Same-sex kiss-in protest in Soho

The John Snow pub in Soho was almost the scene of a same sex kiss in protest yesterday. The Sam Smiths hostelry caused outrage among the gay community when two men were allegedly ejected for kissing whilst sitting at a table.

But when the well organised protesters - who numbered about a thousand - turned up to kiss inside the pub, they found the doors were locked. The protesters carried out their kiss-in outside and the pub lost a day's takings.

The Guardian has a report and a video, here. Pictures are available on flickr, here.

Scotland: Gay & Lesbian History Trail Planned for Edinburgh Area

A lesbian and gay 'history trail' is being developed in the county by East Lothian Museums Service.The exact format of the trail has still to be decided but a spokeswoman for the local authority said: " In general terms, the museum service will be looking to identify individuals, events or places that have had a positive impact on the development of gay rights and equality within East Lothian."

Suggestions for points of historical and social interest related to LGBT history in East Lothian can be sent to equalities@eastlothian.gov.uk.

Meanwhile, East Lothian Diversity Network has arranged an event in Musselburgh next week to mark this year's LGBT History Month.

You can read the full story in the East Lothian Courier, here., or visit the East Lothian Council website here.

Wiltshire Group Launch Campaign Against Homophobia in Sport

Wiltshire and Swindon Men’s Sexual Health has dedicated their own poster campaign to LGBT History Month and the issue of homophobia in Sport, with “Show Homophobia the Red Card.”

This poster will be sent to all gyms, sports centres, and football clubs across Wiltshire and Swindon, to be seen by a wide audience, promoting discussion and hopefully opening a few people’s minds. The group will visit the football clubs during matches and hand out flyers, and have stands and displays where the public can engage with us. They aim to challenge pre-conceptions and help sports fans and participants see, there’s no place for prejudice in sport.

Men's Sexual Health has been working closely with the Trowbridge Tigers, Wiltshire's Gay Friendly football team, who recently took part in the Gay Games in Cologne, Germany, a personal highlight for the team.

When asked why they think there haven't been many public football players to have come out player Nick Pitcher says, "well when you look at what happened to Justin Fashanu, when he was disowned by members of his own family and being dropped into the reserves and all the adverse publicity, he went and committed suicide, so it doesn't set the stall up for other players to come out. And it's obvious that every football team, and every league, there are going to be gay players, but they can't come out because of the repercussions, which is a great shame."

And its for reasons like that, Men's Sexual Health believe this to be a very important campaign so that things start to change, so more players feel safe in the sport they enjoy.

Men's Sexual Health has also made links with The Justin Campaign, which was founded to demonstrate that ten years after Justin Fashanu's tragic suicide in 1998, homophobia is still hugely prevalent in the world of professional football. In 2010 they launched the first International Day Opposing Homophobia in Football and with the second date coming up very soon, Februrary 19th, we ask you to get in touch with your local team and see how you can work together to mark this day, or get in touch with the company to find out more about the work they do.

New way for hate crime victims to come forward launched to coincide with LGBT history month

The police service has launched a new way for victims of hate crime to come forward which includes an online reporting form to enable victims to report hate crime online. The website, called True Vision, is supported by all police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and can be accessed at www.report-it.org.uk

True Vision provides information for victims and the public about what hate crime is, why it is important to report it when it happens, and sets out the range of ways hate crimes can be reported, including via a new online reporting form. The site also provides links to organisations that can offer support and advice on hate crime related issues.

ACPO lead on hate crime, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris, said: “It is timely to launch this site at the start of LGBT History Month. It is right that we celebrate the many and varied achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, but it is also important to recognise that LGBT history is tainted by targeted abuse and hostility which has often been violent. These hate crimes are abhorrent and I hope this facility will encourage those who suffer such hostility to come forward and enable us to combat this unacceptable behaviour.”

