Children of same-sex parents share their views on gender

Same-sex parents have taken to social media to share their children’s views on gender.

As part of a new study, started by the samesexparents Instagram account, children aged between four and ten years old were asked a series of questions around gender, including whether boys and girls had to do specific jobs because of their gender, what they should look like, and whether they should like certain colors.

The idea behind the research was to build on the 2014 research carried out by Dr Simon Crouch from the University of Melbourne, who found that children from same-sex parent families scored around 6% higher on general health and family cohesion compared to children of heterosexual parents.

So far, 14 parents have shared their children’s honest and open-minded responses.

When asked ‘What jobs does a girl do when she grows up?’ one child, Rainer, responded: ‘Any jobs that boys can do. And boys can do hair salons if they want, and make up styles.’

Emma said: ‘Any kind. Teach ballet classes or karate classes or anything they want.’

The children were also asked how they would feel if they were told they could not join in a game because of their gender.

Jacob, who could teach us all a thing or two about self-acceptance, said: ‘I would say you can’t necessarily say that because everyone is different and I shouldn’t listen to what you say because I like myself and you should care about other people.’

Samesexparents’ Gemma told Gay Star News she was surprised by the children’s maturity displayed in their answers – although she expected them not to have a stereotypical view of gender as a result of their upbringing.

‘Not one of the children listed a stereotypical male or female job when asked what jobs a boy and a girl do when they grow up,’ she said.

‘This is extremely uplifting to know that the children believe they can be anything that they want to be and do not have to default to gender stereotypes when it comes to deciding what career they wish to pursue.

‘The responses to the question “Is it okay for a boy to dress up as a princess and a girl to dress up as a pirate when playing dress up games?” are by far our favourite.

‘All 14 children agreed that this was okay, this was acceptable and this was nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.

‘You often hear of adults criticising other parents for letting their child dress in clothes “for the opposite gender”, in fear that the child will get bullied or teased by other children, but you will find that children are very open and accepting, and in most cases it’s only the adults who are unaccepting of it.’

Gemma and samesexparents are still accepting submissions via their Instagram account from children of same-sex parents aged between four and ten.

Read the full list of questions and a selection of responses below:

Q: What is the difference between a boy and a girl? Favorite answer: “I honestly think there is no difference.” Q: Girls like pink, boys like blue. Is this correct? Favorite answer: “They both like pink and they both like blue.” Q: What jobs does a boy do when he grows up? Favorite answer: “Different kind of jobs, they can do hair or be police officers or work at McDonald’s, anything they want.” Q: What jobs does a girl do when she grows up? Favorite answer: “Any jobs that boys can do. And boys can do hair salons if they want, and makeup styles.” Q: Girls should have long hair and boys should have short hair, do you think that’s true? Favorite answer: “No. Girls can have long hair if they want and short hair if they want. Boys can have long hair or short hair if they want.” Q: Most shops separate children’s toys into toys for boys and toys for girls, do you think shops should keep doing this? Favorite answer: “No they are all just toys.” Q: How would it make you feel if someone told you that you couldn’t join in with playing a game because you are a boy/girl? Favorite answer: “I would say you can’t necessarily say that because everyone is different and I shouldn’t listen to what you say because I like myself and you should care about other people.” Q: Is it okay for a boy to dress up as a princess and a girl to dress up as a pirate when playing dress up games? Favorite answer: “Yes because some people don’t feel comfortable in boy clothes and some people don’t feel comfortable in girl clothes.” Q: Do boys still cry when they are grown ups? Do girls? Favorite answer: “Yes, yes everybody can cry, everyone in the world can cry.” Want to read more? Head over to our website! All of the responses we have received so far are shared on our new ‘Gender Study’ page! Link to our website is in the bio. Comment below & let us know what you think!

A photo posted by @samesexparents on Aug 27, 2015 at 11:24am PDT

The post Children of same-sex parents share their views on gender appeared first on Gay Star News.

Mel Spencer

www.gaystarnews.com/article/children-of-same-sex-parents-share-their-views-on-gender/

Texas To Fight Request For $741K From Attorneys In Gay Marriage Lawsuit

Attorneys for same-sex couples in Texas’ federal gay marriage lawsuit are requesting more than $740,000 in fees and costs from the state.

However, just as they bitterly fought to defend Texas’ marriage ban, attorneys for the state are expected to oppose the plaintiffs’ motion for fees and costs.

The 27-page motion filed Friday, by attorneys from Akin Gump Straus Hauer & Feld, seeks $720,794 in fees and $20,203 in costs.

The Texas Observer reports on the motion for fees and costs:

Akin Gump represented two same-sex couples in De Leon v. Perry, which was filed in October 2013 and resolved pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 26 ruling in favor of same-sex marriage. Under federal law, prevailing parties in civil rights cases are typically eligible for fees and costs.

“Our task on behalf of our clients was to attack and uproot unjust laws that were tightly embraced by the entire elected statewide leadership of Texas, a state with virtually unlimited resources to defend those unjust laws,” Akin Gump’s Neel Lane (right), the lead attorney in the case, wrote in a declaration supporting the motion. “Had the State of Texas not deprived our clients of their constitutional rights, they in turn would not have had to engage attorneys, and this motion for attorneys’ fees and costs would have been unnecessary. If the State is not held accountable for the legal costs it caused to be incurred, then it will be more likely to engage in similar objectionable conduct in the future.”

Akin Gump represented same-sex couples Cleopatra DeLeon and Nicole Dimetman (above), and Mark Phariss and Vic Holmes. A federal judge struck down the state’s marriage ban in February 2014, but stayed his decision pending an appeal. The state took the case to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard oral arguments in January but didn’t rule until after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

In their motion for fees and costs, Akin Gump indicates that the state has already raised objections to it. From The Austin Statesman:

Lawyers for the attorney general’s office are expected to argue that the Texas couples cannot be considered “prevailing parties” because Texas law changed as a result of a June opinion by the U.S. Supreme Court, a legal action they were not part of, the motion said.

But Neel Lane, the lead lawyer for the two couples, disputed that assertion, saying their lawsuit prompted Garcia to declare the Texas ban unconstitutional in February 2014 — delaying enforcement of his ruling only while Texas appealed. The lawsuit eventually led Garcia to issue a permanent injunction barring Texas from enforcing a state law and a constitutional amendment that prohibited gay marriage, Lane said.

Even after the high court’s ruling, the state continued to deny accurate birth and death certificates to same-sex couples, until Garcia threatened to hold Attorney General Ken Paxton in contempt. The motion also notes that Paxton issued an opinion in the wake of the ruling that effectively encouraged county clerks with religious objections to refuse to issue same-sex marriage licenses.

Read the full motion below.

The post Texas To Fight Request For $741K From Attorneys In Gay Marriage Lawsuit appeared first on Towleroad.

John Wright

Texas To Fight Request For $741K From Attorneys In Gay Marriage Lawsuit

If Not God's Authority, Whose? Where Did Marriage Come From?
Who invented marriage?

Rowan County, Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis says her God did. That’s why she’s been denying marriage licenses, citing “God’s authority” and “God’s definition of marriage.” This is ridiculous on so many levels I don’t know where to start. (Actually, I do: Jail. Which is where Mrs. Davis is finally, deservedly sitting.)

But Rowan’s not alone. A lot of people are staking claim to the tradition of marriage. I’m not surprised; now that Kombucha’s huge, everyone’s like: “Oh, yeah. I’ve been putting that on my Cheerios for years.”

We do this “we did it first” thing all the time. Gather a bunch of hoop-a-philes around a beer keg and they’ll swear Americans invented everything about basketball. Forgetting that the Mayans had a ball and hoop came called “pitz” centuries earlier.

Yes, it occasionally involved using a decapitated head instead of a ball. But it’s nearly come to that at a Detroit Pistons game once or twice, so who cares about the difference?

Mike Huckabee cares – about marriage, anyway. I have no idea what he thinks about shooting hoops with heads. Although as mad as he’s gotten, I can’t imagine he’d be any more offended than he is by marriage equality: “For me … this is not just a political issue. It is a biblical issue.”

Candidates and clerks aren’t the only ones playing the Christian tradition card. In Iowa, one couple has decided to erect 1,000 billboards promoting their Christian view of marriage. An especially nice touch? They have a quote from God on the board. “Please… I need your help with this.”

This is nonsense. For one thing, as anyone who’s ever heard God knows, he only speaks in all capital letters. Secondly, however, it’s not like everyone who walks down the center aisle is doing so in the Christian tradition.

Except they kinda are. (I know, I know… But stay with me.)

The center aisle is a traditional meeting ground in the Christian faith. Similarly: seating the family on opposite sides, the father giving away the bride, a white wedding dress, exchanging rings, the wedding reception and even throwing rice. At least one of these has been a part of every wedding I’ve ever been to, and all of them can have roots in Christian tradition. Perhaps it’s understandable why some Christians are so possessive of the institution.

That doesn’t mean conservative Christians have a right to be rabidly territorial about marriage. Marriage pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years. The Aboriginal people of Australia have a strong marriage tradition, a society that dates back at least 30,000 years.

In China, the tradition of weddings goes back to about the third century B.C. Here, too, there’s a tradition of gifts and a reception following the wedding. Apparently, Christians didn’t really invent the post-wedding party, either. (Please don’t tell Mr. Huckabee, he’s having a hard enough week.)

Does that mean that all those drunken toasts by the best man and endless plates of chicken alfredo are in the Chinese tradition? No, (although in all fairness it should be noted the Chinese did invent pasta).

For one thing, if marriage as we know it was coming from China, WalMart would have been selling it to everyone – gays, straights, Mike Huckabee – for the past 30 years.

More importantly, however, this points out that it’s impossible to answer the question I started with. No one “invented” marriage. It’s not something you can pin a date on, like the creation of the atomic bomb, patenting the typewriter, or who invented the car.

OK, I lied; it’s exactly like the car.

Many people believe Henry Ford invented the car, but he didn’t. He did, however, popularize it with his famous Model T, making it part of the American culture. So much so that many people errantly think he invented the automobile.

Indeed, much of what we associate with the modern car didn’t come from Ford at all. The electric starter, an all-steel body, a single foot pedal to operate the brakes: Ford didn’t invent any of these things, nor have them on his original Model T. They came from other companies, like Cadillac and Dodge.

Automobiles – like marriage – are what we recognize today because the world changes, and the things we use evolve to adapt to that change. As you might expect, Huckabee wants no part of this: “It’s really not my place to just say, ‘OK, I’m just going to evolve.'”

The irony is, you’d think as an educated Baptist Minister Huckabee would be glad that the definition of marriage has evolved – especially the Christian version. In the Old Testament, wives were basically property, polygamy was allowed, and, at times, a woman who had been raped had to marry her attacker.

The New Testament is certainly better. Although even there some interpret the Bible to say celibacy was a better life than marriage. Only if celibacy wasn’t for you was it appropriate to go ahead and get hitched. Though this doesn’t even begin to explain the Kardashians and Billy Bob Thornton.

Evolution and change is the nature of all things. Ironically, one American who did understand this was Ford, though he didn’t always. So stubborn to change his Model T, he once said: “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.”

By 1927, however, sales of the Model T had fallen 80 percent since 1922. Almost too late, Ford realized his greatest triumph had failed to adapt. From this hard-earned lesson came the Model A, a car that once again sold millions. Ford even eventually offered the car in red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Deciding that while black was nice, his cars would serve society and the company better with the colors of the rainbow.

Just like marriage.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

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ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez comes out and talks self-acceptance in blog post

ESPN reporter Israel Gutierrez, 38, came out Friday with an emotional blog post.

In the post, titled: ‘Thanks for Reading‘, he describes the struggle in his twenties of not wanting to be gay—and how this all changed when he met his now fiancé David Kitchen.

Gutierrez used the blog to announce he is getting married on September 12.

However he also wanted to speak out for other people struggling with their sexuality, and not living their lives openly.

‘More than anything, I just want to tell my story. It’s probably going to feel like too much information to some of you. But it’s the best way I know to explain what life can be like for conflicted, confused gay men and women everywhere, so I appreciate you putting up with me.’

He notes he’d go to gay bars, but never felt at home there. The post paints a picture of him walking around a bar a few times nervously before entering, but leaving soon after. ‘”I don’t fit in. This isn’t me. Nobody in this place knows what I’m going through,” [I’d think]… Every time, I’d end up unhappier when I left.’

In a particularly moving passage, he describes how: ‘Starting in my early teens until somewhere in my late 20s, I’d blow out my birthday candles with the same wish: “Please don’t let me be gay.”’

