Category: What’s On

All the latest tours and events – with booking details within – are below – get your mincing boots on! Any questions please email queertoursoflondon@gmail.com

By Dan Glass

01.06.19 – OUTSIDE – This Is My Culture 3 – Back by Popular Demand!

‘Any right minded person would find this disgusting’

‘They shouldn’t be allowed out in public’

‘This Is My Culture 3!’ – Back by Popular Demand! June 1st noon at a VERY SECRET location to be announced on the day – Facebook event page here

On the 20th anniversary 2019 of George Michael’s ‘Outside’ – let’s do him proud!

Done with the sofa, done with the hall? Done with societal limitations on our sexual freedom? On 7th April 1998 in a Beverly Hills public toilet, so was George Michael. Last year ‘THIS IS MY CULTURE’ event, which celebrated George in his favourite Hampstead Heath bushes, was such a success we are bringing it back! 2019 is the 20th anniversary of his song ‘Outside’ – so let’s do him proud!

OUTSIDE – THIS IS OUR CULTURE event is to celebrate the life, courage and dignity of a great artist and LGBTQI+ icon by marking the anniversary of the day George Michael was ensnared by a ‘pretty’ policeman in an LA toilet and subsequently arrested for indecency. Join us to pay tribute to LGBTQI+ sexual freedom, enjoy performances and George’s music wafting through the trees.

If you want to strut your stuff and perform on the day / are press or want to get involved in any way please email ecoqueeruk@gmail.com ASAP. Please spread the word to all those you think will appreciate.

See the fun from last year –

April 2017 – Huffington Post – George Michael’s Life Celebrated In One Of His Cruising Spots

Urban Pictures – Cheeky George Michael Celebration in London for gay fans

Ham and High – PICTURES: ‘cheeky’ party for George Michael on Hampstead Heath

I.D. Magazine celebrating george michael and the history of cruising

VICE – ‘A True Queer Life’: Photos from an LGBTQ Dance Party to RememberGeorge Michael–

I.D. Magazine – celebrating george michael and the history of cruising

WHAT

We are inviting you to help to recreate the spirit of that event. It will a celebration “somewhere Outside” but also a declaration of our rights to express our sexuality out in nature as George did. This will form part of a campaign to reclaim our “Sacred Groves” which you are welcome to join even if you cannot make this specific date.

This will be our 3rd year in this series. Our first was soon after George Michael’s death to celebrate what would have been his next birthday. Previously, he had responded to his arrest by saying “This is my culture” – which we have taken as our slogan here. The second, last year 2018, was to counter the fuss over “that” royal wedding with the “Real Qweens’ Wedding”.

WHERE

Somewhere over the rainbow – To be announced on the morning of June 1st

WHY

The purpose of ‘This IS My Culture’ queer free party are –

  • To be unashamed about the culture of cruising and sex in leafy spaces, such as those that George Michael and other Londoners frequent.
  • To build a sense of supportive community by celebrating openly with each other in a similar way as any of the public may, without needing to seek approval from authorities to do this.
  • To acknowledge the growth of the eco-sexual movement and to celebrate its practices.
  • To gain momentum for these cultures to be recognized as having a right to exist and be celebrated without legal, moral and petty harassment.
  • In addition, many among us also seek a more spiritual objective:- Since ancient times these lands have had “Sacred Groves” where nature-based spirituality has been practiced. We wish to see these set up as revered places again, our natural temples wherein to celebrate our culture. These deserve and have a right to legal recognition and protection.

WHO


The previous events have involved a broad coalition of different activists, many of whom initially came together via Sexual Avengers, who now continue as a very loose network these days. For #3 we are looking to work with people from Act Up London, from the Radical Faeries of Albion, the Queerseum project, the revived think-ins of London GLF, various queer pagans, Queer Love Rites and Queer Tours of London – And maybe your own organisation too!

We are organizing this one via Eco-Queer UK – ecoqueeruk@gmail.com because the theme this time is focusing more on the rights of eco-sexuals to secure places in nature that are respected for these purposes – as well as enjoining the diverse communities of those who practice cottaging and cruising to affirm their pride in their culture. We welcome allies and other individuals who support our aims and recognize the values of these causes. We also need more people with some specific skills and resources.Please ask newly interested parties to send an email to the above address so that we have contact details available.

Contact ecoqueeruk@gmail.com / queertoursoflondon@gmail.com


HOW

The main focus will be to stage playful re-creations of the shooting of George Michael’s video for the song “Let’s Go Outside”. The first week of June is an anniversary of this.We aim to have many folk filming – we invite all participants to use their phones (with consent) or whatever equipment they have. Professional film-makers and videographers are being lined up to make a document of this. Performers and directors are invited to create their very own scenarios which may or may not involve audience participation and play.

Creativity in costume, elaboration and antics is up to everyone present !Vox pop interviews will happen – open to all to join in if desired.We invite drummers and acoustic musicians, poets and dreamers, cruisers and cottagers, drama queens and dowdy types, ritual makers and raspberry blowers, tree-huggers and free-lovers – from a diverse range of genders, sexualities and cultures.We also invite conscious contributions from allies in the Extinction Rebellion, Climate Change activists and ecologists. We protect what we love!

This is going to be another good one !yours in nature,

Miqx – On behalf of “This is My Culture”

By Dan Glass

25.04.19 – Book for Vigil and Tour: Justice for Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Tonoy

WHAT –

Join us for a tour on April 25th 2019 at 3pm that marches across London’s key embassies which maintain homophobic legislation with speeches and creative civil disobedience by activists who have fled homophobic persecution.Booking details here  and Facebook event page here – all press requests to mipintu80@gmail.com

This will be followed by a vigil outside the Bangladeshi High Commission at 6pm at the Bangladesh High Commission in London, 28 Queens Gate, SW7 5JA South Kensington – – facebook event page here

WHY –

It has been three years since Xulhaz Mannan, the publisher and co-founder of Bangladesh’s first LGBTQ magazine Roopbaan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, another LGBTQ activist, were brutally murdered by religious extremists in Dhaka. However, the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), the local investigation lead, has failed to submit the investigation report and missed 34 deadlines till April, 2019. Although the police has arrested two suspects, and one of the main killers but they are yet to arrest others murderers despite clear CCTV footages and other evidences. On the contrary, it is with grave concern that we have seen increased crackdown on LGBTQ community in Bangladesh by law enforcers.

