Pink Sauce

"If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.", wrote Isaac Newton in 1675. It wasn’t an original thought even at the time but as we reach the middle of this year’s LGBT History Month, and as some wonder what the need is for such an event, this quote seems particularly apt.  Although, as in so many cases, evidence is scant, Newton seems likely to have been at least romantically attracted to men. A possible proclivity, which, like that of so many other prominent figures, is either not discussed or actively maintained in the recesses of the darkest closet by an interested or downright hostile society.  Further than this, however, the quote epitomises the situation of any LGBT person living in the UK in 2018. It is a cliché but we do indeed stand on the shoulders of giants; people who have had the courage to speak out and push for laws and mentalities to change; for us to be in a position to live our lives more or less as we please (although, as rese...

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...

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...

Last night I attended the evening part of the pre-launch event of LGBT History Month 2011 which was taking place at Twickenham Stadium. The Month is focusing on LGBT sports for the next two years, leading to the Olympic Games. The day was a busy one with many things happening, including the 3rd UK LGBT Sports Summit. The evening leg of the event included a Judjitsu demonstration, various speakers and a panel discussion chaired by Jane Hill and bringing together out LGBT athletes Gareth Thomas, John Amaechi and Clare Harvey. My pictures of the evening can be found in this flickr set here . Some of them have appeared on Gareth Thomas' official Facebook page .

A couple of days ago, I was helping Slightly to prepare a lecture he gave for LGBT History Month. I knew there was going to be a sound system on the night and thought I would quickly put together a playlist of gay songs to play in the background while people were arriving. In doing my selection, I have deliberately moved away from the usual disco and dance anthems which are supposed to be favourites in the community but ultimately only speak indirectly about our experience. Since the event, I have done a little research and my (non-exhaustive) list has now grown to 55 songs, all of which directly and explicitly talk about the gay, lesbian, bi or trans experience. The only possible exceptions to this being three same-sex duets. It is interesting to notice, by the way how, many songs with a Trans theme seem to be out there. The last four tracks at the bottom are two songs with and a translation. The list of songs can be found below in blocks of 10 and in alphabetical order by artist fir...

This afternoon, I went to the Imperial War Museum (next door to where I live) to attend one of the two screenings of Sex and War , a documentary directed by Annie Paul in 1998 for the BBC's Timewatch series, the museum had scheduled to mark LGBT History Month. The film uses the stories of British servicemen who fought bravely for their country during the Second World War and the example of the Dutch Army which started to welcome gay people in its ranks from 1994 to explore the arguments in the debate around the legalisation of homosexuality which was taking place in the UK at the time of the making of the film. The film includes testimonies from gay (and straight) men from the three services as well as a particularly prejudiced interview with Air Chief Marshall Sir Michael Armitage, the former head of military intelligence (his view are reproduced in the contemporaneous links below). The ban on gays in the UK armed services was official lifted in 2000. The film was very and, with ...

The fourth edition of Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans History Month got on the way today. Learn more about the month here or find an event near you here .

Last night, I attended the pre-launch event of LGBT History Month 2008. This was the fourth event of this kind and I am pleased and proud to say that I have attended all of them. In 2004, the first ever pre-launch event took place at Tate Modern, the following year, we were at the Met Police's Empress State Building. Last year, the TUC welcomed us at Congress House and this year, we were in the grand surroundings of the hall at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. This was also the event with the most guests, several hundred, I would say. After a few nibbles and drinks, people moved towards the end of the hall to take a seat and listen to the various speakers. After a quick word of welcome by the co-chairs of the Month, Sue Sanders and Paul Patrick, the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland of Asthal QC took the stage for a speech where she retraced the legal history of gay rights since 1967, highlighting the work done by Labour in fighting discrimination (read more here ). Th...

To mark the month, LGBT History Month UK have put together resource pages on their website. These include some information about prominent black LGBT people and black LGBT organisations. Their blog will also feature specific posts throughout the month. You can view these pages by clicking here or on the image above.

After several weeks without a computer, I am indeed finally back online and I know I should be blogging like there is no tomorrow. However, and please note that I am not moaning or being depressed (or even asking for help) about it, my life is currently a complete blank. I have no social interaction to speak of with any one and I spend most of my weeks at home. I went out only three times this week. Once to Tesco for my food shopping, a second time was a lovely outing of the Southwark LGBT Network at the National Portrait Gallery for a queer view of a few of their paintings. Finally, yesterday, I had a meeting with my business partners. The rest of the time is more or less a blur of nothingness. If you are really missing reading what I can come up with (although you won't find opinion pieces), you can find me on the LGBT History Month blog of which I am the editor. The blog provides information and events details of events linked to LGBT History. I hope you find it interesting.

As mentioned in my previous post on History Month 07, last Saturday, I attended a study day at the Museum of London . I had already attended a similar event last year and my expectations were high. As is most often the case when your expectations are high, they are disappointed. Not that the event wasn't well organised or that the speakers were not of good quality but while last year's day was very much about LGBT history and was in fact a series of lectures, this year's event was perhaps more on the reflective side and less on the instructive side, with several panel discussions. Unlike last year, where there were about one hundred attendees, this year's meeting was also very poorly attended. Only about twenty people graced the red seats of the Museum's auditorium for its very last event before being teared down and rebuilt. After a welcoming word from Dr Darryl McIntyre, Director of public programmes for the Museum, Peter Tatchell took the stage to tell us abo...

I have attended events (and helped organise some too) since the inception of LGBT History Month, three years ago. I am a big fan of what it does and what it can acheive. This year, however, going to History Month events have had the extra benefit of getting me out of doors and out of my funk. The first event I went to this year was a two hour guided walk around the West End (Soho to Trafalgar Square and back). The walk is organised by Kairos In Soho as a fundraiser for their other activities and they run them all year round. I had meant to take part for quite sometime now but I never got round to it. Perhaps because of my long held breath in this respect, I was slightly disappointed, especially after having shed £5 for the privilege. They have four different guides for these walks and perhaps I was just unlucky. Our guide claimed he had been doing this for seven years. The walk was mostly a succession of stops with a few tidbits and facts thrown at us without much background on the ar...

Today is the first day of the third edition of LGBT History Month UK. To find out what is going on near you to celebrate LGBT lives, please visit the calendar of events on the LGBT History Month website .

Here is the second installment of Sir Ian's little speech for the launch of LGBT History Month 2007 at the TUC on Monday. The first part of this was posted yesterday , together with a short report on the event. Clip courtesy of Slightly www.LGBTHistoryMonth.org.uk Tags: London , history , gay , LGBT , GLBT , lesbian , bisexual , transgender , homophobia , gay rights , Ian McKellen , TUC , LGBT History Month .

Although, yesterday was Monday, I didn't attend Chorus rehearsal last night. Instead, I played truant and stuffed Slightly in one of my pockets and went to the "pre-launch" of LGBT History Month 2007 at the TUC's headquarters: Congress House, off Tottenham Court Road. I remember attending the first of those events, three years ago in the cinema of Tate Modern and the one last year at the Met's Empress Building in West London. Every year, a series of speakers are invited who make very interesting contributions. The highlights for me, this year, (out of the 10 speakers present last night) were the interventions by "Dame Ian McGandalf" (aka Sir Ian Mckellen), Allan Horsefall, Ann Marriott and Stella Duffy. Paul Patrick (one of the organisers), who was hosting the event, is also always good fun to listen to. Apart from being the major screen star that he is, Ian McKellen has been a gay activist for many years and he knows what he is (eloquently) talking a...

Return to normal service after a few days off. Sometimes last year, I attended a couple of free guided walks around Borough, SE1 by "local performer and poet", John Constable . When he organised a walk for Black History Month, I thought, as the then secretary to the Southwark LGBT Network , it could be a good idea to get John to organise a guided walk for LGBT History Month. I suggested the idea to the executive committee of the network and we commissioned the walk. Just like last year, the Network, thanks to our Community Development Worker, had organised six or seven events over the month, including film nights, a quiz night and a health information day. Tuesday was the last day of LGBT History Month 2006 and also the day when the walk took place. I had contributed with ideas and material for the research (quite heavily drawing from Queer London by Matt Houlbrook) and the fair amount of interest we had registered for the event made me slightly anxious to see how well atten...

I was asked by the power that be at LGBT History Month to write up some sort of report of a study day I attended recently. Here it is for your reading pleasure: During Black History Month last year, I attended a lecture by Stephen Bourne at the Imperial War Musuem . After the event I approached the woman in attendance from the education department and asked her if the museum was aware of LGBT History Month and if they had planned any event. I first had to repeat LGBT several times and explain to her what it meant before she could tell me that she had heard of it but that the museum had not planned anything. To be honest, she seemed rather worried to be talking to me and even though she relaxed a little when Stephen Bourne joined the conversation and supported the idea of an event, she was not exactly enthusiastic about the idea. There is probably a case for some gentle lobbying to take place here. In stark contrast with this, the Museum of London is getting quite active in respect t...

I was forwarded a link to this post yesterday about the apparently irrelevance, meaninglessness and uselessness of LGBT History Month. While this is obviously the result of very little reflection on the subject (I invite the author to attend History Month events, particularly the Outspoken events organised by Southwark LGBT Network ) and, I suspect, simply provocative, the post raises a legitimate question. I already partially reflected on it last year after the first UK Month but I would like to had a few extra thoughts on the subject. The past few years have seen momentous advances for LGBT rights in this country. In 2003, discrimination in the workplace on the ground of sexual orientation was made illegal. In 2004, Section 28 was eventually repealed, paving the way for History Month and a series of innitiatives aiming at fighting homophobic bullying in schools. Last year alone, saw the introduction of Civil Partnerships and of the right to adoption as well as the end of discrimin...