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Archives for June 2015

Music Review – Gagged by Violet Chachki

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Violet needs some attention… (NSFW!)

She’s a good housewife, but needs a hand…

Violet, or more formerly Violet Chachki, top three finalist of RuPaul’s Drag Race season seven, has released the first single from her debut EP Gagged.

We’ll cut right to the chase here, OK? Violet loves her fetish. And that means the video is NSFW.
“The album is dark, dance-y, fun but serious,” explains Violet of the five-track EP of hard-pounding, dynamic club tracks. “I wanted to create something as a sort of soundtrack to the visuals I create.”
She drew inspiration from her real life experience working in dungeons with songs that address gender roles and conformity, power play, exhibitionism, sex and confidence.
“I worked for a mistress,” she reveals. “She was the dominant type, hired to humiliate subservient men. She’d have me dress the men in drag and parade them in front of her friends.”
Blimey.
“Being a part of something that is essentially harmless fun can really give new meaning to someone’s otherwise humdrum life,” continues Violet. “I like the fetish world because the line between right and wrong is blurred in a controlled, safe way. Also, I love the fashion!”
No surprise then that one of the items in her new online store is a jawbreaker candy ball gag…

You can download the single and pre-order Gagged here.

Duncan James joins cast of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert

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A cock, in a frock, on a rock…

Former member of pop band Blue Duncan James is to join the upcoming UK tour of Priscilla – Queen of the Desert.

The singer is no stranger to the stage, having appeared previously opposite Sheridan Smith in Legally Blonde – The Musical in London’s West End.

James shares his role with Australia’s very own Jason Donovan in certain venues.
Based on the film of the same name, Priscilla follows the lives of three drag queens that embark on a road trip across the Australian outback.
The show features songs including It’s Raining Men, Hot Stuff, I Will Survive, Say A Little Prayer, Finally amongst many others.
Tour opens at Manchester’s Opera House on 14 August. Ticket information, touring locations and when Duncan James will be appearing in the show, can be found here.
Words William J Connolly, @wjconnolly

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) [DVD]Click picture to be taken to Amazon to buy the DVD