In May 2017, 28 gay and bisexual men were arrested by Rapid Action Battalion, who later exposed them in front of the media. This has put the young men’s lives in great danger. Moreover, violence against the LGBTQ community is part of an ongoing larger crisis in Bangladesh. We Bangladeshi London based LGBT community are inviting you to join us to this Vigil: Justice for Xuhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy.J


Mazharul Islam, LGBTQ activist from Bangladesh said: Three years have been passed since Xulhaz Mannan, the publisher and co-founder of Roopban and another LGBTQ activist were brutally murdered by religious activist in Bangladesh which is one of the commonwealth countries where homosexuality is a crime and the punishment is lifetime imprisonment under the section 377 penal code. As a LGBTQ activist from Bangladesh I want justice for my friends Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy and also want commonwealth leaders to take necessary steps to abolish the law against homosexuality among all the commonwealth countries including Bangladesh to give us the freedom to live in our own countries as any other normal citizen.

WHO –
Everyone interested in learning about and building an international movement of QUEER LOVE AND COMMUNITY is very welcome.


Kat Kai Kol-Kes, ARTivist from Botswana said: ‘The laws in the Commonwealth states speak in languages inscribed on LGBT+ bodies as bleeding scars. The time has come for states to see these scars and for the cause of the Commonwealth to take responsibility for enabling the recovery process.’

The tour exists to celebrate and support the next generation of artists, activists and change-makers dedicated to ending homophobia, transphobia and all forms of oppression agitating for a global movement of creative activism to decriminalise homosexuality everywhere and provide true freedom for all.


The vigil and tour guide is Mazharul Islam – Attitude Pride Award Winner 2018 – one of the pioneer LGBT activists from Bangladesh who fled from his country immediately after the killing two of LGBT activists friends.
The tour will give you a brief idea of Bangladeshi LGBT movements; How these movements started; what is the current situation of Bangladeshi LGBT movements, what is the future of Bangladeshi LGBT movements; how the Roopbaan Magazine was published; how the murder of Xulhaz Mannan and Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy took place in Bangladesh and what we here in London can do to support the Bangaldeshi queer community here and abroad.

Amnesty International – Take action for Human Rights – ‘Hacked to death for defending LGBTIQ Rights’ – send a letter of support to Xulhaz’ family – click here –  Tell Bangladesh to bring Xulhaz’s killers to justice.


‘QUEER TOURS OF LONDON – A Mince Through Time’ exist to shine a light on London’s rich LGBTQI history through creative and life-affirming interactive tours – www.queertoursoflondon.com / @ queertoursoflondon@gmail.com

https://www.outsavvy.com/event/2175/vigil-and-tour-justice-for-xulhaz-mannan-and-mahbu-rabbi-tonoy-tickets

Tell Bangladesh to bring Xulhaz’s killers to justice.‘QUEER TOURS OF LONDON – A Mince Through Time’ exist to shine a light on London’s rich LGBTQI history through creative and life-affirming interactive tours – www.queertoursoflondon.com / @ queertoursoflondon@gmail.com

By Dan Glass

1-4th May – SARAH SCHULMAN in London Town! – Four days of coalition politics and queer liberty

Queer Tours of London in association with London Artists Projects welcomes ‘SARAH SCHULMAN – ‘A witness to her times’ – Edmund White, New York Times – Four days of coalition politics and queer liberty

Where – 1st May @ RICH MIX / 2nd May @ SOAS / 3rd and 4th May @ ICA
1
Sarah Schulman is joined by Dan Glass and Travis Alabanza in a 4-day London event reflecting on the challenges and opportunities for coalition politics and queer liberty. Over four days the event will explore how to harness the power of coalition politics and queer liberty, what makes them work, and what can be learned from their history to propel change in the present.

In this global cataclysm of white supremacy, patriarchy and occupation we need active political movements and coalitions that are effective and that allow us to energize each other in support and difference. ACT UP London, London Artists Projects and Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time has invited Sarah Schulman for a week of debate, investigation, and envisioning at Rich Mix, SOAS and ICA.

ABOUT SARAH SCHULMAN

Sarah Schulman is a novelist, nonfiction writer, playwright, screenwriter and AIDS historian.  For more than three decades, her work as a novelist, nonfiction writer, playwright, screenwriter and AIDS historian is devoted to social change and to the making of more liveable-socially, economically, politically-lives. Her most famous works include The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination and Israel/Palestine and the Queer International, both of which foreground the relevance of gender/sexual politics in understanding, and challenging, violent socio-political systems; the former through a history of AIDS and gentrification in New York; the latter through an exploration of the role of ‘pinkwashing’ and ‘homonationalism’ in the continued occupation of Palestinian Territories.

Sarah is and has always been a passionate activist and campaigner and is a member of the international direct action group ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power); founder of The ACT UP Oral History Project (www.actuporalhistory,org); co-founder of the Lesbian Avengers; and co-founder of MIX: NYC Experimental Film Festival, now in its 31st year. She is on the Advisory Board of Jewish Voice for Peace and is active in Palestine Solidarity.  

Sarah has published 20 books and her current project: Let The Record Show: A Political History of Act Up will be published in 2020.  Sarah’s novels range from literary to experimental, futuristic, historical and the recent return to lesbian detective pulp Maggie Terry.  Her current stage project is a collaboration with Marianne Faithfull, The Snow Queen, which will premiere at the Manchester Factory in 2022.


PROGRAMME OUTLINE

1st May – Rich Mix – Queer Liberty – Opening night party – United in Anger: A History of ACT-UP – facebook event page here

Screening and post-film discussion/Q&A with Sarah Schulman, Dan Glass and more, party and DJ’s.

