Maleforce

Today at Gay Chat Towers we are having a happy Monday. There has been so much pain and suffering in the news lately that we thought Monday needed some love.

This isn't to take away from what's been happening in Norway or with the troubled singer Amy Winehouse at all; but with the news clogged up with death and despair and then for me to be late to work today as there was a fatality on the train line, I know I needed some happy news - as I'm sure many people do today.

For the first happy story of the day, it's over to New York which as of yesterday becomes the sixth state to legalise same-sex marriage. When I think of New York I imagine high rise buildings, the Statue of Liberty and Central Park; but I have to remind myself - that's only Manhattan. The state of New York is huge (in fact, the largest State to sanction gay marriage) and even encompasses Niagara Falls on the border of Canada. That's where outspoken gay right activist Kitty Right tied the knot with her partner Cheryle Rudd just after midnight yesterday when the law came into effect. What a place to get married! The sound of the falls, the smiling faces of family and friends and your loved one on your arm. It sounds idyllic - especially as Niagara Falls was lit up in rainbow colours to mark the day in glorious celebration!

In Manhattan, people were literally lining the streets to say their vows. There were of course protestors, but none were disruptive to any of the hundreds of celebrations. With such focus on the prominent US state, I wonder how long it will be for the rest of America to follow suit and of course the UK.

And it's all gay under the Obama regime. The 44th President has nominated openly gay attorney Michael W. Fitzgerald to the federal court in Los Angeles. Fitzgerald becomes the fourth openly gay judicial candidate appointed by Obama in the past 18 months - and why shouldn't he? I know this is getting a lot of press at the moment because no president has ever sided so closely to the gay community before - but this is simple human rights. We are all human, regardless of our sexuality and therefore demand the same rights as everyone else.

It's no wonder that Barack Obama gets so much stick for his time in office, but I say good on him. It's about time someone with real power showed the rest of the world that there is nothing wrong with being gay and we are just the same as everyone else... well, maybe with just a little more style and comedy timing!

Speaking of which; Geeks have gone through a drastic transformation over the past few years. When I was at school, to be outed as a geek was as bad as having a sign around your neck saying "please hit me!". I was already outed as gay at the age of 13 in school, so to come out as a gay geek could have meant the loss of my favourite Disney folder! But as we've grown as a society, the majority of us have noticed that we are all geeks in our own way; our fascination with Apple products would make us a geek, our addictions to TV shows and computer games and of course our love of films and film franchises. (TV show Glee also helped this along with their 'Gleek' campaign.) It's now cool to be a gay geek and the styles seem to be reflecting this fact - or maybe it's just becoming more accepted to be whoever you want to be?!?

One film franchise that has gets most people moist (ok, maybe just the geeks again) at the briefest mention of a sequel is Jurassic Park. After the third film we were promised a fourth but with the untimely death of writer Michael Crichton came the news that it wouldn't be made. For the past ten years we have listened to rumours of a sequel, constantly checked IMDB and watched countless fan-made trailers on YouTube (or is that just me?) but still no real news. That was until last weekend. Whilst promoting his new film Tin Tin at Comic Con, director Steven Spielberg announced that he will be making the highly anticipated Jurassic Park 4. "We have a story. We have a writer who is writing the treatment and hopefully we are going to make Jurassic Park 4 in all of our foreseeable futures, hopefully in the next two or three years" Steven announced.

But if you can't wait to get your fix of cloned dinosaurs, the blu-ray of the original trilogy is out in October.

And for those of you who also thought she was extinct; Madonna is currently in studio recording her 12th album. I feel at this point I must address her royal highness, the Queen of Pop personally and give her some advice on behalf of all the frustrated gay men out there.

