The past few months have seen us have to wave goodbye to a number of events, instead finding ways to celebrate them separately and behind closed doors. Despite this, our Staff Pride Network still gathered (virtually) to mark Pride month, and to support each other during this strange time. Here, Jonathan MacBride, Co-Convenor of the Network, chats to bulletin about adapting their Pride plans to a digital environment. 

What has it been like organising the celebration of Pride during lockdown?

We’ve been glad to have the resources to host a virtual, Prideful, event to bring community members together to reflect, commemorate and celebrate.

Have you managed to take everything online successfully? Has it felt the same hosting events virtually?

There have certainly been varying levels of success and hiccups but we have continued our regular social events and increased our online offering with alternating weekly yoga and Qi Gong (Body Clock Flow). Weekly Wednesday online lunchtime catch-ups for all members have replaced monthly lunchtime events held at different campuses on the 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th Wednesdays. Our monthly Evening Social on the 1^st Friday has moved online and drinks are much cheaper! Where conversations would have bounced around in person at these social events, people online want to contribute to the conversation but will often find themselves starting to talk just as someone else does. It’s different, it’s learning how to make it work, and that’s ok. Rather than fight it, we’ve embraced it and even organised an Animal Crossing event for IDAHOBT (International day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia) where some members joined in on their Nintendo Switch and others watched on Twitch.

How has the Network managed to successfully connect and support each other when they’re unable to meet face to face?

Everyone on the committee and the entire volunteer team have continued to work together to deliver fantastic events, maintain an active social media presence and create interesting communications, while members have responded with generous event feedback, and liking, sharing and retweeting our communications. It motivates us to keep working with the University, attending strategy meetings and organising ever more for our LGBT+ colleagues and allies.

Can you expand a bit more of some of the events you had to alter to fit these lockdown circumstances?

Our Diversifying Wikipedia event on the 25^th anniversary of Pride marches in Scotland changed from face-to-face training in a WRB University room to Collaborate for the training, Collaborate side rooms for extra help, and a Discord for other support and questions for our special guests. I’d never heard of Discord before this and now I organise activism on one Discord and chat to friends while experimenting with acrylic paint on another! Event participants created new Wikipedia pages for LGBT+ authors, publishers, and historic and current Scottish LGBT+ bookshops (Lavender Menace Bookshop and Category Is Books, if you want to look up their handiwork!). The AGM in August (date TBC) will be online for the first time too!

Will you be continuing with any of these once things are back to normal?

What’s normal? I expect we’ll maintain a fully inclusive approach, making events accessible in-person and online. We’ll adapt and do our best.

Anything else you’d like to mention?

Pride Month is a time where our community comes together to celebrate the progress we have made towards being included and accepted and ending discrimination. We must acknowledge that the Pride movement is built on the shoulders of Black trans women activists like Marsha P Johnson and we are still fighting today to end racist, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic oppression.

BY CHARLOTTE DAVIDSON

How have you been celebrating Pride month this year? Let bulletin-magazine know in their comments here: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/bulletin-magazine/2020/06/30/reflecting-on-an-unusual-pride-month/

Article from bulletin-magazine: https://blogs.ed.ac.uk/bulletin-magazine/2020/06/30/reflecting-on-an-unusual-pride-month/

I’m happy to let you know that the Library now has access to the LGBT Magazine Archive from ProQuest until 31st December 2021. This primary source database is a searchable archive of major periodicals devoted to LGBT+ interests, dating from the 1950s through to recent years.

You can access the LGBT Magazine Archive via the Newspapers, Magazines and Other News Sources guide. Or you can access it via the Databases A-Z list. Individual magazine titles will be added to DiscoverEd this week.

The archives of magazines serving LGBT+ communities are of central importance for research into LGBT history, often being the principal sources for the documentation of gay cultures, lives, and events. Researchers consulting these publications may trace the history and evolution of myriad aspects of LGBT history and culture, including legal contexts, health, lifestyle, politics, social attitudes, activism, gay rights, and arts/literature. Despite the value of these publications for research, however, locating the backfiles in print format has been difficult for researchers as they have not typically been collected by libraries.

The archives of leading but previously hard-to-find magazines are included in LGBT Magazine Archive, including many of the longest-running, most influential publications of this type. This includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay News and its successor publication Gay Times, respectively. As well as titles such as The Pink Paper, Just for Us and Transgender Tapestry.

LGBT Magazine Archive provides indispensable material for dedicated LGBT studies and broader gender/sexuality research, while also catering to interests in many related fields, such as 20th-century history, sociology, health studies, political science, and psychology.