Marriage Equality Round-Up – June 4th

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Here’s ‘gayapolis’ daily round-up of the marriage equality / LGBT rights stories that don’t warrant a full posting on the blog, or that we didn’t have time to add. We’re able to get more news and analysis to you this way every day – enjoy!
POP CULTURE: A petition has been started asking the Olympic Committee to remove Caitlyn Jenner’s medals. full story
POP CULTURE: Jennifer Hudson has released a new song and video celebrating marriage equality. full story
POP CULTURE: E! released a preview of Jenner’s upcoming reality show–I Am Cait. full story
POP CULTURE: AT&T wants everyone living openly to share their stories by creating their own 15-second “This is Me” video to tell the world how they live proud every day. full story
AT&T Campaign
POP CULTURE: Skyy Vodka launched #ToastToMarriage and a new line of shirts to celebrate marriage equality. full story
#ToastToMarriage Skyy Vodka
POP CULTURE: On its Facebook page, American Airlines posted this Pride Month logo and wrote, “Proud to support the LGBT community and its allies.” full story
American Airlines
POP CULTURE: The radio host weighed-in on Caitlyn Jenner’s transition, arguing Republicans should reject Caitlyn Jenner, even if she agrees with them politically.full story
POP CULTURE: The Duggar parents appeared on Fox News to insist that their molester son was much better than those transgender pedophiles who want to enter public bathrooms. full story
INTERNATIONAL: Gay Star News has an overview of the state of LGBTI rights around the world. full story
INTERNATIONAL: U.S. officials on Tuesday insisted a U.S.-led pan-Pacific trade agreement has sufficient safeguards to ensure the rights of LGBT people and other marginalized groups in the countries that ratify it are protected. full story
ARGENTINA: Both of the Argentinean appeals court judges involved in the decision to reduce the sentence of a convicted child abuser because they claimed that his six-year-old victim was gay have now both resigned. full story
AUSTRALIA: A Catholic Bishop in South Australia has compared children of gay couples to children forcibly removed from Aboriginal families. full story
GERMANY: A German minister could be facing prosecution over her comments comparing gay marriage to incest and polygamy. full story
INDIA: The Delhi government has vowed to investigate a gay ‘cure’ racket in the city after a newspaper expose of the unethical practice triggered an avalanche of public outrage. full story
SOUTH KOREA: The Pride event in South Korea’s capital has been banned by police, but organisers have vowed to march regardless. full story =
UGANDA: NOM Chairman John Eastman hopes that Uganda reinstates the life sentence for homosexuality “in short order”. full story
UKRAINE: A campaign of billboards in Ukraine hopes to change the way people address LGBT issues, calling for people to “speak properly” and use the equivalent of “gay” instead of “faggot”. full story
UK: A group at Sheffield Hallam University are researching trans people’s access to toilets. full story
UK: Reverend Chris Newlands has called for the Church of England to catch up on trans issues. full story
UK, NORTHERN IRELAND: A city councillor in Belfast has said she tried to kill herself rather than come out as gay, because when her father did it “broke [her] mum’s heart.” full story
UK, NORTHERN IRELAND: Veteran actor Patrick Stewart has come out in favor of Ashers Bakery which was last month found guilty of discrimination for refusing to write “support gay marriage” on a cake. full story
USA: Media Matters for America cleverly debunks the right-wing claim that trans-inclusive school policies endanger students. full story
USA: The Department of Defense is celebrating gay pride month with a rainbow makeover. full story
DoD Pride
USA: As the Supreme Court prepares to issue a ruling on same-sex marriage, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is calling on Congress to protect the freedoms of religious institutions. full story
USA: Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a series of LGBT rights shirts. full story
Hillary gay rights shirt
USA, ALABAMA: State Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore has suggested that some people in the marriage equality movement hope its legalization will destroy the United States
full story
USA, ALABAMA: Legislation that would take the state of Alabama out of the business of issuing marriage licenses died in the House of Representatives committee. full story
USA, CALIFORNIA: Bisexual Sonoma teen takes his own life after years of bullying. full story
USA, CALIFORNIA: The Intolerant Jackass Act filed by activist Charlotte Laws in late March got the go ahead to start collecting signatures. full story
USA, COLORADO: The school that barred a gay valedictorian from coming out during his commencement speech says it will investigate what happened but is defending itself against accusations of discrimination from U.S. Rep. Jared Polis. full story
USA, FLORIDA: Leesburg and Greenacres have passed LGBT civil rights ordinances for their communities expanding the number of towns with laws protecting sexual orientation to eleven. full story
USA, INDIANA: Governor Mike Pence issued a welcome to pride letter for Indianapolis that doesn’t mention gay people, or pride. full story
USA, IOWA: In a surprise move, a local Chick-fil-A franchise is catering an Iowa gay pride picnic. full story
USA, KANSAS: The Hobbit’s Gandalf the White and Harry Potter’s Professor Albus Dumbledore are getting married opposite The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) next weekend in Topeka. full story
USA, MISSISSIPPI: The executive director of a Mississippi LGBT advocacy group has resigned after making a series of anti-trans comments on his social media pages. full story
USA, NEW JERSEY: A jury in northern New Jersey is scheduled to hear opening arguments in the fraud trial of a nonprofit that offers so-called “gay conversion” therapy. full story
USA, NORTH CAROLINA: Rachel Maddow looks at how the anti marriage equality bill could open the door to discrimination for other reasons. full story
USA, NORTH CAROLINA: The vote to try to override the Governor’s veto of the anti marriage equality bill has been delayed in the House, which ends its current session Friday. full story
USA, OKLAHOMA: The state’s Department of Corrections has halted all prison weddings — apparently to avoid having inmates enter same-sex marriages. full story
USA, TEXAS: Anti gay groups are calling on Governor Abbott to bring the legislature back for a special session to pass an anti marriage equality bill. full story
USA, TEXAS: Plans are underway in smaller cities around Texas for the Supreme Court’s Day of Decision of marriage equality. full story
USA, TEXAS: The state government is stalling plans to update marriage forms until the US Supreme Court rules, which could delay the start of same sex weddings in the state. full story
USA, TEXAS: Lambda Legal is warning government officials who defy the Supreme Court on marriage equality – they could be sued personally and might face punitive damages. full story
USA, UTAH: God bought two billboards in the state to proclaim his love for gays.full story

Trade Unions and LGBT Pride: We're not going away

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 Thursday 4th JUne 2015

 

