LGBTQ

Former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas announced he is HIV positive after "evils" threatened to out him. (Clemens Bilan/AFP/Getty) Welsh rugby star and TV personality Gareth Thomas has described being “petrified” each time someone knocked on his door, while he was blackmailed over being HIV-positive. In 2019, Thomas was forced to publicly reveal his HIV status after a publication threatened to do it for him, but was met with praise from fans and HIV advocates across the UK. The gay athlete told the Chris Evans Breakfast Show that he was blackmailed...

David P. (Supplied) Belgium and its LGBT+ community are reeling from the country’s first homophobic murder in nine years. The victim, a 42-year-old man, was lured to a park before being brutally beaten to death by three youths using Grindr to snare the victim, according to the police. He has been named by Belgian media as “David P”. David’s body was found by a cyclist in the early hours of Sunday at a park just outside the northern port of Antwerp, East Flanders. Local police are still in the early...

Boris Johnson. (Christopher Furlong/WPA Pool /Getty) MPs from across the UK have insisted that any ban on conversion therapy must also include trans people. During a debate in Westminster Hall on Monday evening (8 March), MPs urged the government to ban the harmful, pseudoscientific practice. The debate, triggered by a petition to government signed by more than 250,000 people, saw 20 MPs speak on the urgent need for parliament to introduce tough measures to curb conversion therapy in the UK. Opening the debate, Conservative MP Elliot Colburn told the stories...

A Republican lawmaker argued to let businesses ignore mask mandates to stem COVID-19 because they were not used to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. Joseph Chaplik, a first-term Republican legislator from Scottsdale, Arizona, said his bill would allow businesses to ignore local or state mask mandates. He argued that consumers would then have the option of deciding whether or not to do businesses there. “It’s about the individual rights of these business owners as Americans,” Chaplik argued. Randall Friese, a Tucson Democrat representative and who is a physician, said masks...

The term "barebacking" became widespread in the LGBT+ community in the 1990s. (Pexels/ Ketut Subiyanto) Like riding a horse without a saddle, barebacking is when someone with a penis penetrates a sexual partner without using a condom. Many people who have any kind of penetrative sex report that going at it without a condom is a more pleasurable experience, and lots of barebacking fans see the act as more intimate. While barebacking can be practiced relatively safely, it’s important that both partners go into it aware of the risks involved....

Billy Eichner attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party on 9 February, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Getty for Vanity Fair/ Rich Fury/ VF20) Actor Billy Eichner is set to co-produce, co-write and star in the first gay romantic comedy to be produced by a major Hollywood studio. The Parks and Recreation star announced on Twitter that the Universal film, titled Bros, will be released be released next year. He wrote: “In shocking news, Bros will be the first rom-com about gay men ever produced by a major studio and, apparently,...

Read Only Memories: Neurodiver. (Midboss) Exploring memories is a major theme of much sci-fi media, but it’s at the core of Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, the forthcoming cyberpunk game from LGBT-focused developer MidBoss. In this world of Neo-San Francisco memories are malleable. Like a hard drive, files can become corrupt, defragmented, or completely overwritten. And with the help of an Esper, forgotten memories can be recovered – for better or worse. That computer analogy is fitting for a cyberpunk world of machines and androids, humans and animal hybrids. It’s the...

Gay couple share Cadbury's Creme Egg in new advert. (YouTube) The gay couple who starred in the recent Cadbury’s Creme Egg commercial says people have taken a “gimmick” about sharing sweets and “sexualised it”. The new Creme Egg advert, released in January, featured real-life gay couple Callum Sterling and Dale K sharing an intimate moment – leading to a gooey explosion. The couple told PinkNews that they have experienced a “rollercoaster” of emotions in response to being featured in the commercial, which caused them to question the media, consumer mindsets and...

Drag Race UK star Lawrence Chaney has deleted her Twitter following “disgusting” abuse she received after last night’s episode. The Glasgow drag performer deactivated her social media account following Thursday (4 March) night’s dramatic episode. It’s believed this came out after the episode featured a fallow out between Lawrence and fellow Drag Race UK contestant Ellie Diamond. The two butted heads after Ellie won the episode’s mini-challenge. As a prize, Ellie was given the power to decide the running order for the stand-up comedy main challenge. However, Lawrence wasn’t happy...

Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase in Buffy The Vampire Slayer (20th Century Fox Television) Charisma Carpenter has reflected on her decision to go public with her allegations of abuse against Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, describing it as an “effort to foster change”. Last month, Carpenter came forward in a social media post with a flurry of explosive accusations against Joss Whedon. Among them, claims of “repeated” abuse, a “toxic” workplace environment and being “unceremoniously fired” after giving birth. Since sharing her accounts, countless Buffy stars have sought...

Jimmy Fowlie (L) and Sydnee Washington (R) will star in Grindr's upcoming original comedy series Bridesman. (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images/FilmMagic) LGBT+ dating app Grindr is getting its own original scripted TV show, which is set to air this fall. Bridesman will be a new scripted comedy series following a gay bridesman as he undermines his best friend’s wedding. Each episode will be around six to 10 minutes and will be available on YouTube as well as the Grindr app. Deadline reported that the series was created by John Onieal and will star...

Keira Bell brought legal action against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. (YouTube/Sky News) Trans youth are internalising a message that “the world hates them” as a result of the High Court’s puberty blockers decision in the Bell v Tavistock case last year, according to the CEO of a leading trans charity. The High Court ruled in December 2020 that transgender under 16s would have to be able to understand the nature of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and gender affirming surgery in order to be prescribed puberty blocking medication. The...

Bill Burr says fired The Mandalorian star Gina Carano was a "absolute sweetheart". (Disney) The Mandalorian star Bill Burr has defended his former co-star Gina Carano, saying she was an “absolute sweetheart”. Carano, who played Cara Dune in the Disney Plus series, was fired after sharing an Instagram post seemingly comparing being a Republican to being Jewish during the Holocaust, and after being accused of “mocking trans people” by posting “boop/bop/beep” as her pronouns. On a recent episode of his The Bill Bert Podcast with Bert Kreischer, Burr defended his former co-star, with who...

Lady Gaga. (Stuart C. Wilson/Getty) The New York City apartment Lady Gaga once rented in the early days of her career is now available to rent at $2,000. To some, it’s a white-walled, one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment with 10-foot high ceilings. Nothing special. A random floating fridge in the middle of the, er, living room. To others, it’s a holy place. A site of almost religious significance – it’s the New York City apartment once lived in by musical profit Lady Gaga, then known more commonly as Stefani Germanotta. Gaga's old...