LGBT History club – Roger Casement
Women in Politics
Today I was in the ‘Self Help Africa’ bookshop in Botanic Avenue, when I came across two postcards which reflected the development of women in politics.
Miss Kelly
The first postcard Shows ‘Miss Kelly’ a champion Votes for Women seller’, on what was her pitch in Charing Cross.
This refers to the period when women were fighting for the right to have a vote during elections; suffragettes were members of a militant women’s organisation who in the early 20th century, under the banner “Votes for Women”.
The term referred in particular to members of the British Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), a women-only movement founded in 1903 by Emmeline Pankhurst, which engaged in direct action and civil disobedience.
Irish Women Workers’ Union
My second find was a postcard showing a group of ladies who were part of the Irish Women Workers’ Union (1911-1984). The Irish Women Workers’ Union was founded at a public meeting held on September 5th 1911 in the old Antient Concert Hall on Great Brunswick (later the Academy cinema on what is now called Pearse Street ).
The IWWU at it’s peak represented 70,000 women including, bookbinders, contract cleaners, laundry, print and electronic workers. They were instrumental in obtaining the right for two weeks annual paid leave for all Irish workers in 1945, something which no organised male worker had previously demanded.
What peaked my interest was the situation of two completely different countries, having spawned women’s movements because women had little or no rights, and were considered to be inferior:
‘Masculine prejudice is the major target: man’s opinion of the fair sex is due to nothing more than mere custom, and the male chauvinist viewpoint (to use a modern term) has neither a logical nor a scientific leg to stand on ‘
Today we still have problems accepting women in positions of power and also in politics; in the last few years we have seen the rise of ‘Times UP’, in 2017 a group of women published a letter which said in part:-
“The struggle for women to break in, to rise up the ranks and to simply be heard and acknowledged in male-dominated workplaces must end; time’s up on this impenetrable monopoly”…
Just as we have seen and continue to see the fight for LGBTQ rights throughout the world; something which the British Government has in past created the problem through it’s empire days, and even today it continues to on one hand says it is supportive, but on the other pays lip service to it when economics comes into pay (e.g. Middle Est, African Continent etc).
We have a long way to go in this world until we have equality for all, not matter what the gender, or where they live!
Further reading:
British Comics At The Cartoon Museum, London
British Comics For Boys (and girls)
This Cartoon Museum (British cartoon & comic art from the 18th century to the present day), has the potential to be a great resource, not just for cartoons, but for British comics of this era, and importantly as a resource to show our history.
Unfortunately the museum is hidden away in a back street, in rented premises, and it receives no financial support from government both national or local.
The exhibition at the time of my visit in November 2016, was on that great British institution ‘Punch’. Unfortunately I would guess due to staffing limitations, the exhibition has not been noted, other than a banner on the Homepage on their website at the time of writing this article. 
To do the showing justice you would have need to spend a few hours, both at looking at the drawings and also in attempting to reflect back on the history at that time.
Also there was little at the time I visited that you might want to buy to remember the Punch exhibition.
I am of an era when my weekly stable of comics were the Rover & Wizard, The victor, The Hornet, The Hotspur – not for me the American Marvel(s), I preferred homegrown characters like:
Wilson the Wonder Athlete
Wolf of Kabul
Alf Tupper – The Rough of the track
I Flew with Braddock
And for me the thing I really loved, was that in general the Rover &Wizard was mainly words, with just one introductory picture (or at least that is how I remember it).
So of course I asked if they had any of these comics in museum’s collection, and unfortunately was told no. Though they are a museum dedicated to British cartoons and comics, they have not been in a position to obtain any for their collection.