Tickets from £7 – Event details – ticket link here

Sarah screens her seminal film United in Anger: A History of ACT-UP followed by Q&A with Sarah, Dan Glass of Queer Tours of London, and special guests.   The film combines startling archival footage that puts you on the ground with the activists and remarkably insightful interviews from the ACT UP Oral History Project to explore ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) from a grassroots perspective and how a small group of men and women of all races, sexualities and classes, came together to change the world and save each other’s lives.

“United in Anger: A History of ACT UP delivers a living tribute to a movement spawned by death and despair” New York Times

Doors 6:30pm / Film 730pm-9pm / Q&A 915-10pm / Party until 11pm


LeaSuwanna is a board member of CAFPH (Centre for All Positive Health), UKCAB Steering Group Member, PrEPster & Treating Me Right Ambassador. She is also a patient representative at Royal College of Physicians, Newham CCG, Sir Ludwig Guttmann Centre Patient Forum and GP Patient rep & HIV CRG sub group. She volunteers as Peer 100 Mentor at Positively UK, Testing & Prevention at Positive East and Maternity Mentor at Maternity Mates, and is part of ACT UP London Women, HIV Voices, Her Story, Changing Perceptions and Women for Social Change programme.

Alongside these feats, LeaSuwanna is studying to be a Midwife. She has been living openly with HIV for 16 years, and will be for many more to come! She is the mother of two wonderful children and has a HIV negative partner. She is #gatecrashing to get our voices heard and her heels through the door!

Miqx has been a queer activist since Gay Liberation Front in 70’s East London, was on London Pride committee in 1980 and that same year also became involved with Radical Faeries in the USA. More recently, Miqx co-founded the Queer Spirit Festival (queerspirit.net) and works in the EuroFaerie Communities networks (eurofaeries.eu).

‘I am most keen on building a valid living sense of community. Having helped to set up housing and worker co-operatives, it is clear to me that individual fulfilment arises strongly from collective empowerment. Learning how to create workable solutions together can best sustain us in the ongoing struggle to overcome the ill effects of austerity and the greed and selfish behaviour of the moneyed classes.’

Jonathan Blake trained as Actor Rose Bruford 1967-1970 and worked as Actor 1970 -1981. Jonathan was diagnosed HTLV3 (now HIV) in October 1982 at Middlesex Hospital. L1 was his hospital number and was the first diagnosis @ Middlexsex Hospital. Jonathan attempted Suicide December 1982 but couldn’t go through with it. He decided to attempt to rejoin society despite feeling as a modern day leper with this killer virus coursing through my veins: Went to join “Gays for a Nuclear free Future” on their Stand together round Greenham Common, Aldermarston & Burghfield with coach leaving from ‘Gay the Word’ on Marchmont St All Fools Day 1st April 1983. Jonathan met his Future Partner that day Nigel Young and has been together now 35 years. With him we Joined Lesbians & Gaymen Support the Miners June 1984
Retrained as Tailor London College of Fashion 1984-87 Worked as Tailor & Costume Maker ENO making wardrobe 1988-1996 when my health gave out & I was medically retired . Started ART (Anti Retro-Viral Therapy ) 1997 & continue to this day. After being medically retired volunteered @ various HIV drop-In centres The Landmark in Brixton/Tulse Hill, Lighthouse South London , Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), The Food Chain. Was the Face of “THT’s First Safer Sex Poster aimed at GayMen” Globally outed as HIV+ at the end of the Film“PRIDE” in September2014 Perform Barney in Patrick Cash’s “HIV Monologues” 2016-18. Latest @ Bristol Pride 10-7-2018 Turned 69 on 21-7-2018

Amelia Abraham (b. 1991) is a journalist from London. Her main interest is LGBTQ identity politics, and she has written on or around this topic for the Guardian, the Observer, the Independent, the Sunday Times, the New Statesman, ES Magazine, VICE, i-D magazine and Dazed & Confused. She also writes about feminist issues, human-rights issues, health policy, arts and culture, and sex. Queer Intentions is her first book.


“Andria began AID Activism in 1988, when she helped set up Mainliners, the UK’s first Support Group for HIV-affected drugs users. She then worked as THT’s Drugs Counselling Officer for 3 years. It was during those years, that she was most involved with ACT.UP 1: when the onslaught of dying co-workers and friends was non-stop & relentless. Harm Reduction, i.e. access to clean needles, condoms and heroin substitutes is the best way to prevent HIV in injectors/slammers and she has literally gone all over the world promoting it, with her focus being the self-organisation of x/current Injection Drugs Users, including in her MSc dissertation (2004). When her life partner died from AIDS in 1995, she founded The John Mordaunt Trust, a peer support and advocacy project for daily drugs users, to honour John’s memory. This became political rapidly leading her to Drug Policy reform internationally. Still in ACT.UP she has been most active in highlighting HCV which numerically is more of a threat to IDUs. Andria also has a 10 yr old daughter Milly, who keeps her on her toes more than even ACT.UP can!”

Mica Coca, resident DJ at ResisDance – A woman & non binary dj collective challenging gender norms in the music scene and creating safe spaces on the dance floor.
Expect old school bangers and new heaters!

Dan Glass is a sex-positive, queer, healthcare and human rights award-winning activist, performer and writer. Reforming ‘Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) London chapter in 2012 has catalysed healthcare and sex-positive programmes including campaigning for PREP, HIV Blind Date, protecting the National Health Service as well as enabling ‘HIV anti-stigma classes as part of the Beyond UKIP Cabaret in Nigel Farage’s boozer. Dan has won Attitude Magazine’s campaigning role models for LGBTQI youth + a Guardian ‘UK youth climate leader’ and 2017 ‘Activist of the Year’ with the ‘Sexual Freedom Awards’. An agitator from the Training for Transformation educational programme born out of the Anti-Apartheid movement, the core of dan’s work is the development of critical consciousness and creativity to spur people ‘to read their reality and write their own history’. His recent programmes involve MC’ing ‘Shafted?!’ a speakeasy led by people with HIV and the ‘Never Again Ever! Beyond UKIP Cabaret in Nigel Farage’s boozer.  Dan recently co-founded ‘Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time’ see below. Contact dan at www.theglassishalffull.co.uk and at alright@theglassishalffull.co.uk – Twitter #danglassisfull

2nd May – SOAS – 19:00 – 21:30 ‘Let The Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP, New York. hosted by ‘Free Speech Society’ ticket link here – Facebook event page here

SOAS ‘Speech Act’s programme, Queer Tours of London in association with London Artists Projects welcomes ‘SARAH SCHULMAN – ‘A witness to her times’ – Edmund White, New York Times – Four days of coalition politics and queer liberty

Panel and Q+A with keynote speaker ‘Sarah Schulman’
Sarah Schulman reviews the roots of AIDS activism in Feminism, Civil Rights, and Black Power, presenting ideas from her current work-in-progress Let The Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP, New York (out in 2020) which is the result of 188 interviews conducted over 18 years. Rejecting the whitening of AIDS history, and examining the movements’ mistakes as well as victories, Schulman will share ideas and information with the hope of stimulating new approaches and attitudes to working together effectively for change.