Madonna. If you read this, or your assistant does or someone you knew 12 years ago - please tell her to listen to us, the gay masses. Madonna, please stop trying to be Britney and look more towards Cher. You don't have to lessen your musical style but your personal style should be more in keeping with a woman in her 50s. No more rapping with people half your age, no more out of tune break-beat and please no more leotards. If you want the fans back from Gaga (or at least on timeshare) you've got to reinvent yourself again, but this time for the people like me who have been buying your stuff since the 80s. I loved your music Madonna, but there has been nothing good since Confessions. You remember - the disco album you did in 2005? Think who your real fans are and who has the money to keep you going. Stop trying to pick up the tweens and look to the 30+ generation. We are your bread and butter - we always have been - and hopefully you can give us something to spread on it and enjoy.

Was Madonna recording her next album happy news? Only time will tell!

Terry Gee.

I was out last weekend - well I've been "out" for many years, but you know what I mean. After my rant last week about how crappy Pride has become in London it was both refreshing and reminiscent of better, bygone days to be at Summer Rites Remixed on Sunday.

Summer Rites was last seen in London at Brockwell Park in 1999. That was until yesterday when 10,000 people descended on Shoreditch Park in East London. My boyfriend, Michael and I got there around 3.30pm when the park was still pretty quiet, but within the next hour it was heaving. Although there were a lot of people, the space was perfect to sit, dance, drink and chat without it feeling too crowded. London's gay scene was heavily represented with clubs, bars and stages to cater for all walks of gay life. We spent most of our time between the bouncy XXL tent and Salvation outdoor stage. The sun shone brightly down on us until we left at 9pm and are still smiling about it today.

The vibe was incredible and the event was really well organised. There were plenty of bars, toilets, eateries and even booths with cash machines and cigarettes. No expense seemed to be spared on the sound systems and stage set ups either; the music pounded through the park lifting people's moods and getting those toes a tapping. Looking around at all the smiling people, dancing in the afternoon sun I had a flashback to the late 90s. The Pride events I went to back then were very similar to Summer Rites remixed, and although I was at Brockwell Park 12 years ago, I honestly didn't think it would be as good this time around. I was wrong - it was better!

When you have huge events like Pride and Summer Rites happening year in, year out - people become complacent, knowing that if they miss this one, there will always be another the following year. But now there hasn't been anything like this for such a long time, it was like a real breath of fresh air. This is what gay events used to be like - not piled on top of each other in the crowded streets of London like Pride has now become. It's a shame that we Londoners became so complacent and have had to wait so long for a major event like Summer Rites to resurface and fill the void once again.

Michael and I (pictured above) had an amazing time and looking at the Facebook comments today, so did all of my friends who were there. With it being such good weather, we had our tops off most of the time and at one point were laid out on the grass cuddled up and listening to the pumping house music from the Salvation stage.

My only gripe is that it didn't take place on a Saturday as I felt rough as a dog at work yesterday. Even so, I'm still smiling about how fantastic the day/night was and everyone here at Gay Chat Towers hopes that Wayne Shires and Kim Lucas decide to bring back Summer Rites as an annual event.

I am considering sending them an email - Dear Wayne and Kim, London has missed Summer Rites so much! We're sorry we took you for granted before and we promise to attend every event from now on until our legs give in through old age. Just please don't take it away from us again!

Hope that works!

Terry Gee

MaleForce is going through a complete evolution this year. Less than two months ago MaleForce 2.0 was released on the Android platform and 2.0 will be ready to launch on iPhones in the next few months.

Since our last shout out, we have been inundated with suggestions of what you would like to see on the MaleForce app. The biggest suggestion by far was for better quality and bigger pictures... so we fixed it! All new photo uploads will now be higher quality than before. You can even view any image that's sent to your inbox in full screen and see how much clearer they are.

We do have some tips for making the resolution even better. It seems that the faster your connection, the better the quality. We suggest you upload all of your pictures over a WiFi connection rather than 3G as the quality of your image will be far superior.

