As you may know Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans History Month is celebrated every year in February. During 2011 and 2012, the focus of the Month has been sport. But inclusivity is not just restricted to sport and the month of February.
A report from Canada has shown that workplace barriers persist for LGBT employees. Respondents cited three factors that affected their career advancement and the formation of critical relationships in the workplace: a lack of awareness regarding LGBT issues, discriminatory behaviours, and exclusion from important connections with others. LGBT women reported less positive relationships with their managers than LGBT men and non-LGBT women and men did. LGBT employees at organizations with diversity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices, as well as those with broader talent management programs, were more satisfied and committed, described their workplace as more fair, and had more positive relationships with their managers and colleagues. (Building LGBT-Inclusive Workplace)
In Equality Britain they site the following:
Equality Britain believes that individuals have the right to be free from prejudice and discrimination.
Fairness and equality is not just a “good thing” but imperative in a changing and complex world.
It has been proved that by valuing diversity, organisations bring benefits to the people they work with and their local communities, as well as to themselves.
A diverse organisation draws upon the widest possible range of views and experiences, so it can listen to, and meet, the changing needs of its staff, volunteers and partners.
So where is this article leading? Well on the 20th June the marriage of X-Men hero Northstar and his boyfriend Kyle is set to take place the the publication Astonishing X-Men #50, published by Marvel Comics. (Polari Magazine)
Why is this an important landmark; well inclusivity is about recognising differences and including them within all areas of society – and this is just as important for all areas of writing – if the LGBT community is seen to be visible and incorporated within natural things and traditions of society then we are included and accepted and homophobia and bullying will cease!
Archives for 2012
Book Events at GAY'S THE WORD BOOKSHOP, London
Two major events on Gays The Word’s calendar are:
(i) ‘Declining Significance of Homophobia’ by Mark McCormack 26/04
(ii)’Goodbye to Soho’ by Clayton Littlewood 03/05
(i) The Declining Significance of Homophobia
(in British Schools)
Thursday April 26th 7pm – FREE
You are warmly invited to celebrate the publication of…
Mark McCormacks new book: The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality
The Declining Significance of Homophobia: How Teenage Boys are Redefining Masculinity and Heterosexuality
(published by Oxford University Press)
A book reading and discussion with author Mark McCormack
FREE – ALL WELCOME – Complimentary Refreshments – RSVP on Gay’s the Word’s Facebook Events Page https://www.facebook.com/events/401978959812946/ or just turn up! – doors 6.55pm Venue: Gay’s the Word
Can’t make the reading but would like a signed copy of the book? Simply e-mail sales@gaystheword.co.uk putting ‘signed Significance in the subject-header. HB copies available at £29.99 (rrp £32.50)
The book:
Research has traditionally shown secondary schools to be hostile environments for LGBT youth. Boys have used homophobia to prove their masculinity and distance themselves from homosexuality. Despite these findings over the last three decades, The Declining Significance of Homophobia tells a different story.
Drawing on fieldwork and interviews of young men in three British schools, Dr. Mark McCormack shows how heterosexual male students are inclusive of their gay peers and proud of their pro-gay attitudes. He finds that being gay does not negatively affect a boy’s popularity, but being homophobic does.
Yet this accessible book goes beyond documenting this important shift in attitudes towards homosexuality: McCormack examines how decreased homophobia results in the expansion of gendered behaviors available to young men. In the schools he examines, boys are able to develop meaningful and loving friendships across many social groups. They replace toughness and aggression with emotional intimacy and displays of affection for their male friends. Free from the constant threat of social marginalization, boys are able to speak about once feminized activities without censure.
The Declining Significance of Homophobia is essential reading for all those interested in masculinities, education, and the decline of homophobia.
Mark McCormack says, ‘The erosion of homophobia in these sixth forms is not just great news for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students. Heterosexual students benefit as well. By casting off the homophobia of previous generations, young men can cuddle, hug and love without fear of reprisal’.
