Shoutblog! Yorkshire's queer blog

Jason Wilkinson

2007-03-01T12:43:00.000Z

Jason Wilkinson, a familiar figure to many on the Leeds gay scene, died this week. The cause of death is still not known.

Jason was a stalwart of the alternative gay cammunity in Leeds. In the past he was involved with queer cabaret, a member of the Lavender Cafe Orchestra, taught ballroom dancing at Nancy's before Victor Victoria was a twinkle in anybody's eye, and was one of the first members of Gay Abandon.

Click here for photos

He was also well known to many of us as a hairdresser, working for many years with Harvey Huckerby in Headingley and the city centre.

His cremation takes place on Friday 2nd March. There will be a ceremony of celebration at All Hallows at 2pm (Regent Terrace, Leeds LS6 1NP [map] followed by a private cremation. From 3.30 or so, people will meet less formally at St Michael's Church Hall, St Michael's Road, Leeds, LS6 3AW [map] for a celebration of his life. There'll be a buffet, a pay bar and a bit of a disco and a cabaret from around 6.00 onwards. Jason's family plan to leave around 7.00 and the hall is booked until 9pm.

We hope to carry a full obituary in the next edition of Shout!

Fireball tickets nearly gone

2007-02-02T19:31:00.000Z

victorvictoria.co.uk

Fri 2nd Feb 6pm: We've just heard that there are currently FOUR (yes, 4!) tickets remaining for the Victor Victoria FireBall.

If you don't want to miss the last outing with the team, dash down to Xibit or The Bridge Inn right away. They both have TWO tickets.

Of course, by the time you read this, that might no longer be true.

Ewe turn if you want to...

2007-01-25T16:16:00.000Z

Of Gay Sheep, Modern Science and the Perils of Bad Publicity | New York Times | 25 Jan 07

A researcher at Oregon state university probably didn't know what he was letting himself in for when he published work looking at why 8% of rams are gay. Following a Sunday Times article (Science told: hands off gay sheep) and the story being widely reported on blogs, Dr Roselli and his university was deluged with over 20000 complaints from animal rights protesters and gay activists complaining either about his killing sheep, cutting open their heads to attach sensors, or trying to 'cure' homosexuality. The only problem is, almost none of the claims were true, as the Guardian pointed out (Gay sheep? Let's get the facts straight). The researchers did try to turn straight rams gay, but failed.

Now Roselli is fighting back, sending emails in response to the protests, asking blog authors to correct their entries, and stating that "he is as repulsed as his critics by the thought of sexual eugenics in humans. He said human sexuality was a complex phenomenon that could not be reduced to interactions of brain structure and hormones." [NYT]

The question is - should we object to research into sexuality? I don't think so. Of course, understanding what makes us gay might offer those who look for it an opportunity to 'cure' us, and we can and should fight against any attempts to do that. But understanding our sexuality (and sheep's, for that matter) also offers us potential benefits - for example by demonstrating that our sexualities are natural variations on the norm.

Of course, why I'm queer isn't something I want me or my mother to spend time worrying about - but aren't you just a bit curious?

Archbishop: Discriminate against poufs, or the kiddies suffer

2007-01-23T16:45:00.000Z

Kelly in cabinet row over gay adoptions | Guardian | 22 Jan 07
Adoption warning by Catholic leader | Guardian | 23 Jan 07

Here's a surprise: Catholic leaders are trying to get an exemption for the church so that they can continue to discriminate against poufs and dykes. Recently the law changed, saying that it is illegal to discriminate on the grounds of sexuality in the provision of goods and services. But the law needs a second bit of paperwork, the 'Sexual Orientation Regulations' to explain exactly how the law will work.

The House of Lords recently rejected attempts to exempt Christians from the rules in Northern Ireland. The argument was that Christian hoteliers shouldn't be forced to offer a double bed to us dirty queers. One said he'd happily give us a twin room but not a double, which shows he has a strange lack of imagination about how and where we might get round to bumsex. But their lordships rejected this, and the poor Christian hoteliers of Northern Ireland now have to face up to the possibility that we might be busy sodomising each other under their roof (I doubt they care as much about lesbians, because they probably can't quite imagine what they might be getting up to in bed. It's just the bumsex that really freaks them). If, by some chance, you ever get to stay in a Christian guest house, I suggest making strange noises in the night and leaving stains on the sheets just to upset them.

Now the government is trying to work out what the rules will be in England and Wales, and the ground has shifted. The Catholics' head honcho in the UK, Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, has said that Catholic adoption agencies might have to close, rather than be forced to place children with gay couples. Meanwhile, the (ex?) 'Equalities Minister', Catholic Ruth Kelly is arguing within government that Christians should be given an exemption. Blair, who is frequent rumoured to be considering conversion to Catholicism, is said to be sympathetic, although other ministers have firmly rejected the idea.

