Obviously, her religious belief didn’t go so far in not performing wedding ceremonies for straight couples, even though they were not getting wed before God in a church.

The problems date back to December 2007 when the registrars came under the direct control of the local authorities, before then they had worked almost like freelances, being able to pick and choose jobs. This meant that the homophobic could avoid performing civil partnerships.

Now the authorities are reminding them that they are in fact, public servants who are performing public duties as laid down in law.

It seems that in the choice between a strong religious belief against same sex partnerships and a £30,000 a year salary, the salary seems to win. Glad we have such strong convictions.

The council is considering appealing, lets hope they do and that sense prevails.

Domestic abuse doesn’t have to mean physical violence, although it often does, it can take the forms of mental abuse or rape as well. This is the problem, people do not see this insidious method of control as abuse. In fact the victims often think it is their fault, which is what the perpetrators will rely on to dominate and control.

Lesbian relationships are more prone to this than gay ones as more of us live together, which means there is more opportunity for it to happen. Even rape may not be seen as that. It can take the form of emotional blackmail, threats to be outed at work or to the family or any other type of  dominating behaviour. It could even be trying to stop you going out in the lesbian community or having friends of your own.

One of the problems is that the victim often feels alone and confused. How can this women I love so much hurt me like this? I must be doing something wrong

Don’t assume it is always the butch one in the relationship that is the abuser, nor the taller one. Abusers come in all types and sizes. Don’t think that because your lesbian you cannot get help. All the agencies that deal with the hettie abused wives are there for you too plus several gay specific ones.

Where there is actual physical abuse you should be able to contact the police but it must be said that unless the particular police force in your particular area is up to speed on this issue, the response maybe patchy.

If you are in an abusive relationship, contact one of the help agencies who will be able to talk to about your problems. Then you need to plan an escape strategy, where to go, who you can trust and what to pack in an emergency. For more information see the Broken Rainbow.org website which is not quite fully functional yet has some good information on what to do about getting out of an abusive relationship.

Some other useful sites are

www.womensaid.org.uk
www.refuge.org.uk

Scotland
www.scottishwomensaid.co.uk

Northern Ireland
Call 0800 9171414
www.niwaf.org

The Welsh have one organisation that covers both men and women.
Call 0808 80108000
www.wdah.org

If you are able to discuss these problems with your partner and think there may be a solution then it may be worth trying Relate or get your partner to contact Respect on 0845 122860 or go to www.respect.uk.net

For gay guys there is the Men’s Advice Line
0808 8010327
www.mensadviceline.org.uk

Men’s Advice Line
A help line for men experiencing domestic violence.
Tel:  0808 801 0327
Website:  www.mensadviceline.org.uk

www.mankind.org.uk

If you have to leave your flat and have nowhere to go, you can contact your local council or there is Shelter
0808 8004444
www.shelter.org.uk

Stonewall also has a housing advisory service which may be your first choice.
0207 3595765
www.stonewallhousing.org

One final site could be www.victimsupport.org

He dressed nearly all the rich and famous and a lot of the not so rich and famous. You can read the normal obit stuff about him everywhere. I found his clothes suited me perfectly and always felt comfortable in anything I tried on. My only sadness was that a lot of the time I just couldn’t afford it unless I had just sold an article or something.

It seems strange that he may not have started up if it wasn’t for a war in Algeria and the incredible fact that he sued Christian Dior and won.

My thoughts go out to his long time partner in love and business  Pierre Berge.

On my part I have laid out my black YSL towels and face cloth. A small token but mine own.

Share your thoughts on the maestro.

Scattering into the sea is often popular, especially amongst the sailor boys. Now you can go one better. You can be ‘buried’ on The Neptune Memorial Reef off the coast of the Florida Keys. Said to be ‘based’ on the Lost City of Atlantis, this huge man made reef that covers over 16 acres of the sea floor will have room for over 125,000 ‘people’. It is being created like an underground park so that divers can visit it, whilst at the same time being an ecological site that will attract fish, coral and other types of marine organisms.

Made from special concrete and bronze and incorporating statues and other architectural details, it will make an unusual resting place for anyone, although frankly by this time one would be beyond caring where they went.

It was the brainchild of diver, Gary Levine, designed by Kim Brandell and is run by the Neptune Society which is one of the leaders in alternative funerals.

If you are looking for an unusual type of immortality, this could be your answer, providing your nearest and dearest don’t mind getting rather wet when they go to put flowers on your resting place.

And didn’t those girls look yummy, although Jessica’s Philip Treacy hat, said to be an homage to the forth coming Chelsea Flower Show, was a love it or hate it confection. The Alexander McQueen gown reminds me of either a French sofa or curtains, I can’t make my mind up. What is it about walking on red carpet that brings on style meltdown.

Kim Cattrall, whose shoulders remind me of a rugby player, was sporting a Vivienne Westwood number in red that looked heavy, I’m sure she goes down well with the TVs.

Well look at slutty little Cynthia, loved that cleavage, would I ever love to run my tongue around them. Naughty girl.

Kristin Davis just looked like the girl next door that I shocked one rainy summers’ day, but that’s another story.

Rumour has it there has been so much bitchiness on this film that covered everything from salary to outfits, mmm, wish I could have been a fly on the wall during those.

It has been said that they made a speech at the beginning of the premier that people shouldn’t give away the plot, but from what I understand, it is when they are older and it more stable. Given the fact that they have been freed from the TV network moral constraints, I thought it would be more daring. It is not so much Sex in the city as just a bunch of middle aged friends with their best years behind them.

Well, look forward to seeing Jessica on the Jonathon Ross show this Friday. He is such a naughty boy, I can’t wait to see how she handles it.

They had originally planned to set up legally recognised ceremonies for gay weddings but now it can only have a non-legal ceremony, like the civil partnership in the UK but it does give couples more rights.

The ACT has been quite progressive in its attitude to same sex partners since 1994 when it passed the  Domestic Relationships Act giving gay couples inheritance and alimony rights.

At the same time, the Federal Government is about to overhaul some one hundred laws to give gay and lesbian couples equal rights as enjoyed by hetties.

How this will sit with some of the States that still do not recognise same sex partnerships is not known.

Given that the gay community is still split on whether they want the right to ‘marry’ in an official ceremony or are happy enough with a civil partnership because we’re different, means that the nasty right wing christians can divide and conquer so to speak.

The ball’s in our court.

Why? Well the good people of Lesbos have suddenly woken up one day and decided that a Lesbian can only mean a native of Lesbos and they are going to court to make it so.

This ridiculous action is being sought by a, I hate to say this, a group of three lesbians, (OK, they are residents of Lesbos). The main one  Dimitris Lambrou, editor of a fine right wing rag,  is initially taking the gay and lesbian group, OLKE to court to get a ban on anyone not a native or descendant of the island of Lesbos using the term lesbian. She apparently says that the Greek government is so embarrassed that they are renaming the island after its main town. She also says that his sister cannot call herself a Lesbian. Frankly, I could go and sleep with her, then she wouldn’t have that problem.

Given that Greece is only slightly more liberal in its attitude towards the GLTB community than Latvia, Serbia and the rest, it can only be seen as a homophobic attack, despite claims that it is not. Lesbos, however,  seems to buck this trend with a remarkably integrated society that only had a problems when a cruise ship full of outrageous laddette type lezzies complete with film crew behaved in a way that would have been frowned upon,  even in The Candy Bar.

The poor demented Dimitris says once she has won her local case she is going on to take on the world in this matter. For too long the world has taken poems of Saphos who extolled the virtues of woman on woman love and applied it as a general term. She has apparently discovered ‘new’ evidence that says Sapho had children and had committed suicide over a male lover. Perhaps she found the suicide note in a cave that had been overlooked for centuries.

Who knows, she may even win his little local fight but it will stop there. If it doesn’t, all us girls will have to up sticks and move to Lesbos, then we can change its name to Lesbian Island.

See you soon Dimitris, get the Ouzo on ice.

Whether he put something into his original copy last September in the Independent when he first came out, that made people forget or in his own words, he was disappointed that when he came out there wasn’t much of a surprise, so now he has talked to a red top for more impact. Could just be that there is a new book or program on the horizon.

We are not sure if he is gay or bi because when apologising to his many female fans he alluded to any of them trying to turn him. Maybe it was a marketing ploy to keep his fan base intact although he may now start getting a hard core of Fag hags that will simply adore him.

