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Changes to The Pink List (2013)

By Gay, History, ThinkingNo Comments

Pink List 2013 Logo

The Independent on Sunday has been producing their annual Pink List since 2000. The Pink List is a list of influential gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans gay people in the UK. Each year The Independent assembles a panel of Judges, opens up for nominations from the public and then decides who to award the 100 places to and in which order.

This year’s Pink List 2013 has been published and with some interesting changes. No longer is it enough to be gay and a well known public figure whose a role model to gay youth. This year people on the list have to have contributed or made a difference in some way.

The Independent on Sunday have created two separate lists in addition to the main pink list; one for National Treasures and one for Politicians. On the National Treasures list is the likes of Russell T Davies, Paul O’Grady, Sir Elton John, Stephen Fry, Sir Ian McKellen and John Barrowman. On the Politicians list is various Westminster Peeps.

I am disappointed by the creation of these separate lists for National Treasures and Politicians. I think it is enough to be gay and a role model, so I’d have kept the one Pink List. I’d have just put people who have contributed more in the last year higher up on the list.

I would have extended the list to accomodate the increasing number gay people coming out. It shows that we are out there in numbers and contributing to society. For easy reading, I would have split the list into parts: 1-10, 11-30, 31-50, 51-100 and 101+.

The Pink List has always missed out people that are not in the media spotlight. I think the Pink List could be massively improved by including these people who are contributing a great deal to their local communities and society as a whole. These ‘ordinary’ LGBT people are doing amazing things. Such as those Workers/Volunteers for The Albert Kennedy Trust & George House Trust, Students who’ve set up LGBT Societies in Universities and Employees that set up or run LGBT forums within their employers organisations.

The Pink List should include out LGBT parents. Its very difficult to be an out LGBT parent. Many LGBT parents worry about the impact of their sexuality/gender identity on their children, in terms of some schools institutional homophobia and bullying by other children. I discovered this through two interviews with LGBT parents for a feature article for The Gay UK. The first interview was with Paul and the other with Linda.

Finally, I think there should be a list of influential straight people who support gay rights. The gay marriage bill would have never been passed into law, if it wasn’t for the many straight people who voted in favour of the bill.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Tuesday 26 November 2013

Thinking About Homelessness

By ThinkingNo Comments

This time of year when it’s dark and cold makes me feel for people who are homeless. Who’d want to spend a single night sleeping outside in this weather?

No matter the cause of someone’s homelessness; it can be a vicious cycle. A person needs an address to get a bank account, so that state benefits can be paid to them. They often need to be in receipt of benefits to get support in accessing housing and so that housing agencies can contact them. Of course there are ways around this, but people who are homeless people often don’t know how the system works.

People who are homeless also tend to have complex issues (such as substance misuse, relationship breakdowns, bereavements, etc.) that they are trying to deal with at the same time.

So I recently made two donations to The Albert Kennedy Trust and Shelter. The donations were small, but something is better than nothing. Here is some information about the work the charities do and a link for donations:

Albert Kennedy Trust Logo The Albert Kennedy Trust supports lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans homeless young people in crisis. They have offices in London, Manchester and Newcastle.
Donate to The Albert Kennedy Trust
Shelter Logo Shelter helps millions of people every year struggling with bad housing or homelessness – and they campaign to prevent it in the first place.
Donate to Shelter

A friend and I were talking recently about what we do when we see a person who is homeless on the street begging. I said that I don’t usually give money as I don’t carry it, but if I’ve got the time, I offer to buy them a hot drink.

My friend said that he collects McDonalds hot drink loyalty cards stickers and saves completed loyalty cards to give to the person who is homeless and on the street begging. I thought this was a great idea and will be doing it as well.

Anyone can become homelessness, it just needs a certain set of circumstances to happen a person. This means that it can happen to you, a member of your family or one of your friends. I once read somewhere that we are only ever two paydays away from being homeless. Considering this, perhaps it’s worth making a small sacrifice (like that cup of coffee from Starbucks/Costa you buy) and using the money to make a donation to one of the charities above? I’ll let you decide.

Foodbank Image Throughout the year, I’ve also donated items of food to a FoodBank run by The Trussell Trust. The UK is one of the richest countries in the world, yet in the last few years the numbers of people who need to use FoodBanks has dramatically increased. This is worrying and is symptomatic of some of the poorest people being forced to make some very difficult choices.

I’d like to share a thought with you: It seems to me that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I don’t write this to be depressive, simply to express a thought that many people are thinking.

Here’s another thought: This is not the kind of society I want to live in. Food, water and housing are all basic things that everyone should have access to.

So the question becomes: How do we go about changing our society for the better?
Any ideas or opinions, please comment below.

Take care,

Antony

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Friday 15 November 2013

My Visit to the Apple Store & Time Machine’s True Test

By Technology, Thinking2 Comments
Apple-logo After my iMac’s hard drive failed (see My iMac and The Blue Screen of Death), I was quoted 5-7 days for repair.

On Thursday (day 4) I gave them a call to find out if they’d had chance to take a look at it. The Apple Rep. said that it was still in the queue, that there was nothing she could do as it hadn’t been the 7 days quoted and that they would call me when it was ready to pick up. I thanked her for taking the time to check.

By Saturday (day 6) I still hadn’t received a call from Apple. I became increasingly frustrated at the lack of communication from Apple and the lack of a working iMac. I started to read reviews of bad customer service experiences and even thought about going back to Windows on the Lenovo Ideacentre A720 27 inch All-in-One PC.

Steve called Apple. The Apple Rep. said that it would be ready in a few days. This was outside the 7 days quoted. Steve asked why they hadn’t called to let us know, the Apple Rep. was unable to give an answer. The Apple Rep. sounded generally unconcerned and was generally unhelpful.

So Steve & I decided to go into the Apple Store (Trafford Centre) on the Sunday (day 7) and speak to them. We arrived at around two in the afternoon and headed to the Genius desk. They said that it wasn’t ready so I politely asked to speak to a Manager. The radioed Manager arrived, I explained my story and he didn’t look like he was going to help.

apple-mountain-lion-hard-drive-icon But then a second Manager interupted, spoke to the first manager and then addressed me. He said it would be repaired that day and advised me to come back twenty minutes before closing.

At five thirty Apple called to say my iMac was ready for collection. Steve & I went to pick it up. I spoke to the Apple Engineer who said he had replaced the hard drive. He said that as part of Apple’s new Quality Improvement Program he did a test and it had red flagged the graphics card, so he had replaced that as well. Both covered under the EU law. I thanked him and took my iMac home.

The repair being done on the day did restore some of my faith in Apple. However some of my disappointment remained and I realised it was because of the lack of communication when Apple knew they wouldn’t meet their quoted turn around time. I think because Steve & I turned up at the Apple’s Store they prioritised my repair; otherwise I could possibly still be waiting now.

I got my iMac home and Time Machine’s true test was about to take place. I set my iMac up as a new one and then restored from my Time Machine backup using Migration Assistant:

apple-os-mountain-lion-migration-assistant

The restore took time but worked perfectly and this rebuilt some more of my faith in Apple. I had to re-enter the product key for Microsoft Office and re-sign into a few other Applications, then I was back in business. Relatively hassle-free.

The lesson learned from this experience: don’t rely completely on one machine. I’m considering getting some sort of other computer/laptop so that I can continue as normal if my iMac goes down.

Write soon,

Antony



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Saturday 24 August 2013

Import: Birthday Celebration Ideas

By Creativity, Inspiration, Journalism, ThinkingNo Comments

The Gay UK is officially a year old this month. It’s amazing to think that in that time we’ve grown to a dedicated readership of 150,000 gay people per month, not just from the UK but internationally. With birthdays in mind, we thought about ways to celebrate a birthday other than the traditional alcohol-fuelled night out or throwing of a party.

If you’re lucky enough to share a birthday with The Gay UK, why not try something new? Here are some of our ideas:

1. Dinner and a Show
They say there’s nothing more social than the breaking of bread. Go to dinner, somewhere with delicious food and with those special to you.

After dinner go to the Theatre, see a fantastic show and complete celebration of another birthday. Our writers regularly watch shows and write reviews. Take a look at our Theatre Reviews section to find a show you’ll love on in a Theatre near you.

2. Visiting the Zoo
chester-zoo-2012-06
When was the last time you got up and close with nature? All sorts of animals in all stripes and sizes from across the world can be seen at your local zoo.

Homosexuality has been found in thousands of species of animals, so you might just see a gay zebra, penguin, lion or other animal. Just look for the animals that show a particular interest in others of the same sex.

3. Visiting a Theme Park
Feel the exhilarating rush that comes from a day of riding roller coasters. Release your inner child and visit a theme park. There’s something life affirming about your body being flooded with adrenaline as you’re scared out of your wits.

Many theme parks do gay days – specific dates aimed at attracting the local gay community. So if you’re single you might end up sat on a ride next to your ideal man. Just don’t let him hear you scream!

4. A Day at the Beach
hastings-2012-beach
Imagine seeing the beautiful horizon as you feel the sand under your feet. You taste of the salty air and hear the relaxing sound of the ocean. Well this can all be yours – if you choose to have a day out at the beach to celebrate your birthday.

This activity is dependent upon the weather, but if it’s nice make a day out of it by taking a picnic.

5. A City Break
liverpool-trip-012
Take a short break to visit another city. It can be a city in the UK or even a European city. Flights to Europe have never been cheaper.

6. A Holiday
If it’s an extra special birthday, contemplate splashing out on a holiday. Everyone has individual likes on holiday; for me it would be: sun, sea, sand and sangria. But you may prefer an adventure holiday.

Whatever sort of holidays you like, you’ll be able to find a reasonably priced one – as long as you don’t look at booking when school children are off school.

Got other Birthday Celebration Ideas? Post a comment below.

Published by: The Gay UK on Tuesday 23rd July 2013.

Here is what I learnt from writing this article:

  • Need to improve my article title’s to better sell them to the reader / encourage the reader to read.
  • That I can use an idea from my personal blog and expand upon it.
  • I have the odd photo that can be used for articles. Something to consider as photos help capture the reader and encourage them to read an article.



I aim for posts on this blog to be informative, educational and entertaining. If you have found this post useful or enjoyable, please consider making a contribution by Paypal:


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Sunday 7 July 2013
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