All the latest breaking news on race relations in the LGBT+ community. Browse The THEGAYUK’s complete collection of features and commentary on race relations in the LGBT+ community.
Interracial couples are now going to get the inclusion they deserve.
This autumn, interracial couples will be included in an emoji update which sees all different types of races of couples included, and will be available on all smartphones. The new emojis feature same-sex couples as well as opposite couples and has 12 different permutations.
Behind this great news is one of the world’s biggest dating apps, Tinder, which told THEGAYUK, “Tinder advocates for the freedom of people to live how they want to live and love who they want to love,” said Jenny Campbell, CMO, Tinder.
“The success of our Interracial Couple Emoji campaign shows how powerful the voices are of the more than 50,000 people who joined our cause by signing our petition; together, we effected change and ensured visual representation for interracial couples around the world. I couldn’t be more proud of this incredibly positive outcome.”
The publisher of Attitude Magazine, who has raised over £350,000 for an AIDS charity to spend in Africa has lashed out at the MP David Lammy after “White Saviour” tweet.
The publisher of one of the UK’s biggest LGBT+ Magazines, Darren Styles, has lashed out at the MP, David Lammy after the MP tweeted that the world did not need any more “white saviours”, following on from the publication of a picture showing BBC presenter and journalist, Stacey Dooley holding an African child in her arms, while she was filming a documentary for Comic Relief.
The MP for Tottenham, wrote, “The world does not need any more white saviours. As I’ve said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes. Let’s instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate”
The world does not need any more white saviours. As I've said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes. Let's instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate.https://t.co/LySa0BXeyi
While the MP admitted that the tweet wasn’t “personal” to Dooley he did blast the charity Comic Relief writing, “My problem with British celebrities being flown out by Comic Relief to make these films is that it sends a distorted image of Africa which perpetuates an old idea from the colonial era”.
Darren Styles, OBE who publishes Attitude Magazine responded to Lammy’s tweet, calling the MP’s view on colour “poisonous” and stating that he had raised over £350,000 for an AIDS charity to spend in Africa.
Taking to Twitter Styles wrote, “As a white man who has raised more than £350k for an AIDS charity to spend in Africa you can go fuck yourself. I’ll spend my life and my time how I see fit, and do what good I can wherever I can based on need, rather than your poisonous view of my (or anyone’s) colour”.
The Mayor of Brent showcases a brand new seven stripe rainbow flag – which features a single black stripe.
There’s been much said on the design of the rainbow flag, originally designed by Gilbert Baker with the flag being redesigned by various third parties to reflect different issues facing various intersections of the LGBT+ community.
However, a new seven stripe flag has been adopted by Brent council in London and it’s a brand new, never seen before design, which features a single black stripe between the blue and purple stripe.
The Mayor of Brent, Cllr Arshad Mahmood, raised the rainbow flag outside the Brent Civic Centre in honour of LGBT+ History Month, which takes places in the UK in the month of February. He was joined by Councillors and members of the local community.
The London Borough of Brent is home to a large BAME community, with around 63 percent of residents identifying as non-white. Although it’s not clear if the inclusion of the black stripe is to represent race within the LGBT+ community.
A spokesperson for the council told THEGAYUK, “This particular rainbow flag has been a part of our celebration of the LGBT community in Brent for over 10 years. It is the spectrum which gives the flag its special symbolism, rather than the individual colours, but we’re pleased that it has opened up new conversations about the intersections between the LGBT community and BAME groups.”
On the surface, the term “White Gay” may not strike a chord of recognition. But it’s an issue that is becoming insidious and problematic within some areas the community.
I’m hoping that after the explanation, people do continue reading because this is an issue that needs to be discussed and understood. So what does “White Gay” actually mean?
It’s the notion that within the community there is a simmering underbelly of racial/societal ignorance. Now I dislike the term white privilege because as soon as that phrase is mentioned, there is an instant backlash against anyone trying to point out, that society IS in general easier for someone who is white, tall and thin. It’s not an individual thing, obviously, there are tall, fit, white people out there who have a hard time. This is a generalised observation of how society views these white people and people of colour.
As a white person myself, I will never truly understand actual racism and I don’t pretend to know what any person of colour goes through on a daily basis. Jane Elliott conducted many experiments around racism, most famously The Blue-eyed/Brown-eyed experiment. She went about separating blue-eyed people away in a different group and treating them with contempt, while openly praising and helping the brown-eyed group. Reactions were mixed, and some people thought her experiments were nasty and pointless and only fueled the idea of racism. But she made very valid points regarding the fact that after the workshop, no matter how bad the white blue eyed people were treated, it would stop, people of colour don’t get that kind of break.
