Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my readers and thank you for reading my blog, if it wasn't for you there would be no point in me continuing with it.

So have a very merry christmas.

Don't Stand for Homophobic Bullying

I was recently browsing forums on queerattitude, when I seen one about this video. It's an Irish video about standing up against homophobic bullying. It is a really good video that is very moving. In my opinion the more people that see this the better.  I love how at the end they all stand up at the end holding hands showing support for their LGBT classmates.

Gay Teens, What we go through...

I was just brwosing youtube as I regularly do and I came across this video, I watched it a couple of times and have to admit I was upset by it.  There are a lot of people on youtube commenting saying that it is a fake but I don't think it is.  However as a lot of people have said even if it is a fake then fair play to the boy for being so convincing and for the message that his video has put across.

This video got to me as everything that he is describing that he is going through was exactly what I went through when I was younger.  Now i'm out to a large majority of the people I know and I am much happier, I will admit there have been a few things getting to me recently but it's nothing compared to what I and millions of others went through and continue to go through as gay teens struggling to come to terms with there sexuality.

People going through this need someone to talk to so if you are going through this please speak to someone, if you don't want to speak to someone you know then speak to people on gay forums such as www.queerattitude.com or www.gayteenforum.org or you can always email me at gyd@live.co.uk

If you know someone who you think is going through this then please be there for them.

Thank You

Malawi to review anti-gay laws due to "Public Opinion"

The justice minister of Malawi has added the countries anti-gay laws to a list of legislation he wants reviewed because the rules may not reflect "Public Opinion".

He said "In view of the sentiments from the general public and in response to public opinion regarding certain laws, the government wishes to announce to the Malawi nation that it is submitting the relevant laws and provisions of laws to the Law Commission for review."

This decision to review the laws came after key aid announcements by the UK and the US.

The UK government announced last month that aid would be redirected away from countries who do not protect citizens human rights and the US said that they would start taking LGBT rights into account when making aid decisions.

This is the reason Malawi is to look into it's laws.

Let me know what you think about this either by email at GYD@live.co.uk or commenting here

Homophobes

I was at work the other night behind the bar talking to another member of staff and all of a sudden I heard a guy shout "That's discusting" I looked around to see who was saying that and what he was speaking about.

I couldn't see anything so I asked the guy what was discusting as I thought there was something wrong in my pub that I would have to sort, but no it was nothing like that the guy just said "Those two guys just kissed" my immediate response was "Oh is that all" but then this guy just turned to me and said "Fucking poofs, I hate fucking poofs"

The other member of staff and I just looked at each other and grinned and then for some reason I just burst out laughing as I had no idea what else to do.  I then left that bar and headed to the other bar to get away from the guy.

What would you guys do in this situation, how would you have handled it?  let me know either by commenting or emailing me at GYD@live.co.uk

New Blood Donation Rules in the UK

Okay so the good news is, the lifetime ban on gay or bisexual men has been lifted.  However if you have had sex with another man in the last 12 months then you cant donate blood.

Although I do have to agree this is a majour improvement on the previous life ban it is still flawed, it isn't likely that you will find many perfectly healthy gay men who have not had sex in the last 12 months so effectivly we are still banned.

Please let me know your thoughts on this subject by commenting or emailing me at gyd@live.co.uk

Thank You

Judas Kiss

I recently watched a film called Judas Kiss for my other blog www.gifr.blogspot.com which I use to give my say on gay interest films.  I'm not going to give the full review but if you want to see it you can visit the blog.  This film is basically about a guy who goes to judge a competition for film school, he gets very confused when he comes across a student with the same name he used to go by when he was at that school who is also entering the same film he entered 15 years ago when he was at that school.  It turns out this boy is a younger him and this is his oppertunity to change events of his past and create a better future for himself.

This film made me think, if you could change your past what would you change and why?  I probably wouldn't have dropped out of college because now i'm wanting to go back and do the course I dropped out of.  Let me know what you think by emailing GYD@live.co.uk

If you want to see the film you can buy it from my store, just click the appropriate link on the left hand side of the page, depending on what country you come from US (Region 1 dvd's), UK (Region 2 dvd's)

Brandon McInerney Admits to Murder

Brandon McInerney has pleaded guilty to the second degree murder of his classmate Larry King and faces 21 years in prison.

When McInerney was 14 he shot King in the back of the head during a lesson.  McInerney had previously admitted killing King but denied that it was murder.  He had said that King who was 15, who self-identified as gay and wore feminine clothing had teased and provoked him.

