SCENE
VIBE/ABNORMALS ANONYMOUS
Vibe, Ego, Edinburgh, every Tue/Abnormals Anonymous, CCA, Glasgow, Fri 24 May
‘I'd waited for other gay clubs to open offering something different but they didn't.‘ says Alan Miller. promoter of the new Abnormals Anonymous club night at the CCA. ‘So I thought I may as well do it myself.‘
In recent months we have seen several new nights start. but as many disappear in a puff of dry ice. What became of 28:ad at Victoria's in Glasgow and Fairy Liquid in Edinburgh?
Yet for every failure there is a success story. One Such club night is Vibe which started last month at Ego. Each Tuesday night event takes a different theme. ranging from Moulin Rouge to Star Wars. ‘It started as a plaything on my days off and also to compete against Fairy Liquid.‘ says promoter and DJ James Longworth.
His night with a 'party charty feel' paid off and Fairy Liguid's bubble burst. It has dancers. a bubble machine. pyrotechnics and Longworth himself on the decks. playing everything from R&B and chart to Dolly Rarton. But as they say in Vibeland: ‘It ain't over till the hairy bloke sings.‘ and that is exactly how this evening of craziness ends.
Another welcome alternative comes in the form of the monthly Abnormals Anonymous. billed as ‘a place for those in the homosexual world who find themselves disenfranchised by mainstream gay culture.‘ 'There is nothing different in gay clubs.‘ says promoter Alan
Miller. ‘If you go to straight clubs there is a whole spectrum of music and choices. but gay clubs are just
one dimensional.‘
For Miller. AA offers a second chOice in the gay clubbing world. comprising performance art. live contemporary music. sounds from DJ Hushpuppy. short film screenings and installations. The next event features the band
SURVEY
BEYOND BARRIERS 11 Dixon Street, Glasgow, www.beyondbarriers.org.uk
The team that want to know all
If you would like to take part in Scotland's biggest survey into lesbian. gay. bisexual and transgender needs. then fill in a form today for Beyond Barriers. Situated inside Glasgow's lesbian and gay
centre. Beyond Barriers is a three year project set up by a substantial lottery grant and sponsorship from Northern Rock. Run by four extremely friendly staff. it aims to encourage and empower Scotland's gay population in taking part in democracy. Remarkably. a comprehensrve study of lesbian and gay needs has never been carried out in Scotland before. and so this gives you an ideal opportunity to express yourself.
Being gay used to mean being isolated. keeping guiet and only partial acknowle<lgement by the law and society. Now. all is changing. We are the first generation where same sex partnerships are starting to be acknowledged. likewise gay parenting riirght well become a reality. In schools children are coming out younger and ycunger‘. ()penly lesbian and gay old age pensioners are livrng in nursing homes. Beyond
It ain’t over till the hairy bloke sings
Proforma. spoken word from tourse \.'\/e!sn who wri' be reading from her novel The Cutting Room. as ‘.‘.’(E!' as 4 installation by Alex Kenne< l1; and f:lm shorts tron: Kear Koppe. 'It is a bit more edgy and undergroundf sets, tiller. ‘!t offers something different :n a different (Eli."l'£)ll"f:(‘:.'l'.. lhrs rs the kind of club that l ‘.'.«'ou|<i want to go to.‘ And who can argue wrth that? Jane l larnrltoni
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Barriers wants to understand the
needs of these diverse groups. then
it will set up projects over the next two years to respond to those needs.
Beyond Barriers does not give out
grants nor is it a befriending or
counselling senxrce. though it can put you in touch \‘Jllli organisations that are. l.rke\.‘i./rse. it has access to advrce
for groups keen to set up
constitutions or open bank accounts.
It also Works With organisations such as the police. (‘ilasgow tlitr.
Council and trainee doctors. offering
advrce on how to riiipleinent [litrll equal opportunities policies. (Eeographrcallx. it is also reaching
out. holding ‘.'.'oikshops in Aberdeen,
the ’ior'ders and soon the outlying islands. l esbrans and gm, men are ever\,'\.vhere. lookout for Beyond
Bar‘r'rers' presence at l’rrdc. (3o up and ask thorn tor a torrn. liecorrip ernpoWercd. lilohn Hirinroi
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