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Author: Catherine Muxworthy

New funding launched for LGBTQ+ community groups in Birmingham

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

In partnership with Birmingham City Council and Heart of England Foundation Trust, Birmingham LGBT has launched a new pilot project to fund LGBTQ+ community groups in Birmingham. As part of the NNS Connected Communities Microfund, grassroots LGBTQ+ community groups in the city can apply for up to £500 to fund their activities, and become part of Birmingham’s Neighbourhood Network Scheme Connected Communities.

As well as funding, this scheme offers a package of support, including: information and support to set up or develop group activities, access to training and networking events, and connections with other funds and funders, including Heart of England Community Foundation grants.

The scheme is open to applications from already existing groups as well as those who want to set up a group. If you are based in Birmingham and you’re interested in this project then get in touch with Maria Hughes at Birmingham LGBT: marihughes@blgbt.org or call 0121 643 0821.

Student targeted in homophobic hate crime at Birmingham Pride

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Raphael Kohn (20) was the target of a homophobic hate crime at Birmingham Pride following the parade on Saturday. Raphael, a third-year medical student at the University of Birmingham, was verbally abused by a man as he was heading home from Pride. The incident happened at a bus stop on St Martin’s Queensway at 3.30pm on Saturday, September 24, and a clip posted to Twitter shows the man hurling abusive words at Raphael, and threatening to punch him until several bystanders intervened.

“The people around me were amazingly kind and stood in his way to protect me, and accompanied me on the train home to ensure I got back safe. I have their contacts if the police decide to chase this up and need them as witnesses,” explained Raphael in a Tweet.

“I was at the bus stop waiting to go home,” Raphael told BirminghamLive, “and this guy came up to me angry there were no buses. He seemed pretty drunk and raised his hands like he was about to punch me.

“He was really aggressive and was shouting homophobic slurs at me. It was terrifying, my heart was going a million miles an hour. This happened in broad daylight. I remember he had the word ‘hate’ tattooed on the fingers of his left hand.

“I had two options at that moment – I could either run away or stick it out and not succumb to the homophobic pressure. I went with the second option – which was probably the stupid option in hindsight – but luckily, I’m physically unharmed. Even so, I get nervous just thinking about it. It makes me worry that Birmingham isn’t a safe place to be queer in.”

One of the bystanders who witnessed the hate crime called the police; however, by the time they arrived the man hurling the homophobic abuse had already gone. Raphael explained “I gave them the details but they just took a photo of the guy from my phone and didn’t want the video itself – it felt kind of dismissive, like they didn’t care.”

In response to this report of hate crime, West Midlands Police said: “We are investigating a hate crime, after a man was verbally abused during the Pride celebrations on Saturday, September 24. We will never accept or tolerate attacks on anyone simply for being who they are. Anyone with further information can contact us via Live Chat on our website quoting 20/828812/22.”

Despite being shaken by the incident, Raphael got home safely and declared that this “won’t let this ever stop me being fabulously gay. I won’t let him ruin my Pride. Pride is about saying no to these types of people – it’s about saying we will be proud of who we are despite them.

“So next year, I will be going back to Pride and I’ll be even gayer, I’ll wear more glitter and I won’t allow people like him to get in my way. This year’s theme was 25 years of Pride and Protest, and it’s both of those things.

“Pride is about celebration – the dancing, the colour, and the fun. But it’s also about the protest, and people like him show us why it needs to stay that way – don’t anyone dare tell me we don’t need Pride anymore.”

Legendary Nightingale Club DJ, Tony De Vit, honoured with blue plaque

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Tony De Vit sadly passed away in 1998, as a result of bronchial failure, associated with his previous AIDS diagnosis. Twenty-four years later, he has been honoured with a blue plaque in Birmingham, making him the first UK DJ to receive such an honour.

On September 24, during Birmingham Pride weekend, an unveiling ceremony was held at the site of the Custard Factory recording studios, where the artist produced and remixed more than 100 tracks between 1994 and 1998.

Tony was an English DJ and music producer who is considered to be a pioneer of the UK’s hard house scene, credited with helping to take the sounds out of London and Birmingham’s gay scene, and into mainstream clubs.

He began DJing at the age of 17 as a wedding DJ. Then, in his early twenties, he began his first residency at the Nightingale in Birmingham, where he played pop and Hi-NRG on Monday nights, which would often be followed by having to sweep floors and empty ashtrays after the club had closed.

In the late 1980s, Tony landed a DJ spot at London’s gay ‘superclub’ Heaven, rapidly establishing his reputation. During his career, he frequently played at parties held by the promoter Trade, and he also released a number of tracks via their associated record label.

Jez Collins of Birmingham Music Archives, said that he was “so delighted that a historic institution like the Birmingham Civic Society is recognising the contribution that Tony de Vit has made: not only to Birmingham’s dance and music culture, but also the influence he’s had on a generation of DJs, clubbers, promoters and audiences”.

Birmingham’s Nightingale Club to feature in new map, which explores 50 years of British LGBTQ+ nightlife

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Exploring 50 years of British LGBTQ+ nightlife and parties, Here, There, Everywhere is a map that has been lovingly created by Crack magazine, Queer Britain – the UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum – and Levi’s. The map is illustrated by Leon Davis, and features editorial and research by Jake Hall and Lisa Power.

An article by Crack magazine explains that the map “brings together over 30 parties from the UK and Ireland, each with its own history and bespoke illustration. Collating both past and present nights, the map is a pin-drop on 50 years of music, activism and movement.”

Writing about Birmingham’s Nightingale Club as part of Here, There, Everywhere, Crack magazine said: “The last decade in particular has seen LGBTQ+ venues across the country forced to close their doors. From Camden’s beloved Black Cap to Leeds’ Bright Inn, rising rents and gentrification have dealt a huge blow to Britain’s LGBTQ+ nightlife.

“Here, There, Everywhere is an homage to the trailblazers and torchbearers rallying against these obstacles.” writes editorial lead Jake Hall. “It’s not a definitive list – we all have our own favourites – and as such does not claim to be exhaustive. It’s not a rundown of the most popular, the most successful or the best club nights. It’s a tribute to venues and collectives that laid the foundations, that are trying new things, that championed – and are championing – marginalised voices, that provide the backdrop in which we find out who we authentically are.”

“Despite this adversity,” continues Crack magazine, “Birmingham’s Nightingale Club has survived more than five decades. It all started in 1968 when Laurie Williams and Derek Pemberton bought what used to be a run-down Indian restaurant in Camp Hill. Three venue changes later, the club – now located on Kent Street and marked out by beautiful murals – is a three-storey superclub, with a rotating cast of club nights, drag queens, go-go dancers and DJs.

“Variety has kept the Nightingale fresh. Music varies based on the event, but club nights such as the campy, ‘90s celebration Glitter Shit and the emo-heavy I’m Not Okay – the brain child of queer collective DragPunk – have found their feet at Birmingham’s most iconic gay club. Even after five turbulent decades, the club’s cultural momentum shows no sign of slowing.”

The maps will be printed in a limited number, available via Crack magazine and Queer Britain, and all proceeds will go to Queer Britain to fund their work “recording, displaying and amplifying British LGBTQ+ history.”

IN PICTURES: Birmingham Pride 2022

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

In 2022, Birmingham Pride celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary, having begun back in 1997. Celebrating 25 years of Protest, Power and Pride, it was held over the weekend – from Friday, September 23 to Sunday, September 24 ­– hosting an array of events. Friday saw the return of the free community event for its second year, featuring local acts, street food stalls, and a candle lit vigil.

On Saturday, at midday, the Pride Parade left Centenary Square with Fatt Projects’ MOBILISE protest performance leading the way to the LGBTQ+ village; a reminder that at its heart, Pride is still a protest. MOBILISE celebrated the most marginalised within our community including fat, femme, Asian, Black, trans, and disabled queer people, declaring proudly that “our joy is political”.

Across Saturday and Sunday, Birmingham Pride also held a festival of performances at the Smithfield Live site, featuring six different stages – the Main Stage, Gaydio’s Dance Arena, the Conrad Guest Cabaret Stage, the Future Stage, the Community Stage, and the Eden Stage. Acts including STEPS, Ella Henderson and Becky Hill headlined the main stage. While acts including Danny Beard, Kenya Knott, Twiggy, Fatt Butcher and Yshee Black could be found on the Cabaret Stage.

Both the Community and Eden Stages could be accessed as part of the street party, which included community market stalls and access to the gay village’s bars. The Community Stage hosted a drag queen story hour for children, and a talented array of Birmingham’s performers, including: Alesha Tryed, Blü Romantic, Ashleigh Marc, Jay Andre, Jenna Davinci, Virgo Andromeda, Dahliah Rivers, Pork Pie, and many more. While the Eden Stage featured acts such as the D.E. Experience, and various drag performers.

For those looking for a sober space, Sober Pride made its return too with activities, performances, artists, speakers, DJ sets and more at Warehouse Café.

