THEGAYUK

Tag: Scotland News

Get the latest LGBT+ Scotland news from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Scotland, UK

  • Violent Ex Lover Faces Jail After Battering Three Men

    A Glaswegian man faces jail after the court hears how he battered three lovers in an abuse case that spans 10 years.

    Kevin Conway, 29, a bank manager from Glasgow has appeared in court after three men accused him of battery and abuse, which spanned a decade.

    Paul Scrase, Mark MacDonald and Andrew Fleming all accused Conway of beating them whilst in a relationship with Conway.

    During one savage beating Conway hit Scrase over the head with a candle stick which left Scarse needing stitches and he head butted MacDonald breaking his nose. Fleming also told of how Conway had threatened to pour boiling water from a kettle on him.

    The abuse left Fleming ‘terrified’.

    The Daily Record reports that in other attacks Conway had threatened to have someone rape Fleming.

    Conway accused the men of lying and claimed that he had suffered domestic abuse, however, the sheriff rejected these claims.

    The Glasgow Sheriff court is a local court service in Scotland, based in the Gorbals area of Glasgow. The court deals with an assortment of cases including: Solemn and summary criminal cases, fine payments, and civil actions.

    Conway was convicted of 10 charges of assault.

    Paul Scrase said:
    ‘It’s a great sense of relief, the sheriff has seen exactly who he is and what ¬ behaviours he had demonstrated.

    ‘When the domestic abuse task force approached me I was shocked.’

    Conway will be sentenced later in February.

  • Police in Scotland call for condom ban in Edinburgh saunas

    Police in Edinburgh have called for a ban of ‘all items of a sexual nature’, including condoms in all saunas in Edinburgh, in a move which could put lives at risk.

    Police Scotland want condoms banned from all saunas across the Scottish Capital, including the two gay saunas that are based in the city.

    The story being widely reported is that a number of heterosexual saunas or saunas that are known to have sex workers working there are affected by the potential ban, but speaking to a gay sauna in Edinburgh TheGayUK has discovered that the ban would also have an impact on all gay saunas in Scotland.

    The police set out the contentious plans in a letter which was delivered to the city’s licensing committee, who is deciding on the license renewals on several of the city’s saunas.

    The letter asks the licensing committee to include new licensing conditions, one of which included: “no items of a sexual nature will be permitted on the premises”.

    A Police Scotland spokesman said,

    ‘Police Scotland recently provided reports to the Council Regulatory Committee in respect of a number of public entertainment licence renewals.

    ‘In cases where there was evidence of criminality or premises operating out-with the conditions of their licence, objections were made to those licences being renewed.

    ‘Police Scotland will continue to work with partners to inspect and report on licensed premises operating within Edinburgh in order to keep people safe.

    ‘Whenever criminal activity, or licensing contraventions are detected within these venues, officers will respond appropriately and report all offences to the relevant authority.’

    DRACONIAN

    The call for the ban has put Scotland’s HIV/Aids charities on red alert, with Robert Mckay, the nation director of the Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland saying that the idea was ‘Draconian’

    He went on to say:
    ‘We would be keen to see the full details of any proposals that would prevent saunas from having condoms on their premises. Taking away condoms doesn’t stop people from having sex; it does however result in unprotected sex and increased rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections. It is vital that people can protect themselves wherever they have sex.’

    ‘Our point of view is to make sure that people are kept safe. Condoms have proved very successful in preventing STDs and HIV transmissions.’

    GAY SAUNA RAIDS

    Earlier in the year Police Scotland raided two gay saunas in Edinburgh, a report lodged by the police stated that:

    ‘One member of staff and six male customers were found within.

    ‘During the inspection, officers found evidence to indicate that the premises were used for activities other than those permitted by the licence, specifically sexual activity.

    ‘On behalf of the Chief Constable, I object to the renewal of the licence under the terms of Schedule 1, Paragraph 5 (3) (d) of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 on the grounds that the premises have not been operated in accordance with the activities on their licence.’

  • EDINBURGH FRINGE: Gay Pick Of The Fringe

    Well it’s almost time for the biggest Arts festival in the world, the Edinburgh Fringe, to kick off this year. With almost 3000 shows to choose from, we have chosen a selection to get you started. Keep checking our site for updates and reviews for the rest of the month!

    (more…)

  • EDINBURGH | Just over a week until Pride Scotia

    TheGayUK is happy to annouce that in just over a week Pride Scotia, Edinburgh’s very own pride parade will take to the streets.

    The march will assemble outside Scottish Parliament from 11:30 – and will move promptly at noon on the 15th June 2013

    The march route will be High Street, crossing in portions at North Bridge.

    A pause outside the City Chambers for speeches. March resumes along George IV Bridge to Bristo Square.

    TheGayUK is a proud media sponsor of Pride Scotia – we’ll be bringing you news about Pride events in Edinburgh during the forthcoming week.

  • LGBT Helpline Scotland opens

    Brand new LGBT Helpline opens in Scotland.

