Lgbt history month 2012

click here to download LGBT history month events programme

click here to download file for details of film and quiz night

2008 Tall Ships   I took part in the Tall Ships Sailing Race of 2008 from Liverpool to Maaloy, Norway. The voyage was an incredible one and our ship, the Stavros S Niarchos had its best place finish in the race ever. The voyage included 48 young people all working together, regardless of their past experiences or differences and celebrating the collectiveness of a group working together to achieve a common goal. This adventure gave me so much confidence for things in the years after this, and proved to be that I can work well with people. It didn't matter who you were on the ship; what counted was how hard you worked and how positive your attitude was. Nevertheless the people on the ship were very accepting and warm towards each individual person and willing to help if you were having a hard time. An absolutely  brilliant trip- one I will always remember  I have attached a photo too with me aloft! Dan Bird, Newcastle University LGBT Officer

Liz Maddison

Coast to Coast   "This photo was taken on July 5th 2011. It was day 2 of 5 of our brave adventure doing the C2C and possibly the best day of the whole trip. This photo encapsulates for me, the joy of being with a group of women who became friends from lots of different directions. A common interest to do a bit of cycling to keep or get fit emerged and formed a clear goal, to do something amazing. We did. We are proud of that and yes we all still get on our bikes and are hoping to plan another trip in 2011, maybe not as big a challenge but an adventure all the same. Wonderful." July 2011

Jud Hindess

Euro 2005 England v Sweden   The day I went to see England v Sweden was a fantastic day it involved taking 50 young footballers from the West End of Newcastle to the game.  We painted our faces and pulled on our supporters shirts to watch a professional women's football match.  We are a long way off from having ‘Out' players in any league regardless of gender.  My hope is this is going to change, if you go to the Campaign page you can read the Charter for Sport and get involved in tackling homophobia and transphobia in sport.

Louise Evan Wong

I was born in the Caribbean and learnt to sail almost before I could ride a bike.  When I was 16 yrs old I was chosen to represent my country at the Pan American Games in the Snipe Class.  We didn't do very well but it was a wonderful experience.  I love sports of all kinds so when I came to the UK I could hardly believe the range of possibilities!  I tried trials riding, dinghy sailing, windsurfing, paddling, climbing, walking and probably many others I've forgotten. I'm so happy to see this Sports Charter and that there will be a recognition of the different Equality Strands and the different barriers to be faced. I found barriers as a BME woman and would have found even more as a lesbian but I didn't even try to go there! I thought I would share some of the barriers in the hope that you wouldn't even recognise them as they were dismantled long ago. Wet-suits were modelled on male bodies and most schools would provide men's suits.  If you were not tall and had breasts then your image was decidedly unflattering and flattening not to mention uncomfortable, not the best start for learning a sport.  Male changing rooms would be huge and a poky cupboard for the women as there would not be many of us.  We could usually hear the men chatting, and bonding and getting tips from the instructors who were also usually male.  Through pure stubbornness I eventually gained my RYA Sailing Instructor and Windsurfing Instructor qualifications and was able to set up my own RYA approved School.  Not surprisingly, we had an excellent take-up of women and girls to try out windsurfing in a woman friendly environment, women instructors and woman friendly equipment. Now my partner and I have a more leisurely sail with a Rustler 36 on the West Coast of Scotland, at least when it's not blowing gale force winds. Sport is just magical, bringing enjoyment, adventures, friendship, learning new skills, helping to maintain fitness levels and keeping us aware and alert.  It must be accessible to everyone so lets share our experience of barriers so we can pull them down together and so we can influence the sport governing bodies to acknowledge that there are barriers and take responsibility for removing these barriers and to support those that are disadvantaged. louise