In a deeply dishonest statement, Murphy-O'Connor said "We believe it would be unreasonable, unnecessary and unjust discrimination against Catholics for the Government to insist that ... Catholic adoption agencies must act against the teaching of the Church and their own consciences by being obliged in law to provide such a service."

Let us get this quite straight. It is not discrimination to require every faith to obey the law. Giving any faith an exemption from any law would be discrimination, against all those of us who have to obey it.

A useful test for many gay issues is to consider how we would apply the same rules to other minority groups. Should we ban discrimination on the grounds of race, but allow BNP supporters to have an exemption? Or only fascists who manage to find an obscure bit of the bible to justify their hatred?

But Murphy-O'Connor turns the screw some more, and says that the law might force the closure of Catholic adoption agencies. This is nothing more than an attempt at blackmail: "Let us discriminate, or the poor kiddies will have to live in care." Still, Murphy-O'Connor has form when it comes to putting the church's interests ahead of child welfare: in the past he has admitted placing a known paedophile priest whom he was warned would re-offend in another parish. Still, better to expose children to paedophiles than to us lot.

The government should call his bluff. Do the Catholics really think that it's better to give up on adoption rather than risk a poor child being placed with a dyke couple? Well, actually, they probably think the child would be better off dying miserably in a gutter than being placed with a loving and caring queer couple, but if that's their attitude let's see it out in the open. If the law goes ahead without exemptions, and the Catholics close their adoption agencies, then we know the truth about their attitudes. And maybe then the government would also be forced to fund adoption agencies properly instead of leaving it in the hands of bigoted organisations.

More and more, we hear calls for 'strong personal belief' to be respected by giving exemptions to certain laws. But why is a person-of-faith's strong personal belief any more important than an atheist's strong personal belief against unjust discrimination? I have strong personal beliefs - just because they're not motivated by a belief in god does not make them any less valid. And our collective beliefs are - at least in theory - reflected by the governments we elect.

We can't restrict what other people believe, and we shouldn't restrict what people can say, but it is perfectly reasonably for us to restrict what people do.

Murphy-O'Connor is entitled to his beliefs. It's fair for him to campaign to change the opinion of the majority. But he - and his followers - shouldn't be above the law.

Poufs and dykes unite old enemies

2006-11-01T14:16:00.000Z

Muslims, ultra-Orthodox unite in opposition to planned Gay Pride parade in Jerusalem | Haaretz | Israel News | 1st Nov 06

According to a report in Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, Orthodox Jews and Muslims in Jerusalem have finally found common cause. After years of conflict they have finally been united... by their common opposition to the Gay Pride march planned for 10 November. Nice to see them shelving their differences for the day.

At last year's march, 3 participants were stabbed by a protester. Rumours this year talk about fake bomb attacks planned to divert the 8000 (yes, 8000) police who will be there to protect the marchers. Let's get that straight.... they're planning to divert the police from protect the queers so that they can do what? stab some more marchers?

Surprise number 3

2006-09-20T23:40:00.000+01:00

Reuters.com (20 Sept) reports that some Anglican bishops are signing a pact saying that other Anglican bishops are bad or not bad for ordaining or not ordaining poufs and/or dykes but the other Anglican bishops think that it's good or not good that the first Anglican bishops aren't ordaining or are ordaining poufs and/or dykes so the first Anglican bishops want to take or give more or less money from or to the other bishops who don't want to give or take as much money anyway, so there. All the bishops are completely committed to the whole church being united as long as the other lot get kicked out right away unless they agree to say sorry and ordain or not ordain blah blah communion blah blah gay priests blah blah. Or something like that.

Surprise number 2

2006-09-20T23:25:00.000+01:00

ABC News (20 Sept) tells us that a recent study in New York City has revealed that some men who have sex with other men don't call themselves gay. Most of them are married or have girlfriends, but also have sex with men.

Some doctor involved in this said

The labels homosexual or heterosexual or gay and straight are simply not enough.

Hmmm. Am I being overly picky if I suggest that some bloke doing a survey involving labelling sexuality ought to realise that there's a least one more label that he could have included - the one that most of these men (if they were being honest) should use? And it's not really news that there are men who have sex with men who don't call themselves bisexual or gay.

There are a couple of surprises: firstly, the percentage of 'straight' men who had sex with a man in the last year was recorded as 10%. So we're not talking small numbers, and we're not talking 'experimenting in my youth'. And secondly, just to give you complete faith in the survey, the researchers found that if they changed the order of the questions, they got completely different answers.

Surprise number 1

2006-09-20T23:13:00.000+01:00

ExxonMobil, the parent company of Esso, heads rapidly up the oil-company-most-likely-to-be-boycotted-this-month league table after being criticised twice in two days.

