New venue postponed??

Breaking news is that there is a Greater Manchester local lockdown from midnight, 30 July 2020. Separate households are not allowed to meet indoors (including pubs and restaurants).

We were planning to meet every Wednesday from 1.00pm to 3.00pm starting the 5 August at Methodist Central Buildings, 4-5 Central Buildings, Oldham Street, Manchester M1 1JQ.

We need to keep an eye on the news for clarification regarding indoor meetings … so watch this space!

The venue is in Central Manchester. There are a few steps at the front of the building (stairlift available) and a lift to the first floor meeting room. Tea and coffee will be provided.

In normal circumstances the room is big enough for 60 people, so is sufficient regarding social distancing. For more information please contact us here.

We intend to go back to our Church House venue in January.

 

Women over 50 in the LGBT communities

A researcher working with MICRA (Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing) at the University of Manchester is conducting interviews (by telephone) with people over 50 about their current experiences of social distancing and self-isolation at the time of the Covid 19 pandemic.

Already six gay men from Out In The City have been interviewed, so they are interested in how women are coping with social distancing, what support they are able to access, what gaps in support might exist, and how social distancing is affecting their everyday lives.

They want to talk to a range of women from a range of backgrounds. If you agree, the interview will be recorded, but all data is anonymised and only used for research purposes. If you are willing to collaborate with the research, please contact Dr Luciana Lang and she will arrange with you a suitable day and time.

Contact Dr Luciana Lang at the University of Manchester on 07999 447 282 or luciana.lang@manchester.ac.uk

 

Keith Haring documentary

Keith Allen Haring was an American artist whose pop art and graffiti-like work grew out of the New York street culture of the 1980s. Much of his work includes sexual allusions that turned into social activism. He achieved this by using sexual images to advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness.

This highly recommended and compelling film – told using previously unheard interviews with Haring, which form the narrative of the documentary – is the definitive story of the artist in his own words.

Watch the film on BBC iPlayer – Keith Haring: Street Art Boy.

 

Live music is coming back!

If at the end of August you are having live entertainment at your venue, please consider Wolf, for pop, soul and classics. Send a message to bearwerewolf@btinternet.com

I saw them in February in Sale Moor and they were fabulous … and two members of the group are from Out In The City!

 

Make LGBT conversion therapy illegal in the UK
The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs who oversee the petitions system) has written to Elizabeth Truss MP, Minister for Women and Equalities, to request further information about the Government’s plans to ban LGBT ‘conversion therapy’. In the letter the Committee asks for more detail on proposals for ending so-called ‘conversion therapy’, and an update on when changes to the law might be brought forward.

Catherine McKinnell MP (Chair of the Committee) and Elliot Colburn MP (a member of the Committee) highlight in the letter that, in addition to the current petition with over 200,000 signatures, there have also been two large petitions on this issue in previous years. They also note that despite its inclusion in the Government’s 2018 LGBT Action Plan, legislation has still not been introduced.

If you haven’t signed the petition yet, you can do so here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/300976

 

Community Centre survey

The LGBT Foundation have launched a Community Centre Survey as they decide what their next steps are as an organisation.

The thoughts of people who are over 50 are really important in helping them to decide what the future space or spaces might look like. So please have your say!