Friday, June 18, 2010

'Come Together' - Celebrating 40th Anniversary of the Creation of the Gay Liberation Front

‘Come Together’ is an afternoon of celebration, challenge, cinema and chin-wagging looking back over the last 40 years since the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) made its demands; looking at where we are today and looking ahead to where we could be.

The afternoon will start with some amazing archive footage including ‘Come Together’, a 1971 Panorama documentary, excerpts from A Lesbian and Gay History and an exclusive screening of films Mair Davies made in the GLF communes. This will be followed by a panel debate with lots of audience participation.

In 1970 the GLF made 8 demands:
1) That all discrimination against gay people, male and female, by the law, by employers, and by society at large, should end.
2) That all people who feel attracted to a member of their own sex be taught that such feelings are perfectly normal.
3) That sex education in schools stop being exclusively heterosexual
4) That psychiatrists stop treating homosexuality as though it were a problem or sickness, thereby giving gay people senseless guilt complexes.
5) That gay people be as legally free to contact other gay people through newspaper ads, on the streets, and by any other means they may want, as are heterosexuals, and that police harassment should cease right now.
6) That employers should no longer be allowed to discriminate against anyone on account of their sexual preferences.
7) That the age of consent for gay males be reduced to the same as for straights.
8) That gay people be free to hold hands and kiss in public as are heterosexuals.

40 years since the demands were first state we are still waiting for all of them to be met. Why? Join our panel for a frank discussion about LGBT rights, what can we learn from our queer history and what can we as a community do to achieve what GLF demanded 40 years ago? Given we now have some of the rights we have fought for, what could we be doing as a community to support LGBT people around the world?

The event is hosted by STEWART WHO? with some special guests involved in LGBT activism including:
Roz Kaveney - Trans poet and activist
Shami Chakrabarti - Director of Liberty
Peter Tatchell - Human rights campaigner
Stuart Feather - Artist
Andrew Lumsden - Artist and journalist

Come Together
Electric Cinema
191 Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11 2ED
26 June 2010
1pm - 3.00pm
Entry £7.5 (£4 NUS & unwaged)
Tickets from www.ticketweb.co.uk
All door proceeds to go to Pride London.

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