You can access the LGBT Magazine Archive via the Newspapers, Magazines and Other News Sources guide. Or you can access it via the Databases A-Z list. Individual magazine titles will be added to DiscoverEd this week.

You can find more databases and other resources related to LGBT+ and gender studies on the Gender Studies guide.

We have access to LGBT Magazine Archive via a larger subscription deal with ProQuest that is active until 31st December 2021. More information about the huge range of resources that will become available through this deal is coming soon!

Access is only available to current students and staff at the University of Edinburgh.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for School of Social and Political Science

[Originally posted: http://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/spslibrarian/2020/06/15/new-lgbt-magazine-archive/]

Allison came to yoga and then Qi Kung (Chi Gong) after 3 decades as a nurse and midwife. She describes them as “something which keeps me sane(ish)!” She is motivated to provide accessible and inclusive practices to enhance wellbeing for all people and loves teaching and practicing them. You can read more about Allison on her website.

The Body Clock Flow is a sequence of Qi Kung movements and is a practice using the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine in an easy to learn form.

We hope you enjoy this introductory session and we hope to run more opportunities to practice Yoga and Qi Kung with Allison in future.

The first session is: Mon, 25 May 2020 13:00 – 14:00 BST

Please book via EventBrite

Allison Ewing’s Website

I joined QMU last year, but was disappointed that there was no LGBT+ Staff Network. I learned that the previous network fizzled out several years ago, but after speaking with colleagues, we decided to revive it.

We have around 10 members, including one person who is not queer themselves, but is the parent of a queer person. We’ve only met once in person, but have been holding monthly lunchtime videocalls since March.

We’ve now got an email address- LGBTStaff@qmu.ac.uk, Twitter @QMULGBTStaff and an Instagram @QMULGBTStaff of which you are most welcome to follow/contact us through, though these are very bare-bones at the moment. We are working on getting a rainbow logo and webpage set up.

Looking forward to meeting you at some point in the future!

Kitty Flynn

Co-Chair

QMU LGBT+ Staff Network

The Book of Queer Prophets, 24 short stories on sexuality and religion curated by former Stonewall CEO Ruth Hunt, will be published on 28^th May.

The publisher Harper Collins advertised on Twitter if anyone would like a proof copy and we were lucky to receive one.

SPN volunteer Gina Roberts (who submitted her PhD on 30^th April!) wrote this insightful review: https://www.ginamaya.co.uk/books-music/the-book-of-queer-prophets-curated-by-ruth-hunt.html and if you’d like to borrow it, get in touch.

At previous events we partnered with Lighthouse Bookshop and they are doing deliveries, if you’re interested in buying a copy:

https://www.lighthousebookshop.com

Like our sister project Evidence Base, led by the University of Edinburgh, STEM Equals at the University of Strathclyde is one of eleven EPSRC funded projects under the Inclusion Matters initiative.

STEM Equals is a four-year research and impact project focused on creating more inclusive STEM communities for women and LGBT+ people in both academia and in industry.

Through an intersectional lens, the project examines working cultures within higher education and industry to understand specific challenges and to develop new initiatives to address systemic inequalities.

The project is funded by EPSRC with matched funding from the University of Strathclyde. The project industry partner is BAM Nuttall Ltd.

Read our latest newsletter Re/Act: Updates from the STEM Equals project.

Sign up to join us for our free event on 21^st October LGBT in HE: Building networks, making change (spaces limited; registration required).

Stay tuned for soon-to-be-announced details for a special LGBT+ STEM Day event on 18^th November.

Other Support Lists

• There are lists of support available through both Stonewall https://www.stonewallscotland.org.uk/about-us/news/covid-19-%E2%80%93-how-lgbt-inclusive-organisations-can-help and LGBT Health and Wellbeing Scotland https://mailchi.mp/lgbthealth.org.uk/village-voices-covid-3?e=e23c8b0043 as well as from LGBTYS https://www.lgbtyouth.org.uk/our-services-for-young-people/ for those who are under 25.
• There is also the following interactive map of services in Edinburgh: https://edinburghcouncil.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3f516cd826d04c76ad3e93d41be48341
• And this wonderful resource list for LGBTQIA+ young people https://padlet.com/ceridwen/LGBTresources

Material Support

• We know that the ongoing crisis is proving particularly difficult for members of our community. If you are having trouble getting access to food here is a list of Trussel Trust foodbanks where you can collect food (and for those of us who are doing better, we can donate) https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank
• Citizens Advice Scotland https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/scotland/health/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-you
• Mutual Aid Trans Edinburgh (MATE) is offering direct support by and for queer and trans people in Edinburgh https://twitter.com/mate_edinburgh
• Pink Saltire are offering support through Dorothy Relief https://twitter.com/dorothyrelief

Groups

• Edinburgh Trans Women have moved their monthly meeting for all trans women at whatever stage of their transition to Zoom. You can contact them if you would like to join at info@edinburghtranswomen.org.uk

Exercise Classes

• Dance Base have made all their classes online and free during lockdown https://www.dancebase.co.uk/classes/online-classes/
• You can book into LGBTQ+ community yoga classes online from £1- £10 dependent on how much you can afford to pay at Edinburgh Community Yoga http://edinburghcommunityyoga.co.uk/book-a-class/buy-wednesday-evening-lgbtq-yoga/

Helplines and Support

• SAMH Helpline https://www.samh.org.uk/about-mental-health/self-help-and-wellbeing/coronavirus-information-hub
• LGBT Helpline http://www.lgbt.foundation/helpline
• Mindline Transplus https://bristolmind.org.uk/help-and-counselling/mindline-transplus/  (the link says Bristol but it serves the whole UK)
• Center for Countering Digital Hate https://www.counterhate.co.uk/dont-feed-the-trolls A Practical Guide to Dealing With Hate on Social Media

Pictured: Anna Smith, Staff Pride Network Bookclub Coordinator

What does being visible as a lesbian mean to you?

In lieu of any formal events to celebrate Lesbian Visibility Week, one of our co-chairs and bi-rep, Katie, and our book group coordinator, Anna have had a virtual discussion (over email, fitting in between their busy work schedules!) about what it means to Anna to be visible as a lesbian.

Katie:    The big question: what does being visible as a lesbian mean to you?

Anna:    As a teenager coming to terms with my sexuality, I found the label ‘lesbian’ a useful one. It helped explain me, first and foremost to myself. Others had felt what I was feeling, had made sense of it and were out living their lives. My sexuality and gender presentation – things that marked me as different from my family and most of my friends at the time – also connected me into a wider community of people, existing in the past, present and future. Seeing lesbians in public life reinforced the idea that my identity was legitimate and not something to be ashamed of. As an adult I now try to be visible wherever appropriate, both to signal to lesbians who may be struggling to come out (either to themselves or others) that they’re not alone, and to signal to society in general that we’re a normal part of their world, too. I also hope that this visibility will help me to use my privilege as a relatively well-represented identity within the LGBTQ+ spectrum to be an ally to and advocate for others whose identities are not yet recognised or celebrated.

Katie:    Thank you so much for sharing that, I was wondering if you could expand on a few things for me? You refer to seeing lesbians in public life as important – was this generally or was it specific, perhaps well-known, figures that were helpful?

Anna:    When I was a teenager it was generally people in the arts such as the author Sarah Waters and the musicians Tegan and Sara Quinn who were particularly helpful to me. These women were open about their sexuality, successful in their fields and were creating work that featured characters and narratives that resonated with me. Lesbian pop-culture websites such as AfterEllen (and later Autostraddle) also helped me feel part of a cultural conversation on lesbian and LGBTQ+ issues at a time when I had very few people in my offline life who I felt I could discuss these things with.

Katie:   It just goes to show how important representation is. You also mentioned earlier that being a lesbian is a ‘well represented identity’ could you clarify this a little – do you mean, the average person may know that lesbians exist more so than other LGBT+ identities? Is this related to the fact there are now some quite famous lesbians in public life, politicians and celebrities etc…?

Anna:    Yes, I think ‘lesbian’ is an identity that the average non-LGBTQ+ person will have at least heard of and that many people will understand. For example, I would not expect to have to educate my colleagues, my boss or my GP on the basics of what being a lesbian means. I think this is partly down to the visibility of lesbians in public life, and in particular lesbians working on the creative side of the media in which we are depicted, for example lesbian film-makers, television writers etc. Other folks in the LGBTQ+ community don’t have that luxury because there are always more barriers in place for trans, pansexual or non-binary people (for example) trying to get a platform from which to tell their stories than for gay or lesbian people. Sadly, prejudice from the gay and lesbian communities towards more marginalised sexual and gender identities often contributes to this problem.

Katie: Do you have anything else to add?

