This February Manchester Libraries are proud to present a range of specially commissioned online events and special collections celebrating LGBTQ authors in Manchester and the North West.

Sunday, 14 February 7.00pm – Celebrate Valentines Day with Poet Afshan D’souza-Lodhi

Manchester Libraries presents a specially commissioned video by the wonderful Afshan D’souza-Lodhi performing her poetry and discussing how as a queer Muslim woman, falling in love is a political act. 

‘For me to find love I must wade though the homophobes and the Islamophobes and the sexists and the racists and then, maybe, I’ll find someone who will stand beside me during protests and wipe my face when bigots spit on me’.

Afshan D’souza-Lodhi is an award-winning writer of plays and poetry. She has been commissioned to write and direct a short film for Channel 4 and a radio play for BBC Sounds. Afshan has edited many anthologies and has an essay featured in Picador’s collection by Muslim women called Its Not About The Burqa.

Tune in to the video launch on the Manchester Libraries Facebook page.

Friday, 19 February 7.00pm – An Evening with Paul Magrs

Join acclaimed fantasy and sci-fi writer Paul Magrs for a special evening celebrating the re-release of his much loved ‘Brenda and Effie’ novels!

After a long and eventful life, Brenda has settled in Whitby, to run a guest house by the sea. But it isn’t long before she has teamed up with Effie, the white witch from the antiques shop next door. Together they get themselves involved in a series of supernatural investigations including a visit to the Deadly Boutique and a romantic run-in with a certain immortal Count…

Paul Magrs brought out his first novel in 1995 when he was 26. He has lectured in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University. In 2019 he published his book on writing, ‘The Novel Inside You’. In 2020 Snow Books republished his Brenda and Effie Mystery series of novels. He lives and writes in Manchester with Jeremy and Bernard Socks.

Tune in to the live stream on Paul’s Facebook page. 

 

The Best Queer Book Ever?

Tell us about your favourite queer* book! We’d love to see images and videos submitted by you for our social media pages to show the wide variety of queer books and share the love of reading throughout LGBT History Month in February.

Want to take part? Record a 1-min video of yourself talking about why this book is your favourite or take a picture (of the book, of you and the book, whatever you fancy) and write a little about your choice.

You can submit them to the form here.

*By queer we mean any books that have gender and/or sexuality diverse content, character(s), or theme(s).

 

LGBT Foundation and Archives+ Oral Histories Interviews

The Lesbian and Gay Foundation and Manchester Libraries Archives+ are currently recording oral histories interviews with people from LGBT communities who are over 50 and live or have a connection to Greater Manchester. These interviews will take place throughout this year and can take place over the phone or via video call. Find out more information here.

Archives+ Manchester Pride & LGBTQ History Month Memory Box

Here’s another chance to check out some brilliant photos from the archives exploring the history of the LGBTQ community in Manchester, including the early days of Canal Street, ACT-UP and Section 28 Marches and some brilliant Manchester Pride celebrations!

The latest LGBTQ books

Manchester Libraries have created a brand new list of the latest LGBTQ books and some favourite classics. All available for you to click and collect for free from your local library! Check out the full list here.

LGBTQ Books on Borrowbox

If you’d prefer to access your books from home, there is a new collection of e-books and audio books celebrating LGBTQ History Month on the Borrowbox service. You can download and reserve the titles here.

LGBT Quiz – How Gay Are You?

LGBT History Month is an annual month long observance of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history and the history of the gay rights movement. What do you know about LGBT history?

Grab a pen and paper and try this quiz – time limit 20 minutes for four rounds.

Round 1 – Sporting Icons

Identify the sporting icons from the photographs:

Round 2 – The Highbrow Round

Identify the LGBT icons from the initials and clues:

1 Q C   (“Stately Homo”)

2 S F    (Quite Intelligent)

3 A T    (Sitting on the Bench)

4 F K    (Oh Those Eyebrows!)

5 H M    (Full fat or semi-skimmed?)

6 L d V (Not a ninja turtle)

7 F N    (Italian bird?)

8 O W    (“A Handbag?!!!)

9 J O    (He got hammered)

10 A M    (San Fran stories)

Round 3 – Beloved Divas

Identify the divas from the half and half photographs:

Round 4 – The Lowbrow Round

 Identify the LGBT icons from the anagrams and clues:

1 OY EGG BORE   (Music)

2 LOH NON JET   (Music)

3 MADE JEANS   (Film)

4 DIVIDE A BOW   (Music)

5 MY FURRY DEER CD   (Music)

6 I TAKE EGG ORE    (SCI-FI TV)

7 PINCER   (Music)

8 ROUND SHOCK    (Film)

9 ALICE GREG HOME    (Music)

10 MAIN GLUM CAN    (Theatre / TV)

Answers:

Score more than 20 – You’re Gayer Than A Double Rainbow!