Despite tensions over sponsors, we urge you to march with Pride, writes PETER PURTON

THIRTY years ago, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) banners led the LGBT Pride parade in London. On June 27, NUM banners, a band from the Welsh valleys and the reconstituted Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) will lead the trade union section on Pride in London.
The TUC wants this to be the best and biggest trade union contribution ever to Pride. The reasons are simple: trade unions were champions of equality before, and their support continues to be vital today.
When LGSM was established to generate solidarity between two communities facing oppression, none of the rights now enjoyed by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people existed, and under the ruthless government of Margaret Thatcher it was hard to see any light at the end of this particular tunnel.
But the solidarity forged between a few LGBT activists and the year-long miners’ strike in 1985 was repaid by the votes and voices of the NUM at Labour and TUC conferences that year and opened the door to winning the victories for equality that would follow after Labour took office in 1997.
Trade unions were representing their LGBT members long before they had any legal rights against discrimination and trade unions were instrumental in pushing the first Blair government to introduce the first ever protection at work.
Trade unions were also instrumental in pushing the second Blair government to extend that protection to the area of goods and services. As recent legal cases have shown, that is an area of law vital to our equal place in society.
At a time when much of the movement against the infamous section 28 that killed off attempts to promote equality in schools had given up the protests and started to turn our annual Pride events into a party, the trade unions continued to fight the prejudices that remain widespread to this day.
At a time when the big corporations whose record on equality is shameful are now recognising the business benefits of celebrating diversity, the trade unions are still campaigning for the removal of the remaining legal discrimination faced by members of the community, such as the inequality in survivor pensions for same-sex couples or the “spousal veto” ruining the lives of many trans people who need to gain recognition in their new gender.
Two years ago, the largest ever scientific survey of workplace attitudes (carried out by the Manchester Business School) confirmed that ignorance, stereotyping and prejudice are rampant across workplaces in every sector of the British economy. The most alarming evidence was how many people could not see that their bullying behaviour was homophobic.
That it is still vital to challenge homophobia and transphobia in schools and that the national sport continues to be a “safe place” for the voicing of bigoted opinions shows how far there is to go before genuine social acceptance is achieved. Trade unions are essential to winning these battles.
The board of Pride in London, in its wisdom, has dropped the original proposal that LGSM should lead the parade with the trade unions behind.
Now the unions will be in Section C of the parade, and in solidarity, LGSM will join us there. No matter: what is important is the message of solidarity that LGSM encapsulates in its very existence, and the messages that will sound out loud and clear from the trade union section.
More than ever, we need trade unions to protect the interests of workers and of all sections of society that will be attacked by this government.
Governments change, the organisers of Pride London change (more frequently than governments do), but the trade unions have been, are, and will always be here to champion workers’ rights and equality for all.
That’s why the TUC calls on trade unionists to bring their banners and themselves to Baker Street on Saturday June 27 to join the trade union section of the Pride parade, and to use the occasion to explain our message of solidarity to LGBT people and their supporters on the parade, on the streets of London and finally in Trafalgar Square.

  • Peter Purton is the TUC’s LGBT policy officer.
  • The Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM) will be leading the Birmingham Pride Parade (Photograph: Geoff Dexter)

Lord Cashman Lends Support To Play Which Tackles Sexual Abuse

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Lord Cashman Lends Support To Play Which Tackles Sexual Abuse And Cover Ups
By The Gay UK, Jun 3 2015 09:00AM
 
The cast of a new play called At Ease will be joined by Lord Michael Cashman, on Friday 5 June, during rehersals to lend his support to the play which tackles the issues surrounding historic sexual abuse and cover-ups.
Credit: Google Maps

Credit: Google Maps
Victims of historical physical and sexual army abuse are given a voice in a new play in rehearsal in Birmingham.
Lord Cashman appears as a character in the play.
At the centre of this highly unusual play is the correspondence between one-time Household Cavalryman, Alex Rees who was sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted murder, and Michael (Lord) Cashman, who was an intended target. Rees writes he was brutally tortured and raped while in the army in the 1970s. Rees, who died in 2002, identifies adults involved in the bullying and in the parties in which abuse took place. He also identifies army personnel involved in cover-ups. Rees is, at last, given an opportunity to put his story to the public via his extraordinary correspondence.
The bond between Rees and Cashman, a life-long campaigner for LGBT rights, is both strange and poignant.
In an attempt to right some wrongs, while contributing to the present debate around historical abuse by giving voice to Rees and others, theatre company DD Arts Birmingham is piloting its new play, AT EASE, from June 17, raising these issues, together with other contemporaneous accounts.
Pilot performances 17-20 June: Old Joint Stock Theatre, Birmingham. 0121 200 0946.