OK I can accept that getting items like these may be difficult, but at the very least you would have thought they would have links to suitable websites to spark interest and show that the museum cared. Instead all I have found is one short paragraph mention of these comics (The British Comic: 1884 –)
The Cartoon Museum is located at 35 Little Russell Street, London WC1 2HH
Always check to see if they are open, usually Tue-Sun, by ringing on 020 7580 8155
Further reading:
Struggling white working-class pupils
Education seems to have forgotten a proportion of its population – namely working class boys and girls! Whether we like to admit it or not, one size does not fit all when it comes to education, and boys are a completely different fit to girls, they need different stimuli and different provisions. This does not mean that we need segregated schools before certain elements of the population starts, but it does mean that we need to be inclusive of boys needs which we are not currently in the educational strata. Books need to cater for boys, not just girls. Boys also need more room to run about and get rid of energy, and also classes need to reflect this. It will be interesting to see if government, the educational establishment, and to a large degree teachers can make the changes needed. We continue to talk about league tables, revamping education etc, but we seem to have difficulty in having a long term strategy, to allow it to develop with tinkering (government and inspectors) and to also allow teachers room and time to implement strategy without complaining even before it has had time for the ink to dry! Dave McFarlane, Community Journalist
Study finds poorer white children’s attainment has stayed stubbornly low despite improvements among other groups
Source: Schools must focus on struggling white working-class pupils, says UK charity
Real Monasterio De Santa Maria de la Valldigna
Today I had the lovely task of chauffeuring two friends to see the Real Monasterio DeSanta Maria de la Valldigna, followed by travelling to Cullera for lunch. Both of these locations are located in Valencia, and both for completely different reasons are worth seeing.
Valldigna – Two Friends
The monastery is set in superb grounds, in a lovely valley, with a lovely backdrop of mountain ranges.
…The monastery was founded in 1297 by James II of Aragon. Since the beginning, it was one of the most important monasteries of the Cistercian order. It was founded by the monks of Santes Creus in the Tarragona province. The whole Valldigna valley belonged to the monks, according to a royal order.
The monastery was inhabited by monks until 1835, when a revolt in the Valldigna valley took place after the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. After that, the monks were forced to abandon the monastery. Most of its goods and works of art were sold, plundered or destroyed….(Wikipedia)
I was immediately taken by the tranquility of the location, of the range of buildings and outhouses, and with the internal art work shown in the main building in the grounds. The interior of the main building shows only a flavour of what it must of looked like at the high of its occupation by the monks.
Valldigna – Interior
roof atrium
I fell in love with quietness of the location, and with the beauty of the craftsmanship and thought which had gone into the plans for the monastery. It obviously was a place of work, but also of contemplation and spiritual retreat.
I have been smitten by this monastery and will be returning at least once a month so that I can sketch and paint some part of it, and also to take time out to recharge my batteries.
Links:
Course 2 Day – Day Four: Natural World
Day Four: “Natural World” — Leading Lines
Today I was tasked with capturing the natural world: snap a moment outside, big or small. From a close-up of a leaf in your backyard to a panorama from your morning hike, we invite you to document this wondrous world around us.
Now at first glance (thought) this seems a very easy project to go out and do, especially when you are living in Spain with its generally rolling sunshine, and people with a sunny disposition.
The problem is the heat – a lot of what you might target for photographs, when considered closely do not give you that oomph that would be expected.
However I persevered and came up with these shots:
Natural World
However after consideration when I got back from my safari, I decided that the following photograph reflected the qualities of the assignment – showing natural lines that lead you to different parts of the frame. The photograph was taken on a Samsung mobile phone with 8 megapixels camera, which rendered a photograph with just over 3Mb, which I have now resized to 2Mb – hopefully without loss of clarity to the brief. No flash was used, just the shadow and natural sunlight, which I feel makes for a wonderful atmospheric photograph
Trunk in Shade
#developingyoureye #trunkinshade #naturalworld
Book Review: The Official History of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality and its times; Volume 1: A Space to Breathe, 1954–1973
CHE of course did not arise from nothing. Scott-Presland begins with a short review of the “homophile” movements in Germany and the Netherlands and the United States, as well as the early British sex-reformers such as Edward Carpenter. Many early figures from the 1950s also played their roles in the early reforming development of the movement: Peter Wildeblood, Rupert Croft-Cooke, and the setting-up of the Wolfenden Committee which in 1957 recommended the decriminalisation of sex between consenting men over 21 in private, which was to become law in 1967. Hence the overriding focus of the early history of the gay movement was upon law reform, public education, and counselling; the vaguer concept of “equality” and an end to “discrimination” were still inchoate concepts in the 1950s and 1960s.
