Midlands and Wales

Fifteen football teams gathered at The University of Nottingham for a unique event aimed at challenging homophobia and prejudice.

Teams from across the UK took part in the Justin Campaign Football Tournament, which was being held in the city for the first time.

Organised by the University’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Questioning (LGBTQ) Staff Network in association with the Justin Campaign, the event saw eight male teams and seven female teams take part in a day of sporting competition at the Sports Centre on University Park.

The Justin Campaign uses football, education, art and events to challenge the stereotypes and misconceptions that exist around gay and bisexual men and women, in both football and wider society. It takes its name from Justin Fashanu, the world’s first openly gay professional footballer, who took his own life in 1998.

Read more: University Football Event Challenges Homophobia

Birmingham LGBT Community Trust has been commissioned by Birmingham City Council to design a survey to find out what are the real issues and needs for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans and who live, work or socialise in Birmingham. 

David Viney, Development Worker states, “This is a vitally important piece of research for the LGBT community, it’s the first time such a comprehensive survey has been attempted in Birmingham. The results will provide an in-depth evidence base on the needs of the community and ensure that service providers can adjust and create services to meet this need.”

The survey is confidential and takes about twenty minutes to complete. Respondents cannot be identified by it and we only ask for the first three digits of their post-code to find out which part of the city they live in. 

Read more: Mapping Birmingham’s LGBT Community

An openly gay man from Cardiff has took the title of Mister Wales 2010 this weekend making history in the competition as the first ever gay man to be crowned Mister Wales.

Andrew Western, 22, a health and safety advisor living in Cardiff competed against 20 other men from across South Wales at St David’s Hall on Saturday night to be given the title of Mister Wales.  He was judged by Mister Wales 2008 Jonny Rees, Big Brother winner Brian Dowling, Gladiator Amy Guy and ‘Over the Rainbow’ finalist Sophie Evans.

Andrew said: "I am completely overwhelmed about winning the Mister Wales title and have been buzzing all weekend. I am really proud to stand up and represent the gay community in Wales and show them just how cosmopolitan the Mister Wales competition is and that nowadays competitions like this are open to men from all ethnic and sexual backgrounds”.

Read more: 1st Gay "Mister Wales" Winner

Birmingham LGBT has launched Birmingham's first comprehensive, printed community guide. The handy pocket size thirty two page booklet, contains listings for all community groups, charities, networks, bars, clubs, shops and health services for LGBT people in Birmingham.

David Viney of Birmingham LGBT states “For years Birmingham has not been perceived as an LGBT city, but with extensive physical regeneration, including the Gay Village area. And also events such as Pride and the SHOUT Cultural Festival, this cosmopolitan city is now as welcoming as any to LGBT people, and an exciting and vibrant place to be.”

Read more: New Gay Guide for Birmingham Launched

Following this month’s International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia (IDAHO), Midland LGBT will be putting on an event on Friday 4th June 2010 to explore laws and attitudes to LGBT people around the world. 

This event will be particularly relevant to anyone planning to travel outside of the UK for business or pleasure purposes in the near or medium term future. We will be showcasing an online tool, which is free for anyone to access, that helps LGBT people and their employers to know what they can expect from the local social, political and legal environment when they arrive to visit, live or work in a given foreign country.

The event is kindly hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers at their Birmingham Office.

Read more: New Midland LGBT event for IDAHO

Policeman and former Mr Gay UK winner, Mark Carter, has been arrested on suspicion of carrying out a sexual offence.

He was arrested at Leeds city centre hotel in the early hours of Saturday morning after a night of clubbing with his friends. He was later released on bail.

Carter, 27, has been suspended from his job with West Yorkshire Police while investigations into the alleged incident in Leeds are carried out.

He won the Mr Gay UK competition in 2006 at the Flamingo Club in Blackpool.

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