Midlands and Wales

Leeds’ only weekend Gay night, Back Door Disco, will be taking clubbers into the next decade with the city’s biggest queer New Year ’s Eve clubbing event. Taking place on Thursday 31st December inside Mission 2, the party won’t stop until the early hours of 2010. With a black and white dress code, BDD promises to bring in the first of January in style.

Expect unparalleled mixes of the very best in modern-to-the-minute pop and commercial house from resident DJs Scott Kelly and Philip James. Plus, there will be a special set of retro classics from the last decade.

The BDD promo team will also be on hand, dishing out free shots on the dance floor and keeping the party buzz going all night.

Tickets cost only £7 in advance and can be bought from The Viaduct, Bar Fibre, Mission, Nice ‘n Naughty and at www.ticketweb.com. Alternatively they can be purchased on the night for just £10.

Read more: Leeds’ biggest Gay New Year’s Eve Party

A pioneering new play tackles the health inequality faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual communities in Britain today.

In a recent survey it was clear that only 44% of Lesbians and Bisexual Women and 27.5% of Gay and Bisexual Men were out to their GP. This has a knock on effect on gay people’s health, particularly in mental health. Gay and bi men are nearly three times more likely to have attempted suicide than straight men, whilst lesbian and bi women are 2-4 times more likely.

Possibly most young men with eating disorders are gay or bisexual. Possibly half of all men and women who self harm are lesbian, gay or bisexual. 

Polly Wrights play, Straight Talking, takes a no holds barred look at why LGBT people are not consulting their GPs and explores the impact of this on the health of the community. The play is based on research which shows that many LGBT people fear stigmatisation and discrimination if they talk honestly about their sexuality to health professionals.

Read more: Is Being Gay Bad for your Health?

The Fear of Queer is a SHOUT Festival commission, Birmingham's first LGBT arts, culture and sports festival. 

The original controversial piece is a fusion of drama, monologue, physical theatre, visual arts, dance, performance poetry, song and rap from a diverse company of emerging West Midlands artists, devised and directed by Hannah Phillips. 

The explosive piece of theatre preaches for Queerness. Queer’s an unwillingness to affiliate with others oppressed by a dominant culture. The new work explores challenging issues such as identity and representation, homophobia, discrimination and prejudice within the  LGBT community, Lesbian invisibility, masculinity and homoeroticism.

Director Hannah Phillips has commented, "LGBT people are still frequently the victims of hate crime and Homophobia, increased visibility often means increased vulnerability. There is still a long way to go before we eradicate homophobia and therefore performances such as The Fear of Queer are very necessary to represent, explore, challenge and question."

The work of 30 lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans artists from around the world will light up the Birmingham skyline in early November as part of the SHOUT festival.

The Birmingham Queer Open will take place from 3rd to 6th November 2009, with the work of selected artists projected onto prominent city centre buildings. This open submission event has drawn entries from around the globe and selected artists represent countries as diverse as Canada, USA, Russia, Israel and Italy.

Commenting on the Queer Open, Lisa Metherell, artistic director, states “We are really pleased to have had so many high quality entries both locally and from further afield.  Watch the skies...”

The work will be projected onto the BIG PEG on the 3rd and 4th November between 5-9pm, The BIG PEG and Curzon Street Station on 5th November and finally on Wynner House, Bromsgrove Street on 6th November.

Read more: International Queer Artists to light up Birmingham Skyline

A major retrospective of the work of Del LaGrace Volcano, comes to Birmingham, England in November as part of the SHOUT festival.

Corpus Queer spans over twenty five years of photographic exploration by Del LaGrace Volcano, a gender variant visual artist. From female masculinity to feminist femme fatales this exhibition includes images never before seen in the United Kingdom. This is the first time this major collection of work has been shown in one place. Along with work from his five monographs, (as both Della Grace and Del LaGrace Volcano), there will also be contact sheets, press clippings and other ephemera from an extraordinary art practice. 

Volcano's work complicates understandings of gender through non-pathologizing heroic depictions of female and transgendered masculinities as well as calling attention to the hermaphroditic traces of all human bodies. Volcano’s ‘corpus’ consists of astonishingly tender and beautiful images created in collaboration with queers who question and give us all new options for understanding ourselves and others. 

Read more: Corpus Queer comes to Birmingham

Leeds’ only weekend gay night, Back Door Disco, is throwing the city’s biggest queer Halloween party at Mission 2 this month. Taking place on Saturday 31st October, (back door) Disco Bloodbath, promises to be the most outrageous fancy dress party happening that night.

