No Room at the Inn

Originally posted on www.vadamagazine.com

Living in the UK, where equal rights for gay people are exceptionally better than many other places in the world, and where the debate for equal marriage has gained continued momentum, things only look like they’re going to go from strength to strength for LGBT issues. However, despite this there remains a certain degree of discrimination shown towards members of the LGBT community on a regular basis that we hear about in the news.

Just this week it emerged that a gay couple were refused a double room at a hotel in London by a receptionist who asked them numerous times: “are you sure you don’t want single beds?” (Nick Hurley, the person in question is pictured above).

Despite booking their room online, one of the men in question explained how he felt he and his partner had been treated in a homophobic way.

I doubt the same treatment would have been given to a straight couple if they arrived at a hotel room looking to share a bed.

However this treatment isn’t isolated to one particular case, but instead we can find a string of numerous news stories that highlight this type of treatment given to gay people.

Last year a gay couple won a court case against the owners of a B&B after they were turned away, despite booking the room and paying a deposit, because one of the owners claimed that allowing them to stay would violate her religious beliefs.

There were also two separate incidents in 2011 where a lesbian couple took legal action against a hotel after they claimed they were turned away for being gay. 2011 also saw the gay kiss pub protest after a gay couple were thrown out of the John Snow pub in Soho for kissing, which was called “obscene.”

Another incident in January 2013 saw a gay couple denied access to a bar because it was “couples only” and they were the wrong type of couple.

It’s awful to think that in 2013 some people still feel they can deny basic forms of equality such as sharing a bed or accessing a bar, simply because someone is gay. This in spite of The Equality Act making it illegal to refuse people goods and services on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Could you imagine if the roles were reversed and a gay person or couple denied a straight couple a hotel room simply because they were not gay, or if a person who doesn’t like children refused a family a table in a restaurant or a room at a hotel because they had a child? Well you couldn’t because this thing would probably never happen as it would be deemed ridiculous. Yet some people still think it’s OK to deny gay people basic rights.

The Thistle hotel involved in the incident in London has apologised to the couple involved, with spokesman Chris King telling ITV News: “From our initial investigations it appears that the couple booked through an online booking system which didn’t work properly and so when they arrived at the hotel there were no double rooms available. We are very sorry if the couple feel they have been badly treated and we are now looking into the situation.”

He added: “Having spoken to Mr. Hurley we understand that the couple were not too upset that there were no double rooms available, but rather with the manner in which this information was conveyed. We have offered them a free night in one of our hotels but they have refused this offer. Thistle does not tolerate homophobic behaviour and will investigate this matter thoroughly.”

Where as we can see public apologies being made and public protest, particularly in the incident with the Soho pub through the now infamous kiss protest, these are only the incidents we know about. Many people still feel as though they can’t come forward with their stories because they are scared or feel that there is no point, as nothing will be done.

But as we can see things are getting noted and acted upon, there is definitely a need to speak up and say something. Issues involving gay people are now being covered much more frequently by the press, and not in a negative manner, because gay people aren’t taking it anymore. People have been fighting for full equality for years and finally it looks like we may not be far from it, in the UK anyway.

When Procrastination Turns Into Laziness

Originally posted on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Procrastination is something that I have become a master of over the last few years, which began in sixth form when certain tasks become a priority over my coursework for my A Levels. However at the time I was unaware that this was the development of my status as the procrastination king.

As I went to University I began perfecting this art. As many University students will know, when it comes to gathering a pile of books to find information and quotes to help develop a 2,000 word essay, menial tasks suddenly become the most important things that ever existed. You tend to find yourself taking your clothes to the washing machines knowing that in an hour they will need to be put in the tumble dryer, this means that for the next few hours you can't actually start your essay as you will need to go to the tumble dryer and move your clothes and then ultimately have to bring them back and put them away.

This is only one of a number of tasks I found myself doing during the first two years of my University life, one time I found myself on my hands and knees cleaning my bedroom skirting boards, as they looked a little too dusty. The fact that I had a deadline in a few days time obviously had nothing to do with my sudden need for a spring clean, well that's what I told myself.

I know a whole host of people from my time at University who also found they succumbed to the need to complete pointless tasks in order to delay thinking too much about their essays. However luckily for me by the third year I had grown out of this phase, as I wanted to get my work done and attain a good grade, since this was the main reason I went to University in the first place. I also know that a number of my fellow students grew out of this as the workload got heavier and more important.

This was a good thing as the constant work made sure I couldn't get too distracted, obviously now and again updating my Facebook status became much more important. But overall this art of procrastination was beginning to go as I prepared myself for the workload I would endure when I was finally finished with my studies, and entered the world of full time work.

However for me, like many other graduates things didn't manifest as I'd hoped and I found myself sitting at home applying for copious amounts of jobs praying for the day I'd start work. This therefore brings me to a key point, when does this art of procrastination stop being procrastination and become laziness and more importantly does having nothing to do breed laziness?

I say this because when I was at University procrastination may have distracted me from my studies but it also meant that tasks such as the washing the dishes or doing the laundry got done, and in the end so did my assignments. But now that I am out of University with no assignments I don't find myself becoming distracted by the washing, therefore it doesn't get done as much as it used to.

