Liverpool is set to pay its respects to 32-year-old drag icon The Vivienne today with a vigil in honour of the star, who tragically passed away on Sunday, January 5.
In a touching Instagram post, their publicist, Simon Jones, paid tribute to the Drag Race icon, saying: “James was an incredibly loved, warm-hearted, and amazing person.
“Their family are heartbroken at the loss of their son, brother and uncle. They are so proud of the wonderful things James achieved in their life and career.”
Sahir House, the LGBTQ+ charity in Liverpool, and one that The Vivienne proudly supported as an ambassador, is collaborating with the celebrity’s family to organise the event. John Hyland, Sahir’s community partnerships lead and a close friend of The Vivienne, told the Liverpool ECHO: “Liverpool is synonymous for its ability to come together in difficult times and support one another.
“We have been working closely with James’ family and close friends to create a space where Liverpool and our friends across the country can come together to grieve, celebrate James’ life and say goodbye. We ask that all who are able to join us continue to respect his family’s wishes and their privacy.”
The Vivienne’s last Instagram post was dedicated to Sahir House, in which they asked fans to give back to the charity to continue with their work.
Elska, a project dedicated to exploring the world and its men through a queer perspective, has shifted its focus on Odesa, the beautiful Ukrainian city on the Black Sea. Inside, readers can follow Elska author and photographer Liam Campbell as he shares intimate photography of the men he met there and honest stories about the time he spent with them and in this city.
“I am so excited and proud to have reached 50 editions, and casting the spotlight on Ukraine is the perfect way to celebrate this achievement,” says Campbell. “The first ever edition of Elska, which was published back in 2015, was made in Lviv, Ukraine. Therefore, it only seemed right that the fiftieth should also be made in Ukraine, but this time I chose to focus on Odesa.
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“Of course, this trip wasn’t as easy as the previous one, considering that it took place in the midst of Russia’s full-scale invasion. However, my love for the country and my determination to mark the fiftieth Elska in this special way spurred me on. Certainly, I was scared, but I felt that I had to try.”
“Elska Odesa also marks the first in a brand new era of Elska,” continues Liam. “Previously, I used to plan each issue to the most minute of details. This time, mainly because of the war, I arrived spontaneously. I then just met whichever local men I happened to find, and photographed them where they wanted, when they wanted, and how they wanted. Then, after each meeting, I wrote extensive notes in a diary, which became the basis of the narrative in Elska Odesa. For future editions, I will follow this spontaneous spirit to meeting locals and will use this documentarian / diary approach to the writing.”
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Elska Odesa is a combination of a gay photography book and travel memoir. The photography includes images of several Odesa men who were shot in their city’s streets and in their homes, dressed in their own style and often not dressed at all. The result is raw and refreshingly imperfect. The men featured are not models or any kind of celebrity, just ordinary locals. Their images are presented with conviction, promoting the beauty of the ordinary; the text is presented with sincerity, proving that what is real is more compelling than what is sensational.
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Elska Odesa is available in a collectible print format or in a downloadable e-version. Both are available for order online from the Elska website as well as from a select group of shops around the world. In addition, the companion e-zine Elska Ekstra Odesa is available, containing many hundreds of outtake images of each Odesa subject, plus additional behind the scenes notes from the making of this series. The list of stockists and details of the subscription service can also be found on the Elska website.
Former Labour MP for Hove Ivor Caplin has been arrested on suspicion of engaging in sexual communication with a child just months after he was suspended from the party over serious allegations.
A video shared on social media shows a man who identifies himself as the former Labour MP Ivor Caplin being handcuffed by police officers.
Sussex Police confirmed they have arrested a 66-year-old man on suspicion of engaging in sexual communication with a child.
In May last year, Mr Caplin was suspended over undisclosed ‘serious allegations’ – which he denies.
A police spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of footage circulating on social media showing a man in Brighton being detained on suspicion of engaging in sexual communication with a child.
‘Officers can confirm that a local 66-year-old man was arrested on Saturday January 11 and currently remains in custody.
‘This is an ongoing and active investigation.’
It is understood that Mr Caplin denies all allegations against him.
The winning design for a memorial dedicated to the military service of LGBTQ+ people has been unveiled 25 years after the ban on gay people serving in the armed forces was lifted.
