QB - Nottinghamshire's Queer Bulletin Aug/Sep 2007- News section
QB
Nottinghamshire's Queer Bulletin
August/September 2007
Number 37
In this edition:
Things beginning with B
Bombs
Browne of BP
Bears
Brides in black
Books
Biscuits
Ballbois
Bible
Broadway
If you have any information, news, gossip or libel, please send it to
QB, Lesbian and Gay Switchboard
7 Mansfield Road, Nottingham NG1 3FB
or e-mail
notts@lgswitchboard.fsnet.co.ukThe deadline for the next edition will be mid September, 2007.
NOTTINGHAM PRIDE ..... ONE FINE DAY
If the recent floods were God's reaction to the Goods and Services Act (see Notes and Queeries), then how do we explain July's one sunny day coinciding with Pride. Easy! The Pride committee's Midsummer night naked ritual anti-rain dance worked again.
Lots of people (over 12,000) having lots of fun. Nottingham Pride gets better and better. The Pride Committee said "Don't rain on my P..ride" and it didn't. Thank you for all your work. Some pictures will be posted on the TIMELINE section of this website.
We would like to thank everyone who provided prizes for Switchboard's Tombola game at Pride.
Thanks especially to Broadway, John Lewis, the Playhouse, Fuze events, Sainsbury's, Starbucks and some very kind people at Radford Unity Complex and Nottingham Children's Services.
NOTES AND QUEERIES
Egay hopes to be the gay equivalent of Ebay. Unfortunately it has only 17 items up for sale and 5 of those are "hunks in trunks" fridge magnets. Must do better.
We deeply regret that the last QB's diary section failed to mention the June 20th New York premiere of a new opera. "Pumped Fiction" is by John Eaton and is about the world's leading distributor of penis pumps.
Documents obtained under US freedom of information laws confirmed that the country's military considered developing a "gay bomb." In 1994 the US Air Force requested $7.5m to make a bomb that would cause enemy soldiers to become gay, and to have their units break down because the soldiers became irresistibly attractive to one another.
The Rt. Rev Graham Dow, the Bishop of Carlisle, has stated that the floods that have caused chaos and death across the UK were caused by God after he was provoked by the introduction of gay equality.
The Wolfenden Committee - the 1950s group which was set up to examine homosexual law reform - also looked at the laws relating to prostitution.
To avoid embarrassment, the Committee adopted code names so that homosexuals were referred to as "Huntleys" and prostitutes as "Palmers".
Knob End .. is just one of those villages with silly names which you can find in England - it's in Lancashire, by the way. Perhaps its parish councillors might consider twinning it with Slack Bottom (Yorkshire), Sandy Balls (New Forest) or Great Cockup (Lake district).
BRIEFS ON THE SCENE
Tipping the Velvet
: a new group for women starts in August. It's on the 1st Monday of each month 5.30-8.00 at the Health Shop on Broad Street. Phone 0115 974 5414 for info.Bears in the Forest
meets 1st Friday each month in the Green room, the Lord Roberts from 9pm.
Bears Day
at Reflections Sauna in Nottingham is the 1st Sunday every month from 1pm 'til 9pm.A new bears group, Grizzly, meets on the 3rd Thursday every month at Niche Bar from 8pm. See www.grizzly-nottingham.co.uk
The Hole
is a new, men only bar open Thursdays to Sundays from 7pm. It's in the room above Niche -entrance on Convent Street.
GROUP OF THE DAY
In May 2006 10 virtual strangers got together at Gresham Fields, West Bridgford to play a game of football. Fast forward to today and Nottingham Ballbois are about to enter the Gay Football Supporters Network league for their first season of competitive matches. Trips to Brighton, Bournemouth, London and Leeds await; which means some great weekends away.The club has moved at pace since that first evening and now has over 30 members with ages ranging from 20 to 45. Not everyone wants to play - which is fine; just supporting and cheering the team on gives everybody a boost.
15 friendly matches have so far been played, with the Ballbois initially having to borrow kit. Thanks to sponsorship from the Money Shop, they now have their own. Recently, the club celebrated its 1st birthday with an anniversary tournament and they reached the final - only to lose to Birmingham on penalty kicks. The national five-a-side tournament was held in June in Dublin and Nottingham entered 2 teams, both making it through to the quarter final stage and one to the semi final. No other club achieved this feat.
Although it's mainly a gay team, Ballbois welcomes anybody and everybody; in fact the captain happens to be straight! Training night is Sunday at 6 pm, but for those who perhaps just want a laugh and to keep fit, the club has just started a Wednesday Kickabout session on the Forest.
For further details, check out the website at www.nottinghamballbois.com
or give us a call on 07950 484865 or 07810 786491.
John C. Smith (Coach)
NCCLGBTF
Stands for Nottingham City Council Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) Forum. The Forum meets bi-monthly to discuss issues which affect the LGBT community. It is made up of individuals and representatives from a number of community groups e.g. the GAi Project, Lesbian & Gay Switchboard, BreakOUT, Outburst. It is an official group, recognised by Nottingham City Council and its role is to challenge and support the Council, particularly around issues which impact on LGBT people.
