Pink Sauce

Following the reading of an article on Pink News about the Catholic Chruch's opposition to marriage equality in Scotland, I decided a week ago to write an email to John Deighan, the Catholic Church's parliamentary officer. Contrary to my expectations I received a response though not really a reply within a day or two. I replied back with further points but I haven't heard anything more from Mr Deighan. Response and reply are copied below. Dear [Zefrog], Thank you for getting in touch. It is of course difficult to convey the details of our views in the media and I fully understand that it can be confusing to have arguments reduced to soundbites. It would be nice if we were given the opportunity for a full explanation of our views. Fundamentally marriage arises from human nature and is a consequence of the natural complementarity of male and female. This is the environment in which children come in to the world and provides the ideal environment (ordinarily) for the socialis...

The first vigil had been organised following the fatal attack against gay man Ian Baynham on the Square. This edition of the vigil now directed against hate crime in general but gathering mostly members of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) community. Speakers included Lynn Featherstone (minister), Brian Paddick (out mayoral candidate) , Ken Livingston (mayoral candidate), Elly Barnes (No1 in the Independent's Pink List 2011), Sue Sanders (co-chair of Schools Out and LGBT History Month), and Stuart Milk (nephew of Harvey Milk). There were performances by a choir made up of members of London's three LGBT choir (London Gay Men's Chorus, Pink Singers and Diversity Choir) and the London Gay Wind Orchestra. No representent of the current mayor was present. Two minutes silent were held at 8pm followed by the reading of names of LGBT and disabled victims of hate crime. Other vigil were taking place simultaneously around the country, including at the Occupy London camp outs...

Following the reading of this article on Pink News about the Catholic Chruch's opposition to marriage equality in Scotland, I decided to write the following email to John Deighan, the Catholic Church's parliamentary officer. I really hope I get a response to this question I have been asking myself for a while. Dear Mr Deighan, I was interested to read an article reproducing one of your recent statements about the possibility of marriage being extended to gay couples in Scotland. According to this article, you said the following: “Bishop Tartaglia was forthright in his assertion that proposals to legislate for same sex marriage would be harmful to society and to the government." The fact that same-sex marriage would be harmful to society or various variations on a similar theme are one of the main argument cited by its opponents. These are however never accompanied with any reasons or explanation as to how exactly marriage equality would be harmful to society. What would it...

Another year and another Pride have gone. My 10th Pride in London. Like last year, I was walking with the London Gay Men's Chorus but for some reason it all felt a bit underwhelming. And I am not even sure why as no noticeable difference springs to mind. My pictures of the day can be found on flickr, here . Previous sets of pictures: Pride London 2007 Pride London 2008 Pride London 2009 Pride London 2010

As we are steadily reminded throughout the hour and half hour of Park Avenue Cat , the new play by Frank Strausser, which had its "world premiere" this week-end at the Arts Theatre, time is money. Most of the play takes place in the office of a posh LA therapist who charges $200 per hour. So, having sat through the play, I am wondering why the author spent time writing it, why a production team spent time putting it up and why I and any audience member are asked to spent time (and money) watching it. The play, said to be "a triangle with four corners" (!), brings together a therapist (Tessa Peake-Jones), who is probably not enjoying her job all that much), Lily (Josefina Gabrielle - the eponymous Parc Avenue cat) as well as Philip (Gray O'Brien - aka Tony Gordon in Coronation Street) and Dorian (Daniel Weyman), Lily's lovers. In an interview on the play's dedicated website, Strausser (who was in the audience) explains that he thinks comedy comes out of a...