Monsters & Critics (19 Sept) reports an American study into 1520 companies' gay-friendly policies, and Exxon is one of only 3 companies to score nil-points. The study looked at things like medical coverage and family leave for same-sex partners, and whether companies advertised in ways that respect LGBT people. Overall, the results are promising, with the highest ever number of companies scoring full marks.

A day later, and the same company is criticised by the Royal Society for funding climate change denial Guardian (20 Sept).

Woman dies in Spartan sauna fire

2006-09-02T14:49:00.000+01:00

A woman died on Thursday night in a fire at the Leeds gay sauna, Spartan. The Yorkshire Post said that the woman, 32 year old Samantha Pithie, worked at the sauna, although the BBC said she worked at the massage parlour housed above the sauna.

A neighbour said that two men broke into the building in the early hours of the night and set alight to it. Police are treating the death as murder and are investigating links to previous attacks on the premises. Anyone with information is asked to phone them on 0113 2413259 or witnesses can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.

The attack on the sauna comes days after the owner announced that Spartan would stop being a gay sauna, because of falling numbers of visitors, despite a recent refurbishment. The Basement sauna opened in the centre of Leeds earlier this year.

Photos: KH

Lesbian couple lose court case

2006-08-10T15:08:00.000+01:00

Equal Marriage Rights website

Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger, a lesbian couple based in York, have lost their high court case to have their Canadian marriage recognised as a marriage in Britain. In the ruling, the judge found that they were discriminated against, but that the discrimination was justified in order to protect the traditional definition of marriage as between a mane and a woman primarily to produce children.

The couple were ordered to pay £25000 of the government's court costs, and are seeking donations to pay this and fund an appeal.

In a statement Wilkinson said "We are deeply disappointed by today's judgement - not just for ourselves, but for same-sex couples nationwide. Denying the validity of our marriage upholds discrimination and inequality. This judgement will not stand the test of time, and we look forward to the day when there is full equality in marriage for same-sex couples."

Related article: Civil partnership is not marriage from Shout! July 2006

First gay divorce

2006-05-19T07:49:00.000+01:00

Lesbians seeking first gay 'divorce' after three months | Daily Telegraph | 19 May 2006

You read it here first: Gay divorce is legel (posted 5 Dec 05)

Equality Minister with an unequalled record

2006-05-12T10:50:00.000+01:00

Is homosexuality a sin? Minister for Equality refuses to rule it out | Independent | 10th May

Newly appointed Minister for Equality, Ruth Kelly, has been attacked for refusing to say whether she considers homosexuality a sin. Kelly, who says she receives 'spiritual support' from Opus Dei, a conservative Catholic group, responded to a question about her views on homosexuality by saying

Well, as I say I don't think people with different sexual orientations ought to be discriminated against in society and as a politician I will make it my responsibility and duty to ensure I have a society which is tolerant, which is fair...

According to Peter Tatchell, Kelly was absent from 12 votes on legislation promoting gay rights since 1997, including the introduction of civil partnerships and an equal age of consent. In 2002 she voted for an amendment which would have excluded gay couples from adopting children.

Kelly's defence appears to be that she can have 'private views' and still take collective responsibility for government policy.

Of course, we're all meant to think it's fine, because she has 'deeply held religious beliefs' and if we object, we're discriminating against religious people. Hmmm. What about our deeply held beliefs? I don't object to her being a Catholic. I object to her not standing up for equality. Would Blair appoint someone who opposed the Race Relations Act to the post of equality minister?

Baldness makes you gay

2006-05-12T10:40:00.000+01:00

Just a passing mention for our old friend Mark Oaten, ex-LibDem leadership candidate who withdrew from the race when it was revealed he'd been seeing male prostitutes.

Apparently, Oaten thinks that his behaviour was prompted by losing his hair, which prompted a mid-life crisis. As I started going bald when I was in my early twenties, just round about the time I came out, I'm convinced by his explanation. Next time my mother wonders out loud what made me queer, I'll finally have an explanation for her. And if you still don't believe me, just wander round Manchester's gay village and see how few men have hair. It explains a lot.

Not that Oaten is saying he's gay, of course. Oh no. Ron Davies had his moment of madness on Clapham Common. Oaten had a mid-life crisis. Portillo experimented with men in his youth. But none of them are gay or bisexual. Just as long as we're clear about that.

Of course, if they want to convince us of their heterosexuality, I'm sure they'll be flying off to Stockholm to have their brains scanned whilst sniffing sweat. [Brains reveal our sexuality]

Scientists' shock discovery: gay men are turned on by men and lesbians are turned on by women

2006-05-12T10:30:00.000+01:00

Revealed: how scent of a woman attracts lesbians | Guardian | 9th May
Scientists from the Stockholm Brain Institute have revealed the shocking news that our brains respond to pheromones from the gender we're attracted to.

In their study, lesbians' and straight men's brains responded to the female pheromone EST in a way that gay men and straight women didn't. Conversely, gay men and straight women responded to androstadienone, a male pheromone.

