Spotify presents: Birmingham Mela – billed as the UK’s biggest South Asian music festival – will be hosting an LGBTQ+ village for the first time in 2023 this weekend. Organisers of Birmingham Mela, say the LGBTQ+ village is a “bold show of solidarity” with LGBTQ+ South Asians, in partnership with Birmingham Pride.
Lawrence Barton, festival director at Birmingham Pride, told ITV News: “I’m delighted Birmingham Pride is evolving into one of the most diverse and inclusive Pride events in the UK.
“As we expand, it’s important for us that we work with all communities who live within Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region to ensure we engage, educate and inform all communities on LGBTQ+ equalities. I couldn’t be prouder of our partnership with Birmingham Mela this year.”
Shine Duggal, Creative Producer at Birmingham Mela, added: “Mela is a festival committed to inclusion, we have programmed LGBTQ+ artists at Melas previously, and this year we are taking our solidarity to the next level by committing to showcasing talent, creating a safe space for South Asian LGBTQ+ communities and their allies, to celebrate intersectional South Asian identities.”
The LGBTQ+ village will provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ South Asians at the festival as well as shining a light on artists from the community including BAFTA-nominated drag artist Asifa Lahore and British born Iranian, DJ Aria Homiebaba. The line-up will also include: DJ Yash, Das the Company (Rajan Das), SpitXL, Wild Hearted Pilgrims, DJ Deesh, DJ Twara, Gravity (featuring DJ Harj and DJ Tally), and duo Brown Excellence.
Danny Singh, Event Director at Birmingham Mela, added: “Everyone is welcome at Mela. This year we’re excited to build on our commitment of diverse and inclusive programming and I’m extremely proud to be teaming up with Birmingham Pride to showcase South Asian LGBTQ+ artists and introduce ‘The Village’ element to our growing Mela site.”
Birmingham Mela festival will be held in Victoria Park, Smethwick from Saturday, July 22 until Sunday, July 23.
The Baton of Hope – designed to be the biggest suicide awareness and prevention initiative in the UK – travelled through Birmingham on Monday, July 3, starting at Alexander Stadium before journeying throughout the city, including via Birmingham LGBT+.
At the BirminghamLGBT Centre, there was a focus on mental health in the LGBTQ+ community, with speeches from Dr Justin Verney, Director of Public Health, and Steph Keeble, director of the Birmingham LGBT Centre. There were also contributions from local groups who use the centre, and a drag performance from Kathy O’Connor aka Valentin Velle. The Baton of Hope acknowledged and paid “tribute to the work of Birmingham LGBTQ+ Centre and other LGBTQ+ charities for mental health in the city and the region,” explained Baton of Hope’s Martin Schleicher, “As an openly gay man, the aim was to balance information about a very sensitive subject with some light-hearted performances.
“The feedback from Birmingham was positive throughout especially about the capturing the diversity that Birmingham is known for. Through the support from the authorities and many other organisations and individuals it was possible to bring the topic of mental health and suicide prevention closer to the general public. The baton bearers were all directly affected by suicide either through bereavement or by being survivors themselves which added to a very special atmosphere of solidarity and togetherness.”
The Baton’s tour of Birmingham and its legs across 11 other cities will be the basis of an upcoming Netflix documentary. While no release date can yet be confirmed, the documentary will cover the idea from its creation to the tour across the UK, with the aim of continuing the vital conversations opened about mental health and suicide.
“The stigma around suicide and mental health struggles is still very prevalent,” Martin Schleicher explains, “however help is out there and can be accessed by everyone. The Baton of Hope UK is aiming at highlighting the professional help available. On a personal level, change comes through action.
“We hope we have paved a path to reduce the stigma of talking about feelings, worries, help and generally just keeping the conversation going. It is important to check in with friends, family, neighbours or other individuals in one’s life and ask how they really feel and it is OK to talk about it.”
Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ community has been paying tribute to Simon Harris – a resident DJ at the Nightingale Club – who sadly passed away in the evening of Sunday, July 16. Harris, known by much of the community as DJ Simon, first worked as a DJ at Tin Tins, and had been working with the Nightingale Club for 32 years, beginning as a resident DJ in 1991.
“But to us, Simon was so much more than that,” explains a post from the Nightingale Club in his memory, “He was a mentor, support and loyal friend to us all. Nothing was too much trouble for Simon, one of the most warm, gentle, accommodating, talented and genuine people we have had the pleasure to know, to call our own.
“A talented DJ, holding one of the longest residencies in Nightingale history. Our sound technician, troubleshooter and fixer. More importantly, he was our family, and we will miss him terribly. Our thoughts this evening, are with Dave, his family and friends and to everyone who loved and knew him. Simply the best.”
