2015 IDAHOT Day – Celebrating Sexual and Gender Diversities

The International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia is celebrated worldwide and every year on the 17^th day of May.  It is a day set aside for the celebration of sexual and gender diversities.  It was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the violence and discrimination experienced by LGBTI people internationally.  In just about a decade, the day has established itself as the single most important date for LGBTI communities.  It is now celebrated in more than 130 countries, including 37 where same-sex acts are illegal, with 1600 events reported from 1280 organizations in 2014.   Here in the United Kingdom, the event is marked across the country by various LGBT organisations and the highlight of the day is usually the hoisting of the Rainbow flag (symbol of the LGBT community) in many public places, including town halls and civic centres, and speech giving by both government officials and private individuals in solidarity with the LGBT communities.

The day May 17^th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.  As a result, it has received official recognition from several States, international institutions, including the European Parliament, and by countless local authorities. Furthermore, many United Nations agencies also mark it with various events.  The day was first known as the ‘International Day against Homophobia’ and in 2009, Transphobia was added explicitly in the title of the name, in the recognition of the very different issues at stake between sexual orientation and gender expression. It was this year that Biphobia was added to the title as an acknowledgement of the specific issues faced by bisexual people.

As we celebrate this unique day in the history of LGBT communities, it is necessary to draw the attention of world to the fact that at the moment, at least 81 countries across the world criminalize same sex relationships. This means that 40% of the world population (or 2.8 billion people) are not free to choose who they love. Millions of homosexual and bisexual people live in a constant state of fear.  Sexual and gender minorities face public stigmatization, police violence, state repression, attacks and murders. Their most basic human rights are being denied daily, while in 10 countries, including countries in Africa, the death penalty can be applied for same sex acts.

As someone of African descent, I am in no doubt that Africa is the most homophobic continent in the world.  There are, at the moment, about 20 countries in the continent where being gay is criminal offence.  Apart from government legislations against LGBT people, they are also seen as taboo and an abomination by society in general. Some of these countries are Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Malawi and Nigeria.  LGBT people are generally regarded as outcasts and derided upon.  Homosexuality and transgender are seen to be against African conservative traditional beliefs. In these countries, homosexuality has been described in the most provocative ways by their leaders. In Uganda, President Museveni said ‘homosexuals are disgusting’. President Mugabe of Zimbabwe said ‘homosexuals are worse than pigs’ and threatened to kill them.  The Gambian president, Yayah Jammeh warned all homosexuals to flee his country or face death by beheading. His country, like most other African countries, punishes homosexuality with up to 14 years in prison.  He had previously called LGBT people as ‘vermin’ and has compared his fight against them to ‘fighting malaria-causing mosquitoes.’  He said, ‘L-G-B-T’ can only stand for Leprosy, Gonorrhea, Bacteria and Tuberculosis.  All these threats have left many African gays to either commit suicide or to go underground in fear of attack on their lives.  There are few that are fortunate, (like myself), that have been able to come to the United Kingdom and other European countries to seek protection.  At the moment, many African gay men and lesbians are being tried and imprisoned.  There is a witch hunt and perceived and real gay men are daily attacked and in some cases, murdered in cold blood.  The threat against gay people in Africa is not speculative but real.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association reported in May 2014 reported that gay activists in Nigeria have reported instances of mobs attacking people they believed to be homosexual and beating some of the victims to near death. These victims, on being taken to the police station are then further roughed up by police officers.  Furthermore, the Swedish Migration Board report of a fact finding mission (FFM) to Nigeria conducted between 11 and 16 May 2014, released in December 2014, stated ‘The consulted interlocutors agreed that Nigerians in general are against homosexuality. Cornerstones in society’s perception of homosexuality include opinions that homosexuality is unnatural, sinful, and an abomination, as well as the importance of family and reproduction.  When addressing LGBT issues, the focus in Nigeria is on homosexuals, and men primarily. Other persons concerned within the LGBT designation, such as transgender and intersex persons, are overwhelmingly unseen in society. Furthermore, many Nigerians do not consider the situation for homosexuals a significant problem. Many Nigerians are attached to what is considered African values and are profoundly religious. Homosexuality, however, is largely considered non-African, and churches and mosques preach that it is the work of the devil. There is no religion in the country that is not opposed to homosexuality. Within this context, a politician who starts advocating for the rights of homosexuals risk losing his/her position. The issue is taboo in society. The man on the street condemns homosexuality. A homosexual is seen as the black sheep of the family, and is ostracised by society. Criteria perceived as indicators of homosexuality, and which may attract attention for attack and persecution, include; being unmarried and childless, shared housing, appearance (non-conformists may attract attention as well as effeminate men and masculine women)’.  The above report paints a very clear and vivid picture of the precarious circumstances in which gay men and lesbians conduct their affairs not only in Nigeria but indeed, in the whole of Africa.

As we celebrate IDAHOTB day, it is vital for everyone who loves freedom and equality to lend their voices against these oppressive laws against LGBT people. These laws only make people flee their countries for safety.  These laws lead to friends and families becoming informers and turns citizens against each other. Unfortunately, both church and state are now inciting homophobic hatred to gain strength with their followers.  This is absolute backwardness in Africa, when, in other parts of the world, many nations are moving forward in their acceptance of homosexuality.  I ask Britain and other gay-friendly countries to support the activities of LGBT organizations in countries.  In this way, they too will be able to support their LGBT communities across the world. And to all anti-gay countries, let us say it loud and clear that it’s a NO TO HOMOPHOBIA, TRANSPHOBIA AND BIPHOBIA.

Abraham Eiluorior

Abraham is an asylum seeker and lives in Sunderland.

The Power and the Glory

Reflections on the Pin Drop Tour by Brandi Carlile at Union Chapel, Islington…

February 2015

Much as I love Brandi Carlile’s music, I could not set a fire in my cold bones about seeing her play live for the first time. It was a cold winter night, with predictions of snow. I was hungry, feeling disconnected from the in-crowd who clearly followed Brandi across whole continents, despite my being there with the woman I love. I heard Spanish, German, Dutch and indistinguishable languages in the hubbub outside the Union Chapel, as we stamped our feet for warmth, my face wrapped with a woolly scarf, hijab style, to keep out the biting wind. Thinking, what was the point of being here for hours, waiting, when we could have been in the cosy pub around the corner with a pint of Greene King IPA. A scalded coffee and a flavourless takeaway burger were no consolation, ending up discarded into a bin along with the German girls’ beer bottles. I am ashamed to say I moaned, unlike this happy, good-natured, rosy-nosed crowd.

Finally, with the belated unlocking of the doors, it all began to change. The agony of waiting turned to awestruck wonder, as soon as I stepped inside the astoundingly beautiful venue of old wooden pews and ledges of stonework laid out ethereally with hundreds of candles. Clearly, we had come to worship. A ragged wind- whipped flock, huddled with our hot chocolate mugs, waiting for our priestess.

It all began with an audible hush as a creaky old gramophone started playing from the stage, announcing the opening of an entirely acoustic performance. A string trio performed flawless re-interpretations of classic songs; a rejection of technology for the purity of unamplified violin and cello. This audacious trio who dared to take on the Killers, Bonnie Tyler and Radiohead risked the kind of disgust, which only an eight year old with a Disney crush could display, when the opening strains of the ubiquitous “Let it Go” began. The spell could not be broken however, and this young girl seated in the next pew to ours, beamed with delight.

There was clearly some kind of magic in the air. In the absence of anything on stage requiring a plug or a socket, the church was strangely electric, as if generating its own power. Heralding the arrival of Brandi and her twin minstrels, Tim and Phil Hanseroth, haunting cello music filled the church. Looking up, the two cellists were lit with a candle glow, like angels in the gallery above, followed by a cheeky violinist appearing like a Jack- in- the- box from behind the pulpit. The crowd began an appreciative roar as Brandi appeared and the band launched into a lively rendition of Again Today, followed by a personal favourite, The Story, always a showcase for Brandi’s amazing voice.