Neuroscientist Ivanka Savic said that the study didn't reveal whether the difference in the response was learned or 'hard-wired' into our brains. However, it is interesting, in that it suggests what we all already know - that our sexual preferences are not some simple 'choice' that we make.

Even better, next time an Ashley Coles or Simon Hughes pops up protesting their heterosexuality, we can send them off to Stockholm and get them to sniff sweat whilst their brains are scanned.

Posted by Dr Nancy Boyes, Barnsley Institute of Brains

BNP 'gay porn' revealed

2006-05-12T10:26:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday's local elections saw some success for the far-right British National Party, including the election of their first councillor in Leeds. Overall, the BNP gained over 11% of the vote in the city. [Leeds City Council Election Results]

In Bradford, the BNP lost one seat, but support remained high especially in Keighley.

Meanwhile, we know we shouldn't laugh, but we can't help it. The London leader of the BNP, Richard Barnbrook, is revealed to have once appeared in a 1989 'erotic' film, HMS Discovery: A Love Story. The film, we're told, features 'flagellation, men undressing and frolicking in a river and a naked man apparently performing a sex act on another' (Our italics.... why do they do that? Do they mean 'two men having sex'? No, we never just 'have sex'. We 'perform sex acts on each other'. I digress.)

Barnbrook (according to the Guardian) said: 'It was an art film, end of story. It was not a bloody porn film.'

Glad we've cleared that up. Still, his fellow fascists seem unimpressed - one website has a poll asking of Barnbrook 'Is this a poofter or what?'

I think the right answer is no, please, no, I don't want to find out that the little shit is one of us. [Guardian | 'Gay porn' movie raises ripples on far right]

Shock Horror - some footballers are gay

2006-03-02T14:25:00.001Z

Red Issue - Shock Horror, world exclusive - footballers involved in gay sex scandal

Yet more indications of how little attitudes have changed. The News of the World reveals that some premiership footballers have had some gay sex. Now, if that was the end of it, I'd just think that it was the usual gossip much loved of the tabloids, but the whole tone of the article reveals the way the paper thinks - and expects its readers to think. According to the paper:

The players - one capped several times for England - were caught on camera cavorting with a pal well known in the music industry in a homosexual orgy that will shock soccer...

...In the astonishing pictures, Player A ... shoves a mobile down his boxers. He performs a sex act with it which is too obscene to be described here. The Player B calls his number to make the phone vibrate. Player A is also pictured on the bed while Player B - a multi-million pound goal-scoring mid-fielder - kneels to perform oral sex on him.

Quite what is so astonishing about men having sex? And, assuming the mobile phone was stuck up Player A's arse, why is this 'too obscene' to be described? Would they have the same prurience if a woman had used a mobile this way?

The following week brought more revelations, in similarly outraged tones:

"I went back to a player's house with two other stars after we'd been drinking one night," said our source. "The player whose house it was went to his bedroom and came back with five grand in cash, threw it on the table and said: ‘Who will suck my ****?'"

The star—who performed oral sex on Player B mentioned last week—was glad to oblige.

"He did it for just under a minute and everyone was cheering," said our source.

Our source also revealed a THIRD perverted session in which a player openly pleasured himself in front of another star in a hotel room—again after a booze-up. "He had to stop suddenly when room service arrived," said our source.

So there you go. Man puts cock in mouth (for, oooh, nearly a minute!). Shock horror. And another wanks in a 'perverted' session. Just how vanilla does our sex life have to be before we can avoid being branded 'perverted'.

Still, the paper is keen to reassure us that England's finest examples of manhood are not really gay.

"...None of the stars were really gay.
"They see this as just messing around,"
"Of course people outside of their world are going to think what the hell is going on?" said our source. "But this happens all the time in football.
"I've been at parties where it happens. There is also a game where one person has to put their **** in another's mouth but without touching them.
"But they're not gay. It's normal for some of them to do this."

Hmmm... Well it's nice that the NotW thinks that for some men it's normal to suck cock. I agree entirely. Although frankly I think it's more fun if you do it for more than the footballer's 'nearly a minute'. In fact, if that was as much as they did, they're probably right that they're not gay.

Glad we've cleared that one up.

BBC accused of homophobia

2006-03-02T14:03:00.000Z

BBC accused over 'negative gay attitudes' | icWales

Stonewall have just released the results of a study into the portrayal of poufs and dykes on British TV. It concluded that lesbians and gay men were 'almost invisible' on the BBC, and those references to lesbians and gay men which featured on the chanel were almost always negative.

Jeremy Clarkson and Anne Robinson were cited as examples. Clarkson, the report said, frequently described cars as 'gay' when he wanted to disparage them. Robinson used gay innuendo to belittle contestants on The Weakest Link, saying of one celebrity chef 'Is [he] more puff than pastry?' before asking him 'before you go, and bear in mind that this is a family show, what's the strangest thing you've ever put in your mouth?'

