Pink Sauce

The organisers of the 3rd International Day Against Homophobia (which will take place on 17th May 2007) are trying to get the United Nations to make a Resolution for the Decriminalisation of Homosexuality. Hundreds of national and international organisations, well-known cultural, political, and intellectual figures have endorsed the campaign since it was launched in November last year. You can sign the petition attached to the compaign here . In addition, to support the effort in the UK, the following petition has been submitted to Tony Blair, on the Number 10 website: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/IDAHO-Petition/ "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Campaign to the UN for a UN Resolution for Decriminalisation of Homosexuality. On the 17th May 2007, an International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), will again be campaigning for Governments across the World to petition the UN to bring forward a UN Resolution for Decriminalisation of Homosexuality. In this day and ag...

I am just back from paying a visit to the reopened British Film Institute. The space neighbouring the National Film Theatre under Waterloo Bridge which used to house the Museum of the Moving Image which closed in 1999. Ever since the space had remained unusued. Until last week that is, when it reopened, having been revamped. The space now houses the Foyer of the NFT together with a bookshop, a cafe (with free wifi), a gallery and a Mediatheque . The last area is where I wandered not really sure what I would find there. I booked 15 minutes with a screen, a mouse and a keyboard in one of the small booths dotting the space. A nice assistant gave me a number and I logged in and started trawling around the list of films on offer. I watched a few seconds of an episode of Little Brittain and a short silent film shot arround Old Street in the 1920's and showing a pub called the London Apprentice which apparently became one of the most famous gay pubs of the capital. However, I quickly fou...

This week-end (tomorrow) marks the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade by the British Parliament. Something which, of course everyone should rejoice in, even though 200 years on there is evidence that slavery still exists in the world albeit in different forms to what one may normally think about when thinking about slavery. Many institutions and organisations have been keen to rejoice in and mark the anniversary. This afternoon in London , the Church of England, had organised a " Walk of Witness " which was led by the archbishops of Canterbury and York. 200 years ago, there was a strong debate within the Church of England to decide whether William Wilberforce was right to say that Christians should oppose salvery. Last year the Church made a formal apology for its role in slavery. The Church held slaves on plantations in the Caribbean.An amendment "recognising the damage done" to those enslaved was backed overwhelmingly by the General Synod in F...

Seen today in a tiny alley called Church Entry near Blackfriars Station. Even friendless churches have friends, it seems...

Yesterday marked the last stage of a very long process by which, on 30 April, gay, lesbian and bisexual people will receive equal protection to that other members of the community enjoy in the provision of goods and services. As might have been expected, from the different incidents that peppered the troubled route of the Sexual Orientation Regulations since they were proposed, yesterday was a climactic day. There had been a build up in the past few days as the regulations were approved by MPs. The first salvo of the day took place during Prime Minister Question Time in the House of Commons, when the Tory MP William Cash put a question to Tony Blair regarding the ethos of the Regulations and the procedure leading to their approval. Throughout the afternoon, while the House and the rest of the world was concerned with the big parliamentary and political event of the day, a demonstration (and possibly even two) was taking place outside the Palace of Westminster ( Ekklesia and PinkNew...

The offensive What The Government Doesn't Want You To Know YouTube video I referred to in this post yesterday, has now been "removed by the user". I thankfully had thought about downloading it yesterday (using a nifty little Firefox add-on ), so I now have a copy for future reference. Was it only intended as a teaser for the demonstration it advertised to be taken down as soon as the demo had passed or has there been some (internal) pressure? We will never know. As friend of mine, who has seen the thing, expressed the following thoughts by email: Appalling and dangerous, but can anyone other than enshrined bigots really take such propaganda seriously? Like you I worry about such things but think (hope) they only really reach the small number of warped individuals that common sense and decency never will. However.... I follow American gay issues and have noted in recent months an upsurge in right wing campaigns against any sex and equality discussions in schools and col...

I am just back from the " Prayer Vigil " outside Parliament organised by right wings Christians to protest against the Sexual Orientation Regulations. Inside the Palace of Westminster, the Lords was preparing to vote to approve or reject the regulations. The organisers of the demonstration tonight must have hoped that it would be repeat of what happened on 09 January this year. But it wasn't at all. The picture above is a view of the crowd just after the start of the vigil at seven. About 200 people huddled together in the cold singing hymns. The space between the group and where I was standing when taking the picture was full of people in January. To be fair, our side didn't fair much better. At our peak, there were three of us. I spent most of the time I stayed there on my own (as far as I could tell) with a specially bought rainbow flag draped over my backpack. I think this was due to the fact that much less publicity had been given to this event than to the previ...