    A brand new LGBT helpline, called LGBT Helpline Scotland, has opened in Edinburgh and is open every Tuesday and Wednesday from 12PM – 9PM and will offer help, information and support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community across Scotland

    Stephen McCabe, the co-ordinator for the helpline said,

    ‘I am delighted to announce that LGBT Helpline Scotland – Scotland’s first ever national helpline for LGBT people and their families, friends and supporters – will open next week on May 7th.

    ‘For some time we have identified the need for a national Scottish LGBT helpline, and thanks to funding from the Scottish Government we now have a team of fully trained volunteers ready to take calls when we launch next Tuesday.

    ‘Our volunteers are trained to answers calls relating to sexuality, gender identity, isolation, sex and sexual health, coming out, hate crime (we are able to report crimes over the phone via our Third Party Reporting Service), amongst other needs that LGBT people in Scotland may have.’

    To speak to a volunteer call 0300 123 2523

  • INTERVIEW | Andrew Doyle

    Andrew Doyle is a brutally funny openly gay comedian whose debut solo stand-up show “A Crash Course in Depravity” elicited critical acclaim and five star reviews at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

    The show was intelligent and razor sharp and covered subjects as diverse as the Marquis de Sade, the Pope, Grindr and Bonnie Langford. It was described as feeling like the most bizarre and intense Gaydar meet you can possibly have and part of the fun was guessing which audience members were going to leave in a disgruntled huff. In spite of this Doyle is a charming and engaging performer (and is also boyishly good looking) who could never be accused of smuttiness for the sake of a cheap laugh. The show also carried a warning of full frontal nudity. What’s not to like? He’s back again this year and we’re looking forward to what he has to unleash for us.

    So, Andrew, this year’s show is called “Whatever it Takes”. Can you tell us a bit more about the new show?

    It’s about a humiliating near-death experience I had in Suffolk. I was walking by the coast and found myself caught in wet mud. I sank to my waist and was unable to move. The tide was coming in and there wasn’t a coastguard in sight. You’ll have to come along to my show to find out whether I survived or not.

    I hate to mention it but can we talk about the Mickey Mouse incident? How was it for you and are there going to be any more puppet sex shows for us this year? Maybe Orville might be free?

    I deny everything.

    You asked audience members about their own acts of depravity last year and you asked me to leave the room for being too depraved for words (it involved a Roman Catholic priest). Were there any memorable depraved acts which were shared?

    Plenty. One woman told me about a threesome in a skip. Another guy told me about his fetish for uncooked ham. It always surprised me doing that show how open people would be with their experiences. I suppose if you buy a ticket for a show with “depravity” in the title you’re up for anything. (That said, some were offended by the content. The title was fairly self-explanatory, as was the warning at the box office, but there will always be some idiots who just wander in because they like the pretty colours on the poster.)

    Is there a danger of being an openly gay comedian that people expect an old style camp show a la Duncan Norvelle or Larry Grayson or have things moved on for the stand up comedian?

    Things haven’t moved on all that much. The most popular gay comedians are still the camp types who appear sexless (although, believe me, they’re far from it). There are always some in the audience who are uncomfortable with the idea of a gay comic even talking about it. One audience member recently posted online that because I mentioned being gay it was “tired”. Of course, straight comedians never mention their sexuality, so she’s clearly got a point.

    Lots of our readers are about to implode through Olympic overkill and even the men’s diving is getting dull due to lack of the right camera angles. Can you suggest a few of this year’s Fringe acts that might appeal to disaffected gay men and drag us away from the tedium and tempt us to venture to Edinburgh?

    I have no interest whatsoever in competitive sports, so I understand where you are coming from. In fact, I mentioned my complete indifference to the Olympics on stage last night and got some very cold looks from the predominately laddish audience. In terms of shows to tempt you, there’s a few that immediately spring to mind. The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle is a brilliant new play by Ross Dungan and is my favourite show of the fringe so far. Jo Caulfield is always worth seeing; she’s one of the best joke writers around. James Acaster is inherently hilarious. David Mills is a gay San Franciscan comic with impeccable timing and razor-sharp material. The brilliant Scott Agnew is doing a show this year about his various experiences in gay saunas over the years. Finally, I’d go for Susan Calman’s show about her civil partnership. I haven’t seen it yet, but Susan’s a superb stand-up.

    What’s your favourite fruit?

    Passion fruit, star fruit, grapefruit. Any fruit that has the word “fruit” in its name, really. It sounds so wonderfully insecure about its own identity.

    Finally, you commented on Twitter that the start of the Olympic opening ceremony was like the longest Hovis ad ever. What did you think of the show?

    I thought it was jingoistic nonsense. Nationalism makes no sense to me. The idea of being proud of something as arbitrary as your birthplace strikes me as ridiculous. All those millions spent, and for what? As a prelude to some people running about and playing various games with balls and sticks. They don’t do this kind of thing for backgammon, do they?

    Andrew is appearing at Just the Tonic at the Caves till the 26th of August

    http://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/andrew-doyle-whatever-it-takes?day=05-08-2012&performance=88%3A2463

    Read more about Andrew at:

    http://www.andrewdoyle.co.uk/