The report said 'The BBC rarely challenges homophobia and consistently allows its presenters to perpetuate negative attitudes towards lesbians and gay men and gay sexuality.'

Of the 160 hours which the researchers monitored, only 38 minutes featured any reference to queer people, and 32 of those minutes were derogatory or offensive. Lesbians barely featured at all. The report also commented on the tendency to only include gay characters in dramas if they were angst ridden or entirely defined by their sexuality. Once their coming out or sex-orientated storylines were over, they were usually written out.

All of which is completely believable, although you might be forgiven for not noticing. Compared with the portrayal of yesteryear (and I'm not talking that long ago) we have a much more prominent and positive image on the tv, particularly on some channels. And, frankly, we're used to being insulted and dismissed so the light-hearted insults from the likes of Robinson and Clarkson are easy to ignore. But that doesn't mean we should ignore them.

Nobody should be immune from being insulted, but when a publicly-funded broadcaster is offensive 85% of the time it mentions us at all, we're allowed to be a bit pissed off.

Queer salsa in York

2006-02-23T11:43:00.000Z

The brains and feet behind 'Strictly Gay', who already run queer dance classes in York, have come up with a new offering - a salsa workshop.

Mira and Jane will be leading the workshop on Saturday 25 March at Tang Hall Community Centre, fifth Avenue, York YO31 0UG from 1-3pm. It costs £10 on the door or £8 in advance, including refreshments, and the pair say that the workshop is suitable for beginners (and improvers wishing to consolidate).

To book your place contact Mira on 01904 424834 or email mirabogicevic@fsmail.net

Tories admit they were wrong, again

2006-02-09T15:08:00.000Z

Tory Chairman: Gay policies were wrong | PinkNews

David Cameron's attempts to woo the pink vote have taken another step forward, with the admission by his party chairman, Francis Maude, that Section 28 was wrong. He said the policy was "in hindsight a mistake, I voted for it, I was a minister."

Mr Maude told PinkNews.co.uk: "The gay scene in London in the 1980s was quite aggressively promiscuous and I think if society generally and the government I served in had been more willing to recognise gay people then there would have been less of that problem... A lot of people like my brother would not have succumbed to HIV and lost their lives."

So that's that. Admit that your policies meant more people died (not to mention contributed to huge amounts of angst and discrimination) and move on. Forgive and forget.

There are, however, a couple of problems. Firstly, how much hindsight do you need before you admit you got it wrong? It's only a couple of years ago that the tories were still opposing the repeal of section 28. Not long before that they were opposing an equal age of consent. Objecting to poufs in the military. In fact, they've been on the wrong side of the argument on everything except civil partnerships (and even then, there were tory lords and ladies trying to block it). What's changed in the last 2 years to give Francis his damascene conversion? Something to do with losing a 3rd election on the run, maybe?

And then there's the question of how much we forgive. Face it, according to the man himself, he voted for a policy which lead to people dying. If that's true, do you trust his judgement in future? And do you forgive? Or should he - and any other left over tories who voted for section 28 - step down from public life for good?

And then there's the good old Tory faithful. Are they with Francis on this one, or would they still prefer that people like us shot ourselves?

The only thing that's really changed about the Tory party is that they've realised too many people view them as dangerously right wing bigots, so they're trying to soften their image. But trailing public opinion is a poor substitute for leading it - and we still remember what they were saying when it actually made a difference.

Some of my best friends are gay...

2006-02-03T14:18:00.000Z

However much I love my gay friends, I don't want them running the country | icWales

You know you're in trouble when anyone starts a paragraph:
'Before I am accused of prejudice, I should say that not only are some of my best friends gay, but probably most of them are.'

Lowri Turner does just that, and then goes on to say that because we don't have children we're unfit to run the country. "My gay friends have not sat in accident and emergency with a small child. They have not had to make the decision over whether to give them MMR. They have not struggled to get their child statemented or gone through the schools' appeals process. Without these experiences at the sharp end of our public services, they do not know how they function. This makes them completely out of their depth in administering them."

Well, maybe true. But do you think Tony Blair has had to sit in A&E with his kids? I think not. Did he have to go through an appeals process to get is kids into the posh London Oratory? Of course not.

How far do we go? How many MPs have experience of fighting wars? Without it, perhaps they are unfit to make decisions about Iraq or Afganistan. How many of them have taught in schools or universities? Does that mean they shouldn't make laws about education? Experience of the prison system? Commuting to work by public transport? Being black? Being poor?

No individual has experience of everything, which is why we need a range of people in parliament. In fact, we need a much wider range than we already have. Saying that gay men can't represent people because the majority of people are straight is as offensive - and silly - as suggesting that asian people can't do the job because most people are white.