A mistrial was declared when the jurors failed to reach a decision.  In a retrial he admitted to second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and use of a firearm. 

McInerney will now serve 11 years for manslaughter and a further 10 years for for the use of a firearm and will not serve any time for murder as part of a plea deal.

Greg King, Larry King's father said he understood the plea deal.  He said "I don't think that 21 year sentence is justice for my son, but I understand the reality of that was facing the DA, of trying to convict a defendant who was 14 when he committed the murder.

McInerney will face the full 21 year sentence and won't be let out early for good behaviour as part of the plea deal..

Evil Ex Post on queerattitude

I have just put a new post on queerattitude.com forum about my ex that I mentioned the other day.  The post is:

Okay so my ex boyfriend has been a bit of an arse to me.  He keeps randomly texting me out of the blue saying things deliberately to piss me off.  When we broke up he showed up at my work with another guy for a meal.  I lost it and overdosed and ended up in A&E and I am now on antidepressants because of the whole situation.  I am fine now probably because of the antidepressants but he keeps texting stupid things to me. 

For example yesterday I got a text saying he regretted ever going out with me, I replied "oh well, dont care" to which he responded "Ha aint that why you tried killing yourself" I got nasty and said a few things that I knew would annoy him, he then proceded to take the piss out of me because i'm on antidepressants before finishing his conversation with "Can't be arsed with c***s like you, shame ya didn't kill yourself" then sending another text straight after saying "no one cares ha"

I'm a little confused, what the hell am I supposed to do about this, I mean when he starts it I enjoy giving just as much abuse back to him but overall I would rather he just pissed off and left me alone.

What would you do in this situation?

Let me know what you would do either by commenting on this post here, emailing me at GYD@live.co.uk or by going to the post at queerattitude and leaving a comment there.  I would really like to know.

Thank you

Lady Gaga tops poll

Lady Gaga has topped the poll's in Stonewalls survey asking what celebrity has done the most to tackle homophobic bullying.  Lady Gaga is a favourite with the LGBT community.  Her most recent album was designed to push boundaries and the single that the album was named after "Born This Way" was named and the new gay anthem by Sir Elton John when it first came out. 

This comes after Lady Gaga announced that she is to launch the "Born This Way" foundation which she is launching with her mother to focus on issues such as anti bullying.

Let me know your views on this or let me know if there are any other issues you would like me to mention on here by emailing GYD@live.co.uk

Anti Bullying Week 2011

We are currently in the middle of anti-bullying week, it is running from the 14th to the 18th of November.  This years theme is "Stop and Think - Words can Hurt"

Apparently children in schools suffer from homophobic bullying regardless of sexual orientation and eight in ten secondary school teachers and two in five primary school teachers report hearing other insulting homophobic remarks such as ‘poof’, ‘dyke’, ‘queer’ and ‘faggot’.

Stonewall needs as many people as possible to get involved and try to raise funds to tackle this problem.  To find out how you can get involved or to find out more about this visit www.stonewall.org.uk

Can't live with them, Cant live without them

So as I mentioned before, I recently split up with my boyfriend.  For some reason however we stayed friends and it just didn't work, we were constantly arguing and I ended up being put onto anti depressants because of him.  He stopped speaking to me which was good, I was much happier and then out of the blue he started texting me again trying to piss me off and it worked but what he didnt expect was for me to start giving just as much abuse back, he didn't like this and picked on the one thing he knew would upset me.  He decided to remind me that people do want him and nobody wants me.  This upset me even more as I had asked a close friend earlier on that day if he would like to go out with me and he rejected me.

So you see, I don't know what to do i'm 22 living in a small town in north east Scotland where there isn't alot of people anyway and I am lonely and really want a boyfriend, I want someone to hug and love but I cant be arsed with guys if they are going to be like this.

This is me looking to you guys for advice now, please let me know what you think either by commenting or emailing me at GYD@live.co.uk

Update on me

Ok guys so I have been gone a while and feel I should tell you why.

I have changed jobs and I am now a supervisor in the busiest pub in town which is fun at times the only downside is trying to count all the tills at 3am.

I also met someone then split up and I tried to do some pretty stupid things that I shouldn't have. Now I'm looking for a 3 bedroom house with my ex and a friend.

So what have you guys been upto, email me at GYD@live.co.uk and let me know

Milk

Tonight I watched Milk, it's bad to say but until I watched the film I had never heard of Harvey Milk.

Harvey Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.  After about the age of 40 he started to participate in politics and gay activism.

