list.co.uk/LGBT Events are listed by date, then city. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to gay@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Laura Ennor. ✽✽ Indicates Hitlist entry
GLASGOW
Activities & Events Glasgow FrontRunners Thu, 7pm; Sun, 11am. First two runs free; thereafter £1 per run. The Arc, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, 331 8633. A running group suited to all abilities for LGBT folk and their friends. Go for a run led by a qualified jog leader, then afterwards join the city’s friendliest sports club for food and chat in the city centre. FREE LGBT Bipolar Self Help Group Tue 6 Mar, 7pm. Terrence Higgins Trust Scotland, 134 Douglas Street, 332 3838. LGBT self help group for people with bipolar disorder and their families, friends and carers. FREE Prime Time Sun 11 & 25 Mar, 3pm. Luke and Jack, 45 Virginia Street, 552 5699. A chance for gay and bisexual men over 40 to meet others in an informal setting. FREE Together Tue 13 & 27 Mar, 7pm. Gay Men’s Health, 48 Albion Street, 552 0112. A social, support and information group for gay and bisexual men living with HIV.
Arts Lost in Digression Sat 10 Mar, 8.30pm. £5. Tron Theatre, 63 Trongate, 552 4267. An eclectic night for those who have lost their way amid the twists and turns of music, comedy, poetry and storytelling. Bethany Black: Insecurity Guard Thu 15 Mar, 8.30pm. £7 (£5). Brel, 39–43 Ashton Lane, 342 4966. Confessional comedy from the lesbian, goth, transsexual vegan as she discusses her topsy turvy year and what it’s like to be voted the Independent on Sunday’s 96th most influential LGBT person. Part of Glasgow Comedy Festival. Craig Hill: Blown By A Fan! Fri 23 & Sat 24 Mar, 7.30pm. £14.50. Òran Mór, 731–735 Great Western Road, 357 6200. The latest offering from Scotland’s campest funnyman, with ten years of experience at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe under his sporran. Part of Glasgow Comedy Festival. FREE Ivor Sexton: Fallen to Earth Sat 24 Mar–Sat 21 Apr, Tue–Sat 11am–6pm. The Virginia Gallery, 45 Virginia Street, 552 5699. Sexton presents the latest series of original paintings in his distinctive style, alongside his more rarely seen drawings. Clubs Lip Service Fri, 6pm–3am. £tbc. FHQ, 10 John Street, 0845 166 6037. Long- running lesbian club night with a focus on all things sensual. Includes facepainting, dressing-up box, spin the bottle booths and a ‘sexual postbox’. Ooh-er. FREE Bears in the West Fri 2 Mar, 9pm–1am. Underground Glasgow, 6a John Street, 553 2456. The BearScots night for Glasgow gents in search of a little furry company. This month the enormously successful kissing booth from last month’s Bear Scots night in Edinburgh moves west, with kisses given out in exchange for donations to Gay Men’s Health. POP Junkie Fri, 11pm–3am. Free before 11pm; £5 (£3 students) after. The Polo Lounge, 84 Wilson Street, 0845 659 5905. DJs Steven and Suave Gav inject your ears with pop sounds. Fierce Fri 2 Mar, 11pm–3am. £5 (£3). Audio, 14 Midland Street, ilovedrama.co.uk Residents Tommy Kay and Lucky Luciano play upfront vocal house, electro and old school classics at Glasgow’s newest gay-friendly night, with regular ‘off the wall’ stage performances. Sugar Rush Sat, 6pm–3am. Sat 24 Mar,
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FREE Women’s Wellbeing Group Fri 9 Mar & 23 Mar, 2pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. A relaxed setting in which to meet other women and chat about health, wellbeing and activities on offer at the centre and elsewhere. On 23 Mar the group visits the National Museum of Scotland. FREE Gender Expressions Sat 10 Mar, 1pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Explore expressions of gender in this thoughtful workshop. The group is thinking about how gender is presented and received, and whether one’s own identity differs from the expectations that others make. Booking essential. FREE Prime Time Sun 11 Mar, 2pm–4.30pm. Gay Men’s Health, 10 Union Street, 556 1309. Informal meet-up for gay or bisexual men over 40. FREE Gay Dads Scotland Monthly Meeting Thu 29 Mar, 8pm. Café Nom de Plume, 60 Broughton Street, 478 1372. A discussion, support and social group for gay and bi men with children. The group meets from 8pm in the cafe, before heading to a private meeting room for discussion around 8.30pm. Arts FREE The Big LGBT Music Jam Sat 3 Mar, 1pm–4pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Music-making in a creative and supportive environment. Bring an instrument (even your voice!) and join in with singing, playing or just listening. FREE The Culture Club Wed 7 Mar, 7pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Monthly group offering a safe space to discuss the arts in all their forms, from music to exhibitions, ideas for new events and creative projects. FREE Word: Women’s Book Group Wed 14 Mar, 7.30pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. A chance to meet members of the LGBT community who share a passion for books. FREE Pariah Fri 16 Mar, 6.30pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Coming of age drama about a Brooklyn teenager’s struggles with life, love, sexuality and identity. Women’s Film Club screening. FREE LGBT Film Club Fri 23 Mar, 6.30pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Screenings of feature-length films, shorts and unusual offerings with an LGBT focus. FREE Edinburgh Gay Men’s Book Group Wed 28 Mar, 7pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. A book club for gents with a lust for reading.
Clubs FREE Frisky Disco Thu, 10pm–3am. GHQ, 4 Picardy Place, 0845 166 6024. Start the weekend early with DJ Dale. FREE Camp Thu, 11pm–3am. CC Blooms, 23–24 Greenside Place, 556 9331. Deejay Bird spins camp classics from Hi-NRG and disco to pop. Nocturnal Disco Fri & Sat, 10pm–3am. £4–£5. GHQ, 4 Picardy Place, 0845 166 6024. Pop, chart, filthy house and electro sounds. FREE ELECTROsexual Fri 2 Mar, 11pm–3am. CC Blooms, 23–24 Greenside Place, 556 9331. Lucky Luciano and Kenwai are spinning the usual dirty bootlegs and ‘cheeky’ electro at this remix-lovers’ haven. FREE Motown Hodown Sundays, 10pm–3am. GHQ, 4 Picardy Place, 0845 166 6024. Motown and funk from DJ Lynne. FREE Sunday Skool Sundays, 11pm–3am. CC Blooms, 23–24 Greenside Place, 556 9331. Strictly 90s dancefloor fillers music policy from DJ Shelle La Belle. FREE Twisted Tuesday Tuesdays, 10pm–3am. GHQ, 4 Picardy Place, 0845 166 6024. DJ JT plays a mix of tunes.
1–29 Mar 2012 THE LIST 79
REVIEW HISTORY BOOK ROBERT ALDRICH Gay Life Stories (Thames & Hudson) ●●●●●
Gay rights have made huge strides in the West in the past couple of decades and with that has come an increase in the numbers of openly gay celebrities from across the spectrum of public life. But what of the many unsung heroes of gay liberation who made their impact in epochs and parts of the world that were far less liberal? Robert Aldrich’s thoroughly researched and beautifully illustrated
book provides an entertaining, accessible survey of remarkable LGBT lives, from earliest history to the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Refreshingly, Aldrich’s canvass is not limited to the West or to the usual male poster boys of popular gay culture. Walt Whitman (pictured), Oscar Wilde and TE Lawrence are dealt with, as might be expected, but there’s also an entire section on ‘Women Who Loved Women’, which includes the French photographer Claude Cahun and the ‘Ladies of Llangollen’, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, who lived together for 50 years in the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as entire chapters devoted to ‘Japonisme’ and ‘Love in the Levant’.
The book’s earliest recorded lives are Khnumhotep and
Niankhkhnum, the Egyptian royal manicurists who were entombed together circa 2400BC. For these early entries, including the Biblical adventures of David and Jonathan, Aldrich has inevitably applied some textual interpretation rather than the documentary evidence of later examples, but this only serves to make their inclusion all the more provocative. The large selection of portraits and illustrations, notably a chapter dealing with ‘visions of male beauty’, adds to the thick volume’s aesthetic appeal. Some of these defiantly gay life stories are inspirational, some tragic (it’s depressing to note how many of these figures met a violent end at the hands of some disgruntled lover or gay-basher). Others (such as the machinations of the gangster Ronnie Kray) are, frankly, scary. What’s most intriguing, though, is the lack of actors and sportspeople in a book stuffed with writers, visual artists and composers as well as political, religious and military figures. Their omission draws attention to the homophobia and secrecy that has surrounded these areas of popular culture – and continues to plague them today. (Allan Radcliffe)
6pm–4am. £tbc. FHQ, 10 John Street, 0845 166 6037. Pop, house and dance from DJ Devine. Menergy Sat 3 Mar, 9pm–2am. £5 ; £3 for GSA students. SWG3, Studio Warehouse, 100 Eastvale Place, 357 7246. Monthly Italo disco and Hi-NRG gay dance party, hosted by Lady Munter and DJ Kid Zipper. Glasgow School of Art’s annual fundraising tranny night. Stepping Up a Notch Sat, 9pm–3am. Free before 11pm; £5 (£3 students) after. The Polo Lounge, 84 Wilson Street, 0845 659 5905. DJs Suave Gav and Leah give it their all on Saturday nights. Weekends with a Bang! Sun, 9pm–3am. Free before 11pm; £5 (£3 students) after. The Polo Lounge, 84 Wilson Street, 0845 659 5905. DJ Leah takes you out with a bang at this explosive end to the week. Bitter Glitter Wed, 11pm–3am. £3. Bennets Glasgow, 80–90 Glassford Street, 552 5761. Madame S (Utter Gutter) and
Fraser Bone (Lock Up Your Daughters) with a weekly party, playing a mix of homo-disco, electronic treats, jackin’ house and tech beats. Lock Up Your Daughters Fri 23 Mar, 11pm–3am. £5 (£4). The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, 564 1450. Ass- shaking session from the LUYD fanzine pitched as ‘a response to the boredom and brain dead stagnation that plagues modern gay culture’.
EDINBURGH Activities & Events FREE Community Discussion: Love, Labels & Bisexuality Thu 8 Mar, 6.30pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. The latest in the LGBT Centre’s series of thoughtful events, looking at relationships, sexuality and labels, with guest speaker Stephanie Theobald.