ed Miliband, David Cameron and Gordon Brown were all deemed completely boring by the poll, as well as the current affairs discussion show, Question Time.

     

    Other TV entries included the daytime classics Bargain Hunt and Loose Women, while Scrapheap Challenge and Gardener’s World were also shown to tip Brits into tedium.

    On a similar gardening theme, TV presenter Alan Titchmarsh came in as the 50th entry, accompanied by the famously boring A-listers of Kanye West, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bono.

    The world of work was another source of boredom – 14 per cent claimed to work with someone who bores them to death; while company meetings and PowerPoint presentations made the top fifty.

    But life outside of work doesn’t provide entertainment it seems, as filling in tax-returns, washing the dishes and mindless small talk were also named.

    And doctor waiting rooms, staying in for a delivery and train delays all came within the top ten pinnacles of boredom.

    Amazingly, over seven in ten adults confessed they lead boring lifestyles, and almost half considered themselves a boring person.

    Though almost a third said they’re tired of their jobs, 58 per cent said they get bored on their days off, at a loss as what to do with themselves.

     

    Mark Walters continues, “As the research clarified, the majority of us find queuing boring. What seemed liked endless queues in the Post Office was a key trigger in the development of the Interparcel.com business.

    “The emergence of the internet and the rapid development of technology mean you no longer have to queue up to send a parcel.

    “You can now easily and cost effectively arrange for a courier to come to your home or place of work to pick up or drop off your parcels and deliveries; you can drop them off or pick them up at a convenient parcel drop off point such as your local shop, garage or even an automated parcel locker at a time that suits you”

     

    “Most importantly it saves time queuing and waiting around, letting you get on with the things that you enjoy doing.”

     

    THE 50 MOST BORING THINGS OF MODERN LIFE

     

    Party Political broadcasts 50.90%

    Being kept on hold 45.95%

    Queuing in the post office 44.45%

    Traffic jams 42.90%

    Shopping channels 42.65%

    Doctor waiting rooms 37.30%

    Slow Wi-Fi 34.35%

    Waiting for a delivery 33.60%

    Train delays 32.30%

    Ad breaks 31.30%

    Football pundits/analysis 31.10%

    The Kardashians 29.65%

    Bowls 28.85%

    Selfies 28.65%

    Horse racing on the TV 28.10%

    Ed Milliband 27.35%

    Fifty Shades of Grey 26.80%

    Darts 26.30%

    Gordon Brown 25.50%

    Men playing Fifa 25.30%

    Diet chat 24.95%

    Formula One 24.60%

    Rice cakes 24.55%

    Filling in tax returns 23.10%

    Cricket 23.05%

    Bargain Hunt 22.10%

    Snooker 21.75%

    Kanye West 21.65%

    David Cameron 21.35%

    Scrapheap Challenge 21.15%

    Football 19.45%

    Other people’s family trees 19.00%

    Loose Women 18.25%

    Updating your CV 17.90%

    Top Gear 17.60%

    Shakespeare 16.85%

    Gwyneth Paltrow 16.80%

    PowerPoint presentations 16.35%

    Coldplay 16.15%

    Time team 15.30%

    People telling you about their dreams 15.15%

    The Gadget Show 15.05%

    Bono 14.55%

    Company meetings 14.05%

    Question Time 14.05%

    Buying socks 14.00%

    Washing the dishes 13.90%

    Gardeners World 13.80%

    Small talk 13.75%

    Alan Titchmarsh 12.10%

     

  • 71 Per Cent Of Londoners Would Be Happy If London Mayor Was Gay

    A poll for radio station LBC has found that 71 percent of Londoners would be happy if the next Mayor of London was gay.

    The poll of 1100 adults found that most Londoners would be happy if the next Mayor of London was gay. Sixteen per cent said that they would be uncomfortable with a gay person taking the position.

    As it stands there is are three out candidates declared in the mayoral race which will see a new Mayor take over from Boris Johnson in 2016. Peter Whittle, UKIP’s mayoral candidate and the Conservative’s Andrew Boff are both out candidates, whilst Benali Hamdache is the chair of LGBTIQ Green Party.

    The poll by YouGov revealed that only 55% of those questioned would be comfortable with a Muslim Mayor and 31% said that they would be uncomfortable.

  • COMMENT | Why Jeremy Corbyn is the best option for LGBT Brits

    Over the weekend, a video quietly dropped on YouTube in which revellers at this summer’s London Pride explained why they are backing Jeremy Corbyn for the next Labour leader:

    “He supported gay rights before anyone else supported us,” one young man explains, pointing out that Corbyn has “never voted against gay rights.”

     

    He’s right. Corbyn has voted against every anti-LGBT bill and for every advance in LGBT equality since he entered parliament in 1983, making him the only candidate who both opposed Section 28 and supported equal marriage. That’s an impressive ally, which is one reason why prominent LGBT activists from Lesbian and Gays Support the Miners’ Mike Jackson to the Guardian columnist Owen Jones have publicly backed Corbyn’s campaign.

    Like them, I’m proud to support Jeremy Corbyn for Labour Leader. And like them, my support is for reasons far beyond up-and-down votes for our equality. Mr Corbyn unequivocally opposes austerity, which is much more than can be said for his opponents, none of whom walked through division to oppose the Tory Welfare Bill, a chainsaw massacre of the welfare state and public services which leaves the most vulnerable in British society out in the lurch.

    At first blush, this may seem inconsequential to our community; equality and austerity, you shrug, are separate issues. Two studies conducted over the last three years, though, suggest otherwise. In 2013, UNISON—the public sector trade union—commissioned a study on how austerity has effected the LGBT community. The findings were startling: not only did LGBT people face “greater financial hardships from redundancies, real term pay cuts and changes to benefit rules,” but that austerity had led to “greater feelings of marginalisation and invisibility as specialist LGBT services and support disappeared.” Last year, the Trade Unions Congress, in their own commissioned report, found that LGBT volunteer and charity services were especially hurt by cuts in public spending, with “their already more than averagely impacted service users… particularly vulnerable.”

    Among the most vulnerable are LGBT youth experiencing homelessness. The UNISON study found that cuts to housing benefits, especially amongst the young, were especially difficult on young LGBT people “as they may find it difficult to find a safe and comfortable shared accommodation with flatmates accepting of their sexuality or gender identity.” The Albert Kennedy Trust, a charity which supports LGBT youth experiencing homelessness, earlier this year found that nearly a quarter of homeless British youth identify as LGBT. When the Guardian cited this study in its expose on homelessness amongst LGBT young people back in May, the government hadn’t yet slashed housing benefits for those under 21 and denied under-25s the minimum wage. This is disastrous for young LGBT people who have been kicked out of their homes by homophobic or transphobic parents and may find it difficult to find supportive flatmates, let alone a way to make rent.

    This is but one way austerity has negatively impacted our community. LGBT people are more likely to suffer suicidal ideations and mental health issues, largely due to homophobia and transphobia, than their peers, making cuts to mental health services particularly concerning to our community; even before the Tories had a majority, austerity measures had cut £253 million from the NHS’ Mental Health Trusts. And zero hour contracts have been notoriously bad for our community, especially; the UNISON study reports a trans woman who could no longer afford her transition because she made less on a zero hour contract.

    Which is why Corbyn, with his pledge to end austerity and bring about a more equitable society, is so appealing to so many, especially young people, at a time when youth unemployment is at its highest since the 1990s and LGBT people still face so much discrimination in employment. Corbyn has a vision that resonates, not just with those on the lower rungs of the social ladder, but with those at the top, as well. He is in every respect the peoples’, including LGBT peoples’, candidate.

