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Import: Celebrities and Others Record Video Messages to Gay Teens to tell them: It Gets Better

By Gay, Inspiration, JournalismNo Comments

November is anti-bullying month. In 2010 there were a few high profile cases of gay teens committing suicide as a result of homophobic bullying both in school and in their communities in the USA. Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller uploaded a video on YouTube titled ‘It Gets Better.’ The aim of this video, as you may have guessed, was to encourage gay teens to hang in there, as it does get better.

it-gets-better-logo

It Gets Better Logo

From this sprang the It Gets Better Project, an international campaign that aims to communicate the ‘it gets better’ message to gay teens to give them hope. The It Gets Better Project also aims to inspire and bring about change, so that there is less homophobia, more tolerance and more acceptance of gay teens.

Celebrities have voiced support for the It Gets Better Project with the likes of Zachary Quinto and Adam Lambert making their own ‘it gets better’ videos.

zachary-quinto-video-screen-shot

Zachary Quinto Video Screenshot

Zachary Quinto in his emotional video said: ‘The are countless other teens and young adults that are struggling to find a sense of identify and belonging in a chaotic and often unforgiving world…and to you I say it gets better.’

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adam-lambert-video-screen-shot

Adam Lambert’s Video Screenshot

Adam Lambert in his upbeat video said: ‘You have to be strong…and you have to pay attention to the positive… and in doing so you will push through and you will rise up and you will live your life to the fullest. It gets better but its up to you.’

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President Obama, other American politicians and employees from the likes of Apple, Google, Microsoft and Dell have added their videos. Employees and students from Universities, Sports Clubs and other institutions have added supportive videos.

Thousands of people have used their webcams, video editing software and internet connections to uploaded their own individual videos aiming to give hope to gay teens.

The success of the ‘It Gets Better Project’ has been phenomenal. Seth Levy, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the project says that they’ve had success, but recognises that there’s still much more work to be done:

‘The It Gets Better Project works globally to share message of hope with LGBT youth and to make things better for them. The Project has already had great success through its international efforts in the Americas, Australia, Western Europe and the Carribbean. We are now beginning to work in more regions where, at times, the circumstances for LGBT youth are especially challenging and LGBT-focused resources are scarce. Moldova has historically been such a place. We are very excited to have partnered with our local affiliate, Egali, to help improve things for LGBT youth in Moldova. ‘

To learn more about the It Gets Better Project, visit their website: http://www.itgetsbetter.org/ .

Published by: The Gay UK on Friday 8th November 2013.



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Import: FEATURE: Coming Out of the Broom Closest

By Books & Authors, Creativity, Gay, Journalism, PaganismNo Comments
Rivington - A Place of Bewitching Beauty I’ve come out of two closets in my life. First through the rainbow-coloured door – coming out as gay. Then out of the broom closet – coming out as pagan. Every time I’ve come out as pagan, I get asked the same sort of questions. Here are some of those questions and my responses:

What is it all about?
Paganism is a nature-based religion, so as a pagan I have a reverence for nature. Paganism has a dual aspect of divinity – meaning we have both a god and goddess.

This god and goddess duality symbolises balance that can be seen in all aspects of the world and universe. We cannot have life without death, happy times without sad times, etc.

Unlike most other religions we don’t have a bible or other book that tells us what to believe. What pagans believe is much more individual to them. But the two big focuses in paganism are nature and individual responsibility for our own actions and omissions.

Paganism has values that encourage equality, respect for all living beings and empathy for others, so generally pagans are very accepting of gay people. Acts of love, pleasure and beauty are important to pagans regardless of the sexuality or gender of those involved.

Do you worship the devil?
No…we actually don’t believe in a devil.

The Druid Circle Cumbria Do you have a Church?
Nature is our church. Some of us like to worship, celebrate and practice on our own; whereas others like to get together with other pagans.

Covens are closed groups of pagans usually consisting of a maximum of thirteen people. They have a High Priestess and a High Priest as leaders of their group, kind of like priests/vicars. Coven members will teach one another what they know, including the initiates (those new to paganism). Rituals, rites, magic, music and dance will all be taught within the closed coven circle.

Pagan moots are much more open. They are open to anyone and usually held at local cafes or pubs. Some moot organisers will arrange for talks on a range of pagan topics such as: herbs, crystals, healing, ghosts/other spirits, etc. Organisers usually ask for a donation or minimal charge to attend these fascinating talks.

Samhain-2012-4 Is magic like that on Charmed? Or like Willow on Buffy The Vampire Slayer does?
No…sorry. But it can be equally effective – it just works in a different way.

Imagine I cast a Spell for money. Money won’t magically appear. But I might see a job that I can apply for that’s better paid than the one I’m doing.

Just because I’ve cast the Spell, doesn’t mean the job is automatically mine! I still have to apply for the job, go to the interview and WOW the interviewers. I have to work hard to achieve my goals – like everyone else.

What’s the difference between a Pagan, a Wiccan and a Druid?
Paganism is a broad term to describe lots of different paths that have the same principle beliefs. Wicca, Druidism and others paths may have slightly different practices but share the same principle beliefs and are therefore are all encompassed under the term paganism.