The two great figures of this early history are Allan Horsfall and Antony Grey. The two men typify the split that was to bedevil the gay movement: the North West Homosexual Law Reform Committee in Manchester, run by Horsfall, and the Homosexual Law Reform Society in London (run by Grey). It was essentially a class divide: working-class Northerners versus middle-class Southerners. The HLRS in particular was obsessed by “respectability” and was constrained by the feeling that it should not advocate anything that would be perceived to be too radical by the honorary members listed on its letterhead. This often meant that it could not focus specifically upon homosexuality, but had to be inclusive of all sexualities. The force behind all this was the Albany Trust, run by Antony Grey, with prominent heterosexual sexologists on its board. The Trust had to maintain the fiction that it was broadly concerned with all sexualities in order to receive funding from institutional donors and prominent individuals, even though in fact it was almost exclusively directed towards gays. One might say that Antony Grey was rather canny in thus achieving the main purpose, but the fact that “Antony Grey” never used his real name – Edgar Wright – in the public forum is symbolic of his “behind the scenes” approach to reform. Allan Horsfall, in contrast, was a working-class son of a publican and a prospective Labour Party candidate, and always used his real name and even published his home address. Nevertheless, the membership of the NWHLRC was also predominantly heterosexual at the beginning.
Both organisations, early on, were especially focused on counselling, dealing with the problems of self-loathing homosexuals in the closet, who had no way to meet others. This lack of meeting places – especially social and not just sexual sites – was a central concern for the gay movement for many years.
This is a history of people rather than a history of ideas. Although Scott-Presland gives individual spotlight biographies to all the major players in the movement – including Leo Abse, Glenys Parry, Griffith Vaughan-Williams, Peter Norman, Ray Gosley – it is difficult not to form the view that this early history consists of the working out of the tensions between just two men, Horsfall and Grey, as they struggle for the control or independence of their two organisations. At times the documentation of this early history consists simply of incestuous letters between Horsfall and Grey congratulating themselves on how many letters they have written to the press and on how many speaking engagements they had performed, and swapping newspaper cuttings documenting their achievements. There is hardly any sense that other people were involved in their campaigns. Horsfall was sometimes naively idealistic but a powerehouse for action, while Grey was more politically astute but over-cautious. The early campaigning efforts were regularly dampened by people like Antony Grey and Leo Abse (the MP who had pushed the 1976 Sexual Offences Act through Parliament) urging Allan Horsfall not to rock the boat. Even while the heterosexual membership of the Homosexual Law Reform Society dwindled and it became a modern gay campaigning group, nevertheless it became just the Sexual Law Reform Society in 1970, with a solitary secretary: Antony Grey.
Ironically it was the passing of the law in 1967 that led to organisational chaos in both the NWHLRC and the HLRS (and Albany Trust), for neither knew quite what to aim for once the law reform had been achieved. A “gay space” became a major focus, and many years would be spent in trying – and failing – to set up CHE-owned social clubs as a more healthy alternative to the commercial gay pub and club scene. These were to be called Esquire Clubs, and to be organised along the lines of the COQ clubs in Denmark, but CHE never quite succeeded in getting a brewery on board, and never raised enough money to fund physical premises. There was also the problem that Leo Abse and the Home Office specifically objected to the emergence of gay social clubs, which they felt would be an unwanted result of legalisation – the ideal result in their view would be for homsoexuals to lead discreet private lives rather than be publicly visible and associating with others. This, they felt, would result in separation rather than integration. Antony Grey, who always felt that VIPs and leaders of Society were necessary for the success of any campaign, came down opposed to social clubs; as a result the NWHLRC severed its relations with the Albany Trust, and the power and influence of the Albany Trust gradually declined.
