Tag Archives: PinkNews

Rose and Rosie have reveal the first time they met, had sex and their first fight

In an original PinkNews series, First Times, Lesbian and bisexual YouTube couple Rose and Rosie reveal their first times–including when they met, first time they kissed and experienced homophobia and biphobia.

The pair have been filming their relationship since its early stages, and fans have seen them get married.

Rosie explained

“It’s weird because we can’t really separate our relationship and YouTube because the moment we started dating, Rose started turning on the camera and broadcasting it online. So people do ask how’s it affected our relationship, but I don’t know because we haven’t not YouTubed our relationship.”

The couple shared the first time they met, their first kiss and first time experiencing biphobia and homophobia.

UK LGBT People Should Fear Government ‘Complacency’, Says Stonewall

If you’ve been following the debates in the run up to the UK’s general election in May, then you’ll know that the top three deciding ‘issues’ that will determine which party gets into power are: immigration, the NHS and the economy. British people want to know how the government is going to cut the deficit, they want to know how the government is going to curb the rise in immigration (or at least build better infrastructure to cope with it) and how the government is going to stop the NHS from going under or going private.

Most notably not a talking point this time around is equality.

England, Scotland and Wales all have marriage equality and all three countries also have laws that permit adoption of children by same-sex couples or allow same-sex partners to be listed on a child’s birth certificate. Northern Ireland is a little bit behind when it comes to LGBT equality but it’s slowly but surely getting there.

The problem Stonewall has is that although the laws that have been passed already are important and are vital on the road to full equality, they are nowhere near comprehensive. There are still great changes that need to be done but “people assume that legal equality is enough by itself” and “there is still a lot to do to change social attitudes towards LGBT people”.

In a Huffington Post article, the LGBTQ organisation explains that the following need to be addressed by the main political parties of the coming election:

  • “Statutory Sex and Relationship Education for primary and secondary school children in England. This includes talking about different types of families to make people aware of the diversity of family life. It also means ensuring that the issues facing LGBT young people are included across the board, including in discussions around consent, abuse and online safety. Finally, Stonewall is calling on the next government to show its commitment to tackling homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying by ensuring all teachers are trained effectively.
  • Combatting homophobic, biphobic and transphobic hate crime. This must be high priority and should be added to the list of ‘aggravated’ offences alongside hate crime based on race or religion. The next government should spearhead a campaign that encourages LGBT people to report all incidences of hate crime; we must abolish the notion that some incidents are not serious enough to report.
  • International aid. The next government must develop initiatives to ensure aid reaches LGBT people across the world. It should encourage its partners to embed LGBT equality into the way they plan and deliver aid, with the support of LGBT people in their countries, and it should make specific funding available for LGBT groups to achieve social change.
  • Reviewing the laws affecting trans people. We also know that across the UK trans people have to fight for the right to be themselves, often struggling with a legal system that doesn’t make that easy. That’s why we’re asking all candidates to commit to reviewing laws affecting trans people, including the Gender Recognition Act, to ensure that all trans people are treated as equal citizens with equal rights.”

Unfortunately, none of these things have been mentioned in a positive light or at all during this election season. For example, the UK Independence Party (commonly known known as UKIP) has come under fire for its views on LGBT equality, having opposed several rulings that would help tackle homophobia against same-sex couples moving from the UK to other parts of the EU and in 2014 they didn’t support the calls to work on a strategy that tackle homophobia across Europe. Whilst UKIP certainly isn’t alone in its poor LGBT track record, the fact that LGBT rights have only really come up when a member of UKIP has said something against them is rather telling.

There’s just one month to go until the UK general election (May 7) so it seems unlikely that any of the leading political parties will change their tune between now and then, but we should still push for them to take action no matter what.

UK General Election News | Conservatives Are Level with Labour in Winning LGBT Votes

The Conservatives are now neck and neck with Labour as the favoured party of LGBT voters, according to a recent opinion poll for PinkNews.

The survey of voting intentions puts both the Tories and Labour on 26% – a 5 percentage point rise since the last election in 2010 for the Conservatives, while Labour is down two percentage points.

Surprisingly, the poll reveals support for the Liberal Democrats has dropped considerably. Five years ago, the Lib Dems where the most popular party, with 40% of LGBT people saying they would vote for them.

According to the survey, the Greens have made the biggest gains in the LGBT vote. Their support has leaped from 4% to 20% in five years.

Ukip had the lowest support – with just 2% of LGBT voters.

Pink News chief executive Benjamin Cohen said:

“The polling shows that the LGBT community is as divided as the rest of the country when it comes this year’s general election. However, there is one striking difference, the almost negligible level of support for Ukip and consequently the increased popularity for the Greens and SNP. ”

This is the first time in the 10 years that PinkNews has polled the LGBT community that the Conservatives have led the survey of voting intentions. Under David Cameron’s leadership gay marriage was legalised last year.

On the Conservatives’ new popularity amongst gay voters Cohen said:

“There is not a reason not to vote Conservative if you’re gay. Probably what you’re going to do is make a decision based on the economy or other issues. This is the first election that the leadership of all the mainstream parties’ leadership have demonstrated they are supportive of the LGBT community.”

LGBT voters ranked the economy as the most important reason for choosing who to vote with LGBT policies in fourth place.

Emily Brothers, The UK’s First Trans Parliamentary Candidate

Things have changed massively in the past 14 years for the United Kingdom’s LGBT citizens. For example, same gender marriage is now legal in both England and Scotland and there are several anti-discrimination acts in place to protect LGBT people, whilst people are now able to legally change their gender on official documents and sex reassignment surgery can now be done via the NHS.

Yet despite these big moves, there is still much work to be done, particularly in terms of trans rights. To get a Gender Recognition Certificate not only do you have to have transitioned two years before applying, but you also have provide ‘supporting evidence’ for you GRC case, essentially forcing people into convincing the government about their identity.

There are also a great deal of misconceptions and intolerant opinions surrounding trans people. Looking to change those and champion trans rights in the process is Emily Brothers, a parliamentary candidate for labour who has just come out as trans.

Coming out in an interview with PinkNews, Brothers told the publication that,

“I don’t want to be somebody who has notoriety as having a transgender background, but I also believe it’s an experience that has value to it, that I can be a positive role model. For a lot of people of a transgender experience that can be very challenging but for me, it was absolutely the right thing to do. I am happy and content as a woman, and also as a gay woman.

There is vast under-representation of disabled people and people with transgender experience in public life, and there is of course vast under-representation of women in parliament, and that needs to change.”

As a politician, trans rights, disability rights and the NHS will be three of her main focus areas as not only is she both trans and disabled but she spent many years in hospitals as a child because of her condition (she lost her sight to glaucoma as a child) and understands the important and the need for free public healthcare. 

With Brothers now standing for parliament in Sutton and Cheam, a successful campaign will undoubtedly bring much needed diversity and a fresh way of thinking to Westminster. And with Labour leader Ed Miliband tweeting his support, saying that he is both “proud” of Brothers and noting that she has an “important voice” in Labour’s movement, it seems that she could bring real, significant change to UK politics.