“Happy Birthday” to David R on 24 June and “Happy Birthday” to Martin on 25 June.

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I am confirming the Out In The City meet up on Wednesday, 24 June from 1.00pm to 3.00pm.

The venue is Sackville Gardens on Sackville Street. If you are coming on public transport you need to wear a face covering (scarf or mask). In order to keep social distancing we will meet in groups up to six people. There are some benches, but it would be helpful if people brought blankets to sit on and each person needs to bring their own sandwich or snack and drink.

25 people have confirmed so far, but if you wish to attend and haven’t already done so, please phone or text or send a message here

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Lockdown Blues

I thought it would be isolation,

Social distancing and separation,

But it turns out my biggest fear

Is cutting my hair and chopping off an ear!

My hair is getting longer,

But I’m not getting any stronger.

I just have to accept that everyday

Is going to be a “Bad Hair Day”.

I need a hat, and that is that.

I tried a baseball cap, but just got in a flap.

I tried a beret, tres tres francais.

I tried a fedora, but that was out of order.

I just have to accept that everyday

Is going to be a “Bad Hair Day”.

No if, or and, or but,

When lockdown is over

I’m getting a haircut!

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Work finally begins on £2.5m LGBT+ community centre

The new centre will provide support and events for thousands of LGBT+ people in Manchester and beyond.

Work on creating a centre for the LGBT+ community in Manchester is to finally start after months of unprecedented delays.

The Proud Trust’s £2.4m rebuild of the Sidney Street community centre was originally due to take place at the start of the year but a number of delays and then the coronavirus pandemic halted plans until now.

The new centre will support LGBT+ people from Manchester and beyond with free, inclusive support services and events, just as the old centre has done for the last 30 years.

In 1988, the Proud Trust’s old purpose-built centre was the first of its kind for the LGBT+ community in the UK, but after three decades of continuous use it is no longer able to meet the needs of the charity.

The original building, which was built with discretion in mind, will now be demolished and replaced with a three-storey community centre featuring a café, community rooms, library, and a city-centre roof garden.

The project was able to happen after years of fundraising, during which £2.5m was raised from members of the public alongside donors including the Big Lottery and Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

“This year we are laying down bricks in our city, as we did in 1988, to create a safe haven for all LGBT+ people within our local community,” Dr Ali Hanbury, Manager at the LGBT+ Centre, said.

“We’re so grateful to all of our donors for helping us to raise enough money to rebuild our centre so that we can continue to support people for many years to come. This is another proud moment for Manchester.”

“There will definitely be a significant celebration when we’re done,” Dr Ali added. “Everyone involved has worked tirelessly and showed great patience during the delays, so we really do have something to celebrate next year.”

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We have received an email which may be of interest:

My name is Nathan Moran. I am the care Co-Ordinator for a home care company called Helping Hands. I have seen that you have a over 50’s LGBT Group at Age UK, I am very interested in linking in with your Group and answering any questions that your members may have about care etc. I am very aware of the work Age UK does as I use to work for them in the Northumberland branch and I am especially interested in working with the LGBTQ community as I identify as gay myself.

I understand that within the LGBTQ community it can be very daunting with the prospects of needing care and ensuring that a care company provides the support the people identifying as LGBTQ need.

I hope that we can network and build a connection to help support your group members and look forward to talking to you in the future. If you have any questions or require any information please feel free to contact Nathan at Nathan.Moran@helpinghands.co.uk

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Coming soon … 28 June is the anniversary of the Stonewall riots (also referred to as the Stonewall uprising or the Stonewall rebellion) – a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations by members of the LGBT community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of 28 June 1969, at the Stonewall Inn in the Greenwich Village neighbourhood of Manhattan, New York City.

Patrons of the Stonewall, other Village lesbian and gay bars, and neighbourhood street people fought back when the police became violent. The riots are widely considered to constitute one of the most important events leading to the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT rights.

In the UK the first official UK Gay Pride Rally was held in London on 1 July 1972 (chosen as the nearest Saturday to the anniversary of the Stonewall riots) with approximately 2,000 participants. The first marches took place in November 1970 with 150 men walking through Highbury Fields in North London.

