A group campaigning for the reopening of the Black Cap, the well-known and popular LGBT+ pub and cabaret venue on London’s Camden High Street, has announced that significant progress has been made in returning the iconic venue to the London scene.
Members of Black Cap Foundation community campaign group have met with Kicking Horse, which owns the freehold of the Black Cap site, along with representatives of Camden council and the GLA culture-at-risk team.
According to Black Cap Foundation, all sides agreed to work together to identify a new, third-party leaseholder to reopen the Black Cap as an LGBT+ venue with cabaret performance at its heart.
Alex Green
Black Cap Foundation director Alex Green, said: “We’re thrilled at this agreement. This is a crucial step towards our goal of reopening the Black Cap, and we welcome the cooperation of the freeholders and the support of Camden council and the GLA in making that a reality.
“We’ve always believed the Black Cap’s unique, irreplaceable legacy of community and culture is worth fighting for, and can’t wait to see how it will be reinvented next.”
A spokesperson for Kicking Horse said: “We very much hope to find the leaseholder with the right vision, experience and resources to begin a brand new chapter for this world-famous venue.”
Amy Lamé
Comedienne and performer Amy Lamé, who was appointed Night Czar by London Mayor Sadiq Khan, said: “I would love to see the legendary Black Cap open for business again. Over the past decade, London has lost more than half of its LGBT+ venues and this must stop. The Mayor is clear that LGBT+ venues are a fundamental part of London’s vibrant nightlife and culture, and has tasked me with stemming the flow of closures across the city.
“My team and I have been able to work alongside the Black Cap Foundation community campaign group, Camden council and the venue owners Kicking Horse to work towards a resolution that will see this iconic venue throw open its doors once more.
“This announcement is a huge step forward. I hope a new leaseholder can be found swiftly and I can’t wait to work with them and join London’s diverse LGBT+ community in enjoying the unique atmosphere of the Black Cap.”
The Black Cap has been a space of queer community and culture since before partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1967. It closed its doors in April 2015.
Known as the ‘Palladium of Drag’, it has hosted residencies by ground-breaking performers such as Lily Savage, and Mrs Shufflewick and Regina Fong, after whom the pub’s first-floor Shufflewick Bar and Fong Terrace is named. More recently, it was home to the Family Fierce, who showcased acts from RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Since the 2015 closure, Black Cap Foundation has maintained a weekly Saturday afternoon vigil outside the pub, celebrating the venue’s past and sharing stories with local residents while campaigning for its reopening.
A recent report from University College London’s Urban Laboratory found that 58% of London’s LGBT+ venues have closed in the past decade, despite many remaining commercially viable.
The Black Cap’s new leaseholder will take on a 25-year lease for the five-storey building, and it is reported that conversations are already underway with a number of prospective leaseholders, though no firm offer has yet been made.
Campaigners and the freeholder are working together to generate new marketing materials, and some business information is already available.
Interested parties are encouraged to contact Alex Green of the Black Cap Foundation on alex@loudandqueerly.com and Paul Tallentyre of David Coffer Lyons Sales Agent on ptallentyre@dcl.co.uk for further details.
Pride in London’s Independent Community Advisory Board (CAB) has released a highly critical annual report on the 2017 Pride in London events.
This year’s report focuses heavily on diversity and intersectionality and raises serious concerns about failings by the current Pride organisers to fully acknowledge the diverse nature of London’s LGBT+ communities, particularly in relation to BAME people.
The CAB also states that it has seen compelling evidence from a reliable third-party source that the relationship of trust and confidence between the Pride Board and UK Black Pride has broken down irretrievably. From that evidence, the report concludes that the responsibility for that breakdown lies exclusively with the Pride Board which has, according to the CAB, “at every stage, obfuscated and declined to meet with UK Black Pride even through facilitated mediation”.
The CAB also question’s the nature of Pride’s #LoveHappensHere marketing campaign and in particular the posters, the contents of which it found was normative, cis, white, and erasing of BAME people, bi people, and trans people for whom there was no visibility. Similarly, there was no obvious visibility for young people or older people.
The report makes a series of recommendations, including:
♦ That full involvement and integration of BAME LGBT+ people into Pride in London is essential to achieve a cohesive and inclusive event, and that the best way to achieve this is to support and resource UK Black Pride, and ensure that BAME LGBT+ people are represented not just at Pride in the Park, but on all stages and in all Pride events.