In 1997, roughly 15,000 visitors were attracted to Birmingham Pride. Twenty-five years later, over 8,000 participants took part in the parade alone, making it their biggest parade yet.

BIRMINGHAM PRIDE PARADE

COMMUNITY EVENT

Birmingham Unicorns cricket team working to make the game accessible for all

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Birmingham Unicorns is only the world’s second openly LGBTQ+ cricket club, which was formed during lockdown by cricket-lover Lachlan Smith, who wanted to create a space for the LGBTQ+ community to connect again after the pandemic. Now, the competitive team has over 30 registered players.

In June 2021, the team made history in a seminal match at Weoley Hill Cricket Club, against Grace CC, in what is thought to be the first time that two openly LGBTQ+ cricket teams anywhere in the world have played against one another. Sadly, they lost the match, however Lachlan considered it a huge success, and an important stepping stone for the sport, hoping that further inclusive clubs will be created across the world, and even talking of a ‘gay ashes’ at some point in the future.

“I don’t think cricket is explicitly homophobic or transphobic,” Lachlan explained, “You do sometimes hear things but I don’t think cricket has an image problem the same way other sports like football have around LGBTQ+ inclusion.

“But I think cricket has struggled in the past to be particularly welcoming and teams have been slow to understand that there are people from the community who want to play but don’t feel like they are welcome.

“People can be a bit ignorant and not think about the environment they’re creating. We wanted to create an environment where everyone in the LGBTQ+ community felt safe and welcome playing cricket.”

“One day I hope there are a few more openly LGBTQ+ cricketers in the men’s game. In some of the countries which play cricket, homosexuality is still criminalised – so we know there is work to be done. I think we’re still a bit away from that, but I’m confident we’re heading in the right direction.”

For more info on Birmingham Unicorns, CLICK HERE

Birmingham Pride seeks permanent home in the city

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Lawrence Barton, Birmingham Pride‘s director, has backed a motion by Conservative councillors Gareth Moore and Adam Higgs, calling for a permanent home for Birmingham Pride within the city. First held in 1997, Birmingham Pride’s initial home was Hurst Street, home to the city’s LGBTQ+ venues; however, residential developments in the village have meant that this is no longer possible.

The annual festival attracts over 40,000 people, and Birmingham Pride 2021 and 2022 took place on the former Wholesale Market site adjacent to the Gay Village, called Smithfield. This new proposal states that it “would ensure that Birmingham Pride has a permanent home to secure its long-term future.”

Birmingham Pride

Councillor Gareth Moore (Erdington), said: “For several years now I have been objecting to inappropriate planning applications in this area and calling on the council to introduce planning policies to help protect the Gay Village from the residential development that is encroaching on it.

“LGBTQ+ premises are under threat and we have sadly seen some premises close. The council has not done enough to support Birmingham Pride, local businesses and the LGBTQ+ community who call it ‘home’, and who have the right a safe space where they can be their true authentic selves without fear of intimidation.”

This proposal comes as an amendment to a motion before Birmingham City Council that calls for more to be done to tackle LGBTQ+ hate crimes in Birmingham, after “the community was once again rocked by a spate of homophobic attacks,” explained Councillor Adam Higgs (Highters Heath). The amendment also calls on the council to create a new event and outdoor space within the Gay Village following the successful pavement licensing trials during Covid-19 that helped the area thrive during the pandemic restrictions, and “to be a more inviting place for the LGBTQ+ community and our allies.”

Birmingham Pride

Lawrence Barton explains: “Birmingham Pride has become so much to so many and being able to celebrate together as a community has never been so important.

“I welcome the call by Councillors Moore and Higgs for a permanent home for the Birmingham Pride festival and stand ready to work with the council to identify a suitable site… A home for the tens of thousands of people (the festival) welcomes to the city, year after year, is crucial to its survival.”

Birmingham Literature Festival to celebrate queer writing

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Two of the UK’s “most exciting voices in queer writing” will come together during Birmingham Literature Festival to discuss “their novels, their writing and the LGBTQ+ writing scene, which is finally seeing the celebration it deserves.”

Chaired by guest curator Paul McVeigh, the event will feature Julia Armfield, author of Our Wives Under the Sea – which is her first novel following the success of her critically acclaimed short story collection, Salt Slow. Julia will be joined in conversation by Birmingham-based writer Paul Mendez, whose début novel, Rainbow Milk was published in 2020.

