BELONGING to Mark 50 Years Since Decriminalisation of Homosexuality

2017 marks 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 was an Act of Parliament that decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men.

50 years later the lives of queer people are perceived to be very different - equal age of consent, equality law and equal marriage are all heralded as progressive markers in LGBTQIA* equality but has the UK become a queer friendly nation or are homophobic prejudices just as prevalent?

Belonging is a public debate with poncy performance chaired by Scottee. Together with a committee of prominent queers he will explore where queer people sit in our society.

A boozy, loose-tongued version of Question Time with less middle aged, middle class white men. Come and mouth off on the eve of London Pride.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah
Lady Phyll is the co-founder and director of UK Black Pride, head of political campaigns and equality at PCS Union and a QTIPOC Activist. http://ukblackpride.org.uk/

Shon Faye
Shon Faye is a sexual and theological schemer, according to one biography. She is a journalist, writer, artist and comedienne based in Bristol. She is a contributor to Dazed and Novara Media on LGBT issues and trans feminism, has written for the Guardian, the Independent and VICE and appeared on BBC Newsnight and BBC Three. She currently has a film on exhibition at the Queer British Art exhibition at the Tate.

Chardine Taylor Stone
Chardine is an award winning cultural producer, feminist, writer & activist, as well as the founder of Black Girls Picnic, a trans-inclusive, global movement in collective self care to celebrate all the beauty that is Black Womanhood. https://chardinetaylorstone.com/

Travis Alabanza
Travis Alabanza is a performance artist, theatre maker, poet and writer that works and survives in London. Their multidisciplinary practice uses a combination of poetry, theatre, sounscapes, projection and body- focussed performance art to scream about their survival as a Black, trans, gender-non-conforming person in the UK. travisalabanza.co.uk.

...plus other guests TBC

The event takes place on 7th July / 19:30 - 21:30 / at Chats Palace, 42-44 Brooksby's Walk, London E9 6DF. Box Office: 020 7613 7498 or chatspalace.com/events/belonging.

Scottee creates work about outsiderness; race, sexuality, class, age & gender. He creates spaces where the perceived underdog is celebrated, at the forefront & no longer ignorable. Scottee has performed for audiences across the globe; Australia, Asia, Europe & America. His work in London has been shown at spaces including Barbican, Royal Opera House, Tate Britain, Roundhouse, ICA & Royal Festival Hall but he prefers to make work in dodgy gay bars, public toilets, bedrooms & forgotten community centres. In 2015 Scottee was included on Independent's Rainbow List as one of Britain's most influential LGBTQI+ people. Visit www.scottee.co.uk for more.

Chats Palace has its origins in community activism with a civic ambition to grow individual and collective wellbeing through the creative arts. In 2016, our 40th anniversary was an apt moment to consider what makes our east London arts centre unique and how best to fit it for the future. This year's projects and those going forward are part of a reinvigorated creative vision and programme rooted in questions and concerns that engage us all on a daily basis, reflecting activist responses to issues of Equality and the divisions within communities. Remaining true to the definition of civic activism, namely supporting individual and collective actions designed to identify and address issues of public concern, we are promoting a way of working together that will make a difference in our community. From acting as a safe meeting space to taking a proactive, leading or partnership role, we aim to empower all those we engage with. Go to www.chatspalace.com.