Out with the Family: Documentary

Square Peg Media, organisers of the Alternative Parenting Show, produce this documentary. After getting in touch with celebrity couple Elton John and David Furnish, David agreed to fly to the UK to narrate the video. Sarah Garrett, Managing Director of Square Peg Media and mother to twin girls, features on the video, and said: “We were so happy to have David on board, he’s a lovely guy and a true champion of the cause to create change.” The 40-minute film has been sponsored and endorsed by the Royal Bank of Scotland, an endorsement in itself about how times have changed, and includes interviews with a variety of families who tell their stories. Some have become parents through adoption, surrogacy, through a fertility clinic or the less formal DIY approach!

IS Says It Was Behind US Prophet Cartoon Attack

Elton Simpson had talked about going to Somalia to fight
with militant Islamists

BBC AMERICA: Islamic State (IS) has said that it was behind the attack on a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest in the US state of Texas.

It said that "two soldiers of the caliphate" carried out the attack at a conference centre near Dallas.

IS's al-Bayan Radio news bulletin said the exhibition "was portraying negative pictures of the Prophet Muhammad".

Both suspects were shot dead after opening fire at the contest on Sunday.

Correspondents say that it is believed to be the first time that IS has claimed to have carried out an attack in the US.

"We tell America that what is coming will be even bigger and more bitter, and that you will see the soldiers of the Islamic State do terrible things," the statement released by the group said. » | Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Confronting Homophobia | Stephen Fry - Out There | LGBTQIA+ | Pride Central | Reupload

Dec 3, 2022 | Episode 1 sees Stephen reflecting back on how much has improved for gay people in his lifetime and he meets Elton John and David Furnish who’ve inspired many, including Stephen, to be open about their sexuality. He also travels to Uganda where the government is proposing a new law that would put gay people to death and sees up close the impact this is having on the lives of gay men and women there. Stephen also travels to the USA to explore the workings of Reparative Therapy, a therapy that claims to cure people of a gay sexuality. And he also has time to see how Hollywood deals with the gay issue these days by meeting Neil Patrick Harris who continues to land leading man roles even though he’s openly gay.

Mary Trump: The President's Anti-LGBTQ Policies Are Not Surprising

After growing up in the Trump family, Mary Trump says Donald Trump's discrimination against LGBTQ people is not shocking. In her new book "Too Much and Never Enough," she recounts many instances of bigotry she witnessed, including from her grandmother, who once referred to Elton John using a gay slur. Mary Trump says the remark stopped her from coming out to her family. "I wasn’t happy about it, certainly, that my grandmother had those attitudes, but it didn’t exactly surprise me in a household that was so racist, anti-Semitic and misogynistic," she says.

Dallas Prophet Cartoon Attack: Suspected Gunmen 'Named'

Authorities have identified the suspected gunmen who attacked an event near Dallas exhibiting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, US media say.

Officials have named them as Elton Simpson and Nadir Soofi, according to the New York Times and the Washington Post newspapers.

Can You Feel The Love Tonight: Elton John Music Video HD

Elton John : I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues | Remastered

Oct 30, 2018 • Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group

Elton John - Circle Of Life

George Michael, Elton John - Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (Live)

Views on YouTube: 116,518,043

Elton John - Something About the Way You Look Tonight

Sep 1, 2010 • "Directed by Tim Royes, the music video for The Big Picture’s first single features supermodels Alek Wek, Kate Moss, and Sophie Dahl. 'Something About The Way You Look Tonight' peaked at #1 in over 20 countries as the double-A side single with 'Candle In The Wind 1997'". | Views on YouTube: 23,106,734

Elton John: Something About the Way You Look Tonight

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Muslim Hate Preacher Says Blogger Behind ‘Draw Muhammad’ Comp Should Die, On Live TV

The preacher was born in Welling, south-east London

DAILY EXPRESS: HATE preacher Anjem Choudary told the anti-Islam activist who organised the 'Draw Muhammad' event at the weekend she should be sentenced to DEATH, on live TV.

American right-wing blogger Pamela Geller clashed with British imam Choudhary just days after gunmen Elton Simpson, 31 and Nadir Soofi, 34, attempted to storm the controversial cartoon event in Garland, Texas.

Geller, 56, has received death threats and Islamic State militants have called for her "slaughter" since the exhibition.