Book Review – The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle

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TIM FEDERLE

TIM FEDERLE

Tim Federle Reveals Cover For ‘The Great American Whatever,’ His New Young Adult Novel

 
Posted:

Tim Federle, the award-winning author of Better Nate Than Ever and Five, Six, Seven, Nate!, will release his first novel for young adults next year, and The Huffington Post has an exclusive first look at the cover.
Billed as “a wry, winning testament to the power of old movies and new memories,”The Great American Whatever follows Quinn Roberts, a gay, wisecracking 16-year-old with a weakness for Jolly Ranchers and cute boys, who dreams of becoming a Hollywood filmmaker. When his home life is beset by personal tragedy, Quinn embarks on a “laugh-out-loud sad” journey of self re-discovery with the help of his straight best friend, Geoff, and a new love interest.
Check out the cover below, then scroll down to keep reading.
great american whatever
Federle had a mature audience in mind when he began writing the book, originally titled Quinn, Victorious, five years ago, basing the plot on his personal experiences as seen through characters in their mid-20s. The success of the two Nate books, which are geared toward middle-grade readers, inspired him to trim 10 years off Quinn’s age and emphasize the character’s defining, post-adolescent moments instead – including brushes with self-doubt and an early sexual encounter.
Still, he hopes the new book, which is shades darker than Nate but no less droll, will resonate with grown-ups as well as young adults.
“So much of the teenage experience – particularly the complications in forging new identities and relationships – continues well into adulthood,” Federle told The Huffington Post. “I want people to read The Great American Whatever with a smile on their faces and maybe a couple tears in their eyes.”
In the two years since the release of Better Nate Than Ever, the 35-year-old Federle has established himself as a prolific scribe whose breezy wit isn’t bound to a single genre. The former Broadway dancer has also penned two bestselling cocktail recipe books, Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist and Hickory Daiquiri Dock: Cocktails with a Nursery Rhyme Twist; his first picture book, Tommy Can’t Stop!, was released in April.
“I try to just let go and write from a place of honesty and humor,” he quipped. “And hunger – I write faster when I know there’s frozen Reese’s cups waiting as a reward.”
The Great American Whatever hits shelves March 29, 2016.

Senior Presbyterians reach out to LGBT community

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Several former moderators spoke during the Presbyterian Churchs General Assembly

 

Several former moderators spoke during the Presbyterian Churchs General Assembly


 
Mark Rainey (

Presbyterians must welcome everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, to worship a former moderator has told the church’s general assembly in Belfast.
Rev Dr John Dunlop called for greater understanding of the LGBT community that has suffered as a result of persecution.
Addressing delegates yesterday afternoon, Dr Dunlop said he was “partially left-handed” and that “there is nothing I can do about it”.

He said: “I am heterosexual, I don’t know what it’s like to be anything other than heterosexual. That is how I am. And I ask you to consider the possibility, that people with a sexual orientation, have an orientation about which they can do nothing. It is a part of who they are.”

Dr Dunlop said it must be made clear that they are welcome to worship with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI).
“They are a minority amongst us but they are part of us. I have come to understand that human sexuality is a good deal more complex than I thought it was. People like me are on a learning curve,” he added.
He also cautioned that, in the fallout from the Ashers ‘gay cake’ case, there was a danger people would become “switched off” from the Equality Commission and the Human Rights Commission.
“This church in its history often could have done with the protection of equality and human rights legislation The danger of the Ashers dispute is that it has widened the rift between many of us in the Christian churches and people of a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender orientation,” Dr Dunlop added.
Another former moderator, Rev Dr Rob Craig from Londonderry called on the current church authorities to show solidarity with Ashers Baking Company.
“Think seriously, at the coming of the Ashers appeal, to call our church to a day of prayer – not just for Christians oppressed in this land, but also for Christians who are persecuted across the world,” he said.
Rev Alan Boal from Dublin complained there was a “lack of leadership from the PCI” on the referendum and that the PCI must make “greater strides towards meaningful engagement with homosexual people who are members in our congregations”.
Rev Boal told delegates that when resolutions had to be debated and voted on later this week, including issues arising from the referendum outcome, it should happen behind closed doors “since the lack of full rapport together is deep, and varied emotions play out badly and prematurely in the church and in the press.
“I remain convinced that God’s design for bearing his image to creation is that of male/female complementarity,” but, he added: “We must pay attention to the impact of legislative change…the social revolution is making its way north”.