By 1969 the NWHLRC had become CHE – the Committee for Homosexual Equality – a significant change from “law reform” to the wider issue of “equality”. (Though it wasn’t until 1971 that “Committee” was changed to “Campaign”.) The great mover behind this phase was Paul Temperton, whose social political background was typical of early CHE members: he worked for the British Humanist Association, the Manchester Non-Violent Action Group, the National Council for Civil Liberties, and the Anti-Apartheid movement. Social activism came to the fore while the counselling focus of the old school receded. For this period from 1968 to 1973 Scott-Presland gives a very detailed study of press campaigns, newspaper advertisements for membership, complaints to the Press Council, and meetings with local councils and institutions.
The proliferation of local CHE organisations becomes almost overwhelming. Each regional group is given its proper focus, because each region was autonomous, and there were always very weak links between the regional groups and the national CHE executive. This was perhaps its main failure as a campaigning organisation, but also its strength at encouraging social solidarity. The origins of each group are carefully documented; they were almost always started by an individual person who became the convenor (or a pair of lovers who became joint convenors) and who worked to get together a critical mass of about twenty members. While there were very formal links between each region and the national executive, there were virtually no links at all between one local group and another local group. Every would-be member of a group was vetted by a representative appointed by national headquarters – usually the talented journalist Roger Baker. Liverpool and Manchester remained strong regional powerhouses, but gradually the working-class membership was superseded by a middle-class membership, for reasons not fully explained, perhaps not even explainable. Advertising in newspapers and journals reached mainly a middle-class audience, hence recruited more middle-class members, and as CHE became more professional, it also became more middle-class. Also, women’s issues did not much occupy CHE, and it increasingly lost its lesbian membership.
A lengthy chapter on London systematically goes through each of its thirteen groups, often with extracts from interviews with its first convenors – notably Roger Baker, Brian Sewell, Peter Robins, Peter Norman, and Jackie Forster. Because of geographical concentration, the London groups all associated with one another (unlike groups scattered across the country outside London), and from April 1971 all the London groups held “mass meetings” at which larger goals and strategies were proposed, and work towards shared aims was distributed among groups. However, everything was still highly bureaucratic and hence cumbersome. Rules of debate dissipated too much energy.
One important product of these pan-London activities was the formation of the counselling group FRIEND. Individual convenors had lacked the professional skill and funds necessary for really effective counselling, hence the use of formally trained volunteers was a great advance. Money was raised for training and for staffing a telephone service, and maintaining offices. By the end of 1972 they had 50 befrienders, plus 12 professional therapists, a Centre in London, with branches in Manchester, Liverpool, and several other cities. During all of FRIEND’s activities, there was the inevitable power struggle between Antony Grey and the leaders of FRIEND regarding the future of homosexual counselling services. The Albany Trust refused to accept the structure proposed by FRIEND and stopped supporting it financially. FRIEND became independent and grew, while the Albany Trust became marginalised. (However, FRIEND would formally split from CHE in 1975–6 in order to obtain charitable status and government money, which was not possible while it remained allied with a campaigning organisation – a problem the Albany Trust had faced earlier.)
CHE continued essentially as a social support provider rather than a campaigning organisation. Each group was in effect a discussion group rather than a campaign group; a number of speakers regularly went around the circuit giving their talks, e.g. Roger Baker talking on drag (on which he had written a book). In addition to the regular Discussion meetings, there were regular Winter Fairs, Winter Talks, Jumble Sales, Summer Balls, coach trips, Christmas parties, bingo and lotteries, and a host of events very similar to those organised by the ladies of the Women’s Institutes. As the London groups expanded, some became special interest groups for those interested in music, writing, film, sports, rambling, bird-watching, and so on. These were hardly political action groups. The long-lived London Monday Group met at the Chepstow Arms in Notting Hill for over 15 years, with a regular programme of well-known speakers and lively disccussions, followed by drinks and socilising. Many long-term friendships were formed there, but it might be hard to document any specific “social change” it might have achieved. Scott-Presland argues (not very convincingly in my view) that these special interest groups were an important factor in the development of gay identity, specifically the notion of “being gay” while engaged in non-gay activities. By mid-1973 London CHE had some 20 local groups plus 15 special groups, with 1,000 members; CHE across the country had a total of some 70 local groups with 3,500 members.