    This may seem somewhat shocking considering last week I referred to him as having “all the electability and relevance of a Womble.” And my concerns about his abilities as a leader, not just of the Labour Party but of the country, remain. The same can be said, however, for his comeptitors. Not a single one of these candidates inspires confidence. Owen Jones can see Mr Corbyn as a future prime minister. I’m, from a purely strategic point, not sold yet, if only because he is an unproven leader with unproven results. Mr Corbyn has never sat on the front bench, let alone been in government. How he manages to wrangle the Blairites and Brownites within the party is of utmost concern. (But with grand pronouncements from Liz Kendall about refusing to serve in his shadow cabinet and dire predictions from Tony Blair, if the party splinters, it likely won’t be Mr Corbyn holding the sledgehammer.)

    Still, I have more faith in him than in Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, or Andy Burnham. They expected to trample over him, and in all fairness, Mr Corbyn didn’t enter this contest expecting to win. Yet here we are, with the MP from Islington North—a 30+ year backbencher—leading by double digits. Which, when you consider the mood of the British public, shouldn’t surprise any of us.

    As Vice reported last month, Mr Corbyn’s positions on a whole host of issues—from renationalising the railways and utility companies to dismantling Britain’s nuclear arsenal—are more in step with public opinion than any of the other three contenders. And as I wrote in my post-mortem after Ed Miliband’s throttling in the general election, Labour lost because they didn’t run far enough to the left. In these regards, he is just the candidate Labour needs to reclaim Number 10 in 2020.

    And that’s what is most important to the LGBT community. We need to roll back austerity in order to protect the most vulnerable amongst us. We need a champion who has been on our side his entire political career. We need someone with clarity of vision and purity of heart.

    That man is Jeremy Corbyn.

    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.

  • Russia Wants To Ban Gay Emojis

    Russian media watchdog is considering whether to banning “gay” emojis under the “propaganda” law.

    The media watchdog in Russia is considering a ban on same-sex “gay” emojis if an investigation finds that they are breaking the non-traditional relationship law, which was introduced in 2013.

    Mikhail Marchenko, a Russian senator claims that the same-sex couple emojis which were recently released on Apple’s latest operating system for its iPhones are breaking the “propaganda” law. The new emoji pack includes a vast array of different pairings of same-sex and opposite couples as well as same-sex parents with children.

    The law which was passed in 2013 forbids the promotion of “non-traditional” sexual relationships to anyone under the age of 18.

    Last year Facebook launched a number of gay pride icons for users to celebrate Pride season.

     

  • How Gay Friendly Are The Labour Leadership Contenders?

    As the Labour party prepares to vote on its next leader, we look at the four candidates to see what their gay-friendly credentials are like.

    Andy Burnham
    Burnham has been an MP since 2001, in that time he has good voting record on LGBT+ issues, except Votes on adoption in May 2002, for which he was absent, because of the birth of one of his children and in 2008 he voted for bills which put forward: ‘fertility treatment requires father and mother’ and ‘fertility treatment requires male role model’. Explaining his voting he said to Pinknews in 2010: “Everyone should be able to draw on a father figure and a mother figure. That isn’t to say I don’t support IVF for lesbian couples.”

    Jeremy Corbyn
    Corbyn has been an MP since 1983. He has consistently voted positively for LGBT+ laws and policies. However in 2003 he was absent for the vote on Local Government Bill — Maintain prohibition on promotion of homosexuality (Section 28), he was absent for a vote on Relationships (Civil Registration) and a vote on Adoption and Children Bill (Programme) — Consideration and Third Reading

    Liz Kendall
    A relative newcomer as an MP for the Labour party. Kendall has voted positively for LGBT+ rights since 2010. The same-sex marriage bill is the one major piece of law making she has voted on – for which she voted positively.

    Yvette Cooper
    Cooper has voted positively on every piece of legislation affecting the LGBT community in her time as an MP. She was absent in 2001 for a vote on Relationships (Civil Registration), she was also absent for a vote on Civil Partnerships Bill [Lords] — Third Reading.