Sarah says: ‘Given how many different kinds of people are under attack, the idea of one strategy, interpretation or approach is absurd. Lets aim to elevate each other in our different circumstances and resistances, while retaining basic common values of justice’.

Room – Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS, Torrington Square, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0XG
The venue is fully accessible.


Josh Hepple – Ph.D student, writer, activist, disability equality trainer
https://www.joshhepple.com/

Josh Hepple is a Ph.D student who has severe cerebral palsy. His impairment affects his speech and mobility and he relies on personal assistants 24/7. This website is about his journalism and equality training. The prejudice that Josh has faced has given him great empathy for marginalised groups; especially disabled and LGBT people. Josh has been a theatre reviewer and an equality trainer at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for many years. His Equality Training sessions are based on the social model of disability. Find out more about his Training here.

Josh has contributed to various online news sources as a freelance commentator. His unique account in the Guardian of his experiences using Grindr has recently received substantial media attention. Whilst coming to terms with his impairment as a gay teenager in Edinburgh, Josh received excellent support from LGBT Youth Scotland and Gay Men’s Health. However, sensing the need for wider support in the area, Josh helped to establish the charity TalkTime Edinburgh, which provides free counselling for any disabled teenagers, regardless of sexual orientation.

When not campaigning he can often be found having fun riding ponies.

Ray is a single-mother, photographer, theatre-maker and activist. She is the co-founder of the NHS Anti-Swindle Team, the founder of The Fallout Club, a Beautiful Trouble trainer and an ACT UP activist. Ray is a firm believer in the power of creativity as a tool for social engagement and political change, and is always on the look-out for new ways to combine social justice with joyous, create dissent.

Tresca is a mum of four, a grandma of two and a WLWHIV who received a late AIDS diagnosis. She is Outreach, Testing and Prevention Volunteer and Receptionist at Positive East, a Peer Mentor for WLWHIV, PrEP Champion, HIV Forum Member at Sir Ludwig Guttman Health Centre, a member of the Patient Participation Group at her GP Practice and a former mentor at drug and alcohol services. Alongside all of this, Tresca is Maternity Mate at Women’s Health and Family Service – supporting vulnerable pregnant mums to be empowered to have a positive pregnancy and birth experience. Tresca is an ex-drug user, but is 16 years clean. She has been living with HIV for almost four years as is now living ‘her best life’, educating local communities about HIV, PrEP and PEP. ‘My life experiences do not define who I am but they nevertheless have contributed to the confidant and bubbly woman that I am today.’

Maz is a tour guide of Queer Tours of London and also an active member of ACT UP London. In November 2016, he moved to London with the support of his present employer ACCA; The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (an amazing LGBT supportive organisation), where he is working as a Business Development Manager. Maz is one of the winners of Attitude Pride Award 2018, having been nominated for this award after organising a protest in London in front of the Bangladesh High Commissioner. The protest asked for justice for Maz’s two LGBT activist friends who were brutally murdered in Bangladesh on April 25th, 2018. He is now an LGBT activist, dedicated to bringing positive change in the Bangladesh LGBT community and to London based Bangladeshi LGBT people.

Patrick is an aspiring barrister, activist and act up campaigner with a special interest in mental health and addiction within marginalised communities. Patrick helped organise the first queer spirit festival and subsequently became a member of the Radical Faeries. Patrick is a founding member of FaeNA, a sub group within the faeries dedicated to addiction.

Ticket link here – All profits go to ‘ACT UP LONDON’ – ACT UP London is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the HIV pandemic, along with the broader inequalities and injustices that perpetuate it.

3rd May – ICA – Which Way Forward? Sarah Schulman in Conversation with London’s Queer Communities – Panel Discussion + Q&A.

Curated by: Erkan Affan.  

Venue: Institute of Contemporary Art – Cinema 1

What is the future direction of coalition politics?  How can marginalized queer communities utilize coalition politics to challenge authoritarianism?

Building on the explorations of Sarah Schulman’s ‘Gentrification of the Mind’, this evening’s discussion will be spearheaded with a contextualization of how both individuals and organisations here in London can utilise coalition politics to :

  1. Tackle the increase of cultural gentrification in historically diverse, cosmopolitan cities such as London,
  2. Fight against the rampant commercialization of the LGBTQIA+ community and its cultures, evident through the big-money sponsorships of Pride in London and the closure of over 50% of queer venues in the city since 2007
  3. Produce international networks of solidarity and activism that are broader than a border, transcending state-centric politics and establishing a coalition of resistance with oppressed communities worldwide.

Joining Sarah Schulman for this evening, we have four extra special guests that play an integral role in provoking and maintaining London’s coalitional queer socio-political architecture.