Gutierrez says he was especially inspired by Gareth Thomas’ coming out, a British Rugby player who announced he was gay in late 2009. He said meeting his later fiancé in May 2009 ‘changed’ his life, and only two weeks later he started coming out to friends and family.

The religious community with which he is close also provided challenges, but he says: ‘In a sense, all the prayer worked because I eventually saw my true self, and I’ve never been happier.’

If my story makes a difference in any way, it’s the all that really matters to me. Thanks a ton for the responses. Can’t keep up with them.

— Israel Gutierrez (@IzGutierrez) September 4, 2015

He joins LZ Granderson and Kate Fagan as openly gay journalists at ESPN, as well as Nate Silver, who is editor of ESPN-owned Five Thirty Eight.

The post ESPN’s Israel Gutierrez comes out and talks self-acceptance in blog post appeared first on Gay Star News.

Jack Flanagan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/espns-israel-gutierrez-comes-out-and-talks-self-acceptance-in-blog-post/

Cristiano Ronaldo Finds A Place For His Head; Andy Cohen & Anderson Cooper Wear Matching Towels

This week, Steve Grand accepted a date with a hot marine, there’s speculation that Rosie O’Donnell and Tatum O’Neal are more than friends and Eddie Redmayne becomes The Danish Girl in the film’s stunning trailer. Here’s what happened on Instagram:

Come over here, Cristiano Ronaldo. Rest your head on my pillow.

A photo posted by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) on Sep 3, 2015 at 12:42am PDT

   Colton Haynes is all about making the necessary sacrifice.

Saddest day in hiking history…I had to sacrifice my yeezy’s. They were still comfy to swim in tho! #SneakerHeadFail #ImGoingToHell #WillNeverHurtThemAgain #PlsSendMeAnotherPair hahaha 🙂 A video posted by Colton Haynes (@coltonlhaynes) on Sep 2, 2015 at 5:22pm PDT

Show us your other tricks, Kellan Lutz.

I just visited the historical Barrenjoey Lighthouse, which sits at Sydney’s most northern point in Palm Beach. This lighthouse got its name from the customs officers who built the track around 1850 to monitor any smugglers bringing contraband into Broken Bay. The Barrenjoey Lighthouse is one of the Sydney Northern Beaches’ most iconic sights and boasts a notable cultural heritage. Built in 1881 from sandstone quarried on site, the lighthouse, its oil room and keepers’ cottages remain unpainted in the original stone finish. While I was here I had to fit in a work out…or does this count as planking?

A photo posted by Kellan Lutz (@kellanlutz) on Sep 1, 2015 at 11:53am PDT

Joaquin Ferreira put a ring on it.

A photo posted by Joaquin Ferreira Oficial (@soyjoaquinferreira) on Sep 3, 2015 at 4:59am PDT

With scruff or without, Raul Castillo is perfect.

Thanks to my friend Love Ablan @loveablan for posting this shot she took of me a while back when I was clean shaven and closely cropped. And thank you all for the lovely birthday wishes. I’m one lucky guy. #virgosrock

A photo posted by Raúl Castillo (@officialraulcastillo) on Aug 31, 2015 at 11:23am PDT

Just two silver foxes hanging out in towels…

A photo posted by Andy Cohen (@bravoandy) on Sep 3, 2015 at 1:30pm PDT

Which Hudson wore it better: Oliver or Kate?

A photo posted by Oliver Hudson (@theoliverhudson) on Sep 3, 2015 at 12:56pm PDT

Keep practicing, Ryan Lochte.

Practice makes perfect! @roy_burch @officialkirstycoventry waiting for our next set #grind #speedo A photo posted by @ryanlochte on Sep 3, 2015 at 9:21am PDT

Tyson Beckford pretty much owns Vegas these days.

Current mood @chippendales #teamtyson #summersexy #vegas

A photo posted by Tyson C. Beckford (@tysoncbeckford) on Sep 2, 2015 at 3:06pm PDT

Ladies and gentlemen, the unbreakable Nick Adams and Tituss Burgess.

A photo posted by Nick Adams (@thenickadams) on Sep 1, 2015 at 2:20pm PDT

Michael Lucas likes something he can get a grip on.

Grab a hold of what’s yours! #LucasMen #LucasEntertainment

A photo posted by Michael Lucas (@michaellucasnyc) on Aug 31, 2015 at 10:32am PDT

Zachary Quinto ponders the meaning of Vulcan life.