Vote for All Male dance Group on Sky 1

Guyz in Sync, the UK’s only all-male gay Latin and Ballroom formation dance team, have made it into the live-semi-finals of TV talent contest Got to Dance on Sky1. Getting to this stage means they have beaten thousands of other dance acts to be in the final 28.Two acts from each semi-final will qualify for the grand final later in February.

The TV audience will be in control of choosing the finalists by telephone voting. And just imagine how fantastic it would be if a gay dance team made it through to the finals. That would shake things up a bit! Guyz in Sync are up for challenging what most people think couple dancing is about and we’d love you to help us in our quest to conquer Got to Dance.

How can you help?
1. Forward this email to your members and friends.
2. Become a fan of Guyz in Sync on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter and encourage your friends to do so.
3. Watch the live semi-final on 6th February 2011, 6pm on Sky1 and vote for Guyz in Sync
4. Download the Got to Dance voting app for iphone here.

If you don’t have Sky1, don’t panic! You are not alone! Guyz in Sync are currently setting up a number of screening venues across the country so that as many people as possible can watch them strut their stuff. If you know of any LGBT venues that may be willing to become a screening venue, please let us know. The more venues, the better! We will be advertising all screening venues to our fans on Facebook.

Contacts:
Website: www.guyzinsync.co.uk
Facebook
Twitter: @guyzinsync
YouTube

LGBT Group Seeks Coming Out Stories

Sandwell LGBT Community Group in conjunction with Sandwell LGBT Working Group and other voluntary and statutory organisations are organising several events for LGBT History Month 2011.

The theme will be 'coming out' and as such, we are asking for people's personal stories and experiences.

Responses can be as long as long or short as you like, the following are for guidance only;

When did you realise you were lgbt?
What did you do?
If out/open about your sexuality/gender identity, how did you tell people (ie; family, friends, work, colleagues etc)
What would have helped you going through this process?
What advice would you give to someone coming out now?

Please use only your first name or a false name... all work will be kept anonymous.

Stories are needed before February 1st please.

Please send your responses to SandwellLGBT@hotmail.co.uk

Making bi history

To celebrate 30 years of UK bi activism, two bisexual history events are planned for this February, as part of LGBT History Month.

The first, ‘20th Century Bi’, will take place in London’s Conway Hall. Writer and blogger Sue George (Women and Bisexuality, Bisexuality and Beyond) will lead a panel of speakers discussing bisexuals and bisexuality in the twentieth century.

In the North, ‘Getting Bi In Manchester’ will include speakers and discussion on the history of the UK bisexual movement, with a focus on the Manchester BiPhoria group, now the longest-running bi group in the UK. Speakers (to be confirmed) include Jen Yockney (Bi Community News editor), Surya Monro (University of Huddersfield) and Meg Barker (Open University, BiUK research group).

The UK bi community has much to be proud of. Since the first meeting of the London Bi Group on 1 September 1981, the community has grown enormously in size, diversity and activist experience. Last year’s record-breaking International BiCon, in London, showed just how far the worldwide bisexual community has come since its origins in the radical sexual politics of the 60s and 70s.

20th Century Bi
Saturday 12 February 2011, 2.30–4.30 pm,
Conway Hall (Bertrand Russell Room),
25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL
Tickets £5 (£3 unwaged)
website
Facebook Event
Supported by the Bisexual Index (www.bisexualindex.org.uk) and LBGT History Month

Getting Bi In Manchester
Tuesday 15 February 2011, 7–9 pm,
Inspire Centre, 747 Stockport Rd, Levenshulme, Greater Manchester M19 3AR.
More information at www.biphoria.org.uk

Gay Birmingham Remembered is Back, to Back!

Birmingham LGBT Community Trust has received £50,000 in funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund for a new LGBT social history project. Building on the success of Gay Birmingham Remembered, the ‘Gay Birmingham Back to Back’ project will research the lives of four LGBT people from Birmingham’s past. Researching as far back as the 1850s up until the 1970s the project will look at the social, political and personal circumstances of LGBT people in these time periods.