If most of Lowri's friends are gay, I'm guessing she might be feeling lonely this weekend.

Gay Abandon sing for Holocaust memorial

2006-02-01T12:25:00.000Z

Song of mourning honours the memory of six million | Yorkshire Post

Gay Abandon, Leeds' lesbian, gay and bisexual choir, performed on Sunday at a ceremony marking Holocaust Memorial Day at Leeds Town Hall.

The ceremony, which included contributions from different groups persecuted by the Nazis, marked the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945. It is estimated that 100,000 lesbians and gay men were killed in the concentration camps.

One person who attended the ceremony said "I have never before experienced a 'statement' that communicated as effectively as the choir did the beauty, warmth and humanness of a love for which many are still persecuted. I believe [the choir] managed to move the audience both emotionally and politically with the choir's understated yet striking presence, simplicity of message and beauty of singing. [Gay Abandon] epitomised the day's message that individuals can act to make a difference. [They] were truly inspirational."

Another added: "I think it is possibly the most important thing I have seen [Gay Abandon] do. The songs were so perfectly chosen and brilliantly performed, and the impact of [their] entrance onto the stage was near overwhelming. Well done. Truly inspirational, thought provoking and uplifting."

CloneZone needs you

2006-01-26T18:04:00.000Z

CloneZone, the gay shop with stores throughout the country, is after your help to keep it's Leeds shop open.

The shop opened in May 2003 but since then has been unable to gain a licence to sell R18 videos. Licencing authorities argued that because of the presence of a straight sex shop across the street, another licence was not needed.

CloneZone points out that straight sex shops and gay ones serve different markets, and points to the positive impact of a gay shop on the local area and the growing Leeds 'village'. They also point out that they support the local gay community, including actively supporting the West Yorkshire policing Initiative and displaying safer sex information.

Now they want your help! They're asking people to write to support their new application for a licence. You can do so by writing a letter of support which will be used during the court case. For your letter to to be useful, you need to

include your full name and address (which will not be given to 3rd parties)
Include reasons why you support the application

You can get more information from Lee Johnson, or email your letters of support to him at leej@clonezone.co.uk.

Who dear? Me dear? Gay dear? No dear!

2006-01-26T10:55:00.000Z

Bermondsey by-election, 1983 | Wikipedia

Readers with long memories may remember the Bermondsey by-election of 1983. The Labour Party candidate was one Peter Tatchell. Tatchell was under attack from his own party, the tabloid press, and the liberal party. Liberal party campaigners sported badges saying 'I've been kissed by Peter Tatchell' (some have said this was a protest at Tatchell's attempt to go back into the closet) and the liberal candidate released a leaflet describing himself as 'the straight choice'.

All ancient history, you might think. It was the 80s, after all, and attacks on gay lefties were all the rage. The liberal candidate has even apologised. So why do I mention it now? Well, I first heard the story from a friend who always refered to the liberal candidate as 'slimy Simon' and his major objection was that he had won the by-election on the back of a homophobic campaign, despite himself being a closet pouf.

Roll on 23 years, to another election. Slimy Simon is standing for leader of his party. In fact, it looks like he might win: his opponents are some bloke we've never heard of before, Ming the Merciless, and Mark Oaten, who pulls out of the race after admitting to a 6 month affair with a rent boy.

(Incidentally, notice, it's a 'rent boy', not a 'male prostitute', since this way we can continue to hint that homos are only one step removed from paedos. And is it an 'affair' when you pay the other person? And what were the acts he engaged in that the Screws of the World said were 'too disgusting to report'? I digress...)

Slimy Simon, meanwhile, is 54 and unmarried, and rumours about his sexuality are still around. When the Independent asks him if he is gay, he says "The answer is no, as it happens. But if it was the case, which it isn't, I hope that would not become an issue." The Guardian asks as well, and is told "I'm a single guy, which is why I guess it's easy for people to speculate. I'm not going to go into details of relationships but I made a statement, made it clearly and it hasn't changed since last week."

Which makes it all the more strange that it has now changed since last week. in a statement issued today Hughes says: "I am perfectly willing to say that I have had both homosexual and heterosexual relationships in the past." And he added "It is not just me. There are lots of people who have tried to keep their private lives private. I wasn’t just doing it for me but for many others who are in the same boat." Excuse me? How does anyone benefit from Hughes previous denials (except himself)?

Well, that clears that up. Not gay. Bisexual. Although i still can't help thinking that his earlier denials were intended to make people think that he is straight, not an attempt to make a distinction between bisexual and gay. And the 'perfectly willing to say' part seems slightly at odds with the facts.