Today I popped in the National Portrait Gallery to view the paintings shortlisted for the BP Portrait Award 2011. This year was mostly underwhelming, I have to say, with many examples of a trend in modern portraiture that I find particularly annoying: the photo look. Paintings with the slick, smooth, slightly-soft-focused look of a photography. I do like hyper-realism but for some reason I can't abide that look in portraiture. The overall winner , by Wim Heldens, just about escapes my ire in that respect. Although I rather like it, it is also not part of my favourites. You can find them below in bad iPhone pictures I took myself (the links provide more info about the paintings and the artists): George O'Dowd by Layla Lyons, oil on canvas on wooden stretcher, 1800 x 1400 mm Abi , by Nathan Ford, oil on canvas, 280 x 200 mm and just because I like Maxi: Maxi Jazz by Joe Simpson, oil on canvas, 600 x 600 mm There was another one I liked, which I didn't photograph and doesn...

In the Open Letter sent out 7 June regarding the Gay Free Zone case, a number of gay and feminist activists closed by saying: "The East London Mosque claims to have no responsibility over those who speak there. The East London Mosque also claims to be opposed to the 'gay-free zone' campaign and homophobia. We demand that the East London Mosque live up to its stated word, take ownership of its platform and stop allowing its premises to be used to promote gay-hate campaigns." Salman Farsi, Communications Officer from the East London Mosque, speaking to the Guardian responded by saying: "Any speaker who is believed to have said something homophobic will not be allowed to use our premises, whether that is us organising an event or someone else. As for the condemnation of homophobia, our director has gone on the record on this." We, the undersigned, welcome the East London Mosque's statement that they will no longer allow their premises to be used by homopho...

“ But I bear no malice against the people I abuse: when I say an ill natured thing, ‘tis out of pure good humor; and I take it for granted they deal exactly in the same manner with me. ” Bit of binge drinking - Picture by Neil Libbert Have you heard the one about the "athlete" who had an affair with that woman off the telly and now he is suing Twitter because he didn't want people to know but everyone is talking about it on there? Well, I can't really tell you about it, yeah, cause of the super injunction thingy but I bet it's going to end up all over the papers anyway like what happen to that banker, Goodwin, yeah. That super injunction thing rather backfired for him, innit? Anyway, you'll never guess, on Friday evening I went to see that play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It's called The School for Scandal or something. It's quite famous, I think. And I heard that that bloke Sheridan he had to fight a dual (twice! imagine...) because a journalist h...

I don't know much about poetry but there are a few poems I like. this is one of them Jabberwocky 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought-- So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! and through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back. "And hast thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!" He chortled in his joy. 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; A...

We learned this afternoon that an 18 year has been sentenced to a £100, ordered to pay £85 costs and a £15 victim surcharge for placing stickers in various parts of east London, designating them as "gay-free zones". The stickers caused a lot of controversy in the area and even more discord within the LGBT community but thankfully nothing serious came out of it. The affray is probably already much more than what the people behind the stickers were expecting to achieve. Nevertheless, already I have seen people commenting that the sentence isn't enough, that is is a "f*cking joke". It seems to me that it is on the contrary about fair and probably quite close the maximum of what it could have been for the charge of public order offence of using threatening or abusive words or behaviour. It seems to me that £200 is quite a lot for someone who is on the dole, particularly as punishment for something they didn't even think was wrong. At the tribunal, Mohammed Hasn...

Following the delivery of a 1000-signature-strong petition on Tuesday, a meeting took place on Wednesday morning between gay-rights activists and the management of the John Snow Pub in Soho. This is part of the ongoing reaction to the alleged ejection from the pub of a gay couple for kissing, last month. On receiving the open letter accompanied by the 1087 signatures of support gathered online, an unidentified member of staff had agreed on Tuesday night to meet again with the activists the next morning. The meeting took place outside the John Snow between three representatives of the pub and four protestors, one of whom described the occasion as "civil throughout". The protestors were advised that management is not at liberty to comment on the situation due to an ongoing police investigation into the incident. They were also informed that the pub's CCTV tapes have been handed over to the police. The results of the investigation are reportedly expected in two weeks. A new...

