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.

The LGBT+ Network of Networks in Higher Education (@LGBTNoNHE) have an initiative to showcase the talents and skills of members, and to bring joy to LGBT+ communities during the current testing time. LGBT+ individuals are more likely to live alone or may not situate in an inclusive domestic environment. #NetworksGotTalent

Enjoy the talents of Staff Pride Network Meeting Secretary Derek Williams and his improvisation on piano of The Village People’s YMCA and Macho Man. Check out his own Derek Williams YouTube channel for much more. We hope this brings a smile to your face while we all do our best in isolation and socially distancing.

With social distancing and lots of places including many schools closing because of coronavirus, children are connecting with each other by painting colourful rainbows and putting them in their windows for others to see.

It’s thought the rainbow trend started in Italy but has rapidly caught on in other countries including the US, Canada, Spain and now the UK.

Stay safe and well,

Danielle