East Midlands Proud Newsletter no.13

Hello Everyone!

Apologies for the long delay since the last newsletter.

First, just to introduce myself – My name is Dean Fisher & I am the new East Midlands Rep for Proud since Jude Jackson became the Proud Secretary.
I currently work for Jobcentre Plus on JSA in Nottingham.
If you need to contact me, the details are:-

Work No. – 0115 979 3620
Mobile – 07788 521 244
E-Mail - DEAN.FISHER@JOBCENTREPLUS.GSI.GOV.UK
(When e-mailing, please put “.CHKD” (without the quotes) after the subject) – This is due to the strict DWP regime!).

The Deputy Rep is David Shaw who works at Inland Revenue. His details are:
Mobile No. – 07799 340 675
E-Mail - Dave.Shaw@ir.gsi.gov.uk

I’d be very grateful if people could let me know how they prefer to receive future newsletters, etc. (i.e. – By post or E-mail?) – I have postal addresses but not everyone’s e-mail address. (NB - All details are kept in confidence!).

NEWS

LGBT HISTORY MONTH

February 2005 is LGBT History Month! (Please see the News Release enclosed).
Proud will have a presence at the launch at Manchester Town Hall on Feb 14th – I haven’t had the full details yet, but if you are interested please let me know.

LGBT PEOPLE IN BLACK & ETHNIC MINORITY COMMUNITIES

Dave Shaw is a volunteer on Nottingham Lesbian & Gay Switchboard – These are from one of his contacts:

In March 2005 Nottingham Lesbian and Gay Switchboard will host a two-part conference which targets black and minority ethnic people within the LGB community. It will examine their experiences, their needs and how they are viewed and treated within their communities and within British society as a whole. We will also look at developing local support networks. The conference is also intended for organisations and groups which support black and minority ethnic people and which feel that they need to learn more about this issue.
Part 1 is on Saturday March 5th and will be for all the people covered by the first paragraph. It will include: a keynote speech by Simon Nelson of the Terrence Higgins Trust and co-founder of the Black Gay Men’s Advisory Group; accounts of personal experiences; workshops on Racism and Homophobia, on the Law, on LGB issues within Muslim communities and on lesbian health and mental health issues.
Part 2 is on Saturday March 19th and will be solely for LGB people who are black or from ethnic minorities.
Anyone who is interested should leave their details with Switchboard at 7, Mansfield Road, Nottingham, NG1 3FB - or e-mail nottingham@lgswitchboard.fsnet.co.uk or phone 0115 9348485 Mon-Fri 7-10pm.
Or book online at
www.bcvs.org.uk/lgb-black-minority-conference.htm

LGB VIDEO PROJECT

The project is aimed at Nottingham’s gay and lesbian community. Using digital sound and images (photography and video) we will explore and document local stereotypes of Nottingham’s gay and lesbian communities through stories of coming out. We will explore, through interviews, the issues Nottingham’s gay and lesbian community faced when telling friends, family members, work colleagues etc that they were either lesbian or gay. The central theme of our project will be to explore all aspects of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination people faced and still face when telling other members of the community that they are lesbian or gay. We will document stories from a range of decades, from the 1960s to today, thus ensuring we include all age ranges in our stories of coming out. We will also target gay and lesbian members from Nottingham’s BME communities. The outcome will be a collection of oral histories on DVD, and digital photographic images with text, that we be put together and use as educational resources for other community groups, youth groups, schools etc in Nottingham. Overall the aim of the project is to provide a voice for the gay and lesbian community and to challenge stereotypes of Nottingham’s gay and lesbian community.

NATIONAL EVENTS 2005

16 – 17TH Feb:
Stage Two Training, Newcastle
(Application form here)
Closing date for applications is 8th Feb.

30th June – 1st July:
TUC LGBT Conference, London

2nd July:
London Pride

10th August:
Proud Annual Report issued

19th August:
Closing date for AGM elections & motions

October (Exact dates to be confirmed):
Stage One Training

18 – 20th November
Proud Seminar (Location not yet known)

LOCAL EVENTS

We currently hold monthly informal social meetings for East Midlands members to get together.

The next one is on Friday 4th Feb meeting at 7:30pm in the Rainbow & Dove, Leicester (Northampton Square) – We’ll be there for a little while before moving on.

The one in March will be on the 5th at 1pm in the Coco Lounge in Nottingham (George Street) – This recently closed but has now reopened.

We’ve previously met on the first Friday or Saturday each month & alternated between Leicester & Nottingham, but this is completely open to alternatives – If anyone has any suggestions for anywhere in the East Midlands, please feel welcome to let us know!

(PS – If anyone hasn’t yet got a copy of Dave’s fabulous “Pink & Pinkish Watering Holes of the East Midlands”, I’ll be happy to post or e-mail one to you!). (available here - webmaster)

I’ve yet to find out the dates of this year’s East Mids Pride events, so look out for these in a future newsletter.

FINALLY…

That’s about it for now.
Again, I’m sorry for the delay in producing this newsletter, but future ones will be more frequent!
If anyone has any suggestions for future issues, or anything else for Proud, please feel free to let me know – I’ll also be happy to bring up any issues at the committee meetings.

Hope to see you soon (maybe at the socials!)

Dean.