Overseen by Fighting with Pride, the LGBTQ+ veterans’ charity, the design of the monument, which will be called Opened Letter, shows a letter written by a service person about their hidden love and is set to be unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum this summer.
Alistair Carns, Minister for Veterans and People, said: “When I joined the Royal Marines in 1999, this abhorrent ban on homosexuality in the armed forces was still in place. A quarter of a century later, we turn a page on that shameful chapter in our national story.
“This government is committed to renewing the contract with those who serve and have served, and we will continue to drive this forward until every recommendation of Lord Etherton’s review is completed.
“I thank the LGBT+ community and the charities that supported it, particularly Fighting With Pride, for their courage and continued efforts to bring this to a resolution, and urge everyone affected to visit the LGBT veterans page on the gov.uk website for support.”
Created by Abraxas Academy, the construction is being funded by a £350,000 grant from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs in the MOD.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven, the first trans player to compete at the World Darts Championship, has announced she will “step back” from the sport for mental health reasons.
The 28-year-old history maker, who lost in the first round of WDC to Dutch compatriot Kevin Doets, returned to the oche at Q-School, where players compete to earn PDC Tour Cards, but suffered another early elimination.
She subsequently took to Instagram to reveal she is taking a break from the sport.
“Q-School 2025 is over, and unfortunately, I didn’t play my best game. The truth is, my mind hasn’t really been in the right place for a while. I’ve been struggling with my mental health for months, and every time a tournament comes up, I’ve tried to push it aside. But this time, it caught up with me,” Van Leuven posted.
“Trying to focus on darts while dealing with old traumas that were triggered last year just doesn’t work, and I’ve realised it’s time to shift my focus. It’s time to prioritise my mental health and work on actually getting better.
“This isn’t the end of my journey, just a step back to move forward. Thanks to everyone who’s supported me along the way – I appreciate it more than I can put into words.”
‘The Christian Institute’, which “promotes a conservative evangelical Christian viewpoint”, has criticised NHS England after it released its 2025 awareness calendar, which marks events such as Trans Awareness Month and International Pronouns Day.
The calendar, which is published on the NHS Employers’ website, promotes 351 awareness days for a variety of topics, including LGBTQ+, sobriety, mental health and cancer.
In a piece published on its website, ‘The Christian Institute’ quoted Daily Telegraph and anti-trans organisation LGB Alliance, and highlighted a quote from Caroline Ffiske from Conservatives for Women, which called the calendar ‘Woke Nonsense’.
While the ‘The Christian Institute’ has campaigned on issues including gambling, abortion and euthanasia, it is most notable for its campaigns against homosexuality and gay rights. ‘The Christian Institute’ sought to retain Section 28 and a higher age of consent for gay and bisexual men, and opposed the Civil Partnership Act, the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 and legislation allowing same-gender couples to adopt.
It has opposed measures to prevent gay people being discriminated against in the provision of services and goods.
Emma Thompson and Rebecca Root are to star in Hear Me Roar, a new film depicting the true story of a legal battle fought by a trans woman and her husband to have their marriage recognised in law.
Hear Me Roar stars one of the UK’s most prolific transgender actresses Root (Heartstopper, Hogwarts Legacy) as Elizabeth Bellinger, a trans woman who married her husband Michael (played by Christopher Eccleston), in a secret ceremony in the 1980s.
Almost two decades later, the couple went public with their union and took the government to court to have it legally recognised, with barrister Ashley Bayston (played by Anna Friel) representing them in the case.
Thompson, who co-stars as the judge in the landmark case, said: “I’m weeping like a baby, it’s so moving and powerful and funny. It’s a great story and script with wonderful characters – I just loved it and it moved me deeply.
“I think it’s both fascinating and profoundly meaningful and essential.”
Director Amy Coop added: “It’s a privilege to be working with such a great team to tell this incredible story, an overlooked part of modern British history that represented a seismic shift for LGBTQ+ people.”
Root is among the UK’s most prolific transgender actresses, with past projects including Eddie Redmayne’s awards flick The Danish Girl, BBC Two sitcom Boy Meets Girl, Sky supernatural drama The Rising and Netflix hit The Queen’s Gambit.
Trans players will be banned from competing in women’s hockey as of next season, governing body England Hockey has announced.
England Hockey has said that the protection of “fair competition” was behind the move that will see the introduction of separate female and open categories, thereby ending trans participation in the women’s game.
The decision comes following a review carried out in consultation with guidance issued by the Sports Council Equality Group (SCEG), and rests on the assumption that “hockey requires the physical capabilities of strength, endurance, speed and acceleration as key factors for success,” and is thus a “gender-affected sport.”
In a statement, England Hockey said: “Based on this evidence, we have determined that the Trans and Non-Binary Participation Policy should restrict trans participation in order to secure fair competition.
“We are committed to supporting all affected players to ensure they find the right path for them to continue to participate in hockey.
The UK stripping away the human rights of trans and non-binary people.
‘England Hockey has announced it will ban transgender women from competing in the female category from the start of next season.”https://t.co/Sty5VRZcMP
“The new Trans and Non-Binary Participation Policy has been developed to ensure everyone can participate in the playing of hockey in a fair way.”
The changes will come into effect on September 1, in time for the start of the 2025/26 season, until which time trans athletes will be permitted to continue competing in the female category.
The review of transgender participation – which England Hockey has described as “comprehensive” – was launched in July 2023 following the publication in 2021 of SCEG guidelines on trans involvement in female sport.
It follows action taken by several governing bodies in other sports including the Lawn Tennis Association, the LGPA Golf Tour, and the England and Wales Cricket Board in restricting the participation of transgender athletes in female categories.
Athletics, cycling and swimming have also introduced new policies along similar lines.
Reacting to the news, trans activist Sophie Molly said: “The UK stripping away the human rights of trans and non-binary people.”
Dame Kelly Holmes has reflected on her time as a gay soldier and ’30 years of trauma’.
Speaking 25 years after the British Armed Forces’ notorious ‘Gay Ban’ was lifted, the double Olympic champion and retired army sergeant lived in fear of coming out for decades, despite being made an Honorary Army Colonel.
Speaking to ITV News, the retired athlete said: “I was in a career where it’s illegal to be gay, I then left that career where no one in society talked about, you know, sexuality as such. And in a sport where it was just a taboo subject, no one knew anything.
“So even up until the point of 2000 when the band was lifted, that three-year period of leaving the military and that band being lifted, I literally couldn’t say anything. So, I never lived my life authentically then because I was so worried that if I’d said or admitted I was gay, I could still be in trouble. I thought I could be jailed.”
Homosexuality started being decriminalised in the UK in 1967 but a ban continued in the armed forces until 2000. Those who were – or were considered – gay were often subjected to lengthy investigations before being discharged from the military. Some went to prison as recently as 1995.
After a record breaking Trans Pride in 2024, Trans+Pride London will return to the capital this year on Saturday, July 26.
Since 2018, LTP has organised the annual London Trans+ Pride March, which sees tens of thousands from trans communities and allies gather in the capital.
At its core, the London Trans+ Pride march is a protest calling for equity via positive legislative change and radical improvement to education and public healthcare systems to recognise and support the needs of trans people.
Drawing inspiration from Pride’s origins as an intersectional protest against violence and erasure, as well as contemporary movements (Queer Picnic, UK Black Pride, Trans Pride Brighton & Hove), LTP exists to serve many goals, all grounded in its core mission: To grow a community-facing, grassroots pride celebration and protest organised by and for trans, non-binary, gender non-conforming and intersex people, as a means of highlighting community needs, struggles, successes, and experiences in a social and political climate where trans voices often go unheard.
LTP organisers say: “The world we work towards is defined by deep social equity and fairness. It is a world where no-one has to fight for their basic rights, as we and so many others are doing today; where the unique healthcare needs of our community are well-provided for by the public healthcare system; where it is not the responsibility of trans people to repeatedly educate others about our needs and histories; where we can live as our truest selves without being at risk of discrimination and violence; where we can go to work and don’t have to perform an idea of gender that does not align with our own; where the protection of our rights is guaranteed.
“We recognise our unique position as a trans-led and trans-centred community organisation that is based in London, which is home to core governmental, legal and financial institutions. It is our intention to use this position to leverage for positive change and bring together the efforts and voices of trans+ organisations and individuals across the UK.”
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