Sally Ride

Sally Kristen Ride (26 May 1951 – 23 July 2012) was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978, and in 1983 became the first American woman in space.

She was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982). Ride remains the youngest American astronaut to have travelled to space, having done so at the age of 32.

After flying twice on the Orbiter Challenger, she left NASA in 1987. Ride worked for two years at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Arms Control, then at the University of California, San Diego, primarily researching nonlinear optics and Thomson scattering. Previously, at Stanford University, she earned a master’s degree in 1975 and a PhD in physics in 1978 while doing research on the interaction of X-rays with the interstellar medium. Astrophysics and free electron lasers were her specific areas of study.

Having been married to astronaut Steven Hawley during her spaceflight years and in a private, long-term relationship with former Women’s Tennis Association player Tam O’Shaughnessy in her years after, she is the earliest space traveller to have been recognised as LGBT.

In addition to being interested in science, she was a nationally ranked tennis player, and took a break from college to pursue a professional tennis career.

Prior to her first space flight, Ride was subject to media attention due to her gender. During a press conference, she was asked questions such as, “Will the flight affect your reproductive organs?” and “Do you weep when things go wrong on the job?” Despite this and the historical significance of the mission, Ride insisted that she saw herself in only one way – as an astronaut.

Ride was extremely private about her personal life. After Ride’s death, her obituary revealed that her partner of 27 years was Tam O’Shaughnessy, a professor emerita of school psychology at San Diego State University and childhood friend, who met her when both were aspiring tennis players.

This made Ride the first lesbian astronaut and the first lesbian in outer space.

Respecting Trans and Gender Diverse People Around Death and Bereavement – LGBT Foundation in conversation with Ash Hayhurst

Join LGBT Foundation for an evening with Ash Hayhurst, consultant for a new death and bereavement project led by UK-wide trans and gender diverse charity GIRES on 1 September 2021, 6.00pm – 7.30pm.

This free event will take place online and will be chaired by Zane Robinson (Trans Programme Coordinator and Community Programme Manager at LGBT Foundation) and will include an audience Q&A.

Ash Hayhurst is a funeral professional working in consultation with GIRES on a new project resourcing professionals to ensure respect and dignity for trans and gender diverse people in death and bereavement. Ash is the author of “Making informed choices when planning a funeral – a guide for Queer people”, has written articles for the Funeral Service Journal and the ICCM journal, and was a guest speaker at the Ceremony Matters Equality and Diversity conference in October 2020. Ash’s pronouns are he/him. www.queerfuneralguide.co.uk

GIRES is a UK wide organisation whose purpose is to improve the lives of trans and gender diverse people of all ages, including those who are non-binary and non-gender, through training, support, information and research.

This event is part of the free Arts and Culture programme for The 15th International Conference on the Social Context of Death, Dying and disposal: Diversity and Decolonisation, hosted by Manchester Metropolitan University.

To book a free ticket for this event programme and for more information please head to the conference home page, scroll to the top of the page and select the option to ‘Register only for the arts and cultures programme’. Please note: you will receive an initial confirmation email stating ‘Thank you for registering for Death, Dying and Disposal 15’, followed by a link to access the event via a ‘Virtual Lobby’. Attendance at this event is included automatically for delegates to the main conference sessions.

If you have any queries around accessibility for this session please contact prideinageing@lgbt.foundation, and for any other queries relating the conference please contact DDD15@mmu.ac.uk.

Queers

“Queers” is a series of eight short monologues charting the lives of gay men and women in the UK. It is available on BBC iPlayer here

This project runs eight different monologues from well known actors and was part of a longer project called “Gay Britannia” which marked the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act.

Each monologue runs for 15 to 20 minutes and the topics cover a span of 100 years. The first programme called “The Man on the Platform”, features a young man returning from the trenches of the First World War, who recollects a love that dared not speak its name.

Other characters address subjects such as the HIV crisis and the Sexual Offences Act.

Sarah Barnett, the president of BBC America said “Brilliantly written and performed, these monologues may be compact but they are brimful of humour, heartbreak, joy, humanity and tenderness.”

Queer Britain

Queer Britain is a charity working to establish the UK’s first national LGBTQ+ museum, a place as exciting as the people, stories and ideas it explores and celebrates. It will be an essential place for all regardless of sexuality or gender identity, to find out about the culture we have been born into, have chosen or seek to understand.

Queer Britain was launched in 2018. A host of supporters from community, business, celebrity and media came to cheer on the Queer Britain project at a reception at Hotel Cafe Royal’s iconic Oscar Wilde Lounge.

Queer people have impacted every part of culture, yet all too often our lives have been written in the margins of history books. Valuable stories and artefacts are being lost. Once gone, they may never be recovered. These deserve a dedicated space to be preserved, explored and celebrated. Queer Britain will put this centre stage.

You can catch up with online events such as the The Turing £50 with the Bank of England or The Gateways with Diva Magazine. To find out more click here.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

This was our first coach trip for ages. We were due to set out at 10.30am, but nobody turned up late. Everyone was so eager, so we set off five minutes early!

Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a 500-acre art gallery located in the Bretton Estate.

We arrived at 11.45am, registered at reception in the YSP Centre and immediately made our way to The Kitchen, which has stunning views across the landscape. We had curly chips, pasties, soups and sandwiches.

There are various galleries displaying temporary exhibitions, and the open-air collection comprises short and long term loans, site-specific commissions and gifts from individuals and artists.

These include bronzes by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth and a number of quirky artworks, such as an engagement ring Solitário [Solitaire] (2018), a seven-metre-high ring made of golden car wheel rims topped with a huge diamond crafted from crystal whisky glasses.

Representing the stereotypical ambition of our society to acquire wealth and material possessions, the work unites symbols of luxury – cars, jewellery and alcohol – which bridge social classes. Sited at one of the highest points in the park and drawing attention to one of the most wonderful views across the landscape, Solitário entices visitors uphill and creates delight in the discovery of its fabrication.

As well as artworks, there are lakes and forests to explore.

I think we all agreed that we had a great day out. Lots more great photos can be seen here.

Prescriptions

The Government are planning to change the age for free prescriptions from 60 to the State Pension age, which right now is 66.

They’re asking for people’s views at the moment, so we need to tell them why it’s a bad idea which will leave people struggling to afford the prescriptions they need to keep well.

I’ve just submitted a response to their consultation, please will you do the same? It only takes a few minutes – here’s the link.

Bisexuality celebration

The annual BiCon celebration – the UK’s main bisexual gathering will be held online this year from Thursday 19 August to Sunday 22 August 2021.

Tickets are available to sign up by clicking here.

To subscribe to the mailing list for regular updates and information before and during BiCon 2021 please follow the link by clicking here.

What is BiCon?

BiCon is a three and a bit day weekend-long educational and social gathering for bi people, their friends, partners, and others with a supportive interest in bisexuality. We don’t all use the labels “bi” or “bisexual” or even agree on what it means to be bi, but bisexuality is the common theme.

If you are wondering if it is ‘Con’ as in convention or conference we don’t think we have to be just one! As a convention, we are social and fun with discussions, dancing, games, music, crafting and costume parties. As a conference we have more serious workshops on issues around bisexuality and related (and not-so-related!) topics. BiCon is a space to be completely yourself, make new friends and catch up with old ones, and it has a totally accepting atmosphere; BiCon attendees often say BiCon feels like home.

BiCon has been held in a different part of the UK each year since 1984 and in 2020 and 2021 BiCon has gone virtual to enable the event to continue during Covid. There are usually several hundred attendees, with around 25% attending for the first time.

This year BiCon is being held from a Thursday night to a Sunday afternoon, but as long as you have a ticket you can come along at any time and join in. Virtual BiCon is run by asking people to sign up for a ticket which gets them access to the whole event, and then everyone will be emailed a timetable of sessions that are being run with the links to sign up for the sessions they want to attend.

Tickets are pay what you can; the suggested amount is £10.00.

Paris has renamed three squares and one street, dedicating them to LGBT+ icons.

One square was named Place Des Emeutes De Stonewall (Stonewall Riots Square), in recognition of the uprising by New York’s LGBT+ community in response to a police raid at Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn.

A second square was dedicated to poet and Communist activist Ovida Delect, a French transgender woman who was deported to a German concentration camp during World War II for her work with the French Resistance.

Another was named after San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, California’s first openly gay elected official, who was assassinated while in office.

