Tuesday 28 April 2015

UK Green Party candidate reveals he nearly died of AIDS
	David Kirwan told BuzzFeed News he was diagnosed with HIV so late that doctors didn't expect him to live. He is the first election candidate to go public about an AIDS diagnosis, and only the third to reveal he is HIV positive. The first and second were Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett and Paul Childs of the Liberal Democrats buzzfeed.com  28 Apr 15
UKIP would give Christians the right to discriminate
	'We will also extend the legal concept of ‘reasonable accommodation’ to give protection in law to those expressing a religious conscience in the workplace on this issue,' says UKIP's Christian Manifesto election2015.org.uk  28 Apr 15
GAY MARRIAGE NI Assembly rejects motion for fourth time
	A total of 96 MLAs took part in the vote, and 49 voted against the Sinn Féin motion calling for civil marriage equality for all, with 47 in favour bbc.co.uk  28 Apr 15
SHOW BIZ Sandi Toksvig steps down from Radio 4's News Quiz
	The 56-year-old will step down at the end of the upcoming series, which begins on Friday 15 May. Toksvig said she had made the "difficult decision" to leave in order "to embark on a new and exciting stage of her career" bbc.co.uk  28 Apr 15

Monday 27 April 2015

UK DUP minister Jim Wells quits as gay abuse comments cause huge online backlash
	NI Health Minister Jim Wells has quit his Executive post after facing massive pressure after he claimed children brought up by gay parents were more likely to be abused belfasttelegraph.co.uk  27 Apr 15
Election candidate wants gay people jailed, adultery made illegal
	Susan Anne White is aiming to become MP for West Tyrone. The devout Christian says her campaign will focus on moral issues including society's "dangerous" homosexual agenda belfasttelegraph.co.uk  27 Apr 15
HIV AIDS HIV home test kit goes on sale in UK
	The first HIV self-test kit that allows people to get a result in 15 minutes at home has gone on sale in the UK. Unlike other kits, these tests do not need to be sent off to a lab to get the results. It works by detecting antibodies on a small drop of blood, which are often only detectable three months after the infection is caught bbc.co.uk  27 Apr 15 Find an HIV test near you - its free and confidential tht.org.uk On sale now - £29.95 freedoms-shop.com
YOUTH AWARDS Stonewall name Sirina-Monique and Christian Webb its Young Campaigners of the Year 2015
Gok Wan hosted the annual Youth Awards, supported by Lloyds Banking Group. Stonewall Youth Volunteering Programme helps hundreds of young people develop and run campaigns to tackle discrimination against LGBT people youngstonewall.org.uk  27 Apr 15
GAY MARRIAGE Supreme Court seems on verge of ruling for Marriage Equality
	The U.S. Supreme Court's arguments on Tuesday over same-sex marriage will cap more than two decades of litigation and a transformation in public attitudes huffingtonpost.com 27 Apr 15
GAY BUSINESS Black gay privilege is a ridiculous notion
	A recent study alleges that black gay men get similar salaries to white straight men. That couldn't sound further from the truth theguardian.com  27 Apr 15
LGBT Week NYC rings the Nasdaq stock market closing bell
	Matt Skallerud and Thom Roth, co-producers of the event, will ring the Closing Bell. LGBT Week NYC was all about connections. How can you identify the best markets within LGBT to maximize ROI? Which mix of elements should be in your plans? How will you measure success? nasdaq.com  27 Apr 15 lgbtweek.nyc

17-26 April 2015

GAY PARENTS NI Health Minister called to explain his comments on same sex relationships
	Jim Wells apologised on Friday after he linked gay relationships and the abuse of children at a hustings meeting on Thursday night. Police are investigating the comments by Mr Wells bbc.co.uk  26 Apr 15
GAY MARRIAGE Dublin mural supporting 'yes' vote in equality referendum may have to be removed
	Dublin City Council has written to artist and advised him it might have to be taken down as there was no planning permission granted for artwork independent.ie  26 Apr 15
Hollyoaks star Kieron Richardson ties the knot in Buxton
	The couple had 12 bridesmaids each wearing a wedding dress Co-stars including Jennifer Metcalfe and Gemma Merna were among the bridesmaids buxtonadvertiser.co.uk 26 Apr 15