During the whole controversy around the Sexual Orientation Regulations, right wing Christians have never hesitated to distort the truth to try and forward their hateful rhetoric. That started last year with that advert in the Times , which is still being investigated by the Advertising Standards Agency, following 48 complaints. Then we had all the high profile attacks and lies from various religious leaders. And now this piece of vile rubbish: There are also several videos on YouTube featuring various interventions by "bishop" Michael Reid. He seems to be an independent "bishop" with his own church and he is the one who brought Ian Paisley at the demonstration outside Parliament on 09 January this year. In those videos, he keeps citing figures (how many of gay people there are, how many of us are in couples) from a study by one Welcome Foundation. Strangely enough, I could not find a trace of that Foundation on google or even on the "bishop"'s websit...

It was interresting, if rather sad, to hear Murphy O'Connor blubbering about gay adoption and the Sexual Orientation Regulations on the Today Programme on BBC Radio 4, this morning. It was just as sad to see how little Carolyn Quinn, the interviewer, challenged him on the half-baked arguments he produced. First he did not reply to the question about his earlier accusation against the government supposedly attacking democracy. This was simply a headline grabbing outburst since all the procedures have been respected in Parliament for the approval of the Regulations. This had the support of all 3 major front bench. Then we heard that old chestnut about the fact that giving rights to gay people and couples undermines marriage. This was not, as it never is, followed by an explanation of how this works. The only way to undermine marriage would be something that would change it's structure or purport. Not what is happening, by any means. Anyway, straight couples do a very good job th...

Wednesday sees the last stage (hopefully) of the legislative process before the introduction of the Sexual Orientation Regulations at the end of April. A vote for approval will be taking place in the House of Lords. A group of Christian lawyers (The Lawyers' Christian Fellowship) are planning a "prayer vigil" outside Parliament on the same night (between 7 and 9pm at Old Palace yard (the square opposite the St Stephen’s entrance to the House of Lords)), presumably trying to re-enact the demonstration which took place there on 09 January this year, against the Nothern Irish version of the Regulations. Here is what they are (perhaps not surprisingly) yelling (the online convention is that a text in capitals is being yelled) about the vigil (taken from their website, which I won't link to): WE PRAY FOR A MIRACLE NEXT WEDNESDAY. HOWEVER, WHATEVER THE OUTCOME IT IS VITAL THAT HISTORY RECORDS CHRISTIANS STANDING FOR TRUTH TO THE VERY END OF THE PARLIAMENTARY PROCESS. THIS ...

Today my back is aching and the rest of my body feels... well... there. I am also rather dehydrated and I generally feel like curling up back into bed. This blissful state was brought up by another of those new experiences London offers me from time to time. Yesterday I was given my first ever real massage. Before that, like most people, I had had my shoulders squeezed for a few minutes by a friend, and once and guy in a sauna had showed me hand and feet massage but that was about it. I met PMC, the masseur, online some weeks ago and we seem on the way to friendship. He is a musician but on Sunday we started chatting about his other professional talents. Somehow he ended up offering me to come over and have a massage. Because I can not afford to pay for the service, we agreed that I would provide something in exchange. I am to design a webpage for him to advertise his services. When I got to PMC's place in north London, started with a nice relaxed chat about his future webpage over...

Last Night, a group of conservative MPs, lead by Ann Widdecombe , managed to force a vote on the House of Commons to again approve the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 which had already been approved in Committee on Thursday. The MPs were quite heavily defeated in their attempt to scupper the Regulations. The House divided: Ayes 310, Noes 100. Reading the transcript ( here and here ) of the debates one gets the feeling that the move by those MPs was more as a question of principal against the fact that they felt they had not been given time to air their views on the subject. They were forgetting in the process of complaining that the Tory front bench had themselves agreed to the procedures used in this instance. Some supporters of the Regulations agreed to the fact that a debate was needed, however. Roger Gale (North Thanet) (Con), who voted against the Regulations, asked that the Speaker "ensure that time is made available on the Easter Adjournment to debate th...

Craig Nelson, in his LGBT Blog , has a post bringing together all the major documents related to the Sexual Orientation Regulations; from the draft Regulations to consultation responses via assessments and committee reports. There is also a quick summary of the differences between the British and Northern Irish versions of the Regulations, and a list of the different exemptions included in the draft, whether on religious grounds or not. Have a look . To read my (growing number of) previous posts on the subject, please click here or on "Sexual Orientation Regulations" in the right hand menu.

There seems to be some confusion as to what will be happening next in respect of the Sexual Orientation Regulations. The BBC's report on the Committee meeting which took place on Thursday morning seem to imply that the Regulations are now only waiting for implementation barring the risk of a forced vote in the House of Commons. The order of business for the House of Lords at the date of Wednesday 21 seems to imply that there is at least one last hurddle: Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 Baroness Andrews to move that the draft Regulations laid before the House on 13 March be approved. 12th Report from the Statutory Instruments Committee and 14th Report from the Merits Committee (Dinner break business) Baroness O’Cathain to move, as an amendment to the above motion, to leave out all the words after “that” and insert “this House, having regard to the widespread concerns that the draft Regulations compromise religious liberty and will result in litigation over the ...

As I reported last night, the Sexual Orientations Regulations were considered by a Committee of 16 MPs on Thursday. Only two of these (both conservative) voted against the Regulations (David Burrowes and Jeremy Wright). During the 90 minutes debate, Megg Munn, the Minister for Equality outlined the content of the regulations before the Front-Bench spokeswomen for both opposition parties were allowed to speak. Eleanor Laing , the Shadow Equality Minister, was speaking for the Conservatives here are extracts of what she said: [...] I have said that many times, as the Minister knows. It follows from that that we believe that discrimination on any grounds should be prohibited. We in the Conservative party truly believe in the freedom of the individual and in freedom of conscience. We are addressing matters of individual belief and of conscience, so although I support the introduction of the regulations and, if a Division is called, I shall vote for them, I do not require my hon. Friends to...

Yesterday morning , the draft Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007 was approved by the Twelfth Delegated Legislation Committee of the House of Commons. Room 11 of the Palace of Westminster (Interestingly, this is the meeting room next door to the one in which a delegation of us was received 2 years ago for LGBT History Month) apparently proved too small for the number of MPs (about 60) attending the meeting, which had been convened at the last minute for some unknown reason. A transcript of the discussion can be found here and a recording of it here (90min). Conservative MPs, who attended en force, tried to have the meeting cancelled claiming that a matter of such importance should be discussed by the House rather than an otherwise small and obscure committee. They felt they could not properly represent the views and concerns of the Catholic Church. It turned out, however that the committee procedure had been agreed by Conservative big whigs. Megg Munn MP , the Ministe...

This is in response to this (slightly confused) article on Pink News. Being myself strongly opposed to organised religions and their interference in public life, I can see exactly what the author means, when he suggest that Politics and Religion should remain separate. Being French, this is also a major part of my republican education. However, things are not that simple and I would contend that such a separation is nigh on impossible. People's political views are underpinned by their ethics and morals, whether they be religious or secular (and it is worth remembering that some liberal/secular views can sometimes take on the intencity of religious extremism). It would be impossible to ask someone to forget about the teachings of their religion, which presumably also underpin their outlook on life, before allowing them to contribute to social life. Similarly, the obvious solution to the problem, the banning of religious people from public life, would be an unacceptable attack on de...

Following this morning's post , I found myself this afternoon, quite uncharacteristically, in a bar. I haven't been to Kudos for a couple of years now I think. It certainly feels like it anyway. The clientele seems more or less the same (older men, east asian guys, blick guys mostly)but the decor has changed. After sometimes spent upstairs, my companion and I moved to the basement area. The last time I was there, the basement looked like a noisy miniature club, with a dance floor and a large screen showing video clips in a loop. This space has now been turned into a classy lounge, with sofas, cushions, leather and candles. There is even a piano with a cute waiter playing it at the time when I was there. When he stopped, the music that replaced him was jazzy and low. They have some sort of crooner performing later tonight. The most important thing however: it is a non smoking area. Having spent sometimes upstairs, I still reek fo smoke but being down there was O so nice... I th...

If you look hard enough, you will probably find that every day in the calendar has been taken over by some good cause or other. Most of the time, very few people hear of it and almost as often, this is just as well, because very few people care about that particular cause. Today's day, Non Smoking Day 2007 (the day is in its 24th year) has perhaps more resonance than most. 12 million adults in the UK smoke cigarettes - 26% of men and 23% of women. The day is also particularly relevant for the LGBT community since 53% of gay men smoke . That a much higher rate than for the general population. Every year, around 114,000 smokers in the UK die as a result of their addiction. This means that smoking kills around six times more people in the UK than road traffic accidents (3,439), other accidents (8,579), poisoning and overdose (881), alcoholic liver disease (5,121), murder and manslaughter (513), suicide (4,066), and HIV infection (234) all put together (22,833 in total - 2002 figures)....

Today I added another item to the ever growing list or strange and marvellous things I have had the opportunity to do since I moved to London. Things that I would probably never have done or could expect to ever do, had I stayed in France. This list includes: appearing in Court... as the prosecution, meeting or see a number of c'lebs, appearing in 2 films (no, not porn, thanks very much!), singing in prestigious international concert venues as well as on national and local radios, be elected Rear Of The Year 2003, and a few other things I can't think of at the moment... Today started quite normally with a bus trip for the Weekly-Cultural-Outing-To-Tesco as I call it. I then got home, ate me lunch and got ready for this month's meeting of my reading group . One of people attended the meeting, SH, who does not come very often, is a vague aquaintance of mine (he is always jetting around the world for his work and spends little time in London). One of the first people I met in ...

I am just back from Colchester . Not the obvious destination for a trip on a sunny Saturday afternoon in early spring, one might think. And one might very well be right; however, master Slightly , in his increasingly worrying mania for all things cycling (he and his man apparently plan on dedicated a room in their future home to their bikes! And, yes, I know, I intend to have a room for my books (a library or bibliotheque, I think they are called), so why not one for bikes (a cyclotheque?)...), has bought himself a bike off ebay (for a fraction of its value) and I had been invited to tag along with him as he was collecting it: in Colchester. In Slightly's defense I must add however that it is not any old bike. This is an early 1960's racing team bike. That alone would probably make it quite special. What is even more of interest is that this particular bike (and its wheels) was handmade by Barry Witcomb, in Deptford. Witcomb Cycles , who have been going since 1949, are one of t...

There used to be a time when seeing straight friends getting married, having children and going in off in the sunset to live in their own little exclusive bubble of domestic bliss, I could find some comfort in the fact that at least my gay friends would not let me down in the same way and remain as miserable as me. Since the introduction of Civil Partnerships over a year ago, it seems that everyone is now getting itched. First it was the girls , then it was Adam and Ian , then Slightly , my business partner, and now it is czechOUT 's turn. And of course, they are going to take the best ones. All this gut-churning "lurving" and house-playing is simply revolting for my poor bitter, envious and twisted heart of disconsolate, hardened spinster. Hopefully some of them will remember to save me one of the furry things they will no doubt soon start to produce. If not, I'm just really going to have to get a cat and take up knitting. Almost makes a girl want to shout: " I...

After many delays due to the level of interest and controversy generated, the Sexual Orientation (Goods and Services) Regulations 2007 were published yesterday by the government. The regulations as they now stand are almost similar to those already in place in Northern Ireland since January and do not allow for further discriminations from religious organisations than the expected and acceptable doctrinal exemption. Faith-based adoption agencies are given until the end of 2008 to comply with the new regulations following the vocal protest from the Catholic Church on this respect. Insurance companies and National Blood Service have also been granted limited opt-outs . Right until last week, there were fears that the Regulations in England , wales and particularly Scotland might be compromised but this did not turn out to be the case. This is obviously very good news; showing the govermnent's committment to true equality. While religious groups are being placated with the measures ...

Dear(, dear ) M., Although you know about this blog, I am pretty sure that you will not visit and read this. I guess I have made sure of that myself. But to be honest (and that is the point of this exercise after all), I am even hoping that you will and I am writing this for myself to try and put this to bed and lay it to rest. Admire the choice of words! When I finally left a "footprint" on your profile and then contacted you on Saturday, I wasn't expecting what has been happening since. As I mentioned during our good humoured initial banter, I have been aware of your profile for months. The way you look; that combination of boyishness and manliness, your bookish good looks and that natural-looking yet obviously cared-for (muscular) body, have intrigued me for some time now. Discovering that you were an artist and a book collector only increased my interest. Our subsequent meeting, later that day and what happened there, truly sealed the deal for me. You were so kind, re...