QB
Nottinghamshire’s
Queer Bulletin
April/May 2008
Number 41
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.uk
The deadline for the next edition will be mid May 2008.
The feature "Gay Old Times", which started in QB no. 40, now has a section to itself on this website.
A RAINBOW FLAG OVER THE COUNCIL HOUSE
The flag has been flown on the dates of some previous Nottingham Pride festivals, but this is the first time it has been seen celebrating LGBT History Month. It seems that History Month is establishing itself as an important landmark in the calendar. The City Council again showed that they are prepared to acknowledge and support major LGBT events. It is no surprise to learn that London led the way with LGBT History Month events, but the national LGBT History Month website suggested that elsewhere the most activity was in the East Midlands. LGBT EXHIBITION AT VIEW FROM THE TOP Over 100 people attended the LGBT exhibition on the February 12th launch night. The event was also the launch for Nottinghamshire’s Rainbow Heritage, the LGBT history project supported by the Heritage Lottery fund. 
Of the 400 or more people who went along to the exhibition at the View from the Top, 92 filled in a questionnaire. Which part of the exhibition did you like best? “All of it”, said many of them. Other parts which went down particularly well were the projections of 600 famous LGBT faces, the local and national timelines, pictures from Nottingham Pride, the front pages from 1970s Gay News, the Pink Professions and the details of how the law (both in this country and abroad) has affected us.
One feature of the first evening was the presentation of three certificates. These were for individuals or organisations which have a Nottinghamshire connection and have made a contribution to the local or national LGBT community. They were awarded to:
The New Foresters (Debbie Law received the award) - for continued support for the LGBT community, and lesbians in particular, for 50 years.
Ike Cowen - for services to the early days of gay activism. Ike started the Nottingham Campaign for Homosexual Equality group; he helped start the first gay club in the Midlands (the Pavilion Club); he was one of the first people to have useful dialogues with the police. Ike (who is 90) was unable to attend - the award was received on his behalf by Roger Hollier.
The Laxton Holocaust Centre - for support of national remembrance of gay victims of the Holocaust, and continued support for victims of persecution. The centre has held 2 LGBT events, has a memorial plaque in its garden and hopes to do more work with the local LGBT community.
MANSFIELD WANTS TO KNOW
“Would you like to help shape the services of Mansfield District Council? We are looking to talk to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community about the ways in which we deliver our services and how they affect you? If you are interested in letting us know your views, please contact Emma Lees on 01623 463372 or email elees@mansfield.gov.uk all information will be treated confidentially.
BRIEFS ON AND OFF THE SCENE
Mad about the movies? There’s a new women’s group “Nottingham Film Group” which is just for you. The idea is to meet about once a month to see a film at Broadway and then get together after for a natter about it. For further information contact Lizi on lizi2910@yahoo.co.uk
More dates have been set for the Hidden Talents women’s nights at the Maze. Put Saturday May 3rd and Friday July 11th into your diaries.
@D2 has re-opened
NG1’s opening days are now Friday, Saturday and Sunday
An LGBTQ group has started at Bilborough College - contact Switchboard for details. QB'S BITS Have you discovered Pink News yet? It’s an internet LGBT newspaper and it’s full of the latest information about things that affect us and interest us. We at QB are quite hesitant about pointing you in their direction as we pinch so much from their website. You can find Pink News at www.pinknews.co.uk The performance of “The Gay Man’s Guide” on Feb. 15th at the Lace Market was completely sold out and deservedly so - it was a tremendously enjoyable evening. There is talk that the play will be repeated in the run up to Nottingham Pride. The Nottingham Forest Team (and that includes the women’s team) will feature in an anti-homophobic bullying poster which should be ready for May 17th, the International Day against Homophobia. NOTES AND QUEERIES Gays cause climate change. The evidence is irrefutable. The Rt. Rev Graham Dow, the Bishop of Carlisle, claimed that floods that caused chaos and death in 2007 across the UK were caused by God after he was provoked by the introduction of gay equality via the Goods and Services Act. Shlomo Benizri, who is a member of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was speaking in Israel’s Knesset (parliament) debate on earthquake preparedness. After reading passages from the Old Testament, he said that in his view one cause of earthquakes is that "the Knesset gives legitimacy to sodomy. A cost-effective way of averting earthquake damage would be to stop passing legislation on how to encourage homosexual activity in the State of Israel, which causes earthquakes." Of course, it’s possible that they are all bonkers. On the other hand, this gives another slant to “did the Earth move for you?” and raises questions about why they are having earthquakes in Lincolnshire. GROUP OF THE DAY Bi-delight has been set up to enable bi couples and singles in Nottingham to meet on a regular basis. The group is mainly couples who have come to terms with the fact that either both or one of the other is bi. The group is small but growing, and is made up mainly of couples who prefer to accept and allow each other to express the bi side of their life without having to hide it away. We are now trying to grow the group and allow singles to join us. How ever, we do not encourage one half of a couple to explore their bi side. We prefer couples to discuss and open up their bi side in an adult and understanding way.
