Around about this time last year, I was getting ready to appear in the Irreverent Dance Showcase. A glorious celebration of what our bodies can do and what a community can achieve, this annual performance gives people who never thought they could be dancers a chance to show off the fact that... yes... yes they... Continue Reading →
Bishopsgate Institute & the Lesbian and Gay Newsmedia Archive
One of the many things I picked up during my MA course at London College of Fashion was a love of archives, so being introduced to fascinating places to undertake research now comes reasonably high up my list of Awesome Things. Therefore, you can imagine my joy when I opened up an email from a... Continue Reading →
A tale of zombies, S&M and a TARDIS
My weekend was spent with a group of wonderfully enthusiastic, friendly and supportive people all dedicated to sharing the joy of their inclusive community with even more people. There were snacks and clipboards, sequins and sewing, waiting and dancing: This is the story of the Irreverent Dance Showcase weekend. Back in May, when I finished... Continue Reading →
A brief history of the LGBT flag
When I visited San Francisco this summer, I was thrilled to be there over Pride weekend. I expected the parade and a whole lot of other fabulous goings on, but what I didn't expect was to find an LGBT history lesson in a department store. Hanging in the atrium of Bloomingdales was a gigantic flag... Continue Reading →
Mephedrone and the fake promise of sex
One minute scrolling profiles on Grindr and you will notice straightaway pictures of headless naked torsos with emblematic nicknames such as kinkyboy, sleazysessions and sex&chems. But is this contemporary world so sexually seedy when it comes to be turned into real life? Sometimes the reality is 'worse' than the promises, because today this compulsion to... Continue Reading →
Rubyyy Jones: Balance
Hello Darlings! Hope this blog post finds you enjoying your deep and delicious summer. We've been so blessed with such joyful sunshine this season while tumult spells summer for many around the world. I hope you are safe, sexy and sound in yourself, getting ready for a beautiful Autumn which blows in a bit more... Continue Reading →
Sexuality, coming out and labels
Yesterday, Olympic medal-winning diver Tom Daley told the world (via YouTube) that he is happily dating a man. I first read about this on the BBC news website and straight away pounced on the fact that, although Daley said he still fancied women, the article contained no mention of the word bisexual. I erroneously attributed... Continue Reading →
Irreverent Dance do Pride
Back in May, I received an email from the diversity officer at work about what we could do to celebrate this year's Pride Festival. I clicked the link and browsed the events on offer, but one thing stood out to me about everything else... you could apply to be an official walking group in the... Continue Reading →
Abuse, discrimination and solidarity
Have you ever been yelled at in the street or discriminated against because of your gender? Laura Bates has, and she set up the Everyday Sexism Project in 2012 to document women's routine experiences of prejudice in order to prove how bad the problem is and create some solidarity. Since then, the project has helped... Continue Reading →
QUILTBAG: Labels, acronyms and explanations
I don't know if you've noticed, but the LGBT acronym keeps getting more letters added to it. This is great when you want to include more people, but not so great for those of us who are a bit forgetful. What do we add next? Which order do the letters come in? Have I forgotten... Continue Reading →