Paris also renamed a street for gay Holocaust survivor Pierre Seel, who was interned in a German concentration camp because of his sexuality. After the war ended, he was forced to hide his sexual orientation, his past and the reason for his deportation for 44 years, before putting his name to an anonymous testimony in 1982. He then published his memoir, I, Pierre Seel, Deported Homosexual, in 1994.

The move to rename key places was recommended “to turn Paris into the capital of LGBTIQ rights and LGBTIQ-friendly tourism in the world.”

Plaques bearing the new names, in Paris’ 4th arrondissement, were unveiled, and in the renamed Stonewall Riots Square, a plaque commemorating Gilbert Baker, the American artist and LGBT+ activist who designed the rainbow flag, was installed.

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Pierre Seel was a gay Holocaust survivor, who became an activist after his release from a German concentration camp.

Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, wrote on Instagram, “With the inauguration of Harvey Milk Square, Ovida Delect Square, Stonewall Riots Square and Pierre Seel Street, Paris celebrates all #LGBTQI+ activists. #ParisIsProud and always will be!”

LGBT icons

Behind many of our freedoms we take for granted today is someone who refused to take no for an answer.

Here are some of the most influential people who took that stand and helped bring about change. I’m sure you will have heard of most of them – but all have made an impact on society in their own way.

Marsha P Johnson

Marsha P Johnson’s legacy continues to be celebrated more than 25 years after her death.

RuPaul once said that Marsha P Johnson paved the way for all drag queens. It’s certainly a lot easier to ‘sashay away’ today thanks to her fighting spirit.

Marsha was a transgender activist and also a central figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969, where members of the LGBT community rose up in protest against police raids on the bar of the same name in Christopher Street, New York. The protests ran for several nights and were the beginnings of the Gay Liberation Front, the protest group which organised the first Pride marches.

Johnson was also central to setting up a safe house for gay street kids in the early 1970s.

And the P in her name? Marsha always said it stood for ‘Pay it no mind’.

Sir Ian McKellen

Sir Ian McKellen combines an acting career with campaigning for gay rights.

Years before his X-Men and Lord of the Rings fame, Ian McKellen was well known as a gay rights campaigner.

In Britain in 1988, the divisive Section 28 became part of the Local Government Act. It banned any promotion or discussion of the LGBT lifestyle by local authorities, including within schools.

This prompted McKellen to come out during a radio debate on the bill. He went on to co-found the charity Stonewall in 1989 in direct opposition to Section 28 which the charity described as ‘legalised homophobia’.

Stonewall still campaigns for LGBT equality, running a recent campaign to stop homophobic bullying in schools.

Martina Navratilova

Martina Navaratilova came out as gay three years after winning her first Wimbledon title.

With a record nine Wimbledon singles’ titles to her name, openly gay tennis player Martina Navratilova did a lot for LGBT visibility simply by being at the top of her game.

But the Czech-born star wanted to do more than that. She has long been involved in activism regarding gay rights. Most recently, she spoke out after fellow champion Margaret Court publicly opposed same-sex marriage and the trans community and claimed ‘tennis is full of lesbians’.

In an open letter, Navratilova wrote:

“Her vitriol is not just an opinion. She is actively trying to keep LGBT people from getting equal rights (note to Court: we are human beings, too).”

Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk was murdered in 1978 – less than a year after he took office.

This man’s achievements can’t be overstated. In 1977, he was the first openly gay man elected to public office in the US state of California, joining the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. His pride in simply being himself on a major civic platform was a turning point for the LGBT community.

Harvey Milk’s life was cut short just a year later when he was murdered by Dan White, one of his Town Hall colleagues.

Although he was in office for less than a year, he saw a law passed where gay people could not be discriminated against when applying for jobs or seeking employment. He also encouraged the San Francisco Police Department to recruit more LGBT officers. But his greatest achievement is considered to be successfully fighting Proposition 6, which attempted to ban gay teachers from working in California’s public schools, and fire staff who supported gay rights.

Barbara Gittings

Barbara Gittings is seen as a pioneer in the gay rights movement.

She may not be a household name but Barbara Gittings has been described as the ‘mother of the LGBT civil rights movement’. Determined to create a space in 1950s America for gay women, she formed the Daughters of Bilitis in 1958, the country’s first organisation for lesbians.

Barbara didn’t stop there. As well as fighting discrimination against gay government employees, she was instrumental in amassing a collection of works related to LGBT life for the American Library Association.