Travis Alabanza: A London based artist, writer and thinker. In the last four years Alabanza has carved and created much public conversation around the intersections of Blackness, Gender, transness and class, and been noted by numerous publications (MOBO, Dazed, Artsy) as one of the most prominent current trans artistic voices that have emerged. Their work has crossed mediums, venues and form, appearing at Tate Galleries, V&A, performing internationally at venues such as Harvard, Royal Exchange, ICA, Hamburg International and Lyric Hammersmith, and their writing published in The Guardian, Buzzfeed, Independent and more. Their recent show Burgerz, documenting and analysing being trans in public space, sold out to rave reviews and was voted among Guardian’s 2018 readers best choice for theatre and was published by Oberon play text. Recent work includes Ridiculous of Darkness (Gate Theatre) and ‘I wanted to fuck up the system but none of my friends texted back’ (Wellcome Collection). Photo credit Eivind Hansen

Lewis G Burton: a non-binary London-based performance artist and DJ. They co-founded the performance art platform-come-queer techno rave INFERNO. As an extension of INFERNO, Burton curated a two-day seminar exploring the intersections between performance art, nightlife, music and queerness entitled SUMMIT in February 2018. Lewis plans to continue this summit annually. Additionally, they are currently a member of the collective Pxssy Palace, a queer collective/club night that centres queer womxn, trans, non-binary and intersex people of colour.

Aviah Sarah Day: a member of the East End branch of Sisters Uncut – a national, feminist direct action group fighting cuts to domestic violence services. She has recently completed her PhD titled “Partnership and Power: Domestic Violence, the Women’s Sector and the Criminal Justice System”. Aviah also has several years of experience in a range of front line domestic violence services. Currently, she is researching and campaigning against the increased criminalization of survivors of domestic violence in the UK.

Erkan Affan is a queer writer and independent activist of colour based between the UK and Germany. With a background in Middle Eastern politics, gender and migration, their research has focused notably on the experiences of advocacy and transnational solidarity for queer migrants in Berlin. An avid believer of decolonising the contemporary structures of knowledge, they are currently conducting a residency in Berlin – funded by the European Commission – to challenge the inaccessible nature of academia and encourage more opportunity for self-representation through dialogue and discussion. Photo by Leviticus Hinds

4th May ICA – Venue: Institute of Contemporary Art – Cinema 1

A reading and discussion on her most recent fiction: The Cosmopolitans and Maggie Terry, and the second edition of her collected journalism: My American History: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Teagan/Bush Year’s.

Curated by: Erkan Affan.  

PRESS AND GENERAL CONTACTS

Dan glass – queertoursoflondon@gmail.com

Erkan Gursel – erkansgursel@gmail.com

Jeremy Goldstein – jeremy@londonartistsprojects.co.uk

THANK YOU TO OUR ORGANISING CREW!

Leviticus Hinds, Erkan Gursel (see above), Jo Alloway, Anna Campbell and last but not least …

Jeremy Goldstein is a producer, writer, performer and HIV+ activist with ACT UP London. In 2000, he founded London Artists Projects, which the Guardian has described as ‘an evocative theatrical wonderland’. He has commissioned and produced shows with many celebrated artists winning awards including Evening Standard, Fringe First, h.Club, London Cabaret and BBC Audio Drama. In 2012 he was named in Time Out as among the 100 most influential people in UK culture for ‘proving political theatre can be fun and outrageous’.  Jeremy is also creator of ‘Truth to Power Cafe’ which is touring the UK in 2019/20 opening at Royal Exchange Theatre Manchester on 26th and 27th April.

Olimpia is a doctoral researcher and activist based in London. With a background in anthropology and politics, her research focuses on queering LGBT diversity & inclusion and imagining alternative ways of living and organizing. She is also involved with the Friends of the Joiners Arms campaign working to open London’s first queer, late-license, community-owned and community-run, pub.


By Dan Glass

10.04.19 – Archive Launch – Queer Tours of London: A Mince Through Time

WHEN – 10th April – 6.30-9.30pm

WHERE – Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 4QH 

BOOKING – The launch is free and the Bishopsgate Institute is fully accessible –  please book here.

Queer Tours of London launched in 2017 for the 50th anniversary of partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in Britain.  The tours exist to shine a light on London’s rich LGBT history through interactive tours, artistic interventions, protests and informative events. Through exploring themes of power, sex, identity and spaces the tours aim to provide a better understanding of queer history, build for our queer future and generate support for London’s queer and sex-positive communities.

Bishopsgate Institute is proud to hold the Queer Tours Archive and is delighted to be hosting this archive launch event in 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the birth of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) who started Pride. Come and listen, learn, love and celebrate with those who made it happen.

Free event: booking required. 

By Dan Glass

27.02.19 – The ‘Gay Liberation Front’ Dance Party – 50th Anniversary Special!

The ‘Gay Liberation Front’ Dance Party / Fundraiser – 50th Anniversary Special! – Get your tickets quick – click here – limited spaces! – Facebook event page here

50 years ago a rag-tag group of queers, queens, dissidents and whores started a revolution. This year – on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots they have re-united to reclaim the Pride they started!

Join us for the (re)launch of the ‘Gay Liberation Front’ in London with special performances, DJ sets and dances from the original GLF members + a new generation of artists in tribute! Come cheer on the 50th birthday speeches from the Gay Liberation Front legends themselves and enjoy the nights entertainment. Highlights include celebrated ‘RIOT ACT’ show, queer classical musical pioneer ‘Barbs’, Brighton’s very own Afropunk goddess ‘Baby’, songs from Sarah Angel and Queer London DJ legend  Auntie Maureen with a DJ set spanning Queer London from 1930s Soho jazz to contemporary queer electronica, with every decade in between – on Auntie’s dance floor everyone is welcome – and more!


All donations to a year of grassroots activism to reclaim Pride for all on this special year.  

PARTY! CELEBRATE! BUILD QUEER POWER!

Come and join us for our LGBT+ History Month party and get involved in the year of action.

WHEN – Wednesday 27th Feb Show 7-9.30pm / DJ’s and dancing 9-midnight.

WHERE – REDON, Railway Arches, 289 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 9HA – Wheelchair accessible.

DRESS CODE – FANTABULOSA

TICKETS – Broke £5 Unwaged £7.50 Standard £10 Solidarity £15.

There are a handful of free tickets are for LGBT+ migrants and for LGBT+ folk struggling with housing. If this is you and / or you have any issues being able to afford the ticket please email us ASAP – queertoursoflondon@gmail.com. All profits will go into a Summer of events and activism to catalyse a new set of radical demands by the activists who started Pride. 

Get your ticket here! 
https://www.outsavvy.com/event/2403/the-gay-liberation-front-dance-party-50th-anniversary-special-tickets

All details at www.queertoursoflondon.com – 

*** DONATE *** Please donate to our crowdfunder here

By Dan Glass

08.02.19 – QTOL at Friday Late: London Stories At London Transport Museum

PRESS RELEASE – 23 January 2019

Friday Late: London Stories At London Transport Museum – Friday 8 February 2019

19:00 to 22:00 (last admission 21:15)

·         

New exhibition opening and Friday Late combined

·         Workshop fun with a perfume salon, temporary tattoos and vinegar valentines

·         Talks on romance and early Victorian celebs, live poetry performances, a bar, DJ, and quiz with a top host

·         2 for £12 London Lovers pomegranate and gin cocktail

Party people can join London Transport Museum for the opening night of its new exhibition, The Poster Prize for Illustration 2019: London Stories at a special love-themed Friday Late on 8 February in the heart of Covent Garden. Guests will be among the first to see one hundred new illustrations, each capturing a different story inspired by life in one of the world’s greatest cities – London.

With a London Lovers cocktail in hand, guests can enjoy a jam-packed evening of activities including talks on travel and romance, a perfume salon allowing visitors to discover the scents that were considered attractive in different eras, a tattoo parlour where they can get their lover’s name inked temporarily, and a Victorian craft workshop where they can print their own anti-Valentine’s card.

Visitors will be transported by poet Ella Frears’ Love on the Tracks performance in the Museum’s vintage “padded cell” Tube carriage, can hear a talk on the good, the bad and the ugly of London’s architecture and go on a guided tour of the new exhibition. There’s also a bar, DJ, and quiz with Amy Bee Sting, one of London’s best quiz masters.

Highlights of the evening:

Talks

·         Steamy Romance: step back in time to discover how trains transformed the romantic lives of everyday people. With Sophie Ratcliffe, author of The Lost Properties of Love

·         Stardom on the Strand: find out how the Gaiety Girls wowed late-Victorian London, redefined stardom with their daringly modern musical comedies and laid the groundwork for today’s celebrity culture.  With Rob Gallagher, editor at strandlines.london, a digital archive celebrating lives on the Strand, past and present

  • Architectural Marmite: explore the good, the bad, and the ugly of London’s architecture, and question why it divides us. Topics include brutalism and how high-rise buildings make you feel. With Oliver Green, a Research Fellow for London Transport Museum and a freelance historian, author and curator
  • What to expect on a Queer Tour of London: talk by Andrew Lumsden, QTOL guide and founder of Gay News in 1971
  • Queer Tours and Accessibility: talk by Josh Hepple, QTOL and Access4All guide, disability equality trainer, and activist

Workshops and performances

  • The Scent of Love: perfumer Sarah McCartney is holding a fragrant salon in the Museum’s 1930s lounge. Smell your way through a hundred years of perfume history and discover what scents were considered sexy, romantic, or attractive in different eras

·         Temporary Tattoo Parlour: get your lover’s name inked, but without any of the regret! Let our resident face and body painter Jenny Hawkins adorn you with tattoo-inspired designs

  • Vinegar Valentines: print your own Vinegar Valentine, the Victorian way to fend off and insult unwanted suitors. Use an original printing press and learn about the history of Fleet Street’s printing industry with objects from St Bride Foundation’s collection
  • London LGBT+ Stories: visit a pop-up display of objects documenting London’s LGBT+ transport history; take a photo and record a mini oral history in the Museum’s photo booth for its collecting project; add your own love stories to a giant map of meeting places with London Transport Museum Documentary Curators Ellie Miles and Susanna Cordner. Meet OUTbound, TfL’s LGBT+ staff network group and learn about their work supporting LGBT+ transport workers in London today.  

·         Love on the Tracks: A short voyage of verse: With Valentine’s Day just a short hop away, join poet Ella Frears in the intimate surroundings of a vintage Tube carriage on an intoxicating voyage of verse themed around London and love

The Exhibition and Museum galleries

London Stories Highlights Tours in the Exterion Media Gallery: join a tour of the new exhibition The Poster Prize for Illustration: London stories and discover more about the artworks on display,with Brian Webb, panel judge for the Prize for Illustration and renowned designer and director of Webb & Webb Design, and Sabine Reimer, the Association of Illustrators’ Awards Manager, and a graphic designer herself. Or browse the exhibition in your own time and then enjoy London Transport Museum’s other galleries.

Bars and music

Try the Museum’s specially concocted seductive London Lovers gin and pomegranate cocktail which is on offer at the special price of 2 for £12 all night, then dance your heart out to a DJ set celebrating London and love. The Upper Deck café bar will also be serving drinks and hot and cold snacks. 

The London Stories Friday Late is from 19:00 to 22:00 and entry is £15/£12. Adults only. To book tickets in advance go to www.ltmuseum.co.uk/friday-lates

For further information visit www.ltmuseum.co.uk or call 020 7565 7298.

In addition to the Friday Late event, London Transport Museum is holding a series of talks to coincide with the new Poster Prize for Illustration: London stories exhibition. These three talks are:Living with Buildings and Walking with Ghosts, with Iain Sinclair, Thursday 21 February 2019, starts at 19:00, Bus Fare: Stories of the London Bus, Thursday 21 March 2019, starts at 19:00,London Made Us: A memoir of a Shape-Shifting City with BBC broadcaster Robert Elms, Thursday 4 April 2019, starts at 19:00. All three talks take place in the Cubic Theatre at London Transport Museum, Covent Garden Piazza, London, WC2E 7BB. Tickets cost £12/£10 and advance booking is available at www.ltmuseum.co.uk.

Ends

For media requests, interviews and images please contact
London Transport MuseumCandice Jones – PR and Marketing ManagerPhone 020 7565 7448Email candice.jones@ltmuseum.co.ukClaudia Pearson – Marketing ExecutivePhone 020 7126 1807 Email claudia.pearson@ltmuseum.co.uk Association of IllustratorsSabine Reimer – Awards ManagerPhone 020 7759 1012Email  sabine@theaoi.comFor further information, please see:www.ltmuseum.co.uk Follow us on Twitter and Facebook at:https://twitter.com/ltmuseum https://www.facebook.com/ltmuseum www.theaoi.com 

Editors notes:

About the Poster Prize for Illustration 2019 judging panel:

o    Derek Brazell, Projects Manager, Association of Illustrators

o    Roger Browning, Art Editor (Lifestyle), Country Living

o    Brian Grimwood, Managing Director, Central Illustration Agency

  • Miranda Leedham, Head of Customer Marketing and Behaviour Change, Transport for London
  • Steve Pill, Editor, Artists & Illustrators, BRITAIN and Discover Britain magazines
  • Rachael Stevens, Associate Editor, Creative Review
  • Michael Walton, Poster Art Commissioner, London Transport Museum
  • Brian Webb, Director, Webb and Webb Design
  • Sarah Thomson, Head of Art Production, Ogilvy & Mather (1 Unilever)
  • Jason Cotterrell, Group Chief Strategy Officer and UK Managing Director, Exterion Media

About London Transport Museum

·         London Transport Museum is situated in the heart of Covent Garden and filled with stunning exhibits; the Museum explores the powerful link between transport and the growth of modern London, culture and society since 1800. Historic vehicles, world-famous posters and the very best objects from the Museum’s extraordinary collection are brought together to tell the story of London’s development and the part transport played in defining the unique identity of the city.

·         London Transport Museum is an educational and heritage preservation charity. Its purpose is to conserve and explain the history of London’s transport, to offer people an understanding of the Capital’s past development and to engage them in the debate about its future. The Museum’s charity number is 1123122.

·         London Transport Museum is supported by public funding from Arts Council England

·         London Transport Museum opening hours:

  • Daily 10.00 to 18.00 (last admission 17.15)

·       Public information:

  • Talks & events bookings: +44 (0)20 7565 7298 
  • Switchboard:  +44 (0)20 7379 6344 – general information
  • Address: Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 7BB
  • 24 hour information: +44 (0)20 7565 7299
  • www.ltmuseum.co.uk

About the Association of Illustrators

·         The Association of Illustrators (AOI) is the UK’s leading illustration body supporting and sustaining illustrators and the illustration industry. Established in 1973 the AOI offers members professional support, online resources and a growing programme of events. The AOI has successfully increased the standing of illustration as a profession and improved commercial and ethical conditions. With a membership that includes freelance illustrators, agents, students and colleges the AOI continues to educate future generations and support illustrators at every stage of their career. It publishes the biannual Varoom magazine and has run juried illustration Awards, such as the World Illustration Awards, for over 40 years.

·         The Association of Illustrators, telephone: 020 7759 1010, email: info@theaoi.com, www.theaoi.com

By Dan Glass

27.01.19 1pm – QUEER POWER Protest against Chechen murders 🗺

27.01.19 – 1pm – 2pm QUEER POWER PROTEST against Chechnyan murders this Holocaust Memorial Day – Facebook page here – PLEASE SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE – WE ARE HERE! WE ARE QUEER! All contributions / if you would like to speak / press requests to queertoursoflondon@gmail.com – see full press release here – For Immediate Release 24.01.19 – Hundreds to protest LGBT+ murders at Russian Embassy on Holocaust Memorial Day


‘We are truly grateful to everyone who support us! Moreover, we believe that it was an international pressure that stopped the first wave of persecution, so yes, it will be very useful!’ Sincerely yours, Russian LGBT Network

Chechnya: ‘two dead and dozens held in LGBT purge, say activists’ Guardian 14.01.19

 
Please join us this Holocaust Memorial Day to protest against the new wave of brutal attacks against LGBT+ people is taking place in Chechnya, Russia. This is part of a global day of action by the queer community saying loudly and proudly ‘NEVER AGAIN EVER!’

Where – Bayswater Road, opposite Russian Embassy, 6/7 Kensington Palace Gardens, Kensington, London W8 4QP, UK – nearest tube ‘Notting Hill Gate’
When – 1-2pm on Sunday 27th January 2019
What – Please bring as many people as you can AND bring as many pairs of shoes as possible for a sculpture of shoes just like those piled up outside of Auschwitz.
How – If you would like to say some words, perform, write a story or contribute in any way please email us at queertoursoflondon@gmail.com

This Holocaust Memorial Day – 80 years since start the start of WW2 – let’s remember the thousands of LGBTQI+ who perished in the Nazi Holocaust, let’s remember the millions of Queers across the world who have been killed or brutalised since and let’s remember today those who have been killed and nearly 40 detained in a new crackdown on LGBT people in Russia’s Chechnya region. The reports earlier this month echo those from 2017, when hundreds of gay men were rounded up by police in Chechnya and subjected to beatings and electric shocks in secret prisons, provoking international condemnation and sanctions.

PLEASE SHARE THIS FAR AND WIDE – WE ARE HERE! WE ARE QUEER!

Pls support and sign the global ‘All Out’ petition here – https://go.allout.org/en/a/chechnya-2019-uk/ 
Donate here – https://go.allout.org/en/a/chechnya-donate/
and support the Peter Tatchell Foundation here – www.petertatchellfoundation.org

‘QUEER TOURS OF LONDON – A Mince Through Time’ exist to commemorate, celebrate and agitate queer history and culture to bring forth the visibility of our incredible community at large and the journey to how we became who we are today. Against the backdrop of the mass closure of LGBTQI (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex) cultural spaces and support services, ‘QUEER TOURS OF LONDON’ are being developed to support London’s current queer activism, culture and performance in all its glory. www.queertoursoflondon.com

By Dan Glass

06.02.18 – Gay Liberation Front (GLF) ‘Think In 5’ – Reclaim Pride! Everyone welcome :)

06.02.18 – Gay Liberation Front (GLF) ‘Think In 5’ – Reclaim Pride!


When – Wednesday, February 6, 2019 at 6 PM – 8:30 PM – Facebook event page here

Where – Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate, EC2M 4QH London, United Kingdom

This is the space for all Gay Liberation Front (GLF) Activists and new friends to connect, celebrate and plot for the upcoming significant anniversaries –

2019 – 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots
2020 – 50th anniversary of GLF UK
2022 – 50th anniversary of Pride

We are having monthly ‘think in’s’ to develop our demands and action plans. Everyone new or old to the movement and who is committed to ‘LIBERATION FOR ALL’ is very welcome.

