27/05/2010
News Sent:26th May 2010
In this week's e-mail newsletter: Equality Network News: New Director; Forums News: Peter Tatchell to speak at Greenbelt; Homophobia in Sport: BBC Documentary; Consultation on the National Lottery Shares; Talk Scotland Events: Funding for your event?; Edinburgh: Careerscapes: Reflections from women managers in Finland and Scotland; Kirkcaldy: Employment Law Matters; Inverness: Salsa & Rueda Dancing; THT Grampian Firewalking Challenge; Glasgow: Love Out of Bounds; Scottish Borders LGBT Pride Barbeque; Inverness: THT Community Consultation meeting; Edinburgh Diversity Cup; Glasgow: Too Embarrassing To Talk About?; Galashiels: Positive Scotland - Borders Briefing Event; Awaz FM Radio Production Training Course; Throw a tea party for 46,000 people!; UK News: Sshh! Saturdays: 29th May; Cool Welcome For New Man At DWP; Cool Welcome For New Man At DWP; Refugee Week 2010: 14-20 June; LGCM: Love Hurts; Stonewall marks 21 years of campaigning; International: Prides in Eastern Europe: The Bitter Taste of the Police Batons; Russia: Moscow Pride in court; Malawi: Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga; Working for All: Glasgow: Queens Cross Housing Association; Edinburgh & Lothians Racial Equality Council; LGBT Families: US: What Would You Do?

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Equality Network News

New Director
At the same time as we regret to announce the departure of Patrick Stoakes, Director of the Equality Network 2005-2010, we are pleased to announce that Tim Hopkins, one of the Equality Network's founder members in 1997, and Policy Project Coordinator since 2003, has been appointed the new Director to take the Equality Network onward.


Forums News

Peter Tatchell to speak at Greenbelt
The news that human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell is to speak at this year’s Greenbelt Arts Festival, was met by a small number of conservative Christians with a call for a boycott, on the grounds that the Christian event is being ‘gayified’, but the festival has reported a record number of ticket sales. Others have expressed puzzlement as to why an atheist like Tatchell would want to speak, when he has previously attacked the church’s unjust practices. A clue as to why Tatchell might want to speak at Greenbelt comes with the news that he has just come to the defence of a Christian street preacher. Whilst Tatchell considered the preacher’s views abhorrent and homophobic, his commitment to justice led him to offer to defend the Christian nevertheless, and defend his right to free speech.
Tatchell says: "I will be highlighting rising homophobic victimisation and praising the inspiring defence of gay human rights by African Christian leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bishop Christopher Senyonjo of Uganda, who has been hounded and cast out by the Anglican Church of Uganda." (Pink Paper, Ekklesia)

Homophobia in Sport: BBC Documentary
When Gareth Thomas came out, some argued that the professional sporting arena is now a place where lesbian and gay people can participate and enjoy the same freedoms as everyone else. In the BBC documentary series "Inside Sport", Mark Chapman talks with well-known sports people such as Gareth Thomas, Donal Cusack and Martina Navratilova, to find out why it is so difficult for lesbian and gay athletes to be open about their sexual orientation and the consequences if they are. The programme was first broadcast after midnight on BBC1 on Tues 25th May 2010, and will be available on BBC iPlayer till 12:48am Tues 1st June 2010. Darren Ollerton, Director of the Justin Campaign which works to tackle homophobia in football, said: “The programme raised some very valid points around the support a professional player can expect on coming out. The Justin Campaign would like to send thanks to Mark Chapman for fronting such a thought provoking piece that demonstrates the all too real consequences of homophobia in football and why, as a society it’s so important that we hold football's governing body to account on their work around homophobia in the sport.” (Pink Paper)
Scotland has two LGBT-friendly football clubs, HotScots FC (Edinburgh) and Granite City Stormers Fc (Aberdeen).

Consultation on the National Lottery Shares
The Department for Culture, Media, and Sport seeks your views on the draft Order to enact a change to the shares going to the National Lottery good causes of arts, sport, heritage and charitable expenditure, health, education and the environment. The closing date for responses is 21st August 2010. Send your comments or if you have any queries about this consultation to: lottery@culture.gsi.gov.uk


Talk Scotland Events

Funding for your event?
Are you thinking about holding an event in your town or region next year, something that you hope would bring people in from across Scotland or even the UK? If you live outside Edinburgh or Glasgow metropolitan areas, you may be able to get funding from EventScotland’s National Events Portfolio. The deadline for the next round is Friday 1st October 2010 for events taking place from 1 May 2011 onwards. Check out their website for the funding criteria.