A petition gathering over 1000 signatures was delivered today to the Soho pub that found itself at the centre of an international media storm last month. The 57 page petition before it was delivered to the pub (Picture by me). On the evening of Wednesday 13 April 2011, Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were asked to leave the John Snow public house for kissing while on their first date. A member of staff allegedly described the couple’s behaviour as "obscene" and evicted them from the establishment. Despite several attempts by journalists at contacting the management of the John Snow, as well as the Samuel Smith Old Brewery, which owns the pub, neither the pub nor the brewer released any comment, statement or apology. In an attempt to get the management of the pub to air their side of the story and to create a dialogue, a group of activists who had organised two successful kiss-in events outside the pub decided to write an open letter. The letter demanded that the J...

I have just returned from a week exploring the sunny streets of Prague, capital of the Czech Republic. Much walking was involved and just as much photographing (I shot over 1000 images if I include the duds that weren't worth keeping). A selection of those pictures (a mere 436 of them!) is available on flickr here . It was an interesting experience for me to observe my images evolve as the days went along. On the first couple of days, I found it impossible or quite hard to take original pictures, ie images that were not your bog standard tourist shot and that ultimately present little interest. As the days went on, however, I started to move away from those; starting to notice details and oddities, as if the city came into focus, and I hope that my images gained in interest as a result. I also went to some places on the outskirts of Prague that not many tourist can have visited, such as the eastern terminus of the tram line 22 or a street in what could be a village if it wasn'...

I don't know much about poetry but there are a few poems I like. this is one of them Demain, dès l'aube, à l'heure où blanchit la campagne, Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m'attends. J'irai par la forêt, j'irai par la montagne. Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps. Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées, Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit, Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées, Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit. Je ne regarderai ni l'or du soir qui tombe, Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur, Et quand j'arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur. by Victor Hugo, Les Contemplations , 1856

In a bit to avoid the wall-to-wall coverage of a certain event taking place in Westminster this morning, I had to take refuge in the gym (which was thankfully open). In the afternoon, however things took a more subversive turn. First with an aborted queer zombies flashmob organised by Queer Resistance in Soho Square. The aim was to protest the current budget cuts made by the government and affecting various part of the LGBT community. Unfortunately the police seems to arbitrarily decide that such a gathering would be an inconvenience to the more conventional revelers and gave the handful of peaceful protesters five minutes to leave the Square under threat of being arrested. This really did smack of an abuse of power worthy of the worst police state. Later I joined a group of members of the London Gay Men's Chorus who had dragged up as bride to enjoy a little pub crawl around Soho. This happened without any problem and was met with cheers and many requests for photographs for the c...

My pictures of the second kiss-in which took place on 21 April can be found on flickr here . Don't forget to sign the petition here . (My pics of the first kiss in can be found here .)

You can join us in this by signing the petition on Facebook. (click here if you are not on Facebook) On the evening of Wednesday 13 April 2011, Jonathan Williams, 26, and James Bull, 23, were asked to leave the John Snow public house for kissing while on their first date. A member of staff allegedly described the couple’s behaviour as obscene and evicted them from the establishment. The media have reported several accounts of this incident. The general consensus has been that the couple's behaviour was entirely appropriate for a couple enjoying their first romantic evening together. The strength of feeling that this mistreatment of a gay couple raised in London’s LGBT community was such that in the course of less than 30 hours, a gay kiss-in was organised with several hundred participants at the John Snow on the evening of 15 April 2011. Another kiss-in followed the next week on 21 April 2011. Rather than allow the LGBT protesters into or around the pub, the John Snow closed its ...

Musings on the John Snow pub events - The Events There are of course always two sides to a story and it would be very interesting indeed to hear the management's side of this particular one. The problem is that the management has shown a remarkable lack of PR savvy throughout the whole story. Not only have they consistently refused to answer enquiries from the press or issuing pithy comments like “I have every right to kick people out if I wish.” or “Can you just stop calling this number please, or we’ll have you done for harassment.” but the Samuel Smith Brewery, who owns the pub has been equally silent (although this is apparently normally policy from the company in the face of crisis). What is utterly astounding, and, in the mind of many, further proof of foul play, is that the landlord, cutting his nose to spite his face, should have deemed it preferable to close the pub on a Friday night, on what would no doubt be a very busy and profitable night, rather than let openly and vi...