SHOUT Festival Producer, David Viney comments, “We are pleased to have been awarded this funding, which will help us extend the Gay Birmingham Remembered project and research what life would have been like for lesbian, gay and bisexual people even further back into history. It is vitally important that LGBT people take their place in Birmingham’s history.”

Working in partnership with Women and Theatre and the National Trust, the research will be developed as on site performances, presented in the Back to Back houses on Hurst Street in Birmingham’s Gay Village. The performances will form part of the SHOUT Festival in 2011. The project will also produce an exhibition and a book looking at the four characters’ lives.

Janice Connolly, Artistic Director of Women & Theatre states, ‘We are delighted the HLF are supporting this project, and are excited about working for the first time with Birmingham LGBT and The National Trust and their volunteers. The project is bound to be a flagship project for the company in 2011.’

Outburst Cultural Day, November 27th

Outburst, serving the black LGBT community in London, have announced a cultural day event at Camberwell on November the 27th.

Click here for more details.

1st UK Disability History Month

LGBT History Month is proud to support the 1st UK Disability History Month.

The Month is about celebrating the lives of disabled people, challenging disablism and promoting equality. It will run from 22 November until 22 December and feature a series of events and exhibitions throughout the UK.

The idea came out of some research carried out for the last Government about bringing disability into the national curriculum.

We’ll be celebrating the lives of disabled people including Stephen Hawking, Jane Campbell and Alan Holdsworth. But we’ll also be highlighting the fact that many other disabled people have been prevented from leading fulfilling lives because of discrimination underpinned by negative and disablist attitudes.

The launch event of the Month will take place on Wednesday 24th November between 5 and 8pm at the Nunn Hall, Institute of Education, Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL (off Russell Square).

See also:
- www.ukdisabilityhistorymonth.com
- Richard Rieser launches Disability History Month - Disability Now
- Can the first Disability History Month match the impact that Black History teaching has made? - The Independent
- First UK Disability History Month - Ekklesia

Lesbian Teacher Receives First Honour for Pride

Quaker lesbian Clare Dimyon was presented with an MBE by Prince Charles at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Friday 29 October.

Clare Dimyon, 45, a teacher and Quaker, is being honoured for “services to promoting the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Central and Eastern Europe”.

Clare was first inspired to take part in gay PRIDE marches in Central and Eastern C&E Europe in Riga in 2007 and has since participated in PRIDE marches throughout the former Soviet bloc. Her first parade was 25 years ago, in London in 1985.

Clare’s engagement has prompted the flying of rainbow flags from British embassies overseas and the translation of the FCO Guide to LGBT People into local languages so that it is available to young people and their parents. In her work, Clare often highlights higher levels of suicide among young LGBT people and is acutely aware of the isolation of young LGBT people in C&E Europe who have less advice and support available to them.

She has been instrumental in increasing the number of countries whose embassies routinely support PRIDE parades and the human rights of LGBT people from seven in 2007 to twenty two in 2010...and counting!. This year alone saw the first ever PRIDE marches in Vilnius and Bratislava, both with significant support from the diplomatic community... including and especially the Brits!

Clare Dimyon says: "Slovak LGBT are kind enough to call me the “mother of Slovak PRIDE” but really I am more like the delinquent aunt of PRIDE in C&E Europe. They do all the work and take all the risks and I show up in support. "

Reunion for members of the pioneering gay groups - change of venue

On November 27th, to mark the launch of the book Out of the Shadows which traces the early days of the gay rights movement in London, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality is organising a reunion of its members past and present and of other people involved in the movement.

The venue for the event will now be Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ (just opposite Euston Station). Start time is 2pm as before.

The organisers have published a list of people they haven’t yet been able to contact and are invited anyone who may know these people to pass the invitation on.