The challenge of singing live without any form of amplification seemed to evolve from a less confident warm up to an effortless sprint, with Brandi’s voice soaring through numerous crowd pleasing tracks, and a host of thrilling songs from her new album, The Firewatcher’s Daughter. The fans greeted the new material with equal enthusiasm. “The Eye” was incredibly performed with just Brandi, the twins’ voices and foot stomps as accompaniment.

By the encore, an old Fleetwood Mac favourite “The Chain” had been dressed up in some new finery and given a fresh outing. Swept along with the band’s enthusiasm and sheer brilliance, you really could have heard a pin drop; the sound was so refined and rich. There were no pyrotechnics, no light shows, no background distraction of video chuntering, no amps, no mikes, and sometimes no instruments bar Brandi’s beautiful voice. Pared back from the fripperies which often accompany music, it was like tasting music for the first time.

And like the freshest, simplest dish of the finest ingredients, it was sublime.

Bloomsbury

Outlaw returns to The LGBT Fed…

OUTLAW: APRIL/MAY 2015

A warm welcome back to the Outlaw Column, now in its new home on The LGBT Fed blog.

It behoves Outlaw in the run up to the election to issue a word of warning to all LGBT Federation members. One election promise that was made more than 2 years ago at the Conservative Party Conference by Theresa May was that if the Conservatives once again come to power, they are going to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998.

The Human Rights Act was the enactment of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, signed in 1948 in the wake of the atrocities of the Second World War. The world was so shocked by what had happened to people from the Jewish, LGBT and travelling communities in the concentration camps that it rose as one to say, “never again.” As a result a list of promises that we make to each other was drawn up as our covenant about how we want to treat each other and be treated.

The United Kingdom has no constitution (apart from the Magna Carta which has no relevance today) which was why, unlike other countries, we had to make a new law in order to comply with the United Nations Convention which made all of the terms and freedoms guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration legal and binding in the United Kingdom.

The Human Rights Act governs everything from the right to life, to the right to privacy, education, freedom from degrading and inhumane treatment, freedom from slavery, the right to a family life , and vitally, access to justice and to a fair trial … what’s not to like? Outlaws grave concern about a new Tory Government is that we will loose all of that as they plan to scrap the Human Rights Act. Having given it much thought, there is no good reason for doing this: unless a future Conservative Government wishes to treat some of us, or certain communities with something less than humanity. This is unacceptable. Many of us might argue that they have done this throughout their last term in Government, by introducing such measures as the bedroom tax and a whole raft of punitive benefit measures, not to mention the horrors of trying to apply for a visa to stay in the United Kingdom if you are LGBT and your life is at risk in your country of origin. They have also seriously depleted access to justice by severely curtailing Legal Aid.

With all the unrest in the world, and the removal of thousands of us in the United Kingdom from the ability to get legal help if needed, our human rights are more important than they ever have been and we must really hold them close. Outlaw says vote for the party that will allow you to keep your rights intact.

Outlaw has also been perusing the parties LGBT manifesto promises. The Labour party is pledging a review for LGBT asylum seekers who, as anybody who has anything to do with these issues will know, that face an almost impossible uphill battle to persuade the Home Office to allow them to stay in the United Kingdom even if their life is at risk if they are returned, with people even having to “prove that they are gay”!

Labour are also planning a review of gender recognition laws and access to gender related health care with a view to bringing down the massive waiting times for trans people. There is also a plan to strengthen hate crime law and to improve LGBT representation in Parliament with an amnesty promise with the introduction of the so called “Turing’s Law” to pardon men convicted of historic sex crimes relating to outdated anti gay laws.

The SNP has also launched its manifesto on the 20th May 2015 with everyone’s darling, Nicola Sturgeon calling on Labour to work with them and suggesting the creation of a special envoy, a diplomatic person in the Foreign Office to promote the rights of LGBT people throughout the world as an integral part of UK foreign policy. In the US, Barrack Obama has created a similar post, appointing diplomat Randy Berry. Labour has responded by saying that they would be minded to create a similar role for House of Lords member, gay rights advocate Michael Cashman. The Conservatives remain opposed to this, which will possibly not surprise anyone.

