LGBT
LGBT list.co.uk/lgbt
Events are listed by city, then by type. Submit listings at least 14 days before publication to lgbt@list.co.uk. Listings are compiled by Kirstyn Smith.
GLASGOW Activities & Events Camp Fitness Run Club! Sun 15, 22 & 29 Dec, noon. £4 (first session free). Glasgow Botanic Gardens, 730 Great Western Road, 07583 732708. Fun, friendly running group that’s nonetheless serious about getting fit. Led by a qualified jog leader, all levels welcome. FREE LGBT Book Group Thu 19 Dec & 16 Jan, 6.30–8pm. Hillhead Library, 348 Byres Road, 339 7223. Delve into contemporary fiction, information books, LGBT magazines and more at this monthly book discussion group. Enquire with staff about available spaces. Booking essential.
Clubs Hot Mess Sat 14 Dec, 10pm–2am. £5. The Poetry Club, 100 Eastvale Place, 357 7246. Gay club night describing itself as ‘an irregular party for irregular folks’, where the focus is on the music, which is a heady mix of disco, hi-NRG, acid house, Italo and electro from the safe hands of DJ Simonotron (Club for Heroes/Devil Disco Club). Pretty Ugly Sat 14 Dec & 11 Jan, 11pm–3am. £6 (£5 before midnight and students). The Admiral, 72a Waterloo Street, 221 7705. The Pretty Ugly girls play sexy, glamorous indie rock’n’roll, electro beats, 60s soul and experimenting with some new artists to get everyone in the mood for dirty dancing. Birdcage Sat 14 Dec, 11pm–3am. £3–£5. Broadcast, 427 Sauchiehall Street, 332 7304. An alternative LGBT night playing house, electro and disco. Tonight’s the Christmas party with Milky and Heavyflo. TYCI Sat 21 Dec, 11pm–3am. £10. SWG3, Studio Warehouse, 100 Eastvale Place, 357 7246. A new club and live event from TYCI, a Glasgow collective run for women by women. Featuring Pretty Ugly, Adele Bethel (Sons and Daughters) and Chvrches. See preview, right. The BOMB Sun 29 Dec, 11pm–4am. £8. FabrIQ, 46a Queen Street, 248 8860. ‘The UK’s most explosive gay club’ playing house, electro and nu disco. Hot Mess Tue 31 Dec, 10pm–2am. £5. The Poetry Club, 100 Eastvale Place, 357 7246. See Glasgow, Clubs. Birdcage Tue 31 Dec, 11pm–3am. £7 in advance; £10 on the door. Broadcast, 427 Sauchiehall Street, 332 7304. See Glasgow, Clubs. Yes! Fri 3 Jan, 11pm–3am. Free before midnight; £5 after (students £3). The Flying Duck, 142 Renfield Street, 564 1450. Launched by a group of friends who want a gay night that plays indie and guitar bands, the emphasis is firmly on music from classic artists such as David Bowie, The Smiths and Blondie and cutting edge acts like Django Django, Band of Skulls and Grimes. TYCI Sat 18 Jan, 9pm–3am. Free before 92 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014
midnight; £2 after. Bloc+, 117 Bath Street, 574 6066. See Glasgow, Clubs.