‘Think In’s’ are a concept which the GLF activists first used to have a space, a sanctuary in which to make sense of the world away from the pressures of homophobia and how to effectively respond. 50 years on there is still so much work to do to complete the ultimate aim of ‘freedom for all’.

We are busy writing the ‘GLF demands 2’ to present to the world and organising the 2019 timeline of events and actions to pay tribute to the radical roots of Pride by those who started it. 2019 will be a year of TRANSFORMATION, JUSTICE AND TRUTH for Pride and the Queer Community!

If you wanna get involved and join the ‘Think In 5’ on Feb 6th at The Bishopsgate Institute (a haven for queer archiving and campaigning) and /or be added to the mailing list please email queertoursoflondon@gmail.com with a few lines of who you are and your committed to radical (getting to the root) queer freedom. Thanks to everyone who is making this happen!

#Weareherewerearequeer
#Gayisgood
#Wearethepeopleyourparentswarnedyoubout
#ComeTogether!

Read more about the GLF history here – http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/counterculture/liberation/cometogether/cometogether.html

*** Contacts – 

‘Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time’ – queertoursoflondon@gmail.com / www.queertoursoflondon.com

‘Queerseum’ info@queerseum.org / www.queerseum.org

*** Why do we need to ‘reclaim’ Pride – a message from ‘Gay Liberation Fronts’ Andrew Lumsden.

‘Where do our rebellions lie now? How can we best tie them into our shared history?’ Andrew Lumsden, GLF activist / Gay News founder (1971)

“Surviving Gay Liberation Front activists were sidelined by a London Pride Committee on our 40th anniversary in 2010. Mayor Johnson and his bodyguards – he never spoke to us – were put in front of us on the July march, though we invented such marches. And we were allowed 15 minutes to speak from the Trafalgar Square stage, cut at the last moment to 5 minutes.

Young people ask us, what was Gay Lib like, and they love Stuart Feather’s 2016 book about it, Blowing the Lid, Gay Liberation, Sexual Revolution & Radical Queens.

We’d like things to go better for the 50th anniversary in 2020 even if we’re all in wheelchairs. But there’s been no approach to us by the present Pride in London Committee. It keeps the Pride franchise awarded by Mayor Khan until 2022 and is known to consider themes for later marches under its supervision. Months ago we suggested a conversation, and were told we would be contacted. We never have been.

Never mind. We invented things before and can cheerfully do it again, with the help of friends. So we’d like – since venues have to be booked – to consult with friends about what we might do that would simultaneously

. highlight campaigns today

. and celebrate the Gay Liberation Front”

By Dan Glass

‘Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time in 2019’ celebrate Stonewall Riots 50th Birthday!

‘Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time’ celebrate Stonewall Riots 50th Birthday!

“The Queer Walking Tour crew turned a load of drab civil servants into sparkly, queer knowledge hubs. We absolutely love the Queer Walking Tour crew, and can’t get enough – we’re onto our third tour with them now and every time we learn more, understand a bit more and hopefully become confident allies and activists. What are you waiting for? Sign up and get queer walking!” Kate Leslie

2019 is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that led to birth of modern Pride (‘You can’t have Pride without the Marsha P Johnson’ photo above) as we know it and Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time are going to celebrate in style.

OUR PURPOSE

‘Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time’ tours, events and protests serve 3 main purposes (1) Shine a light on London’s rich LGBTQI history through creative, audacious and life-affirming interactive walking tours (2) Knowledge is Power – Understanding our Queer History to build for our Queer Future (3) Generate People Power and Financial Support for London’s Queer campaigns.

We exist to shine a light on London’s rich LGBTQI history through creative and life-affirming interactive tours. We tell the stories of London’s queer history, shedding light on the lives, spaces, identities, repression and resistance that form the backdrop of LGBTQI lives today. We do this through educational, accessible and interactive walking tours, cabarets, street-art and events that bring life to the complexities and lived experiences of our history, present and vision for the future.

‘Queer Tours of London’ are for everyone in London – visitors and residents – to be inspired by our history and get involved in our future. We also welcome requests for special-themed tours, private tours and all kinds of collaborations. Contact with us on queertoursoflondon@gmail.com for all involvement / press requests / collaborations and an info-pack for new tour guides.

NEXT TOURS AND EVENTS

Come and join us at our next tours and events

This Wednesday 9th January we have our ‘Gay Liberation Front’ and friends ‘Think In 4 to reclaim Pride’ at LSE and Thursday we will be at the Goldsmiths Queer History Fair with our friends from see ’the best LGBT+ events in London this week’.

Watch this space for the ‘The Death and Life of Marsha P Johnson’ Film Screening at the end of January to launch the Stonewall 50th year of action. Into February ‘LGBT+ History Month’ we have the LGBTQIA+ Disability Tour – Accessibility for all! On the 2nd, the ‘GLF and Friends Think in 5 @ Bishopsgate Institute’ on the 6th of February, the ‘Gay Liberation Front’ Special Soho Tour – Celebrating Stonewall – on the 9th and on the 23rd of February we have the ‘Trans Herstory Tour of London – Stonewall Special.’ On the 13th of February we have the ‘Queer Ghost tour of Shadwell – Happy BIrthday Wilfred Owen’. In April we have our ‘Out of the Archive and into the Street’s archive launch party at the Bishopsgate Institute, the Justice for Xulhaz Vigil / Protest at the Bangladesh Embassy – on the 25th of April and lots more exciting events to be announced including our ‘LGBT+ Migrant Rights’ tour and ‘Lesbian Tours.’

2018 HIGHLIGHTS

2018 was the 30th anniversary of the beginning of ‘Section 28’ and we damn well made sure that we weren’t going to go underground anymore. Some of the highlights included

                     

Keep on Mincing! Have a great start to 2019 – we look forward to hearing from you and seeing you on the streets! Queer Tours of London – A Mince Through Time 🙂