But I digress, how does this reflect on the LGBTQ+ community, surely we are all one harmonious group of rainbow love. Sadly this just isn’t the case. Recently there has been a contentious issue regarding adding a black and brown stripe to the rainbow flag to represent people of colour in the community. On the one side, there are people who feel these stripes should be added because those people the new stripes represent do feel marginalized within an already marginalized group. And on the other side are the people who feel the flag was never about race, the stripes represent different emotions, and feelings of the community and further segregating groups only feeds the fire of alienation.
The issue of the stripes also came into sharp focus in the community when drag queen Peggy Wessex shared a poster designed for her depicting the black and brown stripes being vomited up by a unicorn with the rainbow colours in the background and the tagline “taste THE rainbow.
There was of course defenders of Peggy saying she was a comedian and that banning comic things was just political correctness gone mad.
Is it racism, or is it simply ignorance of race? There is a huge difference between the two.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for nothing is sacred in comedy, but when it comes to taboo subjects, it all depends on how you construct the joke. This was poorly thought out and just wasn’t funny. It was deliberately designed to provoke a reaction. Peggy didn’t design the poster, but she endorsed it by sharing it and making comments such as “how it should be”.
Speaking to a friend of mine about the flag, he voiced worries of being seen as racist if he didn’t have the flag with the black and brown stripes on.
But he made an interesting point, as a white man, the stripes aren’t for him to decide upon, so the flag isn’t for him to wave.
Another point he made was that a lot of the arguments seemed to be between white people, he saw few people of colour voicing an opinion. Is this a symptom of trying to look “woke” and tolerant instead of actually just being nice to people as a normal behaviour? Does an overcompensation actually do more harm than good?
I can see both sides of the argument, the flag never represented race, but people of colour can feel like they aren’t fully a part of the community and want a valid representation of their identity.
Is it racism, or is it simply ignorance of race? There is a huge difference between the two. Ignorance of race is unpleasant, rude and stupid, Racism is dangerous, unlawful and pervasive. And it can start off small, with the idea of preference.
We’ve all heard people say “but it’s just my preference” about who they are attracted to and having a preference is fine no one is telling you to be attracted to someone you’re not, but one has to ask themselves, is it truly a preference, or is it ignorance of race? Outright dismissing or fetishizing someone based solely on race IS racism and it can be incredibly damaging. And some people are disturbingly open about it, putting on their dating profile their “preferences” usually in an incredibly disparaging way.
White Gay term doesn’t just cover race
But the White Gay term doesn’t just cover race, it covers a multitude of things, based on weight, height, amount of hair, gender identity & disability among other things. An easy dismissal of someone based on how they look. Small snide comments such as “You’d look good if you lost a few pounds”.
A look at someone in disgust, whispers and pointing/laughing. These things can really affect a person and while obviously as a society the first thing we see is appearance and an initial attraction is based on looks, that only goes so far. You can find an incredibly hot guy and he’ll turn out to be narcissistic, selfish and shallow. Personality can easily outshine any perceived flaws.
Differences should be acknowledged, and talked about in a positive way. A lot can be learned from other people’s experiences or heritage.
I have sadly heard stories of certain gay clubs (which shall remain nameless) actually refuse entry to someone based on how they look. No wonder there is self-segregation within the community. But self-segregation is just as damaging as outside segregation. Only sticking with your own group highlights the differences instead of everyone coming together and being supportive of each other. Differences should be acknowledged and talked about in a positive way. A lot can be learned from other people’s experiences or heritage.
The point of this piece isn’t to call anyone racist or shallow because not everyone is, it’s to bring light to an issue that is there and does have ramifications towards people.
I’m also very aware that any discussion from my point of view can be instantly shut down with the phrase “You’re a cisgendered white male, you’ll never understand” And no I won’t fully understand or appreciate everyone’s experiences, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t have a meaningful debate and discussion where we can learn from each other without any valid points being dismissed.
I live by two simple mantras, treat everyone how you’d like to be treated yourself, and learn something new every day, no matter how small. The more we learn, even from people we disagree with, the more we grow.
