Twitter Tweets
@LukeVernon my favourite song ever, and its my alarm on phone. Wakes me up in a good mood!1 week ago from Twitter for iPhone
@LukeVernon gimme shelter gives me the urge to watch my favorite film #goodfellas1 week ago from Twitter for Android
Or GLASTONBURY even. Not sure where Galstonbury is, but Im sure it doesn't have the worlds biggest festival. Sounds Texan.1 week ago from txt
In a restaurant in the middle of the US and the song with the best intro ever came on, Gimme Shelter. Which reminded me, in 3 weeks....1 week ago from txt
I shall be seeing one of the greatest live acts of all time, The Rolling Stones, @ THE greatest festival ever, GALSTONBURY! Yes, Im shouting1 week ago from txt
Vicious: You Hit Me With A Flower
With two great actors in Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi it should be fantastic. But it was insult, insult, insult every other line. You don t believe in them.
You don t like them, for a start. It was positively homophobic! It made John Inman look restrained.
Vicious ended its run last week and ITV is not expected to commission a second series, according to sources, although a Christmas special is understood to have been filmed and will air. A spokesperson said that no decision has been made over a recommission and declined to respond to Cryer's comments. An ITV source said that it was a "shame" that he thought this way and pointed out that the Gay Times was a "big supporter of the show".
Radio Times.
Well done the Gay Times.
And that's your actual the Radio Times there.
Continue readingCher to perform at New York Pride s Dance on the Pier party
Her performance will be one of the most memorable in the history of this world-class party , said Chris Frederick, Managing Director of NYC Pride. He added: Now in its 27th year, the Dance on the Pier continues a proud tradition of partnering with all-star talent to create a high-quality event that raises funds to support local LGBT non-profits and New York City s annual Pride festivities. Artists such as Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Janet Jackson, Jennifer Hudson and Cyndi Lauper have taken part in previous years.
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Continue readingWhat does Pride stand for in 2013?
Now, four decades on, we may be able to get married in the near future. So it s right that we celebrate. Our position as LGBT people has been transformed and for the younger generation, the struggles that won our legal rights and widespread social acceptance are just ancient history.
But if a newly engaged lesbian couple decide to honeymoon afterwards in large parts of the world, they had better be careful: not just of anti-LGB laws (like those recently introduced in Russia), but also of violent social condemnation of same-sex relationships. For trans people it is no better, and we still have to commemorate hundreds of transphobic murders every year. Even in Britain, where recent surveys suggest that three quarters of the population accept homosexuality (incidentally, that leaves us behind Spain, Germany, Canada, the Czech Republic and France), earlier this year we witnessed the appalling press onslaught on a trans primary school teacher.
The reality is that social change does not take place in a vacuum and while you can separate out LGBT rights from what is going on in the rest of the country for a while, it will catch up with us eventually. Our engaged lesbian couple may decide they want to have a big wedding. They still can t do it in church, of course, even if their local vicar would like to officiate.
Maybe they re secular so a registry office is fine. But what if one partner works in the public sector: she hasn t had a pay rise for three years, and has also agreed to work fewer hours in order to keep the job, which means that life is more difficult each year because inflation hasn t stopped in the meantime. And the other is working in the private sector, but she is on a zero hours contract and doesn t know from week to week how much she will bring home that week.
Makes planning for the costs of the wedding a bit tricky. Of course, they are better off than being one of the two and a half million people without a job at all, or the quarter of young people who ve never had one. LGBT people just like everyone else are living through a prolonged period of government-created austerity that is failing to achieve economic recovery in fact, as many experts now accept, is making it worse.
Meanwhile, the public services that we all need particularly the NHS are suffering. When we marched for our liberation in the 1970s, it was to change society for the better. Making a better society the trade unions are campaigning for a future that works for all of us is a challenge to which the LGBT communities should respond when we celebrate Pride in 2013.
Peter Purton , LGBT policy officer at Britain s Trades Union Congress (TUC).
As with all comment pieces, the views expressed may not necessarily reflect those of PinkNews Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingStudy: Most US gay people find the majority of religious organisations to be unfriendly
A large majority, 84%, said that they perceived Islam as unfriendly towards gays, the Mormon church at 83%, the Roman Catholic church with 79%, and evangelical churches at 73%. More of a mixed reaction was had from Judaism and non-evangelical Protestantism, with over 40% considering them either unfriendly or neutral about gay people. Director of news and faith initiatives at GLAAD, said the relationship between the gay and religious communities had improved over recent years, however before the last decade they were pretty painful .
He went on to say that the sense of unfriendliness could come in part from the loudest voices of faith groups speaking out against LGBT rights. Citing a GLAAD study from last year, Murray said that religious groups in support of LGBT rights got far less media attention than those against. The leading anti-gay voices always put it in religious terms, which taints how people view religion, he said.