Edinburgh: Careerscapes: Reflections from women managers in Finland and Scotland
Tuesday 1st June, 12 - 2pm, CRFR Meeting Room, 23 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9LN. Gendered ageism is evident and takes varied but notable forms in the 'careerscapes' of women managers. Whilst there are differences between Finland and Scotland, there are also similarities, such as an ageing workforce at a point in history when women's participation in work is reaching new heights. This seminar will present findings from this comparative study and disussed possible implications for policy and practice. .The seminars are free but places are limited, so please contact l.marshall@ed.ac.uk if you wish to attend. (CRFR)

Kirkcaldy: Employment Law Matters
3rd June, 10am-12noon. Training event by Fife Law Centre & CVS Fife: "Managing Employees Effectively in order to avoid Tribunals!" At Town House, 2 Wemyssfield, Kirkcaldy KY1 1XW. Cost: £20.00pp. Fife Law Centre is committed to providing a legal training programme to local Voluntary/Third Sector Organisations and is pleased to offer the opportunity for such organisations to update their Employment Law awareness.

Inverness: Salsa & Rueda Dancing
3rd June. Salsa Ness now offers LGBT-friendly dancing at the James Cameron Centre (Dalneigh) on Thursdays from 6pm - 8pm. Costs £6 per or £10 per fortnight. Visit Salsa Ness on Bebo or Contact Thomas P. Close at salsaness@yahoo.co.uk

THT Grampian Firewalking Challenge
Friday 4th June, from 6.30pm at Oldmeldrum, Inverurie. The evening will start with all participants building the fire that will provide the wood embers for walking on. This will be followed by a workshop which will serve to give all participants the motivation and technique required to enable them to safely walk on the embers which are around 1200 degrees fahrenheit. Many thousands of people have participated in firewalking events and have found their outlook on life is changed forever. THT Grampian are asking people to face, challenge and overcome their fears while raising a minimum of £50 sponsorship to help towards funding local activities, raising awareness and education of HIV. Please contact Andi Watson on 0845 241 2151 or andi.watson@tht.org.uk for more information.

Glasgow: Love Out of Bounds
Sat 5th June, 2pm, Govanhill. Love Out of Bounds is a new Our Story Scotland Project that brings together LGBT people and people from minority ethnic groups to tell of their experiences of love There are so many of us who have experiences of being told that the love we have is somehow wrong or misdirected. Contact Our Story Scotland for venue details.
www.ourstoryscotland.org.uk

Scottish Borders LGBT Pride Barbeque
Saturday 5th June, from 2-5 pm. The Scottish Borders LGBT Pride Barbeque will be held at Boleside picnic site, Galashiels, by the River Tweed (National Grid reference NT 502 337, postcode TD1 3NS). Barbequeing facilities and basic foodstuffs provided. Please bring meat to eat and something to drink.

Inverness: THT Community Consultation meeting
On Tuesday 8 June, THT (Inverness) is presenting an evening at the Crown Court Hotel, 25 Southside Road, Inverness IV2 3BG, asking what the local LGBT community would like THT to do for them. The event will be from 6.30 - 9pm (includes buffet). Phone 01463 711 585 for more info or email info.highland@tht.org.uk. Open Door Afternoons at THT (Waterloo Place, Inverness) are on Tuesdays from 2pm - 4pm for anyone who is LGBT and wishes to chat to staff about any issues.
www.tht.org.uk

Edinburgh Diversity Cup
12th June, 11am: the Edinburgh Inter-Faith Association annual charity 5-a-side football tournament. The aim is to bring people together from as many different backgrounds, faiths and cultures as possible, and celebrate the diversity that is found in and around Edinburgh. Last year the Diversity cup hosted teams representing mosques, temples, churches, the police, the City of Edinburgh council, Edinburgh's LGBT community and many other organisations and communities. Each team (a squad of seven players) is asked to pay an entry fee of £40 which is donated to the nominated charity, Mary's Meals. Mary’s Meals is an international movement to set up school feeding projects in communities where poverty and hunger prevent children from gaining an education.
www.diversitycup.org.uk

Glasgow: Too Embarrassing To Talk About?
12th June, 10am-3:30pm, Wolfson Medical Building, University of Glasgow. Sexuality And Young People With Learning Disabilities: Do you find it difficult to talk to your son or daughter about sex and relationships and do you know what local resources and support are available? Free to parents; £15 for professionals. Contact Lynnette Shand on 0141 225 1605 or email lynnette.shand@enable.org.uk or visit www.enable.org.uk

Galashiels: Positive Scotland - Borders Briefing Event
14th June, 10am - 12pm. Langlee Community Centre, Marigold Drive, Galashiels. The Positive Scotland’s Borders Briefing Event will be an opportunity for health professionals to hear about our work, reflect on issues affecting positive people and explore how we can work together to best support people living with HIV and Hepatitis C. The project unites THT and Waverley Care’s individual expertise to deliver this new service to positive people in the borders. To reserve a place, or find out more information, contact: rik.hodgson@waverleycare.org / 0131 558 1425 or neil.bird@waverleycare.org / 07962 909730

Awaz FM Radio Production Training Course
Awaz FM are running a short course in Radio Production designed to give you a basic introduction into how radio works. Running once a week over a period of 8 weeks, the course is designed to give you a better understanding of how to Present, Script, Interview, Edit Sound, Research, Produce and Prepare for a show. At the end of the course you will be expected to produce a final 10 minute "Demo" which will encompass everything that you will have learned over the weeks. If you are interested in taking part in these classes, then get in touch with our Training Officer, Manjot Sumal on 0141 420 6666 or email manjot@awazfm.co.uk
awazfm.co.uk

Throw a tea party for 46,000 people!
Over the next few months, cakes will be baked, scones buttered and tea brewed to raise money for Breast Cancer Care. A summer fundraiser filled with sweet treats, a Strawberry Tea is also a great excuse to catch up with your family, friends or colleagues. Whether you open up a packet of custard creams or turn your living room into The Ritz, it’s all for a good cause – helping the 46,000 thousand people who are diagnosed with breast cancer every year. To find out more call 0870 164 9422 or visit:
www.breastcancercare.org.uk/strawberry


UK News

Sshh! Saturdays: 29th May
This campaign's aim is to inspire and support same-sex couples who want to hold their partner's hand in public.
www.adayinhand.com

Cool Welcome For New Man At DWP
The appointment of Iain Duncan Smith as secretary of state for Work and Pensions in the new coalition government has raised concerns among equality campaigners. (Disability Now)
Samira Shackle, writing in the New Statesman says "It is interesting, if unsurprising, to see that Iain Duncan Smith has appointed Philippa Stroud as his Special Adviser, after she failed to win a seat in Sutton and Cheam."
More than 200 delegates came together at the TUC's annual disability conference in London on 19th May to discuss the potential impact of the new Government on disabled people. Job losses during the recession have so far not impacted disproportionately on disabled people, however a higher proportion of disabled people work in the public sector than the private sector.

Refugee Week 2010: 14-20 June
Johann Hari in the Independent: "Kiana Firouz believed the freedom to fall in love was more important than her own safety. She made a film in Tehran showing that there are gay people there just as there are gay people everywhere, and they deserve to live and love freely. The police began following and threatening her. She knew what had happened to other gay Iranians – a bullet, a ditch, a lynch mob – so she came to a country she associated with freedom for gay people, Britain, and appealed to us to save her life. We refused. The Home Office told her to go back to Iran and be "discreet" about her sexuality. But the law in Iran doesn't say discreet lesbians get out of jail free. They are tortured and killed just the same."

LGCM: Love Hurts
The 2010 annual conference of the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement took place on Saturday 15 May at the Drill Hall in the heart of London’s West End. This year’s theme was Love Hurts: The effects of discrimination in the name of a God of love. Keynote speaker was singer/songwriter Rev Rizi Timane. Rizi shared movingly of her literal and metaphorical journey from oppression to freedom. Rizi flew in from Los Angeles where she has lived since fleeing Nigeria and an impending forced marriage – her family’s ‘solution’ to her homosexuality. LGCM will be 35 years old next April and to commemorate this historic event they have set themselves Challenge-35.

Stonewall marks 21 years of campaigning
Stonewall turns 21 on May 20th 2010. Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Laura Doughty said:‘A 21st birthday traditionally signifies a landmark coming-of-age, and Stonewall’s coming-of-age is happening right now as the reach and impact of our campaigning work grows year on year. We continue to develop key relationships with ministers and decision-makers, but our campaigning towards equality now stretches way beyond this. Lesbian, gay and bisexual equality needs to be embedded at home, at school and at work for Britain to be a truly gay-friendly country. Stonewall will continue to campaign for this in the next 21 years.’


International

Prides in Eastern Europe: The Bitter Taste of the Police Batons
Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2010 was held in Hviezdoslavovo Square, where several hundred people gathered for speeches and concerts. Around 100 anti-gay protesters started attacking the parade almost immediately and dozens of supporters of a newly-created right-wing party led by former leaders of a banned extremist movement were among them. They made several attempts to disrupt the crowd of Rainbow Pride participants by throwing tear-gas canisters, rocks and eggs at the gathering as well as at the speakers on the stage. Seventeen foreign embassies in Slovakia, including British Ambassador Michael Roberts, issued a joint statement supporting Bratislava’s Gay Pride. (Slovak Spectator)
Nikolai Alekseev, the chief organiser of Moscow Pride and the Region 8 director of InterPride, wrote for the InterPride annual publication Pride 10: "Millions of people around the world, no matter whether they are gay or straight, will once again celebrate Prides this year. Some were lucky enough to be born in most recent times, in countries which have already achieved much on equality for LGBT people. But others have been part of Stonewall, worked with [Harvey] Milk and remember about the origins of Pride. While most participants will enjoy peaceful and colourful events throughout the Pride season, some will feel the bitter taste of the batons." (UK Gay Pride)
A gay pride parade is scheduled to be held in Zagreb on 19th June, under the slogan, “Croatia can swallow this”.

Russia: Moscow Pride in court
"Every year we apply for several actions on the day of Moscow Pride" explains Nikolai Alekseev, Moscow Pride Chief Organizer. Following the complaint introduced by Moscow Pride organizers on May 21, the Tagansky District Court in Moscow decided to schedule an emergency hearing on the ban of three gay pickets scheduled to take place on May 29. The three pickets were due to take place on Novopushkinsky Square, on Tverskaya Square in front of the Moscow City Hall, as well as around the building of the European Commission on Kadashevskaya embankment. These actions were connected with the Moscow Pride March which has also been banned.

Malawi: Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga
The Malawian couple sentenced to 14 years in jail for committing so-called gross indecency and unnatural acts have this week been separated by prison authorities. (Pink Paper)
Peter Tatchell on Properly Identifying Tiwonge Chimbalanga
Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of Nigeria, indicated his support for the sentencing last week of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga to 14 years in prison with hard labour, saying that homosexuality was an abomination and that each country has a right to enforce its own laws. (Guardian)
UNAIDS executive director Michel Sidibe and the head of the Global Fund, Michel Kazatchkine, met with Malawi President Bingu wa Mutharika on Tuesday 25th May to express concern about anti-gay laws. The President apparently said that the prosecution of Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga started a dialogue in Malawi. Kazatchkine said: "Criminalising sexual behaviour drives people who engage in same-sex relations underground", hampering HIV programmes. (IOL.co.za)
Outrage! and AIUK campaigns to support Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga on the National LGBT Forum website.


Working for All

Glasgow: Queens Cross Housing Association
Development Officer (Marketing) - 18 Months Fixed Term Contract QXHA/148 Grade F, £22,751 - £27,375. The Association has an approved Development Programme to provide 337 affordable housing units including 93 flats to be marketed as Shared Equity, within 3 separate developments. The Development Officer will assist in the delivery of this programme. Deadline: Mon 7 June 2010. Interviews Wed 23 June 2010. Application packs from www.queenscrossha.org.uk or phone: 0141 589 7366 (24 hour answering service) or email: recruitment@qxha.org.uk.

Edinburgh & Lothians Racial Equality Council
Community Development Assistant (until 31 December 2010) Full Time, SJC AP2 £18,813 - £19,890. ELREC exists to promote racial equality and to fight all forms of racism and has a strategic role to work with and unify other organisations, groups and communities who share these aims. To assist with the development and implementation of ELREC's Local Development Project enabling black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals living in East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian Councils to form local action groups and formal focal points where voluntary and public organisations can involve, gather views from and consult with BME people. Deadline 12 noon, Friday 4 June 2010. Interviews 14 June 2010. CVs will not be considered. Application packs from www.elrec.org.uk or phone 0131 556 0441 or email admin@elrec.org.uk


LGBT Families
US: What Would You Do?
What Would You Do?, an ABC News Primetime segment, tries to tackle some of those tough questions that face lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families. Have you ever been somewhere, maybe a restaurant, with your family and someone gave you a weird look or made a rude comment? How did you react? How did other people in the restaurant react? Did someone stand up with you and your family for your rights?

The Equality Network’s website for information on all aspects of LGBT family law – including civil partnership, cohabitation, having children, breaking up – is www.lgbtfamilies.org

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