Score less than 20 – Oops! You need to read up on your LGBT history!

 

Manchester Pride’s LGBT History Month Campaign

Would you like to take part in Manchester Pride’s LGBT History Month Campaign?

This year they are focusing on an intergenerational project, which is being led by their youth group of 14 – 18 year olds.

The group has identified that they would like to know more about the history of their community, understand other people’s journeys and have acknowledged that they have a lack of LGBTQ+ role models in their lives.

They have thought of some questions that they would like to ask of people older than them in the community.

Would you like to do a short interview (lasting no longer than 20 minutes) and the responses will be put into several written blog pieces throughout the month of February.

If you would like to take part, please contact us and we will arrange the best way to get the interview completed.

Vaccine Advice for Adults Living with HIV

The British HIV Association and the Terrence Higgins Trust released a statement on 15 January 2021 recommending that people living with HIV have a Covid-19 vaccine.

The statement says that “there is currently no evidence to suggest a higher risk of side effects in people with HIV”.

Most people living with HIV will be vaccinated as part of ‘priority group 6’ as this covers people aged 16 to 65 in an ‘at risk’ group. If you are older than 65 or are classed as extremely clinically vulnerable, you will be vaccinated earlier.

You will be contacted by your GP or another healthcare service when it is your turn to get vaccinated. If you have concerns or questions about being vaccinated, please speak to your GP, HIV clinic or another healthcare professional.

Not only is it LGBT+ History Month during February we also have Hate Crime Awareness Week and HIV Testing Week both taking place between 1 – 7 February 2021.

Greater Manchester Hate Crime Awareness Week

You are invited to the launch of Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime Awareness Week: Monday 1 February 2021 at 10.00am.

Each year Greater Manchester hosts a week of action to raise awareness of hate crime to emphasise that it’s wrong to be targeted for abuse or harassment because of who you are.

The week provides an opportunity for everyone across Greater Manchester to stand together and to celebrate our diversity. It is a chance to educate, raise awareness of hate and encourage both victims and witnesses to report it.

This event is an opportunity to hear about the work taking place in Greater Manchester. Speakers include:

• Baroness Beverley Hughes, Deputy Mayor for Police, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire;
• Chief Superintendent Umer Khan, Greater Manchester Police;
• Martin Goldman, Chief Crown Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service.

You’ll learn more about the activity taking place during the week and details of how to access resources and communication tools to support Greater Manchester’s Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Register your place for this free event. https://gmhatecrimeawarenessweek.eventbrite.co.uk

 

 

National HIV Testing Week

National HIV Testing Week is a campaign to promote regular testing among the most affected population groups in England. Regular testing helps to reduce the number of people living with undiagnosed HIV and those diagnosed late.

This year, the campaign returns with the successful creative “Give HIV the finger: a finger-prick test is all it takes”.

The campaign will encourage people to test for HIV at home during the COVID-19 pandemic. 1 in 16 people with HIV are unaware they have it and spend an average of three to five years not knowing, increasing the risk of passing HIV on to sexual partners.

Late diagnosis rates are still stubbornly high – 42% of people were diagnosed late in 2019. This correlates to poorer long-term health outcomes and leads to an eightfold increased risk of death. Clinical reviews show many could have been diagnosed sooner.

Self-sampling HIV & syphilis test kits are available to anyone over 16 years old that lives in England – you return your test to the lab and they will text you with your result. For a FREE testing kit go to https://freetesting.hiv/

‘I refused to let them intimidate me’: the untold stories of LGBT+ seniors

At a new exhibition, Not Another Second, 12 LGBT+ seniors share stories of resilience, struggle and love.

When Pearl Bennett, now 69, came out as a transgender woman at a family dinner when she was 50, she wasn’t warmly embraced.

Bennett’s mother leaned in and asked: “What is all this?”

“I saw that look in my mother’s eyes, she was a little drunk,” recalls Bennett.

“My mom stroked my breast, came in close and said: ‘I just want you to know that West Palm Beach is not big enough for ‘Pearl’ and the Bennetts,’” recalls Bennett.

“I felt ostracised by my family.”

This heartbreaking anecdote and many more are part of Not Another Second, an exhibition in New York City, which tells the stories of a dozen LGBT+ senior citizens who tell their own coming out stories. Each photographic portrait and video interview is marked with a number, like “16 years”, representing the time they lost to staying in the closet, based on societal expectations of the past.

The exhibition is on view at the Watermark Retirement Communities at Brooklyn Heights (a $330m Brooklyn senior home redeveloped from the former Leverich Towers Hotel, which has over 60 locations across the country) and is presented in partnership with SAGECare building certification and an agency, RXM Creative.

“To this day, this group of individuals continues to face challenges that need to be acknowledged,” said David Barnes, Watermark’s CEO and president. “It reminds us that we can’t take our rights for granted and must continue working toward a more accepting future for everyone.”

The photos, taken by the German photographer Karsten Thormaehlen, capture the seniors in joyful exuberance. They’re smiling, laughing, gazing off into the distance or staring straight into the camera lens, fearlessly.

Each video interview details how they fought the conventions of their time, stood up for their rights and paved the path for today’s generation of LGBT+ activists.

“These are honest and genuine shots of authentic people,” said Thormaehlen. “I truly hope this will encourage many people, younger and older, who still are suffering from hiding their personality, to create more tolerance, which leads to more fruitful discussions in society.”

The exhibition features photos on the walls alongside quotes from the elders. In one, Ray, 82, says: “If you came out to your family in our generation, usually it was disastrous. I stayed in the closet until I retired. I didn’t want to hurt my mom or the rest of the family.”

One 78-year-old woman named Ellie talks about being bisexual. “I didn’t find there was much difference between loving a man and loving a woman,” she said. “In general, love is love.”

Ronnie, 78, said: “When I first met my partner Earl, I looked at him and thought, ‘You are a knockout.’ I told God: ‘If you let me have him, I’ll never want anybody else.’ We stayed together for 44 years, until he passed away.”

One of the seniors who was profiled as part of the series is Paul Barby, the first openly gay man to run for Congress in 1996 in Oklahoma City. He wrote in a public letter at the time – when he was 61 – announcing his candidacy: “I am gay. Always have been. It has not held me back as I have worked for causes to help my fellow Americans.”

“A lot of people knew me, but they didn’t know I was gay,” he said from his home in Tucson, Arizona. “I thought ‘we have to re-energize.’ I’m glad I did it. It made life easier for many gay people in Oklahoma. Someone has to be first.”

Until 1973, the American Psychiatric Association considered homosexuality to be a mental disorder. For Nick, 73, coming out in the 1970s was not even an option. “It was still a crime,” he said.

As Ronnie explains in the video, he came out when he was in his 50s. “And even when I came out, I still had this stigma that it was wrong,” he says. “Now, I see gay couples holding hands in public, that is something we could have never dreamed of.”

The Rev Goddess Magora Kennedy, 81, recalls her stern upbringing in New York. “Being black, a lesbian and in the church, it was difficult, but I stood my ground,” said Kennedy. “I refused to let people intimidate me.”

The video details the struggles around gay marriage, which was legalised in the US in 2015, and the fight for gay troops to serve in the military.

Bennett, for one, recalls the 1960s being a time when “queer” wasn’t a popular term, neither was being “gay”. And yet, she served in the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s.

It resonates today, considering Joe Biden recently ended the ban on transgender troops in the military, allowing them to serve.

“I am so thrilled,” said Bennett. “It disgusted me when Trump banned trans people from the military. It interrupted their lives, their careers. Treating trans people like less than citizens. My heart just broke.”

More than anything else, this exhibition is a reminder to not waste precious time. “You have to have a support group, it’s one of the main things,” said Bennett. “I would tell anyone to have a support group, or someone who supports you. Don’t try to do it alone because it’s overwhelming.”

It’s also about self-acceptance, as well as valuable wisdom for the younger generation. “My advice is to just know that you’re OK,” said Barby. “Just know we’re human beings and continue to be a good person. Don’t worry about pretending to be something you’re not.”

Not Another Second is on view at the Watermark Retirement Communities in New York City until 27 March. Follow this link to see more online.

 

Research project on Active Ageing

In September 2020, the ukactive Research Institute, in partnership with EGYM, launched an Active Ageing consultation to explore how the physical activity sector is supporting people aged 55 and over to lead an active lifestyle.

Although the barriers and challenges experienced by older adults in being active are understood we are looking to understand how the fitness and leisure sector is supporting older adults to be active, and ultimately what older people want in physical activity offerings.

The first phase of this consultation involved an online case study submission for examples of solutions, programmes, initiatives and commissioning models that support individuals like yourselves to be active. These submissions came from across the fitness and leisure sector.

The second phase is to review these case studies. This is something ukactive would like your help with. This will involve reviewing 2-3 written case studies, providing scoring and feedback, and attending an online focus group to discuss general themes with others.

If you would like to sign up please follow this link or email the ukactive Research Institute research@ukactive.org.uk

 

 

 

 

Online Q&A with Russell T Davies, writer of “It’s A Sin”

Award-winning writer and producer Russell T Davies, will be joined by HIV activist Paul Fairweather for a Q&A event online, to coincide with the the release of Russell’s new TV series, “It’s A Sin” which launched on Friday 22 January at 9.00pm on Channel 4.

Russell T Davies is also a patron of HIV charity George House Trust and this online event will give you the opportunity to hear what inspired Russell to create the series, his reasons for supporting George House Trust, and why “It’s A Sin” is never more needed.

Russell said, “I’m lucky, because I get the opportunity to write dramas about HIV and AIDS, but I’m fully aware that the real work is done by people like my mates at George House Trust. It’s an honour to be their patron, and to have this Q&A with them.”

The event will start at 7.00pm on Tuesday 2 February on Zoom and will contain frank discussion of HIV and the impacts of stigma. It’s free, although registration is required.

If you would like to support the work of George House Trust with a donation, you can do so here.

Join Rachel Oliver in her latest podcast as she says “tarrraa to Annus Horribilis 2020”.

Rachel gives her hot take on the quick to be forgotten 2020, going month by month, reflecting with some great musical picks!

Rachel Oliver presents a transgender themed music show for those who are trans themselves, those who are allies of the trans community and those who simply want to learn more about the trans community, which includes facts, stories and some amazing songs!

​The show is produced exclusively by Sonder Radio.

 

 

 

 

Request for help 

We have received the following request:

“Hello, I’m a writer and former journalist. I worked with you when I was Editor of Attitude and we did a shoot with one of your group.

I’m wondering if you might be able to help me with something else. I’m getting ready for publication of my next novel, The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle, which is about a gay postman in his 60s who goes off in search of the love of his life, a boyfriend he hasn’t seen for fifty years.

For the audio book extras, my publisher wants me to record a few interviews with real-life men whose story mirrors that of my protagonist.

So I’m looking for British men aged 65+ (preferably from the north west of England) who could share their personal stories about how awful it was to grow up gay in the 1950s and 60s, how forbidden same-sex love was in those days, how the fear of imprisonment and blackmail blighted our lives, and the impact this had on our romantic and sexual relationships, including how we were often torn apart from partners and had our relationships destroyed.”

If you are interested please contact us, and we will pass on details.

 

Men’s Mental Health Special

This podcast contains honest conversations around topics like self-harm, suicide and anxiety which some listeners might find triggering, please decide if it’s right for you to listen.

With stress and anxiety at an all time high, in this special Healthful podcast, hosted by Matt Johnson, the panellists discuss issues surrounding men’s mental health and how we can open up the conversation.

TV personality Chris Hughes shares his own journey with anxiety, while LGBTQ+ activist Alexander Leon discusses how ideas about masculinity can impact on men’s mental health. Dr Amir Khan explains why he thinks it can be harder for men to speak out and Stephen Manderson, aka Professor Green, shares his tips on how to get through the tough days.