STICKS AND STONES Phrase 'that's gay' acceptable to nearly half of young people
	Almost half of young people (49%) think the term "that's gay" is acceptable to use. Newsbeat asked YouGov to survey 3,000 18 to 29-year-olds about where they draw the line with offence when it comes to sexuality, race and sexism bbc.co.uk 23 Apr 15

GAY BUSINESS Stonewall: We've come a long way but much more remains to be done in business arena
	At its annual Workplace Conference, Stonewall's chief executive, Ruth Hunt, said that the organization's Workplace Equality Index will now include questions about transgender equality gaystarnews.com 21 Apr 15
Anti-gay auto shop seeks business licence
	Grandville City Council earlier this year notified anti-gay Brian Klawiter that he needed to get a local business license, prompting Klawiter to tell the city that he views the licensing process as a violation of his constitutional rights mlive.com  21 Apr 15
IBM to Louisiana: Mind our business before passing religious freedom bill
	"A bill that legally protects discrimination based on same-sex marriage status will create a hostile environment for our current and prospective employees, and is antithetical to our company's values" wrote James Driesse, a senior state executive for IBM rt.com  21 Apr 15

Thursday 16 April 2015

UK Campaign for the future of the Royal Vauxhall Tavern
	Join the campaign for the RVT to be the nation's first building to be listed in recognition of its importance to LGBTQ community history. Because we think the RVT is such a unique and indispensable part of our country's LGBTQ history, we want it to become a listed building with  English Heritage rvt.community  16 Apr 15 Protest outside Black Cap Saturday 18 April, 1-5pm facebook
GAY MARRIAGE Call for Indiana-style conscience clause in Irish same-sex marriage referendum
	A petition calling on Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald to include a conscience clause as part of the same-sex marriage referendum has been initiated online rte.ie  16 Apr 15
Hillary Clinton's views evolve on gay marriage, just in time for presidential campaign
	After dodging questions and facing Bill Clinton's legacy, team shifts support from state-by-state decisions to federal, right ahead of supreme court arguments theguardian.com  16 Apr 15
SHOW BIZ Hollywood shows increase in the racial diversity of LGBT characters
	GLAAD's 2014 Studio Responsibility Index looked at 114 releases from the major studios and found 20 (17.5%) contained characters identified as either LGB or T. This is a slight increase from the 16.7% in 2013 glaad.org 16 Apr 15

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Wednesday 15 April 2015

UK The Black Cap Camden: Iconic gay and drag pub closed despite 'community asset' listing
	The Black Cap in Camden was unexpectedly closed last night after owners Faucet Inn pulled down the shutters on the pub, which has been open since the 1960s standard.co.uk 15 Apr 15
HIV AIDS Future HIV vaccine could flush virus out of hiding
	Researchers believe the injection could flush out dormant HIV hiding in white blood cells with a chemical 'kick', allowing a boosted immune system to identify and kill the cells dailymail.co.uk  15 Apr 15
Terrence Higgins Trust urges future Government to make four key changes on HIV policy
	Terrence Higgins Trust sent out a briefing HIV in the UK - What you need to know to all parliamentary candidates. As well as the call to action, it provides future MPs with all the facts and figures they need to know about HIV in the UK. Our four key aims are listed on THT's General Election web page  15 Apr 15
THT's members four key measures: 1. Introduce, in the first session of a new UK Parliament, compulsory Sex and Relationships Education for all schools, which is inclusive of young people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, and which has appropriate sexual health and HIV content. 2. Make HIV prevention a national public health priority, with effective funding, more varied testing options and access to the full range of prevention information and choices for all who need them. 3. End HIV stigma in health and social care settings through the training of all NHS and care staff. 4. Commit to the Disability Benefits Consortium's Five Things You And Your Party Can Do For Disabled People, to help ensure that people affected by HIV-related sickness or disability have the support they need.
UK £25,000 raised for record number of LGBT Labour general election candidates
	35 openly-LGBT candidates (including nine sitting MPs seeking re-election) will be on the ballot for the Labour Party on 7 May, with the £25,000 being distributed to 26 seats with new candidates, including nine standing in seats on Labour's 106 target list lgbtlabour.org.uk  15 Apr 15

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GBA Gay Business Association member: