1981

Livingston, West Lothian. I’m four years old and though my parents are still hanging onto their youth and hoping to influence the moulding of their youngest child by playing The Everly Brothers and The Beatles, I am in my bedroom, with a tea towel wrapped around my waist dancing to Bucks Fizz.

That’s me on the right

1984

I can do the whole dance to Thriller.  I even have a shiny bomber jacket.

1986

Thetford, Norfolk.  I’m in a play called Beowulf the Warrior.  The concept of stage acting is alien to me.  I’ve never been to the theatre.  I have never seen a play.  I know I have a line to say.  I know I say it after Steven.  It’s time and I can feel the words jamming in my throat.  My mouth is dry and I’m sweating but out they come…”everybody hide, here comes Beowulf!”.  Wrong.  It should be “everybody hide, here comes Grendall”, Beowulf is the hero.  I’ll never live this down.

1990:

School play is not very good.  It’s called Grease 2.5 and has a moment when we all dance to Holiday.  Because we are going on holiday.  The drama department gets closed down.  Not because the play is so bad, but because of budget cuts.  I along with a couple of other misfits lead a student strike.  Someone throws a carton of yoghurt at the Rector.  Why am I doing this?  I must really like theatre.  I don’t like being suspended.

Later that week

An article appears in the Lothian Courier and quotes me as an anonymous teenage girl.  I get my sister to shave my head and say goodbye to my ‘Sheena Easton’.

1992

Leave school and go to college to study a National Certificate in Media and Performing Arts.  The Media part is important to me as it stops me having to admit that I want to be an actor.  Most of my family translate this as I want to be famous.

Later that year

Madonna releases her SEX book.  I’m pretty sure vaginas are absolutely boggin’.

1993

Decide I might not want to be an actor, directing appeals to me.  I go to Fife to study a Diploma in Theatre Skills and Drama.  The course is sold as a rep theatre company where we’ll get to tailor it to our needs.  Some of that is true.  Meanwhile, my dad writes to the head of BBC Drama ‘on my behalf’ including my headshot and a programme for a show I was in saying I’d be perfect for Eastenders.

1994

After graduating I manage to work fairly consistently as an actor, dancer and sometimes choreographer. I make some fairly bad decisions including but not limited to choosing a role in a never to happen Richard Demarco production of Romeo & Juliet over a role in Oscar nominated film Mrs Brown.  I also make a straight to cutting room floor “this will make you famous” film where I spend a lot of time in the bath and a lot less time falling out a window in Marchmont.  It was on telly once and then disappeared up it’s own stink-pile.

Like most emerging artists of the time, the majority of my Tesco value bread and butter came from working in TIE or Children’s Theatre Companies that toured schools, eventually serving my time long enough with one of them to become a tour manager with the responsibility of making sure that cheques were collected after the show.  Needless to say, as an aspiring director/producer, my £180 per week priorities quickly changed when I realised exactly how much money was being fleeced off of my 18 Disney plaigerised shows per week that I was desperately trying to convince myself was art.

Leaving my Jafar costume at the door, I thumb text my friends a message on my hideously large mobile phone.

B @ MINE 4 8.  NE ID8 CAN DO THIS!

I made my way home, thought of a story I wanted to tell and bought 20,000 school labels from Cameron Data.  A month later, I had 68 bookings for a show that hadn’t been written, designed, cast or in all honesty, thought about.

It turns out that any idiot can’t do it.  It’s hard work and probably about as stressful as pregnancy, but 9 months later when most of my peers were learning their rewritten lyrics to Michael Jackson’s You Are Not Alone and practicing their jazz hands, I was out on tour with a fairly dark production of Cinderella thanks to a great playwright with a fondness for non patronising children’s theatre and a group of actors all willing to wait to get paid until the end of the tour.

And here’s where my story actually begins.  I’ll tell you more next week.

Barry x

@barrychurchwood

“These days, suicide sucks my cock. It wants me to stay in bed but I don’t. I set myself unachievable goals and dare myself to reach them”.

Richard Fry

I have a fantastic life. I get to travel the world, do exciting things, meet brilliant people and have access to places and events that money can’t buy. I’ve been featured in magazines and nominated for awards, I’ve partied with rock stars and dined with my heroes. Life is fun, life is exciting, life is good. And I regularly think about killing myself.

Since I was a teenager, I’ve been riddled with these dark thoughts about doing myself in. I can’t talk about any specific mental illness as I’m not sure what I have. I’ve never spoken to a doctor about it so I’ve never been diagnosed and I’ve never taken anything for it save self-medication with a lot of socially-acceptable lubricants. But I have something. I have suicide. And it sucks.

Read more…

Today we’re celebrating 30 years of Madonna’s debut album.  An album that kick started our obsession with Her Madgesty, and spawned a career that provided a soundtrack to a generation.

Everybody has a Madonna memory.  You’ve read Why We Should Thank Our Lucky Stars For Madonna so you know what Barry thinks, but we’re keen to hear your Madonna memories.

Whether you lost your virginity in the back of a van while Shoo-Bee-Doo played or entered your high school talent contest with a dance set to Gambler, we’d love to hear them.

Go on.  Help us quench our desire!

Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re off to sexily roll around on the road.

With just under a year to go until the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, Reporters Without Borders activists gathered outside the Russian embassy in Paris today and unfurled a 70-metre-long banner showing the Olympic rings transformed into a bloody knuckleduster to draw attention to the impunity largely enjoyed by those who have attacked and killed journalists in Russia.

Today’s demonstration marked the start of an international campaign that will continue until the opening of the Winter Olympics on 7 February 2014.

“We are doing this in order to renew our support for Russia’s journalists, bloggers and human rights defenders at a crucial moment for freedom of information in that country,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Christophe Deloire said.

“Twenty-eight journalists have been murdered in connection with their work since 2000. The fight against impunity for those who attack and kill journalists is unfortunately still absolutely essential. But, as cracks begin to appear in the Putin regime, monstrous new laws are placing civil society under permanent threat. The authorities now have a repressive legislative arsenal ready to be used when the time comes.

“We have no desire to deny Russia the right to project the image of a proud, dynamic and modern country, but we must not be deceived by the universal consensus that surrounds Olympic events. The real events are not those that will be taking place on the ski slopes and, in this other struggle, Russian civil society has more need than ever of our help.

“We are also launching this campaign because the challenge extends far beyond Russia’s borders. Russia is a regional model and Moscow’s voice reaches the international stage. Many governments are waiting to see the outcome of the battle under way in the world’s biggest country. Some, such as Azerbaijan, welcome the growing crackdown in Russia as a legitimation of their own repressive measures.”

Avalanche of repressive laws

Ever since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency last May, the government has had a spate of repressive laws passed in order to prevent the growth of more freedom of information. At the same time that legislation on human rights NGOs and unauthorized demonstrations was made much harsher, defamation was reintroduced into the criminal code after being decriminalized in November 2011.

In the name of “protecting minors,” a federal government agency has been given the job of compiling a blacklist of “pernicious” websites that can be blocked without reference to a court and without any right of defence.

In recent months, the Duma has been working on draft laws that will serve as large-scale gagging tools. The scope of what is regarded as “high treason” and a “state secret” is to be vastly extended. Tools for circumventing online censorship are to be banned. “Offending the feelings of believers” is to be penalized drastically. The desire to control is plain to see.

No “return to normal” for reporting in the Russian Caucasus

Despite the Kremlin’s boasts and the now deafening silence from the international media, the situation in the Caucasus is unfortunately anything but “back to normal.” The relative stability imposed in Chechnya has been accompanied by a deathly silence based on fear of a police state and the fatigue of a population traumatized by war.

The violence has just moved elsewhere and neighbouring republics such as Ingushetia, Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria have been corroded for the past decade by a latent, undeclared civil war in which an Islamist insurrection and human rights violations by the security forces feed on each other to the detriment of the civilian population caught in the crossfire.

Enforced disappearances, bombings, extrajudicial executions and every kind of trafficking are all highly sensitive subjects for news providers. The list of murdered journalists continues to grow. To the well-known Anna Politkovskaya must be added Natalia Estemirova, Abdulmalik Akhmedilov, Khadzhimurad Kamalov and many others, whose killers are almost never caught.

Read the Reporters Without Borders report on the state of freedom of information in the Russian Caucasus

Persistent impunity

More than a year after Khadzhimurad Kamalov, the influential founder of the independent weekly Chernovik, was murdered in Dagestan, the investigation has produced no results. Why is that? Why has the instigator of Anna Politkovskaya’s murder never been identified? Why have the violent attacks on Oleg Kashin and Mikhail Beketov never been solved, despite firm assurances by senior officials?

This state of affairs just perpetuates the violence. At least two journalists were killed and 33 were physically attacked in connection with their work in 2012.

On the same subject, read this September 2012 op-ed by Christophe Deloire on Huffington Post: “Prison bars cannot hold back the wind of freedom”.

A message from Mark Thomas…

As you might have seen in the media, LGBT people in Russia are facing rising levels of violence and discrimination as a direct result of state sponsored homophobia.

That’s why this Thursday (22nd August at 2.30pm) I am asking Equality Network supporters to join with me outside the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Edinburgh for a free, one-off, LGBT rights comedy gig to raise awareness and add to the mounting international pressure on the Russian Government.

Taking part in the first ever street-stand-up gig outside the Consulate are some of the highest profile performers of the Edinburgh Fringe; Stephen K Amos, Susan Calman, Joe Lycett, Zoe Lyons, Dana Alexander and Chris Coltrane, with more top names to be announced!

It is a pleasure and privilege to host this LGBT rights street gig. It is important that during the Edinburgh Festival we don’t lose sight of the daily struggles for equality and dignity. We stand with LGBT activists and human rights advocates against Russia’s state sponsored homophobia. It will also be a hoot, so come join us, mention it, report it, film it, blog it, review it, tweet it!

The gig is a free street event, so please come along, and bring your mates. You can find out more information on the Equality Network website.

“Thank you for your kind invitation.  As someone who has enjoyed visiting Russia in the past and can also claim a degree of Russian ancestry, it would make me happy to say yes, however, as a gay man, I must decline.  I am deeply troubled by the current attitude toward and treatment of gay men and women by the Russian government, the situation is in no way acceptable, and I cannot in good conscience participate in a celebratory occasion hosted by a country where people like myself are being systematically denied their basic right to live and love openly. If circumstances improve, I’ll be free to make a different choice.”

Wentworth Miller to Maria Averbakh, director of the St. Petersburg International Film Festival.

Today started with my husband telling me he loves me, immediately followed by:

“eurgh…that felt like being raped in the mouth from the inside”.

Thankfully he was talking about a fish-supper-hangover-burp that I hadn’t heard. Still, it framed my day for a serious of complicated misunderstandings and a few comedies of errors.

Barry Church-Woods

I work for an arts festival.  I work with artists.  Many brilliant.  Many still learning.

Today was a day of interacting with the greats.  I warn you now, I’m going to drop so many names that you may well end up with broken feet.

Did you know there’s a fetish site dedicated to Caroline Rhea’s feet?  That was the first discovery of my day and also the reason that Robbie our IT guy can no longer look me in the face.  Other things I learned about her are that she was in the pilot of Curb Your Enthusiasm, a guy in the Apple Store on 5^th Avenue thought she’d be able to fix her iPhone because she’s a witch and that she hated working on Biggest Loser.

So why was I researching Caroline Rhea?  Today was The Fringe Comedy Academy: In Conversation With…  This afternoon I hosted a discussion with some of the finest comics around.  Ed Byrne, Caroline Rhea, Sean Hughes, Greg Proops and JoJo Sutherland all agreed to come to Fringe Central and chat to me about making it in comedy.  I say hosted a conversation.  Really, it was like herding cats.  Of the 10 questions I had to frame the 90 minute session, 4 were asked.  You can read the transcript here if you are interested.

This was the first time this year that I’d been star struck.  I grew up watching Sean Hughes and Greg Proops on TV.  I told them that and they both squinted to figure out how old I am.  I’m tired.  I haven’t shaved.  I also recently found my first grey nose hair. I’m coming to terms with the fact that I will need to go to the gym even though sit ups can’t fix a hairline that started receding at fourteen.  I shit you not.  Fourteen.

Still, the comics were all really up for the chat.  A few cultural differences were discussed and I offended Greg by using the word ‘pooves’ to describe a collection of young gay men.  He rolled his eyes.  I mentioned my husband in the hope that it’s like black people using the N word.  I’m not sure it is, but I eventually won him back, probably because I sidestepped punctuating my point by referring to ‘a strop of lesbians’.  San Franciscans are so right on.

Straight off of the high of the event I was plunged into a series of meetings with companies unhappy with their venues and venues unhappy with their companies.  There’s not much you can do at this stage, except listen and mediate.  I had a brief moment where I realised that I’m quite good at this professionally, but terrible at it socially.

Photo courtesy of www.KevinKimberPhotography.com

I also chatted briefly with a journalist who was fairly impressed that my first ever experience of the Fringe was seeing Sandra Bernhard.  Again, this makes me seem older and more sophisticated than I am.  I fail to mention I was at school and only went because I loved Madonna.

On my way to meet my husband Joe from the bus I bumped into a well known aging American socialite who visits often.  I struggled to pay attention to what she was saying as she’s now had so much work done that her ears aren’t level.

All the launch parties are over, so this was the night that I eventually got to see some shows.  Vikki Stone followed by EastEnd Cabaret.  They’re both appearing at a show I’m programming next week, so I’m delighted that they were brilliant.  After the show we headed to one of the venue member bars and were joined by the girls from EastEnd Cabaret and Tom their producer.  Joe is in love with them all because of a chance meeting in Adelaide a couple of years ago.  We were both too drunk to be there, but neither of us could find the gumption to get up and walk away from such great company.  After asking someone their name after knowing them for five years, I decided it was time to go.  Partly due to humiliation.  Partly because I had a meeting at 8am the next day, partly because it was 3am and partly because IT WAS 3AM!!!

Walking home I realised that I missed Martha Reeves.  She was only playing 2 shows.

At the news of his imminent spandex coated arrival on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, we feel now is the time to revisit our blog about a Ben Cohen…

“It is time we stand up for what is right and support people who are being harmed. Every person on this planet has a right to be true to themselves, to love and be loved, and to be happy”.

Barry Church-Woods

A couple of weeks ago, I was given the rare opportunity to sit down and have a chin-wag with a bona-fide fully fledged gay icon.

Considered one of the top ten rugby players in the world, Ben Cohen is a champion for equality and the Chief Executive of the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, an organization that works to combat the lifelong effects of bullying.  He’s also a model in his spare time; as you do.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect with my first meeting. Sportsmen are a bit out of my comfort zone and I always get a little bit gangly in the speech department when I’m in the company of good-looking men.  Ask my husband.  I’m like a muppet whenever he looks into my eyes. (Marriage saved).  Now back to Mr Handsome.

As it turns out, he’s one of the humblest people I’ve met in a long time.  He appreciates all he’s achieved, the platform he’s been given and adores his wife and kids. Family is key to what he’s doing with his life.

In November 2000, Cohen’s father Peter Cohen, was fatally injured while protecting an attack victim at the Eternity nightclub in Northampton which he managed. He died a month later from head injuries sustained in the assault. Three men were found guilty of violent conduct.

Reflecting on how that particular time impacted his life and that of his family he knew that he wanted to make a difference.  He was also alarmed as more and more stories of injustice emerged.

“I’ve heard from many fans and friends how bullying has impacted their lives, and I am moved to make a difference for them.  Parents have written to me, sharing painful stories about how their children, who might be perceived to be different, are ruthlessly attacked and scared of their own schools.

It is time we stand up for what is right and support people who are being harmed. Every person on this planet has a right to be true to themselves, to love and be loved, and to be happy”.

Without a doubt, Cohen is the sort of man that can make a difference.  He’s already doing it. He believes that everyone

deserves the right to be treated with respect and dignity and is more than comfortable with his status as a swoon-worthy pin up for the gays.  He’s flattered by it, but most importantly, he knows its power.

Recounting the time when he discovered the value of the pink pound (or dollar to be more precise), his real currency took value when an image of him in just shorts hit a friends’ Facebook page.  Within a few hours it had 39,000 ‘likes’, mostly from men.  And not Rugby fans.  So why is this relevant? The answer is simple.

It’s a source of income.

Over the next couple of years, Ben hopes to build a powerful social-commerce brand, like Livestrong or (RED), to unlock profits that are donated to help people who are bullied. Profits from his calendars, t-shirts, underwear and much more are shared with the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation which currently funds 13 projects in the UK and the US, all with an aim to reduce bullying by education, intervention and tackling injustices as they arise.

A quick glance at the foundations portfolio of philanthropy shows major support for Camp Pride, The Matthew Shepard Foundation, The Boys Club of New York, BeLong To, Bully Free Zone and other peer based schools initiative with genuine sustainable results.

Not bad for an organization still in it’s infancy, and looking at his board of directors, with representation from Microsoft, Coke, The CDC, It Gets Better and the Scissor Sisters, it’s clear that the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation isn’t even touching the sides of what it will eventually do for every single one of us that’s ever been made to feel that we’re wrong for whatever our difference is.

As for why I actually met him, that’s a very big but brilliant secret; one I’ll keep you informed of in the coming months.

One reason feminism and religion often come to blows is their frequently differing stance on sexuality. Religion (especially Christianity) has a reputation for being homophobic.

Many Christians feel able to identify as feminist while simultaneously holding more conservative theology on sexuality. Others believe feminism, active LGBTQI sexuality and religious faith can all be held happily in tension.

Here Rachel Mann – a trans woman, lesbian, priest in the Church of England and a feminist - shares her insights with FaithInFeminism.com

Thanks to the amazing @CressidaFord for flagging this article.

“I am called a “faggot” relatively often. Sometimes the insult comes from anonymous Internet users responding to blog posts I write, like this one, and other times it is hurled at me by drunken guys at bars”.

Lucas Waldron writes for the Huffington Post…

My younger cousin recently tweeted, “I support gay marriage but I am never going to stop calling my friends faggots.” Aside from the ignorant nature of the comment — “It’s OK for gay people to get married as long as I can use their community as the punch line of my derogatory jokes” — the tweet highlights a concerning trend in both the visibility of the LGBTQ community and the attitudes of college-aged men.

I am called a “faggot” relatively often. Sometimes the insult comes from anonymous Internet users responding to blog posts I write, like this one, and other times it is hurled at me by drunken guys at bars. One night I was walking with my girlfriend through my neighborhood in San Francisco when a couple of men in a truck slowed down next to us, threw a beer bottle at my head, called me a “faggot,” and shouted at my girlfriend to “get a real man.” So I have a pretty intimate relationship with the word “faggot.” When I hear the word, I tense up, my body instinctively preparing to defend itself, and my heart rate quickens.

Continued…

“Today is also different as it is the first time I meet my new Watch Commander, and in a pleasant change from the last one he seems instantly personable, polite, symmetrical, not at all condescending..”

0700? Already? You have to be joking me.

My day starts with the usual mix of domestic ablutions, the traumatic separation from my bed and the genuine wonder of what the actual fuck the day is going to throw at me. Today the sense of separation is worse, as after a period of annual leave, I am back on duty for the first time in 20 days.

It’s almost eight years to the day since I walked into MacDonald Road Fire Station as a day one recruit. Sometimes that feels like a lifetime ago, sometimes as if it were only yesterday.

Station life begins as usual with guttural half-asleep hellos, the checking of equipment, the signing of log books and the all important cup of tea. Today is also different as it is the first time I meet my new Watch Commander, and in a pleasant change from the last one he seems instantly personable, polite, symmetrical, not at all condescending and above all very comfortable on dry land and doesn’t sift tonnes of krill and plankton with each mouthful.

0800: Parade. At this point we are informed (as if we didn’t already know) what are duties are for that day. I am driving the ISU (Incident Support Vehicle – or ISsUe – or Juice Lorry). Unknown to me we are heading down to the training facility at Fillyside for our bi-annual ‘real fire’ Breathing Apparatus training.

Thanks for the warning. Just as well I pack a spare set of underwear, socks etc everyday as a matter of course. (This is because, although we are all human and accidents can happen to anyone, I go to the gym a lot).

The training centre is basically five 40foot cargo containers welded together and fitted out with doors, chamber, various exits and no windows so that it can resemble a two storey house, garage, nightclub or whatever for training purposes. It’s also metal so that when the support team go in and pack it with  wooden logs, pallets etc then set the thing on fire, they don’t actually set the thing on fire.

There are a couple of short lectures detailing minor changes in procedures and the reasons for same before we head out to get our protective gear and BA sets on. This also affords the ground crew enough time to ensure the whole structure is hot enough to roast a chicken in. Literally.

The scenario is that a two-floor masionette is alight and the fire is in the basement. This means that when the first team goes in to fight the fire, they have to descend the stairs against the rising heat to get to it. Who is that first team? Me and a Crew Commander? Why thank you. (We always go in teams of at least two as this, like not running with scissors, is for safety reasons).

It’s hot, dark and smoky (what? A fire? REALLY?) and we have to drag a hose with us. We find the stairs, descend, and at the end of a corridor we see what firemen will somewhat melodramatically call ‘The Beast’.  BTW, it’s REALLY hot, so when we ( I say ‘we’, the Commander had the business end of the hose, I was basically a well dressed pack-horse) attempt to extinguish the fire, the resulting steam turns the scarce visibility to zero and the heat intensifies. The fire out, we start a search, find a ‘casualty simulator’ (They are not allowed to be called ‘dummies’ as too many people thought we were referring to headquarters hahahahahaha – and so forth) and then have to retrace our steps to get out of the structure before we run out of air. Further teams are deployed and three other ‘people’ are ‘rescued’. At the end of this session the ground crew complain that it “wasn’t very hot” as it only peaked at 550 degrees.

Sadists.

After a day of such scenarios, ‘The Beast’ well and truly fought, and lots of gratefully inanimate persons rescued, everyone agrees its time to call it a day and head back to the station for tea and medals. Lots of tea.

1730: My Red Watch relief arrives early, I hand over all relevant information, get changed and wander the mercifully short (but all uphill) distance to home. On a normal day this would be celebrated by a nice cold beer or two; but today lying on the sofa whimpering softly seems more appropriate.

I wonder, thought Bagpuss, what adventures will befall me tomorrow…..

Neil J.R.Pearson

Fireman, Visionary and all round Good-Egg.

Last night my house became that rare territory where no-one else is allowed near the TV.  Joe was sent to bed to watch Sex and the City DVDs and our housemate Mat was launched towards a hot Italian guy for dinner. The reason?  MDNA Live.  The concert DVD of Madonna’s last incredible tour.

Barry Church-Woods

I’m the first to admit that this tour didn’t really do the business in stadiums.  I was one of the lucky ones to be close enough to the stage in Edinburgh, so I pretty much got the full gist of what Her Madgesty was projecting.  Pals in the gods at the back of Murrayfield however (and other UK shows) claimed to miss most of the action and were pissed off that the sound was so terrible.

The MDNA live DVD shows you exactly how Madonna thrives.  Close up, in person… and in a light controlled environment.

Kicking off with the Virgin Mary, a chant delivered by the Kalakan Trio that seems to last as long as the Olympic Closing Ceremony, M bursts on stage, gun in hand in a black version of her wedding veil and proceeds to scream her way through Girl Gone Wild.  It seems there’s 100 cameras on her as it looks amazing.  Unfortunately it sounds like my eight year old niece on karaoke.  I put it down to not being able to hear herself from the screaming fans as for the rest of the show she sounds incredible (apart from missing a few of her customary chest-belts in Express Yourself).

Highlights of the show for me include the bits I didn’t get to see in Edinburgh as she cut them short due to running over.  Like a Virgin (yes..she came to Edinburgh for the first time in her 30 year career and didn’t sing Like a Fucking Virgin).  She also dropped I’m Addicted my favourite track on the new record in favour of I’m a Sinner, my least favourite.  Both are remarkable live performances within a wonderful body of work.  Nevertheless, the real highlight is her incredibly emotive version of Love Spent, a song that wasn’t put into the set list until much later on the tour.

As a die-hard fan, I loved the experience of sitting on my sofa for two hours watching one of my heroes perform.  It’s hard to see why there was so much complaining that she didn’t sing her hits.  Express Yourself, Like a Prayer, Vogue, Open Your Heart, Human Nature are all in there.  As are some fan favourites with Candy Shop, Revolver, Celebration and even Cyber Raga making an appearance.

The show is really dark.  There’s lots of violence and conflicting imagery, and the editing tells the story exactly how it was conceptualised.  Not since In Bed With Madonna has her live experience been captured so brilliantly.

If you’re a fan – get it.  If not, try and see it at a friend’s.  She’ll definitely surprise you.

0630. Oh God that’s painful. I’m ‘out-duty’ at one of our sister stations today, so that means getting up at an ungodly hour and catching a bus. Still, it’s a beautiful morning and the coffee is beginning to kick in.

Although mostly standardised throughout the country, there are certain things that can throw you when working at a station that isn’t your own. The lay out for one thing – where IS everything? Where’s the manning board? What am I doing? And more importantly; where is the Gents as I need to powder my hands or whatever it is we gents do. The personnel for another – are you on my watch? Are you leaving? Am I your relief? Who ARE you? Should I know your name?

After the initial looking like an idiot, some kind person whom you vaguely recognise will help out and point you in the right direction. I am in luck today as I  know two on this watch quite well, and a third who seems to know me (and your name is? Tony? Mark? Iain? Ok, the loud one is called IAIN – note to self).

This is a smaller station to my own (like I OWN it!) with only one fire appliance, and a Watch minimum of 5, so the way they do things is slightly different. For example the usual pre-Parade cup of tea is actually a VERY welcome mug of freshly ground coffee, breakfast seems to be a PRIORITY and (rather confusingly) there is a large pump of Baylis & Harding Sweet Mandarin & Grapefruit Indulgent Moisturising Hand Lotion (with vitamin A, B, and C extract) in the Gents toilet/Shower area. Each to their own.

0800: Parade. And once again we are informed of our duties for the day, which we all knew 20 minutes earlier when we put our gear on the appliance and checked the BA equipment. The only other information of note is that we are off this afternoon to a community event aimed at 16/17 year old High School kids who are just learning or have just passed their driving test.

In attendance are the Police; with an array of equipment; breathalisers, photos of accidents, tyre tread meters, ‘beer goggles’, alcohol tests, a stinger (which we weren’t allowed to test out), videos and advice for young drivers. The AA; with leaflets on ‘How to pass your test’, ‘How to be a courteous driver’, keyrings, pens, DVD’s etc. The Blood Transfusion Service on the importance of giving blood. A joyless woman with no sense of humour at a stand showing the effect and strength of various alcoholic drinks, even the morning after (plus a chart on their calorific content that she clearly hasn’t looked at. And FYI on comparison, Gin is practically a diet drink. Who knew?) A woman from a Brain Trauma charity with a ‘brain’ made out of jelly to show how fragile it is. AND (last but by no means least) The Fire Service; with two bits of cutting equipment and a video screen playing the most harrowing ‘Don’t drink and Drive’ films I have ever seen. (So grim in fact that after ten minutes, I could have really done with a drink). Needless to say, we weren’t a popular stall – aside from the boys who periodically came up in groups of 6, to show off to each other by being unable to lift the cutting equipment. I know I shouldn’t have laughed, but…

After three hours of actively saving the community (though clearly not from boredom), and indulging in a cold coffee and stale biscuit we packed up and returned to the station.

Not long thereafter the oncoming shift began to arrive, and after packing away my gear and scheduling it to be delivered to my home station I decided to enjoy the evening by walking the four miles along to the coast road to get home. Needless to say, after 10 minutes I got the bus.

Now before any of you ask; we did get one shout that morning. This was to a ‘local’ sheltered housing accommodation who’s automatic alarms system had activated. Like the coiled springs we are, we were turned back to the station before we even got there, as it was a false alarm. Even still, and even after all these years, every time the alarm bells go off I still hear the theme to ‘Thunderbirds’ in my head.

Stonewall yesterday teamed up with leading bookmaker Paddy Power to challenge players to show their support for gay footballers by wearing rainbow coloured boot laces.

The laces have been distributed to every footballer across all 134 professional clubs in the UK. Each player is asked to wear the special laces in their club fixtures on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 September. The campaign’s simple message of ‘Right Behind Gay Footballers’ is designed to kick start a change in attitudes and make our national game more gay-friendly.

Paddy Power and Stonewall are asking fans and the public to back the campaign by taking to social media and using the hashtag #RBGF, Right Behind Gay Footballers, during the week and in the build-up to the weekend fixtures.

Kicking off on Monday 16 September there will be a week of activity shining the spotlight on homophobia in football. The campaign will see daily advertising and editorials across traditional media, billboard sites, and through social media with the aim of getting support from footballers, celebrities, fans and the public.

Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Laura Doughty said: ‘It’s time for football clubs and players to step up and make a visible stand against homophobia in our national game. That’s why we’re working with Paddy Power on this fun and simple campaign. By wearing rainbow laces players will send a message of support to gay players and can begin to drag football in to the 21st century.’

Paddy Power, the bookmaker’s spokesman, said; ‘We love football but it needs a kick up the arse. In most other areas of life people can be open about their sexuality and it’s time for football to take a stand and show players it doesn’t matter what team they play for. Fans can show they are right behind this by simply tweeting using the #RBGF hashtag whilst all players have to do is lace up this weekend to help set an example in world sport.’
Notes:

Seven in ten football fans who have attended a match had heard or witnessed homophobia on the terraces.
Over half of fans thought the Football Association, Premier League and Football League weren’t doing enough to tackle anti-gay abuse.

Read the full report here: www.stonewall.org.uk/football

The Stats:

There are 134 clubs across England, Scotland, and Wales in the Premier League, Championship, Football League 1, Football League 2, Scottish Premier League, Scottish Championship, Scottish League 1, and Scottish League 2.
There are approximately 5,000 professional players across these leagues.
We’ve done the maths and the odds on there being no gay person in a random sample of 5000 assuming a 6% likelihood is 1 in 2.29 x 10^134.
In long form that number is:  22,947,321,563,647,480,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!
In technical terms that is over a quadragintillion.
As a comparison, this is similar odds to predicting the correct score in 150 consecutive football matches.

Madonna’s secretprojectrevolution, the 17-minute film she co-directed with Steven Klein, will be unveiled on September 24th, 2013. The film launches Art For Freedom, an online global initiative to further freedom of expression, created by Madonna, curated by VICE, and distributed by BitTorrent.

“My goal is to show by the example of secretprojectrevolution my creative commitment to inspire change in the world through artistic expression. I hope my film and other submissions to Art For Freedom will be a call-to-action and give people a place to voice their own creative expression to help fight oppression, intolerance and complacency,” commented Madonna.

Art For Freedom is a global digital initiative, led by Madonna, designed to fuel free speech – to respond, address and protest persecution around the world. It is an online public art project encouraging the world to express their personal meaning of freedom and revolution, in the form of video, music, poetry, and photography. Public submissions will become part of the Art For Freedom platform: contributors can join the project by uploading original artwork or tagging original posts #artforfreedom.

Art For Freedom launches with the secretprojectrevolution film distributed as a BitTorrent Bundle. The film, plus bonus content, is available to the public for free download beginning September 24 at 2pm EST. Anyone can download and unlock the secretprojectrevolution Bundle (bundles.bittorrent.com/madonna-revolution/) to receive the film, plus bonus content, for free.

The BitTorrent Bundle is a powerful new media format that’s built to move freely across the Internet. It is designed to hold any file type, and any file size. And it’s designed to encourage and empower free expression, beyond the Internet’s walled gardens.

Fans who download the secretprojectrevolution Bundle will instantly receive stills from the film and three HD film trailers. Those who submit their email will unlock access to the Revolution film in both HD and 2K Digital Cinema resolution, an exclusive HD and 2K Digital Cinema interview with Madonna conducted by Eddy Moretti, VICE’s Chief Creative Officer, as well as a special handwritten message from Madonna.

“This film operates on many levels. It examines our private prisons. It questions what we do, how we do it, and how we treat others. It questions our governments, and our collective thought patterns. Think about it – the power of art can lead to peace,” commented Steven Klein.

“BitTorrent and VICE are both innovative and forward thinking which is why we chose to partner with them on the launch of ‘Art for Freedom’ platform and the film “secretprojectrevolution,” commented Guy Oseary, Madonna’s longtime manager.

“Madonna is making a bold move, putting herself out there to support those suffering under repressive regimes around the world. Art For Freedom comes from a place of real empathy and emotion. It’s a reflection of a world in crisis by an artist who has decided that apathy is not an option. In one discussion, Madonna told me that she wanted to start a ‘revolution of love.’ How can you argue with that?” commented Eddy Moretti, Chief Creative Officer, VICE Media

“The Internet drives creativity, democratizes information, and allows people to connect with one another”, shared Shahi Ghanem, Chief Strategy Officer for BitTorrent, Inc. “The new BitTorrent Bundle format captures this ideal by giving artists and publishers an entirely new, people-driven distribution tool that is limitless in quality and versatility – enabling them to connect with fans however and wherever they want. Using the Bundle format to help an iconic artist like Madonna share expression freely with the world is a perfect showcase for the technology and we’re thrilled to support her efforts.”

“I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.  I mean, they have equality now.  Why don’t we get a Straight Pride?”

Barry Church-Woods

Recently I was sitting in a bar, enjoying a leisurely glass of wine waiting to meet some friends before hanging out at Pride Scotia; Scotland’s answer to Gay Pride.

Choosing to eves-drop when my husband went to the bar instead of looking at my phone in the usual non committal let’s not make eye contact with the locals sort of way, immediately I regretted my decision.  The reason?  Overhearing the same age old ignorant argument of “I don’t understand what all the fuss is about.  I mean, they have equality now.  Why don’t we get a Straight Pride?”

It made my blood boil.  Not least because I’ve heard it a million times before, but because people are still asking the question, or making the statement without being challenged by their more worldly companions.  True, there have been great advances in equality for many LGBT communities throughout the world; though acknowledging this progress while simultaneously ignoring the need for equality is counterproductive and indeed reflects ignorance on the speakers part.

Now.  Let me get this out of the way to start with.  I know that the LGBTQI community is not the only group of people to be persecuted for being different on this planet.  I know there have been great injustices done to women throughout history.  I know the terrible treatments of many due to the colour of their skin or who they choose to worship.  If that’s what you want to be reading about, you’re on the wrong blog.  This is LGBTicons.com.

So, assuming I’ve got all of my Search Engine Optimisation right, and you’ve just landed on this page by typing into google – ‘Why Is There No Straight Pride?’ then here are just a few reasons there is continued need to celebrate the diversity of our society.

March 1970

Howard Efland, a gay man who had checked into the Dover Hotel under the pseudonym of J. McCann, was beaten to death by officers of the Los Angeles Police Department.

June 24, 1973

The Upstairs Lounge in New Orleans, a gay bar, was burned by an arsonist, killing 32 people.

June 21, 1977

Robert Hillsborough was stabbed to death in San Francisco by a man shouting “faggot”.

July 5, 1978

A gang of youths armed with baseball bats and tree branches assaulted several men in an area of Central Park in New York City known to be frequented by homosexuals. The victims were assaulted at random, but the assailants later confessed that they had deliberately set out to the park to attack homosexuals. One of those injured was former figure skater Dick Button, who was assaulted while watching a fireworks display in the park.

November 27, 1978

Openly gay San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone, was assassinated by political rival Dan White at San Francisco City Hall. Outrage over the assassinations and the short sentence given to White (seven years) prompted the White Night riots.

January 1979

Tennessee Williams was the victim of an assault in Key West, being beaten by five teenage boys. He escaped serious injury. The episode was part of a spate of anti-gay violence inspired by an anti-gay newspaper ad run by a local Baptist minister.

June 5, 1979

Terry Knudsen was beaten to death by three men in Loring Park in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

September 7, 1979

Robert Allen Taylor was stabbed to death near Loring Park in Minneapolis. A local reporter interviewed the murderer from jail and was told, “I don’t like gays. Okay?”

October 7, 1979

17-year-old Steven Charles of Newark was beaten to death in New York City by Costabile “Gus” Farace, Robert DeLicio, David Spoto and Farace’s cousin Mark Granato. They also beat Charles’ friend, 16-year-old Thomas Moore of Brooklyn. Moore was critically injured but managed to get help at a nearby residence. It was Moore that identified the four men via a lineup four days after the incident. Farace, the leader of the attack, plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter. He was paroled after 8 years, in 1988. He himself was murdered on November 17, 1989.

1984

Charlie Howard was drowned in Bangor, Maine for being “flamboyantly gay”.

May 13, 1988

Rebecca Wight was killed when she and her partner, Claudia Brenner, were shot by Stephen Roy Carr while hiking and camping along the Appalachian Trail. Carr later claimed that he became enraged by the couple’s lesbianism when he saw them having sex.

1990

James Zappalorti (pictured in his youth), a gay Vietnam veteran, was stabbed to death.

July 2, 1990

Julio Rivera was murdered in New York City by two men who beat him with a hammer and stabbed him with a knife because he was gay.

1991

Paul Broussard, a Houston-area banker, was murdered. He was attacked by 10 young men along with Clay Anderson and Richard Delaunay, who survived. All ten of the attackers were eventually convicted, with sentences ranging from a probation and fine for the respective hospitalization and funeral bills to the 45-year imprisonment of Jon Buice, who confessed to inflicting the fatal stab wound.

October 27, 1992

U.S. Navy Petty Officer Allen Schindler was murdered by a shipmate who stomped him to death in a public restroom in Japan. Schindler had complained repeatedly about anti-gay harassment aboard ship. The case became synonymous with the gays in the military debate that had been brewing in the United States culminating in the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” bill.

1993

Brandon Teena, a trans man, was raped and later killed when his birth gender was revealed by police to male friends of his. The events leading to Teena’s death were depicted in the movie Boys Don’t Cry.

March 9, 1995

Scott Amedure was murdered after revealing his attraction to his friend Jonathan Schmitz on a The Jenny Jones Show episode about secret crushes. Schmitz purchased a shotgun to kill Amedure and did so after Amedure implied he still was attracted to him; Schmitz then turned himself in to police.

November 20, 1995

Chanelle Pickett, 23, an African American trans woman, died at the home of William C. Palmer after a fight that ensued after Palmer discovered that she was transgender and he demanded she leave his home.

December 4, 1995

Roxanne Ellis and Michelle Abdill, a lesbian couple in Medford, Oregon, were murdered by a man who said he had “no compassion” for bisexual or homosexual people. Robert Acremant was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

January 4, 1996

Fred Mangione, a gay man, was murdered in Texas by two Neo-nazi brothers. His partner, Kenneth Stern was also attacked, but survived. One of the attackers, Ronald Henry Gauthier, later received at 10-year probation sentence.

May 1996

Julianne Williams, 24 and Lollie Winans, 26 (pictured) were murdered at their campsite along the Appalachian Trail on Virginia’s Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. They were bound and gagged and their throats were slit. To date, there has been no conviction in the murders.

August 1, 1996

Nick Moraida, a 34-year-old Latino gay man, was murdered during a robbery. His murderer, Richard Cartwright, was sentenced to death penalty.

February 21, 1997

The Otherside Lounge, a lesbian nightclub in Atlanta, was bombed by Eric Robert Rudolph, the “Olympic Park Bomber;” five bar patrons were injured. In a statement released after he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms for his several bombings, Rudolph called homosexuality an “aberrant lifestyle”.

October 7, 1998

Matthew Shepard (pictured), a gay student, in Laramie, Wyoming was tortured, beaten severely, tied to a fence, and abandoned; he was found 18 hours after the attack and succumbed to his injuries less than a week later, on October 12. His attackers, Russell Arthur Henderson and Aaron James McKinney, are both serving two consecutive life sentences in prison.

February 19, 1999

Billy Jack Geither, a 39-year-old gay man, was brutally beaten to death in Rockford, Alabama. His attackers, Steve Mullins and Charles Monroe Butler, were found guilty of murder and were both sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.

July 1, 1999

Gay couple Gary Matson and Winfield Mowder were murdered by white supremacist brothers Matthew and Tyler Williams in Redding, California. Tyler Williams was sentenced to a minimum of 33 years in prison, to be served after his completion of a 21-year sentence for firebombing synagogues and an abortion clinic. Benjamin Williams claimed that by killing the couple he was “obeying the laws of the Creator”. He committed suicide in 2003 while awaiting trial. Their former pastor described the brothers as “zealous in their faith” but “far from kooks”.

July 6, 1999

U.S. Army Pfc. Barry Winchell was murdered in Fort Campbell, Kentucky by fellow soldier Calvin Glover. Winchell was beaten to death with a baseball bat after rumors spread on base of his relationship with transgendered author Calpernia Addams. Glover was sentenced to life in prison. The events that lead up to Winchell’s death are depicted in the movie Soldier’s Girl.

September 1999

Steen Fenrich was murdered, apparently by his stepfather, John D. Fenrich, in Queens, New York. His dismembered remains were found in March 2001, with the phrase “gay nigger number one” scrawled on his skull along with his social security number. His stepfather fled from police while being interviewed, then committed suicide.

October 15, 1999

Sissy “Charles” Bolden was found shot to death in Savannah, Georgia. Police arrested Charles E. Wilkins, Jr., in July 2003; he admitted the killing, and was charged in two other homicides, according to the Savannah Police Department.

July 3, 2000

Arthur “J.R.” Warren was punched and kicked to death in Grant Town, West Virginia by two teenage boys who reportedly believed Warren had spread a rumor that he and one of the boys, David Allen Parker, had a sexual relationship. Warren’s killers ran over his body to disguise the murder as a hit-and-run. Parker pleaded guilty and was sentenced to “life in prison with mercy”, making him eligible for parole after 15 years. His accomplice, Jared Wilson, was sentenced to 20 years.

September 22, 2000

Ronald Gay entered a gay bar in Roanoke, Virginia and opened fire on the patrons, killing Danny Overstreet, 43 years old, and severely injuring six others. Ronald said he was angry over what his name now meant, and deeply upset that three of his sons had changed their surname. He claimed that he had been told by God to find and kill lesbians and gay men, describing himself as a “Christian Soldier working for my Lord;” Gay testified in court that “he wished he could have killed more fags,” before several of the shooting victims as well as Danny Overstreet’s family and friends.

June 16, 2001

Fred Martinez (pictured), a transgender and two-spirit student was bludgeoned to death near Cortez, Colorado by 18-year-old Shaun Murphy, who reportedly bragged about attacking a “fag”.

June 12, 2002

Philip Walsted, a gay man, was fatally beaten with a baseball bat. According to prosecutors, the neo-Nazi views of Walsted’s assailant’s, David Higdon, led to what was originally a robbery escalating to murder. Higdon was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional sentence for robbery.

August 6, 2002

Rodney Velasquez, a 26-year-old Latino gay man was found murdered in the bathtub of his Bronx apartment.

October 3, 2002

Gwen Araujo, a trans woman, was murdered by at least three men who were charged with committing a hate crime. Two were convicted of murder, the third manslaughter; however, the jury rejected the hate crime enhancement.

December 12, 2002

Terrianne Summers, a 51-year-old trans woman and activist for transgender rights, was shot and killed in her front yard in Florida. No arrests were made and police did not investigate her murder as a hate crime. Terriane’s high visibility as a trans woman due to her activist role has led her to be included in lists of anti LGBT hate crimes, although lack of police interest in her murder means the motives behind the killing may never be known.

December 24, 2002

Nizah Morris, a 47-year-old black trans woman, was possibly murdered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

May 11, 2003

Sakia Gunn, a black 15-year-old lesbian, was murdered in Newark, New Jersey. While waiting for a bus, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances, declaring themselves to be lesbians, the men attacked them. One of the men, Richard McCullough, fatally stabbed Gunn. In exchange for his pleading guilty to several lesser crimes including aggravated manslaughter, prosecutors dropped murder charges against McCullough, who was sentenced to 20 years.

June 17, 2003

Richie Phillips of Elizabethtown, Kentucky was killed by Joseph Cottrell. His body was later found in a suitcase in Rough River Lake. During his trial, two of Cottrell’s relatives testified that he lured Phillips to his death, and killed him because he was gay. Cottrell was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

July 23, 2003

Nireah Johnson and Brandie Coleman were shot to death by Paul Moore, when Moore learned after a sexual encounter that Johnson was transgender. Moore then burned his victims’ bodies. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to 120 years in prison.

July 31, 2003

37-year-old Glenn Kopitske was shot and stabbed in the back by 17-year-old Gary Hirte, a straight-A student, star athlete and Eagle Scout, in Winnebago County, Wisconsin. Prosecutors contended that Hirte murdered Kopitske to see if he could get away with it. Hirte pleaded insanity, claiming he killed Kopitske in a murderous rage after a consensual sexual encounter with the victim, because he felt a homosexual act was “worse than murder”. The ‘temporary insanity’ mitigation plea was not upheld, he was found guilty, and received a life sentence.

August 2003

Emonie Spaulding, a black 25-year-old trans woman, was shot to death in Washington DC by Derrick Antwan Lewis after he discovered she was trans.

July 22, 2004

18-year-old Scotty Joe Weaver of Bay Minette, Alabama, was murdered. His burned and partially decomposed body was discovered a few miles from the mobile home in which he lived. He was beaten, strangled and stabbed numerous times, partially decapitated, and his body was doused in gasoline and set on fire.

October 2, 2004

Daniel Fetty, a gay man who was hearing-impaired and homeless was attacked by multiple assailants in Waverly, Ohio. Fetty was beaten, stomped, shoved nude into a garbage bin, impaled with a stick, and left for dead; he succumbed to his injuries the next day. Prosecuters alleged a hate crime. Three men received sentences ranging from seven years to life.

January 28, 2005

Ronnie Antonio Paris, a three-year-old boy living in Tampa, Florida, died due to brain injuries inflicted by his father, Ronnie Paris, Jr. According to his mother and other relatives, Ronnie Paris, Jr., repeatedly slammed his son into walls, slapped the child’s head, and “boxed” him because he was concerned the child was gay and would grow up a sissy. Paris was sentenced to thirty years in prison.

February 27, 2005

21-year-old James Maestas was assaulted outside a restaurant, then followed to a hotel and beaten unconscious by men who called him “faggot” during the attack. Although all of his attackers were charged with committing a hate crime, none was sentenced to prison.

March 11, 2005

Jason Gage, an openly gay man, was murdered in his Waterloo, Iowa, apartment by an assailant, Joseph Lawrence, who claimed Gage had made sexual advance to him. Gage was bludgeoned to death with a bottle, and stabbed in the neck, probably post-mortem, with a shard of glass. Lawrence was sentenced to fifty years in prison.

February 2, 200618-year-old Jacob D. Robida entered a bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, confirmed that it was a gay bar, and then attacked patrons with a hatchet and a handgun, wounding three. He fatally shot himself three days later.

June 10, 2006

Kevin Aviance, a female impressionist, musician, and fashion designer, was robbed and beaten in Manhattan by a group of men who yelled anti-gay slurs at him. Four assailants pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.

Are you catching on yet?

July 30, 2006

Six men were attacked with baseball bats and knives after leaving the San Diego Gay Pride festival. One victim was injured so severely that he had to undergo extensive facial reconstructive surgery. Three men pleaded guilty in connection with the attacks and received prison sentences. A 15-year-old juvenile also pleaded guilty.

October 8, 2006

Michael Sandy (pictured) was attacked by four young heterosexual men who lured him into meeting after chatting online, while they were looking for gay men to rob. He was struck by a car while trying to escape his attackers, and died five days later without regaining consciousness.

February 27, 2007

Andrew Anthos, a 72-year-old disabled gay man, was beaten with a lead pipe in Detroit, Michigan by a man who was shouting anti-gay names at him. Anthos died 10 days later in the hospital.

March 15, 2007

Ryan Keith Skipper, a 25-year-old gay man was stabbed to death in Wahneta, Florida. Four suspects were arrested for the crime. The Sheriff is calling it a hate crime.

March 16, 2007

Ruby Ordeñana, a 24-year-old Latina transgender woman, was found naked and strangled to death in San Francisco, CA at 5:40 am. Donzell Francis, who was suspected of raping and strangling Ordeñana, was convicted on December 23, 2009 and sentenced to 17 years and 18 months in prison for forcible oral copulation, robbery, assault causing great bodily injury, and false imprisonment of another transgender woman.

May 12, 2007

Roberto Duncanson was murdered in Brooklyn, New York. He was stabbed to death by Omar Willock, who claimed Duncanson had flirted with him.

May 16, 2007

Sean William Kennedy, 20, was walking to his car from Brew’s Bar in Greenville, SC when Stephen Andrew Moller, 18, got out of another car and approached Kennedy. Investigators said that Moller made a comment about Kennedy’s sexual orientation, and threw a fatal punch because he didn’t like the other man’s sexual preference.

October 2007

Steven Domer, a 62-year-old gay man, was murdered in Oklahoma.

December 8, 2007

25-year-old gay man Nathaniel Salerno was attacked by four men on a Metro train in Washington, DC. The men called him “faggot” while they beat him.

What about now?

January 8, 2008

Stacey Brown, a black 30-year-old trans woman, was found dead in her apartment. She had been shot in the head.

July 1, 2008

Ebony Whitaker, an African American trans woman, was shot and killed in Memphis.

February 2008

Duanna Johnson, a trans woman, was beaten by a police officer while she was held in the Shelby County Criminal Justice Center in Tennessee. Johnson said the officers reportedly called her a “faggot” and “he-she,” before and during the incident. In November 2008, she was found dead in the street, reportedly gunned down by three unknown individuals.

February 4, 2008

Ashley Sweeney, a trans woman, was shot in the head. Her body was found in Detroit, Michigan.

February 10, 2008

Sanesha Stewart, a 25-year-old black trans woman was stabbed to death in Bronx, New York.

February 12, 2008

Lawrence “Larry” King, a 15-year-old junior highschool student was shot twice by a classmate at E.O. Green School in Oxnard, California. He was taken off life support after doctors declared him brain dead on February 15. According to Associated Press reports, “prosecutors have charged a 14-year-old classmate with premeditated murder with hate-crime and firearm-use enhancements”.

February 22, 2008

Simmie Williams Jr. was a black gender-nonconforming 17-year-old, who was shot dead on a street corner in Broward County, Florida.

March 16, 2008

Police say Lance Neve was beaten unconscious in Rochester, New York because Neve was gay. A man attacked Neve at a bar leaving him with a fractured skull, and a broken nose. Jesse Parsons was sentenced to more than five years in prison for the assault.

May 29, 2008

Eighteen-year-old Steven Parrish, a member of the 92 Family Swans subgroup of the Bloods, was murdered by Steven T. Hollis III and Juan L. Flythe on orders from gang leader Timothy Rawlings Jr., in Baltimore County, Maryland after they found “gay messages” on his cell phone. The felt having a gay member would make their gang appear weak. Hollis III pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life in prison; Flythe was given a life sentence with all but 30 years suspended; and Rawlings was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. A fourth man, Benedict Wureh, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to time served, about 17 months.

June 9, 2008

Jeremy Waggoner, an openly gay hairstylist from Royal Oak, Michigan, was brutally murdered in Detroit. His murder is still unsolved.

July 17, 2008

Eighteen-year-old Angie Zapata (pictured), a trans woman, was beaten to death in Colorado two days after meeting Allen Ray Andrade. The case was prosecuted as a hate crime, and Andrade was found guilty of first degree murder on April 22, 2009.

August 20, 2008

Nahkia Williams, a black trans woman, was shot to death in Louisville, Kentucky. Damon Malone was charged with her murder, robbery, and burglary, and sentenced to 35 years in prison.

September 7, 2008

Tony Randolph Hunter, 27, and his partner were attacked and beaten near a gay bar in Washington DC. Hunter later died from his injuries on September 18. Police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.

September 13, 2008

26-year-old Nima Daivari was attacked in Denver, Colorado by a man who called him “faggot”. The police that arrived on the scene refused to make a report of the attack.

September 21, 2008

22-year-old trans woman Ruby Molina’s nude body was found facedown on the bank of a river in isolated and undeveloped area in Sacramento, California.

November 7, 2008

The home of openly gay Melvin Whistlehunt in Newton, North Carolina was destroyed by arsonists. Investigators found homophobic graffiti spray-painted on the back of the house.

What about now?

November 14, 2008

22-year-old Lateisha Green, a trans woman, was shot and killed by Dwight DeLee in Syracuse, NY because he thought she was gay. Local news media reported the incident with her legal name, Moses “Teish” Cannon. DeLee was convicted of first-degree manslaughter as a hate crime on July 17, 2009, and received the maximum sentence of 25 years in state prison. This was only the second time in the nation’s history that a person was prosecuted for a hate crime against a transgender person and the first hate crime conviction in New York state.

December 7, 2008

Romel Sucuzhanya, a 31-year-old straight Ecuadorean and his brother Jose, were attacked on a Brooklyn, New York street for appearing to be gay and for being Latino; they were walking arm-in-arm, which is normal for brothers in their culture. Romel later died from his injuries.

December 12, 2008

A 28-year-old lesbian in Richmond, California was kidnapped and gang raped by four men who made homophobic remarks during the attack.

December 26, 2008

Taysia Elzy, a 34-year-old trans woman, was shot to death.

December 27, 2008

24-year-old Nathan Runkle was brutally assaulted in Dayton, Ohio outside a gay nightclub.

January 2009

Caprice Curry, a trans woman, was murdered.

February 15, 2009

Efosa Agbontaen and Branden McGillvery-Dummett were attacked in New York City by four young men with glass bottles and box cutters who used anti-gay slurs during the attack. Agbontaen and McGillvery-Dummett both required emergency room treatment for their injuries.

February 18, 2009

Two men were arrested in Stroudsburg, PA for the stabbing death of gay veteran Michael Goucher.

March 1, 2009

Three men entered a bar in Galveston, Texas and attacked patrons with rocks. One of the victims, Marc Bosaw, was sent to the emergency room to have twelve staples in his head.

March 14, 2009

A gay couple leaving a Britney Spears concert in Newark, New Jersey were attacked by 15 teens.  Josh Kehoe and Bobby Daniel Caldwell were called “faggots” and beaten. Caldwell suffered a broken jaw.

March 23, 2009

Two gay men were attacked in Seaside, Oregon and left lying unconscious on a local beach. The men regained consciousness and were treated at a nearby hospital.

April 6, 2009

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old child in Springfield, Massachusetts, hanged himself with an extension cord after being bullied all school year by peers who said “he acted feminine” and was gay.

April 11, 2009

A gay man in Gloucester, Massachusetts was attacked and beaten by as many as six people outside a bar. Justin Goodwin, 36, of Salem suffered a shattered jaw, broken eye socket, broken nose and broken cheekbone.

June 18, 2009

Patti Hammond Shaw, an African-American trans woman, turned herself into a police station in Washington DC after receiving a letter saying there was a warrant for her arrest on charges of making a false police report. Despite producing documents supporting her right to be housed with other women, she was placed in a men’s facility. According to her suit, officers “groped her breasts, buttocks and between her legs repeatedly and excessively”. She is now suing Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Marshals service for the treatment she received.

June 30, 2009

Seaman August Provost was found shot to death and his body burned at his guard post on Camp Pendleton. LGBT community leaders “citing military sources initially said that Provost’s death was a hate crime.” Provost had been harassed because of his sexual orientation. Military leaders have since explained that “whatever the investigation concludes, the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy prevented Provost from seeking help.” Family and friends believe he was murdered because he was openly gay (or bisexual according to some family and sources); the killer committed suicide a week later after admitting the murder, the Navy have not concluded if this was a hate crime.

October 25, 2009

Dee Green, a trans woman, was found by police unconscious, stabbed in the heart, and bleeding on a street in Baltimore, Maryland. She was taken to a hospital where she died half an hour later. Larry Douglas was charged with first-degree murder in April 2010.

November 2009

Jason Mattison Jr (pictured), an openly gay 15-year-old boy, was violently murdered and raped at his aunt’s house by 35-year-old Dante Parrish, a family friend who had been in prison for murder previously.

December 9, 2009

Mariah Malina Qualls’ body was found in a San Francisco hotel. She was a 23-year-old transgender woman who volunteered and was a member of the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center’s TRANS:THRIVE community.

January 18, 2010

The half-naked corpse of Myra Chanel Ical, 51, a trans woman of colour, was found in a vacant lot in Houston, Texas.

March 30, 2010

Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar, a 29-year-old Latina trans woman, was found dead in her Queens, New York apartment. The autopsy found that her attacker, Rasheen Everett, had strangled her then doused her body with bleach.

April 3, 2010

Toni Alston, a black 44-year-old transgender woman, was shot in the front door of her home in West Charlotte, North Carolina.

May 7, 2010

Dana A. “Chanel” Larkin, a 26-year-old black trans woman who worked as a prostitute, was shot three times in the head by her client, Andrew Olacirequi, after she asked him if he was okay with them having sex despite her male genitalia. She was found dead on the pavement of a Milwaukee street.

June 21, 2010

Sandy Woulard, a 28-year-old trans woman, was shot in the chest in South Side, Chicago. A passing motorist found her laying in the street, and she was pronounced dead at the hospital.

October 3, 2010

A 30-year-old male known as “la Reina” (the Queen), Bryan Almonte, 17, and Brian Cepeda, 17, were kidnapped by a homophobic group of youths calling themselves the Latin King Goonies, sodomized by foreign objects including a plunger and baseball bat, burned with cigarettes, and tortured for hours. One of the teenage victims had wanted to join the gang the attackers were part of, but when members saw him with the 30-year-old, they later picked him up and took him to an abandoned apartment and asked him if the two had had sex. When the teenager responded positively, he was beaten and sodomized. The gang later picked up the second teenager whom they had also seen with the 30-year-old and repeated the process. They then lured the 30-year-old to the building with the promise of a party. When he arrived with alcohol, the gang tied him up and tortured him and made the 17-year-old burn him with cigarettes. They then robbed the man’s 40-year-old brother, coercing him by putting a cellphone to his ear so he could hear his brother beg to pay them.

September 11, 2010

Victoria Carmen White, a 28-year-old black transgender woman, died of bullet wounds in her New Jersey apartment. It is believed she was targeted by her killer, Alrashim Chambers, for her gender identity.

October 14, 2010

Stacey Blahnik Lee, a 31-year-old black trans woman, was found murdered in her Philadelphia home by her boyfriend.

November 17, 2010

18-year-old Joshua Wilkerson (pictured) was found dead in a field in Pearland, Texas, after being beaten to death and set on fire by a friend of 5 years, Hermilio Moralez. This was supposedly a retaliation to unwanted sexual advances.

January 11, 2011

Chrissie Bates, a 45-year-old transgender woman, was stabbed to death in her downtown Minneapolis apartment. Arnold Darwin Waukazo was sentenced to 367 months in prison for the murder.

February 19, 2011

Tyra Trent, a black 25-year-old trans woman, was found strangled to death in a vacant house.

April 4, 2011

Quinn Matney suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns to his wrist after being branded by an unidentified man for being gay. The attack happened while he was taking a night time stroll on his university campus in North Carolina.

April 2011

Kevin Pennington, a gay 28-year-old male, was kidnapped and severely beaten in a Kentucky park by two men shouting anti gay epithets. David Jason Jenkins and Anthony Ray Jenkins face possible life sentences for anti gay hate crime. On March 15, 2012, the Kentucky State Police assisted the FBI in arresting David Jenkins, Anthony Jenkins, Mable Jenkins, and Alexis Jenkins of Partridge, KY for the beating of Kevin Pennington during a late-night attack in April 2011 at Kingdom Come State Park, near Cumberland. The push came from the gay-rights group Kentucky Equality Federation, whose president, Jordan Palmer, began lobbying the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky in August 2011to prosecute after stating he had no confidence in the Harlan County Commonwealth’s Attorney to act. “I think the case’s notoriety may have derived in large part from the Kentucky Equality Federation efforts,” said Harvey, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. Mable Jenkins, and Alexis Jenkins plead guilty.

April 22, 2011

Chrissy Lee Polis, a 22-year-old trans woman, was beaten in a violent struggle by two African-American women for entering the women’s bathroom in Baltimore County, Maryland, which triggered her to have a seizure. A McDonald’s employee, who was later fired, filmed the encounter and released the film on the internet; it since went viral. Teonna Monae Brown, 19, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and a hate crime in the beating, and was sentenced to 5 years in prison, plus three years of supervised probation. The other woman was charged as a juvenile and committed to a juvenile detention facility.

June 2011

Rosita Hernandez, a Cuban trans woman, was stabbed to death in Miami.

July 20, 2011

Lashai Mclean, a 23-year-old African American trans woman, was shot to death in Northeast Washington DC.

August 11, 2011

Camila Guzman, a Latina transgender woman, was found murdered in her apartment in East Harlem, Manhattan.

September 8, 2011

Cameron Nelson, a 32-year-old gay man, was attacked at his place of employment in Utah.

October 11, 2011

Shelley Hilliard, a black transgender teen who had been reported missing, had her burnt torso identified by police in Detroit. Her killer, 30-year-old Qasim Raqib, was sentenced on March 6, 2012 to 25–40 years in jail.

November 15, 2011

Danny Vega (pictured), a 58-year-old Asian-American gay man who worked as a hairdresser in Rainier Valley, Seattle was beaten and robbed as he was taking a walk. The beating left Vega in a coma from which he later died.

November 17, 2011

Cassidy Nathan Vickers, a 32-year-old black transgender woman, died from a fatal gunshot wound to the chest in Hollywood. Her killer, who is still unidentified, is suspected of also attempting to rob and non-fatally shoot another black transgender woman on the same day.

December 17, 2011

Charlie Hernandez, a 26-year-old who was openly gay, was stabbed to death following a brawl that included anti-gay slurs that occurred with two men after he accidentally stepped on some sunglasses.

December 24, 2011

Dee Dee Pearson, a 31-year-old transgender woman, died from bullet wounds in Kansas City, Missouri. Kenyan L. Jones was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. Jones told police he paid to have sexual relations with Ms Pearson, believing her to be a cisgender woman, but hours after having sex with her, discovered she was not. Angered by what he considered to be a deception, he got a 9mm-caliber handgun, found Ms Pearson, and killed her. Kenyan L. Jones was arrested on suspicion of her murder.

December 29, 2011

The body of Githe Goines, a black 23-year-old trans woman who had been reported missing 2 weeks beforehand, was found in a scrapheap. An autopsy set that the time of her death as much as 2 days before her body was discovered, and that she had been strangled.

January 21, 2012

Crain Conaway, a black 47-year-old trans woman, was found dead in her home in Oceanside, California. Tyree Paschall Monday was arrested in connection with her murder.

February 2, 2012

JaParker “Deoni” Jones, a 23-year-old black trans woman, was stabbed in the head while waiting at a Metro bus stop in Washington DC.

February 2012

Cody Rogers, an 18-year-old teenager, was brutally assaulted and targeted with homophobic slurs at a party after defending a female friend who was also attacked.

March 24, 2012

Several transgender and crossdressing people were shot at and robbed in Florida by a man, suspected to be De Los Santos. 23-year-old Tyrell Jackson was fatally wounded in the shooting, which also injured 20-year-old Michael Hunter.

April 3, 2012

Coko Williams, a black trans woman, was found murdered in East Detroit, Michigan. The homicide may have been related to Coko’s involvement in sex work.

April 16, 2012

Paige Clay, 23, a black trans woman, was found dead, with a bullet wound to her face in West Garfield Park, Chicago. The death was ruled as a homicide.

April 21, 2012

Eric Unger, a 23-year-old gay man living in Illinois, was attacked by a group of men on the way home from a party, while they shouted anti-gay epithets at him. The investigation is ongoing.

April 29, 2012

Brandy Martell, a 37-year-old trans woman of color, was murdered in Oakland, California.

May 2012

Max Pelofske, a 21-year-old gay man, was beaten by a group of youths at a party in Minnesota. Pelofske claims it was a hate crime, but police disagree.

June 5, 2012

Kardin Ulysse, a black 14-year-old boy, was attacked in the cafeteria of Roy Mann Junior High School by another group of boys. He was called anti-gay slurs and sustained damage to the cornea of one of his eyes, leaving him blinded. Ulysse’s parents planned on suing the city for failing to supervise its students properly.

June 23, 2012

Mollie Olgin, 19 years old, and her girlfriend, Kristene Chapa, 18 years old, were found shot in the head near Violet Andrews Park in Portland, Texas. Olgin died at the scene and Chapa survived. Law enforcement has said there is no evidence to suggest that the incident is a hate crime. The Human Rights Campaign and Equality Texas urged a thorough investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI and Portland police to find the shooter.

July 5, 2012

Tracy Johnson, a 40-year-old black trans woman, was found dead from gunshot wounds in Baltimore, Maryland.

August 14, 2012

Tiffany Gooden, a 19-year-old black trans woman, was found murdered on the second floor of an abandoned building in Chicago. An autopsy verified that she had been stabbed to death. Notably, the body of Paige Clay, another young black trans woman, was discovered in April 3 blocks away from where Tiffany was found. The pair were known as friends.

August 18, 2012

Kendall Hampton, a 26-year-old black trans woman, died of gunshot wounds. Eugene Carlos Dukes was arrested in early September for her murder, and indicted later that month.

August 26, 2012

Deja Jones, a 33-year-old black trans woman, was shot to death in Miami. No arrest has yet been made.

September 3, 2012

The body of Kyra Cordova, a 27-year-old trans woman, was found in a wooded area in Frankford, Philadelphia.

November 15, 2012

Janette Tovar, a 43-year-old trans woman was murdered by her partner, Jonathan Kenney, according to police, who beat her and slammed her head into concrete. He was later arrested for her murder.

March 1, 2013

Sondra Scarber addressed a parent about her girlfriend’s son being bullied at Seabourn Elementary School in Mesquite, Texas, and was beaten by him when he realized that she was a lesbian.

May 17, 2013

Mark Carson (pictured), a 32-year old gay man, was shot to death by another man who trailed and taunted him and a friend as they walked down the street in Greenwich Village, New York. When the two friends ignored the assailant’s questions, the man began yelling anti-gay slurs and asked one of them, “You want to die tonight?” Elliot Morales, 33, was arrested briefly after the shooting and charged with murder and weapons charges on May 19. According to police, Morales said he shot Carson because he was “acting tough”. Morales pleaded not guilty on June 19, 2013.

September 16, 2013

Ever Orozco, a 69-year-old man was stabbed to death with an eight-inch knife under a New York subway station in broad daylight for blowing kisses to passers by.

These are just a very small selection of cases of violence against the LGBT community.  Most are Western cases, taking place in the states and the UK.  Thousands upon thousands of others are treated barbarically across the world.  Their crime?  The gender of the people they fall in love with.

So if you ever do question why there is not a straight pride, please think on these cases, and be thankful that you don’t need one.

(Please note the inclusion of incidents within the trans community is by no means reflective of assumed sexuality; though the violence endured is).