Type of site | Online newspaper |
---|---|
Available in | English |
Created by | Benjamin Cohen |
URL | thepinknews |
Commercial | Yes |
Registration | No |
Launched | July 2005 |
Current status | Active |
PinkNews is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005.
It closely follows political progress on LGBTQ+ rights around the world, and carries interviews with cultural figures and politicians. The news is split into different sections, with most recent, prominent and trending stories showing on the home page by default. People can filter news by the sections they have most interest in, including: transgender, entertainment, world, politics, arts, and opinion.
PinkNews pays special attention to the topic of religion and homosexuality. It became one of the few LGBTQ+ publications to have interviewed an incumbent Archbishop of Canterbury in 2014, when Justin Welby discussed the Church of England's approach to homosexuality. [1]
PinkNews runs the PinkNews Awards, which launched in 2013 and take place annually in Westminster. The awards, which are voted on by the public alongside a panel of judges, [2] honour the work of LGBTQ+ activists in the field as well as political speakers and businesses. Previous high-profile PinkNews Awards winners include John Bercow, [3] Nick Clegg, [4] Richard Branson, [5] Ed Miliband, [5] Alex Salmond [5] and David Cameron. [6]
PinkNews was founded by Benjamin Cohen in July 2005. [7] [8] A paper version, The PinkNews was officially launched in 2006. [9] However, PinkNews became an online-only publication when the print edition was dropped in 2007.[ citation needed ]
In 2018, PinkNews became the first LGBTQ+ publisher on Snapchat. It had an operating profit of £2million in 2021. [10] The website was redesigned in 2022. New filtering features were also added to its app in an attempt to counter news avoidance due to negative reporting. [7]
The editorial stance of PinkNews is not to campaign in a partisan manner, although it does interview politicians and has a pro-LGBTQ+ stance. PinkNews does not endorse political parties in elections, but in previous elections has endorsed individual politicians regardless of party "based on their stance on gay rights issues." [11]
To date PinkNews has published articles by six British Prime Ministers: John Major, [12] Tony Blair, [13] Gordon Brown, [14] David Cameron, [15] Theresa May, [16] and Boris Johnson. PinkNews has also interviewed other political figures in the United Kingdom, including Nick Clegg [14] and Jeremy Corbyn, who has also written for the paper. [17] [18] On 2 January 2020, UK MP Layla Moran revealed in an interview with PinkNews that she is pansexual; she is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual. [19] [20]
In 2006, two tabloid newspapers, the News of the World and The Sun , published a false story about two Premiership footballers having a gay orgy with a DJ. Although the News of the World did not name any of them, it used a pixelated photograph of footballer Ashley Cole to illustrate the story. PinkNews published what it claimed to be the unpixelated original photograph. Cole, along with the DJ, Masterstepz, sued these tabloids' parent company News International and won at least £100,000 plus legal costs. [21] News International threatened to pursue PinkNews, under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978, for a share in these costs, but did not in the end follow through. If they had, PinkNews would have been closed down, as it was just a startup at the time. [22]
PinkNews reported heavily on the refusal of Stonewall, an LGBTQ+ rights group, to actively campaign for gay marriage. [23] Stonewall's then Chief Executive Ben Summerskill suggested "it would cost a staggering £5 billion to implement", a figure later seized upon by opponents of same-sex marriage despite its lack of factual basis. The rift came to a head at Liberal Democrats conference in 2010, where Summerskill argued that "there are lots of lesbians who actually don't want marriage". The event was attended by Lynne Featherstone, the minister for equality; Evan Harris, president of Liberal Democrat LGBT+ group DELGA; and Steve Gilbert, the Lib Dem MP, all of whom said they supported same-sex marriage. A poll commissioned by PinkNews and answered by more than 800 of their readership found 98% in support of marriage equality, with many comments calling for Summerskill's resignation. [23] Stonewall was also criticised by a former founder, Michael Cashman, MEP, over its policy. [23]
Summerskill later accused PinkNews of running an "unethical campaign" against Stonewall after asking every LGBT organisation and political group to outline their stance on the issue, with only Stonewall refusing to comment. In October 2010, Stonewall revised its policy and agreed to support same-sex marriage, stating "Stonewall is pleased to be widening its campaigning objectives to include extending the legal form of marriage to gay people". [24] [25]
PinkNews also regularly reported on criticism of Stonewall for its refusal to campaign on transgender issues. [26] PinkNews has collaborated closely with Stonewall following the departure of Summerskill in 2014. A year later, under Chief Executive Ruth Hunt, Stonewall decided to begin campaigning on transgender issues. [27]
In 2017, Stonewall and PinkNews co-hosted an election hustings, [28] and Ruth Hunt has written for PinkNews on a number of occasions. [29]
Peter Gary Tatchell is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBTQI+ social movements.
Stonewall Equality Limited, trading as Stonewall, is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe.
Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill is chair of The Silver Line and director of the Criminal Justice Alliance, a consortium of 135 charities working across the GB criminal justice pathway. He was the chief executive of the UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality organisation Stonewall, the largest gay equality body in Europe, from 2003 to 2014. He has also worked as a businessman and journalist. Summerskill is an occasional contributor to The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Observer, The Times, Time Out and other publications. In 2015 he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the British LGBT Awards In 2017, he was appointed by the UK government to the council (Board) of ACAS, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service. He was first appointed a trustee of the Silver Line in 2017.
The Queer Youth Network (QYN) was a national non-profit-making organisation that was run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people and is based in the United Kingdom. It had an aim to represent the needs and views of younger LGBT people by campaigning for greater visibility and equal rights, as well as providing general support and information to those who are just coming out or who are experiencing homophobia.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have developed significantly over time. Today, lesbian, gay, and bisexual rights are considered to be advanced by international standards.
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LGBT Humanists UK, founded in 1979, is a special interest section of Humanists UK which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality and human rights in the United Kingdom. It also organises social events for LGBT humanists and public awareness initiatives around Humanism.
Benjamin Cohen is a British web developer, entrepreneur and online publisher. He became known for his dot.com enterprises as a teenager and his dispute with Apple Computer over the domain "itunes.co.uk", and as the founder of LGBT news site PinkNews. From 2006 until 2012 he was technology correspondent for Channel 4 News in the UK. Cohen has a diagnosis of MS. He campaigns on LGBT and disabled rights. He is the chief executive of PinkNews, and regularly writes for the London Evening Standard.
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The Coalition for Equal Marriage is a British campaign group created in 2012 by Conor Marron and James Lattimore, a same-sex couple, to petition in support of civil marriages for gay couples. The Coalition for Equal Marriage was created in response to the Coalition for Marriage, a Christian group campaigning against same-sex marriage in the United Kingdom.
Out4Marriage is a 'multi-platform' political campaign that was started on 8 May 2012 in response to the British Government's consultation concerning the legalisation of same-sex marriage in England and Wales. It centres on YouTube—and other social media—videos in which those filmed give their views on why they support marriage for same-sex individuals, with each video finishing with the tagline "And that's why I'm out for marriage. Are you?". Creators of the videos have included members of the public, Members of Parliament, peers and celebrities.
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