I wrote a new piece for Valentine’s Day. LGBTQ+ rights continues to be violated and disregarded around the world. So, as ever: happy Valentine’s to those around the world still longing to love and live freely.
Read the full piece here: open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
I really enjoged Bella Mackie’s ‘What A Way To Go’. Check out my mini review if you think it might be for you ☺️ open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
I received an email from Meetup this week saying I had been an event host for four years, with 65+ events under my belt. It made me reflect on my experience of hosting the LGBTQ+ Meetup at the London Art Bar and why I love it!
open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
I thought that was the idea 😆😆
Thank you! Maybe we both just really love dating and that’s why we are still doing it haha
I went on my first @breezesocial.bsky.social date last week. Here’s how it went.
open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
Some of these I should have learned way before hitting my 30s. Here’s everything I learned about dating in 2025.
open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
Every week this year we asked Britons what news story they had heard most about - here are 2025's top stories in one chart
1. 64% Budget (Nov/Dec)
2. 63% US/Israel vs Iran clashes (Jun)
3. 62% LA wildfires (Jan)
4. 56% US tariffs (Apr)
5. 55% Pope Francis death (Apr)
yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
Maybe 2026 will be the year I actually start using BlueSky properly…
Inflation down,
Unemployment up,
Let’s have a rate cut (but to the tune of Let’s Have A Kiki ft SJP)
youtu.be/rTa3hPXnqXk?...
2025 has not been a strong year for #dating for me (no offence to some of the lovely people I did actually date).
If you met some great people this year (whether or not it worked out long term!) how did you meet them?
Elizabeth Taylor in an 80s press conference speaking on the stigma of AIDS “…And it so angered me that I finally thought to myself, Bitch, do something yourself.” from the documentary “Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes.”
there’s a scene in the new documentary where Elizabeth Taylor is talking about the stigma of AIDS and how she got involved in the movement and it’s fucking everything
Can confirm that #WickedForGood is actually quite good
LGBTQ+ meetup at London Art Bar (Holborn) again tonight from 7pm. Come meet new people, make friends, have a drink. It’s fun. 🏳️🌈
I keep coming across Beyoncé’s ‘Lemonade’ out and about and I really hope this MASTERPIECE of an album is having a renaissance
I recently read Marie Arana’s ‘Bolivar’ and wrote some thoughts about it on my new Substack if you’d like to check it out! (5/5)
open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
The UK Government needs to step up and treat the trans community like human beings, not a political football.
Happy Trans Pride, London!
Bodily autonomy is an essential principle and we can’t abandon it in the wake of moral panic. Your body, your choice. Trans people are our neighbours, friends and colleagues and are deserving of a life of dignity and happiness.
UK firms struggle but price pressures likely to keep Bank of England on alert reut.rs/4f7HVv1
Happy 15 years of One Direction to all who celebrate x
My phone crashed and all 100 of my ‘one day I’ll read those’ tabs in safari have disappeared. I was definitely never going to read any of them. It’s a miracle.
Pedro Pascal’s recent Vanity Fair interview is absolutely beautiful and very moving. Made me tear up a couple of times! (The photoshoot is INSANELY 🔥 too, obvs)
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
Pride is important because it is a huge, visual reminder to LGBTQ+ people that they are not alone, and that who they are deserves to be celebrated.
However you are protesting or celebrating today, have a fantastic day!
But it isn’t mission accomplished here. Too many of us know what it’s like to do a quick ‘risk assessment’ before holding a partner’s hand. And too many of us have feel that worry lately that we are on the verge of falling backwards.
Happy Pride, London! 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
People come to and love London because they feel it’s a place they can truly be themselves. I love that about this city. One day we will have a world where every single person can live and love freely, no matter who or where they are.
I wrote something about finally getting started with my freelance work. Better late than never to Substack, right?
open.substack.com/pub/garethle...
open.substack.com/pub/morningc...
Labour’s latest on migration is yet another disappointment from this government.
Migration isn’t just a good thing because it helps plug gaps in the receiving country, but because human beings deserve to live with autonomy.
Where you happen to be born should not define your life chances.
Good luck to @libdems.org.uk colleagues campaigning and up for election across the country today! 🔶
Our next LGBTQ+ meetup at London Art Bar (Holborn) is tonight.
I’ve always found them to be really good fun, and the people I’ve met have been lovely 😊
www.londonartbar.com/calendar/lgb...
