Old Compton Street, Soho, this evening.
Showing posts with label Say No To Hate Crime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Say No To Hate Crime. Show all posts
Monday, 13 June 2016
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Life, death and everything in-between
John-John, little Tony and I were up and about especially early yesterday (early for a Saturday!), in order to spend an entire day exploring the delights of The Big Gay Lifestyle exhibition - better known by its nickname "The Ideal Homo Show". I went to a couple of these many years ago in the much larger venue of Olympia Exhibition Halls (where I met, among others, the legendary Jeff Stryker!). Now the concept has been revived, and the show is hosted in the rather swanky Connaught Rooms in Covent Garden.
It seems like an unlikely choice for me - having lived a perfectly satisfactory gay lifestyle for many years - and indeed this is the first of the re-vamped events I have been drawn to attend. However among the stalls flogging clothes, properties, sports, art, photography, beauty products, nick-nacks, fertility advice or health checks for trans-women, there were a number of acts on stage this year that we all wanted to see.
The first of these was the very lovely Rose Collis, Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe performer and historian - who we enjoyed at Polari in May 2011 and again in April 2012 - with her banjolele 'Bud'. She was on top form again, regaling us with tales of the lesbian journalist and TV presenter Nancy Spain and her dalliances with Lena Horne and Marlene Dietrich, and songs such as The Boys in the Backroom and Masculine Women, Feminine Men, all from her successful one-woman show Trouser-Wearing Characters.
We caught up with Miss Collis after her slot, and she informed us she is taking the show not only around the UK, but also to New Zealand and Sydney Mardi-Gras! Have banjolele, will travel, it seems...
I hope to catch the whole show sometime soon...
An unexpected joy were the ebullient Pink Singers, who gathered quite a crowd quite early on on the proceedings with their synchronised dancing as they harmonised on a variety of classics, including Brecht, African traditional music, Richard Genee's Italian Salad - and this one, Mas Que Nada:
[This is my recording - shame about the bloody kids playing with balloons next to the stage!]
One of our absolute favourite cabaret entertainers is Mr Marcus Reeves, the genius behind Postcards from God - the Sister Wendy Musical, stalwart of many a season at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern and Polari too - here, here and here.
He really grabbed the audience's attention with his silver glitter maquillage and melodramatic selection of songs from his forthcoming album Quicksilver - The Masquerade Macabre, including this one - the magnificent Mad, Bad World:
I really cannot wait for the album!
After a little interlude, it was time for an selection of our favourite literary types to take the stage - with a "pop-up version" of "London's peerless gay literary salon", Polari! Introduced by the faboo Paul Burston, first to the mike was our chum the stiletto-wearing journo-slut Alex Hopkins, who entertained us to a couple of salacious episodes from what we came to the conclusion (later, over drinks) should be deemed his "Sauna Chronicles" - close encounters of the bodily fluids kind, in the glamorous surroundings of Pleasuredrome sauna under the railway arches at Waterloo. Fab stuff!
Next to the stand was the adorable DJ Connell, who read a passage from her masterwork Julian Corkle is a Filthy Liar, recounting the early sexual awakening of the eponymous character as a young lad in, of all places, the medical dictionary section of the local library. It's a hilarious tale - and a highly-recommended read!
Literature's answer to Robbie Williams, the handsome Mr Kristian Johns (aka the blogger "Guy Interrupted" and AIDS-awareness campaign poster boy) read next from his fascinating fable Dying, And Other Superpowers. Recently filmed and featured in the London Gay Film Festival, it's an intense tale of the balance between a boy's burgeoning telekinetic abilities and his HIV diagnosis, and gripped our attention from the outset. Here's a trailer for the film short:
Mr Johns' and Mr Hopkins' writings are featured in the anthology Boys & Girls, edited by Mr Burston.
To conclude our little dose of cerebral stimulation, the fantabulosa VG (Val) Lee - nominated for "Writer of the Year" in the Stonewall Awards 2012 (which I will be attending again) - read from her acclaimed Always You, Edina. Her extract, about the recollections of a grandmother to her granddaughter about the mysterious relationship between the girl's father and her "glamorous, charismatic Aunt Ed, who could light up a room - if there was a man in that room", was in turn touching, humorous and enchanting. As ever, we love Val's writing - and so did the audience.
Finally, from the sublime to the semi-ridiculous, we watched a fun and boisterous preview of the panto Snow White and the Seven Poofs (which we saw in 2011, and returns this season in a new venue The Green Carnation), with the camp-as-tits Mrs Moore and Tanya Hyde!
After that, it was time for a bit more of a wander around the exhibition space - a short wander, obviously, as the bar beckoned! We spent some time mingling and chatting with the Polari-ites, with Marcus, with Tony's friend Roland, and then "our Paul" arrived and we met up with some of his friends too. A proper gay family gathering!
However, there was a more serious event taking place yesterday, that I also had to attend - the annual "No to Hate Crime" vigil in Trafalgar Square, so it was time to move on. John-John, Paul and Tony all had pre-booked events to go to so couldn't stay long at Halfway to Heaven (our "local"; it is very close to the square) nor make the vigil.
Organised by a group called 17-24-30 (the name represents the dates in 1999 that the three London nail bombs were planted: 17th April - Brixton Market; 24th April – Brick Lane; and 30th April - the Admiral Duncan, Soho) and MC-ed by Mr Marcus Reeves (again, but without the make-up), this event is (obviously) a solemn affair, with speakers representing the communities affected by hate crime, messages of support from politicians and religious groups (except, notably this year, anyone from any Islamic organisation), and music from the LGBT brass band.
It was - shockingly - sparsely attended, again. Once again I am ashamed - as I was last year and the year before - at the ignorance and apathy of our fellow gay people. Yes, it pissed down. Yes, we were drenched, our feet were cold and our bladders were full. But I, Alex Hopkins, Russ, Joe and a few hundred others persisted through it, stood in silence for two minutes at 8pm, and listened in quiet horror at the roll-call of names of the victims of mindless hatred, murdered merely for being who they were.
A sombre conclusion to a day of celebration of gayness, admittedly, but a vital show of support nonetheless...
Saturday, 29 October 2011
No to Hate
We attended a very important event last night, along with hundreds of others.
The third No To Hate Crime vigil was held in Trafalgar Square, to mark the anniversary of the murder of Ian Baynham in a homophobic attack in the Square, to remember all the victims of hate crime, and to celebrate diversity. Yet again we were disappointed by the turnout (as last year) - what is it about so many queens these days that their hedonism outweighs important matters like this? Or is it because the message is too "wooly", trying to embrace all forms of hate?
Once again among the speakers were Harvey Milk's nephew Stuart, activists including Lindsay River and Peter Tatchell, and politicians including Ken Livingstone. Unfortunately, although we saw Mr Milk, and observed the two minute silence before the roll-call of the victims, we never saw the final speakers. We left prematurely as some imbecile among the organisers had decided that a rapper - purveyor of that most hateful of musical genres - would be a good idea to put on stage. I don't give a damn whether he was gay or whatever, this was not what we came to hear. We wanted the choir, a solemn observance of the silence and some rousing and meaningful speakers - not the very "urban yoof culture" that berates us daily!
Lynne Featherstone MP, however, summed up the reasons why we were there rather well I thought:
"Listening to the roll call of those killed by hate, I was shocked by the length of that roll. Hate is the most terrible of emotions. It is a destructive emotion. Evil in its manifestation.More photos are on Flickr
And hate for reasons of sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or race is also pathetic! It’s ignorant. It’s about impotence. It’s about inadequacy. And it’s about fear.
Only this week, sadly, I witnessed such hatred unmasked, and there is a frightening insanity that feeds that fire. And whilst we put have laws around us to protect us from such hate, and we do have good laws, we still, sadly, have a long long way to go.
Whilst we may be more civilised, we may walk safely in many areas, we know that round any corner that hatred may be lurking. And we still have to get to the very heart of that hatred.
I cannot, literally cannot understand how any human being can hurt another human, because they are frightened or threatened by difference. As individuals and as a community we should be embracing each others differences, not persecuting each other for them.
So as well as the law, each and every one of us has a duty to challenge this hatred wherever and whenever we see it and I call on everyone to do so.
And never, ever walk silently by."
Sunday, 24 October 2010
Apathy or resistance?
One most telling thing about society these days is the "five-second memory" that is encouraged by TV, music videos, video games, and yes, dear readers, social network sites. This "Twitter generation" is actively engaged in snippets of nothingness, and reality matters less and less to some people. In the words of the late, great Dame Joan Sutherland "Them's my sentiments, anyhow..."
And so it seemed to us last night, as the combination of cold damp weather and "more important" stuff such as X-Factor or Strictly Come Dancing, or indeed sex'n'drugs'n'rock'n'roll, appeared to have reduced the number of people who bothered to come out for the "Say No To Hate Crime" rally and vigil. Ian Baynham's murder in Trafalgar Square was, I suppose, still in the news this time last year when 10,000 people turned up.
This year, the gay press is more interested in Joe McElderry [no disrespect meant to the young man by the way, just he really isn't that important!] and numbers were reduced to around 2,000 at the most - a fairly small gathering given the magnitude of the problem.
From politicians to pioneers, from Amy Lamé to Harvey Milk's nephew Stuart (founder of the Milk Foundation), we had speakers from all backgrounds and interest groups - Ian Baynham's sister Diana, Rikki Beadle-Blair, Paul Burston, Lynne Featherstone MP (Minister for Equalities), Peter Tatchell, gay Deputy Mayor of London Richard Barnes, Sue Sanders (Schools Out) and many others gave heartfelt speeches.
A gay brass band tootled from the back of the crowd, (almost inaudible to anyone near the speakers' stage incidentally), and an assembled gay chorus sang some songs of hope and sadness. We all had glow-sticks, some people lit candles. Yet despite messages of support from David Cameron and Ed Milliband, there were no front-benchers or leaders of political parties.
It is sad to say that this felt like a message of hope speaking out to only an interested few. The facts are terrifying. Hate crime is evidently on the increase:
- 1,192 homophobic offences were reported in London in the year to September, up from 1,008 the previous year, a rise of 18.3%
- 1 in 5 gay and lesbian people have experienced a homophobic hate crime or incident in the last three years
- 3 in 4 did not report them to the police. Only 6% reported them to third parties
- 7 in 10 did not report hate crime and incidents to anyone.
One speaker told possibly the most emotional story of all. Artist Paul Harfleet decided to instigate the "Pansy Project" in 2005, to plant a pansy at the site of each reported site of such a hate crime. Since his project began he has planted 10,000.
That is five times the number of people who bothered to turn up last night; despised, beaten or even murdered because they were gay.
I sometimes feel ashamed of what passes for the gay "scene". I am really proud of everyone involved in organising this important event, and everyone who showed up.
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