Bi Visibilty Day - 23 September 2013

To celebrate Bi Visibility Day, as part of my contribution to reducing bi erasure....

There are a variety of lists of noted people who identify as bisexual:

• http://bisexual.org/famous-bisexuals/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bisexual_people:_A-F - it start with the A-F's and has links to the rest of the alphabet :o)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Fictional_bisexuals
• http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/celebrities-you-might-not-know-are-bisexual (though you might - blimey, even I knew about most of them)
• http://lesbianlife.about.com/od/bisexualwomen/tp/FamousBiWomen.htm
• http://flavorwire.com/101310/10-famous-male-bisexuals-who-arent-david-bowie/
• http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/keshet/2012/09/24/celebrate-bisexuality-day/

Here, the Bisexual Index talks about why lists are probably best read with a little caution:
http://www.bisexualindex.org.uk/index.php/FamousBisexuals

For Bi Visibility Day 2010, website After Ellen posted photographs of 'some of their favourite women who date both men and women':
http://www.afterellen.com/happy-bisexuality-day/09/2010/

The Bi Visibility Day web site:-
http://september23.bi.org/
https://www.facebook.com/events/559341404130298 - a Facebook page
and see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrate_Bisexuality_Day

Getting Bi in a Gay/Straight World
http://www.flickr.com/photos/61249209@N04/sets/72157626275005967/
(A bisexual resource book on Flickr as a series of images.)

If you wonder why we need to celebrate bisexuality in its own right, perhaps you should read this:
http://bisexualresearch.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/why-does-bisexuality-need-celebrating/

Happy Bi Visibility Day

 to all Bi, Poly and Pan identified people

and to those who are attracted to more than one gender.

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Bi the way:
The LGBT History Project is currently working on the 2014 edition of its annual magazine, Past2Present. As you may know, the theme for LGBT History Month 2014 is 'Music'. Any suggestions to help make sure we cover the 'B' properly will be gratefully received. lgbthistoryproject@hotmail.co.uk

The 2013 edition of Past2Present can be downloaded from here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/24371157/Past2Present-2013.pdf

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Bi the way 2:
A report produced in 2012 by research group BiUK and published by the Open University, The Bisexual Report: Bisexual Inclusion in LGBT Equality and Diversity, offers an in-depth analysis of the present situation, along with useful suggestions for implementing improvements. These include: making specific reference to bisexuals in policy and decision-making, and recognising that using "gay" as shorthand for LGB in a sexual orientation strategy can give bisexual staff the impression that the policy or procedure isn't applicable to them.
http://www.open.ac.uk/ccig/files/ccig/The%20BisexualityReport%20Feb.2012.pdf

The Food Chain

On Saturday 21st September, The Food Chain marks 25 years of delivering meals to people living with HIV with its Silver Apple Walk.

The first meal was delivered on Christmas day 1988; meals have been delivered every week since.

The Food Chain was established by friends of people living with HIV and inspired by similar American organisations. Set up in a time before effective medication was available, physical wasting was common, and good nutrition helped support the immune system and maintain a healthy body mass.

Today, The Food Chain offers a range of nutrition services tailored to provide appropriate support to anyone living with HIV in London. Its services are made possible by the dedication and support of many people who have been volunteers, donors, staff and trustees over the years.

http://www.foodchain.org.uk/support-us/the-food-chains-silver-apple-walk/

For more detail on The Food Chain's history:-
http://www.foodchain.org.uk/about-us/our-history/

There's a (very) brief article about The Food Chain on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Food_Chain

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