♦ Pride in London should follow the example of this year’s Tel Aviv Pride, by making bi people the central focus of the Pride Parade in 2018 or 2019, which would require a full engagement with bi people and groups in both planning and execution. Going forward, it may be appropriate that each year, one of the more marginalised sections of London’s LGBT communities – for example, BAME, bi, trans, and intersex people – should, on rotation, be given pride of the place in the Parade.
♦ Membership of all panels must be arranged significantly ahead of time and should be constituted to represent the breadth of diversity of London’s LGBT+ communities.
♦ Pride organisers institute a text message system for future years, enabling mass SMS advice to be disseminated to group leaders about any unexpected delays or issues.
♦ Whether it may be possible to once again operate the Parade without the issuing of wristbands, which is in itself a potentially discriminatory process especially for small organisations, informal groups and individuals who might decide late in the day that they would like to take part in the Parade. Or for organisers impose a limit on the maximum number of wristbands any one organisation can have, perhaps at 250.
♦ Pride marketing campaigns should reflect the broadest extent of LGBT+ people’s lived experiences and not solely focus on the normative lifestyles of some, and that it is essential that such campaigns include people from all sections of London’s LGBT+ communities, and be reflective of their intersections with race, disability, gender, age or religion.
The report goes on to look at the future of Pride in London, as the current five-year grant agreement with the Mayor concludes in 2017.
It recommends:
♦ Ahead of the Mayor making any decisions as to the future of Pride in London, that consultation with the Capital’s LGBT+ communities must take place.
♦ The Mayor should become the proprietor of the registered trademarks and other intellectual property rights to London LGBT+ Pride and licence the organisation of the Pride events on a five-year contract, to which should be attached a range of key performance indicators, including diversity and inclusion. An alternative model might be vesting Pride’s IP rights and the commissioning function in an independent charity or indeed with the CAB itself, though that wouldn’t necessarily have the public and legal accountability of the Mayor being the licensing authority.
♦ That the best solution to the current overcrowding is for the Parade to begin on the Embankment, travelling via Parliament Square, Whitehall, Trafalgar Square, and ending in Hyde Park, representing a unique opportunity to launch an international Pride Festival Day in the heart of London.
♦ That the Mayor negotiates with the Royal Parks and their entertainment licensee, AEG, to permit Pride to use Hyde Park, including AEG’s festival facilities, for the Pride Festival Day in future years.
Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett
CAB Chair, Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett commented: “After each Pride in London, the Independent Community Advisory Board sit down to discuss if this year’s event has achieved its objectives. When I took over as Chair in February 2016, I made diversity and intersectionality my priority.
We have asked members of LGBT+ communities, both individuals and respected third-party organisations, to give us their view in writing so we have evidence and documentation to back up our assertions.
For every criticism in the report, and there are many, we have suggested a reasonable and practical solution, and where we think further transparency and openness is required, we have asked to see those conversations brought to the CAB well in advance of any decision.
We also felt that there has been significant disquiet across the LGBT+ communities, around Pride’s corporate nature, lack of inclusion, bad handling of sensitive intersectionality issues and it felt that we needed to live up to the expectations of the role and that is providing a frank but honest report on the experiences not only from CAB members but also opinions across our communities.”
Edward Lord OBE
CAB Deputy Chair, Edward Lord OBE, added:“This has not been an easy report to write. The CAB wants Pride to succeed, and we pay tribute to the LLCP Board for the growth of the event over the last five years and for the positive profile that it has generated for LGBT+ people in London and beyond. We regret however that this has been at the cost of the more marginalised members of our communities, those who are already so often erased or ignored.
We fundamentally believe that Pride needs to be for all LGBT+ people, including those who find the labels themselves to be off-putting, who identify as queer and/or genderqueer, who find the presence of the police or big companies uncomfortable. They form part of our communities as well and Pride in London needs to find a way of making them feel welcome. If we achieve that, then we can say truthfully that love, in all of its forms, really does happen here.”
Members of Brighton and Hove’s LGBT+ communities will feature on national TV on Tuesday, August 29, in a piece commemorating and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality.
Rainbow Chorus
In the filmGeorge Montague, Brighton’s “oldest gay in the village” speaks about his experiences as someone who was convicted before the law was changed, and members of Brighton and Hove’s LGBT+ Community Choir, Rainbow Chorus are also interviewed.
The piece concludes with a moving rendition from the chorus of True Colours, the song made popular by Cyndi Lauper and a favourite from their repertoire.