Julia Armfield is a fiction writer and playwright who was shortlisted for the 2019 Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, commended in the Moth Short Story Prize 2017, longlisted for the Deborah Rogers Award 2018, and won the White Review Short Story Prize in 2018. Her novel, Our Wives Under the Sea, is a story of love, loss and grief that follows the relationship between Miri and her wife Leah, after Leah returns home from a deep-sea mission that ended in catastrophe, leaving her with a darkness that she carries back with her onto dry land, causing her to slip from Miri’s loving grasp.

Paul Mendez is a British writer whose début novel, Rainbow Milk, was an Observer Best Debuts Choice, and was shortlisted for several prizes, including: the Polari First Novel Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Lambda Literary Award in Gay Fiction and a British Book Award (Fiction Debut). The novel is a coming-of-age tale about nineteen-year-old Jesse McCarthy – a Black, gay, British boy from Wolverhampton who moves to London on the cusp of adulthood. In Rainbow Milk, Jesse struggles with his Jehovah’s Witness upbringing, alongside his racial and sexual identity. Paul Mendez is currently working on adapting the novel for TV, plus he is also a student on the MA programme in Black British Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London.

The event with Julia Armfield and Paul Mendez will be held at Birmingham Rep Theatre on Saturday, October 8 from 2 – 3pm. Tickets £8 (£6.40 concession). Birmingham Literature Festival will be held October 6 – 9, and tickets to all their events are available online.

Aston Villa’s Pride range to support LGBTQ+ activity in the community

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

From June to August 2022, all net profits from the sales of the Pride range sold by Aston Villa Football Club were donated equally to the AVFC Foundation to support LGBTQ+ activity in the community – through their mental health and wellbeing Be You sessions – and Birmingham LGBT.

Throughout September and October, Aston Villa will be working with their retail partner Fanatics to re-activate this initiative, in line with their support for Birmingham Pride, and the Rainbow Laces period throughout October.

Monthly Be You football sessions begin from Sunday, October 2 at the Academy Building, Villa Park, and they are a safe and inclusive LGBTQ+ space, open for all ages 18+, and all abilities. To book your place email: TeamWork@avfc.co.uk

Lucy Keeling, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead at the Club, explained “Moving forward, there are exciting discussions taking place as to how we can amplify all year-round support through Pride product ranges, which will include consultation with Villa & Proud.”

Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community pays tribute to Carlos ‘Robin’ Medina

Posted on by Catherine Muxworthy

Carlos ‘Robin’ Medina was a circus star – admired by stars such as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton – a friend of Dame Barbara Cartland – and a legend of Birmingham’s gay village. Born in 1951 in Venezuela, his father sold him to the circus aged nine where according to his biographer John Wright (More Swings Than Roundabouts: The Life of Carlos ‘Robin’ Medina), “He had a strict regime of training by the circus ‘family’, but in reality, it was like modern slavery. The circus was called ‘a family’ when it was anything but…”

Despite this dark start in life, Carlos always looked on the brighter side of life, saying: “If I didn’t have the circus in my life, I wouldn’t be here today. I never, ever performed for the money – always I go for the applause.”

John Wright described Medina as “the finest contortionist and circus performer of modern times.” However, a 40ft fall at the age of 38 ended his circus career, leaving him to live out the rest of his life in Birmingham. Sadly, at the age of 72, Carlos Medina passed away.

Lawrence Barton, Birmingham Pride Festival Director and chair of Southside BID, said: “Hurst Street has lost one of its legends, Carlos Medina was a star in the real sense and now he shines brightly in the heavens. We will never forget him and he will doubtless be remembered at this year’s Pride.”

While Tales of the Second City added their own tribute to the floods of words about Carlos shared online, they wrote: “He was an outrageous firecracker, who could sparkle as bright as the gaybourhood’s Rhinestone Rhino.”

Following the loss of such a bright personality, Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community have begun fundraising to give Carlos ‘Robin’ Medina a fitting send-off. A JustGiving page created by his long-time friend and neighbour, Darren Hodson, says: “While we are all grieving the loss of this most incredible man, and a queen of the community, we also need to be practical and do what needs doing for his final journey.

“Carlos has no family to take charge of his funeral arrangements but he does have an amazing circle of friends. As his friends, we need to raise the money required to give him a fitting send-off. Carlos left no funeral plan or instructions other than what he expressed verbally to his close friends…

“Carlos was a huge, colourful and flamboyant character that was a true reflection of the LGBTQ+ community, past and present. He was also a circus performer and trapeze artist in his youth, working with Billy Smarts, Chipperfield, Zippos and more. His funeral needs to reflect this and respect his commitment to the community, it’s people and his energy in being a vibrant part of it!”

To donate, head to the dedicated JustGiving page, where more details on the arrangements for his funeral will be updated in due course.

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