Meanwhile over in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party have failed to mention LGBT issues at all in their manifesto, and have historically opposed any and all LGBT rights votes in Westminster and in Stormont. A recently drafted “conscience clause” is part of a Bill to exempt religious people from equality laws. Making the headlines earlier this year was Asher’s Baking Company in Ireland who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. This is important to us in mainland UK as the DUP and other Irish parties are being tipped for possible coalitions with the Conservatives. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK who continues to oppose same sex marriage.

In relation to the Liberal Democrats, many will be aware of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill currently going through the Commons. In 2005 the Lib Dems made a manifesto commitment to end discrimination against lesbians seeking fertility treatment. In a free vote in the Commons on the new Bill, which proposes easier access to lesbians and single women to NHS fertilisation services, and will allow a lesbian or gay couple to be named on the birth certificate as the legal parents of the child, was subject to a free vote. Among 16 Lib Dems who voted against the Bill were front benchers including Vince Cable, Steve Webb and former leader Charles Kennedy. Disappointingly North East Lib Dem MP, Alan Beith, also voted against.

To be fair to the Conservatives, they also offered a free vote on this issue and 49 voted in favour of the Bill including the party leader David Cameron, George Osbourne, Ken Clarke and Jeremy Hunt. 84 Tory MP’s voted against.

In terms of UKIP, politeness and a healthy regard for broadcasting and journalism laws prevents Outlaw from expressing an opinion on UKIP’s LGBT election manifesto.

For many of us section 28 of the Local Government Act which effectively banned any positive images of LGBT people in public life in the UK is still a vivid memory. The LGBT community in Russia is feeling the full impact of their very own section 28, which is based in fact on the UK legislation. All around the world LGBT people are being subjected to “curative rape” (South Africa to name but one) execution (Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan) and a quick visit to the Human Dignity Trust website gives a list of the 79 countries/jurisdictions where being LGBT is a crime. Please do not take the human rights that we currently enjoy in the United Kingdom for granted, and vote accordingly. Once we lose them we will never get them back.

 

Older LGBT People Conference

‘Making Person Centred Care a reality: How to Support older LGBT people in care settings.’ First National Conference, Newcastle upon Tyne 29^th Oct 2014.

Have you ever thought about what it will be like to be older… much older… elderly…? I know, me neither, no one wants to think about it but we will definitely get older, a day, a week, a year, maybe very old (my Gran was 102 when she died so how many years might that leave you to go) and there are things we just might wish we’d done now, put in place now. This conference raised loads of questions about older life, most of which were uncomfortable. Have you ever thought about where you might be living (I haven’t) or want to live or need to live or whether you might need carers, or to be in a care home or what you might need in order not to be in one? Or, do you know who is your next of kin and what that means? Are they really, officially? Who might you want to be your next of kin, and how would people, or services, know who that is? And within all of that, have you thought about whether being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender might mean you need to make any kinds of special provision for yourself? What personal or service issues might you or those around you have to deal with?

I know, it’s a lot of questions, but I bet most of them have crossed your mind before. For me most of them raise their heads at New Year, at funerals, when I’m visiting people in hospital, or, yes, when someone is dying (like my Gran who incidentally I considered somewhat immortal until the final days).  When exactly am I going to answer these questions for myself? I’ve put them off and into a ‘pending’ file in my mind for more years than I like to think and they adhere to the rule of disliked things i.e. they stick around and never go away, just like for example those horrible gloves someone gave you, warm, practical, sick green (in my case), and both still here. The lovely ones you specially bought, expensive, fine leather, hitech performance dry… only ever find one, or at best two right-handed ones. The questions remain pristine in my mind, which doesn’t mean I’ve dealt with them, and just having them there is not enough.

No one wants to think about being older, is that a sign of the youth orientated society we’re living in? I have always imagined that I will think about it properly or make plans for ‘when I’m ‘old’’, when I’m older. I have put no age on either of these times, and now I’m mulling it over, there is some slippage in what age I used to consider ‘old’ and therefore the right time to make those plans.  Other than signing into a work pension (and would I have done that if I hadn’t had to actively ‘opt out’) I have done very little preparation. Periodically I remind myself I must make a Will, on the basis that I don’t want the government to get all the benefit of my good-gotten-gains, and because people might want some of my (more valuable) stuff. It remains unwritten.

