London

Teachers and other workers in education are invited to attend a practical session on tackling homophobia and transphobia, and making LGBT people and issues visible in schools. The sessions are standalone and can be attended on either 30 October 2010 or 26 February 2011 as part of The Drill Hall’s celebration of LGBT History Month.

Case studies and resources available for schools will be explored, such as the film of FIT by Rikki Beadle-Blair from The Drill Hall’s successful touring play for Key Stage 3 (Year 7–9).

Read more: Tackling Homophobia in Schools Workshops

Minister for Culture Ed Vaizey met the organisers of 'GFEST – Gaywise FESTival' - London's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) art festival. In this brief surgery meeting, Mr Vaizey showed a keen interest to know more about enterprising GFEST activities and admired its work.

Niranjan Kamatkar, artistic director of GFEST said, “It is good to know that Department of Culture Media & Sports is keen to support diverse activities like GFEST and it was a delightful meeting.”

He added. “We discussed the growing trend of tourists attendance and the future potential for the LGBT art sector working together to make even bigger impact on the art world.”

Read more: Culture Minister Praises London's Gay Art Festival

In a bid to remind gay men in London of the risks of unprotected sex, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) is launching a campaign around the statistic that 1 in 7 gay men on the capital’s gay scene has HIV. Of a recent sample of 1,251 men in gay bars, clubs and saunas, 15.2% were found to have HIV. This is markedly higher than Health Protection Agency estimates for gay men in London in general, and suggests a higher HIV prevalence among men who are regularly out on the scene.

Funded through the Pan London HIV Prevention Programme, the campaign features an iconic symbol of London, the red Routemaster bus, with the ‘1 in 7’ statistic displayed in the destination panel on the front. It will run as adverts in London gay magazines, on Gaydar, and as posters in gay bars, saunas, and NHS sexual health clinics. The campaign will run for twelve weeks from the end of July 2010.

Alan Wardle, Head of Health Promotion at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “Men who have seen the campaign in focus groups have been genuinely shocked by the ‘1 in 7’ figure. Yet the reality is that, after Brighton, London has the highest HIV prevalence of any city in the UK.

Read more: 1 in 7 Gay Men on the London Gay Scene has HIV

Never mind the World Cup and Wimbledon – get ready for the real sporting highlight of the year. The annual GMFA/Royal Vauxhall Tavern Gay Sports Day returns on Bank Holiday Monday, 30 August, when teams will battle for victory in events such as the drag relay, the handbag throw and the fabulous 50m mince. Registration is now open at www.gmfa.org.uk/sportsday, so you can sign your team up, get training and help raise vital money to benefit gay men and the local community.

The Vauxhall Sports Day is a gay institution dating back to the 80s. This is the fourth year that GMFA, the gay men’s health charity, and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern have joined forces to host the event.

Matthew Hodson, Head of Programmes at GMFA, commented: “Sports Day has become a fixture in the summer calendar and last year’s event drew our biggest crowd yet. The teams make a huge effort, with some amazing costumes and plenty of competitive spirit. This year promises to be even bigger and better, so expect more fun, frolics and frivolity, and plenty of surprises.”  

Read more: Gay Sports Day Returns on 30 August

Over 350 guests attended Stonewall’s annual Summer Party on Friday night at The Roof Gardens in Kensington. The event raised over £10,000 for Stonewall’s Education for All campaign, which tackles homophobic bullying in schools.

Guests including Clare Balding and her civil partner Alice Arnold - enjoyed speeches from Stella Duffy and Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Laura Doughty. Presenter Paddy O’Connell drew the raffle with prizes including a Vivienne Westwood bag and a case of Château Haut-Brion worth £3,000.

Laura Doughty said: ‘Last year, Stonewall chose to celebrate our 20th anniversary at The Kensington Roof Gardens and the event proved so popular that we decided to return this year for our 21st birthday. We used the event to promote our recent Different Families research and fundraise for Stonewall’s forthcoming work with younger school pupils.’  

Read more: Stonewall’s Summer Party raises £10k

GFEST – Gaywise FESTival has announced the selection panel who will judge all the entries received for 2010 festival on its website: www.gaywisefestival.org.uk

GFEST, an annual event in London's cultural calendar in November, is supported by the Mayor of London and Arts Council England for the past three years. Last year BBC London and some international media coverage described GFEST as 'biggest thing going on in London'. It is recognised as London's premier lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and queer cross - art festival for all. The three main categories open for submissions are: Short Films, Performances, Visual Art.

Read more: London's Gay Art Festival Announces Panel

HOMO PROMOS, London’s oldest-established gay theatre company, is pushing the boat out to celebrate LGBT Pride 2010 and the 2010 Pride Festival.  The boat is travelling back in time to the 1970s and across the pond to the USA, to visit gay men and gay life in 16 cities from Seattle to Fort Lauderdale, from New York to San Francisco.

Harvey Milk is still alive, Village People are in the hit parade, and gays are building a new way of life.  Meet them all – white, black, chicano, Native American; hillbillies, hustlers, drag queens, drifters, lobbyists and wierdos.  It’s also a portrait of a world of lost innocence, at the last moment before the arrival of AIDS/HIV changed the landscape for gay men for ever.

The music reflects the idea of America as a melting pot, and, in gay life as in other aspects, the USA isn’t one country, but many.  The show uses a wide array of styles (Latin, bluegrass, blues, gospel, 70s pop, jazz) to convey the range of characters.  A Narrator links the travelogue to 15 cities.

Read more: DESIRE: The New Gay Musical

For those who crave immortality through iconography, Shabba-Dabba-Da storms onto London’s party circuit; a clubbing event blending the world of high fashion with the Capital’s night life and spearheaded by a transatlantic meeting of minds.  

East London trailblazer and promoter Buster Bennett, famed for a decade of his Willy Wonka-esque creations in underground clubbing, teams up with Larry Tee, New York’s notorious bastion of the new-garde. Joining the two is Daniel Lismore, a living incarnation of the Blitz Kids lineage and a regular in the glossy pages of Vogue. 

As the smoke clears and recessionistas search for the newest hot-spot, Shabba-Dabba-Da gears London up for a boom-time party like no other; a Warholian interpretation of a utopian enclave in a dystopian world of fame, fortune and capitalism. Imagine The Blitz Vs Studio 54, with Jacuzzi’s. 

Read more: Shabba-Dabba-Da at Avalon

Join the most exclusive drinks party in town and raise vital funds to support people living with, and affected by, HIV at Terrence Higgins Trust’s Cocktail Club this summer.

The Cocktail Club, now in its ninth year, will be held on Wednesday 2nd June in the Barbican’s tropical Conservatory, in the very heart of the city. It's a magical evening in beautiful surroundings, where guests will enjoy fabulous Searchy canapés and sumptuous cocktails including Cosmopolitans and Silver Jasmine Martinis.

Mingle with celebrities like Tracey Emin and Dannii Minogue and be in with a chance of winning star raffle prizes such as a five night stay in the Shanti Ananda Maurice luxury resort in Mauritius courtesy of Mason Rose.

Read more: Party with The Cocktail Club

Critically acclaimed theatre company Giddy Ox is proud to present the national tour of Jonathan Harvey's award winning play, "Beautiful Thing".

This urban-fairytale is a funny, bittersweet story about the sexual awakening of two boys growing up as next-door neighbours. Set during a heat wave in a rundown London Council estate, Jonathan Harvey deftly combines comedy with ardent drama. Full of characters that abound with attitude, energy, frankness and humour, ‘Beautiful Thing’ truly captures what it is to be sixteen and in the first full flush of love.

First performed in '93 at the Bush Theatre in London, Beautiful Thing was a West End hit and won playwright Jonathan Harvey an Olivier nomination as well as the John Whiting Award. This celebrated play was subsequently made into a film which developed a cult following. With many theatre, TV and film credits to his name, Harvey is also on the writing team for the British TV classic “Coronation Street”, where he was drafted in to guide the programme‟s first gay character.

Read more: Brooke Kinsella does a ‘Beautiful Thing’