Last night about 600 people gathered outside a pub at the heart of Soho to protest against homophobia, of all things. On Wednesday night, a young couple was having their first date. After pizza, they went to a favourite pub, the John Snow, and as the night progressed and they enjoyed each other's company, they started kissing. Independent witnesses have assured us that this was all very light stuff. Nothing that should worry anyone in a Soho pub. Yet Jonathan Williams and James Bull (pictured), both in their 20s say they were asked to stop by a customer who identified himself as the landlord and professed himself "bothered". A couple of hours later, as Bull was preparing to leave, he gave, Williams "a peck on the lips". A woman claiming to be the landlady apparently asked them to leave at this point calling their behaviour "obscene"; the earlier customer/landlord allegedly lending her support and grabbing Bull by the lapel of his jacket. The couple lef...

This is a poem I studied at school when I was in my mid to late teens. I love the music of it. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he's a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he's to setting. That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer; But being spent, the worse, and worst Times still succeed the former. Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry: For having lost but once your prime, You may for ever tarry. by Robert Herrick, Hesperides , 1648

Someone I know who believes in reincarnation once told me that each new incarnation is some sort of long experiment for our being to try to learn about and correct some specific deficiency that prevents it from reaching perfection. The whole incarnation is geared up to test that deficiency and allow the being to challenge and overcome it. Although it sounds far-fetched, moments of indulgent introspection sometimes make the proposition rather seductive. If I were to say what challenge it is that I have to tackle in this lifetime, what cross I have to bear (to use a rhetoric more relevant to my upbringing), the obvious choice would be communication. Facets of it imbue most aspects of my life, from my professional life (Internet, branding, graphic design, marketing) to my interests (photography, singing, reading, blogging), via my personal life ("spinsterhood" and chronic deficit of social skills) or my life away from my mother tongue. It is the overarching narrative in my life....

Yesterday, I took my camera around the neighbouring Heygate Estate. You can read about it in Londonist here . All the pictures of my visit can be found on my flickr account here . -------------------------- The Londonist article has been picked up in the Guardian's list of top London blogs .

It's not often that you can attend a world premiere. Much less often on the 100th anniversary of the birth of playwright; one among the greatest of the past century. This is however what I managed to pull off yesterday by attending a performance of an unpublished, never-performed, 1970 work by Tennessee Williams: I Never Get Dressed Till After Dark On Sundays at the Cock Tavern Theatre in Kilburn. And a treat it was too. This production is only one of a winning streak since the appointment of Adam Spreadbury-Maher as artistic director two years ago. This includes a lovely and highly appropriate version of La Bohème (my review for Londonist here ). Cameron Harris as Director tries to convince Lewis Hayes as Tye and Shelley Lang as Jane to say their lines. Photo: Rocco Redondo . Once again the creative team have managed to make the best use of the intimate (some may say cramped) space that is the Cock Theatre. Some of the actors are seated among the audience who become even more inv...

Below is the result of my live tweeting of the third Walk For Love, including a few pics - start at the bottom. More pictures are available on Flickr by clicking on the image above. The event on Sunday 06 March, started at Poplar DLR station and ended in Cabot Place in Canary Wharf. The aim is to counter with a message of love a hate campaign using stickers to declare part of the East End a "gay free zone" Next #helpyourselftolove walk on Friday [11th March] . 6pm Shoreditch Town Hall. See you there people :) » He said people could come and talk to him about the issue anytime. » The head of security for Canary Wharf has just been down to chat to us. Very supportive and positive » RT @MODERN1ST: Help Yourself to LOVE @ Poplar DLR Station http://instagr.am/p/CDGMi/ » Tea and warmth break » Apparently they've had loads everyday for about a week. And some good CCTV footage... » been spotted by Canary Wharf's own Big Brother. Their delegate was very friendly. Said they...

Below is the result of my live tweeting of the second Walk For Love, including a few (bad) pics) - start at the bottom. The event on Friday 25 February, started at the Shoreditch Town Hall and found its circuitous way around part of East London to end in Brick Lane. The aim is to counter with a message of love a hate campaign using stickers to declare part of the East End a "gay free zone" Back on Brick Lane. This is where live twitting of the #helpyourselftolove walk stops. Thanks for reading. See you next week :) » A few people have asked us what we were all about. Reaction to the word gay was muted but not hostile » Sheep of Love are live sheep at the Spitalfield City Farm #mysterysolved » There will be another walk next friday. Check out Facebook for details » Oops. Got a bit lost there for a sec » We are being promised the Sheep of Love #intriguing » We are at Osmani Primary School » RT @scottbert I've been clearing them off round Marsh Wall/Canary Wharf area...no m...

I had a busy but most interesting day, yesterday. The Chorus had been asked to support two events marking LGBT History Month (which is this month, as you no doubt know). The first event, organised by the Deptarment for Education's LGBT staff network, found us singing in the massive "cruise-line-like" atrium of the ministry, with people attracted by our sound looking down on us from the 7 stories of the building. The Lunchtime event was hosted by David Bell, the Permanent Secretary. Following our performance, we had been invite to stay on and attend Q&A session with Jane Hill (BBC news reader) and Leslie Jordan (US comedian). Both speakers first talked about themselves and their experiences of being gay. Members of staff were then invited to ask questions. Jane Hill and Leslie Jordan speaking at the Department for Education While this was a very enjoyable event and Leslie Jordan was particularly funny, the event seemed to a lack a little in focus. The speakers were a...

Last Thursday, I was given the chance to visit the Olympic Park in Est London. Perfect weather for it too. I had had an opportunity back in November but stupidly had forgotten my passport. The Olympics Delivery Authority's idea of security being rather restrictive, my Tesco card didn't prove enough to let me and I had to be content with viewing the stadium from the viewing point outside the perimetre of the park, take a couple of pics and go home. This time I got in and did a write up for Londonist ( here ). The tour took place is single-decker bus, so the quality of the pics is not what it could have been. You can view said pics on flickr, here .

I have to say that, when, this morning, I read that article of yours in which you so eloquently denounce the production of optional lesson plans that would force absolutely every school in the realm to possibly have to consider the idea of maybe including LGBT elements in their curriculum, I was particularly impressed with the dexterity with which you arranged reality to fit your idiosyncrated and rightuous view of the world. How can one not be impressed with your citing the story of that preacher, who was NOT condemned for homophobic statements, as one of the incontrovertible proofs that those poor Christians are yet again under attack by the nasty gays and their terrible homosexual agenda . Likewise, exhalting as examplary the case of those B&B owners who decided that they were above the law of this country and refused a bedroom to a civilly-partnered gay couple, was truly a masterstroke. I can also only applaud and humbly agree when, dear Melanie, you state that "this is b...

The following was written as part of a workshop on blogging LGBT history at the Museum of London, organised by Untold London . After the visit described above, we were simply asked to blog something in 20min, hence the rough, rushed, not-really-thought-through nature of it (particularly the conclusion). I haven't had time to proofread or refine it. There were a few strange looks but mostly people seemed oblivious. Amusingly some people looked actually rather pleasantly surprised to hear those words in such an unexpectedly place. We were a group of about 30 people blocking the narrow spaces of the museum, there on a whistletour of the collections for some elusive glimpses at LGBT history. Our guide wasn't shy in using words as incongruous in those surroundings as homosexuality, gay and sodomy. Quite loudly too! After being shown a bronze head of Hadrian which used to be part of a statue on London Bridge, we were moved on to a little alcove housing a head of the god Mithras. As...