Gay marriage, Pussy Riot and that guy from the Big Bang Theory

Pussy Riot masks. Maria Alyokhina has received death threats in jail in Russia. And the colour coding here is super cute.

For the widespread delectation of all, here is a final round-up of stories from my time at Gay Star News.

'Celebrating' the publication of The Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Bill last Friday (25 January), I wrote a feature laying out the the differences between gay marriage and civil partnership. There are actually a surprising number of distinctions. Seven, to be precise.

More importantly, a Pussy Riot member incarcerated in a Russian jail is receiving death threats for her activism there.

Back on the never-ending train of stories about equal marriage: The Tory Defence Secretary Philip Hammond says UK gay marriage will threaten religious groups. He's probably right. But as comedian Wanda Sykes once pithily said, 'if you don't believe in same-sex marriage, then don't marry somebody of the same sex'.



Oh, then there's another story about gay marriage. Go on, you can stomach one more. This one has the low-down on a wildly attractive, mysterious businessman named Ivan Massow: Gay millionare to run as Tory MP in area split by gay marriage row.

Broadcaster and performance artist Amy Lame being awesome.

In other news:

Amy Lamé takes revenge on 'lezzer' white van man (this one is actually pretty cool)

Gay Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons develops child prodigy TV show

And finally, if you don't read this last one your life won't be complete:
Mayor apologises for banning gay signs from family fun day 

The rise and fall of the lesbian shock factor

Madonna and Britney get down at the MTV Video Awards. Cue worldwide shock.

I'm getting to grips with some really tough topics at Gay Star News these past days. Forget the Israeli elections and impending in/out/shake-it-all-about Eurogeddon. Put aside rampant un(der)employment and the destruction of the welfare state.

Instead, I present to you a gritty investigation into performances of same-sex desire in the British public sphere. Otherwise known as:

The rise and fall of the lesbian shock factor

I've also written a barrage of entertainment stories, including -

Alice Arnold, partner of sports presenter Clare Balding, speaks out on gay marriage:

Lesbian newsreader calls anti-gay marriage MPs 'hurtful'

Everyone's favourite child wizard chats about being a beat poet:

Daniel Radcliffe: Why not all English men are gay

This flamboyant guy who can't really sing (but who cries with incredible panache) is in another reality show:

Rylan Clark leaves Big Brother house for secret X factor rehearsals

Parents leave The Joy of Gay Sex book on son's pillow

The definition of feel-good. On at least two levels.

 A quick stories round-up from last week at Gay Star News.

This one is particularly heartwarming and was most-read on the GSN website for a day or two:

Parents leave The Joy of Gay Sex book on son's pillow 
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/parents-leave-joy-gay-sex-book-sons-pillow170113 

Winning at the unspoken 'best sign at the protest' competition

I also got sent to report on the anti-transphobia protest that took place outside the Observer in the aftermath of Burchill-gate. Having got some brilliant quotes from people who were there, I wrote it up in feature form:

Trans Brits demand to be freed from a hate-filled media 
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/trans-brits-demand-be-freed-hate-filled-media180113
 
There is also a lovely and brave video campaign being run by LGBTQ Jamaicans.

Gay Jamaicans go on video to show the world who they are
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/gay-jamaicans-go-video-show-world-who-they-are180113

Also, I foray gently and tentatively into the murky world of crime reporting:

Lesbian claims partner tortured, murdered bus driver for his PIN  
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/lesbian-claims-partner-tortured-murdered-bus-driver-his-pin170113

And there is more news about cervical cancer, in that the BMA say young gay men should be given the vaccine as well as the school-age girls who currently receive it.

Vaccine must be given to gay men to prevent anal cancer, says BMA 
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/vaccine-must-be-given-gay-men-prevent-anal-cancer-says-bma170113 

Finally, in a case of interns being given the most important news of the day, some bloke from Glee did an interview with the Metro newspaper. I was at the scene (of being able to read the Metro and rewrite what was said):

Chris Colfer: 'I'd love to do a Glee meets Downton special'
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/chris-colfer-id-love-do-glee-meets-downton-special180113

Jodie Foster's six greatest moments

All Jodie, all lesbian, all of the time

Today it was literally my job to watch clips of Jodie Foster movies on Youtube. I mean, I may not be being paid, but I'm certainly being allowed to sit in an office and assess the merits of (now openly) lesbian film stars. Who else knew that Jodie Foster was Lindsey Lohan in the original version of Parent Trap? Not me. This important morning's work became the literary tour de force, 'Jodie Foster's six greatest moments':

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/jodie-fosters-six-greatest-moments160113

I also wrote a news piece about the 'Protest Transphobia @ the Observer' demo, taking place tomorrow afternoon. Do I need to mention Julie Burchill again?

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/anti-transphobia-protests-scheduled-following-withdrawal-burchill-hate-rant160113

Also, it turns out that queer women have to go for cervical screenings because lesbian sex is real, just like other sex. I think that the speculum may be irrelevant to smear tests, really. They do it just to punish women:

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/lesbian-and-bisexual-women-risk-cervical-cancer160113


As I didn't blog yesterday, you can also read up on a couple of pieces I did then. First, a Stonewall walk against homophobic bullying:

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/want-stamp-out-anti-gay-bullying150113

Second and finally, there's a big gala being held to celebrate the Teddy queer film awards in Berlin:

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/soir%C3%A9e-diversit%C3%A9-awards-ceremony-launches-berlin-film-festival150113

Gay Star News stories of the day

Credit: GSN website. I hope they don't sue me or sack me for stealing this image. 

I'm doing a stint of work at Gay Star News, which is a website reporting international LGBT news. This means that instead of simply writing biting, funny and insightful commentary, I get to REPORT the NEWS. The real live events that are happening as we speak.

Over the next two weeks I'm going to post my stories up here daily. If you would like to know what's happening to queer people around the world (supposing you believe in global queer identity/ies) then I suggest you keep checking back.


Here is a selection of stories I wrote today:

1. Ghana Christian group slams pro-gay gender minister

Essentially, Ghana's new Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection is being badmouthed by a group of homophobic Christians:

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/ghana-christian-group-slams-pro-gay-gender-minister140113

2. Calls for Burchill to be sacked over 'disgusting' anti-trans rant

I don't think there are any members of the British commentariat who haven't written an opinion piece about Burchill-Moore-gate over the past two days. But this is NEWS, and therefore bears reporting. The story is about how former Minister for Equalities Lynne Featherstone tweeted that Burchill should be sacked. It also has some other juicy info.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/calls-burchill-be-sacked-over-disgusting-anti-trans-rant140113

3. Aboriginal gay man murdered in Canada

This is a sad one. It's also the most interesting story I wrote today. Dolan Badger, the man who was murdered, had previously written a really exciting piece about two-spirit identities and his struggle with different kinds of oppression: race, gender, indigenous heritage and so on. I linked to it in the report.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/aboriginal-gay-man-murdered-canada140113

4. Judge says UK civil partners can divorce like married Canadian couples 

Some men who were civilly partnered in Britain were allowed to divorce in Canada. Because their partnership amounts to a marriage. Good news for people in favour of equal marriage. Actually, it's great for one of the guys involved because he can get a divorce settlement and rights and so on. Excellent.

http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/judge-says-uk-civil-partners-can-divorce-married-canadian-couples140113