Anna: Representation of lesbians has come a long way in recent years due to the work of activists both in and outside the public eye. However, there’s still some way to go, particularly in terms of increasing visibility for lesbians with other intersecting identities such as race, class and disability. I’m hopeful that in the future lesbians (and indeed any LGBTQ+ person), regardless of their situation or background, can see themselves accurately represented in society.

by Anna Smith, Coordinator of the Staff Pride Network Book Club

As part of Lesbian Visibility week I thought I would compile a list of books by lesbian authors, with lesbian characters, or both. This list is by no means exhaustive or representative of the objectively ‘most notable’ works around; it’s simply a collection of authors whose work I get excited about. A note of caution – often an author’s work may feature queer women but there is no record of the author’s sexuality, which is fair enough because that’s absolutely their business, but I’m hesitant to apply a label of ‘lesbian’ to these works given how often bisexual and otherwise queer-identified women are erased in LGBTQ spaces and dialogues. I’ve tried to stick to works where either there’s some public record that the author self-identifies as a lesbian, and/or the character in the work only has relationships with female-identified people. Please accept my apologies for (and let me know about) any errors! Furthermore, while I’ve attempted to make the list as diverse as possible I recognise that as a cis, white woman my reading (and therefore my recommendations) will probably have a cis- and white-centric bias, and I would encourage readers to seek out works by and featuring lesbians from the trans, BME, disabled and neurodiverse communities.

Lesbian authors whose work I am familiar with:

Becky Chambers

Chambers’ science fiction series, which starts with The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, imagines a far-future society in which humans have left Earth, met up with aliens, and are now trying to make their way in intergalactic society. Chambers’ novels often feature multiple queer characters and put questions of friendship, identity and cross-cultural co-operation and understanding front and centre. Plus, y’know, spaceships! What more do you want!?

Emma Donoghue

Most famous for the contemporary novel Room, Donoghue has written many novels set in different time periods. I am a particular fan of Life Mask, a work of historical fiction which follows the life of sculptor Anne Damer in the Georgian period. It focuses on Damer’s life burgeoning friendship with – and feelings for – a well-known actress of the time. Donoghue has also written lesbian characters in her short story collections Astray and Touchy Subjects. 

Jackie Kay

Jackie Kay is a Scottish poet, playwright and novelist who I was first introduced to when I read her memoir Red Dust Road, which interweaves reflections on her experiences of being adopted by a white family with the story of how she sought and met with her biological parents as an adult. Red Dust Road is a powerful exploration of identity and the concept of belonging.

Carmen Maria Machado

I read Carmen Maria Machado’s short story collection Her Body and Other Parties on the recommendation of a friend and was absolutely blown away. Often featuring lesbian or queer women, the stories have a way of drilling right down to the bones (sometimes literally, given the often horror-inflected nature of the narratives) of their chosen themes. Despite all being set in worlds which are recognisably present or near-future, there’s a broad spectrum here in terms of the degree to which the fantastical is allowed to manifest, and Machado wields the tools of magical realism with precision and wit.

Tamsyn Muir

I first heard about Muir at Worldcon last year, and have gleefully devoured her short stories Union and The Deepwater Bride, which are wonderfully creepy works of science fiction featuring lesbian characters. Her debut novel Gideon the Ninth has been described by the author as “just a collection of swordfights and people leaning in doorways” but by many other people as a thrilling adventure featuring lesbian necromancers in space. IN SPACE! I am, alas, waiting for it to come out in paperback so haven’t yet had the pleasure of reading it.

Sarah Waters

Queen of lesbian historical fiction, has written several novels with lesbian protagonists. I’d personally recommend Fingersmith as a starting point, a gothic romance set in Victorian England, in which a thief plots to con a reclusive heiress out of her inheritance by posing as a ladies’ maid. Waters’ other works include Tipping the Velvet, Night Watch and The Paying Guests.

Jeanette Winterson

I think most people probably know who Jeanette Winterson is, right? She’s best known for Oranges are Nor the Only Fruit, a novel based on her own childhood and adolescence coming to terms with her sexuality as an adopted child of very religious parents. She’s incredibly prolific and everyone who reads her work probably has their own favourites, but I love The Passion, a fantastical story following two protagonists (one a queer woman) across France and Italy during the Napoleonic wars.

Interesting-sounding books with lesbian authors or characters which I haven’t read:

The Labyrinth’s Archivist by Day Al-Mohamed

A Two-Spirit Journey (non-fiction) by Ma-Nee Chacaby

The Confessions of Frannie Langton  by Sara Collins

A Safe Girl to Love (short story collection) by Casey Plett

The Seep by Chana Porter

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (graphic novel) by Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Shout out to the Lesbrary and Tor Publishing’s Queering SF series are other good sources for recommendations.