In 1981 the usual Pride march and rally was not held in London, decamping to Huddersfield instead as an act of solidarity with the Yorkshire gay community as the West Yorkshire Police were harassing them by repeatedly raiding the Gemini Club, a leading nightclub in the North of England at the time.

Here are some photos from Pride 1981 in Huddersfield. Thank you to Peter Scott-Presland for the photographs.

Urgent and important call to action

As many of you will have seen, the Sunday Times reported that the UK Government Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, is planning a series of policy changes that could make many LGBT+ people’s lives much harder. We understand that much of this leak holds some truth.

A final decision has not yet been made so now is the time to act. Liz Truss is due to speak in Parliament about equalities today (Wednesday 17 June).

Liz Truss MP, Minister for Women & Equalities

Our Prime Minister is likely being asked to agree to the proposals now. If Boris Johnson doesn’t sign off on them, Liz Truss cannot go forward with them. We need every LGBT+ organisation, local ally organisations, and other supporter to do their part and engage with this call to action.

What might happen?

• Trans people could have their rights to access single-sex services curtailed, including trying to introduce a ban on trans women using women’s toilets.
• Gender Recognition Act reform could be dropped.
• It could become harder for trans young people to access healthcare.

Why does this matter?

We know from looking at similar attempts at “Bathroom Bills” in North Carolina and Texas that exclusion of trans people from toilets is unworkable. Instead when these laws are passed, we all suffer. Who can do something as simple as using the toilet in a shopping centre comes down to whether you fit society’s gender norms. Whether you “look like a woman” or “look like a man”.

Gender non-conforming women, lesbians, trans people – all could be harmed. This will be worse for members of those groups who are Black or who are disabled. Gender norms so often imagine “real women” and “real men” as White, able-bodied, straight and cisgender (not trans).

We cannot let the UK Government make so many people’s lives harder. Anyone and everyone who doesn’t fit rigid gender norms should be safe and free to live their life in peace.

What should I do? Some suggestions:

1. URGENTLY call on Boris Johnson not to take forward any of Liz Truss’ proposals by tweeting @BorisJohnson @10DowningStreet and emailing via this web-form: https://email.number10.gov.uk/
2. Write to your MP and call on them to challenge the proposals.
3. Write to your employer asking for them to write to Boris to challenge these proposals and asserting their commitment to trans inclusion.
4. If you have children, write to your child’s school asking for them to write to their MP / Boris Johnson to challenge these proposals and asserting their commitment to trans inclusion.
5. Share and share again (copy and paste into your own post) and encourage your family members to step up too.

Please take 10 minutes to engage with one or all of the above and help make enough noise to ensure these proposals do not materialise.

We’ve not got long to let him know how strongly we all feel. Please act now!

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Homes England Project Launch

The LGBT Foundation are thrilled to be launching their new project to better understand the housing and support needs of older LGBT people in Greater Manchester, including the country’s first LGBT affirmative Extra Care development!

 The LGBT Foundation want to gather the views of as many LGBT people aged 55+ in Greater Manchester to get a better understanding of their housing and support needs. You can respond to the survey here:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/LGBTHomes

 If you are unable to answer this survey in this format, or are aware of people who may wish to answer this survey but will be unable to online, please email bob.green@lgbt.foundation or call 0345 3 30 30 30. They are able to send a copy of the survey in the post or ask the survey questions over the phone.

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OITC radio show for Pride?

A number of us have recorded “My Story, My Music” (our version of “Desert Island Discs”) with Sonder Radio and a few more shows are in the pipeline.

Would you like to be involved in another show to be released in August? It could be people recalling memories of previous Pride events or a group discussion on a particular theme or topic. Or it could be a show where people just pick a song and tell a story about that song and Sonder Radio stick together lots of mini stories with lots of different voices.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Please let me know if you are interested so we can take the idea forward. Contact us here

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Is SpongeBob SquarePants gay?

The character has been depicted in LGBTQ+ colours for Pride month, stoking fresh discussion about his sexuality

Name: SpongeBob SquarePants.

Age: 21.

Appearance: Absorbent, yellow and porous.

Habitat: Lives in a pineapple under the sea.