So, today's moral dilemma comes in the form of a multiple choice question (feel free to tick as many options as appropriate):

Which, if any, of the following make someone unfit to be LibDem leader:

he has a drink problem
he has an affair with a prostitute
he does 'indescribably vile' things with male prostitutes
he get's into parliament on the back of a homophobic campaign against another candidate
he get's into parliament on the back of a homophobic campaign whilst falsely pretending to be straight
he apologises for the homophobic campaign as though it's not something he had anything to do with
he's bisexual
he's bisexual but pretends to be straight when someone says 'are you gay?'
he tries to lead a party which champions gay rights without having the guts to be out about his sexuality
he tries to lead a party which champions gay rights without having the guts to be out about his sexuality and then has the nerve to claim that his lies were 'for other people in the same boat'.

Some people reckon the LibDems ousted Charles Kennedy because they thought a leadership election would put them on the front pages and boost their popularity in the same way Cameron's election did for the Tories. Well they were right on one count.

Lesbians are like straight men - official!

2006-01-25T16:05:00.000Z

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Gay men earn £10k more than national average

According to a new survey average earnings for lesbians in work are pretty much equal to the earnings of straight men in work (at about £24000 per year) and substantially higher than straight women. Gay men, on the other hand, earn on average £10000 more than their straight counterparts.

Mind you, the Guardian (which published the story this week) issued a correction afterwards to point out that the survey only related to readers of Gay Times and Diva and shouldn't be taken as indicative of all queer people. It's always possible that lesbians and gay men with typical earnings don't bother wasting their hard-earned cash on either magazine.

One wedding and a funeral

2005-12-07T10:50:00.000Z

BBC NEWS | 'Gay wedding' man dies of cancer

Ok, so my cynicism about being all those people trying to be the first to enter a civil partnership is fading with the news that it's already happened: two men in Worthing were given special permission to waive the 15 day waiting period because one of them was terminally ill. The pair, Matthew Roche and Christopher Cramp held the ceremony on Monday, and Mr Roche died yesterday.

This couple were doing it for good reasons, and making the headlines wasn't their aim.

Civil partnerships: let's get one thing straight | spiked

2005-12-05T23:35:00.000Z

spiked-liberties | Civil partnerships: let's get one thing straight | 5 Dec

Excellent article. Now will government ministers and Stonewall please read it, and stop telling me that I've got equality?

Gay divorce is legal

2005-12-05T16:14:00.000Z

Today the law allowing same-sex couples to divorce comes into force. Because of the various restrictions in the legal process however, it will be some time before the first queer couple can celebrate their divorce.

Couples wishing to divorce must first inform their local council of their intention to get married. After the 'banns' are published, the couple must then wait 2 weeks before tying the knot and give the relationship at least 1 year before deciding to file for divorce.

That means the first gay divorce papers could be filed from 21st December 2006.

One local couple, Sam and Nicky, are hoping to be the first. They told Shout!:

"Basically the competition to be the first to get married is too fierce, and we didn't manage to get our arse in gear early enough. Every gay paper in the land is full of stories about how some couple or other is aiming to be the very first to wed [including Shout! (Leeds gay couple 'first to wed' | November 2005)]. And come Dec 21st when the first ceremonies will take place, every local news station in the country will be staking out the local registry office in the hope of spotting the first poufs and dykes to say 'I do'. Anyone would think these couple are hoping to get their 15 minutes of fame - or maybe they're just too mean to get their own wedding video made and are hoping that a 30 second appearance on Calendar will do.

"However, the competition to be the first to get divorced is much more open. For a start, to be in with a chance you have to file for divorce just before Christmas, and even the most hardened drama queens might baulk at doing a Den Watts. Then there's the difficulties about courts being open etc - given that it's just before Christmas lots of them will be closed until after New Year. And once you've filed for divorce, waiting for the whole thing to go through the courts is a bit of a lottery, so basically everyone who is mean enough to file for divorce just before Christmas is in with a fighting chance."

Shout!'s legal expert warns couples aiming to be the first that it pays to have done your homework. "The courts have the power to divide your assests, but they will look kindly on couples who have reached an amicable agreement. So basically, it's a good idea to work out in advance who gets the family home and who gets custody of the cat. Obviously the best bet is a completely non-binding pre-nuptual agreement, which any solicitor such as myself could draw up, not that I'm touting for business and desparately trying to cash in on the latest thing, you understand"

Shout! would like to wish Sam and Nicky the best of luck, and we promise to be there to photograph your special day (but only if you're the first, obviously.)

Same-sex couples urged to plan now | Shout! | December 2005

Gay Abandon on the radio

2005-11-30T18:15:00.000Z

Leeds lgb choir will feature on BBC Radio Leeds this week, as part of their coverage of World Aids Day. The piece is going out at about 3.30 on Thursday.

Gay priests date catholic singles

2005-11-25T19:56:00.000Z

Well, isn't the world wide web weird? No sooner do we talk about homosexuality and catholicism and google, bless 'em, serve up an ad that says 'Gay Priests: Date Catholic Singles'.