Fatt Projects – a Birmingham-based queer performance company from artist and activist Adam Carver aka Fatt Butcher – have partnered with Moseley Road Baths to throw their first ever Big Fatt Pool Party, which will be a free, inclusive pool party, that welcomes and celebrates all body types, allowing everyone to use the swimming pool with comfort.
“We’re pro-fat, pro-femme, pro-trans, pro-disabled, anti-racist, pro-fabulous. Bring your best self, bring your bingo wings, bring your pals, bring your inflatables!” explains Fatt Projects on the event’s booking page.
Big Fatt Pool Party will be hosted by local legend, Drag Race UK star and “amateur aqua-aerobics instructor”, Ginny Lemon. It will feature performances from Mama Mamba and “pool party beats” from DJ Just Soriah for 90 minutes “of wet and wild wonder”.
The event will be held on Saturday, August 12 with two sessions, one running from 1 – 2.30pm, followed by a second from 3 – 4.30pm. This is a free sober daytime event suitable for ages 18+, however, those attending should be aware that unlike Fatt Projects’ previous silent discos, this event will have loud music throughout.
The venue itself is a historic pool offering private any-gender changing cubicles throughout, and a hoist to access the pool as well as the swimming pool ladders. Full details regarding access, getting to the venue, and about the venue itself can be found on the booking page for this event.
Snap Project: Birmingham Queer Women 1977-99 – curated by artist, writer and educator, Sarah Dolman – captures the stories and histories of queer women in Birmingham through a collection of photographs. The images featured were predominately donated from archives and individuals who were out and proud throughout the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
Dolman explains that the use of the term ‘queer’, a reclaimed slur, is “an inclusive term used to encapsulate a whole community, and in this case varied female identities: lesbians, bisexuals, trans, asexuals, intersexes and allies. Queer is about being different from the norm. The photos show that identities were not always obvious or overt and they’re a record of authentic queer Birmingham histories that could otherwise have been lost, hidden, or simply discarded at death.
“This collection is important for two reasons. Typically, a lack of visibility has led to myths that queer people either didn’t really exist years ago, or if they did, they lived sad, perhaps tragic lives without fun, care, or love. This collection is evidence that counters those ideas.
“Additionally, this collection is a history of real women that lived in Birmingham and were part of changing perceptions of the LGBTQ+ community. It begins before clause 28, the 2010 equality act, the declassification of LGBT as a mental illness, rights to serve in the forces, adoption rights and the rights to civil partnership and later marriage. These women were out when the biggest shifts to their rights and future generations were in the balance. Thus, they should be remembered as part of a visible path towards positive change.”
The photographs featured in this collection, Dolman explains, come from three ‘camps’ of queer Brum womxn; the scene town women, alternative scene women, and the Moseley/Balsall Heath/Kings Heath women.
Additionally, four Birmingham legends – Patti Bell, a revered punk fashion designer who is also currently celebrated at the Back to Backs Exhibition: Gary Lindsay-Moore: It’s Not Unusual; Lesley Wood from the band Au Pairs; Chrissy Van Dyke, the former front woman of Plutonik; and Lisa Wallace of Big Brother fame – also donated photos to be included in this history.
Women and Theatre – a theatre company that has produced and performed productions on issues such as sexuality, HIV, relationships, equality, ageing, and class since 1983 – also donated photos from their archive featuring Polly Wright, Jo Broadwood and ally Janice Connolly, aka Barbara Nice.
Caroline Hutton donated her Women’s Revolutions Per Minute (WRPM) – a Birmingham based feminist women’s music distributor – publicity photos, taken by Rhonda Wilson. Rhonda Wilson also took the pool players’ photographs and, thanks to her husband John McQueen granting permission, her photographs are featured in this collection.
The photo collection runs in approximate time order from 1977 to 1999. At the end of Rhonda Wilson’s photos, viewers will see a child in pink, who is artist and activist Saima Razzaq; marking the end of the ’80s, a child who is a current queer scene DJ, Soriah Lewin, marking the end of the ’90s, and the very last photo is of Ginger Baxter. “These photos are to acknowledge the lack of diversity in this collection: ethnic, disabled and elders. Birmingham’s LGBTQ+ scenes in the ’80s and ’90s were mostly white, able bodied and under 40. Which is not to say that ethnic, disabled and elder communities weren’t LGBTQ+. Rather, they were not visible on these scenes and subsequently have been very difficult to contact to encourage project participation.”