So by late 1973, although the Campaign for Homosexual Equality did not create a coherent national campaigning movement with a coherent ideology, it nevertheless had succeeded in its main objective: the creation of “a gay space” in which people with a shared sexual orientation could come together in a broadly social space rather than a narrow subculture whose main aim was sex. This is not to say that sex was not important to the development of the friendship networks formed within CHE, but the real aim was a modus vivendi, a way of life, for homosexuals within society rather than a separate twilight world on the margins of society. The community it had helped forge was an astonishing achievement and deserves the full and careful treatment it receives here. The development of an effective campaigning organisation after 1973 will be the subject of the next volume in this projected three-volume official history.
Check out the amazing cakes baked by these school kids for LGBT History Month
The cakes were produced during the grand final of the ‘Ed-u-bake and Cel-a-cake’ Great Rainbow Bake Off: a UK-wide competition for students to help tackle LGBT prejudice
Scott Nunn
The live final of the inaugural Great Rainbow Bake-off competition took place at Stoke Newington School yesterday (6 February). The nationwide competition was launched for school children last year during the UK’s annual anti-bullying week.
Students were invited to bake a rainbow-themed cake or cupcakes and to send photos of the resulting treats to competition organizers, Educate & Celebrate.
From the submitted photos, ten finalists were selected. They were invited to the grand final yesterday, which was officially started by Elly Barnes, CEO and founder of Educate & Celebrate:
‘We welcome the 10 finalists, parents, teachers and families to our first live Great Rainbow Bake-off final. The standard was set in the heats and now we are ready for some top quality rainbow baking to celebrate ten years of LGBT History Month.’
Also on hand was Scott Nunn, Director of Gay Star News and one of the judges of the competition. The other judge was professional chef, Allegra McEvedy [pictured right]. The children were asked to bake a cake celebrating the theme of ‘LGBT History’.
Among the amazing entries produced on the day was one creation decorated with rainbow colored icing to mark ‘100 year LGBT milestones’, including ‘gender reassignment surgery’ and ‘same sex adoption’ as historical highlights.
Durham’s Hamsterley Primary School’s entry was a team effort by three students to produce ‘gender-bread’ men and LGBTI cupcakes on a journey to LGBTI inclusion. The concept was explained by the head teacher of the school, Damian Hassan:
‘This is about children working together to produce a coherent whole. Our school has been 100% behind the bake-off and everyone in the community has also been supportive.’
Prizes included a meal for four at Allegra McEvedy’s restaurant Blackfoot at Exmouth Market in London as well as two signed books by teen fiction author Hayley Long. All the children received ‘Educate & Celebrate’ aprons made by Zitta Lomax, a teacher supporting the event, and GayStarNews tote bags with cookery goodies.
Teachers at the school also got involved and brought their cakes in to be judged. The winner, Anna Gluckstein, produced a cake in memory of Alan Turing:
‘Celebrating LGBT History Month is part of the culture at Stoke Newington School and this bake-off has been a way of bringing staff and students together in a really positive way.’
All the judges agreed that the standard of entries was very high, with all the students demonstrating impressive skills.
At the end of the day Elly Barnes who was one of the judges said:
‘All the finalists produced thoughtful and inspiring cakes representing LGBT History,’ said Elly Barnes. ‘It was virtually impossible to choose a winner, however we all agreed that the cake which fulfilled all the criteria was the pink triangle cake by Jude from Stoke Newington School, which won on theme, style and taste!
