Wednesday 11 February 2015

GAY HISTORY Victorians were more relaxed about homosexuality than in the 'swinging sixties'
	Manchester historian Jeff Evans said the supposedly prudish Victorians were far more relaxed about sex between men, having studied court cases relating to the criminalisation of gay men. Outside London, the criminal justice system in regions such as Lancashire seemed largely uninterested in prosecuting gay men manchestereveningnews  11 Feb 15 LGBT History Month UK
UK Gay Village club-goer avoids jail after leaving homophobic bigot with a fractured skull
	Andrew Duncan barged the 29-year-old victim in the chest with his head, causing him to fall and bang his head outside the Rembrandt pub on Sackville Street manchestereveningnews 11 Feb 15
GAY MARRIAGE Seek legal advice before dissolving civil partnership warns Law Society
	As the number of dissolved civil partnerships rises by 20%, legal experts at the Law Society are advising same-sex couples to seek legal advice before breaking up. It may not be labelled as a 'divorce' but dissolving a civil partnership has the same legal ramifications as ending a marriage Find a solicitor  11 Feb 15
Top Italian court finds no constitutional right to same-sex marriage
	The Court of Cassation ruled that nothing in Italy's constitution requires government recognition of same-sex marriage. The court said, however, that same-sex couples have a right to the same protection of law as other unmarried couples catholicculture.org 11 Feb 15
SHOW BIZ Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show
	When former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a social conservative, tried to defend his opposition to same-sex marriage, Stewart said: "I think it's the difference between what you believe gay people are and what I do. Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality, and the protections that we have for religion -- we protect religion, and talk about a lifestyle choice, that is absolutely a choice. Gay people don't choose to be gay." cnn.com 11 Feb 15
O-M-G Christian Voice 'supports' pardons for gay men
	Christian Voice director Stephen Green believes if we follow the argument to its logical conclusion we should include abortionists and pornographers in the pardons christianvoice.org.uk  11 Feb 15

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GBA Gay Business Association member: 

Friday 6 February 2015

SEX - LIFE Evan Davis: Gays take more drugs as they don't have kids
	Gay people are more likely to engage in destructive behaviour like taking illegal drugs because they lack the "discipline" of going home to a family and children, according to BBC Newsnight presenter Evan Davis independent.co.uk  6 Feb 15
How do young people come out today?
	What effects are the current changes to the London gay scene having on young LGBT people, and their opportunities to come out safely? GBA Member Manage Diversity invite you to complete a short questionnaire: Take Survey  6 Feb 15
SEX EDUCATION Ofsted chief: Inspectors' questions on homosexuality are not harassment
	Two Christian schools at the centre of the row were failed by inspectors for not showing respect to people of other faiths and for instances of homophobic bullying. Sir Michael Wilshaw said that his inspectors "absolutely understand the need to behave with sensitivity" standard.co.uk  6 Feb 15
Make sex education compulsory and LGBT-inclusive
	"Labour proposals are good but don't go far enough," says Peter Tatchell. "Dedicated lessons - by specialist trained teachers - should start from the first year of primary level through to the end of secondary education" petertatchellfoundation  6 Feb 15
USA Obama to appoint LGBT Human Rights Envoy at State Department
	"For the first time in our nation's history, LGBT people around the world will have a dedicated, full-time senior advocate in the U.S. State Department," said HRC President Chad Griffin hrc.org  6 Feb 15

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GBA Gay Business Association member:

25-26 January 2015

COMING OUT British Army general on verge of coming out
	A married British Army general is on the verge of coming out as gay - an announcement which would send shockwaves through the Armed Forces. He has kept his homosexuality secret since joining 25 years ago mirror.co.uk 26 Jan 15
ALAN TURING Alan Turing private notebook to be sold at auction
	A notebook belonging to the gay man who helped break the Nazi code, Alan Turing, is to be sold at auction. The book from 1942 showcases his mathematical genius, and gives an insight into his private thoughts bbc.co.uk  26 Jan 15
SEX - LIFE Alan Titchmarsh, a gay lecturer and a row over teenage sex
	The television gardener has attacked Professor Eric Anderson, 46, who boasted in a lecture that gay sex is best, that he targets 16 to 18-year-olds, that he had already had sex with more than 1,000 teenagers and men, and that he planned to double the total even if he had to pay young prostitutes dailymail.co.uk  26 Jan 15
"If you love she-males come to the United Kingdom"
	Nigel Farage's top UKIP aide Matthew Richardson condemned the NHS as "the biggest waste of money in the UK," and said "Socialists think that if somebody wants to reassign their gender the state should pay" mirror.co.uk  26 Jan 15
HIV AIDS Bill Gates predicts HIV vaccine by 2030
	Microsoft founder told the World Economic Forum in Davos that new intensive drugs to combat HIV should be available by 2030 and end most new cases of the virus theguardian.com  26 Jan 15
GAY BUSINESS Irish Schools and hospitals to lose right to sack gay staff
	Religious-run schools and hospitals will be stripped of the ability to sack staff for being gay, divorced, or unmarried parents by Easter, Equality Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin says irishexaminer.com  26 Jan 15
China's first ever sexual-orientation discrimination lawsuit
	Mu Yi, said he was "outed involuntarily" because of a viral video, and is now suing his employers for firing him because he is gay shanghaiist.com  26 Jan 15
Illinois tourism appoints gay chief
	Cory Jobe has been picked to be the state's new director of tourism - "I'm the kind of guy who wants to bring people together" windycitymediagroup  26 Jan 15
Gay mecca on Fire Island sells for $10.1 Million at auction
	A strip of commercial real estate along the harbor in Fire Island Pines sold for $10.1 million at auction on Thursday to developers with plans to continue the revival of a former mecca for closeted gay men nytimes.com  26 Jan 15
Vietnam breaks up $47m gambling ring led by gay magazine owner
	Police have detained To Cong Hung, 33, the owner of Attitude's Vietnam edition in Ho Chi Minh City tuoitrenews.vn  26 Jan 15
GAY ADVERTISING You Don't Say campaign explains why we are uncomfortable with certain words Student athletes at Duke University are taking part in a powerful promotional campaign to challenge homophobia, transphobia, and other prejudice facebook.com  26 Jan 15
RUSSIA Russian LGBT activist fined for disseminating 'Gay Propaganda'
	Yelena Klimova, the founder of the DETI-404 online support group for LGBT teenagers, has been fined 50,000 rubles ($780) for violating Russia's controversial law against the "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations among minors." Russia's media watchdog, Roskomnadzor,opened a case against Klimova last November themoscowtimes.com DETI-404  26 Jan 15

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GBA Gay Business Association member: 

Sunday
GAY BUSINESS Stephen Fry: Save Soho from threat of property boom
	In an open letter to Chancellor George Osborne and Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, actor Mr Fry and other leading names from the creative industries lament the dearth of "office and studio space" at the expense of housing - and an "imminent crisis for London's creative businesses" standard.co.uk  25 Jan 15
Lawyer arrested after boyfriend dies of suspected drugs overdose
	Henry Hendron, a 34-year-old civil barrister, was arrested in London on Tuesday morning, after the sudden death of his boyfriend, 18-year-old Miguel Jimenez. Mr Hendron is a close friend of gay senior Tory MP Nigel Evans pinknews.co.uk  25 Jan 15
HIV AIDS Ukip's official health spokesperson disagrees with Farage over HIV
	Mr Farage said that he wanted to control "the quality" of people allowed to live in the UK - and suggested "people who do not have HIV" as an example. Louise Bours disagrees, saying: "HIV is rather a bad example though, to be honest. HIV is managed now, isn't it." independent.co.uk  25 Jan 15

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GBA Gay Business Association member: 

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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