The Polari Game for Sutton LGBT Forum on 8 August 2013

The following are available for download (PDF format):-

•      Pocket Dictionary of Polari (2009 edition) - https://www.dropbox.com/s/wh3u29fpjordal9/Polari-Dictionary2009.pdf?dl=0

•      The Glossy of Matilda - Chap 2, with translation - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-Matilda2.pdf

•      GCSE specimen paper - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-GCSEpaper.pdf

•      GCSE specimen paper – ANSWERS - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-GCSEANSWERS.pdf

•      Polari – Background material - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-Background.pdf

•      The Bona Booklet of Julian & Sandy - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-Booklet2.pdf

And, in case you want to pass it on:
The booklet I gave out at the presentation.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Polari-Booklet.pdf

Wikipedia on Polari:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polari

April Ashley Exhibition

The Museum of Liverpool will host a new major exhibition this September looking at the history of transgendered people in Britain over the past 70 years, focusing on the experiences of April Ashley. 

From 27 September 2013 - 21 September 2014, April Ashley: Portrait of a lady will - for the first time - explore the story of April Ashley MBE, one of the first people in the world to undergo pioneering gender reassignment surgery and whose divorce case in 1970 (Corbett v Corbett) had profound effects on the trans community in the UK. 

For more detail about the exhibition:
http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/about/mediacentre/2013/april-ashley-exhibition.aspx

A previous post about this project:
http://lgbthistoryproject.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/the-april-ashley-project.html

Ruth Ellis - born this day in 1899

Ruth Ellis (1899-2000), US Activist

Ruth Ellis was born in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of 4 children. Her 3 brothers were Wellington, who played drums, Harry, a doctor who played the piano and clarinet, and Charles Jr, a second lieutenant in World War I who played the violin. Ellis said she played the mandolin and the piano by ear.

Ellis learned about homosexuality by reading books like Radclyffe Hall's The Well of Loneliness. "Then, I found a psychology book. It had different things in it about different types of people. That's how I learned. Nobody told me anything."

Ellis had her first real girlfriend when she was 37. Cicilene "Babe" Franklin was 10 years her junior. Ellis said she had a penchant for drinking liquor, gambling and going out. In addition, Franklin was a restaurant cook and always wore dresses. The couple were together 30 years.

One highlight in their life was when they bought a home on Oakland Avenue in Detroit. Ellis ran a small print shop named the "Ellis and Franklin Printing Company." A man in her neighbourhood in Springfield had taught Ellis how to set type and operate his presses. So in Detroit, she did walk-in printing jobs for churches and other organisations that often
involved printing coin envelopes and raffle tickets. With Franklin's job as a cook and the printing company, Ellis said they managed to survive.

During the late 1930s and the 1940s, she held social gatherings in her home at a time when there were few places for Black LGBT people to gather. Later, however, the city tore down the house as part of an urban renewal effort.

In the 1960s, Franklin, who had a car, decided to move closer to her job. Ellis moved into a senior citizens' centre in central Detroit, but kept a key to Franklin's home. When Franklin died in 1973, Ellis remained single: "I do very well the way I am."

She was the oldest known out lesbian, active to the end in LGBT and senior citizen's movements. Ellis had been in attendance at the annual NBLGLF conference. At age 97 she conducted an informal workshop at the National Women's Music Festival.

Less than a month before her death on 5th October 2000, she helped dedicate the Ruth Ellis Centre for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered youth in Detroit. The city of Detroit recognises her contributions by celebrating Ruth Ellis Day each February during Black History Month.

Her life was celebrated in Yvonne Welbon's 1999 documentary film Living With Pride: Ruth C. Ellis @ 100. 

This article first appeared in Past2Present 2009, which you can download here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2009.pdf

Other sources of information about Ruth Ellis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Ellis_%28activist%29
http://web.archive.org/web/20071025055201/http://www.sistersinthelife.com/1024index.html - (archived version of Ruth Ellis's website, not complete)
http://www.sistersinthelife.com/ruthellis/ruth_ellis.html
www.utne.com/Politics/Ruth-Ellis-Americas-Oldest-Lesbian.aspx
http://www.uvm.edu/~bmaclenn/ruth-ellis-ang.html
http://lgbthistorymonth.com/ruth-ellis?tab=biography
http://ishouldbelaughing.blogspot.co.uk/2009/10/lgbt-history-month-ruth-ellis.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20070927011321/http://www.curvemag.com/Detailed/70.html - (archived piece for Curve)

A Plaque for Fanny & Stella

The Marchmont Association has announced that a plaque will be unveiled on Wednesday 10th July 2013 at 2pm to commemorate Ernest Boulton & Frederick Park, aka 'Stella & Fanny', the Victorian cross-dressers who lodged at 13 Wakefield Street (now United Reformed Church House) from 1868 to 1870.

The unveiling will take place at United Reformed Church House in Wakefield Street, London, WC1, followed by an informal reception for invited guests. The plaque will be unveiled by Bette Bourne - actor, drag queen and activist.

More detail here:
http://www.marchmontassociation.org.uk/news-article.asp?ID=188

Fanny & Stella have appeared twice before on the blog:
http://lgbthistoryproject.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/fanny-and-stella.html
http://lgbthistoryproject.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/curious-case-of-lady-stella-and-miss.html

Here is Bette Bourne's wiki entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bette_Bourne

Today is IDAHO

The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) was created in 2004 to draw the attention of policymakers, opinion leaders, social movements, the public and the media to the problems caused by homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. It is not a centralised campaign but a movement that enables anyone take action that is appropriate to local conditions.

The date of 17th May was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder.
[http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/health-topics/communicable-diseases/hivaids/news/news/2011/5/stop-discrimination-against-homosexual-men-and-women]

IDAHO is now celebrated in more than 100 countries, in all world regions and in places as diverse as Australia, Iran, Cameroon or Albania. It has received official recognition from several States and such international institutions as the European Parliament, and by countless local authorities. Most United Nations agencies also mark the Day with specific events.

LGBTI organisations, governments, cities, human rights organisations, corporations and celebrities have all taken action on 17th May to:

• Draw media attention to the issues of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia
• Organise events which mobilise public opinion
• Demand attention from policymakers and engage in lobbying activities
• Network with like-minded organisations and develop new partnerships, at home or beyond
• Mobilise existing constituencies and address new audiences

Why is there an International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia?

In 75 countries around the world, loving someone of the same sex is still considered illegal, at times involving lifetime imprisonment and, in eight countries, it is punishable by death.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_homosexuals#Contemporary]

And in many more countries still,  citizens are denied their right to live according to their preferred gender identity.

As well as legal discrimination, social homophobia and transphobia serve to daily deny millions of people across the world their basic human dignity.

For more information:-
http://dayagainsthomophobia.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Day_Against_Homophobia,_Biphobia_and_Transphobia

The UK page for IDAHO is here:
http://www.idahouk.org/

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has just released the results of a survey of LGBT people’s experiences of discrimination, violence and harassment:
http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2013/eu-lgbt-survey-european-union-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-survey-results

ILGA-Europe (the European region of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association) has just released their Rainbow Europe Map for 2013:
http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/publications/reports_and_other_materials/rainbow_europe
There are 'score sheets' for each country in the union:
http://www.ilga-europe.org/home/publications/reports_and_other_materials/rainbow_europe/score_sheet

A little history of our own...

The LGBT History Project has its roots in work we did for the Rainbow Network, the corporate support network for LGBT staff at the then Department for Constitutional Affairs (aka the DCA, which later became part of the Ministry of Justice when it was created in 2007).

The Rainbow Network used LGBT History Month as a way to inform staff about LGBT issues generally, presenting events in different parts of England and Wales (in the departmental offices). Over the years we gave presentations on the lasting impact of Section 28, international laws on homosexuality, the development of thinking on homosexuality from the late 19th century and lots more. My personal favourite has always been the 2 hour seminar on Polari, in which I got participants to sit a mock GCSE paper.

