Wednesday 11 March 2015

UK Calls to reform honours system to include same-sex spouses
	The current honours system permits a woman to use the title 'Lady' if she is married a man with the title 'Sir' - but does not recognise same-sex marriages at all pinknews.co.uk  11 Mar 15
Saving soho? Councillors to decide fate of stables bar
	The fate of Soho's last publicly accessible Victorian stable yard is being decided by councillors in what is being billed as a key test of Westminster's willingness to preserve the area standard.co.uk  11 Mar 15
Ian McKellen and Pet Shop Boys featured in Stonewall's star-studded Silent Auction
	Lots on offer include a one of a kind signed self-portrait drawn by Ian McKellen (with thanks to Gay Star News), an original 7" Pet Shop Boys single signed by Dusty Springfield and the boys themselves, meet and greet tickets to The Clare Balding Show and signed tennis gear from sporting legend Martina Navratilova - closes Fri 27 Mar Stonewall Silent Auction  11 Mar 15
GAY BOOKS Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin
	When Alexander McQueen committed suicide in February 2010, aged just 40, a shocked world mourned the loss of its most visionary fashion designer. Biographer Andrew Wilson discusses his book at Gays The Word bookshop - Thu 16 Apr, 7pm Tickets £3  11 Mar 15

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Friday 27 February 2015

UK Stonewall launches Young Writers' competition for 14-17 year-olds
	The competition invites young people to submit short stories and poems that support the theme of 'LGBT equality: changing hearts and minds' stonewall.org.uk  27 Feb 15
Brighton Gay Men's Chorus raise over £1,000 for the Rainbow Fund
	Following their Putting on the Glitz show at the Theatre Royal, Brighton Gay Men's Chorus raised £1,002.50 for the Rainbow Fund supporting front line LGBT/HIV organisations in Brighton and Hove brightongmc.org  27 Feb 15
Children are waiting for the right family. Could that be you?
	LGBT Adoption & Fostering Week is run by New Family Social, the UK support group for LGBT adopters and foster carers. Each spring, agencies across the UK hold events specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender prospective parents - 2-8 Mar lgbtadoptfosterweek  27 Feb 15
SEX EDUCATION Ukip leaflet claims primary school LGBT education is 'sexual grooming'
	A leaflet being distributed by the Ukip Christian Soldiers claims an effort to challenge homophobia in schools is a "recruitment drive for fresh blood" mirror.co.uk  27 Feb 15
LGBT YOUTH Groundbreaking AKT study explores homelessness among young people The proportion of mainstream UK housing providers targeting services at LGBT homeless people has dropped from 11% to 1% between 2011 and 2013. The Albert Kennedy Trust finds that LGBT young people are more likely to be exposed to the risk factors akt.org.uk GAY CURE 'Gay cure' death camp accused found guilty
	Alex de Koker and Michael Erasmus were found guilty of murder, child abuse and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, by a South African Court. Raymond Buys was punched, struck with a spade, a stick, forced to eat soap powder, pick up his own faeces with his mouth and was kicked and slapped while unconscious to "wake him up" at a camp linked to 'gay conversions' iol.co.za  27 Feb 15

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Tuesday 10 February 2015

SEX - LIFE B&Q alerts staff to potential increase in demand for rope and duck tape
	The bestselling novel Fifty Shades of Grey has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide the much anticipated movie is now set for release. DIY store B&Q sent a memo to staff alerting them to the potential increase in demand for rope and duck tape, while lingerie store Ann Summers says it has seen an increase in sales of particular products bbc.co.uk  10 Feb 15 Strauss-Kahn: Only 12 sex parties in three years bbc.co.uk  10 Feb 15
Can we listen to our LGBTQ elders without patronizing them?
	The truth is, the past wasn't all bad (based on what my friends tell me, far from it) and the present is hardly perfect slate.com  10 Feb 15
WORLD Malaysia's Opposition Leader gets five years on politically motivated sodomy charge
	In a major setback for human rights in Malaysia, the Federal Court of Malaysia upheld a lower court ruling and sentenced Anwar Ibrahim to five years in prison for violating Malaysia's sodomy law hrw.org 10 Feb 15
USA No state has fought harder against gay marriage ruling than Alabama
	Day one of gay marriage in Alabama did not exactly go smoothly. Monday began with a 7-2 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to let a federal judge's order striking down the same-sex marriage ban take effect and ended with many probate judges vowing to fight or professing confusion al.com  10 Feb 15
Obama's opposition to gay marriage was political BS
	In David Axelrod's new book, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics, he writes that when Obama stated his opposition to same-sex marriage in 2008, he may have been lying for political gain theweek.com  10 Feb 15 Buy Book

