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All the latest breaking news on TheGayUK. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on TheGayUK.

  • How do I know if I’m gay?

    How do I know if I’m gay?

    Let’s start with a quick simple explanation of what being gay is… and perhaps that will help answer your question.

    In the most traditional sense, being gay is usually someone who is male and is romantically and sexually interested in other males. Although it could stretch to males who are romantically and sexually aroused to those who identify as a man. Gender and biological sex are distinct, but that’s a whole other chapter.

    Some women who also are attracted to other women also define themselves as gay – rather than lesbian. Either is cool – if in doubt ask or have a conversation about what wording to use to make people feel comfortable.

    How do I know if I’m gay, bisexual or pansexual?

    Essentially, if you’re a guy and you fancy or are sexually aroused by another guy chances are you could be gay. But you could also be bisexual if you’re also attracted to someone of the opposite sex or even pansexual if you’re attracted or sexually aroused to someone regardless of their sex or gender identity.

    Of course, being “gay” is just a label. Some people are fine with having that label attached to them or owning it for themselves while others find it uncomfortable.

    Is being gay different to Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM)?

    How do I know if I'm gay?
    Photo by Wallace Araujo on Pexels.com

    Depends on your viewpoint really. Many gay men feel that there’s more to being gay than just sex or who they find themselves attracted to. MSM is often used in a medical setting to encapsulate men who don’t consider themselves gay but will have sex with other guys. Our sexpert, Jack Devon told us, “I think that being gay does go beyond the physical sex that you have or crave. I think it’s about who you feel you have a connection with, which gender you ultimately want to have relationships with and which gender or biological sex characteristics you feel most comfortable with”.

    Is the gay brain different to a straight brain?

    No one really quite knows, but Doctor Christian told us in an interview a few years back, “I think it’s very interesting. There will be subtle differences that may not be anatomically measurable, but certainly, we function and behave differently. Sexual orientation is a spectrum and all of us fit somewhere along that spectrum. I go to investigate at the Cornell University with the test of sexual orientation to see where I lie. Having your sexuality, something that you’ve always known, proven by a machine is incredibly satisfying, that you got it right, that you’ve been sleeping with the right people all this time.”

    Is being gay wrong?

    No, not at all. It’s perfectly natural and valid. Please don’t let anyone tell you it isn’t.

  • TheGayUK says goodbye to its APP

    So long, fair well…

    THEGAYUK.com will switch off its bar finder and news app from today at 11.59PM. When the app was first launched it was one of the only venue finders for the LGBT+ community – however, Google now makes finding your nearest gay club so easy the need to have a dedicated app is pretty redundant.

    THEGAYUK’s editor, Jake Hook said, “When we first started working with our developers back in 2013, it was sold as an app that could also be used as a chat app – despite repeated calls for the developers to reinstate and upgrade that feature, it never materialised. In order for us ensure a good return on the development and administration time spent on getting the app ready, we decided to press ahead and despite over 40,000 people downloading and using the app since 2013, it’s not a good or effective use of our resources.”

    THEGAYUK, however, is more widely available than ever before. News is available on the global news app, Apple News and we’re working to bring it to Android. We’ll also be announcing further development of sources for our news throughout 2018.

    At the end of last year, THEGAYUK launched its LGBT+ podcast on Apple, TuneIn and Soundcloud. Each episode features a well-known celeb or VIP and they talk to our editor and chief, Jake Hook, about their life and time.

     

  • Outside of London, Birmingham is the randiest place in the UK

    New stats gathered by THEGAYUK, show that outside of London, Birmingham is the randiest place in the UK.

    Birmingham’s gay scene is thriving

    It seems as though gay and bisexual men in Birmingham can’t get enough of online hookups and chat sites. So much so, it is only second to London for online searches for gay hookups, gay chat and dating sites. Of course, Birmingham has one of the largest gay scenes in the UK, alongside Brighton, Manchester and of course, London.

    Analytics show that the Birmingham chat page is one of the most popular entry points to THEGAYUK.com for English cities, whilst Glasgow tops the list for Scottish cities. Cardiff is the number one for Wales, but 13th overall for the UK and Belfast is number one for Northern Ireland, but number 24 overall for the UK.

    The top ten list looks like this:

    1. London
    2. Birmingham
    3. Manchester
    4. Leeds
    5. Glasgow
    6. Bristol
    7. Liverpool
    8. Sheffield
    9. Nottingham
    10. Edinburgh

    Previously Essex had topped the list, but now doesn’t even register in the top 100 of visitor locations. Instead, Grimsby brings up the bottom of the league table at number 100 randiest place in Britain.

    Overall visitors from England make up 77% percent of all searches, Scottish visitors make up six percent of searches, the Welsh make up three percent and guys from Northern Ireland make up 1 percent.

     

  • THEGAYUK moves to make website more secure with encrypted connection

    THEGAYUK has become the first LGBT+ outlet in the UK to move its entire website to a secure and encrypted connection.

    © belchonock Depositphotos

    Following in the footsteps of some of the UK’s largest news outlets THEGAYUK has followed “best practice” by moving its entire site from an HTTP to an HTTPS connection. This means that content served on THEGAYUK.com is now encrypted, by default.

    The move is just one of a series of improvements made to THEGAYUK.com since it’s inception in 2012. The process of moving from its original site started in February 2016 and has taken over a year of hard work to complete.

    THEGAYUK’s editor in chief, Jake Hook said,

    “It is really important for us that users of our services including the shop, chat services and our news site feel safe whilst using it. We’ve still got more improvement to announce, but I’m pleased that we’re the UK’s first LGBT outlet to secure our connection, ensuring our users’ experience of the site is encrypted and their privacy protected

    We’re very proud to bring our users and readers and safer browsing experience”.

    You can tell which sites use SSL technology when you visit them by looking at the URL bar. It should show the URL as a https:// and if you’re using a Chrome browser the word “secure” will appear.

     

     

     

     

  • Did we misgender Jack Monroe in our reports?

    Editorial note:

    For those of you who are wondering why we used the female pronouns “she” and “her” in our latest reports about Jack Monroe and her legal case against Katie Hopkins, we approached Jack to find out which pronouns she would prefer us to use before filing our article.

    Jack Monroe told us that female or the plural pronouns (their, them and they) were acceptable to use.

    If you have comments about this please email: newsdesk@thegayuk.com

  • TGUK Model Gets His Kit Off For New Feature Film

    TGUK Model Gets His Kit Off For New Feature Film

    It looks like past TGUK model Karl Schilg, is getting his kit off once again for his first feature length comedy, Saving Jane.

    CREDIT: Saving Jane Film / YouTube
    CREDIT: Saving Jane Film / YouTube

     

    Jane, a social outcast, and her bedroom locked Penthouse reading brother find themselves under the control of a well known hitman called Bo, who has been hired by their father – an established crime lord – to make his kids cool and to stop embarrassing him. It seems however that the road to becoming cool is full of many obstacles.

    Karl modelled for TheGayUK back in 2014 in our Swimwear Special.

    © TheGayUK - Issue 4
    © TheGayUK – Issue 4

     

    Watch the full trailer below – including Karl’s baby oil scene!

  • Why have you put “gay”, “bisexual” or “trans” in your title

    At THEGAYUK we’re passionate about visibility and the eradication of LGBTQI erasure.

    We think it’s important to use the words, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender in our articles, in a positive and non-perjorative way, after all we are an organisation that reports (predominately) on LGBTQI news.

    We feel that there’s enough LGBTQI erasure in the media as it is – and therefore if a celebrity, politician, VIP or person that the article is based around idenitfies as LGBTQI we will use gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender to ensure that our community gets visibility on site.

    We also believe it adds important narrative to the story and it is of interest to our readers to know how a person identifies and that they may have shared experiences.

  • 2015: Half Year In Review, The top stories on THEGAYUK so Far

    As we’ve just passed the half way point of 2015 we look back at the most-read stories on TheGayUK from January 2015 to June 2015 end.

    Top Read content on TheGayUK overall:
    1) Benedict Cumberbatch Marries Judge Rinder and his husband
    2) Eleven Facts About Judge Rinder
    3) Gay Films On Netflix
    4) Louis Tomlinson’s Penis Breaks The Internet
    5) Hot Gay Actors Under 40
    6) Top 10 Best Israeli Gay Films
    7) X FACTOR’s Johnny Robinson Drops New Single – As A Woman
    8) 8 Naked Boybands
    9) Do You Have A Gay Name, Christopher Voted Gayest Name
    10) Interview with The Overtones

    Top Read content on TheGayUK overall:
    1) Benedict Cumberbatch Marries Judge Rinder and his husband
    2) Eleven Facts About Judge Rinder
    3) Gay Films On Netflix
    4) Louis Tomlinson’s Penis Breaks The Internet
    5) Hot Gay Actors Under 40
    6) Top 10 Best Israeli Gay Films
    7) X FACTOR’s Johnny Robinson Drops New Single – As A Woman
    8) 8 Naked Boybands
    9) Do You Have A Gay Name, Christopher Voted Gayest Name
    10) Interview with The Overtones

    Top Celebrity story
    1) Benedict Cumberbatch Marries Judge Rinder and his husband
    2) Louis Tomlinson’s Penis Breaks The Internet
    3) X FACTOR’s Johnny Robinson Drops New Single – As A Woman
    4) Interview with The Overtones
    5) Michelle Visage “Most Vain Because I’m A Drag Queen”
    6) Katie Hopkins Not A Gay Icon – The Overtones Rage Over The Thought
    7) Jeremy Jackson Naked Pictures Emerge
    8) Interview with Bianca Del Rio
    9) Big Brother’s Joel Admits He Could Make Out With Aaron
    10) Did Rhianna OUT Cristiano Ronaldo?

    Top Advice Stories:
    1) Top 6 Best Gay Apps
    2) Three Of The Best Teeth Whitening
    3) SEX ADVICE: Can We Use Fruit And Veg In Bed?
    4) Five Top Tips To Keep Your Man Bush Under Control
    5) Why Do I Have Erections In The Morning – 5 Things Guys Should Know
    6) 10 Ways To Make Your Semen Taste Better
    7) How To Massage Your Prostate
    8) How To Last Longer In Bed
    9) Feed Your Penis – Eat these to keep your man bits healthy
    10) Want a stronger penis? Drink more coffee

    Top World News Stories
    1) Another Man Thrown To His Death By ISIS For Being Gay
    2) Three Men Accused Of Being Gay Executed In Iraq
    3) When Bradley Cooper Had His (Gay) Cherry Taken
    4) Frameline Festival Has The Gayest Promo Ever
    5) Bearded Queen Wows Crowd On America’s Got Talent
    6) ISIS Fighters Hug Two Gay Men Before Stoning Them To Death
    7) Chris Hemsworth Massive Penis Is Everything
    8) Twin 10-Year-Olds Abby And Sarah Sing Amazing Sam Smith Medley
    9) We Do Not Like Gays Living Here – Vile Welcome Note To Gay Couple
    10) Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Barry Manilow Concert

    Pages views were up 65.20% and Unique views were up 54.59% from the same period in 2014. Mobile usage increased 97.8% in the same period, tablets 84.5% and a modest 10.6% growth on people visiting the website on their desktops. Access to TheGayUK via mobile devices accounted for 65.3% of all traffic.

  • The Save Benjy campaign receives homophobic threats

    Since the start of the campaign to #SaveBenjy the gay bull from slaughter, 265 backers have come forward pledging over £3,400. However, not everyone has been so approving of our fight.

    We are really blown away by the support for Benjy the little gay bull at this very early stage in the campaign, however, comments left on the official Save Benjy YouTube video shows how much homophobia there still is out there.