Mission 2 will be transformed into a petrifying house of horror, complete with spooky stilt-walkers pouring out complimentary shots. Clubbers in costume will get free entry before midnight and there’s drinks and prizes for the best dressed.

Resident DJs Scott Kelly and Philip James will be on the decks until Four in the morning, blasting out the very best in modern-to-the-minute pop and commercial house.

Mission 2 is a brand new space inside Mission, which includes a massive dance arena, two floors, an outside terrace and an entrance on Lower Briggate.

Read more: Gay Disco Bloodbath in Leeds this Halloween

‘SHOUT’ is an exciting new lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) cultural festival. Featuring a number of high profile commissions and productions, it will also bring international queer artists to Birmingham. 

The festival is being produced by Birmingham LGBT Community Trust and activities will take place throughout November at various city centre venues, including productions by key partners Birmingham Hippodrome and Birmingham REP. SHOUT features several distinct strands of activity including Visual Arts, Performance Arts, Your SHOUT! Community Events and Sports activities. Inclusion of Sports Activity targeted at LGBT people, alongside arts has given the festival programme a unique flavour.  

SHOUT will provide a platform for existing artists and encourage participation from within the LGBT community through educational workshops and participatory events aimed at encouraging the development of new talent. The festival will consolidate Birmingham’s developing role as an LGBT tourist destination. 

Commenting on the festival Steve Ball, the Trusts Vice Chair stated “We are delighted to be launching the SHOUT festival. The time has come for a festival which celebrates the diversity of the city’s LGBT communities.” 

Read more: Birmingham has something to SHOUT about

Patricia Quinn, the actress who played Magenta in both the original stage show and iconic Rocky Horror Show film, will appear at a charity event in Birmingham on 29th October. 

St.Pauls Gallery working with the SHOUT festival will present an ‘audience with’ style event where Patricia will talk about her work in both the stage show and movie. Patricia comments on the event ‘I’m Delighted to be coming to Birmingham to be with you all. Don’t dream it, be it. Let there be lips.’

The Shout Festival is Birmingham's festival of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans culture.

St.Pauls gallery will be launching an exclusive limited edition run of prints from the original film poster, called ‘Lips’. The gallery has donated two special prints, both of which will be signed personally by Patricia and be auctioned off on the night to raise money for HIV Charity ABplus.

Read more: Rocky Horror icon comes to Birmingham

On Saturday 19th September, Back Door Disco, Leeds’ biggest Gay night, makes its return to the city’s scene at the relaunch of Mission Night Club. After a huge overhaul, the venue is back with an enhanced interior, new management, new door team and a fresh weekly line up.

From the re-opening, BDD will be housed in Mission 2, a new space inside the club, which includes the massive dance arena and an outside terrace with an entrance on Lower Briggate. Despite the changes, clubbers can be sure it’s still the best weekend party experience in Leeds with free shots from the Back Door Disco boys and girls, legendary mix masters Scott Kelly and Philip James on the decks along with the hottest gay talent in the city.

Back Door Disco burst onto the scene in April as the city’s only weekend gay night and since then has been hailed by party goers everywhere as one of the best queer clubbing events the North has ever seen.

For those new to the night, expect a switched on crowd of sharp dressing queer boys, sexy up-for-it girls and high quality, modern-to-the-minute pop and house tunes from some of the finest DJs in the country.

Read more: Back Door Disco returns at Mission’s huge relaunch party

Birmingham LGBT Community Trust is pleased to announce that the SHOUT Festival has received an investment of £9,050 from Sport England to deliver sports based activities during the festival. ‘SHOUT’ is an exciting new lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) cultural festival taking place throughout November in Birmingham.

The festival, produced by Birmingham LGBT Community Trust, is working with a number of sports groups in the city to deliver the sports activity within the programme. These include Moseley Shoals Swimming Club, Birmingham Blaze Football Club, Midlands Out Badminton Club and Moseley RFU Women’s Team.

SHOUT will offer exhibition matches and a number of free taster sessions, inviting LGBT people to try out the various sports activities on offer throughout the month. There will also be an ‘Urban Sports Day’ where the Southside Car Park on Hurst Street will be transformed into a giant sports arena for Football, Rugby and Badminton.

Commenting on the funding David Nikel, the festivals lead on Sports said “We are delighted to be launching the Sports strand of the SHOUT festival. With a thriving LGBT Sports scene both locally and nationally there has never been a better time to raise the profile of Sport within the community.”

Read more: SHOUT receives Sport England Funding