“Most photos are snaps that were taken in clubs, bars and sometimes outings or protests, or at London Prides, as it was in these spaces that queer communities could exist freely. However, as you will also see, women had holidays, travelled, and had house and garden parties. What you don’t see is that taking photos was something of a luxury, money was often tight, and photography was expensive,” explains Sarah Dolman.
Back in June 2021, Scene reported that King’s Heath Birmingham had been named as an LGBTQ+ friendly neighbourhood by the Gayborhood Foundation but I had no idea the depths and the work that went on behind it, nor which comedian was pulling the strings. Until, that is, I saw his most recent live stand-up show, More, More, More, How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, as the special was being recorded. The show was a labour of love created over four years, and it involves, in Joe’s words, “one of the most fulfilling and joyous stunts I’ve ever pulled off”.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Cred: Khuram Qadeer Mirza
To hear the story in full, you’ll have to watch Joe Lycett’s special but to briefly sum it up: the stunt involved a secret identity, the Gayborhood Foundation, and King’s Heath – which soon became known Queen’s Heath in an attempt to make the area feel safer for LGBTQ+ people, following the protests against the ‘No Outsiders’ teaching at a school in Birmingham.
When King’s Heath appeared on the Gayborhood Foundation’s list of LGBTQ+ neighbourhoods, locals to Birmingham were understandably quite confused – since Birmingham already has a prominent gay village in the centre of the city. Instead of refuting the claims, however, the community embraced their new-found status with a Pride event that featured a short Pride march, alongside performances from the likes of Fatt Butcher and Alanna Boden.
This elaborate stunt – which at one point has West Midlands Police involved – was so successful that local news outlets – including Scene magazine – ran stories about Queen’s Heath, and the area was quickly embraced as a safe space for LGBTQ+ people.
Cred: Khuram Qadeer Mirza
In fact, Lycett even hinted about Queen’s Heath Pride when we spoke to him prior to his – unfortunately cancelled – Queer Christmas House Party. He told us, “There was a Pride in my local area this year and it was so beautiful to see loads of local people coming out for the community, and it wasn’t like a big organised thing really, it was just like a natural thing that happened, and that for me was the best Pride I’ve been to because it was local and it was very real and very sort of family-driven, and so for me that was a great event.”
Following the third, annual Queen’s Heath Pride, Joe Lycett spoke to Scene magazine about this incredible stunt…
How did you come up with the idea for the Gayborhood Foundation?
I worked with a very small, trusted group to work out how to pull off the ‘stunt’. We realised, having failed to get much traction with other routes, that we needed to get some press attention about the new gay village. We knew that these sorts of lists often attract PR attention and we were right! Amazingly Edinburgh Evening News and an obscure Ibiza news outlet ran the story too!
Cred: Khuram Qadeer Mirza
How long did the planning take?
All in the whole thing was about four years. Which is an insane amount of time to work on one stand-up show, but here we are.
Did you ever think people around you might guess that you were behind the Gayborhood Foundation?
That was a huge fear, and if they did then the chances of it being successful became much smaller, hence the secrecy. Even now many people in the local area who haven’t seen the show don’t know of my involvement, and to be honest I’m very happy with it staying that way!
How did you feel when you started to see news outlets pick up the Gayborhood Foundation?
It was the first moment I thought, ‘wow, we might actually do this’. I remember being incredibly excited to see it getting pick up. I felt both thrilled and also VERY naughty!
What was the reaction like when you eventually told those first few people who were part of Queen’s Heath’s first Pride?
People were surprised but also sort of shook their head as if to say, ‘what are you up to this time?’. Nothing surprises my friends and family anymore. If I told them Nadine Dorries was actually a drag character I created they’d be like, ‘sure, whatever you say Joe’.
Cred: Khuram Qadeer Mirza
What are the plans for Queen’s Heath Pride in the future?
We’ve now done three Prides. The first one was the secret one, the last two I’ve been there in a more open capacity. We’ve kept it local and only tell people in the area, and quite soon to the event, to prevent it becoming too big and pushing out local people. 2023 was a ridiculous year – we had a stage, the unicorn was back, and we had amazing performances and special surprises. It was magical.
How has it felt telling audiences about your stunt and seeing their support as they’ve kept the secret over all these months?
It’s been beautiful, truly. I don’t think I’ll ever make anything like this last stand-up show again, it’s my favourite project and I’m so proud of how it’s developed. And throughout the entire tour, playing to well over 100,000 people, as far as I can tell not one person revealed anything about it on social media. Stunning.
More, More, More, How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett? is streaming now, exclusively on JoeLycett.com
Walsall Pride, which will be held on August Bank Holiday Saturday, have released their full line-up, which this year includes a star from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK.