A photo posted by Zachary Quinto (@zacharyquinto) on Aug 25, 2015 at 6:58pm PDT

We knows ways to make you happy, River Viiperi.

I just want to be happy… ?

A photo posted by RiverViiperi (@riverviiperi) on Sep 2, 2015 at 10:09am PDT

Another day, another homocentric post from James Franco.

A photo posted by James Franco (@jamesfrancotv) on Sep 4, 2015 at 6:30am PDT

Every day is biceps day for Billy Reilich, AKA known as Ellen’s gardener.

Got to lift with my buddy @skylermaxon today in LA. It’s a great feeling having motivating people in your life! Check him out on MTV every Monday night!

A photo posted by Billy Reilich (@billreilich) on Sep 3, 2015 at 2:58pm PDT

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/uQg2gdHxdnE/cristiano-ronaldo-finds-a-place-for-his-head-andy-cohen-anderson-cooper-wear-matching-towels-20150905

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Peels Away Kim Davis’s Legal Arguments in Heated Interview with Mat Staver: WATCH

Incarcerated Kentucky clerk Kim Davis’s lawyer Mat Staver appeared on Chris Hayes’s MSNBC show yesterday and the the testy exchange between the two put a spotlight on the fact that Davis doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on in her anti-gay crusade.

Staver started the interview with by claiming Davis was “innocent” of any crime, an assertion that Hayes pointed out was patently false. Hayes then asked if Staver would still be defending Davis if she refused to issue marriage licenses to interracial couples on religious grounds. Staver punted on the question and after a bit of back and forth (and talking over one another) Hayes asked Staver point blank:

Mr. Staver there are allies of yours who have been talking to reporters saying that they think you are taking Kim Davis for a ride and basically raising money off her plight. How are you doing on fundraising this week?

Unsurprisingly, Staver wasn’t pleased with the question:

 Anyone who asks that question does not know Kim Davis. Kim Davis has a strong conviction and conscience. She contacted us for representations. We are representing her. I can tell you we are putting in a whole lot more money into the cost and expenses then we would ever get out of this case. This was never about fundraising. This is about protecting someone’s conscience.

The post MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Peels Away Kim Davis’s Legal Arguments in Heated Interview with Mat Staver: WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Peels Away Kim Davis’s Legal Arguments in Heated Interview with Mat Staver: WATCH

WATCH: More Officials Like Kim Davis Would Be a Disaster

A county’s clerk’s job requirements are pretty simple — and don’t involve judging every person who walks through the door.

read more

Matt Baume

www.advocate.com/commentary/2015/09/05/watch-more-officials-kim-davis-would-be-disaster

Alec Mapa Talks Cruises, Comedians And His “French” Family

It was on an LGBT family friendly Carribean cruise that Alec Mapa and his husband decided to adopt.

And it’s easy to see why: R Family Vacations goes out of it’s way to make sure everyone is having a good time, whether happily single, looking for love, or a member of the growing community of same-sex parents raising children.

Join R Family’s next adventure, with Olivia, no less, the LGBT Family & Friends Hard Rock Vallarta Resort in Puerto Vallarta.

In honor of the cruise, Queerty chatted via email with the funny man about R Family, his favorite family outings, raising an African-American kid, and his all-time fave comedians…

Tell us about your first R famaily cruise ? Where did you go?

I was booked as a performer on a Carribean cruise in 2007. The Carribean is always a welcome destination but going on an LGBT cruise with families and their kids was like meeting a thousand best friends all at once. On the R Family cruise my husband and I met our tribe, and it was because of the cruise that we decided to become parents. After meeting people who looked like us and had kids, we decided that it was time for us to start a family as well.

How does your son describe his family to his friends?
We told our son that our family was special because we all looked different from each other. We said “Papa is Cajun, which means he’s kind of French, I’m Filipino and you’re African American, but what makes us a family is that we love each other.” On his first day of Kindergarten another kid asked why he had two dads and he said “Because we’re French!” We go to a school with lots of LGBT parents , so honestly we’re not that exotic.