Think of it in terms of Christianity. Christianity is the over-arching term, but within that you have the Church of England, the Roman Catholic Church and many others all with the same principle beliefs but with slightly different practices.

So you don’t celebrate Christmas?
We have our own holidays, many of which coincide with Christian holidays. But our big celebration is Samhain or Halloween, which to pagans is like Christmas and New Year rolled into one.

We are all individuals. Personally I celebrate Christmas with my family, because they do and because it’s a positive time for all. It’s the one time of year my family takes the time out to spend precious time together, to eat, drink and be merry – oh and of course there’s the presents!

Where can I learn more?
The best gay pagan book I’ve come across is Gay Witchcraft by Christopher Penczak. Christopher Penczak is a pagan gay man who wrote this for gay men. It even has a section on gay deities.

Other non-gay books I’ve learned a lot about paganism from are: The Real Witches’ Handbook by Kate West, Elements of Witchcraft by Ellen Dugan, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice by Le De Angeles and Everyday Magic by Dorothy Morrison. There’s also a myriad of information on the internet –just do a Google search.

Published by: The Gay UK on Tuesday 17th September 2013.



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No Excuse Not to Use a Condom – TheGayUK launches Project that sends FREE Condoms through the post

By Gay, Health4 Comments
the-gay-uk-logo The Gay UK has recently launched it’s ‘No Excuses Project’ which aims to make sure that gay men never have any excuse not to use a condom. They’ve teamed up with NHS Freedom’s Shop to have condoms delivered to your door, through the post for free.

Here’s what Jake Hook, The Gay UK‘s had to say about the project:
“I was watching Channel 4’s The Sex Clinic and it occurred to me that somehow we’re being failed as a community in relation to sex health education. With cuts to vital services and the upward trend of new HIV infections in the UK, either people aren’t freely able to access condoms or don’t know that they can dramatically make the sex you have safer.

“The day after the programme, I rang Katy Harrad at The Freedoms Shop and asked whether Freedoms would be able to help us out with condoms, luckily for us, she’s just as passionate about safer sex as we are.

“We’re working towards making sure that there is No Excuse – ever – not to have a condom in your home or pocket.”

Graham & Jake Co-Founders of The Gay UK

Graham & Jake Co-Founders of The Gay UK

Generally gay pubs & clubs are good at giving out or having available free safe sex packs – but that’s only useful if you live close the venues. Sexual health clinics are also a good source of free condoms, but this relies on having the confidence to step through the door.

So this idea of having condoms delivered to your door, discreetly packaged and for free is a brilliant idea. The Gay UK have already got celebrity backing from stand-up comedian Pam Ann, who is reported to have said: “If it’s NOT ON… it’s NOT ON!” They’ve been to as many Pride Festivals as they can promoting the campaign including: Oxford, Edinburgh, Reading, North Wales, Gloucester, Warwickshire and Doncaster.

no-excuse-project-logo You can learn more about the ‘No Excuses Project’ and get your FREE condoms here: www.noexcuseproject.co.uk.

I’m so glad The Gay UK set up this sexual health campaign. I’m proud to write for and be involved with The Gay UK; a free gay online magazine which has an ever-growing readership and is already a huge success.

Take care & be safe,

Antony

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Book Review: The Hardest Thing by James Lear

By Amazon, Books & Authors, Gay, ReviewsNo Comments
the-hardest-thing-james-lear-book-cover To ex-marine Dan Stagg killing is easy, but love is The Hardest Thing. Down on his luck, Dan accepts a simple protection job for big money. His job is to get ‘secretary’ Stirling McHahon out of New York City and then to await further instructions. No questions asked.

Stirling McHahon is young, blonde and is more of a hustler than secretary to Marshall, a powerful and crooked Property Developer.

The beginning of the book sets up the mystery with Dan and Stirling setting off on their out-of-town road trip. They start having rampant sex like rabbits, with everything described in a great amount of detail.

In the middle of the book there’s a number of sexual fantasy scenes involving the two main characters as well as various others. The expected masculine characters took the dominant role in the sex and I would have preferred more sexual versatility for all of the characters involved. The sex is the action and it has some completely unbelievable, yet enjoyable to read sex scenes.

Dan starts to fall in love with Stirling but knows that he can’t really trust him. Especially when he learns that Stirling McHahon is really an alias; he says that his real name is Jody Miller. Then Stirling/Jody/whatever-his-name-is gets snatched into a car.

Events build to a climax (no pun intended) at the end of the book, as the mystery is unravelled. Dan Stagg becomes the expected hero calling on his military training and physical strength to become like an action man. The ending is somewhat satisfying.

The large print formatting makes it easy to read and it is brilliantly written from Dan Stagg’s perspective. The simple storyline without the sex could have been told in about 50 pages, yet it is well paced. The Hardest Thing is surprisingly a page-turner and is one of the best gay erotic fiction story’s I’ve read in a long time.

The Hardest Thing is ‘A Dan Stagg Mystery’ indicating that it’s part of a series. If so, I can’t wait to read the next novel in the series.

Think of a gritty, gay, Fifty Shades of Grey – mostly minus the handcuffs and you’ve got The Hardest Thing. The Hardest Thing by James Lear is available to buy on Amazon or at your local book retailer.

Review soon,

Antony

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