Praise for The Declining Significance of Homophobia, by Mark McCormack:
“Despite the remarkable changes in attitudes towards homosexuality in recent years, a continuing stream of homophobia has often been detected, especially among young men. This important book demonstrates vividly that this need not be the case… This is a heartening book that charts the profound and positive transformation now taking place in young people’s culture, and makes one optimistic for the future.”
– Jeffrey Weeks, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, London South Bank University, and author of The Languages of Sexuality (2011)
Goodbye to Soho by Clayton LIttlewood
(ii) ‘Goodbye to Soho’ by Clayton Littlewood
Thursday, May 3rd, 2012 7pm FREE – doors 6.55pm
Venue: Gay’s the Word
Celebrating the publication of ‘Goodbye to Soho’; the follow-up to Clayton Littlewood’s hugely successful and excellent book, ‘Dirty White Boy’.
Dirty White Boy is back with more tales from the unforgettable cast of Soho characters
Business in London’s Soho is not going well and the designer menswear shop that Clayton Littlewood runs with his partner, Jorge Betancourt, is under threat.
Following on from his award-winning diary Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho, Clayton Littlewood is back, watching the hookers, the gangsters, the rent boys and following the same strange characters who make up this strangest of villages.
Will eccentric artist Raqib Shaw continue on his path to artistic immortality? Can Sue and Maggie, the Soho madams, keep the law at bay? Will ageing queens Leslie and Charlie reignite their long-lost love? What will become of Chico, the imprisoned ex–Diana Ross impersonator? And what of the Prince of Soho himself, Sebastian Horsley? Will America welcome him to its shores? Goodbye to Soho is a snapshot of modern London— a Samuel Pepys diary for the Soho subculture.
RSVP Gay’s the Word Facebook Events page https://www.facebook.com/events/203745913069612/ (or just show up) – Refreshments available – All welcome –
please note this will be a mainly non-seated event. If you require a seat for this reading please just let us know on the day! – doors 6.55pm
Venue: Gay’s the Word
Can’t make the reading but would like a signed copy of the book? Simply e-mail sales@gaystheword.co.uk putting ‘signed Soho’ in the subject-header; paperback £10.99 (£16.99 HB also available)
Advanced Reviews:
‘Clayton has been seduced by Soho’s sleazy magic and through him so are we.‘ — Marc Almond
‘As scurrilous and entertaining as ever.’ —Rupert Smith (Man’s World)
‘Like Isherwood’s Berlin, Littlewood’s Soho co
mes to life right off the page.’ —Jonathan Kemp (London Triptych)
‘Downright Dickensian…not simply a good writer but a great writer.’ —Polari Magazine
‘That dirty old whore Soho has no better pimp than Clayton Littlewood.’ —Tim Fountain (Resident Alien)
“Beautifully composed vignettes…observed by a ravenous, compassionate, amused voyeur of the first rank.” —Nicholas de Jongh (Plague Over England)
‘While the wider world may view them with fear or disdain, Clayton captures the beggar’s humanity and the hooker’s humour with warmth that can bring a lump to the throat or leave one roaring with laughter. It might sound strange to be comforted by the daily trials of prostitutes, trannies, prisoners and street sweepers, but that’s what Clayton does – brilliantly.’ (Stewart Who? Twisted)
Author Biog:
Gay’s the Word bookshop regular, Clayton Littlewood ran the Soho designer menswear store Dirty White Boy with his partner, Jorge Betancourt. His first book, Dirty White Boy: Tales of Soho (a Gay’s the Word bookshop recommended read), based on his diaries kept whilst at the shop and wrote the “Soho Stories” column for The London Paper, contributing regularly to BBC Radio London. In 2009 Clayton turned the book into a play which staged at the Trafalgar Studios in London’s West End alongside actor David Benson and singer Maggie K de Monde. The play returned for an extended run in 2010.