In 2007, when the DCA provided generous funding for its diversity networks, the Rainbow Network worked with a gay-run graphic design company, Smart Arts, to produce the very first edition of Past2Present.

That first edition was only produced in a limited print run (of about 1,000 copies, if I remember correctly) and there are very few now available. I have about 3 copies, the rest are spread about the UK. We sent them to all our members and to local offices - magistrates' courts, county courts, crown courts.

We were never entirely sure how that was received - although we do know that someone in the Magistrates' Court at Leamington Spa shredded the copies we sent there. A Rainbow Network member, who was not out at the time, reported that back to us. We contacted the regional manager, without giving away the location (to avoid outing our member). I'm pleased to say that he worked with us to provide a full day's training on LGBT workplace issues to all the managers in that region.

Recently, I got in contact with one of the people who worked with me on the Rainbow Network. It turned out that he had a relatively complete draft of that original Past2Present in pdf format. With a little bit of work, I have managed to re-create it almost in its pristine glory - the design is not quite perfect, but then Smart Arts had far more professional software (and skill) than I have.

Here's the link:-

Past2Present 2007 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2007.pdf

The other editions can be downloaded here:-
(There was no 2008 edition.)
Past2Present 2009 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2009.pdf
Past2Present 2010 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2010.pdf
Past2Present 2011 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2011.pdf
Past2Present 2012 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2012.pdf
Past2Present 2013 - https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2013.pdf

http://lgbthistorymonth.org.uk/

Margaret Thatcher, RIP

It was with no regret whatsoever that I heard a few days ago of the death of Baroness Thatcher.

Since then there has been outpourings of grief and of vitriol -  you can guess which part of the political spectrum each came from, I'm sure.

And I'll confess to a sneaky voice in my head singing, "Ding dong...". I'm not proud of that. As a child, if I couldn't say something nice about someone, I was always encouraged to say nothing instead. So I've been able to resist the temptation to actually sing it out loud, though I have made reference to it in at least one Facebook post.

So, my basic reaction to Mrs T's passing is - 'Oh'. Indifference. I didn't know her personally, so I feel no sadness. And, although I will say that I despised her coldhearted policies and lack of insight into their effect on the vulnerable, I don't feel an urge to dance and rejoice either.

For me, Margaret Thatcher was a cold, ambitious individual. Anyone who thinks she should be an icon for women should, in my view, consider whether she actually did very much to improve the lot of women. A lot of articles written over the past few days by women make it plain than none of the writers think she did anything of value for women.

As a gay man, my dislike of her stems from Section 28, which her government brought in. A mean-spirited piece of legislation whose repercussions for LGBT young people are still being felt. A number of LGBT commentators have written about this.

In February of 2009, as part of a day long event I helped to present for LGBT History Month, I gave a presentation called 'The Shadow of Section 28', that gives some idea of my thinking.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/24371157/Shadow_of_Section_28.pdf

In my view, while Margaret Thatcher was not the main architect of this legislation, it is quite obvious that she was content to support it and felt happy to fall in with the rhetoric about the 'poor children'. And she was, after all, the leader of the government responsible for making it clear that LGBT people were not worthy of the protection of the law, were beyond the Pale. By making it difficult (to say the least) to talk about LGBT lives to young people, another generation grew up knowing only what was rumoured about them. Never a constructive way.

The lack of discussion about LGBT people at school, indeed the fear that some teachers had of doing so, in case they got into trouble, has damaged countless lives and encouraged a school culture that has resulted in the high levels of homophobic bullying we see reported in Stonewall's The School Report. I lay the blame for that at her door, as the Prime Minister whose government brought Section 28 into being.

More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Thatcher
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_28

This link shows Mrs T in October 1987 making her feeling known about the need for Section 28, making a connection, as homophobes so often do, to children.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VRRWuryb4k

Stonewall's The School Report 2012:
http://www.stonewall.org.uk/at_school/education_for_all/quick_links/education_resources/7956.asp