An updated flyer and reservation form for the event is here (pdf). More information about the book Out of the Shadows can be found at www.slago.org.uk/oots.htm.

Moscow Pride Bans Ruled Illegal

LGBT Rights campaigners are celebrating throughout Europe today after the European Court of Human Rights ruled the persistent ban on Moscow Pride since 2006 to be illegal.

The Strasbourg ruling is a particular victory for Nikolai Alekseev, who has faced years of false arrests, imprisonment and violence for his steadfast determination to hold a pride celebration in the capital. The disgraced former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov is primarily responsible for the annual ban, but successive Russian presidents Putin and Medvedev also share responsibility as they did not over-rule him.

Peter Tatchell, who attends Moscow Pride and was severely beaten by homophobic thugs two and a half years ago, said, “This is an astonishing victory. Nikolai and his small band of daring LGBT activists have taken on the might of the Russian state - and won.
“It is a triumph for LGBT Russians and for all Russians who love liberty. This ruling expands the democratic space and gives comfort to human rights defenders everywhere. It’s a positive result for gay rights and liberty, and a setback for autocracy and homophobia.”

CHE Reunion Night

The Campaign for Homosexual Equality is planning a reunion for active LGBT campaigners from the last century.

The event, which will be held in London on the 27th November, will also be an opportunity to purchase a copy of Out of the Shadows, a historical new book that follows the work of LGBT activists from 1967 onwards, and includes a chapter by Tony Fenwick on Schools OUT.

You can download a flyer and booking form here (pdf).

Charity night in aid of the Iraqi LGBT

The first ever charity night in aid of the Iraqi LGBT is to take place this month. This celebrates the fifth anniversary of the London-based initiative to raise awareness of the persecution of LGBT people in Iraq.

Over 720 Gay, Lesbian, Trans and Bisexual people have been recently killed by the militia and members of the Ministry of Interior forces and death squads targeting all sexual minorities inside Iraq.

The event will take place at Apres London – one of London’s leading clubs and will see performances by some of London’s leading Drag Queens. A raffle and auction prizes will also be offered.

Julian Bennett will be hosting the night : "I am very proud to have been asked to host this event. I think it is so important that we do as much as we can to support this charity and what it stands for. I can’t believe the Iraqi government are trying to implement this law when we live in the 21st century where most people’s views are so liberal and open!! Please come and support us all at the event."

For further information or to book tickets, please contact IRAQI LGBT.
Iraqilgbt@googlemail.com or call 07981959453
http://iraqilgbt.org.uk/

Iraqi LGBT Charity Night
26 October, 19:00
CHLOE
3 CROMWELL ROAD,
London, SW7 2AR
Entry fees - Donations at the door.
Dress code: Smart Casual.

North East Wales to have its own LGBT Drop-in Centre

The North East Wales Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Foundation Drop-in Centre will be officially opened at Ty AVOW, 21 Egerton Street, Wrexham, by the Mayor Mr. James A Kelly, KSG on Wednesday 27th October 2010 at 11.00 for 11.30a.m. The Centre seeks to provide information and support, training and a variety of other services to LGBT people across North East Wales and will be open Monday to Friday 10.30am-3.30pm.

Keith Drury, Founder and Chair said "What started off as a Diners Club ten years ago in Wrexham has now developed into an organisation which seeks to support LGBT people across the whole of North East Wales. Managed by a management committee, the Foundation exists to support and assist those in our communities who need us, to promote independence, better quality of life, acceptance, affirmation, and a sense of belonging in the wider community. We also seek to support parents, families and friends of LGBT people".

All are welcome to join in the celebrations at the official launch.

For more details please contact our Secretary Dave Humphreys on Tel. 01978-318813 or write to the above address or email: newaleslgbt@googlemail.com

www.lgbtfoundation.org.uk

Call for Olympic Volunteers

London 2012 announces plans to recruit passionate and inspirational volunteers for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

With almost two years to go until the London 2012 Games, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today announces plans to recruit up to 70,000 volunteers for the London 2012 Games.

In the biggest post-war volunteer recruitment campaign in the UK’s history, LOCOG will be looking for dedicated and inspirational people representative of the diversity of London and the UK to apply for a wide variety of volunteer roles.

There are two types of Games Maker roles, specialists in areas such as medical services, sport or press operations and generalists, with roles ranging from spectator assistants, uniform distributors and ticket checking.

In addition to these volunteer roles being recruited by LOCOG, the Mayor of London will shortly announce plans for the recruitment of London Volunteers, stationed at key transport hubs, at visitor attractions, and on the streets of the capital to make sure all visitors to London get the best possible welcome during the Games.

The role of volunteers has been integral throughout Olympic history. London pioneered the use of volunteers in the 1948 Games which saw the first official use of unpaid members of the public to help with the Games.

The more LGBT volunteers, the more impact we will have.

The closing date for applications is October 27th.

For information on volunteering roles and the application process, please visit www.london2012.com/volunteering

Tatchell to Meet Olympic Authorites

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is to meet the organisers of the London 2012 Olympics next week to urge them to promote London's diverse communities.

He said he hoped the games would include human rights-themed events and ensure that minorities are visible during ceremonies.

Mr Tatchell said he was meeting Stephen Frost, the head of diversity and inclusion, and Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad.

He added that he hopes to meet head of ceremonies Martin Green later this month.

He said: "It is not enough to have black, female and gay staff and volunteers, or to include them in the Olympic ceremonials.

"London's diverse communities should be an identifiable, visible highlight of the opening and closing Ceremonies.

For full story go to http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2010/08/06/2012-olympics-chiefs-urged-to-highlight-londons-diverse-communities/

Sparkle Manchester this weekend

Sparkle! The biggest trans event in the world is held this weekend in Sackville Gardens, Manchester.
For full details go to www.sparkle.org.uk.

Chief sponsors of this year's Sparkle are Pink Punters of Milton Keynes, owners of the Rainbow Bus. Pink Punters' Joe McMahon said: " – The main event – Sparkle in the Park will be held in Sackville Gdns near Canal Street where there is a fantastic statue of Alan Turing. I am hoping to address the attendees at some point to highlight the Enigma Ball in November and to make reference to the Statue (just 50m from the stage) and the fantastic work carried out at Bletchley Park during WWII.

The Enigma Ball is another huge trans event; this one to be held in Pink Punters at Milton Keynes.

Black British Lesbian History Project: Contributions and Volunteers Needed

Like so much of LGBT History the specific experience of black British lesbians is being lost. The books are out of print and the memories are fading for not always being shared. Nazmia Jamal has created a new online chronology to try and preserve this memory.

The basis for the Black British lesbian timeline is the chronology printed in Valerie Mason-John & Ann Khambatta's 1993 book Lesbians Talk Making Black Waves.

This is the first step in a larger archive project. Nazmia is planning to apply for funding over the summer to set up a proper website. But in the meantime she needs your help. If you have any images, documents, publications, banners, memories etc that you would like to share please do get in touch.

If you know of any groups, events, meetings or publications (however short lived) that should be added to this timeline please add them to the blog (as a comment) or email nazmiaijamal@gmail.com

Nazmia is particularly interested in lesbian, queer or feminist history around the UK from 1993 onwards.

Please email above if you

* have information that can be added to the timeline
* would be interested in being interviewed for the history project
* are able to conduct an interview or do some research for the timeline
* could build us a proper website

Note that Nazmia is using the definition of 'black' that the London Black Lesbian and Gay Centre used, i.e. those who are “descended (through one or both parents) from Africa, Asia (i.e. the Middle East to China, including the Pacific nations) and Latin America, and lesbians and gay men descended from the original inhabitants of Australasia, North America, and the islands of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.”