Friday 19 December 2014

UK Sign petition to defend HIV prevention funding for England
	The Government has announced that funding for the national HIV prevention programme in England will be cut by 50% from April 2015. If you live in England, please write to the Public Health Minister, Jane Ellison, and ask for funding to be continued at least at current levels for the next three years Sign petition  19 Dec 14
Lover guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence of Alun Williams wrapped in clingfilm
	Richard Bowler, 35, (pictured) was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence of his gay lover Alun Williams, and jailed for five years. "Bowler had a responsibility to look after the welfare of Mr Williams. Due to the nature in which he was restrained he should never have left him alone..." said police kentonline.co.uk  19 Dec 14
CCTV appeal after 'foul-mouthed' homophobic rant on Tube
	Police want to speak to the woman in this photograph after a 23-year-old man was subjected to a 'prolonged verbal tirade' by a woman on the Metropolitan Line in the evening of Friday14 November. Crimestoppers 0800 555 111 london24.com  19 Dec 14
COMING OUT
9-year-old girl writes sweetest letter to gay teacher who came out to class yahoo.com  19 Dec 14 One Direction reveal their man crushes! - and support to fans who may be struggling to come to terms with their sexuality mtv.co.uk  19 Dec 14
O-M-G Leaked Salvation Army document shows pro-LGBT PR campaign is just spin
	Queerty has obtained SA internal documents that give lie to its propaganda campaign to win back LGBT donors and staff and confirm what we've suspected all along: The Christian charity discriminates against LGBT people, but it doesn't want anyone to know about it queerty.com  19 Dec 14
GAY BUSINESS The story behind Nasty Pig's banned holiday commercial
	'People used to tell me what we were doing was business suicide: calling a business Nasty Pig and building a brand around sexually active gay men. Now we have a retail store, a very strong online presence, and we sell to about 35 stores around the country' huffingtonpost.com  19 Dec 14
Apple CEO Tim Cook gives 'substantial' sum to gay rights initiative
	Tim Cook made a hefty private donation to the Human Rights Campaign's Project One America, an initiative working toward LGBT equality in Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas appleinsider.com  19 Dec 14
TRANS DOJ: Transgender people can't be discriminated against at work
	Outgoing US attorney general Eric Holder said in a memo that it is the Obama administration's position that workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex washingtonpost.com  19 Dec 14
SHOW BIZ Sam Smith named only artist in the world to sell one million albums in UK and US this year
	The 22-year-old gay singer's debut album, In The Lonely Hour, had reached the impressive landmark here by midnight last night, just 24 hours after doing so state-side independent.co.uk  19 Dec 14 Sam Smith finally has a boyfriend inquisitr.com 19 Dec 14

---

GBA Gay Business Association member: 

Sunday 14 December 2014

COMING OUT Apple's Tim Cook named Financial Times 'Person of the Year'
	Financial success and dazzling new technology alone might have been enough to earn Apple's steely chief executive the FT's vote as the 2014 Person of the Year, but Mr Cook's brave exposition of his values also sets him apart ft.com  14 Dec 14
UK Farage's golden boy's rant at 'pooftahs'
	In tape-recorded phone calls leaked to The Mail on Sunday, Kerry Smith, chosen to fight Ukip target seat of Basildon South in Essex mocks 'f***ing disgusting old pooftahs' who belong to a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning group, calling them 'BLTs' - bacon, lettuce and tomato dailymail.co.uk  14 Dec 14
WORLD Is France's far right flirting with gay vote?
	France's National Front party announced Friday that Sebastien Chenu, cofounder of the Gaylib gay rights movement, was joining its ranks and will be a future candidate in elections, a surprise move for a group that has long been linked to homophobic views france24.com  14 Dec 14 Front National deputy leader Florian Philippot sues Closer magazine over 'gay partner' photos rfi.fr  14 Dec 14
GAY RESEARCH A single conversation can change a homophobes views Michael LaCour, of UCLA, and Donald Green at Columbia University, have demonstrated that a single conversation can go a long way toward building lasting support for a controversial social issue. In addition the effect tends to spill over to friends and family members esciencenews.com  14 Dec 14 GAY SPORTS Gay skiing legend:  We need more support from IOC Openly gay ski legend Anja Paerson says the International Olympic Committee is out of touch on LGBT issues and that she has little confidence that recent changes to the Olympic Charter will prevent discrimination in the future cnn.com  14 Dec 14 SHOW BIZ Benedict Cumberbatch and Pride  contend Golden Globe awards
	Cumberbatch's citation comes for his role as gay World War II code breaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game. British indie hit Pride, about about gay activists supporting striking Welsh miners, made the cut for best comedy/musical bbc.co.uk  14 Dec 14

---

GBA Gay Business Association member: 