Bi-delight is looking to hold regular social events throughout the year, perhaps monthly or more regular if there is a demand. Bi-delight prefers to communicate through email: our contact email is STOLEN POSTERS 80 posters from the LGBT exhibition were transferred to Angel Row library, where they were on display for a fortnight. In the early 1980s, displays of lesbian and gay materials were frequently vandalised. This display was not vandalised, but 3 of the posters were stolen. One thing common to all 3 posters was that they were the only posters which carried pictures of gay Muslims - Lord Ali, poet Muhammed Hafiz and Imam Mushin Hendricks. Draw your own conclusions. The missing posters were reprinted and, amongst others, were part of the display seen in the foyer of the Council House from March 3rd to March 7th. COUNCILS AND US - THEN AND NOW Our relationships with various Councils have been uneven - though where problems occur, it is usually because of individual councillors, rather than the Council as a whole. In 1977, after writing to Peter Wright, the leader of the Conservative Group, Nottingham CHE received a reply which said “I have always regarded homosexuality as one form of perversion and I very much regret the progress on permissive lines that have taken place during the last few years. I also take exception to the use of the word “gay”. From time to time I am gay, but at no time queer.”
On a positive note, Lesbian and Gay Switchboard received its first grant from the Council in 1983. Elsewhere, things were less rosy. In 1984, Rugby Council declared that they would not employ homosexuals. In attempting to justify the move, a councillor said “We would not employ a known rapist in the typing pool”. In 1986, Staffordshire Tory Councillor Bill Brownhill said that all gays should be gassed. In Nottingham, however, Lesbian and Gay Council sub-committees had been set up because of pressure from out gay Councillor Richard McCance. A gay man and a lesbian were employed in the Equal Opportunities department to support LGBT issues. On coming to power in 1988, the Tories not only stopped the sub-committees, but they sacked the 2 employees and closed the whole Equal Ops unit.
Council grants dried up during the period that councils were terrified by Section 28. In March 1993 the OutHouse received an unsigned letter from a Councillor saying “You lot should be put down”. This led to a march which passed through Hockley to the Council House carrying a black-draped coffin. Since then, things have slowly improved. Switchboard and Pride are supported by both City and County Councils (see above). Both Councils have LGBT employees support groups and the City has an LGBT Consultation group. Nevertheless, we are aware that some Councillors and people in authority within the Councils put LGBT issues at the bottom of the diversity hierarchy, seem embarrassed at having to deal with us and some have stated that money spent on support for LGBT issues is money wasted. NOTTINGHAMSHIRE'S RAINBOW HERITAGE In the last QB, the Nottinghamshire’s Rainbow Heritage LGBT history project (NRH) made a request for individuals, groups and organisations to loan (or even donate) literature, photos and memorabilia which would help develop the story of LGBT Nottinghamshire. Since then NRH has received: A complete set of GEM (Gay East Midlands) A copy of “Jenny lives with Eric and Martin”, the book used as a lever for introducing Section 28 Designs for the never-completed Outhouse Centre as well as the Outhouse mug and door plaque A large number of LGBT-related badges Photos of the now-defunct Real Art Café and of the Pavilion Club NRH has been promised: Old copies of many (all?) editions of Lookout and Outright magazines. City Council freebies produced for various Prides … and the Women’s Centre has alerted us to material which has recently emerged from under dust in their library. Via questionnaires filled in during LGBT History Month, over 40 people have added their names to NRH’s e-mail list either just to be kept informed about the project or to get involved in various ways, for example in developing publicity materials and a website or in conducting interviews.
If you’ve got treasures in the attic, let us know. If you would like to be interviewed, let us know. If you want to know what NRH is doing, let us know. It will take perhaps a couple of months to get used to our recording equipment and get people trained in using it, in interview techniques and in the ethics of using the materials we gather - our “timeline” has interviews scheduled to begin towards the end of April. The contact details for Nottinghamshire’s Rainbow Heritage are In the listings page of QB. THT NOTTINGHAM The Terrence Higgins Trust has recently opened a branch in Nottingham. The essence of their service is explained by their main aim: “Whatever your sexuality, HIV status, gender, cultural background or ethnic origin, THT has services set up with your needs in mind. If you’re affected by HIV, then we’ll try to help. “ You can contact them at Terrence Higgins Trust Lace Market House Telephone: 0115 882 0121 QB TRAVELS ABROAD At the annual LGBT History Quiz at the Lord Roberts, one of the multiple choice questions was “what is the name of Narvel Annable’s book about local gay life in the 1960s - is it Scruffy Parrot, Scruffy Chicken, Scruffy Blue Tit or Scruffy Vulture?” The next day we travelled abroad, that’s to say to Derbyshire, where Narvel gave readings from his books to a full house at Heanor Library. Most of the characters in the novels are based on real people who populated the pre-1967 Nottingham and Derby gay scenes and whose eccentricities are brought to amusing life by Narvel. His new book “Secret Summer” should be published towards the end of this year. It’s “Chicken”, by the way.
In November 2005 Maurice Mills, a councillor for the Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, blamed the gay community for Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans. He said "The media failed to report that the hurricane occurred just two days prior to the annual homosexual festival, which the previous year had attracted an estimated 125,000 people."
54-56 High Pavement, Lace Market
Nottingham, NG1 1HW.
Email: info.nottingham@tht.org.uk