What’s the One Thing Gay Men Hate Being Called? – WATCH
Scott Evans and Derek Kelly have no problem with “filthy”, “hot”, “piggy bottom”, or any number of assorted names, but there’s one thing they won’t be called – because it doesn’t fit their version of masculinity (even if their version does include blush and a nude lip).
Watch:
The post What’s the One Thing Gay Men Hate Being Called? – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.
Time For Women To Down Tools?
Today is the day women stop earning but just keep right on working.
It’s Equal Pay Day. 10th November is the day this year when, because of the gender pay gap, women effectively stopped earning money, a full 51 days before their male counterparts.
A lot of people seem to think the battle for equality has been won in Britain. We have an Equality Act which has teeth and can be effective. What we don’t have is a country where gender makes no difference socially, politically or in employment terms.
Those glass ceilings really do still abound. There are currently 208 women MPs in the House of Commons – a little under a third of the total number of representatives. Those 208 make up almost half of the women elected to Parliament since Constance Markievicz won the seat of Dublin St Patrick’s for Sinn Fein in 1918. In business, women still make up only 22% of company boards of directors. 16% of companies have no female directors at all and fewer than 4% have women in the number one job or an equal number of women and men on the board. Even in education, a sector where women have traditionally had greater access to leadership roles, the situation remains unequal. There is still only a one in three chance that a new university vice-chancellor will be a woman and overall women are in charge at a little more than one in five universities. In the military numbers of women in command roles are vanishingly small and under the 2010 Act as the government’s own report into diversity in the military puts it, “The Armed Forces are exempt from elements of the employment provisions of the Equality Act 2010 for reasons of combat effectiveness.”
Few places are immune. As principal of an FE college I can be confident that two lecturers in the same subject with the same skills and experience will be paid the same rate for the job, but that doesn’t mean there is no pay difference on gender lines. Market forces impact on recruitment and lecturers in some disciplines command a higher salary than others. For example, engineers earn more than early years professionals in the workplace meaning the same is true in teaching. Engineers are more likely to be men and early years professionals are more likely to be women – another reason why it’s vital to encourage our girls and young women to take a broad and ambitious view of their future options and to excite them about the possibilities of careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
Certainly, the impression some men have of women in the workplace doesn’t seem to have evolved much since the 1950s. The sadly, not-at-all shocking survey results showing more than half of British women have faced harassment at work comes hard on the heels of the revelations from Hollywood and Westminster. And that’s the point really; just when it looks like so much progress has been made we’re vividly reminded of how much remains to be done – which is why I had such great pleasure being at an awards ceremony for Women Leaders in Milton Keynes a couple of weeks ago. It was inspiring and entertaining and a great night out, but more important than that, it was a timely reminder that while the world is still a place where women have to try just that bit harder than their male counterparts, great things can be and are being achieved by women of wit and wisdom, talent and determination. None of those winning prizes will be stopping working today. They’re the sort of people who keep on keeping on. And that’s what we all need to do. We need to keep on demanding inequality is removed, keep on confronting casual and structural sexism and yes, to keep on giving prizes to remarkable women who give their all at work, even when the rewards are neither fair nor just.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/dr-julie-mills/time-for-women-to-down-to_b_18514828.html
This Calendar Helps LGBT Youth
www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2017/11/10/calendar-helps-lgbt-youth
Stephen Miller Talks to Robert Mueller, is Highest-Level Trump Aide to Be Interviewed
White House Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller has been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller in the probe into the Trump campaign’s interactions with Russia before the U.S. election.
Miller is the highest-level aide still working at the White House to have talked to Mueller, according to CNN:
Miller’s role in the firing of FBI Director James Comey was among the topics discussed during the interview as part of the probe into possible obstruction of justice, according to one of the sources.
Special counsel investigators have also shown interest in talking to attendees of a March 2016 meeting where foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos said that he could arrange a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin through his connections. Miller was also at the meeting, according to a source familiar with the meeting.
The post Stephen Miller Talks to Robert Mueller, is Highest-Level Trump Aide to Be Interviewed appeared first on Towleroad.
Stephen Miller Talks to Robert Mueller, is Highest-Level Trump Aide to Be Interviewed
Diabetes And Eating Disorders: It’s About Time People Started Listening
It’s about time people sat up and listened when it comes to the subject of diabetes and eating disorders. The conversation surrounding the release of BBC Three‘s documentary Diabulimia: The World’s Most Dangerous Eating Disorder is starting to settle down and we must not let it sink. There is still so much to be done.
I do feel like I’ve written this article or parts of it at least many times over during the past few years. Way too many and increasingly desperate in tone. This is through my work as content writer and social media manager of the charity Diabetics With Eating Disorders (DWED).