Saturday 29 November 2014

UK Ukip disowns 'east London branch' Twitter account after homophobic comments
	In a series of posts last night, the @UkipEastLondon account suggested homosexuality was "intolerable and vulgar". Another tweet read: "LGBT movement is a fascist movement, it's all gay this, gay that.. Well what about British folk?" standard.co.uk  29 Nov 14
Asda boss 'gave £180,000 of charity cash to his gay lover's ballet firm'
	Paul Kelly (right of picture) was dismissed as Asda's vice president of corporate affairs after he was alleged to have given charity cash to his partner's dance company Murley Dance dailymail.co.uk  29 Nov 14
RFU ban to fans who shouted homophobic abuse
	Gay referee Nigel Owens has applauded the Rugby Football Union for banning two supporters from Twickenham for two years after they directed abuse at Owens during the match between England and New Zealand in London earlier this month walesonline.co.uk  29 Nov 14
Sandi Toksvig: Save the Children fired me for being a lesbian
	Comedian (pictured with her partner Debbie) reveals that charity stopped her hosting anniversary event in 1990s to prevent Princess Anne meeting a lesbian. Today the organisation supports gay rights around the world theguardian.com  29 Nov 14 BBC Radio 4: News Quiz
South Shields dance teacher Stuart Hatton crowned Mr Gay World
	He is this year's winner of Mr Gay World, claiming the title after a week-long competition in Rome, Italy. But it isn't just an award for his vanity - instead he wants to use it as a springboard to combat homophobic bullying chroniclelive.co.uk  29 Nov 14
WORLD AIDS DAY Positive Radio launches online
	Positive Radio is a project working in collaboration with service users from George House Trust in Manchester. From midday on Monday 1 December you can hear a series of interviews and shows ght.org.uk 29 Nov 14
Teens and the loneliness of AIDS
	Award-winning photographer Carol Allen Storey's exhibition will be at The Pullman Hotel, 100-101 Euston Road, London, NW1 2AJ, 2-28 December. 100% of the sale of signed 1/1 limited edition prints will be donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation 29 Nov 14
O-M-G Plans to allow gay people to become Kirk ministers takes a step forward
	23 of 45 Church of Scotland presbyteries with voting rights have backed a "mixed economy" proposal which would allow congregations to appoint someone in a same-sex relationship. The debate was triggered by the appointment of the Rev Scott Rennie to Queen's Cross Church in Aberdeen in 2009 pressandjournal.co.uk  29 Nov 14
New book uncovers strong gay scene in the Catholic Church
	Ground-breaking new research into the sexual lives of Irish Catholic priests has revealed many of them are or have been sexually active, that the bishops are aware of the situation, and that there is a gay scene within the church independent.ie  29 Nov 14 Buy book
RUSSIA Lawyer attacked after defending LGBT activist in St. Petersburg Court
	Human rights lawyer Vitaly Cherkasov, who was employed to defend an LGBT activist, said he was attacked after leaving a St. Petersburg court, identifying one of the assailants as an Orthodox activist and aide to a local anti-gay lawmaker Vitaly Milonov (pictured) themoscowtimes.com 29 Nov 14 Milonov 'should be investigated for extremism' rt.com 29 Nov 14

---

GBA Gay Business Association member: 

Wednesday 26 November 2014

UK Rise in number of violent homophobic crimes being reported to police
Homophobic offences: East Anglia London Manchester Merseyside Midlands Northern Ireland South West South Yorkshire	19 forces have recorded more violent homophobic offences so far in 2014 than in whole of last year. Gay rights charities said that while it was encouraging that more people were reporting hate crime, many victims felt silenced by abuse on the street. theguardian.com  26 Nov 14
Stonewall marks 25th anniversary with launch of older LGBT role models guide
	LGBT Voices features the stories of 25 people who have contributed to the campaign for equality in Britain and around the world. The guide will ensure that the stories of a generation who have faced persecution and discrimination will live on - lovingly archived and preserved for a new generation to experience stonewall.org.uk  26 Nov 14
First UK guide for lesbian and bisexual women affected by sexual violence
	The LGF booklet provides survivors of rape or sexual violence with information to find the support they need. Funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester, research suggests that LGB&T people often fail to access support services for fear of experiencing homophobia lgf.org.uk 26 Nov 14
Brighton trio jailed for homophobic attack
	The men attacked the first victim with bottles causing wounds that needed hospital treatment, then moved on to the bottom of St James's Street where they hurled homophobic abuse at a 34-year-old man before punching him and chasing him brightonandhovenews.org 26 Nov 14
COMING OUT Man jumped off Severn Bridge after coming out as gay
	Popular 23-year-old Darren Crotty, whose body was found by the side of the river at Sharpness Docks earlier this year, had committed suicide shortly after coming out as gay, an inquest has heard gazetteseries.co.uk  26 Nov 14
The gay Latvian foreign minister whose coming out stunned Eastern Europe
	When Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics announced that he was gay ... some of his political allies said they would start a public discussion about granting more legal rights to domestic partners, other lawmakers said they would try to block any efforts to liberalize those rules washingtonpost.com 26 Nov 14
FDNY is fine with rookie firefighter's gay-porn past
	After the Daily News revealed Jonathan Jesensky's former career as the star of at least 10 gay porn films, an FDNY spokesman said his job is not at risk, even though other firefighters have been disciplined for similar activities nydailynews.com 26 Nov 14
WORLD ISIS stones 2 'gay men' to death in Syria: observer
	The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group stoned two men to death in Syria Tuesday after claiming they were gay, a monitor said, in the militant organization's first executions for alleged homosexuality alarabiya.net 26 Nov 14
GAY MARRIAGE Gay marriage bill to be introduced in Australia
	A bill which would make same-sex marriage legal in Australia will be introduced in the country's Senate this week by Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm marilynstowe.co.uk  26 Nov 14
SHOW BIZ Brighton Gay Men's Chorus strike up "bromance" with Adam Ant
	Brighton Gay Men's Chorus has received a message of support from Adam Ant, conveying his personal best wishes for their upcoming show "Putting On The Glitz" at the Theatre Royal Brighton - Sun 30 Nov, 7.30pm tickets  26 Nov 14

---

GBA Gay Business Association member: