Blog Posts | OK 2B GAY

December 28, 2019

Elton John wins highest accolade in Queen’s New Year Honours list

Musician Elton John has bagged himself quite the Christmas gift – the highest acknowledgement in the new year honours list. Each year, the Queen enshrines an array of people by marking them as new members of orders of chivalry and awards them official honours across several categories, from activism to entertainment. John...

December 27, 2019

Study finds homophobic teasing is the most common ‘violent behaviour’ among teenage boys

Homophobic teasing is the most common “violent behaviour” among teenage boys, a new study has found. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, looked at whether attitudes towards gender equality affected violence in teenage boys. It surveyed 866 teenage boys in community settings like...

December 27, 2019

This White House official took a free trip to an anti-LGBT ‘hate group’ summit

A White House official was given a free trip to attend a “religious liberty” summit created by an anti-LGBT+ “hate group”, according to a travel report released by the US government. The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC) has designated the legal advocacy and training organisation Alliance Defending...

December 27, 2019

Jerry Herman, Broadway composer who penned LGBT anthem ‘I Am What I Am’, dies aged 88

Leaving behind a rich, rousing track record of Broadway hits, American composter Jerry Herman has died aged 88. His death was confirmed by Jane Dorian, his goddaughter, to the Associated Press. Across the 1960s, he penned hit after hit, such as Hey, Dolly and Mame as well as the LGBT+ anthem, ‘I Am What I …...

December 27, 2019

George Michael’s sister Melanie Panayiotou dies on Christmas Day, exactly three years since tragic death of her brother

George Michael’s sister Melanie Panayiotou has died aged 55 on the third anniversary of her brother’s death, police said. The hairdresser was found at her London, England, home by her sister Yioda on Christmas Day – the same day her pop star brother tragically passed away in 2016. According to authorities and...

December 27, 2019

Catholic cardinal says gay people can be blessed but cannot have ‘a marriage-like relationship’

A German Catholic cardinal, described as “Germany’s most important Catholic”, has said that while gay people can be blessed they should be barred from having a “marriage-like relationship”. Reinhard Marx is a chairman German Bishops’ Conference as well as being a Catholic cardinal. When...

December 27, 2019

Homophobe loses job after calling countless Twitter users ‘dirty f**s’ on Christmas Day

A homophobe who slipped into LGBT+ people’s Twitter inboxes and called them “dirty f**s”on Christmas Day has been fired from her job. After British comedy Gavin & Stacey aired on Christmas Day, an array of angered queer viewers took to Twitter to disquiet showrunners for failing to remove the word...

December 27, 2019

This trans person sent 8,000 rainbow cards to LGBT+ people disowned by their families this Christmas

A 21-year-old queer from Devon sent 8,000 cards to LGBT+ people who’ve been disowned by their families this Christmas, as part of their Rainbow Cards Project. Ellis Roberts-Wright started the project three years ago, after becoming ill with ME and realising how painful it could be to be isolated from the LGBT+...

December 27, 2019

Kirsty MacColl opted not to sing ‘f****t’ during a 1992 ‘Fairytale of New York’ performance and Armageddon did not occur

A families up and down the UK tucked into turkey and basked in the warm glow of their television boxes, queer people got the Christmas gift they always wanted: Hearing a homophobic slur. Imagine how tired we are. The Pogues‘ 1987 song ‘Fairytale of New York’, regularly rated as the nation’s...