Nice to know he has a lovely boyfriend though.

Now we are wondering if he is going to have gay wedding in 2008.

Watch this space.

This was the days of the Dandies and so it may have been one of the reasons Brighton has become such a popular gay city.

Brighton has a huge creative community with many actors, writers, singers, inventors and others either living there or have been born there. So many that it now boasts a Hollywood style Walk of Fame. Amongst them are Oscar Wilde, Virginia Woolfe, Aubrey Beardsley, Ivor Novello, Dusty Springfield, Laurence Olivier and currenty Simon Fanshaw, Fat Boy Slim and wife Zoe Ball, Julian Clarey, Joanne Good, even Paul McCartney has a place here but that may belong to Heather now.

Brighton Pier is a major attraction, it did have two, but one burnt down, while along the sea front  is a  Georgian splendor of squares and terraces. Also, just near the station is the famous Banksy stencil of the two gay policemen kissing.

The gay community is centered around the Kemptown area which is called the Gay Village and boasts numerous bars, clubs, shops and other amenities in and around St James Street.

Some of the more popular bars are The Bulldog, The Amsterdam Bar which is also a hotel and sauna, The Brighton Tavern, The Candy Bar which is mainly lesbian, The Harlequin which is a haunt of the transexuals, drag queens and any others,  features a cabaret and karaoke, Legends on the sea front which has a great roof terrace, so you can smoke and look at the great sea views and PV which is a pub run by lesbians.

The club scene is huge here with The Revenge being one of the largest, open seven nights a week it has a truly international reputation, Legends has opened up a club in its basement where you go to dance, dance, dance. plus the intimate V2 club.

There are also a host of club nights such as FTPA at the Candy Bar, Sunday Sundae at Audio and Wild Fruit at Tru should not be missed.

The shopping experience is not to be missed Clone Zone, Fundamentally Female, and Lacies which specialises in clothes and accessories for the transgendered.

In The Laines, there are numerouse antique and brick a brack shops where you can find that must have addition to your decor.

There are a multitude of gay friendly hotels, amongst them are Paskins Town House, Sea Spray and The Pink House especially for lesbians, New Stein Hotel, Hudsons and of course Queens hotel which overlooks the Pier, has a swimming pool, sauna and steam room and is ideally located to many bars and clubs.If that wasn’t enough there are the beaches including two nudist beaches, one official near the Marina the other further away, not official at Telscombe Cliffs, where you should be discreet.

The straights have a huge problem. The breeders face the problem that they will never be able to look after ‘Little Willy’ as well as his old mum. They won’t cook as well, they won’t iron his shirts as well and they certainly won’t keep a clean house, whilst the boys will have to live with the fact that they will never be able to provide well enough for the little flower, as they are actively and lustfully depraving her with their disgusting sexual urges.

So how will this play out for a gay couple? The first thought is no grandchildren. The straights have this pressure but this can be a serious issue for gay couples. Of course the old turkey baster and a willing slave can save the day but there is still the issue that one of the in-laws is not a real grandma, unless the father-in-law, no that’s too gross an idea.
Which of you is going to be the brood mare is obviously a personal choice, don’t let a bossy mother or in-law pressure you into anything.

The guys are going to be under a different pressure, but with A. I. and a surrogate, your genes can live on but it will cost a fortune and there is always the risk that the surrogate may fall in love with baby and want to keep it herself.

Adoption is a route open to gays and lesbians which could be a way out of this dilemma. Although not an easy route, it has become more accepted, you can read more about it HERE.

Corruption may rear its ugly head, you may be viewed as the wanton who has seduced their little baby into the rainbow life style, this could be coming at each of you from both sets of in-laws, Oh my.
Either or both may be regaled with tales of what a great boy friend or girl friend they once had but let slip through their fingers said with a sigh as soft as velvet yet as sharp as a stiletto.

Then there is the house keeping, I think the time is over when a mother-in-law would run an elegantly white gloved finger along the mantle piece but you can be sure they are checking up.
Time is a great healer.

Yet there are some great in-laws out there that will love you as their own and be helpful and supportive through the years and these must be treasured and nurtured and loved.