People are so quick to argue or take offence instead of actually talking, and figuring out why a reaction is had. Will this solve the issue? Far from it, but I’m hoping it at least opens up an important discussion.
Misogynoir is a word that was coined by queer, androgyne black feminist Moya Bailey, which describes a type of discrimination that is experienced by black women.
Bailey created the word to describe misogyny directed at black women, where their race and gender both play a role in bias.
According to Wikipedia, the term was first used by Bailey in the Crunk Feminist Collective blog to raise awareness of the misogyny toward black women in hip hop music.
The term “transmisogynoir” was coined by Trudy of Gradient Lair and created to refer to the intersection between transmisogyny and misogynoir, meaning the oppression of trans women of colour. Transmisogynoir is the intersection of transphobia, misogyny, and antiblackness.
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Mark Fletcher, the chief executive of Manchester Pride, said in a statement to THEGAYUK: “We have seen that the iconic rainbow must adapt to reflect the modern society that we live in.
“A lot has happened but there is still a long way to go, especially in the recognition of people of colour in the LGBT+ community,” he continued.
The decision of Manchester Pride to release this as their 2019 design has received a backlash on social media, with many users questioning the inclusion of race in a flag that has for many years represented sexuality, with one user on Twitter commenting ‘When was sexuality about color? Never. You only just made it about color by adding that. Are you going to put white in there too?’
And they have a point. The six colour flag, created by Gilbert Baker, has developed over a number of years and has represented life, healing, vitality, nature, serenity and spirit, with the missing colour on the Pride flag to represent the lack of equality for the LGBT community.
The Pride flag has been used for the last forty years, without issue.
Despite the Chief Executive of Manchester Pride stating we ‘must adapt’ to reflect the society we live in, we need to remember the meaning behind the flag that has represented a community for this length of time; It’s about sexuality, rather than the race of individuals within the community.
A study last year found that 70 percent of gay people were opposed to the new flag, while most white people and members of the Baby Boomer generation were also against the move.
In contrast, Millennials, people of colour and trans people were more likely to be in favour of adopting a flag with black and brown stripes.
The Pride’s CEO has decided that Manchester will adopt Philadelphia’s black and brown rainbow flag which recognises and includes people of colour.
The “more colour” rainbow flag or “Philly flag” which includes a brown and black stripe will be used by Manchester Pride in 2019. The flag was first introduced by the city of Philadelphia in 2017 to “fuel the important conversation” of “recognizing people of colour in the LGBTQ+ community”. The US city has a large Black or African American community, which stands around 43 per cent of the population. Manchester in the UK is home to a large Asian community, which stands around 17 per cent and about 9 per cent for black people.
Mark Fletcher, the CEO of Manchester Pride told THEGAYUK, “We have seen that the iconic rainbow must adapt to reflect the modern society that we live in. A lot has happened but there is still a long way to go, especially in the recognition of people of colour in the LGBT+ community.
“To highlight the importance of this we’ve decided to adopt the 8 stripe flag created by the city of Philadelphia, USA as part of our logo.”
The Rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 and has been adapted over the years. It originally contained two extra colours, Pink and Cyan, which were later dropped to have just six colours, which is the most recognised version of the iconic symbol.
The symbol for the LGBT community made its debut in San Franciso in 1978. It was displayed at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day parade in 1978. It has since gone on to be recognised worldwide as the symbol for LGBT spaces, venues and pride. The longest ever version of the flag was debuted in Key West, Florida in 2003.
An author has published a festive children’s book called Santa’s Husband where Santa appears as a person of colour and in a gay relationship.
Daniel Kibblesmith who is a former writer for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert announced the book back in 2017 and it upends everything you thought you knew about Santa Claus.
Gone is Mrs Claus and gone is the traditional Caucasian look associated with Father Christmas. Instead, Daniel said that he wanted his children to believe that Santa is black and gay.
In a Tweet, back in 2017, the writer said, “Me & @JenAshleyWright have decided our future child will only know about Black Santa. If they see a white one we’ll say “That’s his husband”
The characters in Santa’s Husband have been delightfully brought to life with the amazing illustrations by Ap Quach.
According to the publishers “In this witty and sweet illustrated Christmas tale, humour writer Daniel Kibblesmith introduces us to Mr and Mr Claus and gives us a glimpse of their lives together. We see the Clauses sitting by the fire at their cosy North Pole home, vacationing at the beach, having an occasional disagreement, celebrating their wedding day, and comforting each other when some loudmouth people on television angrily dispute Santa’s appearance and lifestyle.”
The new book has been heralded as “enlightened” by Edge and the “the perfect gift for your racist/homophobic uncle” according to World Of Wonder.
Earlier this week the QE star tweeted, “I’ve been put through extra security checks 3 times this week, and was just told by a TSA agent it’s because my name is on a list,
“WTF? I’m brown but that does NOT mean I’m a damn security risk!!!”
Tan was born in the UK, his parents were born in Pakistan. He also identifies as a Muslim.
“Humiliated”
He posted to Instagram, “I’ve just gone through security at the airport, it took me over two hours. And this is now the third time this week,”
“What happens is when you’re checking in, they tell you that you can’t use your pre-check because there’s a security issue.
“At that point they take you out of line, and then they search you, and they give you a pat down—which is humiliating—where they check everything.”
“I’m being Profiled”
Queer Eye
“so I can tag TSA and hopefully they’ll see this at some point and figure out why the fuck they’re treating me like this.”
“Because I know the answer. I know why I’m being profiled.”
The TSA replied with a standard reply, saying that they were “sorry to hear” of Tan’s experience. They added, “We’re sorry to hear this. DHS TRIP can provide resolution to travelers with difficulties getting through security and inspection at airport checkpoints”.
We're sorry to hear this. DHS TRIP can provide resolution to travelers with difficulties getting through security and inspection at airport checkpoints. To learn more, please visit: https://t.co/nRPMSw7Xr6
A poll of Bond fans has revealed that they really don’t want him to gay, but might be okay with him being a woman, non-British or BAME.
Fans want James Bond to remain British, male, straight and white according to a recent poll. The poll conducted by The Hollywood Reporter asked a series of questions about the world-famous spy’s sexuality, colour and gender, to find out how much change, if any, moviegoers could handle over casting a new Bond.
Over half of those asked (52%) said that they were opposed to Bond being gay. Only 15% strongly supported the idea of Bond being gay.
In fact more people were down with the idea of him being American (26 per cent) than gay.
Nearly half (48%) opposed the notion of Bond being female, while 29 per cent were opposed to him being black or mixed raced.
Up until this point all Bonds have been played by a white male, with most coming from England, Wales or Scotland. Only Pierce Brosnan (Irish) and George Lazenby (Austrailian) were born outside the UK.
A student union president who threatened to remove or destroy a world war one memorial which depicts only white men has resigned from her position.
Over 21,000 people signed a petition calling for the resignation of Emily Dawes, after she wrote a Tweet in which she said she would remove a memorial mural painted by Sir William Rothenstein in 1916 to remember students who served in the war. It was presented to Southampton in 1959 by the artist’s son. The picture depicts a young soldier receiving his degree.
On Twitter Ms Dawes, who uses the pronouns, she and her, wrote, “Mark my words – we’re taking down the mural of white men in the uni Senate room, even if I have to paint over it myself.”
The student president had previously apologised for the remarks.
The petition, which was launched by Daniel Lake explains, “Emily Dawes, the University of Southampton University Student Union president is expected to make comments and suggestions on the subject.
“Dawes vowed to remove the wall in the university Senate room, threatening to vandalize it to the depicting ‘white men’.
The mural in fact of the young men who left Southampton University to fight during the First World War.
“Not only that, but it is a memorial to all those who died during the conflict. Dawes’ comments, fuelled by the simple fact that the men in the wall are white, are unacceptable and offensive to the vast majority of students who choose to support remembrance. Therefore, this is an unacceptable abuse of an elected position”
“Best if I step down”
Writing about her decision to step down, Ms Dawes said, “After careful consideration I’ve decided that it’s best if I step down from my role. I sincerely apologise for the offence and disrespect caused by my earlier comments, which were misinformed. I acted impulsively and as such fully accept how careless and hurtful my words were.
“I’ve had a wonderful time as President and am sad to be leaving. All my thanks go to everyone who has supported me throughout my Presidency, and I wish the team and the Union all the best.”
The university Tweeted, that it respected “Emily’s decision and will continue to provide her with support.”
Adding, “The University will continue to work closely with the Students’ Union, the elected team and staff.”
Students’ Union President Emily Dawes has decided to stand down with immediate effect.
We respect Emily’s decision and will continue to provide her with support. The University will continue to work closely with the Students’ Union, the elected team and staff. Full statement: pic.twitter.com/Yas7rLXkyK