Successful projects to date include:-
Tackling Homophobia in schools pack - sent to all City Schools, Colleges and Youth Groups Tackling Homophobia in Schools Conference - attended by City & County schools as well as youth support agencies
Nottingham City Council's funding of Outburst Youth Group. Over 50 young people are on roll to date
Liaison with other agencies e.g. housing on key projects
Annually supports Pride, LGBT History Month and sponsor of QB
Priorities for the coming year include:-
Working with the Police on hate crime issues
Support for elderly people in care
Safer taxi scheme
Engaging in sexual orientation awareness training for City Council Employees
Working with the City Council to address the issues around sexual orientation monitoring of its employees
If you would like to get involved in the Forum or have an issue you would like us to consider please contact Nottingham City Council Equality & Diversity Team via e:-mail at:
equalityanddiversityteam@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
MORE LETTERS TO THE VICAR
Dear Vicar
Thank you for your previous advice as to how I should respond to the true word of the Bible as set out in the Book of Leviticus. I now have two further questions.
Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?
I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of what the Bible refers to as menstrual "uncleanliness" (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence, indeed as a result I have received one black eye, suffered a severe kick to my left shin and have a small dent on my forehead shaped like the catch of a handbag.
Yours confused (and bruised) of Clifton
LIBRARIES GO LGBT
Nottinghamshire Libraries
have recently bought over 100 LGBT themed books. These include novels by gay and lesbian authors (such as Stephen Fry, Sandi Toksvig and Sarah Waters) and biographies of famous LGBT people like Freddie Mercury. Books offering advice on issues like Lesbian and Gay Weddings, Lesbian and Gay Parenting or Sexual Health mingle with titles which certainly never appeared in the libraries of yesteryear .... How could you resist the following:The Ultimate Guide to Strap-on Sex
Toygasms: The Insider's guide to sex toys
The Bride wore Black Leather .... and he looked fabulous
For all these and more, go to the website
www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk and follow the links to Libraries, Library Gateway, LGBT
WHO'S OUT TODAY?
On Switchboard?s History Project website a Powerpoint presentation of 588 ?Famous LGBT Faces? is mentioned. It?s also mentioned that the number of faces keeps growing as either our avid researchers dig out more information or someone is outed by the media or someone who was LGBT but unknown suddenly acquires fame.
The most recent additions to the Faces are Lord Browne (Ex boss of BP), David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) and 2 people prominent from this year?s Eurovision song contest - the winner, Marija Serifovic and Ukrainian TV Verka Serdyuchka.
There have been recent newspaper articles suggesting that we should finally remove the question mark that has long hung over former Prime Minister Edward Heath. Comments that in the 1950s he was warned about his cottaging habits were dismissed by some members of the Conservative Party, but they would, wouldn?t they?
QB'S BITS
You can download two interesting recent reports from www.stonewall.org.uk
- one is called ?The Colour of Your Money? and relates to the Goods and Services Act; the other is ?The School Report? about homophobic bullying in schools.
The Lesbian and Gay Foundation have produced a 56 page guide to your rights. Everything from employment, hate crimes, adoption to immigration and Civil Partnerships. Download from www.lgf.org.uk
Finally, a thank you to Reflections Health Club for raising £30 for Switchboard from a raffle.
THE HISTORY PROJECT
The potential Heritage Lottery funded History Project has a provisional name... its Gay Nottinghamshire - Then and Now.
On August 18th a steering group was set up to manage the project. The first hurdle will be making a successful grant application and they hope to do this by the end of September. At present 24 people have expressed an interest in the project.
Are you interested in any of the following: helping to organise the project; being interviewed about your views and experiences; providing or loaning memorabilia (e.g. photos of you and friends at LGB venues, programmes from gay-themed events ....); or just being informed about what's happening. Until the project gains a life of its own, Switchboard is acting as a contact point, so if any of the above things apply to you, leave your contact details with them. You can also see fuller details on the Switchboard's History Project website
www.nlgshistory.ik.com
By the way, Switchboard's History Project is independent of the project described above, but its resources will be made available to that project.
CITY COUNCIL LGBT EMPLOYEES
LGBT Employees Network
is the name of group which has been set up for those working for Nottingham City Council. They hope to:Provide advice and support to other LGBT employees
Organize social and cultural events/ chance for employees to get together
Consult with the authority on issues of important to LGBT employees and community
Campaign on issues as necessary
Raise profile of LGBT people in the organization
Help the authority improve its services and policies etc.
Alternative to Trade Unions as employee consultation mechanism
For more details contact Ian Robson by e-mail on ian.robson@nottinghamcity.gov.uk
LGB DIRECTORY
The North Notts LGB Development Group has just published a new version of its LGB Directory. It covers venues, services, groups and support facilities not only for Nottinghamshire, but also for Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire. Contact Switchboard if you would like a copy.
MEN'S SEX SURVEY 2007
This year's Vital Statistics survey is out. The survey's results are very useful in planning safer sex campaigns and HIV services. You've got until the end of August to fill it in.
You can either complete the survey on line, or pick up a copy from the GAi Project. The website is:
WEST BRIDGFORD IS REVOLTING
10 copies of QB are sent to each of the larger libraries throughout the county. Three readers have not only reported to us that QB isn't appearing in West Bridgford, they have also drawn its absence to the attention of the Library staff.
A phone call to West Bridgford Library produced the response "We aren't sent any copies". A phone call to County Library HQ produced the response "Oh, yes they are!". West Bridgfordians revolt! Demand your bimonthly QB! A letter to the library has since brought a satisfactory response. They do have QB, it's on the correct shelf ... It's just that the library staff who were asked about it didn't know where to look or direct library users. They do now.