Unusual features: Everything about life in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom is unusual.

Clearly, most people will know about SpongeBob, but do you think you should give a bit of basic info for the odd reader who has, say, been living in a pineapple under the sea for the past 21 years? Excellent idea. SpongeBob SquarePants is an award-winning cartoon series on the TV channel Nickelodeon. It was created by the late Steve Hillenburg, a marine biologist turned animator. The lovable, wildly optimistic SpongeBob, who works as a cook in the Krusty Krab restaurant, is the central character in a fully realised aquatic world.

Why SquarePants? Because he is square, so are his trousers.

Of course. But why is he in the news? Are marine pollution and the climate crisis affecting Bikini Bottom? Nothing so straightforward. There is intense discussion about SpongeBob’s sexuality after Nickelodeon put out a rainbow-embellished tweet voicing his support for Pride month in the US.

How intense? Well, as intense as any discussion about the sexuality of a cartoon sea sponge can get. Many have taken the tweet, which describes him as an ally of the LGBTQ+ community, as confirmation that SpongeBob is gay.

What is the evidence, apart from his support for Pride? He is pictured alongside Korra, from The Legend of Korra series, who is bisexual, and Michael D Cohen, who plays Schwoz Schwartz in the series Henry Danger. Cohen announced last year that he is transgender.

And the evidence against? The campness of the series and SpongeBob’s close relationship with his friend Patrick Star – a pink starfish who favours floral shorts – has led to speculation about his sexuality over the years, but Hillenburg sought to quash it in 2005. “We never intended them to be gay,” he insisted. “I consider them to be almost asexual.”

Deep waters. Too right. Nickelodeon turned off replies to the tweet, suggesting it wanted to dampen speculation, but it is too late.

And if I want to read an academic take on this theory? Jeffery Dennis, in an article entitled Queertoons, argues that the series “frequently portrays same-sex desire as valid and important … SpongeBob and his next-door neighbour Patrick are paired with arguably erotic intensity.”

Have there been any negative reactions to SpongeBob’s alleged sexuality? In Ukraine, he was investigated by the National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality in response to claims by a Catholic “pro-family” group that he was “perverting” Ukrainian children.

Not to be confused with: Bart Simpson.

Do say: “I’m ready.”

Don’t say: “Has President Trump tweeted about SpongeBob yet?”

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Eurodrag celebrates being nominated for a UK national Diversity Award

Eurodrag is delighted to announce that it has been nominated for the Community Organisation (LGBT) accolade at this year’s National Diversity Awards supported by ITV News.

Eurodrag is the only international drag contest open to anybody and everybody and as Europe’s biggest competition of its kind, spans 14 countries with thousands of entrants. The popularity of Eurodrag has grown exponentially through lockdown and the launch of its own TV channel on YouTube.

The National Diversity Awards has attracted a growing list of supporters including Adam Hills, Graham Norton, and Katie Piper. In their ninth year, they honour the rich tapestry of the UK, recognising individuals and groups from grass roots communities who have contributed to creating a more diverse and inclusive society.

Sir Lenny Henry CBE, last year’s winner of the Celebrity of the Year award said, “Diversity to me means involving everybody without any discrimination; its means having integrated groups in society, it means fairness and total inclusion and that’s what the National Diversity Awards are about. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated, you’re all doing a fantastic job, rock on!”

The National Diversity Awards receives over 60,000 nominations and votes annually. The final will be held on Friday 25th September 2020 at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral.

Happy Birthday to Carol today!

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#TRANSVEGAS2020

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Well, I think I’ve done 10,000 steps … walking from the couch to the fridge!

Happy Birthday to Jim on 12 June – 91 years young!

Jim’s 90th Birthday (last year)

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I am proposing an Out In The City meet up on Wednesday, 24 June from 1.00pm to 3.00pm (subject to weather permitting).

The venue is Sackville Gardens on Sackville Street. If you are coming on public transport you need to wear a face covering (scarf or mask). In order to keep social distancing we will meet in groups up to six people. There are some benches, but it would be helpful if people brought blankets to sit on and each person needs to bring their own sandwich or snack and drink.

It is essential to contact me so we are aware of numbers attending. Please phone or text or send a message here

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Pauline reports on two Pride in Ageing meetings and the LGBT Foundation Volunteer Awards (held on Zoom):

Pride in Ageing 1st Birthday Party – 5 June 2020

It’s hard to believe it’s just over a year since so many of us from Out in the City attended the launch of Pride in Ageing on 5 June 2019.

On 5 June 2020 there were two birthday celebrations, the first was a small group of about five or six of us from the Pride in Ageing Advisory Committee. We had a sort of “kaffee klatsch” (or on line coffee and cakes) in a Zoom meeting from 10.00am to 11.00am, which was hosted by Lawrie Roberts and Emma Meehan from the LGBT Foundation.

Emma is covering for Lawrie for the next 3 weeks as he is on furlough. It was mainly catch up about how we are all coping and struggling with lockdown in different ways, from loneliness through to seeing people on line rather than physically.

Part way through Paul Martin from the LGBT Foundation joined us with his coffee and cake and expressed his concerns about how many older LGBT people are struggling with loneliness and isolation during lockdown, especially those of our community who do not use digital media or the internet.

I had been talking with Sarah Timms, who is the UK Press Officer for Age UK about something else and asked her after the meeting how Age UK was handling this issue. My email was forwarded to the groups at Age UK who are working on this; I figure if I can be proactive we may find different ways to help those in our group who are dependent on landlines and mobile phones. Maybe we go back to using letters … the old snail mail to stay in touch with those on our group who struggle?

Sensible Footwear

The second and main celebration was a Zoom meeting in the early afternoon with Kate Charlesworth, a lesbian, activist, cartoonist and story teller; she was born in 1950 in Barnsley and studied at Manchester Art College in the 60s, where she discovered Canal Street and the Union. In her words … her first steps as a baby dyke.

Kate Charlesworth

All of us on the Advisory Committee had (if they wanted) a free copy of her autobiography and history of LGBT struggles and rights since 1950. The book is called Sensible Footwear, A Girl’s Guide. It is 320 pages of her story with each page packed with drawings and cartoons – a tour de force indeed; it is published by Myriad Editions.

There were about 60 visitors on line watching Lawrie ask various questions and Kate showed us her storyboards for her book, which took five years to write and draw, and answered all the questions.

The Advisory Committee had had chance to submit one question each before, and mine was included. Kate started by explaining her current thinking, and made some trenchant comments about the shambles of the current government and how nasty racism has raised its ugly head again.

Then she explained why it took her five years to put the book together and the time she spent looking through old photos, all her memorabilia, ephemera and clothes from different decades. Her goal was to write a personal memoir as the thread to hold the story and the cartoons together.

It is much much more than an LGBT encyclopedia and history, as her own story is interwoven. She wrote the story line first with all the research needed and then she put together storyboards to show where the drawings and cartoons would fit, and finally a chart of the whole book on one huge piece of paper. She showed us some of the storyboards, with rough drawings and then the whole big storyboard. It was amazing to see all the detail, and also how clearly she is very professional and how good her rough drawings were.

Then my question: When did you accept being a gay woman / lesbian?

Her answer: Playing “games” as a child with another girl and it not being accepted by her parents, especially her mother was very difficult. And then for the rest of her life there was a gradual process of acceptance. It was easier since her mother died and coming out was her saviour.

Another question: What were the influences on her art?

Her answer: Her art teacher helped her develop her skill. And she learnt much from Daily Express cartoonists … Giles with his depictions of strong women and Osbert Lancaster using words and drawings. Other influences included Minnie the Minx, the Backstreet Kids and Desperate Dan in 50s comics. And Ronald Searle.

Another question: About memories and archives?

Her answer: A large part of the book is about growing from a baby dyke to a young dyke. She talked lovingly about being at Art College in Manchester in the1960s, and going down Canal Street and how she loved being in the Union, which she said was really rough then. And then in the Anderson years going to places like Ashton-under-Lyne for night life without God’s copper. Looking at her life from the mid 1980s was interesting; she remembers coming to Manchester for the Big March against Clause 28.

Another question: Your involvement in the older LGBT scene in Scotland (where she now lives)

Her answer: Not many LGBT only spaces. She had an exhibition in Edinburgh in 2006, and received lots of comments like “we have never seen anything like that” from people in the LGBT community. She is also enjoying being in an LGBT choir.

Another question: You use the word “dyke” a lot (lots of positive texts about this during the Zoom show)

Answer: I think we should take back ownership. She felt originally it was a word from the black community in US to disparage gay women. And lovingly referred to Dykes Delight magazine with its old “teddy boy” look. Also it was seen as an oppressive or even fashionable word. In the 1980s there was a trend for leather wear and leather jackets from Boss; and lesbian sex in the 80s/90s was about what kind of sex to have with a political ideological stance. Were you choosing to be a lesbian, you could make jokes about it then?

And she reflected on the lesbian wars, which have been reprised by the trans wars, except that Facebook and Twitter make it worse nowadays. She hated the lesbian sex wars and she hates the trans wars too.

Another question: What is your focus now?

Answer: Her archives and memorabilia have been packed away and sent to Glasgow Library as she has left all her archives to them. Covid has slowed down creative stuff and there is a lot of lethargy about new stuff (from her). She is finding it tough right now to start a new project.

Final question: The financial impact of Covid?

Answer: Its tough for cartoonists right now with no government support. Many cartoonists are sharing ideas and luckily in Scotland bookshops are classed as essential places to go.

LGBT Foundation Volunteer Awards – Friday 5 June 6.30pm till late

The Volunteers Awards party ran from about 6.30pm till after 8.15pm … it was still going strong when I left at 8.30pm. Like many other attendees I had slightly too much to drink. Sadly there were not too many volunteers. It was mainly trustees (we all were part of a video which included clips of each of the Trustees) and staff.

There were various prizes and awards and an amazing video put together of famous people that Carl Austin Behan knows (he is a trustee too, but with much more weight and contacts than me) … starting with Rowetta, some drag artistes (both M to F and F to M) that I didn’t know, some singers I didn’t know to Owyn the BBC weather man and drummer, Michael Cashman reading out a story and finally Graham Norton. It will be hard to reprise that next year.

One of the highlights were various members of the management lip synching to a Donna Summer record, with various people in 60s outfits and one woman as Mrs Slocombe with a purple dress and wig.

I am really getting too old for this and as the theme was the 1960s I had on a flared frock with big petticoats … but on Zoom you can’t see that of course. It was very enjoyable even if I was a tad Brahms and Liszt at the end.

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Saw this on Facebook:

Happy Birthday Normski on 8 June. You are catching up with me!

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The Derek Jarman exhibition PROTEST! at Manchester Art Gallery has been temporarily postponed.

The exhibition is a major retrospective of the work of Derek Jarman (1942-1994), one of the most influential figures in 20th century British culture. The exhibition brings together the diverse strands of his practice as a painter, film maker, writer, set-designer, gardener and political activist, shown together for the first time in over 20 years.

PROTEST! captures Jarman’s engagement with art and society, including political protest and personal freedoms arising from the AIDS crisis.

However, the Gallery has now published the Derek Jarman archives (including film and audio content) with a commentary. See here

The comments are from LGBT Foundation following a discussion between staff and community members from the Pride in Ageing programme.

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Pride in Ageing had its first anniversary last week

Launched by Sir Ian McKellen in June 2019, Pride in Ageing has already made huge strides in helping to ensure that Greater Manchester becomes one of the best places for LGBT people to grow older.

This programme was set up in response to concerns that too many lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people over the age of 50 are living in isolation and facing discrimination as a direct result of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Laws change but attitudes can be harder to shift.

The initiative is ensuring that the voices of LGBT people over the age of 50 are heard when it comes to ageing policy and activity in Greater Manchester, with an advisory group of LGBT community members at the heart of the project. The views of LGBT people in mid and later life are now also directly informing the services and support delivered by the LGBT Foundation.

Pride in Ageing is also set to launch a new quality assurance standard and social prescribing service, which will help adult social care services and housing providers to better support their LGBT residents and service users.

Here are photos from the launch a year ago: