Gay Afghans fear extermination – how dare the government be the judge of refugees’ sexuality?’

In 1956, after Soviet tanks had rolled into Budapest, the UK resettled around 11,000 Hungarian refugees in a matter of months. In 1972, after Idi Amin gave them 90 days to leave, the UK resettled nearly 30,000 Ugandan Asian refugees. Between 1979 and 1983, the UK resettled around 16,000 Vietnamese refugees. Between 2015 and 2020, the UK resettled 20,000 Syrian refugees. All of these resettlement schemes were part of major international refugee resettlement programmes.

There are already as many as 20.7 million refugees around the world, and that is before any possible exodus from Afghanistan. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that 1.47 million of those refugees require resettlement this year. Last year, fewer than 35,000 refugees were resettled, a fraction of a percent. The High Court recently commented that such figures “show the stark contrast between humanitarian need, and the availability of resettlement as a solution”.

Around 10% of refugees live in camps and some have spent years or even decades doing so. Turkey hosts 3.7 million refugees, Colombia 1.7 million, Pakistan 1.4 million and Germany 1.2 million.

The United Kingdom hosts 132,000 refugees.

So the government’s proposed resettlement of 5,000 Afghan refugees over the next year and a further 15,000 over an undefined future period is not particularly generous. That is not to say it is not welcome and necessary: there is an urgent need to resettle Afghan and other refugees from around the world.

However, for a country so boastful of its tolerance, we are only helping a handful and we are failing LGBT+ refugees by refusing to believe their identity

The fall of Kabul; the resurrection of the Taliban – it was a harrowing scene for most. But for LGBT+ Afghans, it’s a nightmare come true.

Nemat Sadat, an author – believed to be one of the first Afghans to publicly come out as gay – has warned it is not hyperbolic to compare the Taliban’s plans to the actions of the Nazis.

“They’ll weed them out and exterminate them from Afghan society,” he said. “The Taliban will impose a ‘bait, kill and dump’ policy. That is, they will appoint informants to lure gay and bisexual men online and in public spaces and take them to a secluded spot and kill them and dispose of their bodies.”

Rainbow Railroad, a charity that helps LGBT+ asylum seekers, revealed that it has been in contact with more than 200 LGBT+ Afghans who are trying to escape.

The UK government is being urged to make LGBT+ Afghans a priority group for evacuation.

In a letter sent to Dominic Raab, Stonewall and Rainbow Migration said: “LGBTQ+ Afghans need our support. But they will not be able to benefit from the Government’s evacuation programme unless they receive targeted support …

Like all of those seeking to flee, it is clear that robust security efforts are needed for vulnerable people to be able to leave the country to seek safety.”

But how will the government respond – when their track record on LGBT+ asylum is abysmal, to say the least.

According to Gov.UK statistics, there were 1,212 asylum applications lodged in the UK in 2019, where sexual orientation formed part of the basis for the claim. This only represents three percent of all asylum applications.

However, only 464 of those applications were actually granted.

Zac Daily, 32, says he was unsuccessful at applying for asylum in the UK for three and a half years as the government “didn’t believe” he was gay.

It’s unfathomable: being so excruciatingly vulnerable about the sexuality you have been forced to repress – just to be told it’s not believable.

“It was very hard to convince the government I was gay because I was not out at the time,” Daily said.

“How was I supposed to prove I’m gay? What did they want me to do? They said I should go back home and live a gay life in secret, and I’ll be fine”.

Now I know this is a nuanced debate. The government has extensive reports on how they shouldn’t stereotype LGBT+ asylum seekers, and how they should deal with the matter sensitively – but we cannot let a situation like this happen again.

From a Whisper to a Roar – Love & Protest Stories of LGBT+ Women since 1967

From a Whisper to a Roar created by Project Coordinator Evelyn Pittman and Sound Artist Lori E Allen is a project which aims to collect reminiscences from lesbian, bisexual and transwomen over a period of roughly fifty years – from the time of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967, when the focus was on men and the legal fight.

At this time there was silence around women’s issues and women’s voices were rarely heard. Over the intervening years women gradually came out of the shadows.

Women’s voices grew louder and they have become activists on many levels. Thus the project is called ‘From a Whisper to a Roar’. They hope that this project will, in a small way, add to the volume. 

You can listen to the oral histories and podcasts from the project here.

Carl Bean, singer of gay pride anthem, dies aged 77

Gospel singer, minister and LGBT+ rights advocate Carl Bean has died. He was 77 years old. Bean’s life and work had a far-reaching effect on the future of the LGBT+ community.

Bean first rose to fame in the early 1960s as a soul singer in New York and Los Angeles, founding the group Carl Bean and Universal Love. His profile continued to rise into the 1970s, and he hit a new level of fame in 1975 with the Motown disco hit “I Was Born This Way”, a disco track with the message of gay pride: “I’m happy, I’m carefree and I’m gay / I was born this way”. As the title might suggest, Bean lived his life as a proud gay man throughout his career.

As a gay man, Bean was rejected by his family and his church. He, therefore, founded the Unity Fellowship Church Movement, a congregation aimed at LGBT+ African-Americans in 1982. Bean intended the church, which now has 17 individual locations worldwide, to “proclaim the ‘sacredness of all life’ thus focusing on empowering those who have been oppressed and made to feel shame.” Bean would also go on to found his own AIDS charity in 1985, the Minority Aids Project.

The Freedom Exhibition is curated by Heard Storytelling and is part of Manchester Pride’s Superbia programme. It runs for one month from 26 August. The outdoor garden gallery is free to experience, with no booking required.

Norman, Pauline and Tony were three of the eleven ‘living portraits’ celebrating true stories told by LGBT+ people. We had candidly shared our lived experiences in a series of audio recordings to accompany beautifully shot portraits captured at the Kampus neighbourhood.

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After the launch night Norman’s interview on Granada Reports and Tony’s interview for BBC North West Tonight were aired on 27 August 2021.

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From secret bars in the 1970s to the top of the tallest trees – the fascinating stories take listeners on a journey of love, loss, adversity and triumph. The exhibition has been conceptualised to deliver a powerful message of solidarity, life and hope.

The Out In The City group met on Canal Street and made our way to Via for food and drinks before visiting the exhibition.

Peter took a few more portraits which can be viewed here.

If you would like to contribute to the virtual guestbook, please send a message via WhatsApp to 07842 667862. These messages will be shared on Kampus social media platforms and website.

These gay wedding photos from 1957 are incredible … but who are the grooms?

Decades before gay marriage became legal anywhere in the United States, same-sex couples were committing themselves to each other in front of friends and loved ones. Few records of these ceremonies existed – until now.

Neal Baer is a board member at the ONE Archives Foundation in Los Angeles, dedicated to preserving LGBT history. He and fellow researcher Michael Wolfe stumbled across a series of photos taken at what appears to be a gay wedding in the 1950s.

The photos were acquired by a collector a few years ago who had bought them at an online auction. He realised their significance and donated them to the Archives.

The couple in the pictures appear to be in their 20s or 30s, so they would be in their 80s or 90s if they were alive today. The grooms and their guests are dressed up in dark suits with flowers in their lapels.

The celebration took place in a modest flat with the blinds drawn. It featured a ceremony officiated by someone who appears to be a member of the clergy. The grooms are shown kissing, cutting their wedding cake and opening presents.

Here’s what they know about the pictures: they were printed in 1957 at a neighbourhood drugstore in Philadelphia. They capture a ceremony featuring two grooms. The photos also depict the exchange of rings before witnesses, an officiant leading the ceremony, the kiss, the cake, the gifts, and more.

The owner of the drugstore where the film was dropped off to be developed decided they were inappropriate and refused to return them to the unknown grooms.

Now, Baer and Wolfe are trying to identify the couple.

“We have put in months and months and months investigating who these guys are,” Baer said. “We just left pretty stunned,” researcher Wolfe adds. “We were a little bright-eyed about, ‘Oh, we’ll just go and find the guys in these photos,’ but it’s turned into a long-term project. We get to go and hunt down this amazing story.”

“Does anybody recognise them?” says Baer. “We’d love to know that. What would be a huge help is just getting these photos in front of a bunch of 80 and 90-year-olds. We are hopeful that in the connected age that we could spread them fairly widely and get more eyes on them,” adds Wolfe. “There are too many recognisable faces among the set that we couldn’t find a match.”

The US Supreme Court didn’t recognise the right for gay people to marry the person of their choice until 2015.

The 1950s was very oppressive for the LGBT community. Many people lived in the closet because they feared losing their job if anyone learned they were gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. In fact, the federal government during the 1950s said gays and lesbians were unfit to work in the public sector. The government engaged in a massive witch hunt to hunt down and fire members of the LGBT community.

In 1952, The American Psychiatric Association (APA) classified homosexuality as a “sociopathic personality disturbance” in the first edition of its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), the listing of known psychiatric disorders. After considerable lobbying by activists, the APA removed homosexuality from the second edition of the DSM in 1973.

Double Ender

Double-Ender is an evening of two fast-paced, entertaining, and sometimes laugh-out-loud monologues performed and written by Joshua Val Martin and Jez Dolan. 

They share personal, candid stories about LGBT+ people – past and present – living, learning, and loving in a rapidly changing Manchester.

Joshua Val Martin shares stories of his company Free Manchester Walking Tours. He has some unusual encounters as he takes people on tours of the city: fetish events, the Uruguayan rugby team … and Noel Gallagher. And there’s the dark underbelly of warring tours.  Who’s got more right to the story of the city? 

Jez Dolan; part stand-up, part-lecturer, and fantbulosa sing-a-long host, gives the lowdown on Polari, the subversive and lost language of gay men spoken in the gay pubs and secret spaces of yesteryear.  You’ll learn your actual Polari; it’s bona to vada your dolly old eek! 

Leave the theatre with a far wider and cheekier vocabulary than the one you went in with … that’s a promise.

Double-Ender has been crafted with love and is out on tour:

The Edge, Manchester (Thursday 16 – Saturday 18 September);

The Met, Bury (Thursday 30 September);

The LBT, Huddersfield (Friday 24 September) and

Oldham Coliseum (Thursday 14 October). 

Booking details here

Survey

In May 2021, the UK Government proposed plans to make photo ID compulsory for voting. Stonewall and the LGBT Foundation have launched a survey and welcome responses in order to understand the impact that this proposal can have. They are especially keen to get responses from LGBT+ communities that have been traditionally under-represented. Here is the link for the survey.

Drag Yourself Out

During Pride James and Tony, as two members of the LGBT Foundation’s Pride in Ageing project in conjunction with Southway Housing, performed their drag debuts on the Alan Turing stage in Sackville Park.

These are the “before” photos:

These are the “after” photos:

To see the process have a look at the photos here.

The performance was exciting.

Here we are as Di Chotomy and Patsy De Kline getting lots of attention in the gay village.

We were exhilarated and exhausted afterwards.

After changing and washing off the make-up, we had another wander around the village but this time we were invisible.

Vesta Tilley

Matilda Alice Powles (13 May 1864 – 16 September 1952) was an English music hall performer and an early drag king. She adopted the stage name Vesta Tilley and became one of the best-known male impersonators of her era.

With her father’s encouragement, Powles first appeared on stage at the age of three and by six she was appearing to sing songs dressed as a man. She would later perform male roles exclusively, saying that “I felt that I could express myself better if I were dressed as a boy.”

Her career lasted from 1869 until 1920. Starting in provincial theatres, she typically performed as a dandy or fop, but she also found additional success as a principal boy in pantomime.

By the 1890s, Tilley was England’s highest earning woman. She was also a star in the vaudeville circuit in the United States, touring a total of six times. She married Walter de Frece, a theatre impresario who became her new manager and songwriter. At a Royal Command Performance in 1912, she scandalised Queen Mary because she was wearing trousers.

Becoming Lady de Frece in 1919, she decided to retire and made a year-long farewell tour from which all profits went to children’s hospitals. Her last performance was in 1920 at the Coliseum Theatre, London.

She then supported her husband when he became a Member of Parliament and later retired with him to Monte Carlo. She died in 1952 on a visit to London and is buried at Putney Vale Cemetery.

Manchester’s First Dedicated Gay Bookshop

A brand-new addition to Tib Street in the heart of the Northern Quarter, opening Queer Lit UK has been a chaotic six-week journey for owner Matthew Cornford, but one that actually started back in 2020 with the launch of a massive online bookstore.

Hoping to make LGBT+ titles more accessible to readers across the UK, Queer Lit initially carried around 700 fiction and non-fiction books from some of the world’s biggest queer authors.

Self-confessed book lover, Matthew set up Queer Lit after his struggles getting his hands on queer literature, and, after a rather unsuccessful visit to Waterstones on Deansgate, who told him that they’d done away with their LGBT section, setting up his own bookshop was the obvious next step.

Opening last Friday (27 August), Matthew’s new Northern Quarter store stocks over 1,700 LGBT+ titles, and looks absolutely stunning. He’s set out to provide a dedicated safe place where queer readers can find books that cater for them, and he’s certainly delivered.

One of only four dedicated queer bookshops in the UK, Queer Lit UK stocks a dazzling array of titles from some of the most famous authors, but also hard-to-find and rare books straight from publishers who primarily deal with queer literature.

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The books are split up into easy categories, from gay to lesbian, trans, non-binary, parenting, youth (10-14 years), graphic novels and even children’s books – there’s an almost overwhelming selection on offer, but fear not because Matthew and his lovely members of staff are on hand to answer questions, offer recommendations or just to have a chat.

Future plans include a separate ‘safe space’ downstairs, where customers can sit, read or just relax, somewhere comfortable away from the stresses of everyday life in the city – which should hopefully be open before the end of the year.

Matthew and team are open every day, so pop in, have a coffee, a bit of wine and a chat and check out this fantastic new addition to the city. Keep your eye out for their colourful window display – you can’t miss it!

Visit to Irlam Railway Station

The railway station in Irlam, Greater Manchester is 8.75 miles west of Manchester Oxford Road on the Manchester to Liverpool Line.

The original station was opened on 2 September 1873, but after lying derelict for nearly twenty-five years, the station building had a two million pound renovation. It was reopened in March 2015, and is currently used by over 350,000 passengers a year.

The station has a railway-themed café, and due to the fantastic weather we decided to eat outside during our visit. I think one or two might have gone for healthy options, but most of us had the hearty “Full Steam Ahead” breakfast which consisted of sausages, bacon rashers, tomatoes, black pudding, eggs, baked beans, hash browns, mushrooms and toast with tea or coffee!

With the homemade food, great conversations and informal ambience, dining at the station is highly recommended. There is a lot to see and make sure you have a look at the photos here.

Mary Cunningham Simpson, the UK’s forgotten lesbian pioneer, tragically dies aged 74

Mary Cunningham Simpson, a pioneering lesbian campaigner who fought for the rights of same-sex couples in the UK, has sadly passed away aged 74.

Mary was at the forefront of the early LGBT+ rights movement in the 1980s as she challenged laws that discriminated against same-sex relationships – yet today her achievements are widely forgotten.

In 1986 she became the first woman to take a case to the European Convention on Human Rights in an attempt to gain legal protections for cohabiting same-sex couples.

Although her case was unsuccessful it provided an important basis for future cases that ultimately led to a change in the law, both in the UK and at the European level.

“The world should remember Mary Simpson and all she stood for,” said sociology professor Paul Johnson, who interviewed Mary in 2015.

“Mary was a pioneer. She brought one of the earliest cases under international human rights law challenging discrimination against same-sex couples. She did this at a time when same-sex couples had no legal protections in the UK, and when homophobia was endemic.

She suffered attacks on her home, and her campaign took a significant toll on her life. But she would not give up, and she would not give in … she is a lesbian hero and should be honoured as such.”

Mary Cunningham Simpson was ahead of her time

Mary’s fight began when her partner, Nicky, died in 1984, which led to Mary being threatened with eviction from the council house they shared.

They’d lived as a married couple for years, running a joint household, sharing all expenses and sleeping in the same bed, but that meant nothing as the law at the time only made provisions for “husband and wife”.

Mary refused to leave her home and the council launched legal proceedings against her. But she refused to back down, taking her fight to the County Court, the Court of Appeal and finally the European Court of Human Rights.

Her case is now believed to be one of the earliest attempts to establish that rights and benefits associated with marriage should extend to partners of the same sex.

She had a deep-seated desire to live in a society that cherished the freedom for everyone to be themselves

“Although Mary had been treated very cruelly by others she responded not with anger or bitterness, but with a quiet determination to live the life she wanted to live.

She was kind to others, and had a deep-seated desire to live in a society that cherished the freedom for everyone to be themselves,” Johnson said.

“As she told me: ‘I’m me. There are no two people like me. I am me. I will fight for my rights and I will keep on fighting until everybody gets their share of their rights.’”

Tragically the European Commission of Human Rights dismissed Mary’s application, stating that a same-sex relationship fell outside of the scope of the “family life”, “private life” or “home” section of Article 8.

Her treatment by the Commission at that time was not atypical, since complaints about discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation were routinely rejected.

But despite the many hardships and rejections she faced, Mary regretted none of it.

“You’ve got to keep chipping away at the paintwork, bit by bit, until you break through. I’m proud I did it. They walk about with gay pride, but I’ve got pride inside,” she said.

 “I’m proud that I stuck my neck on the block and tried to get something done. It makes people realise that we can’t be trodden on. Because a lot of people think gays are the riff-raff of society, they’re the queer lot of society … and I thought, no, I’m not having it, I’ve got to do something to make people realise we’re still human beings. No matter which side of the fence we sit, we’re still human beings.”

Ultimately, Mary was ahead of her time: the type of discrimination she endured would persist in the UK until 2002.

Mary’s achievements were widely forgotten

Mary spent her final years in Calne, Wiltshire, where she was known for her love of animals – but not for her important legacy in the field of LGBT+ rights.

Now, many are calling for her to be remembered as the true lesbian hero she was.

“Mary Simpson was a true pioneer. She should be celebrated and recognised for her bravery and determination to fight injustice,” said associate professor Loveday Hodson of the University of Leicester.

“Because her fight for recognition stemmed from what we might consider her private life, rather than in the public theatre of criminal law, it has received less attention and isn’t recorded in many history books.

Mary deserves to be recognised as a warrior for lesbian rights.”

To learn more about Mary Cunningham Simpson and the case she brought to the European Court of Human Rights, check out “Going to Strasbourg” by Paul Johnson.

Dial-A-Pride-Poem with Maya Chowdhry

Maya Chowdhry presents a selection of special readings which you can enjoy via your telephone.

Dial-A-Pride-Poem offers charming musings by spoken word artist Maya on seduction by wild violets, and why nature is not outraged by sex-switching.

Simply dial this number 0800 005 3904 and choose a poem. It will be recited just for you, for free, and is best listened to with headphones.

This is a Superbia Spotlights commission, and this project will be live from 12 August until 12 September 2021.

Queering the North Exhibition

Performance Space, Manchester Central Library

23 August – 28 August 2021, 10.00am – 4.00pm

The OUTing the Past International Festival of LGBT+ History (established in Manchester in 2005) has teamed up with the Museum of Free Derry to create the first retrospective showcase of Queer Activism in Northern Ireland.

This is a rare insight into the previously unacknowledged tenacious heroism of queer activism in Northern Ireland before, during and following “The Troubles”. The project was greatly enriched by the support of several archival collections and regional LGBT+ groups and queer veterans.

The Queering the North Exhibition aims to bring to a wider public an expansive and nuanced reading of the history of the LGBT+ community in Northern Ireland. It brings together archives and recollections from a range of key activists within a scaffolding provided by academic research. The exhibition includes an expansive chronology of key events, commencing with the deliberate exclusion of Northern Ireland from the decriminalising legislation offered by the 1967 Sexual Offences Act through to the introduction of Equal Marriage to Northern Ireland in January 2020.

Museum of Derry Curator Adrian Kerr described the exhibition as a natural step for his institution: “This is a part of our collective past that has been kept hidden, and this is reflected in the nature of the information available for the exhibition. It is the hope of all involved that this will act as a provocative spur towards the creation of the first comprehensive reading of our LGBT+ history.”

The Mayor of Derry City, Cllr Michaela Boyle: “I had the great pleasure of hosting a reception in the Guildhall for the Exhibition Launch. I believe that this exhibition goes a long way towards creating a better understanding of the sensitivities and changes faced by the LGBT+ community and how we can all work collectively to create a better informed and respectful environment on this important issue.”

Sue Sanders (Founder & Chair of LGBT+ History Month UK and Professor Emeritus of the Harvey Milk Institute): “A thrilling and crucial exhibition that reflects the vital importance of working together to seek human rights for all.”

Free – please drop in

Richard Wilson

Richard Wilson has something he wants to get off his chest: “When I did Desert Island Discs, they didn’t mention my directing at all.” But he wants to set the record straight; despite coming to fame as Victor Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave, he is most proud of his work as a director, which has seen him do associate stints at the Royal Court in London and, latterly, Sheffield Theatres. “I always felt that my directing was much more important than my acting,” he sighs. “I was rather p—ed off.”

The actor was “outed” when Time Out included him in a list of influential gay people in 2013. Richard, now 85, has been a supporter of gay rights organisation Stonewall. He said “I was delighted it had come out. I was a bit worried my sister might find it difficult but it did not seem to worry her at all.” He said being gay in the 1950s when homosexuality was illegal did cause problems.

Richard has long campaigned for gay rights, but never spoken about his sexuality. “I don’t mind people saying I’m gay, because I am,” he says. “But I don’t live in a gay relationship”.

Today, he’s a dashing gent of a man with an OBE for services to his profession and a reputation as a thoroughly nice bloke, but he remains painfully shy, rarely venturing out of his flat without a pair of glasses and a cap.

Here are some things you might not know about his life and résumé:

1. He originally passed on his iconic role as irascible retiree Victor Meldrew.

2. He and Sir Ian McKellen once considered moving in together.

3. He was officially “outed” by London’s Time Out magazine in 2013.

4. He describes himself as a “lifelong socialist”.

5. His voice may be instantly recognisable — but he wasn’t always proud of it.

6. He reunited with his One Foot in the Grave co-star Annette Crosbie on British daytime show Loose Women in 2018.

7. The only thing he disliked about playing Gaius in Merlin was his wig.

8. Over the years, he’s been a prolific theatre director — and a popular one.

9. He became good friends with Alan Rickman after casting him in a play he was directing.

10. Oh, and for the record: He doesn’t think he’s too much like Victor Meldrew.

“Victor was the opposite of me in many ways. I always thought that he was, maybe not a Conservative, but certainly a member of the Liberal Party, and I have always been a staunch left-winger. He had no work at all, poor man, and I had too much. But I suppose there is a sort of Scottish dourness about Victor … and me.”

Sonder Radio

In celebration of Manchester Pride, Sonder Radio are having two full days of throwback shows from Bill Haycraft, Tony Openshaw and Rachel Oliver along with some amazing out and proud music!

Listen on 27 and 28 August on sonderradio.com