A West Yorkshire police officer and former Mr Gay UK sexually assaulted three men and raped a fourth on a Christmas night out with colleagues in Leeds, a court has heard, the BBC reporting that 28 year old police constable Mark Carter allegedly dragged one man by the hair, punched him and raped him in a hotel room. Carter denies three counts of sexual assault and two rapes. The jury was told that Carter had been in a restaurant in Leeds on December 18 2009 enjoying a Christmas celebration with colleagues. Prosecutor Sarah Wright said he initially groped two men, who he knew, in the restaurant. The party then left the restaurant and the defendant went to Bar Fibre, where he allegedly touched a third man, who he also knew, on his groin and asked him if he wanted oral sex, the prosecutor said. She told the jury the defendant then went to the Loft Bar in Queens Court, Leeds, where he met a fourth man and they ended up walking back to the Etap hotel in the city centre, where Carter had booked a room. Wright said CCTV images would show the pair cuddling and leaving the bar walking hand-in-hand. "The complainant says he assisted the defendant because he had cramp and difficulty walking. He said he put his arms round him because he was cold," she told the jury. "Once at the defendant's room, the complainant was to tell police that the defendant opened the door and dragged him into the room by his hair." Wright said the complainant was punched in the face as he tried to pull away from performing a sex act on the police officer. Carter then went on to rape the man, the jury was told. "The defendant persisted even though the complainant told him to stop. At some point the defendant bit the complainant's shoulder," Wright told the jury, adding that the complainant showered and escaped as the defendant went into the shower after him. In interview, Carter said the incident in the restaurant was "done in jest" and he denied the allegations made by the two other men. He claimed all the activity in the hotel with the fourth man was "consensual.”The trial continues.
Members of Shasta County, California’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and their supporters came "out of the closet and into the streets" Sunday for the NorCal OUTreach Project's third annual gay pride parade in downtown Redding, The Record Searchlight reporting that more than 70 people showed up at the Market Street Promenade in downtown Redding by noon, when marchers took two laps around the area, carrying signs, leis, Mardi Gras beads, noisemakers, and in some cases, megaphones. "Black, white, gay, straight, love doesn't discriminate," marchers chanted as passing cars honked in support. Gay-rights supporters of all sexual orientations showed up Sunday, waving signs that read, "Out of the closet and into the streets," "I'm the pink sheep of my family," "Gay is the new cool," and "I kiss boys (and girls too)." 45 year old Katrina Rucker, a male-to-female transgender resident of Redding, said this year's event was her first, and all the support from straight members of the community made it memorable for her. "I think the supporters are what make this the best thing," she said. "The turnout is probably five times what I expected." For 52 year old Bud Dillon, the Redding event seemed small compared to the San Francisco gay pride parade he marches in every year with as part of the city's Gay Men's Chorus, but Dillon said a large parade is not necessarily a better one. "It doesn't matter the size," he said. "It's the idea of people coming together and being out together." He added that parades are important because they get the community familiar to gays."It's that whole adage of, if you don't know a gay person, you're disconnected from the issue," he said. "It's the visibility that's important."
The United States Ambassador to Italy says Lady Gaga has accepted an invitation to participate in a Gay Pride Parade in Rome’s Circus Maximus — the closing event of 2011 Euro Pride, The Associated Press reporting that David Thorne said in a statement Monday he is “very proud to have an Italian-American artist of her stature” come to the Italian capital. He quoted U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying human rights are gay rights. The pop star, an advocate for gay equality, was invited by Thorne and the local organizers of Euro Pride, which takes place each year in a different European city.
Wayne Rooney Sunday posted to Twitter “Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a transplant. I was going bald at 25 why not. I’m delighted with the result.” Monday, Rooney posted a picture of the procedure’s results.
Witness the many moods of Prince Harry in less than a minute.
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