Derek Jarman

Derek Jarman revolutionised the portrayal of the gay community in cinema.

In the 1970s, portrayals of the LGBT community on screen were rarely sympathetic. English film director Derek Jarman changed all that.

His 1976 film Sebastiane was groundbreaking in the way it portrayed positive gay relationships. His best-known works are the punk film Jubilee and Caravaggio, based on the life of the Italian painter and, again, told with strong gay themes. He also directed music videos for the Pet Shop Boys and The Sex Pistols.

Jarman campaigned against Section 28 and openly discussed his HIV+ status after his diagnosis in 1986. He died from an AIDS-related illness in 1994. His solo exhibition Queer was held at Manchester Art Gallery in 1992 and the new exhibition Protest! will open on 1 December 2021.

Manchester Pride has been named one of the best Pride events in the UK in the Pride Poll organised by Hits Radio Pride.

Manchester Pride received the most votes in an online poll asking fans and listeners of the radio station what their favourite Pride event was in the UK. 

Winning the ‘Large’ category, the event will receive a marketing campaign on the station.

The poll, which was open for voting throughout June 2021, saw votes for over 150 different local and specialised events of all sizes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. 

Other winners included Bury and Belfast for ‘Small’ and ‘Medium’ respectively.

“Pride events are so important and give so many people a place of hope, safety and joy,” said Jordan Lee, presenter, Hits Radio Pride.

“It was amazing to see so many people vote for such an array of different local events in our Hits Radio Pride inaugural Pride Poll, showing that the love and pride is truly here in the UK.

My adopted home Manchester saw an incredible number of votes, and after experiencing the passion and euphoria first-hand over the last few years, I can see exactly why Manchester Pride won!”

Mark Fletcher, CEO, Manchester Pride said: “We’re so proud and pleased that Hits Radio listeners love what we do.”

The theme for the 2021 Manchester Pride Festival will be Garden Of Freedom, as the LGBT+ charity looks towards bringing LGBT+ people back together to stand together and to push forward in the fight for freedom. Manchester Pride Festival will run from Friday 27 August to Monday 30 August 2021.

Please see statement below regarding the parade:

Everything You Need To Know About Manchester Pride

The venue for this year’s Manchester Pride Festival has finally been announced.

The live music portion of the huge LGBT+ celebration will move to one of the city’s newest outdoor event spaces, a short distance away from the Gay Village.

This year, Manchester Pride Live will take over the Homeground site at First Street, a huge 80,000 sq ft plot launched by local arts centre HOME.

The festival moved away from its usual site in a Gay Village car park and headed to Depot Mayfield in 2019.

Now its new location will host two live music stages – the main stage and the Gaydio dance tent – across Saturday 28 August and Sunday 29 August.

The news of its new location comes just days after the much-loved parade was cancelled, though smaller equality marches will still go ahead.

The Manchester Pride Festival itself will take place from Friday 27 August 27 until Monday 30 August, with the Gay Village Party in full swing for four days in the area around Canal Street.

The live music event over at Homeground will be headlined on the Sunday night by Zara Larsson, who will be joined by Ella Henderson, Gabrielle, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Lucy Spraggan, Jason Andrew Gust and Shura.

The stage will be hosted by Danny Beard, Cheddar Gorgeous, Anna Phylactic, The Manchester Queens and House of Blaque.

On the Saturday, Sigala, Annie Mac, Katy B and Example will perform alongside a mystery special guest. Another headline performer has been secured, but Manchester Pride won’t reveal their identity until 27 August.

Saturday night’s performances will be hosted by La Discothèque and House of Ghetto.

Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, said: “It’s really exciting to be taking MCR Pride Live to First Street this year.

“The site is perfect for our event and is less than ten minutes walk from the Gay Village meaning that ticket holders will be able to move around our different sites in the city really easily and enjoy everything that Manchester Pride Festival has to offer.”

All ticket-holders aged 18 and over will need to demonstrate their Covid-19 status before attending any element of the festival this summer.

That means proof of either a negative lateral flow test taken on the day of arrival, proof of full vaccination, or proof of ‘natural immunity’ (based upon a positive PCR test within 180 days of the festival, including 10 days self-isolation following the result).

Further details of how this will be managed can be found on the Manchester Pride website.

Mark Fletcher continued: “Not being able to deliver the Manchester Pride Parade this year was heart-breaking but it really would be impossible to check the COVID-19 status of every single person that came to watch it.

“Hundreds of thousands of people head into the city to watch the procession go by and there would be no way of ensuring that those people were not transmitting this virus which has taken such a horrible toll on our lives over the last 18 months.

“The government is advising that all live event organisers put these processes in place and we are working together with the relevant safety groups and local authorities to follow this advice.

“By demonstrating their COVID-19 status our guests will be able to enjoy the weekend safely, enabling us all to come together and celebrate for the first time since 2019.”

Rainbow Passes, which allow access to MCR Pride Live Festival and four days at the Gay Village Party, start at £55 for a day or £84.50 for the weekend and Gay Village Party tickets are £17.50 for one day or £25.00 for all four days. Weekend Rainbow passes have sold out but a limited number of day passes are still available.

For more information about the festival visit Manchester Pride website

Holding banners and shouting slogans of defiance, thousands of LGBT+ people took to the streets of London on Saturday 24 July to protest against the perceived commercialisation of Britain’s official annual Pride march.

Reclaim Pride marched via Downing Street and the Ugandan High Commission in Trafalgar Square to respectively protest against the government’s stalling on LGBT+ rights and Uganda’s persecution of LGBT+ people.

Marchers said they had come to protest about the state of LGBT+ rights in the country, particularly for those within the transgender community.

“We are seeing … increased amounts of transphobic articles (in the media),” said Natalie June-Whitaker, a 22-year-old degree apprentice in IT consulting, as people milled in central London’s Parliament Square before the march began.

“They are attacking innocent trans people and increasing anti-trans rhetoric, which affects real people’s everyday lives,” June-Whitaker said.

Last year, the British government scrapped a proposed reform that would have let trans people legally change gender without a medical diagnosis.

Marchers also called for more diversity and efforts to tackle racism both within and outside the LGBT+ community.

“We’re here to say that Pride is about inclusion,” said Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, executive director of UK Black Pride, Europe’s largest LGBT+ celebration for people of colour, which attracted about 15,000 people in 2019.

“It’s about diversity, about speaking truth to power on a number of different issues for our trans non-binary siblings (and) for Black Lives Matter,” Opoku-Gyimah said amid the sound of whistles and cheering.

London’s official Pride march is to be held in September this year, after coronavirus restrictions forced the parade off the streets in 2020.

The Reclaim Pride march joins similar movements around the world expressing frustration that annual celebrations of LGBT+ rights have become over-commercialised parties rather than a chance to protest against inequality.

“We are not a trend for Pride month, we deserve visibility all year,” read one banner in London.

New York hosted its first Queer Liberation March in 2019, which organisers said was “a people’s political march”, held without corporate sponsorship and police barricades.

“We want to say that our human rights should be central,” said veteran human rights activist Peter Tatchell, one of the organisers of Saturday’s march. “As well as a celebration, Pride has to be a protest.”

Historic Roots

The first ever Pride march was held in the wake of the 1969 Stonewall riots in the United States, when the LGBT+ community fought back against a police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York, sparking the birth of the modern-day rights movement.

Last year saw a slew of LGBT+ events around the world cancelled in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, from a gay Pride march in Romania to a Thai dance party.

Concerns remain about a third wave of infections, but this year many countries around the world have planned in-person events.

WorldPride, one of the world’s biggest parades, which drew an estimated 5 million people marching in New York in 2019, will hold a scaled-down event in Copenhagen in August.

Londoners said they were glad to be back on the streets, both celebrating and protesting.

“It’s good to be back again and good to be (back) with pride too,” said 86-year-old Maureen Marshall, who has been attending Pride for nearly three decades.

Thanks to Hugo Greenhalgh at Thomson Reuters Foundation for this report and thanks to Peter Tatchell Foundation for the photographs.

Tough Talks

Produced by Reform Radio for Hits Radio Pride, Tough Talks is a series of 20 short podcasts (each one is only five or six minutes long), which won Gold at the British Podcast Awards for Best Sex & Relationships Podcast!

You will hear people from the LGBT+ community revisit and reflect on a tough talk from their past.

In these intimate and revealing chats you’ll hear from them and the person they had the conversation with on topics such as gender, sexuality and identity. Hits Radio Pride is the UK’s first national LGBT+ radio station from a major broadcaster.

Listen here.