Speaking of fast; we've also improved the app loading speed. We concentrated on packing your app full of fantastic features, we hadn't considered the knock on effect this could have on the loading time. But after many sleepless nights and our developers overloading on coffee, we've managed to noticeably improve the app loading time - who wants to wait when there's hot guys to chat to?

But don't take our word for it - use it and find out yourself! Oh, and keep your suggestions coming in; we want to make MaleForce the best gay app there is.

Simply go to the market or app store on your smart phone and download for free MaleForce 2.0

MaleForce

I felt like doing a news round-up kinda thang today. There have been so many interesting gay stories over the past seven days, it didn't seem right to focus on just the one.

Proud for Pride?

It was London Pride on Saturday. I was there, as I have been nearly every year for the past 13. I'm not sure if it's my age or not, but I didn't rate Pride at all this year. It was the busiest I've ever seen it; meaning that trying to walk anywhere was a real struggle. I missed the Parade and went straight to Trafalgar Square where the headlining act was Bucks Fizz - they were on stage for all of 10 minutes! At 4pm our group of friends headed into Soho which was heaving and got progressively more and more busy for the next six hours. The queues at the bars were at least six deep - with stupid drinks prices, 20 minute queues for every toilet - and not enough of them around, people pushing and shoving - turning to barging into you the more drunk they got and the entire road became a sea of broken glass, beer cans and bottles. With nowhere to sit, after eight hours on my feet it was time to go home.

I have considered that this may just be an age thing, but how can Bucks Fizz be a headlining act? How can standing around waiting for something to happen that never does for eight hours be fun? I know I'm in my thirties now, but ten years ago Pride had real headlining acts on stage and set in a huge London Park where people could sit, chat and mingle with everyone. London Pride is now a shadow of it's former self and I know a lot of people who feel the same. While ever there is homophobia, lack of equality and religious nuts blasting us for no good reason, we need Pride, so why are we crammed into a couple of streets with no amenities?

Next year is Euro Pride here in the capital; I just hope London pulls its finger out and gets it right for once!

Gay Islam?

I didn't really think about it at the time, but at big events like Pride or Glastonbury there is always the threat of terrorist attacks. And it seems the LGBT community have a cause to feel threatened as Islamic extremists are now being told to act gay.

In a 64 page guide written by the Taliban and uncovered by the Sunday Mirror; it details to its followers in Europe what they should do if they feel they are being followed by an MI5 agent:

"Many hotels - especially in busy UK cities - have women hanging around the lobby areas in order to attract men. A young beautiful woman may come and talk to you. The first thing you do to protect yourself from such a situation is to make dua (prayers) to Allah for steadfastness. The second thing is to find an excuse to get away from her that is realistic and sensible, such as you having a girlfriend for the past few years and you are loyal to her or you are homosexual."

OK, that's quite scary in itself, but then to think what's happening here in London in 2012 - keep an eye out for those Islamic terrorists. You'll know who they are; bombs strapped to their chests and a GAY Late stamp on their wrist.

Psycho killer

Of course, Soho has already been a victim of a terrorist attack. Back in 1999 a 22 year old neo-nazi named David Copeland planted a nail bomb in the Admiral Duncan pub on Old Compton Street killing three people. In a 13 day rampage, he admitted to planting nail bombs in Brixton and Brick Lane previously to the one in Soho in an attempt to damage the minorities of London.

As well as the deaths of three people, he also injured 139 people, some who were amputated because of the attacks. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison which was extended to 50 years in 2007.

David Copeland, who has confessed to idolising Hitler, Starling and Saddam Hussein, said he wanted to be caught to become famous. He felt no emotion whatsoever when he planted the bombs and was concluded by the trail judge that he did this because of his hatred of black, Asian and homosexual people.

Even though he has admitted killing and maiming so many people, he still appealed the ruling to serve an extra 20 years. Last week, his appeal was rejected. But he must have known this would happen and it does make me wonder if this sick individual really appealed to get some extra press exposure and get some perverse pleasure in seeing his name in print once again? Whatever the reason, I hope he rots in his cell.