Future Readings:
Devil’s Wall: The Nationalist Youth Mission of Heinz Rutha
with author Mark Cornwall
working date: Thursday 24th May (date TBC)
~o~
‘All the Beauty of the Sun’
with novelist Marion Husband
(author of ‘The Boy I Love’)
Thursday 7th June 7pm
~o~
Lost Gay Classics Event
‘In the Making’ by G.F. Green
& ‘Vainglory: with Inclinations and Caprice’ by Ronald Firbank
an event with Richard Canning and Peter Parker
Friday 22nd June 7pm
Gay’s The Word Bookshop
66 Marchmont Street Opening Hours:
London Mon-Sat 10am-6.30pm
WC1N 1AB Sun 2pm-6pm
66 Marchmont Street Opening Hours:
London Mon-Sat 10am-6.30pm
WC1N 1AB Sun 2pm-6pm
Tel: 0207 278 7654
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Reg No: 1315476
Reg Office: 22 Bedford Row London WC1R 4JS
Work, Training or Prison
(incarceration – People are most commonly incarcerated upon suspicion or conviction of committing a crime, and different jurisdictions have differing laws governing the function of incarceration within a larger system of justice. Incarceration serves four essential purposes with regard to criminals:
- to isolate criminals to prevent them from committing more crimes
- to punish criminals for committing crimes
- to deter others from committing crimes
- to rehabilitate criminals )
The prisons in Great Britain are at their highest levels of inmates on record (current estimates are 97,000), and most are liable to be repeat offenders when they are released.
Any sensible person must ask why is this happening? It is bad for society, bad for the person serving the sentence and it is also bad for the economy. It is estimated that the average cost of keeping someone in prison is £47,000.
The figures quoted are from the HM Prison Service, National Audit Office and Ministry of Justice.
Why might you ask am I raising this issue – I have just finished reading Frances Crook’s blog article ‘Work in prison: different European models. To quote …
‘I am quite obsessed with work in prisons, so I found it fascinating. In England and Wales we have nearly 40,000 adult men serving four years to life and they basically lie on their bunks for years and years. And we pay for it.’
A survey in 2009 found that some 82% of prisoners are at or below the writing level of an 11-year –old, and half of all prisoners do not have the skills required by 96% of jobs. Tonight it was announced that 1 in 5 school children going to high school are illiterate, the question in my mind is the government creating our prisoners of the future.
Off course not everyone who is illiterate becomes a prisoner (heaven help us if they did), but I believe that unless we urgently address the education rift in conjunction with getting people to realize the benefit of education and training throughout their life we will see the structure of society fall around us.
We cannot maintain the levels of prisons and prisoners – we have to find a way out of the morass.
Gay Marriage Support
I welcome Mary Kenny’s wonderful article ‘I’m wedded to the idea gay couples deserve equality’, and it is a wonderful to see phrases like ‘the issue of ‘equality’ has proved persuasive.’ And …why shouldn’t they enjoy the same rights?… – published in the Belfast Telegraph January 31, 2012.
My only observation is that ‘deserve equality’ would seem to indicate that we have suddenly done something to change the status quo – we haven’t!!
The LGBT community is the same as it has always been, with the same rich diversity as any other community – what we have always asked for is parity – apply the same rules to everyone equally.
LGBT Heroes – 1
February 2012 is LGBT History Month, and ‘upstart’ wishes to start its first entry with a mention for Lance Corporal James Wharton.
Lance Corporal James Wharton was one of the first openly gay men in the British Army – since coming out he has been a role model for the Army and has participated in school visits throughout Great Britain and also got married in a civil ceremony in March 2010.
James openness and engaging personality has ensured that he has made friends were ever he has gone, leaving behind a more open and welcoming environment for gay youth in schools.
He has also taken part in the ‘It gets better project’ with a very positive supporting video.
‘upstart’ salutes you James.