EASA Contemporary

The Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester’s Northern Quarter has been relaunched as EASA (East and Southeast Asian) Contemporary. It is a unique art centre dedicated to presenting and platforming art practices that identify with and are informed by East and Southeast Asian cultural experiences.

As a regenerated organisation, they strive to empower artists, curators, academics and cultural practitioners whose work reflects, investigates and is informed by topics pertinent to the EASA community at large.

The inaugural exhibition “Practice Till We Meet” delves into diasporic experiences and the condition of migration. We visited last Thursday after eating at Mackie Mayor.

This is a cosmopolitan food hall in a Grade II listed market building. The former Smithfield meat market was opened in 1858 and originally used as a fresh produce market, but had lain empty since the early 1990’s. It’s a great spot for eating out and the various vendors have meat, vegetarian and vegan options. There is communal seating and it’s a great place to get together, chat and eat.

There is a really great atmosphere and once you have ordered your food, there is table service. More photos can be seen here.

International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day is a global holiday celebrated annually on 8 March as a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

Look Into Their Eyes

The women you see below grew up when coming out meant risking their health, their jobs, their housing, their families, their friends. To stay safe, many stayed silent for years. Stereotypes and stigma filled the vacuum of silence.  
 
They’ve been whispered about, shouted at, insulted, rejected, isolated.

But here they are, strong and brave.

These women are taking a risk to break the silence — to be seen as they really are. To show you that being openly LGBT+ is profoundly human and courageous. They are unravelling the stigma that was formed without knowing them. They are building a kinder world: a world where being LGBT+ is safe and accepted. 
 
Things have improved, but undercurrents of misunderstandings, assumptions, and discrimination still exist. Thousands still experience discrimination, harassment, and abuse when seeking or living in senior housing. Many fear having adequate support as they age. 
 
We all play a role in building a kinder world for everyone. 

Dictionary.com just added several new LGBTQ+ words

Dictionary.com has added a handful of LGBTQ+ terms to its latest official update, making one of the largest online resources for English just a bit queerer.

Amongst the 313 newly entered words for the website’s winter 2023 update, are pinkwashing, queerbaiting, abrosexual, and multisexual. The update also added 130 new definitions to pre-existing words and 1,140 revised definitions.

In case you don’t know, here are the definitions for each of the LGBTQ+ related words:

pinkwashing: (noun) an instance or practice of acknowledging and promoting the civil liberties of the LGBTQ+ community, but superficially, as a ploy to divert attention from allegiances and activities that are in fact hostile to such liberties.

queerbaiting: (noun, slang) a marketing technique involving intentional homoeroticism or suggestions of LGBTQ+ themes intended to draw in an LGBTQ+ audience, without explicit inclusion of openly LGBTQ+ relationships, characters, or people.

abrosexual: (adjective) noting or relating to a person whose sexual orientation is fluid or fluctuates over time.

multisexual: (adjective) noting or relating to a person who is sexually or romantically attracted to people of more than one gender, used especially as an inclusive term to describe similar, related sexual orientations such as bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, etc.

The website also included a few new words that aren’t exactly LGBTQ+ but are terms or concepts that the queer community may also be familiar with.

cyberflashing: (noun) an act or instance of sending someone unsolicited, unwanted, sexually explicit images or video using digital platforms.

woke: (adjective, disparaging) of or relating to a liberal progressive orthodoxy, especially promoting inclusive policies or ideologies that welcome or embrace ethnic, racial, or sexual minorities.

To use woke in a sentence: “Some haters will probably respond to Dictionary.com’s newly included words by claiming that the online dictionary has become ‘woke.’”

The website wrote of its newly added terms, “Our lexicographers observe it all, documenting language change wherever it’s happening and defining the terms that help us to understand our times,”

“Words that are new to the dictionary are not always new to the language (or even remotely recent),” the site noted, adding that its inclusion of new words isn’t an endorsement of the concepts, but rather a documentation of language as it is used (rather than how they or others want it to be used).

In 2020, the website added LGBTQ+ terms like “ace,” “deadname,” and “ambisextrous.”

All Out Radio Show on ALL fm 4/3/23

The fab All Out Radio Show lives on! Sadly not with the amazing duo Claire and Murry who hung up their headphones last month – we miss you massively!

But, all (Out) is not lost! This week, Queer Nan attempts to keep the homo fires burning, bringing us three gorgeous guests: Norman Goodman and Tony Openshaw, telling us about their LGBTQ+ work around Manchester – especially with Out In The City. And in the second half, the fantastic artist Len Goetzee sends us a truly mind-blowing and moving pre-record, including some of his most recent songs – it’s a MUST to tune into!

Listen in here.