‘It was a successful day and we are already looking forward to next years entries for anti-bullying week November 2015.’
Jude Costley’s cake was a bold and delicious design featuring multi-colored hundreds and thousands and bright pink triangles. Runners up were fellow Stoke Newington School pupil, Liam Charles, and Sadie Soverall, from London’s Emmanuel School in Battersea Rise.
‘It was an amazing and fun day,’ said Scott Nunn. ‘Congratulations to everyone who took part.’
The winning ‘Pink Triangle’ cake (above) by Jude Costley
Students were invited to bake a rainbow-themed cake or cupcakes and to send photos of the resulting treats to competition organizers, Educate & Celebrate.
From the submitted photos, ten finalists were selected. They were invited to the grand final yesterday, which was officially started by Elly Barnes, CEO and founder of Educate & Celebrate:
‘We welcome the 10 finalists, parents, teachers and families to our first live Great Rainbow Bake-off final. The standard was set in the heats and now we are ready for some top quality rainbow baking to celebrate ten years of LGBT History Month.’
Also on hand was Scott Nunn, Director of Gay Star News and one of the judges of the competition. The other judge was professional chef, Allegra McEvedy [pictured right]. The children were asked to bake a cake celebrating the theme of ‘LGBT History’.
Among the amazing entries produced on the day was one creation decorated with rainbow colored icing to mark ‘100 year LGBT milestones’, including ‘gender reassignment surgery’ and ‘same sex adoption’ as historical highlights.
Durham’s Hamsterley Primary School’s entry was a team effort by three students to produce ‘gender-bread’ men and LGBTI cupcakes on a journey to LGBTI inclusion. The concept was explained by the head teacher of the school, Damian Hassan:
‘This is about children working together to produce a coherent whole. Our school has been 100% behind the bake-off and everyone in the community has also been supportive.’
Prizes included a meal for four at Allegra McEvedy’s restaurant Blackfoot at Exmouth Market in London as well as two signed books by teen fiction author Hayley Long. All the children received ‘Educate & Celebrate’ aprons made by Zitta Lomax, a teacher supporting the event, and GayStarNews tote bags with cookery goodies.
Teachers at the school also got involved and brought their cakes in to be judged. The winner, Anna Gluckstein, produced a cake in memory of Alan Turing:
‘Celebrating LGBT History Month is part of the culture at Stoke Newington School and this bake-off has been a way of bringing staff and students together in a really positive way.’
All the judges agreed that the standard of entries was very high, with all the students demonstrating impressive skills.
At the end of the day Elly Barnes who was one of the judges said:
‘All the finalists produced thoughtful and inspiring cakes representing LGBT History,’ said Elly Barnes. ‘It was virtually impossible to choose a winner, however we all agreed that the cake which fulfilled all the criteria was the pink triangle cake by Jude from Stoke Newington School, which won on theme, style and taste!
‘It was a successful day and we are already looking forward to next years entries for anti-bullying week November 2015.’
Jude Costley’s cake was a bold and delicious design featuring multi-colored hundreds and thousands and bright pink triangles. Runners up were fellow Stoke Newington School pupil, Liam Charles, and Sadie Soverall, from London’s Emmanuel School in Battersea Rise.
‘It was an amazing and fun day,’ said Scott Nunn. ‘Congratulations to everyone who took part.’
The winning ‘Pink Triangle’ cake (above) by Jude Costley
Sadie Soverall
An entrant with her ‘Lesbians Do Exist’ cake
Liam Charles and his runners-up entry
A cake inspired by artist Frida Kahlo
Sadie Soverall with her colorful runners-up entry
‘Genderbread people’!