We are the only UK organisation that focuses solely on what needs to be done to tackle the issue of type 1 diabetes and eating disorders (including insulin omission which was originally labelled by the media as ‘Diabulimia’ and has stuck ever since), raising awareness and providing information and support. DWED has been advocating for people with this dual condition since its formation back in 2009. Director and founder Jacqueline Allan provides training to health care teams and we now also have a members area where we upload specialist materials each month.
But it has been a slow crawl. We have struggled to gain recognition and be heard. Funding has been a particular problem, as well as having to rely on volunteers that can be hard to motivate. Running a small charity can be so difficult when it can stretch you too thinly to be able to do the work you do to the best you can.
But finally, in wake of the documentary people have started to listen. The audience we needed to engage are gathering with shocked and yet curious reactions, an audience further than just the parameters of the diabetes community and those involved with mental health. The programme was produced by BBC Three and first released to their online channel on the 24th September. After rising to the top of their most watched list and praised in various media publications it was subsequently aired to a wider audience on BBC1.
The traffic to DWED since the documentary went live has increased dramatically, with views to our website tripling within a couple of days. Membership subscriptions are rolling in steadily as well as requests for training by healthcare providers and DWED’s name being circulated to a wider audience.
Yet, we still lost two young women from a Facebook group I belong to this week. Two precious women that could have been saved if they’d had the right support in time. This cannot keep happening, it has to get better. It’s too heartbreaking every single time. Yet they still cite anorexia as the mental illness with the highest mortality rate. Which is why there needs to be official diagnostic criteria in place for people with diabetes and any kind of linked eating disorder. There must be. Not in ten years time but now. After which we need studies that look into the rates of death and complications arising from this illness. The science to justify the dire need of and huge value to be found in further support resources.
Furthermore, while people are alert, we must keep pushing the agenda and providing education, including accurate terminology, the correct stats and prevalence rates. Because website clicks; ‘likes’, ‘follows’ and ‘favourites’ are only the tip of tackling this gigantic iceberg of a problem.
The next stage comes from the health-professionals, and the governing bodies that pull the strings of what treatment services can provide. Change is gradually rippling waters and the most exciting news is that the NHS is looking to develop a national strategy to deal with diabetes and eating disorders. But the more people that request these services,, the more likely it is that the parties in control of making real decisions will look to putting their promises into action.
To echo the scope of reach provided by the documentary as far and wide as we possibly can we must keep talking. It is so important right now to shout louder, to break down the stigma of being honest and open about it. Ultimately to underline the message that this condition is real, does exist, and most of all deserves acknowledgement.
So, if this is the first time you are hearing about ‘Diabulimia’ then please do one thing: watch the documentary. See what you think. If you feel indifferent and just don’t give a damn, then fine, you can simmer in your ignorance for now. Yet, if you think ‘whoa, that’s interesting’, or feel sad/distressed/terrible/horrifying/any remotely emotional response. If you believe as we do that the dire state of support available to those with eating disorders and diabetes is not as it should be, then go away and find out more. Access our website, read up on what needs to be done and perhaps tell someone else you know about what you’ve found out, recommend they watch the documentary too.
If you’ve already seen it and you are reading this now then I suspect you’ve already been looking out for more information. You quite easily may have spoken about the programme with friends. I don’t feel this kind of awareness sits dormant as the level of injustice involved is quite high. Additionally, a reminder during Diabetes Awareness Week is that most people know someone with type 1 diabetes, and many may well know someone with type 1 that has struggled with their eating behaviours or used insulin omission to control weight. It is a staggeringly common occurrence, reportedly relevant to 4 in 10 women with type 1 diabetes.
After talking what do we need? Action.
First comes the GP’s, nurses and NHS commissioners. Funding.
Next comes the creation of specific units designed to treat ED-DMT1 and Diabulimia. The inpatient wards with staff that know what they are doing, that have been trained, and are confident with both the physical and psychological aspects of the condition.
Finally, there may be a day where we can see more survivors with successful recovery stories and less heart-breaking casualties.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/claire-kearns/diabetes-and-eating-disor_b_18514686.html
Editor’s Letter: A Cherished Memory of Elton John
The out icon has offered a lifetime of inspiration, writes Diane Anderson-Minshall.
www.advocate.com/current-issue/2017/11/10/editors-letter-cherished-memory-elton-john
Uber Loses Appeal Against Ruling On Drivers’ Employment Rights
Uber has lost an appeal against a ruling on the employment rights of drivers, the GMB union said.
The ruling has implications for around 40,000 drivers who use the app.
Uber said it would appeal against the decision.
It comes less than two months after the ride-hailing app lost its London licence in a shock ruling by Transport for London (TfL).