Yesterday’s conference was provocative. There was a lot of information available through presentations workshops and discussion, and an unavoidable personal edge to the issues raised. We were challenged to think about what we might want as individual people as well as service providers or activist groups. I was provoked by one workshop to think about the language I use and I hear being used. Who around me uses non-gender specific pronouns (they, we, ourselves, us) when talking about their lives, and what might that mean? About ways people (I) hide ourselves, out of need or fear or habit. Not that we need or should tell everyone about our sexual orientation at every opportunity (or none), but feeling the need to stay hidden, the panic we feel when we think we’ll be asked something specific about our relationships or lives, is not impact neutral. LGBT people are skilled in finding creative ways to have conversations without revealing our personal lives, our sexual orientation, not least because it might negatively change those relationships. We assess risk daily and sometimes within a split second, we adapt. Have you ever ‘de-gayed’ your house, for parents or friends or colleagues visiting? The conference asked us to consider how might that be for someone, you, me, if there was a health worker or carer visiting every day?

It was interesting to hear what is happening from other parts of the country and how we might apply or adapt some of that in the North East. Most, if not all of these agencies have information on websites or facebook, and are well worth a browse but to give you an idea of the presenters: Dr Kathy Almack (Senior Research Fellow, University of Nottingham), Debbie Smith (Regional National Dementia Strategy), Tina Wathern (Stonewall Housing), Equal Arts, Opening Doors London, Anthony Smith (Equalities and Human Rights Age UK), Open Clasp, SAND (Safe Ageing No Discrimination, Shropshire) and many more.  Alma Caldwell (Chief Executive Age UK North Tyneside) chaired the day with a light touch that gave us time to ‘network’ or is that jargon for ‘speak and communicate with each other’.

Open Clasp, performed an abbreviated version of their incredible theatre production ‘Swags and Tails’, making some of the issues (particularly identity) acutely and poignantly visible to us. Since the age of probably two or three, haven’t we all chosen what clothes we wear. Worn our own clothes. Haven’t we all tried to be real, as honest as we can be, at least with some of the people around us at home or at work? A struggle that costs us dearly one way or another. The ‘Swags and Tails’ excerpts were hard-hitting and pointed out how things might be in our future, and indeed are now for some people. It highlighted the need for staff training, more services, better services, and increased awareness of LGBT issues. The audience was genuinely affected and some seemed emotionally stunned by the drama. Despite it being my third viewing, I was one of the many people wiping a tear away today. Why were we all so moved? Open Clasp gave a skilled performance, finely honed and expertly focused on the dilemmas and experiences of people on both sides of care provision. They addressed themes that are familiar and shared by us all as human beings like the commonality of first loves and lost loves making some of us smile, and the distress of being hidden or excluded striking at our hearts. A dramatic way of putting it but everyone I talked to had been genuinely moved by the performance.

In all the presentations there was a general feeling for the need to stay vigilant and be aware of what’s happening or threatening LGBT people and services. There was a strong wish for us not to lose the lessons of the past but to use what we know, to hear the advice of older LGBT people.  A wish for this wisdom not to be lost or forgotten but to be remembered, and utilized to counter the perception that we are all ‘equal’ now (note the word, ‘treated the same’ is not equality, thank you) and we can all relax.  But the reality is there is a difference between what is thought to be out there and what is actually out there. We heard stories of LGBT people being ‘prayed for’ by the misguided or well meaning. We heard there are many older people in care provision going ‘back into the closet’, even people who have been activists. Why? because the care provision is not LGBT friendly, or the fight to be strong for themselves as LGBT people when they are vulnerable, is one fight too many. We heard about human rights of all kinds increasingly being disregarded, eroded or taken from us in the UK and those with least voice and little perceived need (older LGBT people) will fall foul of these political choices.

Perhaps one of the points of the day was to stir us up, to move us to some action, to mobilise, to get us thinking about where we might be in ten twenty thirty fourty years time. and question will there be suitable services for us. In the workshops I heard about a variety of generic services available as we get older. I was also astonished to discover there is no specific LGBT care provision anywhere in the UK. There is no political will to provide it. Does that matter to us? The stark reality seems to be that you can find specific care provision be it residential or other if you have specific medical needs, belong to a religion, have a specific ethnicity, have a particular condition, or need specific health services. If you want or need LGB or T specific provision, you won’t find it.

This was an extremely interesting, challenging and nourishing conference that stimulated the intellectual, political, emotional and other facets of myself. Huge thanks to the people who organised it, and those who contributed, for all the hard work and effort involved in making it possible. It was a very positive conference despite the difficult situation out there, and it left me tentatively hopeful that change can come, that we can and are willing to learn from each other and that the provision we want might become available, if we demand promote or create it. As I left I heard positive comments and feedback about the day like ‘fantastic’, ‘I didn’t know about that’, ‘we have to get some change to happen’. People were engaging each other in conversation and as I was earwigging these seemed to be mainly about the issues of the day and not just conversations and chat!

The conference presented me with a variety of issues and has made me stop and think. I have put a date in my diary, 21^st November, and I intend to actually do something. I intend to ask myself what I need in place to maintain my life as I want it as I get older and or less able to be so independent? Might I always want to share my bed (where can I do that in resi care), how do I continue to drive, do I need to move to a more manageable house, and other questions about my future life. Yes it is scarey and no I am not looking forward to doing it, but continuing to not think about it is scarey and worse. I intend to address some of these questions or make appointments to do so, to make a Will, have at least one conversation with someone about what I might want by way of care should I need it, think about what is my ‘family configuration’ and official next of kin, and where are my local services and how I can influence them. Lots more but basically to think things through and start to make some plans. Generally I intend to put my house in a bit more order for the future. A sort of personal spring clean but in autumn, or is it winter.

Ruby

The LGBT Fed AGM 2014

A fabulous meeting, none of that dusty dreary all in favour hands up nonsense… well there was a very small amount of that… it was completely delicious hot food, ideas and interest, chat and catch up, and planning. Apparently there was salad as well as incredible curries and sweet pudding that we devoured (ahem some of us having seconds +).  Then a tasty cuppa with a completely lovely bunch of people all meeting to promote LGBT visibility in the region. Once we got passed the food (did I mention we had delicious food) and the business bit (we voted it all accepted), we organized a strategy for next year. Yay, we plan to work together with other LGBT organisations, we have enough enthusiasm and energy to make our ideas real even though we all do it voluntarily (no paid workers here) and we have lots of really interesting ideas for 2015. We plan to have another LGBT Ball in 2015 which is our 10^th anniversary and one of our partner organisations, Hart Gables 10^th too! There’ll be a selection of workshops and activities in the coming year, from more IT development to personal and political action, and maybe some telling of our own stories.  We don’t have the money to do it all yet, but we will seek it out and you can stay in touch with us via social media to see how we are doing. We now have an improved website, tadah, with facebook, a blog and twitter all up and running, and hope to add more social media tools as the year progresses.  If you have any ideas questions or want to become a member, find us,, like us follow us on ‘The LGBT Fed’.

Ruby

Short and Girlie Show: Spreading The Love Tour

Great title! I arrived at The Stand expecting it to be friendly and comfortable, maybe even welcoming. Some people had cried off on the grounds of ‘its very windy and things need to be ‘battened down”, ‘got a better offer’, ‘it looks like an 18-30’s show on the interweb’. So wondering if they knew something I didn’t, and drink in hand, I awaited my fate and sat people-watching. A slightly disturbing thing to do given the number of people sitting in couples or groups and knowing that not everyone wants to be recognized, yes still!

The Stand hosted a lovely crowd of differently individual women, both on and off stage, and what a relief to see that maybe some of the old stereotypes are wearing off? Looking round though there were clear gaps, where were the older lesbians, women of colour or with a disability, at home in the warm and with good company and cake maybe?

The crowd was presumed to be predominantly lesbian, (L if not GBT locals) although how can you tell? The SAG’s announced that they were accompanied by WAG’s (at last an appropriate place for the term), which made the afternoon’s agenda clear to anyone who might have missed something on the flyer. Predominantly a female audience, two women to one side were very sweet, quietly had arms over the other’s shoulder, and if they could have sat on each other’s knees I think they would have. I doubt anyone would have turned a hair. Lesbian and in love… such honey.

‘Improvised comedy sketches’ was what it said on the tin and definitely what we got. The work the SAG’s put in was immense. Skilled artisans and slick   improvisors, clearly these women are a highly tuned and practiced pack delivering a collection of humorous songs, stories, ‘coming out’ and ‘how we met’ tales, and funny skits. Their no fuss approach to talking about lesbian life and recognition that they are women of many shapes and sizes, were all grist to the comedic mill and created a friendly and relaxed afternoon.

This show required audience participation, an idea which unfortunately seemed to bypass the majority of the audience even those known to be, well, ‘gobby’ in other situations. Perhaps a warm up for the audience would have helped. In any event its unlikely that Newcastle will stand out in the SAG’s memory as high in audience participation, despite their best efforts to join us in with their skits sketches and songs. That said they made a very good fist of filling in the gaps where they existed, and took what audience suggestions they did get and ran with them to create skits and jokes. The dexterity and humorous signing of the songs and scenes added enjoyable dollops of icing to the SAG cake. The signing was sometimes vivid and explicit, needing no words for some of us to be fully aware what was going on, and was sometimes luxuriously repeated just for the fun of it!

Light hearted and funny, the Short and Girlies show moved at a pace to keep you entertained and had gifted musical solo spots to wow the crowd with the breadth of talent in the group. There was even an appeal for those who can (fold it before you put it in the tin) to contribute to Diversity Role Models, a thought to improving things for the next generation. The phrase ‘something for everyone’ would be very apt

All in all a great show for anyone wanting to go out, be out, have a laugh, or be in a lesbian languaged environment. Not pushy, not lurid, not denying what’s said out there, but full and robust and acknowledging that women have a language of their own and can use it thank you. Its unlikely it was offensive, the ‘c’ words being used in all variations and with such artistic flare it was a down right relief to laugh. The show was a great mix of funny sometimes raunchy lesbian sketches and skilled womens drama, all performed with aplomb.

The temptation would be to say this was a group of strong strident forthright women who are undoubtedly talented and seem comfortable and confident in their own skins. Maybe they are, but really, these were women being women wonderfully and in all their glory.

Ruby

Susan Calman Review

Susan Calman in Newcastle.

Who knew, who knew that so much talent could be packed squashed squeezed pressed and concentrated into such a small space, er person! A lawyer in her previous incarnation, clearly this woman has brains, not just any brains, top of the class brains. A comedic presence and skill that was reflected in an audience kept laughing all night and clapping for more. Even personally she stands up, twelve years or more in a relationship suggests her interpersonal skills are honed (Susan is not someone who tells jokes to crowds to get friends). Being a bit of a romantic was surprising, but perhaps that’s the trick of being on stage, keep them guessing who the real person is, blur the line between truth and fiction. Susan Calman is even able to see the funny side when touching on poigniant and tricky subjects, we laughed!

Intelligent AND funny! What’s not to like!

A Glasgow girl, she has great stories of being shouty when being kind, posing questions when asked one, being upfront with opinions, not suffering fools at all, not at all self important, and a soft side exposed when you least expect it. All essential qualities if you like to know where you stand with a person. Susan’s background is a big source of material for her show, which is perhaps predictable and perhaps a little stereotypical. We all like a poor-kid-made-good story, but I’d like to hear more from her.

And so to the second half. I wasn’t the only one who wanted to take her home (no not like that, although…), to park her in front of my log burner and feed her nourishing hot chicken soup. Whether that’s my need to rescue or not people around me expressed similar views. Was there a remnant of upset in her usually strident voice? I thought so, and her story brought out the protector in some of us. But whether hers was real emotion or part of the show, the result was the same, it kept us listening more intently, and as a consequence laughing more at her positive twist on her insecurities, and therefore our own. Oh and ladies, if you’ve ever wanted to write your name in the snow, Susan will show you how.

Up front about her conversations with her wife we could all relate to her descriptions of the games people play be it through deed or look, and the wish to have our best plans go well, and I hope Susan was given a Certificate of Tenacity and Positive Reframing for their romantic Paris trip. As for critics who say she’s one of those who ‘go on about their sexuality’ (a discriminatory word only used when someone is being referred to who isn’t heterosexual!) she mentioned her partner less times than my (het) colleagues do in a lunch break. Enough said.

Which parts of her stories are actually true and which are entertaining tales? That’s the question I’m left with, but then I like to know what’s what and her mystery will feed my curiosity. A lovely person who makes me laugh, definitely, she seemed to genuinely enjoy being up there, which made it seem like an evening together more than a show. How she does it all on her own, I have no idea, the courage it must take before she gets on stage, the number of pre-show visits to the loo, the pull not to expose herself to so many people (not literally it’s not that kind of show) and not to subject herself to the inevitable criticisms or downright rudeness of people in person or on social media, phew, not for me.

She appeared to reveal so much about herself it’s difficult to separate the professional presentation from the person behind it, but perhaps that edgy combination is the thing that keeps us engaged with her, listening, and wanting more. Certainly the group of people I sat with were keen to let her know that she can entertain, make people laugh, give us a good evening away from what hassles we might have, look at things from a different perspective. We wanted to spend more time with Susan, take her up on her offer to hang out with a drink at the bar, and only our transport prevented us doing that. Maybe, if she hasn’t become ensconced in the glitterati of Toksvig and Balding, we will share that drink on her next tour, yes we do hope there will be another one.

Thanks for a great evening Susan.
Ruby

Pride…

“Pride” the film, 2014

So; I laughed I cried I reminisced I was critical I was heart-warmed, but mostly I was relieved. Relieved that the subject of ‘people supporting people’ is valuable enough to be made into a film, and that ‘lesbians and gays’ (hate the labels like the sentiment) are main characters not sideline stories. That truly, and in real life, we can all support fellow human beings in political, personal and practical ways and return the favour to each other. How sad though, or actually disgraceful it is that it has taken thirty years to hear something about this story and yet we all know many less positive tales of the 1980’s.

Pride the film is lesbian light, disability free, elder low, and BME invisible. Maybe that is the truth of this real 80’s story, or perhaps its a deliberate artistic choice by the directors to portray how socially narrow, ‘black and white’, those times or places used to be. I hope a film made of today’s LGBT activity would show a wider and very significant diversity of people. Despite that, and accepting the predictable feel good nature of the storyline, the film gives an authentic taste of times in the 1980’s (some of us remember the picket lines, posters, badges, even the old Ford transit) within particular communities and insight into the complexities of individual people’s lives.

Joe struggles to be who he really is, to live how he wants to live, and is unable to say the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ even in a Pride celebration. And Gethin chokes on the balm of a simple kind greeting given to him by a welsh woman. These fleeting moments remind us all of the twists and turns within our own stories, and of emotions that still hurt but are easily touched.

But, the archetypes of ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ portrayed in Pride (with a 21century punk twist) with the dress codes, stereotypes, and more, are still as present and tedious today despite all the incredible progress with equalities we have made as a society. This film reminds us that there is still a long way to go until; the gender of the person you love is really not an issue, there is no reason to ‘come out’, we are not uncertain about walking down the street holding hands, we do not think twice about booking into a hotel as a couple, we do not hesitate before mentioning a partner at work…

Discussing this film with friends was emotional; ‘Pride’ the film has changed the world of some people. Hearing individual character’s stories, and those of friends, has been inspirational for some of us to the extent that life-changes are in the offing and plans are being made for the future, a mixture of ‘telling my family I’m lesbian’, ‘I am going to get more involved in some kind of LGBT activity’, ‘I want to get involved with politics’ (even if it’s just writing a letter to an MP in support of equality for all).

Pride left me feeling invigorated to be more visible. Not because of sentimentality but because it makes sense politically, morally and personally. No doubt there are more people’s stories to be told that we know nothing about, yet.
Ruby