Age play is all about guys who like to age up or age down – outside of their biological ages. This isn’t about daddies or twinks. It’s all to do with creating a fantasy where a couple (or more) roleplay another age group altogether.
That means that certain guys might be into wearing diapers and nappies and being changed.
Others might be into older age play, which means they’re likely to want to get kinky with equipment most commonly used with older people, like Zimmer frames and commodes.
The BFI Flare film festival, the annual LGBT+ BFI film festival in London has released lots of free archive content from the BFI National Archive, giving viewers an unprecedented view into the history of LGBT+ life in Britain from the early 20th century onwards. It will be available to watch until the 30th March 2020.
The line up of over 40 films includes news coverage of the AIDS epidemic, the politics surrounding gay and lesbian people as well as documentaries of celebrities such as Larry Grayson and Quentin Crisp.
BFI Flare at Home will sit alongside great short work from BFI Flare Five Films For Freedom short films, made available in partnership with the British Council to roll out over 10 days from Friday 20th March. The BFI’s existing collection of favourites from previous BFI Flare Festivals, much loved queer film classics, and the free BFI National Archive curated LGBT Britain on Film Collection, will also be available, giving access to over 230 films in total.
The new BFI Flare at Home programme will be available to be enjoyed in the safety of homes around the UK via BFI Player, the BFI’s VOD service. A special offer for BFI Player’s subscription service will be offered to audiences who had booked for BFI Flare, with general audiences invited to sign up for a free two week trial of BFI Player as well as existing BFI Player subscribers to take advantage of the enhanced BFI Flare collection. Most content will be available as part of the SVOD collection, with some additional titles available for rental/TVOD.
The petition which has been created by the ManyVids platform which aims to provide “an oasis for sex workers to thrive independently” has been launched to ask the government to make changes to the Equality Act 2010.
The organisation has said it would like to “challenge the UK government to protect and safeguard the rights of adult entertainers, who make a legal income just like other workers in many industries across the UK”.
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A worker, Epiphany Jones (link NSFW), uses the platform, and said that she is “repulsed by how much hate and discrimination there still is against sex workers, especially in this day in age”.
Explaining some of the issues she faced working within the adult industry, she wrote,
“When I first started camming on a few different sites, I offered PayPal as another way for my customers to safely and securely buy content from me. Unfortunately, a customer reported me to PayPal for using their service for sex work and my account was banned, deleted and the money was given back to the purchaser.
“As I had already delivered the video in question (which was delivered on time and without any issues), I can only assume the customer did this vindictively, knowing they would get a free video out of it. As you can imagine I was furious that this had been allowed to happen, and that I wasn’t given any chance to explain my situation
She continued, “What upset me most is the fact that prejudices surrounding my occupation stopped a thorough investigation from taking place. If I was selling craft videos on how to make daisy chains and a customer had complained, PayPal would have fairly investigated both sides of the argument and helped to resolve the situation, as opposed to banning the account out of hand and penalizing the creator”.
Jones says the incident has left her feeling “ostracized and alone”.
Speaking about her experience of getting a bank loan is even more depressing, she said,
“A couple of years ago I wanted to improve my business by upgrading my software and equipment. As I’m a registered business I decided to do what anyone else would do and met with the bank to discuss business loans. When I explained to the manager what my business was and why I needed the money I was practically laughed out of the office and told that no right-minded person would ever “lend a stripper money to do better shows.”
“Putting aside the fact that I earn consistently more via camming than I did in my previous job, this completely demoralized me and belittled my worth. The fact that a bank manager felt justified in demeaning me, just because of my occupation was sickening. All the money I’d earned and the profile I’d worked hard to build up meant nothing, he couldn’t see past my job title.
Just because I’m in the adult industry doesn’t mean I’m any less of a human being.
“Just because I’m in the adult industry doesn’t mean I’m any less of a human being. Having my hard-earned money taken from me being banished from sites is so demoralizing, especially since it’s nothing to do with me as a person – it’s just because of the prejudice surrounding my job.
People say the world will never change, but it can happen, and since I’ve been a ManyVids member I’ve seen such a positive improvement, especially within the LGBTQ community. I’d encourage all sex workers to keep being resilient and to have the courage to speak up and stand for what is right”.
It’s great to roll out of bed at one minute to nine and pick up the computer to log on and start work, but don’t be tempted to fall into that trap, otherwise, work-life and home life will simply merge into one. Get some structure in your day. Get up at your usual time, undertake your usual morning routine, have a shower and, most importantly, get dressed. As tempting as it is to slouch on your sofa all day in your PJ’s or underpants if you get dressed, it adds structure to your day and helps you to differentiate between your work life and home life.
Pride In London has been postponed but a new date will be announced “in due course”.
Organisers of Pride In London, the UK’s biggest Pride celebration has been postponed, due to the fears around the spread of Covid-19.
A statement from the pride’s two co-chairs, Alison Camps and Michael Salter-Church said, “It’s been a tough decision to postpone the Pride in London Parade and events, but the health and safety of our communities is our top priority. With the climate changing daily, we need to think even further ahead and make timely decisions to protect the health and wellbeing of our communities, volunteers and participants”.
Other outliner events have also been postponed including, “Pride Festival, Pride’s Got Talent, Pride in the City, Pride Boxing, the Pride 10K and all other upcoming events”.
They added, “We fully appreciate the pressures and effects that the current situation is having on all of our communities. Allyship is needed more than ever, so we ask everyone to continue to be kind, loving and generous. Our priority now will be to look closely at how we can support and bring communities together over the coming months”.
A new report has shown that dating apps are thirsty… and not just in a Chris Pine thirst kinda way.
The online comparison site, Uswitch analysed 50 of the most popular apps of all major app stores, taking into account the permissions they allow and how many each app has access to, constantly draining the energy from your phone.
The results revealed that gay favourite Grindr is the most draining dating app, using 28 permissions in total including location, photos and identity.
Now that social distancing has been encouraged to delay Coronavirus, this has resulted in a spike in online dating app activity. As more find themselves caught indoors, many are relying on digital to ignite romantic and social conversations, here’s a guide to the apps to use to limit your usage (and the ones you will need your charger for) as you look for love.
What Uswitch found was that Grindr asked for way more permissions (28) that other dating apps including, Bumble (20), Tinder (18) and Hinge (13).
But if you’re looking for the most permission seeking apps – and therefore most battery-intensive, look no further than Google (72), Facebook (50) and Facebook Messenger (46).
Based on the permissions they require, Google, Facebook and WhatsApp are the biggest drains on our batteries.
Facebook amongst others in the top 10, runs constantly on our mobile phones in the background and is accessing over 50 permissions including; contacts, location and media.
It might appear that Amazon’s Alexa is listening more than we realise. The Alexa app requests 39 permissions on our mobile phones ranging from location, camera and photos/media even when it’s not running.
Uber also makes the top 10 with 35 battery-draining permissions constantly accessing our location causing your battery to die faster than others. Waze is one of the most raved about map applications but is found to be more draining than Google maps.
Other apps such as Tik Tok, Mcdonalds, Grindr and Snapchat all make the top 20 list which can be found here.
Ernest Doku, mobiles expert at Uswitch.com advises on how to preserve your mobile phone battery, “It’s estimated that over 5 billion people in the world now own a mobile phone, it’s our main form of communication and for some people even a method of payment.
It can cause issues when you’re caught out with a drained battery. There are a few simple ways to preserve your mobile phone’s battery life, such as turning off WiFi/Bluetooth and making the most of low power modes.
If all else fails, remember to put a portable charger in your bag on long journeys”.
We asked leading HIV Awareness advocate Philip Baldwin what you can do to keep your spirits up.
“I have noticed a lot of people on social media complaining that they feel isolated.
“These are strange times. Many LGBTQ people felt isolated even before Covid-19. Unfortunately most of the charities I would usually recommend have reduced services, such as peer support, because of Covid-19.
I know that a number of them are still operating helplines and if you are struggling then I encourage you to reach out to someone. I recommend looking at the Terrence Higgins Trust website and also that of the LGBT Foundation. Personally, I am working from home, catching up on Netflix, Amazon Prime and BBC iPlayer.
“I recommend phoning friends and/or speaking to them via Skype or FaceTime. Interactions do not have to take place face-to-face and we are lucky to benefit from modern technology.”
To help us through the dark days the Red Dwarf team decided we could do with another dose of a trailer to lift our spirits.
And what a trailer it is!! We are treated to Lister reacting to the news that many decades later the cat race is still dying for their belief in him. The man who never wanted to be a God explains he isn’t one and all the Dwarfers agree.
The next snippet tells us that circumstances change. Soon the Dwarfers become part of the war and Lister might have to “act like a God” after all, even though he “scarcely mastered human”, according to Rimmer.
Rimmer’s arc is intriguing: we see him going through a lot of his old wardrobe, presumably before settling on that interesting new getup we showed you earlier this week. Then we see Lister throw what looks like his lightbee into the corridor. With Rimer saying what seems like his goodbyes to Lister in trailer one, we wonder: could Rimmer be sacrificing himself for him?
We will find out on Dave Channel, April 9.
Firstly we asked Doctor Earim Chaudry, the Medical Director at Manual, who told us that Covid-19 isn’t sexually transmitted, but the virus can still be transmitted by direct contact between two people, particularly through droplets from coughs and sneezes – it goes without saying, if you’re swapping saliva you’re at risk if the other person is positive for Covid-19.
We also asked, leading HIV awareness activist, Philip Baldwin who told THEGAYUK.com, that there is no evidence to suggest that “HIV positive people are more vulnerable to Covid-19” or that people living with HIV would be more severely affected.
However, he added, “HIV positive people, LGBTQ people and the population, in general, should aim to follow the Government’s guidance on social distancing and self-isolation.”
He continued,
“As we are not even supposed to be sitting or standing next to each other in restaurants or bars, I think it is a struggle to interpret the guidance as not prohibiting hooking up! However, the Government has currently only issued guidance. I suggest you follow it, for your own safety and that of others, but (at the moment) no laws have been passed to enforce it.
“It is therefore not illegal to hook up with people. This could change. It could be the case that, as in other parts of the world, legislation will be passed enforcing curfews in the UK.
Philip went on to say, “It has to be noted that human beings are social creatures. We were not made to be stuck indoors for days, let alone months. Especially alone.
“Sometimes we all crave intimacy or escapism, particularly in times of fear. However, I urge you not to switch on your dating apps and start hooking up. Society as a whole, including the LGBTQ community, needs to observe the emergency health measures.”
THEGAYUK.com spoke to leading HIV awareness activist, Philip Baldwin, who told us that, “both the NHS and the British HIV Association have made it clear that everyone will be able to access their HIV medication”.
He also recommended that people have at least 30 days worth of medication in case of a quarantine situation.
He added, “Call your HIV clinic if you are worried and follow their advice. Listen to your healthcare professionals. You can also check your clinic’s website, which should have up-to-date information.”
If you’re unable to actually leave your house to collect medication Philip said,
“Many people living with HIV receive their medication through Homecare (home delivery rather than collecting it from a pharmacy). Homecare will continue where patients are already registered. Do not panic and try to stockpile – the UK has more than adequate supplies as long as we remain sensible.”
The bar, which started life in Camberwell, London made the announcement that it’s due to close at the end of April.
The statement said, “we’ve held on as long as is humanly possible, but the time has come to move on…”
It added, “The Chateau is an entity without and we will continue to live outside of the basement.
“Thank you to all who have supported us over the last two years, it’s been stunning”.
The bar was planning a raft of events up until the last date in April, however, a further message from the organisers wrote,
“In light of the current situation, we have taken the decision to cancel all events scheduled this week at The Chateau.
“We will keep you posted with our plans going forward. Sending lots of love and strength to all the artists, promoters, djs, freelancers and queers right now and thank you for all your support for the chateau team at this tough time. “