Milk moved to San Francisco in 1972 during a migration of gay men to the Castro District.  He took advantage of the growing political power of the neighbourhood to promote his interests.

He ran for office three times unsuccessfully, however his campaigns gained him increasing popularity, and he won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.  Milk only served 11 months in office but was responsible for passing a gay rights ordinance for the city.  On the 27th of November 1978 Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White.  Dan White was another city supervisor who had resigned but wished to return to his previous position.

Mayor Moscone initially agreed to allow Dan White to return to his former position, however after more consideration and intervention from other supervisors including Milk the mayor decided to appoint someone else to the district.  Half an hour before the mayor was due to be in a press conference to announce Dan White's replacement White entered city hall through a basement window and headed to the mayor's office.  Witnesses heard shouting between White and mayor Moscone then they heard gun shots.

White then headed to his former office, on the way he asked Milk to step in, Milk was then shot 5 times including twice in the head at close range.

Dianne Feinstein heard the shots and called the police, after she identified both bodies she announced to the press what had happened.

UN Gay Rights Resolution

85 countries have signed the UN gay rights resolution to bring an end to laws against gay sex and also to stop homophobic attacks.

The resolution is asking states to "take steps to end acts of violence, criminal sanctions and related human rights violations committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity".

US president Barack  Obama's administration released a statement praising the resolution and calling on the UN to do more to tackle homophobia around the world.

Aswell as that Hilary Clinton also released a statement saying "Today 85 countries from every religion of the world joined together in a historic moment to state clearly that human rights apply to everyone, no matter who they are or whom they love.  Countries around the world participated, including many that had never supported such efforts, and we hope that even more countries will step up."

Depression

It is completely normal to feel upset or down occasionally, however depression is an illness that is much more serious, it can last years and can cause emotional and physical symptoms.  Some symptoms of depression are

• you can’t sleep or you sleep too much
• you can’t concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult
• you feel hopeless and helpless
• you can’t control your negative thoughts, no matter how much you try
• you have lost your appetite or you can’t stop eating
• you are much more irritable and short-tempered than usual
• you have thoughts that life is not worth living
• Constant sadness
• low self esteem
• reduced sex drive

When I was a little younger, just a couple of years ago growing up as a gay teenager I suffered from depression, most of the memories I have tried to block out but I hated myself I had countless suicidal thoughts but thankfully I didn't have the confidence to actually go through with them, but my life totally changed during my depression, I left the family home to share a flat with my cousin but the living arrangements there annoyed me so I moved out again into a house of my own.  I left college and took a full time position at one of my places of work but then a couple of months later I got annoyed with that job too so four years after starting there as a part timer I left and took a full time position at my other job in a pub, I tried deliberately to change my whole life just to try and create a life that I might actually enjoy I was inches away from moving away from my home town all together as I started trying to find away to run away and completely start over.

Thankfully things got better, I still work in the same pub and I actually sort of enjoy my life now.  So if you are going through this then please don't do anything stupid I promise it does get better.

If you are suffering from depression I would suggest going to a doctor as there are treatments available.

Changes to Ban on Gay Men Giving Blood Expected

The Government are expected to reveal changes to the law that stops gay and bisexual men being able to donate blood.

At the moment any man who has ever had sex with another man even with the use of condoms is prohibited from giving blood yet a straight guy can go and have unprotected sex with as many woman as they want everyday and still go and give blood.

According to health minister Anne Milton the issue was currently under consideration.  So hopefully very shortly the ban could be lifted.

Born This Way

I have found a new obsession, I'm now obsessed with Glee and Lady Gaga's new single born this way but more than that I am obsessed with a youtube video of Manchester gay village lip syncing to the song.  It's an amazing song and going by that video Manchester gay village looks so much fun, plus the dark haired boy that is in the video the most is stunning (In my opinion) although I'm not to sure about the thing in his nose but his eyes are really nice :).

I have a week off the week after next I think I may need to go for a trip to Manchester.  Who wants to come with me? haha

Lady Gaga ended an exclusivity deal with US retail giant Target.  This deal would have meant that Target were selling her new album "Born this way" exclusively in their stores however due to the retail giant donating to political causes that are linked to anti-gay views Lady Gaga pulled out of the deal in order to remain "true to her audience"

 I'n Glee news, Glee has been criticised for using the song "Do You Wanna Touch Me" in it's most recent episode shown in the US as convicted paedophile Gary Glitter co-wrote the song.  There are now plans to cut the scene from Glee before it is shown in the UK.  Now in my opinion this is just a song why are people so concerned about Glee using it.  I could understand people getting angry if they had him starring in the episode or something but just using a song surely shouldn't be a problem.