Friday’s employment tribunal upheld a ruling in October 2016 that Uber drivers should be classified as workers.
Drivers are not self-employed, but workers entitled to basic workers’ rights including holiday pay, a guaranteed minimum wage and an entitlement to breaks.
The 25 drivers’ claims brought by the GMB trade union, who were represented by law firm Leigh Day, were heard in the London Central Employment Tribunal in July 2016.
Since the 2016 ruling, the number of GMB member claimants in the group claim has increased to 68.
Maria Ludkin, GMB legal director, said: “This landmark decision is a yet more vindication of GMB’s campaign to ensure drivers are given the rights they are entitled to – and that the public, drivers and passengers are kept safe.
“GMB is delighted the EAT made the correct decision to uphold the original employment tribunal ruling.
“Uber must now face up to its responsibilities and give its workers the rights to which they are entitled.
“GMB urges the company not to waste everyone’s time and money dragging their lost cause to the Supreme Court.”
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The lawyers acting for the Claimant were Paul Jennings, partner in the Employment team at Bates Wells Braithwaite, Rachel Mathieson, Solicitor and Hannah Wright, Solicitor.
Paul Jennings, a partner at Bates Wells Braithwaite, which acted for the claimant, said: “We are delighted with today’s judgment which is ethically and legally the right outcome. The ruling will have significant implications for approximately 40,000 Uber drivers and, more broadly, individuals engaged across the so called ‘gig economy’.
He said that he it was anticipated that tens of thousands drivers would now seek to make substantial back-dated claims.
Rachel Mathieson, solicitor at Bates Wells Braithwaite, said: “This is a landmark decision in the context of an evolving labour market and one which we hope will be a critical step forwards in addressing exploitation in the gig economy.”
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/uber-loses-appeal_uk_5a058157e4b01d21c83dff51
Ed Westwick Addresses Rape Allegations, Vowing To ‘Clear His Name’
Ed Westwick has spoken out about the sexual assault accusations that have been levelled against him, after a second woman came forward to accuse him of rape.
Earlier this week, two different women shared their experiences of the ‘Gossip Girl’ actor, each alleging that he forced himself on them in 2014, which he has vehemently denied.
Following the news that the LAPD had launched an investigation, he has now addressed the claims in a statement on his Twitter account.
He wrote: “It is disheartening and sad to me that as a result of two unverified and probably untrue social media claims, there are some in this environment who could conclude that I have had anything to do with such vile and horrific conduct.
“I have absolutely not, and I am cooperating with the authorities so that they can clear my name as soon as possible.”
The first woman to come forward against Ed Westwick was actress Kristina Cohen, who alleged that he raped her following a gathering at his house in a lengthy post on her Facebook page.
In her initial Facebook post, the actress described making a trip to his house for a dinner party with her then-boyfriend, but grew uncomfortable and wanted to leave when the actor allegedly crossed a line with an inappropriate joke.
She wrote: “I went and laid down in the guest room where I eventually fell asleep, I was woken up abruptly by Ed on top of me, his fingers entering my body. I told him to stop, but he was strong.
“I fought him off as hard as I could but he grabbed my face in his hands, shaking me, telling me he wanted to fuck me.
“I was paralysed, terrified. I couldn’t speak, I could no longer move. He held me down and raped me.”
In his rebuttal, Westwick tweeted: “I do not know this woman. I have never forced myself in any manner, on any woman. I certainly have never committed rape.”
A second woman later posted a similar account on Facebook, claiming Westwick raped her at his home after she fell asleep, thanking Kristina Cohen in her statement for “speaking up so eloquently and really encompassing what young female actresses have to go through at the hands of men like Ed Westwick”.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/ed-westwick-rape-allegations-accusations-sex-assault_uk_5a05611ae4b0e37d2f36ca8b
BBC Question Time: Kirstie Allsopp Brands Boris Johnson ‘Disgraceful’ For Not Meeting Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Husband
Kirstie Allsopp has branded Boris Johnson “disgraceful” for not meeting the husband of a British woman jailed in Iran who is fighting for her innocence.
The Foreign Secretary has come under pressure over the plight of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe after he told a parliamentary committee that she was training journalists – rather than being on holiday with her 22-month-old daughter Gabriella – when she was arrested and jailed in Iran 18 months ago.
It emerged on Thursday that Iranian state TV had framed his ‘false’ comment about her as a “confession”.
But on BBC’s Question Time, the Tory Cabinet minister was condemned by TV presenter Allsopp less for his recent error and more for the fact he has not met the husband battling for justice for his wife.