Finola Brophy
Finola Brophy, Chair of Rainbow Chorus, said:“It was great to be invited to take part in the filming. The Rainbow Chorus is a diverse choir with members from different sexes, ages and backgrounds. This is important as the partial decriminalisation of gay sex between men was a step forward for everyone, including women and children whose lives were devastated by lesbian custody battles or when members of their family or partners were prosecuted. Discrimination remains an issue for LGBT+ people of all ages, and it’s not just something that’s historic. We’ve come a long way, but there is still much to do”.
In a first for Scotland, professional football clubs in all four of the SPFL divisions have teamed up to better include lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) people by signing up to the Scottish LGBT Sports Charter.
Rangers Striker Kenny Miller
It’s the first time in Scotland that so many clubs have made a commitment to better include LGBT+ people in the beautiful game and it includes the biggest clubs in Scottish Football.
The Charter includes a set of five principles which aim to remove the barriers to sport for LGBT+ people. Over thirty governing bodies of sport have already signed up, including the Scottish Football Association.
Signing up to the charter today are Aberdeen, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Partick Thistle, Rangers, St Johnstone, Dumbarton, Airdirionans, Albion Rovers, Forfar Athletic, Elgin City and Peterhead.
Scott Cuthbertson
Scott Cuthbertson, Development Manager of the Equality Network, said:“We’re delighted that these clubs, from across all four SPFL divisions, are today making a commitment to LGBT+ supporters, officials and the next generation of LGBT+ players.
“Today’s message is loud and clear, everyone is welcome at football and we are working for a more inclusive game.
“We don’t yet have any openly LGBT+ professional players in the men’s professional game in Scotland but we know there are plenty of LGBT+ fans. Thank you to those clubs who have already taken this step. For clubs who haven’t yet signed up and who want to make their club more inclusive, our door is always open.”
The charter states as its aim that “Scotland will be a country where everyone can take part, enjoy, and succeed in sport at all levels whatever their sexual orientation and gender identity”, it was developed in consultation with sports governing bodies (SGBs), other sports stakeholders and LGBT+ people.
Rangers striker Kenny Miller commented: “Rangers is an inclusive club and strives to promote equality and inclusion and we are delighted to sign up to the Scottish LGBT Sports Charter.
“Everyone should be able to take part, enjoy and succeed in sport whatever their sexual orientation or gender identity and we are proud to support this initiative.”
The Equality Network say this is the first step in coordinated efforts that they hope will encourage more LGBT+ people to get involved in football.
A study by the Equality Network launched in 2012 showed that 57% of LGBT+ people would be more likely to participate in sport if it was more LGBT+ friendly, and that football was the sport identified as having the biggest challenges to overcome in relation to LGBT+ inclusivity.
A new, free exhibition at the British Library, marks the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967.
Gay UK: Love, Law and Liberty, explores gay lives through personal testimony, cultural expression and legal reform, from the 1895 trial of Oscar Wilde to the posthumous pardoning of historical homosexual offences this year.
The exhibition is hosted in the British Library’s Entrance Hall Gallery and marks the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act 1967, which partially decriminalised male homosexuality in England and Wales.
Spanning a century of social and legislative change in Britain, the exhibition considers how gay men and women have been represented as well as how they have sought to describe and define themselves, from the repressive decades of the first half of the twentieth century to the on-going campaign for full equality which continues today.
From original manuscripts and rare printed items to striking campaign material and unique oral history recordings, this is the first time these items have been on display together, showcasing the wealth and range of material in the Library’s heritage and contemporary collections.
Exhibition highlights include:
♦ Original campaign material, journals and posters from groups such as the Gay Liberation Front, Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners and Outrage!
♦ Sarah Waters’ notebook with character notes that she used while writing Tipping the Velvet, going on public display for the first time
♦ Hanif Kureishi’s annotated script for My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) plus continuity polaroids from the set
♦ The first edition of Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, alongside a sound recording of Vita Sackville-West from 1954 talking about the inspiration for the book
♦ Kenneth Williams’ diary entry from 9 August 1967, which covers the murder of his friend, playwright and author Joe Orton
♦ An annotated script for A Taste of Honey by Shelagh Delaney (1958)
♦ A commissioned film by performer and artist Dickie Beau exploring the decriminalisation of homosexuality
Rachel Foss, Lead Curator of the exhibition, says:“Since the passing of the Sexual Offences Act fifty years ago, there has been a transformation in society’s attitudes towards gay love and expression. Gay UK: Love, Law and Liberty tells this story through objects and documents that are iconic, public, personal or seemingly ephemeral. These objects and documents are the tangible evidence of a living history that is fragmented, punctuated by gaps and still evolving. I hope that the exhibition will prompt visitors to consider not only how far we as a society have come but also, crucially, what still needs to be done to combat prejudice and realise true equality.”
