The Egyptian Room and Oldham Art Gallery

Nestled in the heart of Oldham’s town centre, The Egyptian Room is a new(ish) food hall with a diverse range of independent food stalls offering a range of cuisines.

The contemporary food hall is set within an architecturally stunning setting – the Grade II listed old Town Hall, which retains its historic charm and original features. The food partners include Ply Loves Pizza (pizza and pasta dishes), The Last Stop (burgers), Wings of Power (burgers), Tuk Tuk ((Cambodian and Asian Kitchen) and Seacoles (Caribbean).

There is seating for 150 people with both indoor and outdoor seating and a mezzanine area. The venue has only been open since November, and for some of us the service was a little slow. On the whole it is a great addition to Oldham and we shall definitely return.

We then visited The Lights exhibition at Oldham Art Gallery. Over the last ten years, Grundy Art Gallery in Blackpool has developed a special interest in artists who use light as a material within their work. In addition to an annual light themed exhibition each autumn, Grundy has also been adding light based art works to its collection.

A selection of works from Grundy’s collection was presented in Oldham for the first time. The exhibition takes its title from the shorthand for how the Blackpool Illuminations are referred to locally.

A few of us went on to Billington’s for coffee and cake. This is a very impressive venue, very welcoming to members of the LGBT+ communities.

More photos can be seen here.

Argentina’s president called all LGBTQ+ people paedophiles. Now he’s getting sued

Javier Milei, the Argentinian President, took his “war on woke” to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week in a fiery speech declaring that LGBTQ+ “gender ideology constitutes plain and simple child abuse. They are paedophiles.”

“The mental virus of woke ideology is the great epidemic of our time that must be cured,” Milei said. “This is the cancer we need to get rid of.”

The attacks on LGBTQ+ people accompanied a restatement of the Argentinian president’s longstanding assaults on feminism, immigration and the fight against climate change.

Milei wrapped his far-right agenda in language cribbed from his fan and fellow warrior in the fight against “woke”, President Trump.

“It is essential to break these ideological chains if we want to usher in a new golden age,” Milei said, echoing language used in Trump’s inauguration speech.

To illustrate what he called a direct link between LGBTQ+ “gender ideology” and its harmful effects, the Argentinian leader used the example of a gay couple in Georgia arrested last month for abusing and prostituting their young adopted sons to a paedophile ring. He also falsely claimed that 5-year-old children regularly undergo sex-transition surgeries.

“I want to be clear when I say abuse,” Milei said. “This is no euphemism.”  

In response, Argentinian Congressman Esteban Paulón, a longtime LGBTQ+ rights activist, filed a criminal complaint against the president, arguing Milei employed discourse that promotes negative stereotypes and encourages violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

“Milei radicalises hate speech based on lies and fabricated truths. He raises harmful stereotypes against the LGBTQ+ community, which generates fear and anguish in our communities. We have filed a criminal complaint, understanding that his statements constitute several crimes aggravated by his presidential investiture.”

Paulón said LGBTQ+ families are living in fear as a result of Milei’s selective and unfounded claims.

“There are fathers and mothers afraid of being denounced for allowing their children to express their gender identity. LGBTQ+ couples fear that their children will be taken away from them,” he said. “This type of discourse activates ultra-conservative groups that politically support Milei, but do not reflect the feelings of the majority of Argentine society.”

Following the speech, LGBTQ+ activists and human rights groups in Argentina have organised a march under the banner, “For a country without hate,” scheduled for 1 February in the country’s capital, Buenos Aires.