She said:
“I don’t know whether the Iranian Ambassador watches Question Time, I wouldn’t want to take any risks, and I mean that very seriously. “I have followed this case since the very beginning. The plight of Richard, Nazanin and their little girl Gabriella haunts me. That little girl, who can’t come home to the UK because all that keeps her mother sane is her visits, and a father who hasn’t hugged his own daughter in 18 months because he can’t go to Iran. “The fact that Boris Johnson has not seen him, given him 10 minutes of his time in the last 18-months is, frankly, disgraceful.”
Johnson’s remarks led to the 37-year-old making an unscheduled court appearance on Saturday where Johnson’s comment was used as evidence against her on a fresh charge of propaganda against the regime.
Richard Ratcliffe has made an emotional appeal to Johnson to focus on bringing his wife home.
Ratcliffe urged Johnson to “make good the promise he made to go and visit Nazanin in Iran” in a vlog for HuffPost UK.
Ratcliffe refused to be drawn into the row over forcing Johnson’s resignation, instead challenging the foreign secretary to help reunite his family for Christmas.
On Thursday, the Foreign Secretary said he hoped to meet Ratcliffe for the first time before he visits Iran in the next few weeks.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/boris-johnson-iran_uk_5a04e3a0e4b01d21c83d957a
In New Musical ‘The Band’s Visit,’ an Exquisite Meditation on Hopes Won and Lost: REVIEW
A man stares at a payphone in the desert, waiting all night for his lover to call. Another describes the thrill of spotting his late wife for the first time across a crowded dance floor. Such countless, carefully observed moments assemble like the lines of a poem in The Band’s Visit, an airy and remarkably insightful new musical meditation on loss, connection, and the suspension of hope that opened November 9 at the Barrymore Theatre.
Here’s the set up: A ceremonial police orchestra from Alexandria, Egypt walks into a café. The catch? They’re in the wrong place — the Israeli town where they were invited to play sounds very similar to the tiny one where they wind up, give or take a consonant.
It’s a perfectly indie-movie premise; the show is based on a 2007 Israeli film of the same name by Eran Kolirin. But in bringing it to the stage, first to Atlantic Theatre Company in 2016 and now on Broadway, playwright Itamar Moses and composer David Yazbek challenge the conventions of musical theatre in ways that feel like a fresh reinvention of the form.
Which means don’t come expecting regular old song and dance — the production, detly directed by David Cromer, might better be described as a play shot through with music. In fact, the opening number, an ode to rural ennui sung in rounds by the residents of Beit Hatikva, doesn’t open the show. First we meet the town’s guests for the night, all lined up in powder-blue uniforms at airport arrivals with instruments at their sides.
It’s a comedy of communication from the beginning, as the bandmates ask around about how to reach their destination (a question, like so many others in the story, that hints toward the great mysteries of life). As it is, they’re misdirected and taken in for the night by the listless townspeople of Beit Hatikva (they’re meant to be in Petah Tikva). A cozy narrative of hospitality triumphing over difference ensues, not dissimilar, at least thematically, from last season’s surprise hit Come From Away.
The rich (and rife) historical context bridging Egypt and Israel only subtly shades the story, which is intimately human in scale. The orchestra’s conductor (a superb Tony Shalhoub) and Dina, the town’s lithe, sardonic cafe owner (Indecent’s Katrina Lenk, on her way icon status), spark a not-quite-romance. The trumpet player and would-be lothario (Ari’el Stachel) teaches a shy villager (Etai Benson) how to talk to girls. The clarinetist (Alok Tewari) soothes a tense young family at home with his unfinished concerto.
The story might be considered a slice of life, but in the shape of a constellation: one passing night in the middle of nowhere. Music by Yazbek — lyrical, rousing, gentle as desert breeze — doesn’t just punctuate emotional high points (though it does that quite well), but takes on a more visceral role. A handful instrumentalists idly pass the time as musicians might, supplementing the off-stage orchestra with music we can see and feel.
Language, the story argues, is a kind of music, too, perhaps especially if you can’t discern its meaning. That goes as much for the characters on stage as it does for those in the audience who won’t understand the show’s occasional interludes of Arabic and Hebrew. Cromer’s fluid direction, and the soft-midnight atmosphere created by Scott Pask’s scenic design and Tyler Micoleau’s lighting, transport us to a far-flung corner to show us that we’re all the same, simply doing our best to understand one another.
“Has she called?” Dina asks the man waiting at the payphone. “Not yet, but soon,” he replies, holding his breath with the kind of hope that glues the whole world together.
Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar
(photos: matthew murphy)
The post In New Musical ‘The Band’s Visit,’ an Exquisite Meditation on Hopes Won and Lost: REVIEW appeared first on Towleroad.
In New Musical ‘The Band’s Visit,’ an Exquisite Meditation on Hopes Won and Lost: REVIEW
