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This is a GALHA FREE public event. No tickets: first come, first served until we reach capacity. Recent events have attracted 60 - 80 interested people from all sorts of backgrounds.

Paul Burston will give a talk based on his book "The Gay Divorcee". Paul is an award winning author, journalist and curator whose latest book gives a fictional account of the dilemmas of a civil partnership. One reviewer described him as "Gay London's Jane Austen" and "a fearless chronicler of modern gay life in all its glory and grotesqueness". He will not only read from his book but will perform some of the real life scenes from experience of his own civil partnership.
www.paulburston.com/biog.html

What to expect

Our events normally run in the Library at Conway Hall, home to freethinking since 1929.

Events generally feature up to 45 minutes with the main speaker(s) then 20+ minutes of audience questions. Come along and get involved! This is followed by wine (donation requested, fruit juice available) and a friendly, informal reception until they chuck us out.

An invitation

We would like you to invite you to a very special 30th anniversary event. The Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association was founded in 1979, and we invite you to celebrate this with us at the Bishopsgate Institute on Friday 10th July from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. The Bishopsgate Institute has played a unique role in the City of London for over 100 years, and we are very proud that our papers will now be part of their archive of Radical London history.

This unique event will include:

A multi-media exhibition based on the history of GALHA with commentary by GALHA founder members and key moments in LGBT History
An introduction to the special collections of the Bishopsgate Institute.
Peter Tatchell marking the anniversary of Stonewall with his recollections of the London Gay Liberation Front 1970-1974.
Michael Cashman MEP speaking about fighting for human rights and LGBT Rights in the European Community.
The announcement, by veteran campaigner and broadcaster Ray Gosling of the first winner of the annual CHE/Derek Oyston Award in conjunction with GALHA.
A celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality. (CHE).
Drink a toast to GALHA and listen to our youngest committee member, Adam Knowles as he looks to our future.
Drinks and nibbles and a very special Birthday Cake.
Meet our Vice Presidents and Kindred Organisations who have been so important to the development of GALHA.

Admission Free. Please RSVP on meetup.com

BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE. 230 BISHOPSGATE, LONDON EC2M 4QH.

T 020 7392 9292

Stefan.dickers@bishopsgate.org.uk

www.bishopsgate.org.uk

GALHA: www.galha.org

PHONE 0792 1188329

This is a GALHA FREE public event. No tickets: first come, first served until we reach capacity. Recent events have attracted 60 - 80 interested people from all sorts of backgrounds. This has become the main LGBT hustings of the European Elections: we expect this event to be oversubscribed. Get there early!

A highlight of the GALHA events calendar this year, a very special meeting to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO).

We'll focus on human rights and LGBT rights in Europe at a time when there is great concern that these are under threat from religious dogma and far right politics.

A panel of prominent politicians and campaigners will answer questions on issues relating to the European Elections, to be held on June 4th.

Jonathan Fryer - Guardian writer and broadcaster
Number two on the Lib Dem Euro candidate list for London. An academic at SOAS and an expert on international affairs, he writes for the Guardian and is a broadcaster on “From our own Correspondent”. He is also an out gay man, and a biographer of Oscar Wilde.

Mary Honeyball - Labour MEP
Labour member of the European Parliament for London since 2000. Staunch supporter of human rights, particularly women’s rights in Europe. Campaigns for a separation of religion and politics and is a prominent supporter of the British Humanist Association.

Jean Lambert- Green Party MEP
Jean has worked on many campaigns and has a strong record in relation to LGBT Rights and Human Rights. She is also a prominent member of the Lesbian and Gay Intergroup. We welcome her back after being one of our key speakers at our 2006 IDAHO event.

Warwick Lightfoot - Conservative candidate
The Conservative party member of our panel has acquired an outstanding CV that includes stints as Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea, Special Advisor to the then Chancellor of the Exchequer and 20 years experience as a councillor. He is one of the Conservatives prospective European parliamentary candidates for London.

The European Elections which are being held in the UK on June 4th will be the most important yet for gay men, lesbians and transgender people. Apart from the vital economic issues that the EU has to address, Europe has become a battleground in the war of ideas between the supporters and the opponents of gay equality. Key issues voted on by the European Parliament recently have included:

The principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation
Calling for more persistent implementation of equality legislation across the EU
Expressing concern at the rise of extremist parties motivated by hatred and prejudices, including homophobia
Call for greater action against racist and homophobic violence

Each of these was passed against substantial opposition from MEPs hostile to gay rights

At the same time there are specific threats to gay people, and other minorities.

Far right parties, traditionally anti-gay, stand to gain ground. In particular if there is the usual pitiful turnout in the UK then there is a high risk that the BNP could win seats for the first time, including in London
The Catholic Church, and other religious organisations with a homophobic record have been lobbying to increase their influence
The situation for gay people remains bleak in many of the Eastern European EU countries. Pressure from the EU is playing a vital role in encourage these countries to improve their poor record in protecting gay rights

What to expect

Our events normally run in the Library at Conway Hall, home to freethinking since 1929.

Events generally feature up to 45 minutes with the main speaker(s) then 20+ minutes of audience questions. Come along and get involved! This is followed by wine (donation requested, fruit juice available) and a friendly, informal reception until they chuck us out.

The Brixton Gay Community of the 1970s. A talk based on new research by Dr Matt Cook, Senior Lecturer in History at the School of Continuing Education, Birkbeck, University of London.

While GALHA has earned its place in LGBT history, some aspects of the origins of the radical gay movement in the UK may still surprise some of us. Tonight Matt Cook reveals all. The Brixton Gay Community of the 1970s formed around the UK’s first gay centre and a series of nearby squatted houses. Between 50 and 60 men lived in these squats for anything from a week to ten years. In oral testimonies many of them describe how their experience shaped their politics, their ideas about sexual identity and community, and their creative lives. The South London Gay Liberation Front, the journal Gay Left and the Brixton Faeries are each linked to the squatting community, which in the mid-1980s was absorbed into the Brixton Co-op. The houses – and the communal garden that connects them – are still reserved for gay and lesbian tenants: a tangible legacy of the earlier community. This talk describes the genesis and contours of the community, and explores the attempt by those involved to live differently.

The UK premiere of Daniel Kerslake’s film, introduced by Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society. There will be time for discussion afterwards.

“Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families – including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson – we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, For the Bible tells me so offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.”

“Inspiring” – Los Angeles Times

“Enlightening” – Salt Lake Tribune

“Entertaining” – Washington Post

“Powerful. A brave and noble effort to heal a gaping wound in our society” – Salon.com

“Brilliant – ably researched and deftly directed” – Miami Herald

“A Triumph – provide a perfect example of how Christians can accept homosexuality without betraying their beliefs.”

“Eye-opening” – Entertainment Weekly

“Moving” – The Oprah Magazine

“Confronts with whimsy and hellfire, the clash between religion and homosexuality” – New York Magazine

“An incredibly powerful film everybody should see. It restores your faith in people.” – National Public Radio