Presbytery meeting over pro-gay marriage minister

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Presbyterian ministers from across Co Armagh met at the Church’s General Assembly in Belfast this week to discuss the pro same-sex marriage stance of Portadown minister Rev Christina Bradley.The clergy – from the ultra conservative Armagh Presbytery – were told that a representative had already spoken to Mrs Bradley over her outspoken support the Republic’s marriage referendum ‘yes’ vote, and that there will be further consideration of the matter at the next monthly meeting of the Presbytery.

The Armagh Road minister’s views are at odds with the Church’s policy that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman.

Following last month’s referendum, she told the Portadown Times: “The referendum wasn’t a debate on the institution of marriage as the basis of human society as we know it, but about ending discrimination.

“This warm-heartedness is good to see in a world which often is a cold place as much for women in leadership as it is for gay and lesbian people in churches. I welcome the ‘yes’ vote.”
Mrs Bradley is not thought to have been at the first three days of the General Assembly, where Rt Rev Ian McNie was installed as Moderator on Monday night.
Rev Bradley – who conducted her Sunday service as usual at the weekend – has not been available for comment.
During an address to the Assembly on Tuesday, former moderator John Dunlop also reached out to the LGBT community. He said: “Lesbian, gay and bi-sexual people are equal members of the church, as they have an orientation about which they can do nothing. I am partially left-handed and there is nothing I can do about that.

Pupil gives inspiring speech after being banned from speaking for being gay

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Wednesday 3 Jun 2015 5:13 pm 

 

Pupil gives inspiring speech after being banned from speaking for being gay
Evan Young (Picture Democracy Now)

 
A top-performing school pupil who was banned from giving a speech because he was being gay has had the last laugh at his narrow-minded school.
Evan Young was the top academic performer in his year – but when he told his headmistress he wanted to announce he was gay in his leaving speech, things turned sour.
The woman allegedly phoned the boy’s father and ‘outed’ him – then refused to allow him to speak.
But after outrage across the U.S., Evan was given the chance to deliver his speech in front of hundreds of people at a fundraiser for gay rights group Out Boulder.
He said, ‘You may have already suspected this, but I hope this does not change your opinion of me: I am gay.
‘I understand this might be offensive to some people, but it’s who I am. And whether you’ve always suspected this, or this is a total shock to you, now you know.

Student gives speech he wasn't allowed to because he was gay Source: YouTube/Democracy Now!
Student gives speech he wasn’t allowed to because he was gay Source: YouTube/Democracy Now!

 
‘When I was writing this speech, I was endlessly debating with myself whether I should reveal this, on account of how divisive an issue this is and how gay people tend to be stereotyped, and I thought that, if I did, I should repeatedly apologize and beg you guys not to think any differently of me.
‘But then I realised: I don’t have to. I shouldn’t have to. If there’s one thing I learned at this school, it’s that we can still be friends even if we profoundly disagree with each other
Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/06/03/pupil-gives-inspiring-speech-after-being-banned-from-speaking-for-being-gay-5229045/#ixzz3c5SQgX1w

Would You Wear These Pride Trainers By Adidas

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 The Gay UK, Jun 3 2015 01:24PM
Adidas has just announced that to celebrate LGBT Pride Month, it has colourfully redesigned its signature sneakers – dubbing the collection the “Pride Pack.”
Among the redesigned footwear is Adidas’ flagship shoe the Stan Smith, which commemorates 1965 as the year the sneaker went into production along with one of the first LGBT pickets held at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on July 4, 1965.
The brand also gave its Superstar sneaker (released in 1969 – the same year as the Stonewall Riots) the pride treatment.
Adidas says it’s donating a portion of the proceeds from the shoes to New Avenues for Youth, an organisation geared toward assisting homeless youth. The colourful trainers will be hitting select stores worldwide on June 6.
by @RogerWalkerDack