''PinkNews'' is a UK-based
online newspaper marketed to the
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (
LGBT) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by
Benjamin Cohen in 2005.
It closely follows political progress on
LGBT 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 LGBT publications to have interviewed an incumbent
Archbishop of Canterbury in 2014, when
Justin Welby discussed the
Church of England's approach to homosexuality.
''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, honour the work of LGBT activists in the field as well as political speakers and businesses. Previous high-profile PinkNews Awards winners include
John Bercow
John Simon Bercow (; born 19 January 1963) is a British former politician who was Speaker of the House of Commons from 2009 to 2019, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Buckingham between 1997 and 2019. A member of the Conservative Party prior t ...
,
Nick Clegg,
Richard Branson,
Ed Miliband,
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond (; born 31 December 1954) is a Scottish politician and economist who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure on the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as leader ...
and
David Cameron.
History
PinkNews was founded in 2005 by Benjamin Cohen.
A paper version, ''The PinkNews'' was officially launched in 2006. However, ''PinkNews'' became an online-only publication when the print edition was dropped in 2007. The website is updated daily with news.
In 2018, PinkNews became the first LGBTQ+ publisher on
Snapchat. It had an operating profit of £2million in 2021. 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.
Editorial policy and interviews with politicians
The editorial stance of ''PinkNews'' is not to campaign in a partisan manner, although it does interview politicians and has a pro-LGBT 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."
To date ''PinkNews'' has published articles by six British Prime Ministers:
John Major,
Tony Blair,
Gordon Brown,
David Cameron,
Theresa May, and
Boris Johnson. ''PinkNews'' has also interviewed other political figures in the United Kingdom, including
Nick Clegg and
Jeremy Corbyn, who has also written for the paper. On 2 January 2020, UK
MP Layla Moran
Layla Michelle Moran (; born 12 September 1982) is a British Liberal Democrat politician serving as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development since 2020, and serving as the Member of Parliament for O ...
revealed in an interview with PinkNews that she is
pansexual; she is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual.
News International legal threat
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. 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.
Relationship with Stonewall
''PinkNews'' reported heavily on the refusal of
Stonewall, an LGBT rights group, to actively campaign for gay marriage.
Stonewall's then Chief Executive
Ben Summerskill
Ben Jeffrey Peter Summerskill (born 6 October 1961 in Kent) 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 th ...
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.
Stonewall was also criticised by a former founder,
Michael Cashman, MEP, over its policy.
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".
''PinkNews'' also regularly reported on criticism of Stonewall for its refusal to campaign on transgender issues. PinkNews has collaborated closely with Stonewall following the departure of Summerskill in 2014. A year later, under Chief Executive
Ruth Hunt
Ruth Elizabeth Hunt, Baroness Hunt of Bethnal Green (born 12 March 1980) is a Welsh administrator who was Chief Executive of UK-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans equality charity Stonewall, the largest LGBT equality body in Europe, from 2 ...
, Stonewall decided to begin campaigning on transgender issues.
In 2017, Stonewall and ''PinkNews'' co-hosted an election
hustings, and Ruth Hunt has written for ''PinkNews'' on a number of occasions.
Advertising and support
*''PinkNews'' was an official supporter of the
Coalition for Equal Marriage (C4EM), a counter-organisation to the
Coalition for Marriage, and successfully petitioned for the introduction of
same-sex marriage rights in England and Wales, while the Coalition for Marriage campaigned against it.
*''PinkNews'' named 25 January as
Peter Tatchell
Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements.
Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...
Day to celebrate the British political campaigner's 60th birthday, 45 years of human rights campaigning and 10 years since the launch of the Peter Tatchell Foundation. ''PinkNews'' also published a prose poem written by
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
in honour of Tatchell's birthday on 24 January and frequently carries advertisements for the Peter Tatchell Foundation.
*On 25 April 2012 ''PinkNews'' began using a video for the Coalition for Equal Marriage in their advertising space, wrote articles in support of it and gave it their official backing, encouraging readers to respond to the government consultation to show their opinions.
*''PinkNews'' regularly reported on the progress of the
Out4Marriage campaign, which was started in May 2012 and launched by Mike Buonaiuto and ''PinkNews'' founder, Benjamin Cohen. The campaign used YouTube videos of people supporting equal marriage, including celebrities and Members of Parliament, finishing with the line "And that’s why I’m out for marriage. Are you?". The Out4Marriage YouTube campaign reached 14 million views in just three weeks from launch.
See also
*
LGBT culture
*
LGBT rights in the United Kingdom
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have varied over time.
Prior to the formal introduction of Christianity in Britain in 597 AD, when Augustine of Ca ...
*
List of LGBT periodicals
The following is a list of periodicals (printed magazines, journals and newspapers) aimed at the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) demographic by country.
Australia
The most comprehensive holdings of LGBT periodicals is found at t ...
* ''
The Pink Paper''
References
{{reflist, 2
External links
Official website PinkNewsat
SimilarWeb
Internet properties established in 2005
British news websites
LGBT-related mass media in the United Kingdom
LGBT-related newspapers published in the United Kingdom
LGBT-related websites
Newspapers established in 2005
2005 establishments in the United Kingdom