God’s Other Children – A London Memoir by Vernal Scott. A new non-fiction book which details the impact of HIV and AIDS from a black/gay perspective, and much much more besides. The forewords are written by Sir Nick Partridge, Peter Tatchell, and Lord Paul Boateng. It’s available from Foyles, Amazon and Gay’s The Word.
The Winner of The Green Carnation Prize 2013 – Andrew Solomon is the latest author to win the Green Carnation Prize with ‘Far From The Tree’ a book about exceptional children which celebrates what it means to be human in all its diversity.
Andrew Scott, who plays arch-nemesis Moriarty on the hit BBC series, has come out as “a gay person” in a low-key interview with The Independent. Oddly enough, the recent spate of antigay attitudes in Russia spurred on the low-key coming out in the interview. Though the interview covers his career and how Sherlock has changed it, he’s heavily promoting an upcoming BBC drama called Legacy which required him to do a Russian accent. To prepare, he studied videos of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but that stopped when Putin introduced antigay legislation. As Scott tells it, “being a gay person, I switched to Rudolf Nureyev videos instead.”
History Resource: The Radical Activist who Took on AIDS (BBC World Service) Peter Staley was one of the ACT UP activists whose campaigns helped to turn AIDS from a death sentence into a manageable condition. Their story is told in the Oscar-nominated documentary How To Survive A Plague.
“Why I won’t attend Gergiev’s concerts” – David Nice. When a conductor unequivocally endorses a murderous state policy, it’s time to draw the line. Last Thursday I was giving a talk before a concert in Birmingham, decently but not inspiringly conducted by the much-liked Vasily Sinaisky. Had I been in London I could have taken my pick between two greater interpreters, Valery Gergiev launching his Berlioz series with the London Symphony Orchestra and veteran Yury Temirkanov returning to one of his standard programmes with the Philharmonia. Both appeared on the list of 549 “trustees” supporting Vladimir Putin’s 2012 re-election campaign.
The opening of night of Valery Gergiev’s new London Symphony Orchestra concert season at the Barbican in London was disrupted last night (31 October) by a protest by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell against Gergiev’s support for Russian President, Vladimir Putin.
Union J’s Jaymi Hensley Will Challenge Twitter Homophobia – Speaking in The Metro Union J boyband member Jaymi Hensley said he actively challenges homophobic language on social media.
Gay activist and journalist Doug Ireland dies at 67. On the same day the LGBT community in Britain mourns the passing of one activist, news comes through of the death of another major figure in America. From fighting the Vietnam war as a young activist to reporting on the executions of gay Iranians, Doug Ireland was a veteran advocate and champion for LGBTI people
Ricky Martin discussed homophobia and “combatting violence and discrimination against LGBT persons” with South African singer and human rights campaigner Yvonne Chaka Chaka before UN… Read More »Ricky Martin At The UN Talking About Homophobia
Google has given £550,000 to the development of Bletchley Park. The money will go towards the match funding that the Bletchley Park Trust needs to unlock… Read More »Google Gives Bletchley Park 1/2 million