EDINBURGH
Activities & Events LGBT Basketball Group Thu 12 Dec, 7–8pm. £3. Leith Community Education Centre, New Kirkgate, basketballers@hotmail.co.uk An informal weekly practice for beginners and regular players alike. Trans Men Scotland Sat 14 Dec & 11 Jan, 7–9pm. Free (donations welcome). LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. A social evening for FTM transgender people to meet and talk. Ages 18+. FREE BearScots AGM Sat 14 Dec, 9–10pm. New Town Bar, 26b Dublin Street, 538 7775. A chance for members of BearScots to have their say on the group’s activities, and for new members to get involved. FREE Rubyfruits Sun 15 & 22 Dec, 2pm. The Regent Bar, 2 Montrose Terrace, 661 8198. Social evenings for lesbian and bisexual ladies, with regular meetings to plan activities and network. FREE Bi & Beyond Wed 18 Dec, 7–9pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Informal space for bisexual (and beyond) people to get together for social activities. Amazing Gracies Wed 18 Dec, 7–8pm. £3. Drummond Community High School, 41 Bellevue Place, 556 2651. Join the Amazing Gracies Women’s Football Club for a friendly kickabout – both LGBT and non-LGBT members are very welcome and new players are always encouraged. FREE Rubyfruits Wed 18 Dec, 7.30pm. Café Nom de Plume, 60 Broughton Street, 478 1372. See Edinburgh, Activities & Events. FREE T-Time Sat 21 Dec, 1–4pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Informal event for transgender people and their partners, family and friends. A welcoming environment for a chat and a cuppa, plus film screenings for those who fancy it. FREE The Big LGBT Music Jam Sat 4 Jan, 1–4pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. Music-making in a creative and supportive environment. Bring an instrument (which could be your voice) and join in. Cuestars Tue 14 Jan, 7–9pm. £2. Shandon Snooker, 99 Slateford Road, 313 2069. Friendly, social snooker group for the LGBT community and friends. FREE Edinburgh Gay Men’s Chorus Open Evening Tue 21 Jan, 7.30pm. Abbey Mount Centre, 2–4 Abbeymount, 661 2780. Get to know what the EGMC is all about at this open evening – no audition required. FREE Edinburgh Gay Men’s Book Group Wed 22 Jan, 7–9pm. LGBT Centre for Health & Wellbeing, 9 Howe Street, 523 1100. A book club for gents with a lust for reading. Arts Loud and Proud Sat 14 Dec, 7.30– 9pm. £10 (£7). St Cuthbert’s Church, 5 Lothian Road, 229 1142. Edinburgh’s LGBT choir perform a festive concert of
FEMALE-FOCUSED CLUB TYCI CHRISTMAS PARTY SWG3, Glasgow, Sat 21 Dec
As with her other regular project, Chvrches singer Lauren Mayberry has seen her TYCI organisation grow rapidly since its founding as a blog in October 2012 and a live event the month after. Starting out as a one-woman show, it’s now run by a core team of 15, with others contributing where necessary. ‘What began as a website hoping to run features on female artists and musicians has now grown into a proper multi-platform group,’ she notes, ‘with zines, live events, radio shows and podcasts.’ Mayberry doesn’t state that its mission is overtly political or feminist,
but its name gives a good idea where it’s coming from. ‘TYCI stands for Tuck Your Cunt In,’ she says. ‘If you look it up on Urban Dictionary, the phrase means something akin to the female equivalent of ‘‘man up’’. Although I wouldn’t define TYCI as a political organisation per se, there’s naturally something political about subverting norms in any way. But our hope is that we can showcase the amount of great art being done by women and create a space for people to meet like- minded folks and to share things.’ Although it’s regularly held at the much smaller Bloc, this month’s large-scale TYCI Christmas Party will decamp temporarily to SWG3 (a venue switch from the postponed new Art School union), with Chvrches themselves playing live alongside DJs Pretty Ugly and Adele Bethel, formerly of Sons and Daughters. This month’s supported charity, following on from Rape Crisis, Shelter, Scottish Women’s Aid and others, is the A-T Society, an organisation that supports the sufferers of a rare genetic disorder and their families.
There’s no question this is an event that is capturing a welcome zeitgeist in the music industry, and Mayberry herself has publicly challenged sexist attitudes that lie somewhere between the lazy and the dangerous. ‘Our first hope with TYCI is that it’s not seen as something that excludes people,’ she says. ‘Our events are open to anyone who supports our ethos, which is the promotion of equality and raising of awareness through positive things like music, art and literature.’ (David Pollock)
popular, traditional and classic tunes all sung a cappella. Clubs FREE Bears in the East Sat 14 Dec, 10pm–2am. New Town Bar, 26b Dublin Street, 538 7775. Two floors of fun, including an exclusively male downstairs bar. Not only that, but the lovely chaps from BearScots have sweets galore to
hand out. Dive! Sun 22 Dec, 8pm–3am. £6 (£5). Henry’s Cellar Bar, 8–16 Morrison Street, 629 4101. Eclectic underground queer party, blending spoken word, live music and comedy with a kaleidoscopic soundtrack and a filthy disco to finish. Queer Xmas night with Miss Annabel Sings, Mistress Chipz, Heavy Flow (DJ), Holly Would (London).