Let me know your views by emailing GYD@live.co.uk

And just for you here is the video to born this way that I mentioned

Dare

Dare is a new film out by paccadillo pictures, it's gay interest and I haven't got a clue what I thought about it.  I had heard good reviews about it so I decided to order it.  It arrived a few days ago so I sat and watched it.  When the film was on I was really enjoying it but then when it finished I was a little underwhelmed like I wanted to know more.  I wanted to see what happens next.  If you have seen the film please get in touch and let me know what you thought.

I also went to the cinema last week to see  I am number 4 it's not gay interest but it was a really good film.  It stars Alex Pettyfer as John/number 4, Dianna Agron from Glee as Sarah.  It is full of action and excitement and also hey Alex Pettyfer it gorgeous.  I get the feeling there is going to be a sequel to this which I cant wait to see but I really want to go and see this film again.  I would recommend this film to all of you guys.

Get in touch with me by commenting or send me an email to GYD@live.co.uk

In love with a straight guy

The gay guys curse, I think we all know it when you fall in love with a straight guy you can never have.  This happened to me, I fell head over heels in love with my straight best mate.  I used to go to the pub with him and would just be sat there looking at him wanting to make a move, thankfully I never have.

We stopped meeting up for a while due to many things like work and family commitments there was about a month or two where we didn't see each other, when we did meet up again I realised all my feelings had disappeared and they stayed away for a good while.  Then one night when we were a bit drunk in the pub he decided to experiment and see what it would be like to kiss another guy so he kissed me, then repeatedly through the night kept kissing me and I made the mistake of not stopping him.  Before I knew all my feelings for him had come flooding back so I decided maybe another short break from seeing each other may be a good idea.

We met up again tonight for the first time in a while and my feelings weren't gone.  However he managed to piss me off enough that I think they may be gone now haha.  

He often comes out with gay jokes or whatever and I have to admit it's just one or two and some of then are quite funny.  Tonight however he kept coming up with all these jokes and he kept outing me to strangers, one girl turned round to him at some point and said that we must be good friends because if one of her friends had done that to her she would be furious, I think I muttered under my breath at this point that I was furious.

I ended up cutting the night short and coming home to watch TV.  

Please let me know, have people done this to you?  If so how did you feel? how did you react?

Let me know either by commenting or emailing GYD@live.co.uk

Thank you

Sorry

I want to apologise for my lack of posts recently.  I have been having to do alot of hours at work and I have just been to tired to write anything when I get in from work.  Today I have been off, so I slept until 3pm then watched Charlie St. Cloud which is a really sad film but I did enjoy it, it's not gay interest (unless you are interested in Zac Efron) so I will not put it in my store but I will put links to buy it from Amazon at the end of this post.

I think all the hours at work are killing me, I don't think I have ever had a day off before where I have stayed in and just wanted to sleep all day.  I don't know what gay interest things to talk about just now but I will have something for Friday.  If you know of anything that you think is worth mentioning then just email me at GYD@live.co.uk

Charlie St. Cloud (region 1)

Charlie St. Cloud (Region 2)

Glee

I have never really seen what everyone else seems to see in glee, until now.  I only ever watched one episode and didn't really think it was that good, but then recently seen another episode and I loved it, so I watched the next episode and I loved that too.  So I went and bought the complete first season DVD and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm hooked.  I enjoy singing along with all the songs and it's story lines are funny and touching at the same time and they deal with alot of sensitive topics.

Please give me your opinions of Glee either by commenting or emailing GYD@live.co.uk also if there is a particular topic you would like to see me talk about on this site just let me know.

I have added the complete first season of Glee to my Amazon store's if you would like to buy it, my stores have a few DVD's that I have watched and would recommend to you.

To get the DVD in UK(Region 2) click here

To get the DVD in US(Region 1) click here

Study shows homophobia can make you ill

If you suffer from homophobic abuse a study has shown that you are more likely to become ill.

The study showed that people who had suffered from homophobic abuse had higher levels of cortisol in them.  Cortisol is the stress hormone, cortisol disruption can cause higher blood pressure, lower immunity to infections and memory loss as well as other things.

It has also been linked to increased suicide attempts.  I'm not saying that suffering from homophobic abuse is the only cause of higher cortisol levels because absolutely anything that causes stress will increase cortisol levels but for this blog we discuss homophobia.

Give me your opinion by emailing GYD@live.co.uk

Man says drugs turned him into a gay sex addict.

