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AN IRISH YOUTUBE vlogger is shining a light on issues of racism, body shaming and homelessness within the LGBT community in his new BBC documentary, Queer Britain.
Dublin born Riyadh Khalaf uses his own experience of being a queer Youtuber to explore issues affecting LGBT people across Britain.
The six-part series sees Khalaf come face-to-face with people who sleep rough on the streets as a result of their sexuality; others who have been excommunicated from their faiths; and men and women who have suffered racial abuse from fellow LGBT peers.
Khalaf told TheJournal.ie that, even as a gay man, he wasn’t aware of the severity of the issues.
“When you grow up in a city like Dublin or you live in a city like I am now in London, as a white gay male, you sort of live in this bubble of acceptance,” he said.
“When you peel back the layers and look into the community itself you realise that wow, we have issues within ourselves that we need to work on.
We’re racist to each other. We’re body shaming each other. We should be the most accepting community in the world but at times we can be super judgmental and super self-segregating.
Khalaf grew up in Ireland and made the move to London just two years ago to further his career in the creative industry.
Before making the move, Khalaf had already edged his way into the media industry. Having studied radio broadcasting in college, he secured a job at the Dublin radio station Spin 1038. He also worked as an entertainment reporter on RTÉ 2′s Two Tube.
Experiencing both the Irish and British culture, he told TheJournal.ie that the issues tackled in the documentary are almost a first-hand account of what happens in Ireland too.
The issues that we explored in Queer Britain are directly applicable to Ireland.
“It’s maybe on a smaller scale because our community is smaller. It’s a little bit less diverse because Ireland has less black and Asian people than there would be here… but from my experience living in both places the issues are the same for sure,” he said.
The series zones in on the severe ridicule and judgement members of the LGBT community face from each other.
Khalaf speaks to people who suffer from eating disorders as a result of body shaming and people who have been racially attacked on gay dating apps.
He takes a hands on approach to researching each issue.
Viewers see him strip down to nothing for a nude photo shoot in episode two – ‘The search for the perfect body – in his bid to promote body positivity.
He also sits in on a live gay pornography recording.
“Some people say the series paints a bad picture of the community but that’s not what we’re trying to do, we’re just trying to tell a truthful perspective of what’s actually happening,” he said.
“If you turn a blind eye to what’s happening it’s just going to get worse.”
Youtube career
The opportunity for Khalaf to present Queer Britain didn’t come from nowhere.
As well as his work with Spin 1038, he began creating vlogs and entertainment videos for his Youtube channel about two years ago and since there has grown to gain more than 300,000 subscribers.
What began as a hobby soon grew into a viable career.
Now, he’s one of the Ireland’s most successful Youtube personalities.
“I realised that it could be a career when I saw other Irish Youtube creators go full-time and the idea of that was just blowing my mind. I didn’t really understand how they could do it,” he said.
The first 100 [subscribers], the first 1,000 are the hardest to get but if you have a good concept or if something goes viral and you’re lucky then you’re going to grow pretty quickly.
“The beauty of Youtube is that.. you can literally do it from anywhere on the planet as long as you have a personality, a camera and an internet connection you’re flying.”
When Khalaf moved to London a year and a half ago he signed with a talent agent, who made the decision to approach the BBC with Riyadh and pitch documentary ideas.
From there, the BBC asked Riyadh to host Queer Britain.
“They had seen what I had done before on my own channel and I think saw that I would be a good storyteller for that series.”
The main reason I chose to do a show like Queer Britain and do the videos that I do on Youtube is because visibility is key to acceptance and normalising the queer community.
The more we’re see as everyday people who just happen to like the same-sex then the more I think society will chill out and just be ok with us.
Queer Britain is currently available to stream on BBC Three’s Youtube page.
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I tried to breastfeed but it didn’t work out. In the end I just gave up and left my wife do it.
They changed the ingredients and thus the method for making a bottle without properly warning or telling anyone, also the new boxes are gone to 700g from 800g and yet the price is staying the same
@Ian McNally: cheaper ingredients I presume. Always the bottom line with large companies, if the current quarter is not better than the previous 4 then it’s bad. This infinity growth stuff is ridiculous
@Ian McNally: noticed the same thing smart feckers
Just don’t use it then. Problem gone.
@Paul A Whelan: not as easy as just don’t use it! My baby has just turned one I had planned to move her straight to cows milk when she turned one as per the public health nurses recommendation. Unfortunately she won’t touch it unless it’s mixed with the formula she’s used to. Luckily I picked up the last two of the old boxes in my local pharmacy which should see us through the weaning phase but it’s not as simple as just don’t use it for a lot of parents!
@Paul A Whelan: The boob is unbeatable.You can’t better nature.
@Billy McNamara: Breastfeeding doesn’t work for all women. Plus the formula mentioned here is aimed at 1-2 year olds, very few women manage to breastfeed for that long.
Some experts recommend breastfeeding a child until its four years old.
‘Not only does breastfeeding provide nutrition and immunity benefits for as long as it is done, but it provides emotional connection, too’
https://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/ourmuddyboots/what-breastfeeding-a-4-year-old-really-looks-like
@leartius: Every parent is doing the v best for their kids be it formula or bf!!
@leartius: It does come in lovely containers….
@Neville Patterson: cheeky pup!!!
@leartius: Bitty!
@Annette: I know not all mothers can breastfeed but breast milk is best for the baby so if a mother chooses not to even try breastfeeding, how can you say she’s doing the very best for her baby?
@Thunder Snowman: because they’re her breasts. We don’t force women to breast feed.
@Thunder Snowman: how about you mind your own business about what a mother chooses to do. It has no bearing on you or your life. Your opinion is irrelevant.
@Thunder Snowman: I can without hesitation. Every mother has the right to decide how to feed their baby. BF is good as is formula.
@Annette: Breast milk is miles better than formula, that’s a fact. Why do you think the HSE are advocating it so much.
@Thunder Snowman: Have you looked at the statistics on bf in Ireland? It’s one of the lowest in Europe, it’s all v well to advocate for it but it’s not for everyone. If there was more support in hospitals for mums who are trying, I’m sure there would be higher numbers, nurses are overworked and haven’t the time to help each mom. It hurts and it’s difficult!! Only for a family member I would have stopped, got 30 mins help in total in hospital when I had mine!!!
@Thunder Snowman: no argument re breast milk being better but for countless reasons it’s not always possible for mothers to breastfeed
@Thunder Snowman: it’s ok, this issue with formula doesn’t effect breastfeeding mothers.
@leartius: maybe in a few years the attitude to breastfeeding will change in Ireland. It’s shocking, I’m not trying to knock what is a personal choice to many. Educating children from an early age and proper backing from hse to show how vital and natural breastfeeding is. It can be so beneficial if baby has allergies especially if they can’t take formula. Support is vital.
Follow on milk is not necessary, it is just a marketing ploy by the big companies because they can’t advertise baby formula. Giving a variety of solid foods of full fat, iron rich & vitamin C. It’s not easy and a lot of patience but no substitute.
@Claire Duffy: i totally agree with you, i had my first baby in london and wasnt given those ready made small bottles of formula that are falling out of maternity hospitals in ireland and i was encouraged to breastfeed which i did no problem. I had my secind baby in dublin amd was instantly handed thise bottles which i refused. I cannot for the life of me understand why women in ireland arent encouraged more to breastfeed. The price of formula for one and all the hassle of sterilising and boiling and cooling water is more stress . And dont get me started on that follow on rubbish again so expensive and totally unnecessary .
@leartius: there’s not really a whole lot of scientific evidence for feeding to 4 years. I believe the recommended age is 2. I breastfed but it was painful and difficult in the first few weeks…..luckily I like on NZ where the support is amazing and I went on to bf for 9 months. The reason I stopped is cause I had to go back yo work…..tbh I was shocked at the lack of facilities and the attitudes towards breastfeeding when I came back on a holiday when my daughter was 6 months. Also totally agree the follow on milk is not necessary nutritionally and is a bit of a marketing ploy but some people rely on it to wean their babies onto cows milk
Our twin girls our 8 weeks old and both were on the first infant milk – they were premature and they had to be bottle fed to monitor their Intake so to say to just change is a stupid comment or to just breast feed – again, not that simple. Anyway, they both began to be very sick at the same time and it wasn’t till my wife found the aptamil issue thing online that we realized it wasn’t just a rebranding of Aptamil but a new formula.. we changed to cow and gate (we know they are danone owned) and they are absolutely fine now.. bottom line is they most likely found a cheaper way to make it and thought no one would notice.. terrible for any parent to go through..
Absolutely disgraceful that they changed the quantity for and kept the price the same. I’m finally out of the bottle phase but for some poor families paying 14.00 Euro formula is not fair. I don’t want to hear about the breastfeeding debate I breastfed both mine for 5 months. I don’t understand why Danone felt they needed to be change it? It makes no sense that they were making profit, it sold well so why change it other than to make more money. I will no longer recommend it to friends after this. I think the greed became too much and they just wanted more and more profit.
@Nurse on call: You may be surprised when you find out that this is happening with everything you can think of. It is a marketing ploy to mask price increase. It has a lovely name – shrinkflation.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/shrinking-products-price-stays-same-more-than-2500-shrinkflation-brexit-ons-toblerone-maltesers-a7857126.html
Terrible of Danone, why didn’t they they tell customers they had changed the ingredients. Nothing worse than a sick baba..
I have a three month old who is on the stage one formula which changed. Thankfully with the new formula she hasn’t been sick but at same time as the change she has been hungrier than before which I feel must be to do with their change of ingredients. And yes to go from 900g to 800g at same price is just ridiculous. So she is hungrier and there is less formula in the box! Anyone else experience this I wonder?
@Olivia: Yes!! My 8 week old is hungrier and is looking for a feed more often than normal. I increased her intake by an ounce but it didn’t make a difference, she’s still looking for the next one sooner than before :-/
@Aisling Addie: Ask PHN about the wonder weeks. It could just be the suck reflex, rather than being hungry. But, I know you couldn’t deny a hungry baby!
I agree. Have recommended people not use it now after the change. Terrible to change the packaging hoping people wouldn’t notice the significant difference in size. We changed last week as the new Aptamil was grainy as would not mix properly.
Brest milk is best for the mother and baby. It’s also good for the father as he can play with the ‘empties’!
There are no safety issues with strong cheese but you still wouldn’t be giving it to a toddler.
This article can be condensed down to: The parents of the hundreds of children who were sick are all mistaken and wrong because the management of Danone and Aptamil say so.
Because if there was any, that would cause them a fortune. ..
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