    HH500: ‘There are wars going on in the world and you filthy cream puff queers are going on about saving a faggot bull, how about this? Cull the damn bull and lynch you dirty fags. PROBLEM SOLVED’

    linkrock123: ‘Disgusting f**kers. An animal cannot be homosexual. If it willingly chooses to “breed” with a male, it’s because the animal has a mental deficiency. Animals breed to reproduce, nothing else. Perverted freaks.’

    Huey Freeman: ‘At first i thought this was some kind of joke.Like wtf there bulls for f**k sake .You gay people make me sick, fundraising money because of some damn bull.These animals do not feel anything when you slice there neck off they just die.You guys need help .Being gay is very wrong btw’

    Any money raised past the £5,000 target will be used to fund the keep of Benjy and also be used to help other LGBT charities across the UK helping those in our LGBT community struggling with their sexuality.

    TheGayUK has set up a Crowd Funding page to help #SaveBenjy from slaughter. Donations can be made at: www.CrowdFunder.co.uk/Save-Benjy-The-Gay-Bull

    You can also show your support on Twitter using the hashtag #SaveBenjy

    Thank You.

  • Official campaign started to save Benjy The Gay Bull

    THEGAYUK, along with Animal Rights Action Network (ARAN) in Ireland and Hillside Animal Sanctuary have forged a plan to save Benjy the gay bull, who is facing certain death after he failed to show interest in mating with the females in the herd.

    Benjy made headlines this week after reports that he faces certain death because he is gay. The farmer, and owner, of Benjy had originally bought him and hoped that he would mate with the females on his farm, however, Benjy has shown more interest in the other males of the herd and failed to impregnate any of the cows.

    TheGayUK has set up a Crowd Funding page to help save Benjy from slaughter. Donations can be made at: www.CrowdFunder.co.uk/Save-Benjy-The-Gay-Bull

    We hope to raise £5,000 to buy Benjy and have him re-homed within the Hillside Animal Sanctuary where he’ll be looked after till the natural end of his life. When we first heard about the story in the office we were quite shocked as poor Benjy isn’t being slaughtered because of illness, but instead because he was gay. Where’s the acceptance? Many LGBT people in the UK still fear judgment from others around them, so choose not to come out. We wanted to do something positive, to make a stand and say someone is on your side. Man or beast. We are offering certain rewards for your pledges, however, the main reason here is to save Benjy from slaughter.

    Homosexuality in nature is widely observed. In fact, same-sex attraction is noted in over 1,500 species. Most recently two male penguins became the talk of the town after the zoo in which they are housed called them the ‘best parents they had ever seen’.

    “The plight of little Benjy is hitting the hearts and households of Irish society with the reality of what will face this innocent boy if someone somewhere doesn’t step in,” says ARAN’s John Carmody. “As a gay man myself, I know only too well what it is like to be treated indifferently, that’s why I hope we can give Benjy a second chance in life whilst helping to bring attention to the problems facing all gay people everywhere around the world, and of course the many other Benjy’s that are brought to slaughter on a daily basis who are not so lucky.”

    Donations can be made here: www.CrowdFunder.co.uk/Save-Benjy-The-Gay-Bull

    Thank you for your support.

  • THEGAYUK teams up with Gaydio to bring you live radio

    THEGAYUK have teamed up with the world’s best loved gay radio station Gaydio to bring you live radio to your favourite magazine.

    We promised exciting changes for 2014 to bring you a bigger, better, brighter TGUK and what a start to the year it’s been. We’ve kicked off with Issue 1 of THEGAYUK Tradigital Magazine, available from Apple and Android Newsstands and for ONLY £1.49. Then if releasing an affordable magazine wasn’t enough, we are now pleased to announce that THEGAYUK has teamed up with Gaydio to bring you the best of the ‘gay-waves’ across the UK.

    To listen to the Beat-Of-Gay-UK just click on the Gaydio Listen Live tab on the right hand side to open. Don’t miss your favourite programmes including the Chris and Emma Breakfast show – Weekdays at 7am – 10am. Phil Marriott Sun – Thu from 6pm and Kieron Richardson Sundays 4pm – 6pm. You can see the full line up here: uk.gaydio.co.uk/on-air/