That's just wrong in so many ways.

So you think barebacking is a good idea?

2005-11-25T10:05:00.000Z

Aidsmap | One in three HIV infections remain undiagnosed in the UK

Statistics released yesterday on the number of new HIV infections last year reveal that 2185 gay and bisexual men were diagnosed with the virus last year, the highest number since 1990.

Yes, 1990!

What on earth are we doing? We know how to prevent hiv infection. It's simple. It's easy. It's cheap. So do it.

Of course, modern drug therapies that some gay men ahve been lulled into a false sense of security. We haven't had to go to many funerals recently, so we think it doesn't really matter. So here are some facts:

HIV mutates and develops resistance to existing drugs

Most new HIV infections are of strains that already have drug resistance - in other words caught from people who were undergoing treatment.

If you're currently living with HIV and you have unprotected sex with another positive man, you may catch a strain that is resistant to your drug combination

People still die of Aids. It's especially bad news if you have some other disease as well - for example cancer treatments and hiv treatments tend to disagree with each other.

I'm getting so sick of these self-hating, self-harming, selfish gay men. Where is your pride? Oh, I remember - we abandoned that in favour of Mardi Gras. Why take pride in anything when you can pop a pill and party instead?

Vatican reaffirms that it doesn't like us

2005-11-24T11:54:00.000Z

Well, surprise surprise, the Vatican has released a new document saying that gay men shouldn't be allowed to join the priesthood. Why is this news? Did anyone seriously think that replacing John Paul II with Bigot Benedict was going to make any difference? (Decree against gay priests gets mixed reaction IndyStar.com)

The only interesting thing is how seriously the edict will be enforced. If they really stop every poofter, how many priests will they have left?

Meanwhile, the Anglican church is still tearing itself apart over the issue of gay vicars, with a recent letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury from half the worlds primates telling him off for his supposedly liberal attitudes (Ambush imperils Williams' conciliation hope Guardian). In fact, Williams seems to have shelved his own liberal credentials in favour of desparately keeping the church together (as a comment piece in Shout! argued a while back (Outrage protests in York! Shout! August 2003)). Since he's not doing such a good job with that, maybe it's time for him to stand up and state clearly what he believes?

Back in the bad old days, we were considered so dangerous that buggering someone was a treasonable offence. I never really understood what they were so scared of, but now I see that we have the power to break apart the world's leading churches, I can see why they're worried about us. Except, of course, it ain't us that's doing this - they're doing it to themselves.

Meanwhile, the nutters of Northern Ireland are getting their knickers in a twist. A Democratic Unionist councillor in Ballymena says Hurricane Katrina was sent to punish New Orleans' gays (Katrina 'sent by God to punish New Orleans gays' Guardian). Which is odd really, 'cos last time I checked most of those people who were crammed into the superbowl, made homeless, had their businesses ruined, or died, were straight. Weirdest of all is the idea that an all powerful god would be so crap at punishing sinners if he turned his mind to it. Of course, there were lots of people saying the same thing about HIV/Aids a while back, in which case, again, god kind of shot himself in the foot with the millions of hetties in Africa now with the disease.

You shall go to the Ball, cinders

2005-11-23T09:25:00.000Z

Victor Victoria website

Victor Victoria, whose Hollywood Ball is coming up on the 9th December, have announced that there will be tickets available on the door. A spokesperson for the team said:
"Tickets are selling pretty fast, and the chances are that they'll all be gone by the day, but we hate turning people away, especially when they're all dressed up and obviously have been planning a night of it. So this year, we're releasing an extra 20 tickets for sale only on the door"

Tickets in advance will still be cheaper (£15 in advance, but £20 on the door), and the team are keen for you to buy early. "Basically, all our costs happen in advance, so we need the money upfront, which is why we offer a cheaper deal. And of course, that's the only way you can guarantee getting in."

Advance tickets are available from us by post - send a SAE and a cheque payable to Victor Victoria to

Victor Victoria
c/o Shout
PO Box YR46
Leeds LS9 6XG

And please include a phone number in case of query.

Alternatively, The Base in Leeds are selling tickets.

And if all that fails, get yourself down to Leeds Town Hall on the 9th when the doors open at 8pm to grab one of the last minute tickets.

This year's ball features a 20 piece big-band, plus all the usual fun and shenanigans for dancers and admirers alike.

Oral sex and cancer

2005-11-23T09:19:00.000Z

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Does oral sex give you cancer?

Well, as though we didn't have enough worries about the things you can catch from having sex, now scientists have found a link between oral sex and mouth cancer. D'oh. Afficionados of felatio and cunnilingus are more likely to catch a virus linked to mouth cancer. The reports don't say if rimming is also a risk.

Still, best not to get too worried about it - if you smoke a fag between sessions, that's far more likely to give you mouth cancer. If the lung cancer doesn't get you first.