How do you find family friendly travel in the “gay scene” given that a lot of it is about bars and apps?
I think the mistake a lot of people make when discussing the LGBT community is that there’s only one “scene.” We are a rainbow community comprised of as many scenes as you can imagine. On an R Family vacation all those scenes converge and everyone is welcome. I’ve seen party boys rock out with lesbians with kids and I’ve seen gay dads give twinks a run for their money on the dance floor. There’s more to us than bars and apps. At least I hope so.

Now that marriage is legal everywhere, how do you think that will add to the options for gay-friendly destinations?
What, like we’ll all be going to Alabama next? I think the gay friendly places will become friendlier and the unfriendly places will become so undesirable they’ll either stick to their guns or grow up and join the party.

You’ve traveled often with “all gay men” and with a “mixed crowd with gay and lesbians.” How do the experiences differ?
The all gay men excursions aren’t really designed to be family friendly and that’s what make them enjoyable to folks without kids. However, the R Family guest isn’t all that different from an all adult cruise. I’ve gotten just as drunk on R Family as any other cruise. The biggest difference is we’re all there to celebrate with our families and that’s a completely different kind of fun.

Do these vacations reflect your own life? (men, women, gay, straight)
Our son’s favorite baby sitters are transgender show girls and drag queens so it’s fair to say our life is pretty diverse. So yeah, the vacations look like a tamer version of our home life. But not that much tamer.

What comedians do you love?
Can’t beat old school Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Redd Foxx or Moms Mabley.What are your three favorite jokes?

• I’ve watched so much gay porn. Every time I eat a banana, I spit on it.

• I’m Asian, my husband is white and our son is black. We look like the last two minutes from It’s A Small World.
• Gay people want the same things as straight people. The only difference is we’re gay, so we want nicer things.

Chris Bull

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/xtNZhn_aDpM/alec-mapa-talks-cruises-comedians-and-his-french-family-20150905

Artist Spotlight: Ron Amato

amato_featuerdx400.jpg

Christopher Harrity

www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/artist-spotlight/2015/09/05/artist-spotlight-ron-amato

BBC star claims Strictly Come Dancing rejected him because he wanted to dance in a same-sex couple

A gay quizzing star on the BBC has claimed Strictly Come Dancing rejected him because he wanted to dance with a man.

Eggheads’ CJ de Mooi, who claims he was being considered for the show, said he would appear but only if he would dance with a male professional.

Jeremy Vine, the presenter of Eggheads, was chosen as a contestant.

Speaking to the Mirror, he said: ‘I can’t believe they picked Jeremy over me. I’m quite upset. It’s because I wanted to dance in a same-sex couple.

‘Someone at the BBC told me at least for the foreseeable future neither Strictly Come Dancing or the US version Dancing With The Stars will have a same-sex couple on. How disappointing.’

He also claims pro dancer Robin Windsor had been axed because he wanted same-sex pairings. He had told GSN earlier this year that it would be a ‘great thing to happen’.

De Mooi said: ‘Robin was pushing for same-sex couples, suddenly he’s not in it.’

In June, former pro dancer James Jordan said same-sex partnerships on the show would turn it into a ‘joke’.

A BBC spokesperson said they never approached CJ to participate on this year’s series of Strictly Come Dancing, adding that CJ’s agent ‘gave us the opportunity to consider him but there was only one person we ever wanted from Eggheads and that was Jeremy Vine’.

‘Strictly Come Dancing is a family show and we’ve chosen the traditional format of mixed-sex couples,’ they added.

‘At the moment we’ve no plans to introduce same-sex couples.’

Gay comic Julian Clary, who competed on the second series of Strictly Come Dancing, has also called for same-sex couples dancing.

He told Press Association: ‘I think it would be fun, first of all, to watch a same-sex couple dancing.

‘I’m aware that there are difficulties with the lifts and the mechanics of the dancing. But there are gay ballroom dancing clubs around the country, so they’ve found a way to make it work.’

The US or UK have yet to feature a celebrity with a same-sex professional dance partner. Israel’s Dancing With The Stars was the first version of the hit franchise to feature a same-sex partnership, with Austria following in 2011.

The post BBC star claims Strictly Come Dancing rejected him because he wanted to dance in a same-sex couple appeared first on Gay Star News.

Joe Morgan

www.gaystarnews.com/article/bbc-star-claims-strictly-come-dancing-rejected-him-because-he-wanted-to-dance-in-a-same-sex-couple/