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Author: Catherine Muxworthy

MOBILISE to hold final queer power party of the year on Saturday, November 5

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

On Saturday, November 5, MOBILISE will hold their final queer power party of the year at The Exchange in Centenary Square, Birmingham from 8pm until midnight.

This accessible sober dance party and silent disco is free to attend and has been “created specifically to empower people to dance, take up space, feel confident and celebrate themselves. MOBILISE is a party for anyone who has felt like they don’t belong in existing LGBTQ+ [spaces], we are a pro-fat, pro-trans, pro-disabled, pro-women, anti-racist, alcohol free, pro-fabulous clubbing environment.”

The space includes step-free access, a dedicated quiet space, alcohol-free cash bar service, plenty of comfortable seating, accessible gender-inclusive bathrooms, and an all-gendered private dressing space, to ensure that everyone can be included. What’s more, they also offer travel bursaries for anyone who feels unsafe to travel publicly, for example, trans and gender non-conforming people.

The event begins with an optional social dance session led by MOBILISE artists to help get people comfortable learning some simple moves. Then this final event of the year will see DJ Maxx Gentleman on the decks from 9pm, followed by DJ Just Soriah from 10pm. Plus, there will also be performances from Fatt Butcher, Ginny Lemon, Luna Mystique, Mama Mamba, Bonnie Wheelass, Eric Scutaro and more throughout the night.

While this event is free, the venue has limited capacity so advanced booking is recommended. Tickets and further information can be found online.

MOBILISE is the creation of Fatt Butcher’s Fatt Projects and is presented by the Birmingham 2022 Festival in partnership with Birmingham Pride. The event is supported by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Arts Council, England.

Wolverhampton LGBT+ awarded £5,000 from B&Q Foundation

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Charity organisation Wolverhampton LGBT+ has been awarded a grant of £5,000 by the B&Q Foundation. In a social media post that celebrated the news, Wolverhampton LGBT+ said: “This will enable us to further support our community by upgrading our facilities and developing a sensory room with changing facilities! Thanks to all our supporters and everyone at the B&Q Foundation and @nbr_yuk.”

The B&Q Foundation is funded by colleagues and customers through various sales, in-store donations, fundraising and sponsored challenges. They aim to “provide a simple way for charities to access funding to create better, safer places in our communities.”

They “support UK registered charities through providing grants, volunteers and home improvement resources.”

So far, they have supported 600 projects, including Wolverhampton LGBT+.

For more info on Wolverhampton LGBT+, CLICK HERE

Juno Birch to perform at Birmingham’s Nightingale Club in December

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Drag collective Mother’s Meeting are back with their latest event – Summer in December – which will see Juno Birch perform at Birmingham’s Nightingale Club on Friday, December 2.

Fresh off her tour, Attack of the Stunning, the alien superstar drag performer will be joined by Jenna Davinci, Dahliah Rivers, Sissy, Kenya Knott and Zodi.

Meet and Greet with Juno Birch begins at 7pm; tickets cost £25 (plus fees).

General admission: doors open 7.30pm, and tickets cost from £10-£15 (plus fees). When booking, you can also add on a raffle ticket which offers attendees that chance to win a Juno Birch x Trixie hand mirror, signed by Juno Birch.

Tickets are available to book now online.

Planning begins for new Trans Pride parade in Birmingham

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Trans Pride Birmingham is a group in the city “run by trans and non-binary people for trans and non-binary people”.

After holding a successful Trans Pride community picnic event in Cathedral Square, which was attended by over 150 people from across the West Midlands, the group is now designing a new Trans Pride event specifically for the trans community in Birmingham.

“We want to move away from the alcohol-based, commercial nature of Birmingham Pride to create more of a family-friendly event,” explains Mx Adam Khan, one of the founders of the group, speaking to BirminghamLive.

“A lot of members of our community are also neurodiverse which means that loud environments are not good spaces for them.

“Of course, there are trans people who drink, but we want to ensure that the parts of our community who don’t drink or like partying can also feel comfortable.

“The reception at the community picnic was very positive, we had over 150 people turn up. Everyone was happy and we attracted a diverse array of people of different ages, ethnicities and gender identities. We also had positive engagement from the public, many of whom told us they were glad to see events like this happening in the city.”

Birmingham Pride itself attracts tens of thousands of people to the city each year and, although the event is inclusive of all identities across the LGBTQ+ community, there is currently no event dedicated to the trans community in the city. Trans Pride Birmingham, therefore, aims to create a safe space for members of the community who may feel excluded from the mainstream events.

Mx Adam Khan explains: “The primary need for a separate Trans Pride event lies in the fact that trans and non-binary people face vastly different challenges in society compared to people with different sexualities. There are a lot more obstacles to being accepted in society if you’re trans.

“For instance, there’s a lengthy legal and medical process if you want to legally change your gender, whereas if you were to come out as gay or bi, there isn’t as much legal opposition. There are also a lot of unique challenges the trans community face which we want to address in our own Pride – for example, the rise in hate crime and conversion therapy.

“We need to specifically target these challenges to overcome them, and the people in the best place to do that are the trans community themselves.

“While there are no direct affiliations, we have been approached by Birmingham Pride to help them become more of a safe space for the trans community. But ultimately we are an independent group who want to see activism that isn’t based on partying.”

There is no confirmed date as of yet; however planning is underway to organise an official Trans Pride Parade in the city in the near future. To keep up to date with everything from Trans Pride Birmingham, follow them on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.

After a successful first year, Chase Pride is returning to Hednesford Park, Staffordshire next year from Friday, September 1

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

After a successful first year, Chase Pride is returning to Hednesford Park, Staffordshire next year from Friday, September 1. The inaugural event in 2022 saw more than 5,500 people flock to the park for the festival, completely smashing the organisers’ expectations.

Kathryn Downs, festival director, said: “We have been blown away with the response to the first event which far exceeded our expectations.

“We owe a massive thank you to everyone who made it such a brilliant success and to everyone who worked so hard behind the scenes to make it a reality.

“Over 5,500 people walked through the gates in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. We’re hearing that it has had a huge impact and made a real impact for the local LGBTQ+ community and its allies.

“This is given us a solid foundation to build on for next year’s event and we can’t wait to do it all again. Bring on Chase Pride 2023!”

Chase Pride

Upon its return in 2023, organisers are expecting an increase in attendance with up to 10,000 people potentially gracing Chase Pride. The main Pride event will take place on Saturday, September 2, featuring “more stalls, food and drink outlets and family activities, along with a bigger community zone and a Localz tent featuring the best local acts and giving them a platform to showcase their talent,” Kathryn tells Scene magazine.

What’s more, there will also be a free community open-air movie night in Hednesford Park on Friday, September 1.

Tickets for the main event are priced at £10 for Early Birds, with young and concession tickets available for £3, and free tickets available for carers and under 12s. Prices are expected to rise around new year, so now is the best time to buy them. To find out more CLICK HERE or to book tickets, CLICK HERE

Kathryn added: “Chase Pride isn’t just about partying in the park, we believe that the freedom that everybody experienced should be an everyday experience.

“Chase Pride also promotes inclusivity through education and providing workshops to the local community to offer support and advice.”

Birmingham Pride wins Birmingham Music Award

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Ahead of Birmingham Pride 2022, it was revealed the event had won a Birmingham Music Award (BMA) for Best Festival beating other nominees MADE, B-Side, Moseley Folk & Arts, Simmer Down, Mostly Jazz, Funk & Soul and Birmingham Sandwell & Westside Jazz.

The Awards aim “to bring together the Birmingham music scene and create opportunities for musicians and music professionals alike.”

“Birmingham is bursting with musical talent and ambition,” the BMA website explains, which is “yet to be properly recognised for its efforts.”

The BMAs had nominee across various categories, including Best Band, Best Club Act, Best Album and Best DJ.

Birmingham Pride wasn’t the only LGBTQ+ talent to be celebrated with British rapper Lady Leshurr winning two award categories – Best Female and Brum Bastion – and rapper James Indigo winning Best Pop Act.

Birmingham Pride to return to May bank holiday slot in 2023

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Birmingham Pride is to return next year from Saturday, May 27 to Sunday, May 28, with no news yet on whether the free Community Event will return on the Friday.

Loyalty tickets are available online now, and for a limited time only tickets are priced as low as £16.50 (£15 plus booking fee) which will gain you access to the Street Party on either the Saturday or the Sunday. To access the LGBTQ+ village and its street party across the whole weekend, the current loyalty tickets will cost you £27.50.