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Thursday 29 January 2015

GAY SPORTS TUC Toolkit to tackle homophobia in sport
	The TUC is encouraging trade unions to collectively challenge the prejudice faced by many LGBT people in football and wider sport. The kit is primarily designed for use by trade union groups and not individuals tuc.org.uk  29 Jan 15
COMING OUT Broadway legend Joel Grey opens up about his sexuality
	He reached the heights of stage and screen, was married for 24 years and proudly raised two children. Now, at 82, the Cabaret Oscar winner talks about his sexuality. "I don't like labels," says Grey, "but if you have to put a label on it, I'm a gay man." people.com  29 Jan 15
SEX - LIFE Students turn to porn for sex education
	An NUS survey shows 60% of students access porn to get informati on about sex - and 75% say issues they need to know about are not covered in class. Under a fifth discussed LGBT issues and 75% felt the education they received was not diverse enough nus.org.uk  29 Jan 15
GAY BUSINESS ICANN orders re-evaluation of dot-gay top-level domain
	Controversially, the community application was rejected last year for not being gay enough. The independent evaluators argued, peculiarly, that since a large number of gay people were not public about their sexuality that the application was not sufficiently broad enough theregister.co.uk  29 Jan 15
You know gay ads have gone mainstream when even Hallmark is making them
	The greeting-card company is gay friendly - it's been making gay marriage cards since 2008. But ... it's one thing to sell gay-friendly merchandise - it's another to feature a gay couple in a commercial, as Hallmark has now done in its new "Put Your Heart to Paper" campaign for Valentine's Day adweek.com  29 Jan 15
RUSSIA Ukraine rejects 'gay propaganda' bill
	After the election last October it appears that Ukraine now wants nothing to do with Russia - including its anti-gay policies dosmanzanas.com 29 Jan 15 In post-revolutionary Ukraine, homophobia and oppression deepen lgbtweekly.com 29 Jan 15 Russia: Leap backward in rights hrw.org 29 Jan 15
BONKERS AFA ousts Bryan Fischer as group spokesperson
	Fischer, a prominent voice for the American Family Association for many years, often made ugly and ridiculous comments, recently connecting Nazis and homosexuality msnbc.com  29 Jan 15
GAY BOOKS Reverend Richard Coles in conversation with Dr Giles Fraser
	Hear the only vicar in Britain to have had a Number 1 hit single (with The Communards) discuss his brilliant and searingly honest new autobiography, Fathomless Riches, and how he first met Jimmy Somerville in Gay's the Word bookshop, at this LGBT History Month event at The British Library - Fri 20 Feb, 6:30-8pm Tickets  29 Jan 15 Buy Book

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Friday 23 January 2015

GAY BUSINESS Soho's The Yard bar is fighting development plans
	The Yard bar and restaurant in Rupert Street has been given just a week's notice that Westminster City Council intends to give the plans approval at a committee meeting on Tuesday, 27 January. The Yard needs your support to help stop this development yardbar.co.uk  23 Jan 15 savesoho.com
GAY MARRIAGE MP Mike Freer converts civil partnership to gay marriage
	Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer has converted his civil partnership with Angelo Crolla into marriage. Mr Freer won awards for his moving speech in support of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill in parliament in 2013 hamhigh.co.uk  23 Jan 15 Obama hopes high court legalizes gay marriage thehill.com  23 Jan 15
SHOW BIZ Cucumber, Banana and Tofu review
	'Gloriously, triumphantly, explicitly gay and the television event of the week' ... three interconnected shows from Russell T Davies that are dead funny and very, very human theguardian.com  23 Jan 15
O-M-G Love Letters to Richard Dawkins
	Dr. Richard Dawkins - Author, Professor and Evolutionary Biologist - reads "fan mail" he has received from some of his not-so-great admirers, most of whom seem to think he is gay youtube.com  23 Jan 15
GAY RESEARCH US Government spent $432,000 studying gay hookup Apps
	NIH project studied 'arousal' of gay men when using Grindr. Columbia University interviewed gay men who use GPS dating apps to determine whether it increases their likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behavior freebeacon.com  23 Jan 15
GAY BOOKS To find yourself, sometimes you must lose everything
	Patrick Gale's latest book is the portrait of a gay man's journey from the comfortable hypocrisies of pre-War England to the harsh purity of farming in Canada Buy Book  23 Jan 15

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