The British Library will be hosting an accompanying season of events to provoke debate on past and present understandings of individual identity, reflecting on how far we have come as a society.
Event highlights include:
♦ Jon Savage: 1967 A Summer of Love?, writer, broadcaster and filmmaker Jon Savage reflects on the social, cultural, sexual and political climate of a season of change
♦ The Gender Games:Juno Dawson in Conversation, author Juno Dawson provides a personal insight into society’s expectations of gender
♦ David Bowie Made Me Gay, a discussion on the transformation, impact and influence of LGBTQ+ music makers featuring broadcaster Simon Fanshawe, writers Julie Burchill and Darryl Bullock alongside DJ Princess Julia and performer K Anderson
♦ Proud Poetry, featuring Maureen Duffy, Jackie Kay, Andrew McMillan, Richard Scott and Nick Drake reading their own poetry
Mark Foster burst on to the international swimming scene at the age of 16. He went on to represent his country at the highest level for twenty-three years and is Britain’s most decorated male swimmer.
Hugo Michiels Photography/editing by Jim Carey Photography
Since retiring from swimming Mark has become a familiar face on television and a household name. He is a successful motivational speaker, business man and male model, but he is also a founder and face behind the charity Go Dad Run, which comes to Hove Park on 25 June to raise funds and awareness for men’s health causes.
Mark met up with Paul Gustafson to talk about a charity close to his heart, and to chat about himself and his evolving and diverse career.
On Sunday, June 25 this year you’ll be in Brighton and Hove as an Ambassador for the Sanlam Go Dad Run. Can you start by telling us a bit about the event and what your role as an ambassador will involve?
“I started the first Go Dad Run with Colin Jackson back in 2013. We both knew people who were affected by prostate cancer and Colin sadly lost an uncle. One in eight men in the UK will develop prostate cancer but many are often reluctant to talk about it. We saw the great work Race for Life was doing with women only events in the fight against cancer, and we wanted to develop something for men. The Go Dad Run events aim to raise awareness of men’s health issues and to get men talking early on if they think may have any symptoms. We also want to help raise funds for the charities involved.”
And you’ll be in Hove Park for the Brighton event?
“Yes. This year we’ve grown to a series of 5k and 10k runs across six UK cities. Prostate Cancer UK is still our lead charity, but this year you can also raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK, Orchid, which fights testicular, prostate and penile cancers, CALM, a men’s mental health charity, and for the Brighton and Hove runs you can also fundraise for a local charity, Martlets Hospice, which provides terminal care for local people in Sussex. Previously some people were approaching us saying they loved the idea of the Go Dad Runs but did not have a direct link to prostate cancer, so we’ve opened it up to other partner charities as well as a local charity in each event region.”
Is the event open to all abilities?
“They are runs rather than races – for men and boys of all ages. Of course some people will want to run competitively, but the emphasis is on doing something healthy, having fun and raising awareness and funds.”
Will you be running?
“I’ll be there from the start to support, but I won’t be running on the day as I need to be there at the finish to hand out medals!”
Why do you think many men aren’t very good at monitoring their own health and talking to family, friends or health professionals if they are concerned about symptoms?
“I think it’s partly the way men are, whereas women tend to be much better at confiding or having check-ups. It’s a key thing we want to change. With men it might be due to awkwardness about opening up, or maybe a macho thing, or maybe in some cases down to fear. I think often men will deal with health issues up to a certain level, but then might struggle to get beyond that in terms of processing their feelings and communicating them.”
To me that’s a great thing about the Go Dad Runs – the context is sport, which a lot of men love and are happy to engage with, and then the whole comedy Y-fronts over your running shorts thing introduces a level of humour about men’s bits that breaks the ice and confronts the taboo.
“Yes, that’s right.”
Trying to live a more healthy lifestyle is an important factor in reducing the impact of these men’s conditions. You were a world-class competitive athlete for 23 years, and since retiring you’re still famed for your dedication to fitness and your fantastic physique. What top tips would you give to our readers for staying fit and keeping in shape?