Despite the Pew research finding that US gay people had begun to feel greater social acceptance, 29% of respondents said they had felt personally unaccepted in a place of worship.
39% said they had been rejected by a close friend or family member, and 21% said they felt they had been treated unfairly by an employer. Almost 50% of the LGBT respondents said they had no religious affiliation, compared to 20% in the general population. A third of LGBT adults said they felt a conflict between their sexuality or gender identity and their faith.
The lower percentage of younger people in the general population to have a religious affiliation is also reflected in the LGBT community, however it is almost double, with 60% of LGBT people aged 18-29 having no religious affiliation, compared to just under a third for the general population.
The Pew survey was based on interviews from April 11-29 with 1,197 self-identified gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.
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Continue readingUS: Illinois equal marriage group pledges $500,000 effort to promote same-sex marriage
Equality Illinois also said that an organisation opposed to equal marriage had pledged $250,000 ( 160,000) to oppose lawmakers, in particular Republicans, who supported equal marriage. Earlier this month, opponents to equal marriage in the US state of Illinois celebrated the fact that the bill to legalise same-sex unions never went to a vote a week ago. The bill s sponsor Greg Harris wept as he announced that, due to a lack of support, the bill would not be voted on.
Mr Harris said he planned to lobby for the bill before the next legislative session in the autumn. Opponents to the bill may be calling victory prematurely however, as Mike Madigan, House Speaker extended the deadline for the bill to August 31, allowing it a new potential lease of life, if its advocates can gather support before then. Lawmakers in the US state of Illinois also wrote an open letter apologising to advocates of equal marriage in the state as the bill failed to be called for a vote, despite passing in the Senate on Valentine s Day.
Nine US states, and Washington DC currently allow equal marriage, and it will become law in Rhode Island, Delaware and Minnesota in the summer. The US state of Maryland in November 2012 became the first state to legalise equal marriage by means of a popular vote back in 2012. The law came into effect on 1 January 2013.
Washington and Maine also legalised equal marriage in referendums in those states on the same day.
The US Supreme Court is expected to rule on two cases surround equal marriage, in the next two weeks, potentially making a groundbreaking ruling for equal marriage in the state of California, and the whole of the US.
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Continue readingSouth Australia to debate motion to formally congratulate New Zealand for marriage equality
Gay rights campaigners in Australia praised New Zealand after it became the 13th country to legalise equal marriage, back in April. The motion will go to a vote in the Upper House of South Australia on Wednesday evening. South Australian convenor of Australian Marriage Equality, Harley Schumann, said: The New Zealand Parliament has achieved an historic outcome by recognising marriage rights for same-sex couples and we support the South Australian Parliament expressing its congratulations through this motion.
A major factor leading to the recognition of same-sex marriage in New Zealand was the cooperation by politicians from both ends of the political spectrum and this is something that should be congratulated and encouraged. He continued to say that the bill carries no legislative force, but that it is intended to send a strong message of solidarity. Whilst the motion would not create any substantive benefits to same-sex couples in South Australia, it is an important initiative and a strong sign of respect and admiration for the New Zealand Parliament.
He went on to welcome the fact that both major parties in South Australia have allowed a conscience vote on the motion. Same-sex marriage is clearly an issue on which politicians should be entitled to vote according to their own personal choice and it is encouraging that both major parties have let their members do so in relation to this motion. We hope that the major parties do not change their position on this and continue to allow a conscience vote when the SA Parliament deals with its own same-sex marriage Bill later this year.
Earlier in June, a Green Party MP in Australia accused the Labor Party of delaying a vote on a private members bill to legalise equal marriage. Following the first same-sex wedding to take place in France, Australian advocates of equal marriage have now begun to call for the recognition of overseas same-sex marriages. Despite that many in Australia commended New Zealand for its equal marriage bill, Australia s Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, said she wouldn t be dropping her opposition to marriage equality.
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Continue readingStudy: US media outlets more likely to feature pro-equal marriage viewpoints
44 % had a mixture of both pro and anti equal marriage viewpoints. For the purpose of the study, a story is classified as primarily in support of or opposition to equal marriage, if views presented for one side outnumbered the opposing side 2-to-1. Other stories were classified as neutral or mixed.
The three major US cable news networks, CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, all featured stories which featured significantly more , pro-equal marriage statements than those against. This news media focus on support held true whether the stories were reported news articles or opinion pieces, and was also the case across nearly all media sectors studied, wrote the study s authors. The study found that MSNBC had 30% mixed stories, 64% were primarily in support and 6% primarily opposed to equal marriage.