  • COMMENT | Why Is This Labour Leadership Race So Boring?

    Can I just say what we’re all thinking? Watching this Labour leadership contest is about as exciting as watching various shades of red paint dry.

    I’m sat here trying to come up with an interesting, fresh angle on this election, but I’m about two (okay, five) drinks in and all I can muster is:

    “Liz Kendall isn’t all that bad,”
    “Jeremy Corbyn reminds me of my grandpa,”
    “Yvette Cooper is also standing,” and
    “Andy Burnham has pretty eyes.”

    It’s a far cry from 2008, when Barack Obama galvanised the US Democratic Party with a sense of hope and a promise of a better tomorrow. Though I championed Hillary Clinton in that year’s primary, I remember watching his acceptance speech at that year’s convention with a sense of awe and genuine excitement.Even the 2010 Labour leadership contest seemed to offer some sense of renewal. There was, of course, the brothers Miliband, fighting to take the party in different directions. And Diane Abbott, that stalwart London socialist who provided a breath of fresh air—an actual leftist! A woman, and Black!—that is sorely lacking this go round.

    That’s the problem. Cooper and Burnham, both either tarnished or bolstered by their roles in in the last Labour government, depending on who you ask, are stuck quietly in the middle, mostly ignored and largely forgotten. Kendall and Corbyn would both have you believe that a bitter civil war is raging, with the soul of the Labour Party at stake. Each is positing themselves and their opponent as the devil and angel on your shoulder.

    But Kendall isn’t David Miliband, and Corbyn isn’t Diane Abbott. Both lack the charisma, the gravitas, and the star quality of their 2010 counterparts. And when the majority of Labour MPs can’t even bring themselves to vote against Tory austerity, you have to wonder what the whole point of the party is. If Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition can’t even be counted on to do a bit of opposing, it might make people question whether they’re worth voting for at all.

    The LGBT community certainly seems to be asking itself this question. In a YouGov poll conducted back in March, the Tories were in a dead heat with Labour when it came to LGBT vote share. Meanwhile, the Greens were increasing their support amongst our community, with The Guardian reporting a 16% increase in support from 2010 to 2015.

    Used to be that Labour was the natural home of our community. However, the Labour Party is no longer the only sanctuary for queer and trans Brits, as it was in the 1980s and 1990s. The Conservatives have softened their rhetoric, if not their voting record, on LGBT issues. Prime Minister David Cameron and Equalities Minister Nicky Morgan both champion equality, even if the former couldn’t convince his backbenchers (including the latter) to vote for same-sex marriage. On the opposite end of the political spectrum, many LGBT voters are flocking to the SNP and Green Party.

    This would seem to give credence to the civil war scenario Corbyn and Kendall present. After all, it does appear that, at least in terms of LGBT voters, the party is bleeding support on both ends of the political spectrum. And while all four candidates are touting themselves as champions of LGBT equality, with Burnham and Kendall having given exclusive and in-depth interviews to PinkNews, not one candidate seems to be capturing the hearts and minds of LGBT Labour.

    Our community seems mildly disinterested, but genuinely divided, if the rainbow avatars supporting Kendall, Cooper, and Corbyn on my Facebook feed are any indication. I’ve seen people come out in favour of all three candidates, but only because they have to support somebody. Not a single one of them seems to have the kind of zealous acolytes of Obama in 2008 or the Milibands in 2010.

    Anecdotally, at least, the only candidate not receiving ringing LGBT endorsements seems to be Burnham, whose record on LGBT rights is often described as tepid, at best. He missed a vote on gay adoptions in 2002, which he contends was due to paternity leave, and as Benjamin Butterworth wrote last month at the New Statesman, he twice voted for amendments which would require lesbians receiving IVF to name a father figure, despite the fact that in a lesbian relationship there really isn’t one.

    A look at their voting records—which you can see here —shows that all four candidates are at least marginally progressive on LGBT rights, though all four have offered more platitudes than policy at improving our lot in life. And not a single one of them appears to be galvanizing the support of LGBT Labour voters. This may be why LGBT Labour has said it won’t endorse any candidate.

    Of course, that may also be for strategic and political moves—the group has to work with whomever is elected leader, after all—but I can’t help but wonder if it’s not because they’re all so dreadfully dull, too. Of the four candidates, only Corbyn, who barely garnered enough parliamentary nominations to even make the ballot and who the Parliamentary Labour Party is now scrambling to defeat, seems to be generating any sort of real excitement among the party base.

    I use the word “excitement” loosely, because even those of us supporting Corbyn (which I do, and which you can read more about next week) do so with the most tepid of enthusiasm. He’s no Mhairi Black, with rousing rhetoric and fresh-faced tenacity. But he’s at least offering hope, which can’t be said for the others. While Kendall, Cooper, and Burnham keep talking about what Labour did wrong, about why it lost, and about lessons to be learnt. It’s an important conversation to have, but it’s also incredibly demoralising to a base which desperately needs inspiration and, dare I say, leadership.

    Corbyn offers a bit of that, but questions as to his electability remain, and are certainly worth asking. It’s not just down to his socialist pedigree, either. Jeremy Corbyn is a fine left wing MP, but he’s about as exciting and relevant as Leon Jackson’s latest album. Don’t know who or what I’m talking about? Yeah, exactly.

    Which basically sums up this leadership contest. The one candidate many of us can be passionate about has all the electability and relevance of a Womble, two of them (Cooper and Burnham) are like rocks at Stonehenge—around forever, thick as stone, and mired in the past—while Liz Kendall is basically your mum or dad criticising every choice you’ve ever made.

    None of which inspires confidence in the base, and none of which brings out the passions of supporters. This contest is proving to be as long and drawn out as an EastEnders anniversary plot: annoying, trite, and done before. We can only hope that, despite our lowered expectations, it has a payoff nobody saw coming.

     

    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.

  • Ivan Massows vows that his work is not yet done

    Ivan Massow may have been snubbed by the Conservative Party as a candidate for the London Mayoral Race 2016, but does he have independent ideas?

    Ivan Massow was seemingly snubbed by the Conservatives in favour of Tory insiders, however, that hasn’t dampened Massow’s hopes of being London Mayor. In a response to a Tweet asking him if he’d run as an independent candidate for London’s Mayor in 2016, the finance expert, responded, “I feel my work here isn’t yet done!”

    Massow along with, Sol Campbell and Philippa Roe were all sidelined in favour of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, Deputy Mayor for policing and crime Stephen Greenhalgh, leader of the Conservative Party in the London Assembly Stephen Boff and MEP Syed Kamall.

    He also replied to another well-wisher, who encouraged the Brighton-born Massow not to give up, by simply replying: “I Won’t.”

    If Massow decides to run as an independent he will be joining Siobhan Benita and Rosalind Readhead.

  • Ivan Massow Out Of The Mayoral Race In Favour Of Tory Insiders

    Despite being a favourite with the public, openly gay Ivan Massow has failed to make the Tory party’s candidate shortlist for the London Mayoral race in 2016.

    Ivan Massow who created the first company to offer insurance policies and financial services to gay people in the 1990s, when many companies weren’t ensuring gay people or were offering crippling premiums, has lost his campaign to become London’s mayor in 2016 after the Conservative party snubbed him in favour of an MP, an MEP a London Assembly member and the Deputy Mayor.

    The Conservatives also snubbed ex-footballer, Sol Campbell who is also a party outsider. The shortlist also snubbed women in favour of an all male line up.

    Last week the Brighton-born mayoral hopeful, Massow, 47, released a video campaign in which he was asking Londoners to invite him to stay over for the night in order for him to get a hands-on look at what were high priority issues for Londoners in 2015/16.