“I think a lot of it is about moderation. We all like to go out, have a good time. We all eat the wrong foods from time to time. I do myself, but I exercise every day to keep in shape. I would say to your readers to be moderate in what they eat and drink, do plenty of exercise but also set yourself goals, whether it’s running a marathon or going to the gym a couple of days a week, or even just going for a long walk.”
Hugo Michiels Photography/editing by Jim Carey Photography
Anything else? What about dancing?
“Dancing is great for fitness. After Strictly and the tour I teamed up with Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite, dance professionals from the show, and we formed Fitsteps. It’s a dance and fitness programme that incorporates different types of ballroom steps to create a fun and energetic way to keep fit. We launched Fitsteps in 2014 and today you can get involved in towns and cities across the UK.”
We see you a lot on TV and in the wider media, and you have a lot of projects going on – in some ways you’ve re-invented yourself. But it must have been strange and difficult when you finally retired from competitive swimming. We’ve talked about how you’ve kept very fit physically, but how was it adjusting mentally once you retired?
“Mentally it was challenging and a huge change for me. But I thrive on challenges and on learning and doing new things. I started doing punditry and then presenting. People say that I’m good on TV, and that I’m relaxed, and I say I just talk. But the thing is that sense of being at ease came from doing it, learning it, doing it, learning it. The more I did it the more I learned and the better I got. And then from being a pundit I’ve moved on to do motivational speaking. I learned something and took it forward. That mind-set has been my approach since I retired from competitive swimming. I’ve always been a doer but beneath that for me it’s about developing a mind-set for success.”
So it’s great that the Go Dad Runs are now partnered with a specific mental health charity?
“It’s great to have CALM on board. Having a procedure like a prostatectomy, for example, can save your life, but after the operation many men are left facing things like impotence and incontinence which can have a huge psychological impact, but there’s not always the mental and emotional support there. It’s great that we can help do something about this.”
What do you to do relax? Do you have any passions or hobbies?
“I play a lot of golf. For me it’s a walk, fresh air, banter, whether with mates or maybe at a corporate event. It’s also the challenge of getting a small ball into a small hole that’s a long way away. I’m trying to get my handicap down. I always want to get better. It’s just like when I was swimming. I also like cycling and every year I do my own London to Brighton cycle ride with a bunch of mates to raise money for charity.”
What about things like music? Do you have a favourite kind of music, band or artist?
“If I had to choose a genre it would be 80’s music. I’m a bit of an 80s fiend. As a kid I remember listening to 80’s music and now I’ve ended up meeting people like Martin Kemp who’s become a friend, as well as Heather Small from M People and Leee John from Imagination. All of a sudden I became a part of their world, which is very bizarre as they were the ones I used to watch on Top of the Pops. Otherwise I like current acts like Christine and the Queens. And I like Elbow a lot.”
As well as being a respected sports pundit and journalist you’re well known for celebrity TV shows, from Strictly Come Dancing to Come Dine with Me. Do you have a favourite moment from the shows you’ve been in?
“They were all very good experiences for lots of different reasons. I did Come Dine With Me with a load of athlete friends of mine and yes we wanted to win but at the same time it was more of an entertainment show. Strictly was an awful lot of fun getting a professional dancer to teach me.”
Do you think you’re a better cook or a better dancer?
“A better cook. I don’t think I’m a good dancer. I can do it and I learned an awful lot on Strictly, but I really like cooking. You’re not on display in the same way as with ballroom dancing. I enjoy cooking for friends and of course I cook all the time for myself.”
Who’s scarier, Anne Robinson or Craig Revel Horwood?
“Anne Robinson. Craig is a big sweetheart who plays a character, a pantomime villain, but in reality he’s a wonderful, lovely, easy-going person. Joking aside Anne Robinson is lovely too. They’re both playing a role. In fact when I did the weakest link Anne just kept flirting with me and I went on to win it!”
It’s good to give the brain a good work out too. I’m a bit of a scrabble nerd and I like watching Countdown. Did you get many nine letter words when you were in Dictionary Corner?
“No but I did get a few sevens and got an eight once. But I’m good at maths and got a lot of that stuff right.”
Apart from the Go Dad Run on June 25, where else can we look out for you in the near future?
“I just filmed a documentary for ITV called The Full Monty, where celebrities including myself, Harry Judd from McFly, Wayne Sleep and Dom Littlewood are put together in a performance to help raise men’s awareness around prostate and testicular cancer. We were trained by Ashley Banjo and Alexander Armstrong is the compere. At the start we didn’t know each other that well, though we each have a backstory connecting us to one of the cancers. In the programme we go on a journey which leads to us stripping off on stage at the London Palladium in front of two and a half thousand people.”