During a heated live Fox News interview, host Sean Hannity questioned Choudhary on his views about the cartoon drawing event and if he thought Ms Geller should die.

The imam replied: "We’re not talking about Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck.

“You’re talking about people who deliberately had a competition to insult the prophet … knowing full well this carries the death threat in Iran.

"If you saw the cartoons that Charlie Hebdo drew [sic], you would understand the anger."

The cleric then went on to say that Geller would be fully aware that many Muslims consider blasphemy a crime that is worth capital punishment. » | Rebecca Perring | Thursday, May 07, 2015

Elton John : Something about the Way You Look Tonight

Sep 1, 2010 | Views on YouTube: 27,234,559

France: Teen Shot by Police Given Private Funeral as Crisis Grips Government

THE GUARDIAN: President Macron cancels visit to Germany amid France’s worst violence for 18 years

The 17-year-old boy shot dead by a police officer was buried on Saturday as the French government braced for further protests after the worst violence for 18 years.

Friends and family attended a private funeral at Nanterre, where Nahel Merzouk was killed on Tuesday after being stopped by two motorcycle patrol police.

A large crowd gathered outside the local mosque and followed the coffin to the cemetery, many chanting “Justice for Nahel”. Lawyers for relatives had asked journalists to stay away from the ceremony, saying it was “a day for Nahel’s family” to mourn “with discretion”.

A 38-year-old police officer has been officially put under investigation – the equivalent in France of being charged – for voluntary homicide.

President Emmanuel Macron, who is facing the biggest challenge of his centrist government’s authority, cancelled a planned two-day visit to Germany on Sunday. The decision came after Macron faced criticism for attending an Elton John concert in Paris on Wednesday while the country burned. » | Kim Willsher in Paris and Montreuil | Saturday, July 1, 2023

Emeutes après la mort de Nahel M., en direct : 45 000 policiers et gendarmes déployés samedi soir, vives tensions à Marseille : Gérald Darmanin a annoncé des effectifs renforcés à Lyon et Marseille, théâtres de violences dans la nuit de vendredi à samedi. »

Ukip Councillor Under Investigation Over Racist And Homophobic Comments

THE GUARDIAN: Newly elected Redditch councillor Dave Small referred to gay people as perverts and African immigrants as scroungers

Nigel Farage is dealing with fresh allegations of racism and homophobia in his party only days after the local and European elections as Ukip was forced to launch an investigation into comments made by one of its newly elected councillors.

Dave Small, who was elected to Redditch borough council on Friday, faces being kicked out of the party for referring to gay people as "perverts" and African immigrants as "scroungers".

In comments posted on Facebook, he also attacked BBC broadcaster Clare Balding and singer Elton John over their sexuality and referred to "our sworn enemies in the Muslim world". » | Kevin Rawlinson | Saturday, May 24, 2014

Related »

Elton John : Something about the Way You Look Tonight

Sep 1, 2010 | "Directed by Tim Royes, the music video for The Big Picture’s first single features supermodels Alek Wek, Kate Moss, and Sophie Dahl. 'Something About The Way You Look Tonight' peaked at #1 in over 20 countries as the double-A side single with 'Candle In The Wind 1997'".

The Guardian View on Brunei and Stoning: Don’t Leave It to Celebrities to Act

THE GUARDIAN: Brunei’s shocking new penal code must be challenged – through deeds as well as words. Britain’s responsibilities are clear

Brunei’s introduction of new laws allowing stoning for adultery and sex between men has sparked international outrage. Elton John and George Clooney’s calls for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the tiny south-east Asian kingdom have grabbed the spotlight. The United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet has condemned the “cruel and inhuman” measures, as have the EU, Australia and others.

The punishment is only one of many horrifying changes in a penal code which also covers apostasy, amputation as a punishment for theft and flogging for abortions. Lesbian sex is punishable by 40 strokes of the cane as well as jail. In some cases children who have reached puberty are subject to the same penalties as adults; younger ones may be flogged. The sharia code was first introduced in 2013, and was supposed to be enacted gradually; following an outcry the government did not bring forward its harshest elements until now. Many suspect that the impact of declining oil revenues on public spending has left Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, one of the longest-ruling absolute monarchs, keen to bolster support among conservative elements. » | Editorial | Thursday, April 4, 2019

Elton John: Can You Feel the Love Tonight?

The Excesses of Lord John Browne and Why Your Petrol Costs So Much!

Photo of Lord John Browne courtesy of Google Images

THE MAIL ON SUNDAY: At the time it all seemed too much - too plainly far-fetched - for Jeff Chevalier to take in. But here he was, a 25-year-old once-penniless Canadian male prostitute, sitting down to dinner with the Prime Minister of Great Britain.

And the two men were liberally helping themselves from a £3,000 bottle of claret.

The wine was the personal choice of Lord Browne of Madingley - the boss of British Petroleum, Britain's most senior businessman and host of the dinner party in question.

"Mr Blair didn't know what it was but he absolutely loved it," Mr Chevalier recalls. "It was a 1983 French claret."

Lord Browne had originally met Mr Chevalier through a male escort agency; now the pair were partners.

The tycoon had installed the young Canadian in his £5million Chelsea apartment and was showing him off to the cream of London society.

The cosy dinner for Tony Blair in the summer of 2005 came amid a seemingly endless merry-go-round of dinners, lunches, soirees and parties that Mr Chevalier was summoned to by his tycoon lover, 34 years his senior.

He was flaunted before business and political contacts, diplomats and artists; there were holidays in private compounds in Barbados and opera in Salzburg and Venice (enjoyed alongside Prince and Princess Michael of Kent in their private box).

In Venice, Mr Chevalier would find himself chinking glasses with Elton John and Jude Law.

Travel would routinely be by private jet - which the businessman appeared to regard as a private plaything.

Today [May 6, 2007], in an exclusive interview in The Mail on Sunday, Jeff Chevalier gives a stunning account of the extravagance of life at the top of BP. The true story about Lord Browne – by ex-rent boy lover (Read on) By Dennis Rice

Mark Alexander

Malawi Frees Jailed Gay Couple
THE GUARDIAN: President pardons pair 'on humanitarian grounds' after meeting UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon

Steven Monjeza (l) and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, in court earlier this year. Photograph: The Guardian
A gay couple sentenced to serve 14 years in jail in Malawi have been pardoned after their country's president met Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general.

Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were tried and found guilty of sodomy and indecency earlier this month in a move that sparked international condemnation.

But after talking with Ban today, Malawi's president, Bingu wa Mutharika, announced the pair would be freed.

"These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws," he said after the meeting, at the southern African country's State House. "However, as the head of state, I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions.

"I have done this on humanitarian grounds, but this does not mean that I support this."

He added: "We don't condone marriages of this nature. It's unheard of in Malawi and it's illegal."

Ban praised the decision, but said: "It is unfortunate that laws criminalise people based on sexuality. Laws that criminalise sexuality should be repealed."

He is due to address Malawi's national assembly later and is expected to ask legislators to look at this.

Although the order was immediate, a prison spokesman told The Associated Press they had not received notification to release the pair by Saturday afternoon.

Earlier this week, a cousin of Chimbalanga, Maxwell Manda, said that he wanted to leave Malawi upon his release.

Joseph Amon from Human Rights Watch said the president was responding to the international outcry following the couple's conviction and sentence.

"I hope that other leaders of African countries with anti-gay laws see that this is just not acceptable in the international community," he said. >>> Amy Fallon | Saturday, May 29, 2010

THE GUARDIAN: My friend, President Mutharika, show compassion: In the spirit of your fight against Aids, free Monjeza and Chimbalanga – an open letter to the president of Malawi >>> Elton John | Saturday, May 29, 2010

Malawi President Pardons Gay Couple After UN Pressure
THE TELEGRAPH: President Bingu wa Mutharika of Malawi has pardoned a homosexual couple who had been jailed for 14 years.

Mr wa Mutharika had been under international pressure to reconsider the convictions of Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20. They were arrested in December after they were united in a traditional wedding ceremony in the conservative southern African country, where homosexuality is illegal.

Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations Secretary General, met the Malawian president on Saturday in the capital Lilongwe.

Speaking shortly afterwards, Mr wa Mutharika said: "These boys committed a crime against our culture, our religion and our laws.

"However, as the head of state I hereby pardon them and therefore ask for their immediate release with no conditions." >>> | Saturday, May 29, 2010

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