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10 Reasons Why Pride Month is Important

By Gay, ThinkingNo Comments

Here are 10 reasons why Pride Month is important:

10. It allows LGBT people to be visible and celebrated as part of society. This is great for young people who are LGBT. It gives them hope and positive role models.

9. It helps to create safe spaces for LGBT people to be themselves. Without the risk of verbal or physical attack.

8. It helps bring the community together, as LGBT are a minority group.

7. It raises money for LGBT people with HIV or who have been made homeless due to being an LGBT person.

6. It allows businesses, public institutions/organisations and charities the opportunity to show their support to the LGBT community. In the past, some of these organisations may have treated LGBT people appallingly.

5. It is an opportunity to remember the LGBT people that came before. Those that campaigned for the rights that LGBT people have today.

4. It is an opportunity to show others that what we all have in common. What brings us together as a society.

3. It is an opportunity for our straight allies to celebrate with us.

2. LGBT people still face disproportionately high health issues, such as issues with poor mental health and addictions.

1. We still haven’t got equality for LGBT people in the UK yet. Never mind globally.

Want to know more about influential UK gay men? Read my free article, Influential UK Gay Men here.

Write soon,

Antony

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Wednesday 4 June 2025

Inequality: Making Society as a Whole Poorer

By ThinkingNo Comments

This is the definition of inequality according the Cambridge Dictionary:

Inequality is a global issue, but is particularly prevalent in the UK. The top 1% of the wealthy own more wealth than ever before.

There’s some data to suggest that even during COVID their wealth increased four fold. When I’m writing about wealthy people, I’m talking about people with assets or income worth multiple millions or billions of pounds.

As the wealthy become even more so, driven by greed, the poor and middle income earns get poorer. I mean how many more mansions, private jets and luxury yachts do wealthy people need?

The only way to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor in a capitalist society is to:

  • Make it impossible for wealthy people to hide their assets globally.
  • Tax the wealthy based on their assets and income.
  • Make sure there are no legislative loop holes that allows wealthy people to avoid their taxes.

The problem with reducing inequality, is that it can only be done by Governments. Governments both in the UK and internationally are run by the wealthy, seemingly for the wealthy.

Unchecked inequality inevitably leads to wealthy people owning everything and the poor owning nothing. Think of it as being like a game of Monopoly, eventually a few wealthy people horde all the money, at great cost to the everyone else who become poor.

So what can we do about it? Not much, unless we are in a position of power.

Blog soon,

Antony

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Saturday 11 January 2025

Book Review: World War Z – An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks

By Amazon, Books & Authors, ReviewsNo Comments
world-war-z-book-cover I bought World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War after watching the World War Z film. I loved the film and was looking forward to the book. But it’s taken me over a year to read it.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is written in an interview style, interviewing people from across the world, their memories unfolding what happened in the fictional zombie war. I had a huge problem with this style for two reasons.

Firstly, the reviews were set post World War Z. This meant that the reader knows from the outset that the characters being interviewed would survive, even if they be damaged physically or emotionally (which was usually apparent at the outset of the interview).

Secondly, there were so many different characters interviewed that I simply didn’t care for any of them. When the reader finds it difficult to connect with an ever-changing cast of characters it makes it difficult for you to care about their loss of family members, friends, colleagues, etc.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is well researched. Brooks has considered the politics, culture, society and economic operations of each country his interviewer visits. He demonstrates his exceptional knowledge of traditional warfare. The plot starts with the initial actions countries would likely take to a Zombie War. When these inital reactions don’t work Brooks moves the plot on to more extreme actions.

Brooks explores the entire globe (and beyond) through the interviews showing how the human race overcome the threat of extinction by coming together and working together. Humanity working together differently and creatively. The ending of the book is satisfactory; filled with hope for humanity, but is a little over sentimental for the genre.

Some people will love World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks; others will hate it. I neither loved or hated it. If anything it was mediocre and unexceptional.

We’ve all imagined what we’d do in a zombie apocalypse and for this reason alone I still want to read The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks.

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks is available to buy on Amazon.

Review soon,

Antony

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Monday 11 August 2014

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
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