    Despite being the Head of Policy for London for the Conservative Party in the 1990s and having been asked to be a London Mayoral candidate for the party in that same period, his sudden resignation in a protest against the homophobic and antiquated Section 28 made front page news at the time, which made him unpopular with some Tory leaders.

    Taking to his Twitter account last night Ivan said:

    “Just heard by text that I didn’t make it onto the list. Really want to thank everyone who’s supported me and my team. It was quite a journey.”

  • LBC Radio Presenter Iain Dale Slams Ivan Massow Mayoral Campaign Video

    Long-time LBC presenter Iain Dale has slammed Ivan Massow’s latest mayoral campaign video as “buttock-clenchingly awful”.

    The out LBC presenter Iain Dale tweeted his disapproval of Ivan Massow‘s latest mayoral campaign video calling it “possibly the worst campaign video” he had ever seen.

     

    Comments for the video have been disabled on YouTube but that didn’t stop Iain Dale having at pop at Massow, calling the campaign “buttock-clenchingly awful”.

    In an interview with THEGAYUK Ivan Massow told us: Having spent the last year “visiting various London institutions… hospices, meals on wheels, homeless shelters, tube digs…And every Housing Association in London…developers, [and] planning departments” and he is now keen to take this a step further, over the course of a month, he wants to spend each night staying with a different London-based family, to find out what bugs London about London.

    In direct response to Dale, Massow tweeted: “the idea is to hear from Londoners directly about their own area.”

     

     

  • Tim Farron Asked Three Times If Gay Sex Is A Sin

    The newly elected leader of the Liberal Democrats has failed to quash fears about his moral views on homosexuality after failing to answer whether he thought gay sex was a sin or not.

    During an interview on Channel 4 news earlier this week, Cathy Newman asked the new leader “Personally, do you think as a Christian, that homosexual sex is a sin?”

    Christians “do not go around forcing their views on other people” he answered and failed to answer the question. Cathy Newman then quoted a Leviticus quote, to which he responded: “My faith is based upon my belief that Jesus Christ is who he said he is”

    So evasive was he over the question she asked three times.
    The Brian Paddick backed Tim Farron was elected the new leader of the Liberal Democrats after former Deputy Prime Minister and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg stood down.

    Tim Farron has come under pressure after abstaining on the gay marriage vote.

    Stewart McDonald MP for Glasgow South Tweeted,

    “Sorry Tim, but it’ll take a lot more than sound bites to convince anyone that you’re serious about LGBT equality.”

     

    Guardian columnist Giles Fraser suggested that if Tim Farron thought that gay sex was sinful that the future of the party was in trouble and that he was “utterly lost as a LibDem leader”.

     

    In 2007 Tim Farron voted against the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations in 2007, a law which protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation in the provision of goods and services. The law was used to bring Asher’s Bakery in Northern Ireland to account for refusing to make a cake with a pro-gay marriage slogan on it.

  • IVAN MASSOW: Video Hits 500K Views

    London Mayor hopeful, Ivan Massow, has amassed nearly 500,000 views on his viral video.

    Streaking ahead as a firm favourite for Londoners, the openly gay, self-made millionaire, has seen the video created for his campaign to make Londoners aware of Massow, uploaded a month ago, has reached nearly half a million hits on Facebook and 40,000 on YouTube.

     

    Meet Ivan Massow. He wants to be the next Mayor of London, and here's why. Posted by Ivan Massow on Monday, 18 May 2015
      The video has attracted over 2500 likes and 548 shares. In the video, Ivan tells the audience that he is gay, that he’s an activist, an ex-alcohol and that he has dyslexia. He mentions that he is adopted and that he is a disruptor. Along with Brighton born Ivan, 47, Andrew Boff, Sol Campbell, Simon Fawthrop, Zac Goldsmith and Stephen Greenhalgh are the Conservative candidates that have declared.