Copeland is currently serving his time in Broadmoor Hospital after being diagnosed a psychotic paranoid schizophrenic. If he is ever released, with this new ruling he will be 72 years old.

Sealed with a kiss

But don't let age fool you. We may think that 72 is too old to make an impact on this earth - but a 74 year old gay rights activist is now in the midst of a legal case that is rocking the gay world.

Joan Parker has been charged with assault after she hugged and kissed an anti-gay preacher at a Pride event in North Carolina, USA.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Mrs Parker said: "He was just waving his arms and has a Bible in one hand, up and down, and screaming at the top of his lungs, "sodomites" and "you're going to hell". I thought he needed a hug. So I gave him a hug."

As heart-warming as this story truly is, and how amazing Joan is; preacher James Belcher has pressed charges of assault as he says Mrs Parker's kiss was "just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle."

What a lovely man! But if Mrs Parker is found guilty of assault, she could be made to do 30 days of community service, but as a lot of my friends have said - hasn't she already done the community a service!

What is it with these religious nuts? 2000 gay rights supporters attended the event in Salisbury but there was also 200 gay right opponents including Mr Belcher. They turn up at every gay Pride event around the world and no one to my knowledge has ever been converted. Do they get some perverse thrill from upsetting people and trying to push their beliefs on others?

So that was my round-up for the week's gay news. Obviously my unique, personal slant on them all as always - but you wouldn't want it any other way... or maybe you would? If you want to get in contact with me, please join our FaceBook page and leave your comments and suggestions.

In the meantime, from me and all of the Gay Chat team, have a great week.

Terry Gee

New York announced on Friday that gay marriage will be legal in the US state on July 24. And as Pride took place in the entertainment capital yesterday, there was a lot of celebrating to do. Here at Gay Chat Towers, we think this is fantastic for America and the world who will now have eyes on New York and to hopefully follow suit.

New York is the seventh state to legalise gay marriage, with eight more states offering same-sex civil partnerships.

US States offering gay marriage: New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and Washington DC. Of course California did have it for a few months in 2008 as well!

Countries that have legalised gay marriage: Canada, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Iceland, South Africa, Mexico City, Argentina.

There are also countless countries that have legalised civil unions all over the world.

But gay marriage is not a new thing; it was legal throughout the ancient world until Christians deemed it to be "against god" in 342 CE. For centuries before that, same-sex unions, relationships and marriages happened all over the ancient world and were not only accepted but encouraged. The Greeks are famous for depicting homosexual unions in their artwork - as are the Chinese - and the Romans were widely regarded as bi-sexual at the very least.

Love is the reason for marriage; so regardless of sexuality, that one emotion should be enough to convince anyone that this is a good thing. Unfortunately, it has been hit back (once again) by the religious sect. "The end of the world is nigh", "New York - the new Sodom and Gomorrah", "judgement day is coming." Really? Eleven countries have already had gay marriage for years and I haven't seen fire and brimstone envelope those lands, have you?

Let's face it; it is man who has put into place these restrictions and sexual segregation, not a god figure. And why would any 'being' end the world because two people choose to show their love for each other? People's prejudices are what harm this world and the outdated, misguided writings of men 2000 years ago. It has taken far too long, but finally the bible is being recognised for what it truly is; a fictitious book to install fear and order into the populous 2000 years ago. It is not relevant anymore and we are only now waking up to that fact. I for one can't wait for religion to finally fall and humans to move on to a higher, more evolved plane of thinking where they love their fellow man and worship the things that he or she has achieved - regardless of anything, including sexuality.

Instead of closing their eyes and praying for a rapture that will never come, how about opening them and standing in rapturous applause aimed at their fellow man. The world is amazing, wonderful and full of love, but hiding behind outdated text to fuel ones discrimination and hatred can only colour it grey at best.

Terry Gee