Scott Nunn, Allegra McEvedy and Elly Barnes judge the cakes
The finalists and their finished entries
Photos by Samantha Hayhurst and Scott Nunn
– See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/check-out-amazing-cakes-baked-these-school-kids-lgbt-history-month070215#sthash.MdsHYgTs.dpuf
Floral Hall – Belfast
On Wednesday 21, 2015 Linda Stewart wrote in the Belfast Telegraph about the Floral Hall at Bellvue and the campaign to try and save it and restore it to its past glory. Having read the article, and looked at the Facebook campaign page, with its photos, I got to wondering how many of you remember going to any of the events at the Floral Hall, was there a ‘scene’ , albeit hidden, at the Floral Hall.
Why not write an let us know your memories, and with your permission we will print them
The Floral Hall, was built in the 1930s and was used as a dance hall for many years.
Located within the grounds of the zoo is a 1930s art deco ballroom, the Floral Hall. The Hall was popular venue in its time and during the war the Hall had blackouts fitted to the windows so that dances could continue. In the 1960s, the hall was visited by musical artists such as Pink Floyd and Small Faces. The Floral Hall closed to the public on 2 April 1972 and has remained derelict since the outbreak of the Troubles in the 1970s.
During the 1990s the Floral Hall had been given Listed Building Status.
In December 2011 saw the creation of a Facebook page based around sharing old photos of the Floral Hall including interior shots of the hall today, the following year an online petition, addressed to the City Council was created to help raise awareness and to progress with the restoration project of the hall.
With such an iconic building, and the fact that it was a venue for so many different kind of events, I wonder how many of the LGBT community in Ireland, or anywhere for that matter, can remember going to any kind of event. If you do why not write to us letting us know your memories.
University Supports LGBT History Month
The question that this article raises, is will either of our universities in Northern Ireland take up the challenge and support LGBT History Month this year and in the future years. Queen’s University and the Ulster University talk about doing things, but isn’t it about time that they actually did something that stands out in support of our LGBT community?
| Published: 26th January 2015 11:28 |
LGBT History Month takes place every year in February. It celebrates the lives, achievements and promotes awareness of the LGBT community.
As part of the celebrations the University and Portsmouth, supported by the LGBT Staff Forum, is supporting a range of events through the month open to all staff and students:
- Tuesday 3-Thursday 26 February. In partnership with Portsmouth Film Society, the University will be hosting the ‘Pride LGBT Film Festival’. One of the highlights will the opening night screening on Tuesday 3 February of the recent film release Pride, a historical comedy-drama film about UK gay activists work to help miners during their lengthy strike in the Summer of 1984. Mike Jackson, the original chairperson of ‘Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners’ and one of the main characters portrayed in the film, with be attending and taking a Q&A after the screening. This in one of seven films being shown throughout the month.
- Wednesday 11 February. A public lecture by Peter Tatchell, political campaigner best known for his work with LGBT social movements – despite great progress on LGBTI rights in the UK, there are still injustices. Same-sex marriage is separate and unequal to marriage. Equality laws have exemptions for religious organisations. Hundreds of thousands of people are victims of homophobic hate crime and bullying in schools. Many geniune LGBTI refugees are detained and refused asylum. HIV and sex and relationship education mostly ignores LGBTI pupils. Much more needs to be done to secure LGBTI acceptance, equality and inclusion.
- Wednesday 18 February. Hosted by the University and Portsmouth City Council, an evening panel event at John Pounds Community Centre, on LGBT equality and prize-winning film screening. Chaired by Dr Páraic Finnerty, speakers include: Dr Soozi Mead, ‘Historians on LGBT History’; Dr Sue Bruley , ‘Uppity women: Lesbians in the Women’s Liberation Movement in 1970s Britain’; Dr Paul Flenley, ‘Gay Rights in Russia: the cultural and political context’; Dr Deborah Shaw, ‘A whistle-stop tour of lesbians on screen’. Film: Sweat (15mins, Dir: John Lochland).
Full details of all events and booking arrangements can be found at http://www.port.ac.uk/departments/services/equalityanddiversity/staffforums/lgbtstaffforum/
Further Reading: