WalesOnline reports that the player bought the Turbo Drinks Company with his business partner Sean Smith and Gareth Williams, who was also a Welsh national team player, for around £7m.

The beverage company’s main product is the 4% shandy Turbo, which comes in a black bottle and is made from British lager and lemonade.

The manufacturer says the drink is taking the club world “by storm”, as it “appeals to both lager and alcopop drinkers due to being both a beer and a premix drink, bridging the gap between the two”.

Thomas, currently appearing in the Celebrity Big Brother house, has been in the news recently as the target of an offensive tweet which led to a footballer being sacked.

Lee Steele, who was let go by Oxford City, had said he “wouldn’t fancy” the bed next to Thomas and made a crude remark about protecting his body.

Steele apologised through his new club, Nantwich Town, saying the remark was “tongue-in-cheek”.

While Thomas is in the Celebrity Big Brother house, Sean Smith, of Sean Smith & Associates, told the paper about his partnership with the gay rugby star.

He said: “Gareth and I had months of painstaking talks about what he wanted to do with his career. We discussed things and there was an instant passion for the brand.”

Commenting on the job production the takeover and expansion of the drinks range would mean, he described the desire to create a “product for Wales”.

He said: “I really believe in this. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a millionaire and I watch the pennies like everybody else. But I really believe in Gareth and Gar [Williams], I have so much admiration for them.”

401 anti-gay incidents were reported to South Wales Police in 2011, up significantly on the 289 in 2008.

Inspector Nigel Crates of South Wales Police told the South Wales Echo it was a result of improved confidence of victims to report incidents.

He said: “Action plans ensure advice, help and support are provided to victims through the police and our partner agencies.

“The action plan is a result of a risk assessment process carried out by the attending officer which improves the first contact experience with South Wales Police and helps increase the confidence of victims to report matters.”

But Andrew White, the Director of Stonewall Cymru, said there was still a large number of crimes going unreported.

He said: “Stonewall’s research clearly shows that three in four homophobic hate crimes and incidents in Wales still go unreported to the police, often because victims do not feel that the police will do anything about them.

“Whilst some progress has been made, police forces still need to do much more to ensure all gay people in Wales feel confident to report homophobic incidents.”

In October of last year, North Wales police announced plans to display rainbow flag stickers in stations to encourage gay people to report homophobic crime.

Diversity leaders at the force believe the stickers will reassure gay people that they will be treated sensitively and respectfully.

Greg George, Head of Diversity Development at the North Wales Police told the Daily Mail: “The force is committed to tackling all crimes including homophobic hate crime and the stickers, which will be placed in all front counter areas, are a further symbol of our pledge.

“We know that homophobic hate crime is still under reported.

“All police officers within the force are trained to deal with all types of crime, however we also have designated diversity officers to support investigation and victims of such offences. The force also runs a self reporting initiative where victims can contact the police without giving their name and details.”

PinkNews.co.uk received a screenshot of Kristian Phillips’ account on 7 November in which he called Big Brother 2011 winner Aaron Allard-Morgan a “faggot”.

One of the tweets on the 21-year-old’s account read: “Aaron is the biggest loser I have ever seen, trying to turn it around and make Jay and Louise look bad! #BBUK #Faggot #Gimp #Getalife”.

A statement on the club’s website last night read: “Ospreys Rugby has been made aware of potentially homophobic comments allegedly made by one of our employees via Twitter.

“We take such issues very seriously and have immediately commenced a full and thorough investigation into this matter. As an organisation we do not tolerate any kind of homophobic behaviour and any employee found to be acting in such a way will face the appropriate action through our internal disciplinary procedures.

“We operate a well publicised self-policing social media policy that all employees are aware of and fully understand.

“There will be no further comment made on this issue until the conclusion of said investigation.”

The statement was posted after PinkNews.co.uk reported that the club had not replied to enquiries.

It concluded: “We would, however, like to stress that at no point has Ospreys Rugby ‘failed to respond to questions’ and are disappointed to see this being reported given that attempted contact with the media outlet in question from ourselves has failed to receive a response.”

The Wales international said he could no longer give “100 per cent” to the sport.

His management company broke the news today and his spokesperson Emanuele Palladino said: “We can confirm that Gareth Thomas is officially retiring from both international and club rugby with immediate effect.

“This marks the end of what has been a remarkable career for a remarkable person. Gareth hopes that through his achievements both on and off the field he has left a lasting legacy within the game.”

Thomas, 37, added: “I have listened and discussed this decision with many of my family and close friends. My mind has told me that the time to retire is now.

“If you can’t give 100 per cent to rugby then you can’t do it justice. This is a sad day, but I know that my time has come to an end as a player. My passion for the amazing game will never end or leave me however.”

The star was due to play for Wales against England in the Gillette Four Nations Series on Saturday.

Born in Sarn, Bridgend, Thomas spent most of his career in rugby union with Cardiff. After coming out as gay in December 2009, he switched to rugby league, making his debut for Wales against Italy last year.

Hollywood actor Mickey Rourke recently announced he plans to make a film about Thomas’ life and will play the rugby star.

Thomas said today: “I do not know what lies ahead, but I feel the challenge of something different excites me more than another year of rugby.”

“I would like to thank everyone I have been involved with in the sport. I could not have achieved it without any of them. I have great memories and great friends that I will keep for the rest of my life.

“I leave knowing I have done everything in my power to be the best person and player I could have ever been. And finally, I thank my parents for all their support and help throughout my career.”

According to witnesses, the incident happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning at Reflex on Wind Street.

A student who wished not to be named told PinkNews.co.uk that the two men shared an “quick peck on the lips” but were thrown out after being told by a bouncer that other customers disliked it.

He said: “I find it truly disgusting that in 2011 that two people can be thrown out for an innocent quick peck on the lips, yet it could be seen around the club many straight people around the club acting a lot worse.”

He added: “I overheard the bouncer saying ‘people don’t like it’ which to me suggests heavily that the main reason for them being thrown out is homophobia.”

Another customer who was with the couple, Sherrie Deacon, said she heard the bouncer say: “I do not care. I will not have this in my club.”

Ms Deacon, who described the kiss as a “simple peck on the lips”, has set up a Change.org petition calling for Reflex to apologise.

She wrote: “Many straight couples make out and grope but no one even bats an eye. A innocent peck on the cheek [sic] gets a gay couple get cast out though? Insanity.”

Reflex Swansea denies the couple were kicked out, although it admitted that a couple had been told to stop being “overly amorous”.

A spokesperson for the club said: “Having investigated your enquiry, the only incident that took place at Reflex in Swansea on the evening of Tuesday 18th October 2011 was that a member of the door staff team approached a couple who were overly amorous asking them to temper their behaviour which they duly noted.

“We have a policy of welcoming people from all walks of life and are unaware of this alleged incident as nobody was asked to leave the premises on that night.”

Diversity leaders at the force believe the stickers will reassure gay people that they will be treated sensitively and respectfully.

According to the Daily Mail, Greg George, head of diversity development at the force, said: “The force is committed to tackling all crimes including homophobic hate crime and the stickers, which will be placed in all front counter areas, are a further symbol of our pledge.

“We know that homophobic hate crime is still under reported.

“All police officers within the force are trained to deal with all types of crime, however we also have designated diversity officers to support investigation and victims of such offences. The force also runs a self reporting initiative where victims can contact the police without giving their name and details.”

In 2009, Grampian Police, one of the country’s largest police forces, said it would display the rainbow flag in all of its offices to support gay rights.

PC Derek Allison, Aberdeenshire division diversity officer, said: “It is a great way of advertising the Grampian Police commitment and understanding of equality and diversity.”

Currently, surviving partners of gay clergy can claim a pension calculated from 2005, when civil partnerships became legal.

Heterosexual widows or widowers can claim pensions based on their late spouse’s working life.

Next week, a two-day meeting of the church’s governing body will consider whether the benefit should be based on the whole of a gay clergy member’s working life.

A church spokeswoman told the Western Mail: “We believe the number of clergy who have entered into civil partnerships is very low. We don’t know exactly how many as clergy are not obliged to tell their Bishop or to notify the Church in Wales pension scheme when they enter a civil partnership.”

Retired cleric Rev Martin Reynolds, who is part of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said: “The church still has to catch up with wider society in its attitude to gay people, but I think it is doing rather well. I would give the church six marks out of ten.

“The particular change that will be proposed next week would bring the Church in Wales into line with what was agreed in England last year.”

The Church of England General Synod approved the change in 2010.

Michael Goldsmith, 40, of Menai Bridge, Gwynedd, Wales, was caught out when he tried to con an earlier victim again.

Goldsmith served eight months in prison after he was convicted of fraud for similar offences in 2008.

As soon as he was released, he began contacting gay escorts again.

He would find gay escorts online and offer them money to travel to Wales to stay with him in hotels and small B&Bs. Most of his victims were from the London area.

Goldsmith would write bad cheques to the hotel owners and mock up emails to the escorts with the insignia of his bank when they asked for payment.

In August 2009, a previous victim of Goldsmith’s called the police to say that the conman had got in touch with him again, unaware of who the escort was.

During an investigation, police found a further 14 victims, including hotel owners.

Eventually, Goldsmith was charged with seventeen counts of fraud by false representation and remanded in custody.

At Kingston crown court, he pleaded guilty to ten charges and was sentenced to three years in jail.

DC Colin Dady of Southwark Police, who investigated the case, said: “This is the second time I have investigated Mr Goldsmith for fraud. I would have hoped that he had learned his lesson from the last time.

“This investigation has taken a year to get to court because of the number of victims and complexity of the case. I am very pleased however, with the guilty plea. I would like to thank the victims for coming forward to the police and their cooperation during the investigation and my colleagues in North Wales for their assistance.”

Police believe there are other victims who have not yet come forward. They can call a dedicated LGBT line in confidence on 07722 026422 

A PinkNews.co.uk poll suggests that the UK’s  LGBT community will back the alternative vote system in Thursday’s referendum.

A total of 2,295 people took part in the self-selecting survey. Of these, 872 people are on a PinkNews.co.uk panel. They are geographically representative of the UK and their voting intentions have been tracked by this website over the last 14 months.

On Thursday, UK voters will decide whether the country’s voting system should be reformed. Some campaigners want to replace the First Past the Post system for electing MPs with the Alternative Vote (AV) system.

Supporters say AV will mean that MPs are elected with the support of more than 50 per cent of the electorate. However, critics say the system is too complicated, may lead to second-choice candidates coming first and will boost extremist parties.

Of the panel of 872 voters, 72 per cent say they will vote yes to AV on Thursday. Twenty per cent said they would vote no and the remainder did not know.

Slightly lower support for AV was found among the respondents who were not part of the panel. Sixty-six per cent said they would back voting reform, while 30 per cent said they would not. Just under four per cent said they did not know.

When given the option of a number of systems, 63.6 per cent of the panel said they would prefer the Single Transferable Vote system. Just under 20 per cent said they wanted the AV+ (Alternative Vote Plus) system, which would ask voters to select a party as well as a candidate.

Seven per cent said they wanted the AV system and nine per cent said they wanted to retain the First Past the Post system.

In the larger sample of those who had not been tracked, more people showed support for the First Past the Post system (23.7 per cent). However, as with the panel results, the majority (54.6 per cent) supported the Single Transferable Vote System.

Respondents were also asked which party they would support if a general election was held tomorrow.

The results showed a massive drop in support for the Liberal Democrats. Last May, a PinkNews.co.uk poll carried out just before the general election found that 57 per cent of our panel would vote for the party. This has now dropped to just 11.8 per cent, behind the Green party.

However, the Conservative party appears to have made gains among the gay community. In the same May 2010 poll, just six per cent of our panel said they would vote Conservative. Today’s poll puts them on 27.4 per cent.

Labour has almost doubled its support among our panel and the self-selecting survey. Forty-per cent of both samples said they would vote for the party.

The Scottish parliament election will also be held on Thursday, along with elections for the Welsh and Northern Ireland Assemblies. English voters outside London will take part in council elections.

Our poll showed that Scottish voters will give their support to the SNP, which has pledged to hold a consultation on the future of marriage for gay couples.

Forty-two per cent of Scottish voters on our panel said they would give the party their vote, compared to 22.3 per cent for Labour and 16.9 per cent for the Liberal Democrats.

In Wales, 39.2 per cent of the panel said they would vote Labour. Plaid Cymru was the choice of 24.1 per cent of respondents, while 19.5 per cent said they would vote Conservative.

For Northern Ireland, 36.7 per cent said they would vote Alliance. The SDLP got 24.3 per cent of the vote and 19.8 per cent said they would vote Sinn Fein.

In the English council elections, Labour led on on 36.7 per cent. The Conservatives followed on 24.5 per cent.

The Green party pushed the Liberal Demcrats into fourth place, with 17.7 per cent of the vote, compared to 10.8 per cent for the latter.

All respondents described themselves as LGBT, queer or questioning. The survey was carried out online between April 30th and May 2nd.

An election hustings event is being held by Stonewall Cymru tomorrow evening at Cardiff University, ahead of the May 5th elections.

The event will be chaired by Vaughan Roderick, BBC Wales Welsh affairs editor, and will include representatives from Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats and the Welsh Conservatives.

Mr Roderick said: “In the 40 years since Leo Abse and Roy Jenkins pioneered gay emancipation huge strides have been taken towards LGB equality culminating in the 2010 Equality Act.

“Serious issues still confront the LGB community though including homophobic bullying in schools, HIV/AIDS and the needs of the first ‘out’ generation who are approaching old age. These hustings will allow members of the LGB community to test whether Welsh politicians are prepared to back up fine word with actions.”

Andrew White, director of Stonewall Cymru said: “We are delighted that all four main political parties are taking part in this debate. It is an important part of our democracy to be able to hold candidates to account.”

The hustings are open to all. Questions can be submitted in Welsh or in English in advance or on the evening. To book a place or submit questions please contact: election@stonewallcymru.org.uk.

Jordan Campbell McKenzie, 18, of Flint, was told by a judge that his offence was a hate crime, the Flintshire Chronicle reports.

Flintshire magistrates’ court heard that the victim had been in a shopping centre with his partner when another youth, not McKenzie, began shouting anti-gay abuse.

The victim then received received homophobic Facebook messages from the youth and McKenzie, who also threatened him.

McKenzie, who has already served time in youth custody, admitted sending a malicious message. He was handed a 12-month community penalty and ordered to pay £85 in costs.

Church was on a night out with friends after seeing the premiere of the Wizard of Oz show in London’s West End. She had been on the panel of judges that chose the actress to play Dorothy, Danielle Hope, on the BBC One reality show last year.

A punter told The Sun: “She seemed to really enjoy it and got massive applause from everyone. After that she was mingling with everyone and when she popped outside she was sharing cigarettes with people.

“Everyone loved it and she belted out a really good rendition of Black Velvet.”

Mitchells and Butlers, the owners of the 137-year-old Kings Cross in Cardiff city centre have ignored a campaign led by Layton “Percy” Jones, who garnered the support of more than 2,000 locals to save the venue’s gay identity.

“The owners told us they intend to turn the place into a gastropub,” he told the South Wales Echo. “This place holds a lot of memories for a lot of people. It’s awful.”

Supporters of the campaign to save the gay venue included the gay former Welsh rugby captain Gareth Thomas and the leader of Cardiff council, Rodney Berman who is openly gay.

Mitchells and Butlers spokesman Andrew Roache told the newspaper: “It is our intention to carry out a significant yet sympathetic refurbishment of the building, shifting its focus from a late-night drinking venue to a pub restaurant catering for customers throughout the daytime and evening.

“As the owners of the Kings Cross for many years we recognise the pub’s importance to its existing loyal customer base.

“We are aware that many people have fond memories of the Kings Cross, but it is clear the business is no longer sustainable as a late-night drinking venue.”

Mr Berman, the leader of Cardiff council told the South Wales Echo: “This is a unique venue with a long history in the city centre. have vociferously opposed the loss of this pub have appeared to fall on deaf ears.

“I also suggested that if the company decided they no longer wished to run the venue in its current guise because of a shift in focus to operating food-led businesses, then perhaps they should consider selling the business to someone who would recognise its value.

“I wrote to Mitchells and Butlers to urge them to reflect on the strength of feeling in the LGBT community against the review and asking them to reassure customers. It concerns me greatly that the council has invested in regenerating this area of the city but this decision sends out a message, even inadvertently, that a pub aimed at the gay community appears not to be welcome there.”

Rourke said last year he hoped to take Thomas’ story to the big screen, after Thomas came out as gay.

He will watch the opening round of the Engage Super League at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Sunday.

According to ContactMusic.com, Thomas said: “Mickey is going to be there. I speak to him quite a lot and I’ve met him a few times but lately he’s appreciated that I’ve been in pre-season and he’s done his talking through the writer, who has been with me for the last four weeks, understanding a rugby player and what he goes through on and off the field.”

Rourke hopes to star as Thomas and direct the film. Recent reports said he would even have his front false teeth removed to look more like the sportsman.

Thomas, who is now with the Crusaders, added: “Mickey is probably the best actor in the world I’ve seen. He’s passionate about rugby and he’s passionate about the story. For him to show the commitment shows he’s the right person for it.”

Darren Hogan, 25, said he was unaware that the woman was a lesbian and Cardiff crown court heard that his unwanted attention had been particularly distressing for her.

The South Wales Echo reports that the court heard that he had been at a flat and fallen asleep on a sofa.

He awoke to find that everyone else had gone to bed and found two women sleeping in a bed.

He then lay between them and tried to initiate sex with them, despite them being strangers. One of the women woke to find him touching her intimately.

In his defence, Hogan said alcohol had loosened his inhibitions but the court was told that during his trial, he had failed to see what he had done wrong.

He was convicted of assault by penetration in November and been held in custody since.

He has also been ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for ten years.

He was on duty at a Welsh premiership game between Llanelli and Neath at Parc y Scarlets last month when a fan allegedly began shouting anti-gay abuse.

Mr Owens told the South Wales Post: “It’s the first time it’s happened when I have heard it so loud, the stadium was fairly empty and everyone there must have heard it, I know the players did.

“The reason something needs to be done about it, and why I took it to the police, however, is I recently spent six hours talking to a young rugby player who was contemplating taking his own life because he felt that he couldn’t deal with coming out.

“I have been through it myself and was telling him people would understand.

Then a few days later you get an idiot like that shouting homophobic abuse. It’s really not on.

“The Samaritans will tell you that around 4,000 young men a year take their own life in the UK and the reason in some cases is because they can not adjust to being gay.”

The referee, 39, is supporting a Samaritans campaign to prevent male suicides. He has documented his own struggle with depression and admitted he tried to kill himself at the age of 26.

Llanelli police are appealing for witnesses to the alleged abuse, which happened just before half-time at the November 15th game.

The Kings Cross pub, situated in the centre of the Welsh capital, has been an official gay venue since the mid 1970s and was a known safe haven for gay men well before homosexuality was legalised in England and Wales in 1967. It is threatened with conversion into a restaurant or gastro-pub in a UK-wide drive by the venue’s owners, Mitchells and Bulters (M&B).

According to BBC News, M&B said: “At this time, options for the Kings Cross are still under review and any final decision is yet to be made.”

There is an online campaign to save the pub which has already attracted 500 supporters in three days.

There is also a Facebook campaign, ‘Save Kings Cross Cardiff‘ and there is to be a public meeting at the venue itself on Tuesday 12 October.

A regular told the BBC that he didn’t believe there was anything anti-gay about the proposed closure, as M&B ran various gay venues around the UK. Rather, he said, “the effect of the planned changes will be to drive out the gay customers who’ve kept the pub going all these years.”

Andrew Roache, as spokesman for M&B, said that they appreciated the Kings Cross was a popular venue with many dedicated customers who understandably wished to know more about the future plans for the business.

He added that any plans afoot would not come into effect this year.

Ben Bradshaw, Chris Bryant and Stephen Twigg all failed to receive the requisite amount of votes to be elected to the shadow cabinet. All three had backed David Miliband for Labour Leader back in September, before he lost to his younger brother Ed.

The only openly gay MP now in the shadow cabinet is Angela Eagle. Ms Eagle, 49, is Labour’s only out lesbian MP. She was elected MP for Wallasey in 1992 and was a pensions minister between 2009 and 2010.

Harriet Harman, former women and equalities minister, was assured a place in the cabinet as deputy leader of the Labour Party. The cabinet has 11 women MPs in all, including Yvette Cooper, who topped the shadow cabinet poll with 232 votes.

Ms Cooper, who grew up in an Old Labour family, currently holds the position of shadow secretary of state of work and pensions and shadow minister for women and equalities.

Mr Bradshaw, 50, has been MP for Exeter since 1997 and has served as minister for culture, sport, media and also health. He received 53 votes.

Mr Bryant, 48, is a former vicar and has been MP for Rhondda since 2001. He received 77 votes.

Mr Twigg, 43, has been MP for Liverpool and West Derby since May this year. He was minister of state for schools before losing his seat in 2005. He received 55 votes.

Another out gay senior Labour figure, Nick Brown, resigned as chief whip last week at the request of new leader Mr Miliband.

Dr Surya Monro, Research Fellow at the University of Huddersfield, undertook the research project in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Newcastle (funded by the ESRC).

The study revealed that a lack of awareness regarding bisexuality has resulted in many local authorities only addressing gay and lesbian people in equality policies or simply tagging bisexuality onto the end of gay and lesbian issues. Dr Monro said: “There are some issues which are only specific to bisexuals that people don’t realise or think about”.

Although Dr Monro believes things are moving in the right direction, a lack of resources within authorities means that prejudice towards bisexuals is still apparent.

“I already had an interest around the politics which surround LGBT equality,” said Dr Monro, “and my PhD was about transgender, so it was partly what I was interested in and partly a commitment to social justice.

“We had this idea for a research project looking at how things have moved on. Following legislation passed under New Labour, which was really supportive of LGBT becoming more included in society, we thought it was time to see if things actually had changed on a local level.”

The Equality Act 2010 is to go into force this month, which is intended to simplify and strengthen the previous legislation. But recent government financial cuts mean there is still the danger of equality issues falling off the agenda as local authorities try desperately try to keep basic services afloat.

As reported on the blog of Journalist and former political lobbyist Iain Dale, who is also managing director of Biteback Publishing, Michael McManus, author of the book – which has the working title Over the Blue Rainbow – is keen to hear stories or relevant views on the issue. Mr Dale added: “Michael is a hugely accomplished author, having written a superb biography of Jo Grimond and assisted Ted Heath with his autobiography”.

According to the blurb, the book will be “authoritative but accessible” and will cover the time period from the postwar years to today.

It continues: “The book will draw upon extensive primary research and numerous exclusive interviews to chart the party’s progress from an unwillingness to decriminalise homosexuality, via Section 28 in the 1980s, to the current Liberal-Conservative Government, which has produced the first comprehensive statement on equal rights in British history.

“This will all be presented in the context of contemporary social and political developments. The book will be accompanied by a short documentary, which will tell the same story in a very different and complementary way.”

Only last month, Tory MP and prisons minister Crispin Blunt came out as gay and announced that he had separated from his wife.

Last week, the foreign secretary William Hague denied internet rumours that he had been involved in a gay affair with a ministerial aide, Christopher Myers, 25, who resigned last Wednesday.

Alan Duncan, the first Conservative MP to voluntarily come out as gay, said to the media that he considered their manner of coverage of Mr Hague’s personal life “contemptible”.