And do you do the full monty?
“We do. It’s all off!”
Anything else to watch out for?
“At the end of July I’ll be commentating at the World Swimming Championships in Budapest alongside Rebecca Adlington. Oh, and I filmed a bit for a movie the other day which comes out next year. It’s a feel good movie and it’s my first film role. I can’t say much more about it at this point.”
Mark will be at Hove Park on Sunday, June 25 for the Sanlam Go Dad Run.
Registration is open on the day from 9am in Hove Park.
The 5K starts at 10:30am and the 10K at 10:40 am.
Hugo Michiels Photography/editing by Jim Carey Photography
To learn more about supporting the event or to sign up to run, click here:
The National Theatre is set to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales by staging its first Queer Theatre event series from July 6 – 10, 2017.
As part of the programme a group of world-class actors and directors will look at how theatre has charted the LGBT+ experience through a series of rehearsed readings and post-show discussions in the Lyttelton Theatre.
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Photo by George Schiavone
Launching the initiative, playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney spoke about directing a reading of his play Wig Out!: “I feel grateful to be returning to the UK and reading this piece” he said. “As we continue better to understand ourselves and how we perform in the world I hope this investigation back into the ‘ball scene’ will be as exciting as it is important. #Alllove&Allpride.”
Stephen Daldry
Speaking about directing Martin Sherman’s ground-breaking 1979 play Bent, Stephen Daldry said: “As a teenager Bent was the first play I ever saw on the London stage. Amazingly at a theatre I went on to be the director of. It was a devastating experience for a young gay man from a small market town in Somerset. I can honestly say the experience changed my life. The play went on to take London by storm. I am thrilled and honoured to direct a rehearsed reading of Martin Sherman’s explosive play to mark this important anniversary.”
The NT’s Queer Theatre event series is hosted in partnership with London Pride. As well as the rehearsed readings it will include a free exhibition and other talks and screenings, details of which will be announced shortly.
The full programme of rehearsed readings is:
♦ Neaptide by Sarah Daniels (1986), Thursday, July 6 7.30pm, directed By Sarah Frankcom
Neaptide was the National Theatre’s first full-length play by a female playwright. It presents a ferocious but funny account of the public and private battles of a lesbian mother in the 1980s, alongside the ancient myth of Demeter & Persephone. Having recently come out to her family, Claire now faces a bitter custody battle and uncertainty over her teaching career.
♦ Wig Out! by Tarell Alvin McCraney (2008), Friday, July 7, 7.30pm, directed by Tarell Alvin McCraney
Witness the fiercest battle in New York as the House Of Light compete with the House Of Diabolique for drag family supremacy at the Cinderella Ball. When Eric meets Wilson, it’s a good old-fashioned boy meets boy fairytale. However, when Wilson reveals his drag alter-ego Nina, questions of masculinity and gender come to the fore. In the tradition of Paris Is Burning, this big, bold and riotous play looks at gender, drag and fabulousness.
Peter Gill: Photo by Nobby Clark
♦ Certain Young Men by Peter Gill (1999), Saturday, July 8, 7.30pm, directed by Peter Gill
‘To be really queer you have to have someone nail your foreskin to a piece of wood and generally kick up a bit of a fuss.’ As the new millennium approaches, four gay couples illuminate the differences within the ‘gay community’. Is gay life defined by living in coupled suburban bliss or chasing casual sex?
♦ Bent by Martin Sherman (1979), Sunday, July 9, 2.30pm, directed by Stephen Daldry
Following Nazi Germany’s Night Of The Long Knives in 1934, gay lovers Max and Rudy are taken away to Dachau by the Gestapo. Desperate to avoid the dreaded Pink Triangle, Max claims to be Jewish. In amongst the horrors of the Camp, he meets Horst who wears his Pink Triangle with pride.
Polly Stenham: Photo by Laura Pannack
♦ The Drag by Mae West (1927), Monday, July 10, 7.30pm, directed by Polly Stenham
The play that scandalised 1920s New York follows respected, married socialite Rolly. Son of a homophobic judge and married to the daughter of an eminent gay conversion therapist, Rolly is keen to keep his homosexual tendencies under wraps. However, when he decides to host a drag ball in his drawing-room, events soon spiral out of control. One of the first plays to shed light on gay counter-culture, Mae West’s rarely performed comedy was banned after ten performances.
The Queer Theatre event series will coincide with 2017 London Pride weekend and tickets will go on sale from Friday, May 5. Tickets include entry to each post-show discussion.
For more information on the Queer Theatre event series, click here:
Brighton Diversity Games, organised by BLAGSS, Brighton LGBT Sports Society, will take place over the weekend of July 8 and 9, 2017.
The Games include Same-Sex Dance Championships, which comprises two sessions and will take place at the Mandela Hall, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RH on Saturday, July 8.
The Morning Session from 11am–3pm will include the Women’s Ballroom and Men’s Latin competitions.
The Afternoon Session from 4pm–8pm will include the Men’s Ballroom and Women’s Latin competitions.
A BLAGSS spokesperson, said:“Spectators are very welcome and make a valuable contribution to the atmosphere of the day. There will be opportunities for social dancing throughout the day and a guest appearance from the Sugar Dandies, as featured on Britain’s Got Talent.”
A small number of tickets may be available on the door.
A Golf Tournament will take place on the Downland Course at Hollingbury, Brighton on Saturday, July 8 from 8.30am with tee times from 9.30am.
Golfers are invited to take part in the individual Stableford competition and the tournament is open to men and women with a congu or society handicap of 36 or lower.
The tournament will be played at two levels: the Pride Shield – for those with a congu handicap; and the Rainbow Challenge – for those with a society handicap. There are Men’s and Women’s competitions within both categories.
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the passing of the Sexual Offences Act, which decriminalised consensual sex (in private) in England and Wales between men aged 21 and over.
In commemoration and celebration of this landmark legislation, and with a mission to continue to push for positive change, Tate Britain has put together an impressive retrospective of what it calls queer British art, though in some cases the art in question has a queer sensibility as opposed to being overtly created, commissioned or promoted by people who might have empathised with or self-defined as what we now call LGBTQI.
The show includes works from a period of over 100 years, and is bookended by the 1861 Offences against the Person Act, which abolished the death penalty for sodomy, and the ground breaking 1967 legislation.
Given the scope of this exhibition and the dramatic shifts in attitudes, society, science and law which span these years, this collection has to be seen as a snap shot rather than a definitive selection of queer British art. But as snap shots go it is at once panoramic and detailed, and provides a diverse showcase for some defining and important works of art, in this queer sphere of interest and beyond.
The show is spread over eight themed rooms and broadly runs chronologically.
In the first room many of the studies include images of beautiful young men and women which seem loaded with ambiguities that leave the works open to homoerotic interpretation.
They range from Henry Scott Tuke’s voyeuristic oil paintings of boys bathing, to the beautiful and heart-breaking paintings and drawings of Simeon Solomon and Sydney Harold Meteyard, whose works here evoke a resignation and despair perhaps caused by lost or unfulfilled same-sex desire and love.
The exhibition moves on to cover public indecency, looking at how public debate over sexuality and gender identity was stirred up by scandals, campaigns and scientific studies. It references the trials of Oscar Wilde and Radclyffe Hall and includes striking portraits of both protagonists, as well as memorabilia relating to Wilde’s imprisonment, notably the infamous calling card left by the Marquis of Queensbury which contained the damning accusation: “to Oscar Wilde posing as a sodomite.” Other notable exhibits include a portrait of Aubrey Vincent Beardsley alongside some of his sexually explicit drawings, and portraits of pioneering sexologist Henry Havelock Ellis and radical free-thinker and author of Homogenic Love, Edward Carpenter.
The next room looks at how queer perspectives could find public expression on the stage, and poses the question as to how far audiences were aware of their idols’ sexual personas and preferences, be they matinee heart-throbs or variety hall male and female impersonators. There’s a wonderful selection of publicity photographs, including the late Victorian ‘Funny He-She Ladies’ Fanny and Stella, Vesta Tilley’s much loved Burlington Bertie, and a spectacularly glamorous shot of Danny La Rue, who we learn preferred the term ‘comic in a frock’ to female impersonator.
Bloomsbury and Beyond looks at the artists and writers who famously ‘lived in squares and loved in triangles’ as they pushed the boundaries of what might be considered ‘normal’ relationships and created honest, unashamed art and literature that reflected their loves, passions and beliefs.
The room contains a number of works by Duncan Grant, including paintings which he himself never publicly exhibited because of their explicitly erotic gay content. Grant’s other sensual though less sexually explicit paintings of men bathing hearken back to Henry Scott Tuke’s paintings earlier in the show, though now there is a much stronger sense of male community and homoeroticism. A sense of a utopian, same-sex community, this time of women, is also reflected in Dame Ethel Walker’s large-scale oil painting, Decoration: the Excursion of Nausicaa.
William Strang: Lady with a Red Hat 1918
Women feature strongly in room five, both as artists and subjects. Here women artists are seen as defying convention, for example in their unapologetic eroticising of the naked female form, while in other paintings, such as Dorothy Johnstone’sRest Time in Life Class, there’s again a representation of an idyllic and exclusive female community which is intimate and self-supportive.
This room also contains several portraits of famously strong, creative women who challenged gender norms and traditional relationships during this period. They include Vita Sackville-West, Virginia Woolf and Vernon Lee.
The exhibition moves on to cover London as an Arcadian epicentre for queer art and culture in the 1950s and 60s, and finishes with a room dedicated to Francis Bacon and David Hockney’s honest and defiant depictions of male same-sex desire which were in fact painted before the 1967 Act.
These latter years where a time when more people were self-defining as LGBT+ and seeing themselves as part of a flourishing queer community, with artists in relationships living openly together and some, like Joe Orton, even having a gay notoriety and celebrity.
But while works here by Bacon and Hockney are fearless, with Hockney even painting the word ‘queer’ into his 1961 painting Going to be a Queen for Tonight, the works of Keith Vaughn for example, though very beautiful, seem shadowy and ambiguous and linked to an awkwardness, furtiveness and even shame. In his diaries Vaughn referred to the ‘social guilt of the invert’, and despite the changing times he, like many others, still lived in fear of prosecution and even blackmail.
The exhibition mini guide cites that ‘this is a history punctuated by bonfires and dustbins’. No doubt many significant works have been destroyed, lost, or never saw the light of day up to 1967 and indeed beyond.
Tate Britain’s chairman writes in his forward to the book accompanying the exhibition: “Our ability to bring together a collection of queer British Art and to expose our audience to a once taboo topic demonstrates the progress made in the last fifty years. But the fact that this is the first exhibition of its kind shows that society has yet to fully accept LGBTQ+ culture.”
It’s a sobering thought. We should all celebrate and support this exhibition and be hopeful for its legacy.
Queer British Art 1861-1967 @Tate Britain runs until October 1 2017.
This summer will see the publication of a new photographic book which records LGBT+ life in San Francisco during a seminal period in the development of the LGBT+ movement.
LGBT: San Francisco is the first book dedicated to photographer Daniel Nicoletta’s archive of powerful images tracing the burgeoning lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender (LGBT) mecca that was San Francisco in the 1970s to the present day.
Nicoletta is well-known for his iconic images of Harvey Milk, one of the world’s first openly gay elected officials who was assassinated by a homophobic colleague in 1978, but his photographs are also a unique insider’s perspective on the years that followed Milk’s death, taking us through the ebullience and the pathos of the times.
The book features a foreword by film director Gus Van Sant, who directed the Oscar nominated bio-pic, Milk, and has an introduction by Chuck Mobley.
In his foreward, Van Sant writes:“Danny’s photos are a treasured artistic record of the people who initiated a movement from within their own neighbourhood, and this work links that exuberant time to the larger history of LGBT people. This book is a very welcome addition to our enduring collective memory.”
From the outrageous and flamboyant to the political and poignant, Nicoletta’s images capture the excitement of the alternative theatre scene, the dazzling drag queens and kings, the rise of AIDS activism, and the unfailing bravery of the marriage quality movement.
Chuck Mobley writes in his introduction:“Perhaps it is helpful to remember that the majority of the people depicted in Nicoletta’s photographs – especially in the years prior to the digital deluge – did not necessarily grow up surrounded by the kind of imagery found in this book. Everything that they were experiencing – the politics, the love, the parties, their activism, their artistic endeavours, and the community they were creating – was entirely new. They were making it up as they went along; they weren’t simply mimicking what they had grown up seeing in films and photographs. All the while, Nicoletta was there alongside them, quietly building a sustained practice out of what was essentially a collective enterprise: the life and times around him.”
LGBT: San Francisco will be available from the end of June 2017.
It’s currently available for pre-order on Amazon and you can follow on Facebook, here:
The Games include Same-Sex Dance Championships, which comprises two sessions and will take place at the Mandela Hall, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RH on Saturday, July 8.
This summer will see the publication of a new photographic book which records LGBT+ life in San Francisco during a seminal period in the development of the LGBT+ movement.
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