Baga Chipz, who is originally from nearby West Bromwich, appeared on season one of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK coming in third place behind winner The Vivienne and runner-up Divina de Campo, before then appearing the ‘All Stars’ version Drag Race UK vs The World. Baga will be performing on the Cabaret Stage, which is hosted by Cleo Andrews, alongside a plethora of talented drag performers, including Twiggy, Amy LaQueefa, Tanya Hyde, Topsie Redfern, Ebony Kruger and Linda Matthews.
Over in the Dance Tent, attendees of Walsall Pride will find Joe Hunt, Katie Meyher, Becki De Funk, Jade Marie, House Monkeyz, Wayne H, and Martin Green. While the Main Stage – hosted by Miss Lips and Mitzy – will have performances from Jamie Hensley, Alex Party, Katherine Ellis, Marcella Woods, Kelly Wilde, Smashby, Nate Ethan, Startstruck, Reggae Boyz, Rock Goddess, Side 2, and DJ James Ball.
The event will also offer food stalls, licensed bars, market stalls, as well as stalls offering health and information.
For the first time, Walsall Pride presents Pride Picnic in the Park, an event which will be held a month before the main Pride event on August Bank Holiday weekend. This family-friendly event will be held at Walsall Arboretum’s bandstand and will feature live music, singers, and bands including local talent on a Community Stage.
The picnic is completely free to attend, and guests are encouraged to bring their own food and drink, as well as blankets and chairs to sit on. Some chairs will also be provided by Walsall Pride for those who don’t have their own, and guests are also welcome to make use of the steps in the area too.
Pride Picnic in the Park is sponsored by HomeServe UK in partnership with Walsall Council. The event will be held Sunday, July 30 from 11am – 6pm.
Tickets for Walsall Pride in August are also available online from £5 (plus 50p booking fee).
Liam Duce appeared at Dudley Magistrate Court on June 15 where he pleaded guilty to using threatening or abusive words and behaviour after he was arrested for homophobic abused at a Wolves vs Chelsea match back on April 8. The 24-year-old, of High Park Crescent, Sedgley, was given a three-year football banning order and fined £461.
Duce was one of three people arrested at Molineux Stadium for homophobic chanting. A Staffordshire man, Matthew Bramwell, who appeared at Dudley Magistrate Court on June 6, denied the charges against him; a section five offence of threatening, abusive or insulting and disorderly behaviour, and his case has therefore adjourned for trail at Walsall Magistrates Court in August.
PC Stuart Ward, football hate crime officer from West Midlands Police, said: “There is no place for discrimination in football, or society in general, and we will always fully investigate any reports we receive.
“There is no place for homophobia in football or society in general.”
PC Ward was appointed the UK’s first dedicated hate crime officer based within a football unit two years ago.
A press release from West Midlands Police explains: “He is leading our attempts to stamp out abuse both at football games and online abuse aimed at footballers and fans.
“His role has improved our ability to support victims and investigate the offences.
“He investigates complaints of hate crime linked to football, monitoring online interactions and working with the region’s clubs – at both professional and amateur level – to highlight what is an offence and the importance of reporting it.
“PC Ward also goes into schools to educate around discrimination and outline behaviour which can never be condoned, and link in with other bodies such as Kick It Out.”
You can follow @FootballUnitWMP for updates from PC Ward and the rest of the team on the work of this unit.
Matthew Bramwell (21) from Penkridge, Staffordshire has denied charges over homophobic abuse during a Wolves V Chelsea football match. Bramwell was arrested on suspicion of a public order offence causing harassment, alarm or distress. He was one of three people arrested at the time for homophobic chanting that was aimed at Chelsea fans during their match against the Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) at Molineux Stadium on Saturday, April 8.
He appeared at Dudley Magistrates Court on Tuesday, June 6, charged with a section five offence of threatening, abusive or insulting and disorderly behaviour. Bramwell, however, has denied being part of a group of around 500 Wolves fans involved in the homophobic chanting during the Premier League game.
The case has, therefore, adjourned for trial at Walsall Magistrates Court on August 16.
West Midlands Police said: “There is no place for discrimination in football, or society in general, and we will always fully investigate any reports we receive.”
While a statement from Wolves FC, shortly following the April 8 match stated: “Homophobia, like all other forms of discrimination, has no place in football or society, and anyone engaging in discriminatory behaviour is committing a criminal offence.
“Our ethos at Wolves is about being ‘One Pack’ – an attitude we are passionate about and that extends to our relationships across the football community, regardless of rivalries or what happens on the football pitch. We thank all supporters and staff who reported incidents, and will continue to campaign for inclusivity and tackle discriminatory abuse, whether inside stadiums or online.”
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