The recent spat between A. A. Gill and Clare Balding got me pondering the too-often-ignored social lubricant that is lesbian etiquette. Not the ‘take off your nail-varnish pre-fisting’ variety, but the sort of thing that gets straight people invited to gay parties; the stripes you gotta earn to be a male guest at the Candy Bar or a gay girl’s BFF. … Continue Reading
by Mint Cake
Queerbashing is hardly deemed the stuff of the intellectual elite. And yet the prestigious Sunday Times is the latest publication to be accused of publishing offensive and homophobic material in what has swiftly become a national scandal. For those who are yet to hear the sordid ins and outs of this particular jockey-versus-columnist squabble, it goes something like this: … Continue Reading
Logging onto my facebook after two weeks of stalking-less bliss, I was eager to see what my friends had been up to. Since the weekend past was the gay pilgrimage that is Brighton Pride, I rolled through the obligatory photo ops, the (let’s be honest) prurient patrons and the myriad rainbow umbrellas that are Pride staples, and then came to a rather interesting post about the commercialization of pride, which questioned whether commercial sponsors are desirable or, to be more frank, necessary at such events. … Continue Reading
In a landmark ruling last week, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the claims of gay asylum seekers must be upheld, and that the law concerning asylum claims based on sexual orientation would be changed in order to facilitate this requirement. Previously, gay asylum seekers were often refused asylum, on the basis that they could go back to their home countries and live in a different city, curbing their identities and ‘gay’ behaviours. … Continue Reading
by Petit Fours
A straight friend once asked me why gay people needed “gay marriage” in places where they already had had civil ceremonies. The UK for example, or the US state of Massachusetts where my friend comes from.
“You’ve got all the legal rights” she said – “so what’s the difference? … Continue Reading
It’s hard to believe that gay people in the UK have come such a long way. Not everyone can claim the rights that we have right now: the right to civil partnerships, the right to our partners’ pensions, inheritance rights and so on. It was only two years ago that France was forced to discard discriminatory practices with relation to same-sex adoption. And members of our community in the US are still fighting for the basic recognition of their rights. Knowing that our biggest threat is Theresa May is scary, but we can at least sleep at night knowing that we won’t be dragged out of our homes, tossed in front of a show-trial court and imprisoned – or worse – for the crime of loving someone. … Continue Reading
Well whaddya know, it’s May Day and election week is upon us already. How time does fly. If the polls are anything to go by, come Friday morning Gordon will be packing up the Tony memorabilia (aka voodoo dolls) and shifting his sorry arse from No. 10 (Shouldn’t have dissed the little old lady, Gordon). So who will be our next PM? Will it be greasy old Cameron? (He has enough slick to give Slimer a run for his money.) Or Superhero Clegg? (It’s official – he iz da bomb.) Well, despite the marginal success of Clegg during the leadership debates … Continue Reading
Given the not-so-subtle erosion of anti-discrimination legislation aimed at protecting gay people over the past few months, I can’t say that I’ve set my hopes very high for the outcome of many court cases in this area. It was more than a pleasant surprise, then, to read this article about the legal appeal of a marriage counsellor sacked for refusing to counsel a gay couple who had come to him for advice. … Continue Reading
by Florentine
Nestled somewhere in between the wall-to-wall media circus of stranded air passengers and David Cameron’s face this week, you may have found yourself down-wind not of a volcanic ash cloud but, rather, of a bizarre claim made by the president (no less) of Bolivia; a man with more hair on his head than a toupee-wearing gorilla. … Continue Reading
by Fairy Cake
As political parties go, nobody does gay-bashing quite like the Tories.
But this year, as D-Cam and crew rolled out Tory 2.0, some queers may have felt that a gay Conservative vote wasn’t a complete contradiction in terms. “Look at our youthful complexions and willingness to admit our past failures”, they seemed to say, “We can’t even spell Thatcher.” … Continue Reading
A few weeks ago the police launched an investigation into the Christian owners of a B&B in Berkshire after they refused service to a gay couple requesting a room. It generated a lot of media attention at the time and one might have thought that this close to an election politicians would be keen to condemn this anachronistic discrimination and show off their pro-gay credentials. Yet the Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Grayling has been taped arguing that bed & breakfasts should be able to refuse service to gay couples. … Continue Reading
by Petit Fours
You’ve probably seen it online. In a video interview with the Gay Times, David Cameron – the smooth-talking Conversative leader – stumbles halfway through a bland spiel about gay rights and suddenly loses what he’s saying, coughs and backtracks. … Continue Reading
Recent Comments