Ok so I was looking at pinknews.co.uk today and i seen a story about a married man with kids who had to take drugs for parkinsons disease. He to claims these drugs turned him into gay sex addict. Apparently they also made him become addicted to exposing himself on the internet, cross-dressing and gambling.

He is now trying to sue the pharmaceutical company Glaxo for this.

Maybe i'm just evil but there is part of me that thinks this is quite funny. Let me know what you think by emailing GYD@live.co.uk

High School Senior Comes Out

I have just seen thisvideo on youtube of a high school senior coming out to everyone in assembly.  This was one of the bravest things I think I have ever seen.

Have a look

Grindr

If you don't already know Grindr is an iPhone app for Gay, Bi or curious men.  It uses GPS technology to find other Grindr users near you so you can speak arrange to meet up or whatever.  I want to know your opinions on grindr if you have used it.

I have it on my phone and I regularly go onto it but I never really speak to anyone and if I do they are from miles away.  I think it is more an app for large cities not small towns.

Let me know what you think, do you use it?  does it work for you?

either comment or email GYD@live.co.uk

Another Gay Teen Death

So another young gay guy has died, Lance Lundsten (age 18) has died.  Now this time however it is very unclear what has happened, according to the police it looked like suicide, however his father has said that it was not suicide.  Nobody has even said what the injury was.

Apparently Lance came out on his facebook profile and he had been bullied at school due to his sexual orientation.

His friends have created a facebook page called the Jefferson Anti-Bully Coalition.

Please let me know your opinions on this by emailing me at GYD@live.co.uk

Thank You

Sorry

I know I haven't been here for a while, there are a few problems at work but i'm gonna try and do something with this soon.

JustUsBoys Pledge $10,000 to the Matthew Shepard Foundation

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The BBC

Can I just start of by saying, the BBC are really not helping themselves.  First of all they interviewed Stephen Green a gay execution supporter in relation to Elton John's Surrogate baby.  My opinion on this is it was pretty stupid but they argued that this was to give an equal argument.  So I think this has been blown totally out of proportion, but that's just my opinion.

However the other day I was watching newsnight  and I watched a guest speaker Carmen Callil as well as an Australian comedian talk about The Ashes.  Carmen described the Australian cricket team as "grossly overweight and unfit" she then commented about their blond prickly died hair.  The presenter Kirsty Wark said that perhaps that was their feminine side.

Carmen then said "No, it's not a femanine side, it's sort of a poofter side, isn't it", Kirsty then laughed and said "Oh my god Carmen.  You may say that, I would never say that."

However at no point was their an apology.  I understand that the comment wasn't made by any of the BBC staff, however the comment was made on a BBC program therefore I believe they should have apologised.

Please let me know what you think about this or any of my other posts or even let me know if you believe there is something I should be talking about by commenting or emailing me at

GYD@live.co.uk

Thank You 

R.I.P Puppy

This post has nothing to do with the general topic of this blog but I thought I would write it anyway. 

Before I went to work this morning I got a text from my dad to tell me that the family dog had died.  Although I knew this it obviously upset me but it never really hit me, if that makes any sense.  I went to work had a bit of a laugh and whatever.

But all of a sudden just now it's just hit me like a ton of bricks, I think it was just old age, I cant figure out exactly how old she was but I do know she was older than my 9 year old brother which I suppose means she was pretty old for a dog.

R.I.P Josie
xxx

US Military & Social Networking

Following the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell a facebook style social networking site for Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual service members called 'Out Military' the author of the website  John McKinnon  said that anyone that does join up at the moment would be best not to use their full names.

In other news, a US Navy captain has been temporarily relieved of his duties after homophobic videos that he created to be viewed by crew members have been leaked.  These sketches are said to include lesbian shower scenes, anti gay insults and simulated masturbation.

A veteran and executive director of of the service members legal defence network, called on the navy to investigate the video's.

It has also come out that actress Glenn Close appeared in one of these videos, Glenn unwittingly appeared near the end of the video holding a stuffed parrot during a montage to Peter Cetera's 'Glory of Love,' just after a close shot of condoms and lube.

In respose to this she issued this statement "I am distraught that my image has been used to perpetuate something that I abhor. The cynical, unauthorized use of my image in this video is deeply offensive and insulting, and was the result of a seemingly innocent request of me during a visit to the aircraft carrier over four years ago."

If you would like me to speak about any specific topic or if you would like to send me a post to put up then email me at GYD@live.co.uk

Thank you