Fox News had 63% mixed, 29% supporting and 8% opposed, and CNN had 57% mixed, 39% in support and 4% in opposition to equal marriage. The research also looked at postings on Twitter, and found that opinions both for and against equal marriage were closely aligned with public opinion on the issue. The most common argument for same-sex marriage in news stories was that it is a civil rights issue.
Arguments against equal marriage varies, and 18% of those included that it would hurt society. The findings show how same-sex marriage supporters have had a clear message and succeeded in getting that message across all sectors of mainstream media, wrote the authors. Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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Continue readingLord Dear tells PinkNews reader: I want to improve the equal marriage bill and I m not homophobic
Last week, Lord Dear proposed new amendment to bill concerning traditional marriage . It aims to protect those who believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life to the exclusion of all others. Responding to an email by a PinkNews.co.uk reader, who used the Lobby a Lord site to encourage the peer to support marriage equality, Lord Dear replied: I do not intend to press for a vote on any of my amendments during the forthcoming three days that the bill is considered in committee stage in the House, and I doubt whether any others will.
The amendments that I have seen are neither silly nor spiteful they are honest attempts to try to address matters that a better and deeper considered bill would have considered. In particular, most are intended to provide some protection for those who fear disadvantage if the bill passes into law in its present form. That, as much as anything, is what equality is really about.
Answering claims that the tabling of his amendments amounted to homophobia, and that he should not stand in the way of last month s successful House of Commons third reading of the bill, Lord Dear replied: All members of the Lords are unelected that is to balance the elected element of the Commons with people who can bring a depth of experience to legislation; something not always present in any elected chamber. The role of the Lords is to revise and suggest amendments to the Commons, not to clash with its elected mandate. He added: Your conclusions as to homophobia are unfair, inaccurate and demonstrate, if I may say so, a massive lack of appreciation of most of the elements in play in this issue.
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Continue readingLive blog: Highlights from the House of Lords committee on same-sex marriage
15.41 Lord Waddington rebukes lord Alli and says new marriages have declined in Spain, meaning straight people are put off by same-sex marriage!
15.39 Lord Alli is pointing out that the decline of marriage in Spain was caused by relaxed divorce laws, rather than the introduction of same-sex marriage.
15.33 Lord Armstrong of Ilminster seems to be comparing David Cameron to Humpty Dumpty, as the PM claims the word marriage means what he says it means.
15.28 Lord Phillips, who also supports using a different word to marriage to describe same-sex couples, is addressing the objection that children are not the crucial point of marriage because not all heterosexual couples can have children. He says that escapes the point that same-sex unions can NEVER have procurative potential .
15.18 Lord Cormack is claiming that the divide in the House of Lords over same-sex marriage is deeper than the vote suggested. He argues that Lord Hylton s amendment introducing unions would go profoundly beyond civil partnerships without infringing on marriage.
There are differences between same-sex and opposite-sex couples that cannot be eradicated , he says.
15.13 Lord Hylton is suggesting that the word union is strong enough to describe the bond between same-sex couples, as it compares to the union between Scotland and the rest of the UK. He s hoping that particular union doesn t end in divorce!
15.10 Baroness Stowell is getting everyone to go through the bill line by line. First up, Lord Hylton, who wants the word union to be used instead of marriage for same-sex couples.
15.01 The House of Lords will be debating the same-sex marriage bill soon.
Watch this space!
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Continue readingEx-Telegraph editor Charles Moore: Chief Rabbi wrong not to vote again equal marriage
In an article for The Spectator entitled Opposing gay marriage now is as brave as being openly gay was in 1970 , Mr Moore, Lady Thatcher s official biographer, wrote: Since one s attitude to homosexual acts is now considered the main way of judging whether a person is civilised, one must salute those in public life who defy this. To oppose gay equality today is roughly as brave as it was to be publicly homosexual in, say, 1970: your position is not absolutely illegal, but it is perilous. Given how wobbly many Anglicans are on the issue, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London should be commended for their courage in the House of Lords debate.
The Chief Rabbi, Lords Sacks, should be reproved. Orthodox Judaism is absolutely clear on this issue, but Lord Sacks absented himself. Perhaps he feels that Jews should not intervene in secular society.
But if such a key social institution as marriage is beyond his responsibility, why did he agree to become a legislator? Last year, in its official response to the government s consultation on equal marriage for England and Wales, the office of the Chief Rabbi stated that Jewish Law prohibited the practice of homosexuality, and it argued against all same-sex unions, and same-sex marriages. The Movement for Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism officially support equal marriage.
Speaking to the broadcaster and journalist Sir David Frost last month, Lord Sacks, rejected a suggestion that he had come out strongly against same-sex unions. He said: I ve not come out strongly, I ve simply said that in Judaism we don t do it. Discuss this Get the latest LGBT headlines in your inbox with our free daily newsletter!
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