Now I find myself sat on the sofa, drinking tea, applying for jobs and watching the TV, in a state that many people would call laziness. Its not that I am lazy, in fact I love being busy as I'm sure many other people do, it's just that I have nothing to do, so by having nothing to do these menial tasks become the only thing I have to do and once they are done they are done, leaving me with extra hours to sit around and do nothing.

The way it feels is that whilst the job market is in such a bad state, meaning that many graduates and people in general can't get jobs, leaving them at home with nothing to do after they've done their tedious tasks and applied for all the jobs there are to apply for, which isn't many, they find themselves slipping into a state of being bored where doing nothing is the only thing to do.

With more and more people being out of work for much longer periods of time, and by having nothing to do its looks as though the inability to get many people into work is breeding a generation of experienced laziness as their main skill, not because they are lazy but because it's the only thing they now know how to do.

Review: Call Me Kuchu

Originally published on www.biggaypictureshow.com

Call Me Kutchu takes an intimate and thought provoking look at the state of affairs for members of the LGBT community in Uganda, against the backdrop of the kill the gays bill.

In recent years the world has become aware of the negativity shown towards gay men and women in Uganda, and this film shows us what activists in the country are doing to try and make inequality a thing of the past. It also shows us the final year of gay rights activist David Kato towards the latter half of the film, which will evoke strong emotions from the audience, some of you may even cry.

The documentary is an eye opener for those of us who live in the West that don’t realise how easy life is compared to that of many around the world. In the documentary we hear a number of harrowing tales from a select group of gay people and activists in Uganda that range from violence, stoning, abandonment and even rape. Some of these tales will leave you open mouthed and shocked that nearly 50 years after gay liberation started, some people are still subjected to persecution on a daily basis. The realisation of just how severe things are in Uganda is shown when David Kato is murdered and the scene that ensues at his funeral.

One thing that is particularly good about this film is the way in which directors Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall show us the debate on homosexuality in Uganda from both sides. We see the negative affects it has on people on a daily basis and what they are doing in the fight for equality, but they also enable us to see the mind-set of the people trying to oppress them and how they are targeting gay people. This is most evident when we are told by the managing editor of The Rolling Stone newspaper that in the name of journalism, they would ignore the right of privacy to expose gay people for public knowledge, and also how the paper itself links gay people to terrorism.

However against the sadness of the documentary you see hope in the LGBT community, as they enjoy themselves together and remain positive in a shared optimism that one day Uganda will be fully equal.

Overall the film is a touching and informative human tragedy that will have you engrossed from beginning to end, and cheer when you see just how much progress they are making. But as they mention throughout the film the struggle continues.

How Music Gave Gay People a Voice

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

We’ve heard a lot of talk through our lives about how people and certain aspects of culture have helped change perceptions of gay people. From films such as Cabaret and Brokeback Mountain to people like Antony Grey and Peter Tatchell, and of course there are the Stonewall riots.

But one thing that has been a constant throughout the fight for equality is the sound of music, and I don’t mean the Julie Andrews film. Music is a way of connecting people from a broad range of social backgrounds as it expresses pain, emotions, determination and everything else in between and has certainly given many gay men and women across the world a voice over the years. Not only that but many of the artists have helped give us representation in the public eye for quite some time now.

Before and up to the mid 1960s it would have been pretty hard to release a record such as Lady Gaga’s‘Born This Way.’ During this period, many gay men attached themselves to songs such as ‘Over the Rainbow’ and ‘The Man That Got Away’ by Judy Garland, who is often considered a gay icon due to her struggles, which many gay men identified with. But back in the 1960s there was a counterculture big enough to see the release of some records that are now seen as gay. The book From the Closet to the Charts: Queer Noises 1961 – 1978 documents this and discusses a number of records such as ‘The Shower Song (I’m So Wet)’ that would have apparently embarrassed the Village People, and even an openly gay record label called Camp, which saw the release of 10 singles and two albums.

Music itself hasn’t always been as ‘straight’ as many would think. Openly straight songs about men and women falling in love dominated the charts back then, but you have to remember that during 1960s America black people had their own separate music charts. The mainstream industry was very straight and white then; some people didn’t even like the birth of rock ‘n’ roll.

However, as music progressed into the 70s and 80s it got a little more ‘queer’. We saw the birth of disco and glam-rock; filled with sparkles, platform shoes, big hair and men in make-up, and we saw gay men hit the charts and gay songs do very very well.

One of the most well-known and arguably most pivotal moments of the 1970s was David Bowie’s ‘I’m Gay’ interview in Melody Maker, which finally saw music come out, so to speak. However, years later Bowie stated that there was a backlash in America, but there’s frequently some kind of resistance over there. You only have to look at the controversy Adam Lambert caused during the 2009 American Music Awards – where he kissed a man on stage, prompting ABC (the American television network that aired the awards) to receive over 1,500 complaints and cancel Lambert’s performance on Good Morning America – to see just how shocking something like this would have been in the 1970s. Still, we progressed and music helped in our fight. Hits like ‘Y.M.C.A’ proved popular across the world, despite the majority of the straight population not realising that the song was referencing the YMCA’s reputation as a gay hook-up and cruising spot. Similarly, Sylvester burst onto the scene with ‘You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)’. With a black, gay drag queen now lighting up the charts we can see just how far music had progressed, and the exposure Sylvester gained for gay people should never be overlooked.

It’s no doubt that Sylvester helped inspire a barrage of gender bending stars of the 1980s. As the MTV generation was born, singers like Boy George, Steve Strange, Pete Burns and in many ways Annie Lennox – whose androgyny blurred the lines of what it was to be male and female – burst into the mainstream with their highly popular music videos showcasing a new non-traditional image for all to see. The decade saw gay people get a huge voice through music as Frankie told everyone to relax and Bronski Beat let the small town boys know they knew exactly how they felt. The 1980s saw the thumping sounds of so called ‘gay music’ burst onto the scene and dominate the charts the world over; I can just imagine the faces of many a bigot flicking on their TV sets to see Divine singing ‘You Think You’re a Man.’

Despite the negativity of the AIDS crisis, gay men and women were still fighting hard throughout the 90s, but not without a little help from the power of song. As Melissa Etheridge came out and Brian Molko and Billie Joe Armstrong announced their bisexuality, the queen of pop Madonna was bringing ‘voguing’ into the mainstream straight out of the gay clubs of New York. Not only that but she also released the very provocative ‘Justify My Love’ video featuring gay men. Despite the fact it was banned on MTV it was still out there and managed to become a huge hit. But one of the most significant parts of the 1990s, in terms of LGBT visibility and music, came from the overly camp Eurovision. Out were the days of Cliff Richard and Sandy Shaw with their wholesome images and in was Dana International, the transsexual Israeli pop singer and winner of the 1998 Eurovision Song Contest. By now we had moved a long way in terms of freedom and rights and music had progressed and indeed helped with it, but this was only the beginning.

As we swung into the 2000s gay people were out and proud; gone was section 28, in America Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was finally repealed in September 2011 and gay marriage has been a hot topic around the world for many years. In terms of music, we saw t.A.T.u hit number one on the charts, despite using lesbianism as an obvious marketing ploy, and Madonna kiss Britney Spears at the 2003 VMA Awards, in one of the most memorable moments in music history. By now it wasn’t just gay men making a splash, lesbians were also edging into the mainstream despite only having a few moments previously in terms of music. With acts like Will Young selling millions of records, and gay men and women popping up in the finals of massively successful programmes like The X Factor, it became apparent that gay musicians were now firmly a fixture on the charts.

We also witnessed many anthemic songs appear in the last 10 years – ‘Beautiful’, ‘Firework’, ‘Standing in the Way of Control’, ‘Born This Way’ – and gay men and women were being featured in music videos more frequently too (just watch Kylie Minogue’s ‘All The Lovers’ below). It’s clear to see just how music has helped shape the way gay men and women are viewed, not to mention giving them a platform on which to be noticed.

From the days of being closeted and listening to Judy whilst a sub-culture was being born, to the openly gay pop stars and songs telling us to embrace ourselves and love who we are, we’ve come a long way in our fight for equality and music has undoubtedly played a prominent part in that.

Review: Coasts - Oceans

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

With their début single ‘Oceans’, Coasts grab your attention from the very first second of the song. Taken from their limited edition début EP Paradise, they give us a great mix of sad, melancholic and atmospheric music and lyrics, but manage to counteract that by making the song hopeful and happy at the same time – a rare ability that recalls the stylings of Mumford and Sons.

With the echoing chant style chorus the band demonstrates that they would be excellent live (and are currently on tour) and you could imagine thousands of people singing along to this at a festival – a good way to judge the merit of a single. Luckily this one passed the festival sound test.

The music itself lives up to the band and the singles names as they sound very water inspired, which is a nice touch. Although they do sound like a number of other indie bands around, the song is very catchy and sounds fresh and new.

This is a great single and an even better début single. Hopefully, off the back of big Grammy wins by bands such as Mumford and Sons, the British public will be looking for something new again, and they need look no further than Coasts.

Liza Minnelli's Latest Comeback

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

With an Oscar, an Emmy, multiple Tony Awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award under her belt and over 50 years in the business that is show, Liza Minnelli is the definition of the term ‘living legend’.

Not content with sitting out her later years on a vast yacht in the baking sun telling stories about all the other greats she’s known – such as her mother, her father, Frank Sinatra or Sammy Davies Jr. – Liza continues to keep busy, and this year is no exception as she brings her celebrated gifts to the London stage for a one-night-only performance on March 1^.

Minnelli will be performing at the Royal Festival Hall in London as part of the Southbank Centre’s ‘Berlin in the 20s and 30s’ weekend, where she will perform songs from the legendary Cabaret, jazz standards and Broadway tunes. However, as she mentioned in The Telegraph, she’s still re-writing the show, so who knows what could happen.

The performance at the Royal Festival Hall will be her first performance at the venue since 1973, when she performed her renowned Emmy Award winning show Liza with a Z there.

The weekend will also see a screening of Cabaret, which celebrates its 41^st birthday this year and marks the 40^th anniversary of Minnelli’s Oscar win for her performance of Sally Bowles.

Aside from her one night engagement in London, this year appears to mark another comeback in the life of the legendary performer. With scheduled performances at the New York City Town Hall alongside Alan Cumming, a performance at the State Theatre’s 25^th annual benefit gala in May, a return to acting with a guest appearance as herself in TV shows Smash and Arrested Development and even, according to an interview with The Huffington Post, a new album in the works, it looks like Liza may be doing a few more appearances this year. Well here’s hoping she does.

Dying for an Appointment

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

For a while now I've been seeing a number of debates online surrounding medical care in the UK, whether its about budget cuts, the issue of privatising the NHS or a number of problems surrounding the treatment of patients, which largely concentrates on the negative aspects of care some people have received. However something I rarely see, which is something that I've experienced recently, is the complexities of trying to get an appointment with your GP.

Recently after experiencing some problems I contacted my doctor's surgery to try and book an appointment, this to me seemed like a very straightforward task that would involve a telephone call and arranging the appointment. I'd already considered the fact that I may have to wait a few days, but as usual nothing is completely straightforward.

During my telephone conversation I was told that the earliest appointment I could have was the 1 March, which would have been fine if it was a few days before. However I just happened to be ringing three weeks before the given date, which to me seemed very strange. When I enquired about getting an earlier appointment I was told that they were fully booked until then, a phrase I thought was reserved for hotels, restaurants, hairdressers and the sort. Then when I mentioned that I'd been having a pain in my chest the receptionist, in a very rude manner, told me I should go straight to the hospital before saying goodbye and hanging up.

After this happened I was in total shock. I know if you experience pains in your chest then you should go to the hospital, but as the pain had been happening for a few days I was quite sure it wasn't a heart attack, hence my delay in approaching the hospital. It's also worth noting that a few months back when my partner had experienced extreme chest pains and we went to the hospital, he was told at A&E he should have gone to his local GP first. Talk about mixed messages.

The whole situation is baffling as it would appear the GP surgery expected me to predict and schedule the days that I was ill, I know this isn't the case but given the way I was told they were fully booked this is how it felt. I was also rudely told on the phone that to get a quicker appointment I would have to ring the next morning at 8am, which tells me and anyone else who has experienced this that the GP surgery did in fact have appointments, which they could hand out instead of making countless potential patients angrily tap away at their phones the next morning in an appointment bidding war.

I have actually done this before and it took around 68 engaged phone calls in four minutes before I actually got through to a person, at which point I couldn't get an appointment until 4pm.

Now many may blame this type of treatment on budget cuts or privatisation, but for as long as I can remember it has been like this. I can even remember my own mother enduring the telephone bidding war when I was younger to try and gain an appointment for the illness that she had so inconsiderately miss-scheduled.

It is a sad state of affairs that many people who are unwell and may in fact have a more serious underlying condition have to wait weeks on end to see their GP, by which time it could be too late. You could go to the hospital where like I previously mentioned you will be told you should have seen a GP first, be made to feel like you're wasting valuable hospital time and resources only to find out that there's nothing to worry about. You also get to find this out after an eight-hour wait, which is always a lovely experience.

Sadly there's nothing that can be done, and it looks like this is going to continue if the frightful news stories about the NHS and doctor's surgeries are to be believed. However I did file a complaint with the surgery on the day that I was denied an appointment as there was no room at the inn, but as you may have guessed I'm still waiting for a reply, which I won't hold my breath for as I may not be able to get an appointment for the lack of oxygen in body whilst doing so.

Is Football Truly Becoming The Beautiful Game At Last?

Originally published on www.vadamagazine.com

The beautiful game took another step out of the middle ages this week when American international and former Leeds United footballer, Robbie Rogers, came out of the otherwise bolted football closet.

The former midfielder made the announcement that he was gay through his own personal website after he tweeted “just getting some sh*t off my chest” with a link to the web post. In the post he went on to discuss how he’d had fears about coming out as he didn’t want the fact he was gay getting in the way of his dreams, which he went on to discuss: ‘Dreams of going to a World Cup, dreams of The Olympics, dreams of making my family proud. What would life be without these dreams? Could I live a life without them?’

By coming out Rogers has become the most high profile football star to come out since Justin Fashanu did back in 1990, and makes him the second out footballer playing professional football next to Anton Hysen.

However, being one of only two openly gay professional footballers in the world was short lived as Robbie also announced his retirement from football, stating: ‘Now is my time to step away. It’s time to discover myself away from football.’

This action however makes the move a little counter productive. By coming out Rogers was making one of the biggest leaps in terms of professional football, which could be compared to the move Gareth Thomas made when he came out in 2009, and for sport as a whole. But by announcing his retirement it’s prolonging the myth that if you’re a footballer then you can’t be gay, as Rogers is now an ex-footballer.

Maybe the terrible tale of Justin Fashanu, who came out in 1990 and faced a barrage of negative publicity before committing suicide in 1998, still sends fear through the minds of gay footballers even today, which would explain why a footballer coming out is a very rare occurrence. Although if Rogers had stayed in the game, maybe he could have debunked the myth and taken an even bigger step for gay footballers than he already has. There was even discussions on Twitter commenting on how Rogers had quit football and then come out, with journalist Charlie Beckett saying: ‘Brilliant for coming out, shame he couldn’t stay in the game.’

But despite this negative aspect to the news of Robbie Rogers coming out, the former player has been bombarded with positive responses via Twitter from fellow footballers and others from around the world, which proves that the world of sport is changing and has changed significantly since Fashanu came out all those years ago.

The news about Rogers coming out isn’t just a big move for football, but a big move for sport itself, which has seen a number of considerable movements towards equality recently. Brian Ellner from gay rights group Athletes Ally, which campaigns against homophobia and transphobia in sport told Reuters: ‘We’re at a tipping point.’

Recently the world of sport has seen Orlando Cruz come out, making him the first professional gay fighter, we’ve seen over 100 professional hockey placers say they’d support an openly gay team mate and footballers Gareth Southgate and Matt Jarvis have both mentioned how football is ready for openly gay players.

Maybe it isn’t the players holding total acceptance back as they all share a love of sport regardless of sexuality, maybe it’s not even the fans who get criticised heavily for not allowing players to come out, surely they just want their team to win. It looks as though footballers, their team mates and their fans are ready to accept gay players in football and other sports for that matter but why aren’t gay footballers, hockey players and gay athletes in general coming out? For football maybe it is the harrowing story of Fashanu, but the more likely reason is because of the sponsorship deals and the PR surrounding them.

If gay footballers are seen to make less money from sponsors or not get sponsors at all, then surely their PR man isn’t going to want them to come out for fear of making less money, even Max Clifford has spoken about how he has advised footballers to stay in the closet.

From what’s happening around the world at the moment maybe we are at a tipping point, after all players from other sports are starting to come out and straight players are defending their gay counterparts and so are the fans. Robbie Rogers may have come out and retired but from the positive reaction he’s received, maybe this action will open the door for other gay footballers to come out and finally break down homophobia in sport.

The Application Complication

Originally published on www.instant-impact.com

For those who are trying to break into the creative industries whether its in journalism, marketing, fashion, advertising or PR it can feel as though it’s easier to get through immigration or break into a bank vault, wearing a very fetching yet itchy balaclava, than kicking down that otherwise heavily padlocked door.

It’s an annoyance that will come to all of us who are trying to make it in a very difficult industry where unpaid internships, extremely long hours and a second job are the norm. But aside from the fact that for many, the majority of these jobs are located in London thus making it hard to afford the move from wherever you’re currently located, the biggest annoyance when it comes to trying to crack the creative industries is the dreaded application form.

We’ve all endured it and we’ve sighed a nauseating sigh of disbelief once we’ve downloaded the seemingly never ending questions on the application form that wants to know everything about you, the fact there isn’t a question regarding your inside leg measurement is actually surprising.

The first thing they make you want to do is scream, run away and hide under your duvet at the sheer thought of filling out this form. It’s a generally tedious task that asks you everything that is already on your CV, so after spending a large chunk of time copy and pasting your previous experience and education into some boxes that clearly haven’t been formatted properly by a company that demands excellent Microsoft Word skills in their job description, you can almost feel the laziness pour over you.

However this isn’t the end as you then have to make yourself sound like the best candidate for the job in the relevant experience section, which is just asking you to tell them how you match up to the criteria in the person spec, which isn’t only a monotonous task that can take hours but also makes you feel vastly pretentious as it makes it sound as though the sun shines out of your behind. If that isn’t bad enough the section after this asks for more information about you that you may not have covered in the previous section, so you find yourself mentioning rubbish like you once mowed your grandmothers grass and that you were a top student in primary school because you have run out of self promotion in the last section and quite simply can’t think of anything else they would want to know. Maybe you drop your inside leg measurement in as a thought.

Alas the application form isn’t the only annoying thing about applying for jobs within the creative industries. If they aren’t asking for a 500-page application form to be submitted then they’re asking for a CV, cover letter and in my case examples of previously published work. Now for many people who have to work as well as apply for these jobs they don’t have the time to have written much for other companies, because they’re either searching though umpteen pages of search results on job sites to find jobs that in then takes 3 hours to apply for, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day.

Usually after sending this they usually then ask you for a written piece that they assign to you, if they haven’t already asked for this in the first instance. The worst part is after spending hours doing this you rarely hear back or get a rejection email that can’t give feedback due to the high volume of applicants, it just makes you think “why do I even bother?”

I find myself asking what’s wrong with a simple application process of your CV and a brief hello in the email because surely they will find out if you’re right for the job at the interview? That’s if you even make it to the interview. But apparently this would make it far too easy for you and the people reviewing the applications may have to do some serious interviewing, when clearly they’d rather interview a small handful.

It’s a sad state of affairs that so many creative people are failing at cracking the industry because they just can’t get their big break due to excessive job searching and application forms, which can restrict the time to be creative and create published work, or simply because the vast size of the application form is just emphasising a wave of laziness that has already been brought on by months of daytime TV and unsatisfying menial work.

Review: Fear of Men - Early Fragments

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

Self-described alternative indie-pop band Fear of Men are entering the world of albums in a very unique and unusual way. Hailing from Brighton, the quartet are releasing their debut of 90s-influenced music, which technically isn't a debut at all. How is this?, I hear you ponder to yourself. Well, the band are currently working on their debut album as we speak, but to get us excited the band is releasing Early Fragments, a compilation of previously released singles.

After releasing singles on various UK indie labels, this album contains eight songs which span their career so far, from their debut single in 2011 all the way up to the present day. The band have made quite a name for themselves after touring extensively, in fact, they are still touring at the moment, and have been compared to another indie-pop band: Veronica Falls.

Unlike albums from Veronica Falls, this is much easier to listen to. In common Veronica Falls, they do have a few singles that sound the same, but whereas you tend to zone out because the Veronica Falls singles sound similar, you just don't with Fear of Men, perhaps something to do with the fact that all the songs were singles. Aside from this comparison, the band at times remind me a little of The Cranberries. You can hear the obvious 90s influences shining through. Maybe 90s indie-pop/rock is making a comeback.

There are two songs which stand out more than the rest: 'Mosaic', with its haunting yet summery sound which makes you want to dance around and reminisce about times gone by, and 'Ritual Confession', a catchy and infectious song with brilliant music and excellent vocals which you get lost in from the moment it starts. The remainder of the songs on the album are good but don't quite match up to these two, except for 'Spirit House', which is just a yawn-inducing sleep-fest that blends into the background and makes you want to switch off. No wonder it's the last track on the album.

Aside from this, the album is good and is just enough to get you a little excited for their first full-length. However, I've heard this sound before and, with only one or two standout tracks among the already released singles, the band are going to have to turn it up a notch for their first proper album.

Review: Alicia Keys - Brand New Me

Origina.ly published on www.sosogay.co.uk

Musical powerhouse Alicia Keys returns with the second single from her top 20 album Girl On Fire and the follow up to the top five single of the same name.

‘Brand New Me’ is a piano-driven pop ballad about personal growth and becoming a whole new person, which Keys herself has described as her autobiography. Co-written by current golden girl of British pop Emeli Sandé, the song has all the ingredients of a sure fire hit, however it just missed the mark.

Starting with a slow piano opening that has become expected from the multiple Grammy Award winner, the song showcases the soulful and powerful voice of Keys but it fails to give us anything different and never really goes anywhere. With a sullen background of slow beats shrouded by piano, we endure a few minutes of Alicia Keys wallowing in misery.

Towards the end of the song the music does pick up with an almost rocky and angst-driven Keys belting out a powerful vocal, but just as this happens and the song begins to get going it fades back down to her peaceful yet depressing tones.

It feels as though this song was trying to be empowering, trying to give listeners some kind of strength, a bit like ‘The Voice Within’ by Christina Aguilera, but unlike Aguilera’s 2003 hit this song stalls at its opening.

Overall the song is fair, the vocals are beautiful and the key change really hits you, but the overall tone and theme to the song just fails to light you up. It leaves you wanting more, but not in a good way.

Resignations All Around - So Long Bigots

Originally published on www.vadamagazine.com

This week it looks as though resignation is at the top of the agenda for a few people. Firstly we have heard the news of how a Conservative town councillor quit his position because of his disapproval of the advancement of the Equal Marriage bill. Secondly, it has been announced that the grand dame of religion himself, Pope Benedict XVI will also step down from his position due to ill health, which is slightly dubious to say the least.

He is relinquishing his post after eight years of being the head of the Catholic Church, doing what exactly I’m still unsure of (in fact does anyone actually know what he does apart from stand/sit around in a rather fetching robe and hat combo promoting Catholic guilt?). Anyway, after eight years he has decided to step down because as he states “after having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.”

Now you can’t blame anyone for not having much sympathy for the wicked witch of the Church in this instance. On my part this lack of sympathy stems from the anti-gay rhetoric that he’s constantly bombarded us with over the best part of the last decade.

Over this period he’s said that gay people are a “defection of human nature,” he warned the world that the introduction of equal marriage would risk the future of humanity, and on the World Day of Peace 2013 he released a message that said that not only is same-sex marriage unnatural but it also poses a threat to “justice and peace.”

This is just what you want to hear from the man who is the spiritual figurehead of the 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide. The list of his intolerance does not stop there however. In 2008 he said that the existence of gay people threatened humanity in the same way as the destruction of the rainforests, and that “blurring” genders through the acceptance of transgender people would kill off the human race. Someone really needs to send this man back to a classroom.

However, despite the fact that ill health has been used as the reason for him resigning, it has already been cast into doubt by numerous experts who believe it is most likely due to his controversial stance on homosexuality, along with the legacy of a number of paedophile priest scandals and cover-ups that have destroyed the integrity of the Church in certain areas.

I myself would not be surprised if this was the case, or if it has anything to do with the fact that no matter how hard he tries and no matter how much he shakes his heavily adorned head, gay marriage equality seems to look inevitable. You only have to cast your mind back to the debate in the UK last week.

This brings us onto our second resignation of the week, the resignation of Matty Donnelly. You may be wondering who this is as his fan base isn’t quite as large as the Pope’s. Well, he was the town councillor for Hexam, Northumberland, until he quit on February 10^th due to the Conservative Party’s backing of equal marriage.

Now talk about throwing your toys out of the pram. Mr. Donnelly quit just after last Tuesday’s vote, which says to me he had this whole thing planned. His reasons for resigning were because he was “brought up as a Christian” and because of this he knew “the difference between right and wrong.” It is a shame that no one taught him about tolerance and acceptance whilst they were at it.

Because of this he decided he could no longer agree with David Cameron and the other members who voted for the Equal Marriage bill. However, in Mr. Donnelly’s defence he did say, “I am old-fashioned and cannot for the world of me get my head round gay marriage, same-sex marriage, call it what you will.”

This just shows us that for many people it is a generational issue when it comes to equal marriage, but this still does not excuse intolerance, whether in our daily or working lives.

So there we have it, two resignations in the matter of a week. One that is clearly because of gay marriage and the other because of ill health, which in all honesty probably has something to do with his opposition to the gays. Luckily, when it comes to parliament there are many people fighting for equality. With a couple less intolerant people in power things can only get better. However, in terms of the Church, the future trajectory of acceptance depends largely on the election of a new Pope. We can only hope that he is not as intolerant as the last. I won’t hold my breath.

A Pirate's Life for Me?

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

For a while now we've been seeing updates in the press regarding the crack down on film and music piracy, as some apparently god awful people have been allowing others to share files on the internet in order to listen to new albums and view the latest cinema releases for free.

Now as we all know music and film piracy is wrong, I mean who can forget the adverts at the beginning of any number of DVDs, Blu-Rays and if you can remember them VHS tapes warning of the dangers. After all it is a crime and crime is wrong, but after a recent trip to the cinema I can almost see where some people are coming from.

A few weeks ago me, my partner and another couple decided to go see the revamped 3D release of the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which is just another way of milking money out of a film that has been rehashed and re-released several times since the 1970s. Before we began our trip we assumed that a taxi there, food and a ticket should cost around £25, which is still a rather large sum of money for two people. This however was only a fraction of what the actual price was, because upon our arrival we discovered that for four tickets the price almost totaled at £50, not including anything else. Surely that can't be right? It's no wonder the Internet is now filled with websites offering free film streaming and free downloads.

Now I'm not advocating illegal downloading in any way, shape or form, but given the current economic climate where most people can barely afford to buy the bare essentials such as food and drink, you can almost see where they are coming from.

Lets look at it this way, we are constantly told that these films cost millions and millions of dollars, pounds or what ever other currencies there are to make. We are then informed about the vast sums of money these films make at the box office along with the umpteen numbers of records they've broken. I mean you would have had to have been living under a rock for the majority of last year to not know that The Avengers grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, and it's no wonder when a ticket costs around £10 a pop.

It appears that the film companies, and the cinemas for that matter have no idea just how extortionate these prices are (or maybe they do.) It feels like they don't realise that most people can't afford the prices they are charging in order to go to the cinema, therefore more and more people are turning to a 'life of crime' in order to obtain films to get some release from the hardships of day to day life.

The whole situation is quite a sad state of affairs when you think about it. Due to the greed of these companies, the general public are getting criminal records and ripped apart in the press because of a simple want of escapism, which was once a very affordable thing to do, and in the current world situation is clearly something they need. In turn because of this greed, which is turning people to a life of piracy, the film and retail industry is also suffering. Maybe they only have themselves to blame?

I haven't hopped aboard the Internet's version of the Jolly Roger to begin a life of piracy, but have instead decided to wait for the DVD release of any film I want to see in the future, as it'll cost the same price (and in some cases less) and I can watch it over and over again at my hearts content.

Review: Rita Ora - Radioactive

Originally published on www.sosogay.co.uk

Not content with having chart domination throughout the majority of 2012 with a number one album, two solo number one singles and another as a featured artist, Rita Ora is back with her fourth solo single and from the sounds of it she may get her another top ten.

Opening with a slow build up of dance music, which is slightly different to her previous releases, ‘Radioactive’ focuses on the vocals of the London-based singer before breaking into an eclectic mix of dance music that appears to be inspired by chart hits from the 90s to now.

The song itself seems a little darker than her previous singles and makes you feel like you should be dancing-till-you-drop in the darkest corner of a seedy nightclub somewhere. Although the verses are a little slower than her other singles, there’s no denying the shouty and chanting chorus will have everyone dancing along in the coming weeks.

We’re also treated to a mini musical breakdown towards the end of the track before Ora returns to the song telling everyone that ‘we rise tonight’ and to ‘unite’.

Rita Ora is a musically eclectic breath of fresh air with her mix of many dance inspirations coupled with R&B, and is most definitely on her way to becoming the British equivalent of Rihanna. However, it has to be pointed out that she has a much better voice that her bad girl counterpart.

All in all this is an excellent dance song that will have people moving around until the small hours for quite some time. With ‘Radioactive’ she definitely has another hit on her hands.

Review: Veronica Falls - Waiting for Something to Happen

Originally published on www.soundblab.com

London-based indie-pop quartet Veronica Falls return with Waiting for Something to Happen, the follow-up to their self-titled 2011 debut album. The 13 track album, produced by Rory Attwell, who has also produced work by The Vaccines, tells the story of someone slowly coming to terms with the process of growing up and learning to face adult responsibility.

The album itself is not what I was expecting. For some reason, I had it embedded in my head that this band was going to sound like some ear-puncturing second-rate group who should never have released an album. However, this couldn't be any further from the truth, as the group blend melancholic lyrics and themes into ethereal and happy, ghostly music to create something which hasn't been heard in a while.

I say this because the band appears to have drawn on 1960s, hippie influences and combined it with inspirations from a number of 90s indie-pop bands. In a way, they kind of reminded me a little of Echobelly crossed with the more recent The Long Blondes. They aren't quite as feisty as The Long Blondes but you can definitely hear the influences.

What the group are particularly good at is harmonies and the blending of their vocals. The fact that you could hear both female and male vocals, without one drowning out the other, reminded me a little of The xx, although otherwise their music couldn't be more different. When it comes to the actual songs, 'Broken Toy' stands out as does 'Everybody's Changing' with its uplifting sound, telling the story of growing up but wanting to stay young.

However, this is as far as you get with saying which songs you like, as they all kind of sound the same and blend into one. This is a bad thing, as you can enjoy dancing around to them, but as they do sound similar there is the problem of tuning out at times. Overall, this is a great second album for any band and it would be great to see them get more attention. Yet, with no standout track, it's a shame to say I feel this unusual and new work will sadly go unnoticed.

Do Gay People in Films Always Have to be Stereotypes?

Originally published on www.biggaypictureshow.com

In the past I’ve written about a number issues I have when it comes to gay men in films and films that are gay-centric in particular. One of these issues is that they are usually sold on sex, making us all fit into the sexual deviant paradigm that so many people have afforded us, the other issue I’ve written about is why we have to have gay films – after all why can’t they just be films.

This being said, ‘gay films’ are here and for the foreseeable future they are here to stay, because let’s face it, many Hollywood studios are still reluctant to release a mainstream gay-centric film, despite the success of Brokeback mountain almost a decade ago. This then brings up the issue that most of the gay men that we see in films are the flappy, fashion conscience, witty, bitchy character whose retorts and comments are used for comic affect.

These characters can be found in many rom-coms, such as Bridget Jones’ Diary, as well as teen flicks like Mean Girls. We are undoubtedly being put into more films now and being allowed to be openly gay – and all exposure is good exposure in a way, I suppose. Even if the studios are still a little worried to make us the leading star, at least we are there.

However, I can’t get over the fact that many gay-centric films made by LGBT production companies and filmmakers have to use these characters as well. I’ve reviewed and watched a few films recently that heavily feature characters like this. Yes, there are gay people like this, but would it hurt the filmmakers and studios to feature more down-to-earth, non-stereotyped gay characters in a gay movie? After all, we’re bombarded with these stock characters in nearly every romantic comedy that gets churned out.

It looks as though whilst we are getting some representation in mainstream movies, the issue of being stereotyped will always be there. It’s just a shame that gay centric comedy films and rom-coms don’t display enough diversity, to show other gay men and people in Hollywood that we aren’t all like that stock character they know so well. Perhaps if the entertainment made for the gay community were more varied in its depiction of gay people, a little more of that diversity would seep through into the mainstream.

NHS Services for Everyone?

Originally published on www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

Recently I received a survey through the post; apparently out of all the people who live in my area I was selected at random despite the fact my partner also received one, what a coincidence. However this isn't what I'm getting at, the survey was about health and wellbeing for 2013 from the NHS, I know it just sounds like so much fun to fill in doesn't it?

Anyway after flicking through the questions there was the usual; do you smoke? Yes, do you drink? Yes, how much fruit and veg do you consume a week? As you can see it was a pretty standard set of questions. Now this is all well and good and maybe just maybe the survey will help with something, I don't know what it'll help with besides helping to waste some more precious NHS money. But as I got to the end of the survey there was the typical 'about you' section, gender, age, ethnicity you get the picture. I assume this is to help them narrow down which age groups, genders and social groups are suffering the most and which ones are experiencing a happier life, but the one question that was missing was that of sexuality.

Now before you start making assumptions that I'm someone who wants to shout from the rooftops that gay people are being ignored again, I'm not, but you can't help but wonder why this option isn't there. I mean study's have found that LGBT people are more likely to suffer from mental health issues or drink and drug abuse, and by asking this question on a more localised survey by the NHS they could find a way of tackling this, instead of leaving it to certain organisations such as Stonewall and the LGF.

Not every area in the country has somewhere that gay people can turn to for help, and some may send this survey back and be found to be severally depressed or unhappy with life who may be gay, yet this will go unnoticed. I filled out an online health and wellbeing survey a while ago specifically for LGBT people, which was put together by an LGBT organisation, just so I could help out with these statistics that so many organisations such as the NHS are missing.

However it isn't just this NHS wellbeing survey that fails to ask this question. When I was at University I applied for a job at a supermarket so I could make some extra money. Me and my friend (who happens to be a lesbian) went to get the application forms and both said there's no point applying, as we wouldn't get the job. However after noticing the equal opportunities section I made a quick joke that this was our way in, however there was once again no section asking about sexuality. I didn't get the job, because I had no experience working in a supermarket and neither would I want to be given a job simply because I am gay. But it makes me wonder how a company can call themselves an equal opportunities employer and only mention disability, race and ethnicity on an application form as if they're the only reasons why people would be discriminated against when applying for a job.

Now I may have digressed into something completely different there but the principal is still the same, does the NHS not care about the well being of LGBT people? Of course they care, but how will they know the full extent of the health and wellbeing of a social group that does suffer abuse in the areas in which they live (do you feel safe in your area was a question on the survey), and are known for having higher abuse rates if they fail to include a small section in a survey?

Maybe they just forgot, maybe they ran out of space on the paper or maybe because there are LGBT groups out there who've conducted these kinds of studies in the past they felt they didn't need to. The thing is we will never know why it wasn't on there, but the other fact is; if they continue to miss this off surveys in the future then the health and wellbeing of a vast amount of LGBT people will continue to go unknown, which could be a big problem for many.