All posts tagged: Gay

Comedian Tom Allen on his BBC same-sex marriage show Big Gay Wedding

Comedian Tom Allen on his BBC same-sex marriage show Big Gay Wedding

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Comedian Tom Allen has reflected on the erasure he faced as a young gay man ahead of the release of his BBC documentary Tom Allen’s Big Gay Wedding, which celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the same-sex marriage act in England and Wales. In the documentary, the comedian transforms into a wedding planner, with just 10 weeks to organise nuptials for a gay couple from Brighton called Adam and Dan. Allen, 40, enlists the expertise of contacts from his star-studded phonebook, including Strictly Come Dancing and Bake Off star John Whaite for help with the cake, Oti Mabuse for the choreography on the big day and “Murder On the Dancefloor” singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor for the entertainment. But between the menu planning, cake tasting and suit fittings, Allen traces the history of same-sex marriage legislation in England and Wales to mark the anniversary of the Same-Sex Couples Act, which was …

Jean Smart Talks Being a Gay Icon at Human Rights Campaign Dinner

Jean Smart Talks Being a Gay Icon at Human Rights Campaign Dinner

The Human Rights Campaign honored Jean Smart and Sterling K. Brown at its 2024 Los Angeles Dinner, held on Saturday night at the Fairmont Century Plaza and featuring a keynote speech by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. The night — which toasted those working for LGBTQ+ equality — kicked off with Biden’s speech following a short introduction from both First Daughter Ashley Biden and HRC president Kelly Robinson. Early into the her address, the first lady was interrupted by protesters shouting, “Ceasefire now.” One person who was escorted out by security held up a sign that read, “Queer Jews Say Ceasefire Now.” Biden momentarily paused her speech, but didn’t directly address the protesters. Biden spoke about her relationship with the president before jumping into issues the LGBTQ+ are currently facing. “This community is under attack,” Biden told the crowd. “Rights are being stripped away. Freedoms are eroding. More and more state laws are being passed, targeting this community.” Biden also touched upon the administration’s victories in regards to the LGBTQ+ community including marriage equality, removing …

Luke Evans: ‘Gay people were given the right to marry… and the right to divorce’

Luke Evans: ‘Gay people were given the right to marry… and the right to divorce’

Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Luke Evans would like to clarify something, as I’ve made the mistake of calling him hench. “Firstly, Dwayne Johnson is hench,” the actor says, cheerfully yet firmly, in his mellifluous Welsh growl. “Chris Hemsworth is hench. Put them next to me and I look like a matchstick.” The decidedly un-hench Evans may not feel particularly stacked in the upper-arm department, but he’s certainly played a lot of muscly men. In the live-action Beauty and the Beast he was Gaston, a throbbing vein of musical machismo. He was a swashbuckling archer in the Hobbit trilogy, the Greek god Apollo in Clash of the Titans, and a surprisingly tender Zeus in the action thriller Immortals. He’s even been a villain in a Fast & Furious movie, that practically annual convention of the square-jawed and bountifully burly. Finally, there’s Evans’s Instagram, which suggests he leads a blissful, sun-kissed life of topless reclining and …

Ricky Martin reveals emotional reason he came out as gay after being warned it would ‘end’ his career

Ricky Martin reveals emotional reason he came out as gay after being warned it would ‘end’ his career

Ricky Martin has revealed the emotional reason he decided to publicly come out as gay – despite his former team claiming it would “be the end of your career”.  The 52-year-old confirmed his sexuality in 2010 at the age of 38 in a letter he posted on Twitter, now X, after years of speculation.  Ricky admitted that it was his father, former psychologist Enrique Morales, who encouraged him to come out to avoid teaching his children to “lie”.  © Getty ImagesRicky came out as gay in 2010 The Palm Royale star is father to 15-year-old twin sons Matteo and Valentino – whom he welcomed via surrogate in 2008 – and shares daughter Lucia, five, and son Renn, four, with his ex-husband, Jwan Yosef.  During an interview on Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen Live, he recalled the conversation he had with his dad, who told him: “Rick, you need to come out.”  Ricky added: “Especially when I became a father, he said, ‘What are you going to [do] teach your kids, to lie? You gotta be open. …

Our Son review – Billy Porter and Luke Evans are gay dads in poignant custody battle | Film

Our Son review – Billy Porter and Luke Evans are gay dads in poignant custody battle | Film

This poignant drama is practically a remake of Kramer vs Kramer from 1979 – though this time with two divorcing New York-based dads fighting for custody of their kid instead of K2’s traditional pairing of a husband and wife. And like the older Dustin Hoffman-Meryl Streep vehicle, Our Son is a bit soapy and middlebrow, but impeccably performed all-round, led by a trio of terrific turns from Luke Evans and Billy Porter as the two fathers, with winning, winsome support from Christopher Woodley as Owen, their eight-year-old son. The script, co-written by Peter Nickowitz and director Bill Oliver, delivers an acute, subtly shaded group portrait of current gay lifestyles, from married-with-children types like Nicky (Evans) and Gabriel (Porter), who are monogamous until Gabriel strays without pre-agreement into another’s man’s arms, to older men who never wanted that kind of domesticity, to young ones still having one-night hook-ups out on the scene. And that’s just the guys – there are also some lesbian characters represented, not least Pam (Robin Weigert), Nicky’s family law attorney who is …

Jonathan Groff & Karan Soni’s Winning Gay Rom-Com

Jonathan Groff & Karan Soni’s Winning Gay Rom-Com

Walking out of the theater after DDLJ, Jay (Jonathan Groff) launches into a defense of the over-the-top emotionality of Bollywood romances. “I think we’re all embarrassed by the bigness of love,” he declares. His date, Naveen (Karan Soni), is intrigued but skeptical, later recounting the interaction to his work bestie (Peter S. Kim) as a bit weird and kind of corny. Because A Nice Indian Boy is a rom-com, though, it’s practically a given that Naveen will come around by the end. The film delights in public displays and grand gestures, such that it opens and closes on a pair of weddings. But its real strength lies in its sensitivity toward the messy feelings, smaller acts, and platonic and familial bonds that underlie those epic shows of romance. By the end, even those who don’t fancy themselves the sentimental type — as Naveen doesn’t, and I don’t particularly either — are likely to be won over by its modest but dependable charms. A Nice Indian Boy The Bottom Line A modest charmer. Venue: SXSW Film …

11 Reasons Some Straight Men Have Gay Sex | Dr. Joe Kort

11 Reasons Some Straight Men Have Gay Sex | Dr. Joe Kort

The following scenario happens many times: A man comes into my office, referred by his own therapist and clutching coming-out literature that the therapist has given him. He explains that his therapist has tried, unsuccessfully, to help him come out as gay or bisexual, but even though he’s had sex with other men or gone to gay porn websites, he insists that he isn’t gay. He says that he isn’t homophobic either; if it turns out that he is indeed gay or bisexual, he’ll accept it and move on with his life, but the label just doesn’t feel right to him. During the last three decades, in reaction to prejudiced and destructive anti-gay attitudes, we’ve seen the pendulum swing so far in the other direction that it’s now become almost a therapeutic credo, not to mention a requirement of political correctness, to assume that men who have sex with men are “in denial” and need help to recognize and accept their “true” homosexual orientation. In fact, neither extreme represents the experience of many men. The …

‘Don’t Say Gay’ law settlement says Florida teachers can discuss LGBTQ topics

‘Don’t Say Gay’ law settlement says Florida teachers can discuss LGBTQ topics

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, at Classical Preparatory School, March 28, 2022, in Shady Hills, Fla. Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday, March 11, 2024. Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP hide caption toggle caption Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, at Classical Preparatory School, March 28, 2022, in Shady Hills, Fla. Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached Monday, March 11, 2024. Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times via AP ORLANDO, Fla. — Students and teachers can discuss sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms, provided it’s not part of instruction, under a settlement reached …

‘I was cancelled’: Beverley Knight on gay rights, race and her West End renaissance | Beverley Knight

‘I was cancelled’: Beverley Knight on gay rights, race and her West End renaissance | Beverley Knight

Beverley Knight is mid song. Joss Stone’s Super Duper Love is playing in the restaurant we’re meeting in, and I’ve caught her lost in the music. “Yeah, I’m diggin’ on you, now baby? Yeah,” she warbles at low volume, yet with all the same soul, depth and tender warmth that earned her the nickname “Little Aretha” from her noteworthy admirer: David Bowie. “It’s an automatic response for me to sing,” she says. “I hear a song and I have to join in. It’s the most natural thing in the world for me.” David Bowie with Knight – ‘Little Aretha’ – in London, 2000. Photograph: Brian Rasic/Getty Images That Knight is always ready to sing won’t surprise anyone that has seen a glimpse of her decades-spanning career: be it as the multiple award-winning artist that could once call Prince a mentor and Ice Cube a fan, or as the darling of the West End, having formed a formidable career in musical theatre in recent years. This includes two Olivier nominations for her performances in Memphis (2015) …

‘You’re gay, sir, innit?’: As a teacher, I kept my sexuality a secret – until I couldn’t | Life and style

‘You’re gay, sir, innit?’: As a teacher, I kept my sexuality a secret – until I couldn’t | Life and style

It was my first week as a fully fledged teacher. Pinned up next to my sixth-form college whiteboard, the neatly coloured timetable told me that the AS literature group were next. They milled around outside the classroom, brimming with nervy start-of-term small talk: how vast the site was compared with the various secondary schools they’d said goodbye to a few months ago; stuttered lists of subject choices. I opened YouTube on my monitor, increased the volume and beckoned the students in. Twenty bemused kids made their way to their seats as I clicked to the beat at my desk, before rising to my feet to offer a laid-back two-step. I got a quizzical thumbs up; one brave soul testingly called out: “Yeah, funky, sir?” As they peeled out of their box-fresh hoodies, Fela Kuti’s Water No Get Enemy strolled towards its chorus. Playing “cool tunes” as students filed in was one of many gimmicks I used at the start of my teaching career, all of which now seem utterly laughable. But back in 2011, I …