As well as the street party, Birmingham Pride will once again be hosting a line-up of acts across multiple stages. Saturday or Sunday Loyalty tickets are £32.45, Circle Loyalty tickets are £51.15, and VIP Loyalty tickets are £65.45. If you’re looking to enjoy both Saturday and Sunday’s line-up of acts then a full weekend ticket will cost between £45.65 to £98.45.

More information about the different tickets available is outlined on the booking page. The line-up for Birmingham Pride 2023 is yet to be announced; however, keep an eye out for more announcements coming from the event organisers in the months leading up to the festival.

Fatt Butcher’s ‘Anywhere is a Dancefloor’ wins Best Short Film Award at G.L.A.D Film Festival

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Pic by Emma Jones 

Anywhere is a Dancefloor, a music film created by Adam Carver (aka Fatt Butcher) in partnership with choreographer and Mother of the House of Mystique, Jason Guest, has won the Best Short Film Award at the G.L.A.D Film Festival in Thessaloniki, Greece.

The film, produced by Motion Dance Collective for the Birmingham International Dance Festival, features Fatt Butcher alongside other queer Birmingham talent, including: Yshee Black, Black Peppa, Blü Romantic, Lacey Lou, Christian Gay, and Jay Andre. It sees queer joy brought to Birmingham’s public spaces as they dance in the fountains outside the city’s library and in the streets of the gay village.

Pic by Emma Jones

Talking to DanceXchange upon the initial release of the film, Fatt Butcher said: “We are overjoyed to receive this commission and to create a new dance film with celebrates the tenacity and spirit of Birmingham’s incredible LGBTQ+ nightlife community. After the pandemic shut down queer spaces overnight, we’re particularly proud to bring queer dance culture out into the open.”

The film will be available to watch online in 2023, and until then, the track is available to buy on Fatt Butcher’s Bandcamp.

Cadbury recreates Black Peppa’s Drag Race UK headdress

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Birmingham-based and Caribbean-born drag performer, Black Peppa showcased the best of Birmingham in the first episode of Drag Race UK season four as she won the first challenge, walking the runway in a purple gown and a chocolate-inspired headdress created by Paulette Cherry for the category Ru Are You.

The headdress and purple-coloured dress were not only a showcase of Black Peppa’s signature drag but also a nod to Cadbury’s Birmingham roots, with the company beginning when John Cadbury opened a grocer’s shop at 93 Bull Street, Birmingham, in 1824.

Following Black Peppa’s win, Cadbury put their Bournville chocolatiers to work as they re-created the iconic chocolate headdress, this time using real chocolate as their materials. Celebrating two Birmingham names in one, Cadbury proudly declared that they were team Black Peppa as they showed off their chocolatey creation.

Plans scrapped for apartments that threatened Birmingham’s gay village

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Plans for a 12-story block of multi-million-pound apartments in Birmingham’s gay village have been withdrawn after concerns regarding noise and the nightlife economy. The complex – which was the latest in a line of housing developments in the area – would have housed 133 apartments.

The plans for this new apartment block have, however, been scrapped after Birmingham City Council recommended that 53% of its windows would need sealing shut – a technique that is a common tragedy to mitigate noise. The developers of the project initially believed that only 20 flats in the building would need sealed windows (making up 15% of the units), however the council suggested that the figure would actually be 71 flats.

Since this would be detrimental to residents’ quality of life, the council planners refused the planning. The council planners were also reportedly concerned that this proposed block would create tensions with nightlife venues within the LGBTQ+ village, in particular the Nightingale Club, which is roughly 100 metres away from the proposed complex site.

Owner of the Nightingale Club, Lawrence Barton, told The Express and Star, “We welcome the development. But of course, it has to respect and accommodate the LGBTQ+ community and its night-time economy.”

Speaking to The Guardian, Birmingham Labour’s LGBTQ+ officer Lauren Rainbow explained that many people in the community are “keen to just make sure that the gay village is protected”.

“We absolutely need more housing, Birmingham has got a 50,000 shortfall in housing,” Rainbow said. “But if the balance isn’t right, then obviously, tensions do rise. From what we’ve seen elsewhere in the country, it falls on the venues and bars that end up either having temporary holds or issues with their licences.”

“This is the one space the LGBTQ+ community has where they should be able to feel safe and have venues that they can be themselves,” Rainbow added.

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