QueerSpace is a
volunteer-led organization based on collective planning and action
which serves the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Community of
Belfast and Northern Ireland by raising its visibility, supporting its
activities, providing it with
resources and
facilitating
communication
while adhering to the principles of community orientation, freedom of
identity, ethical funding and accessibility.
Belfast
Pride 2010 runs from Saturday 24th July to Saturday 31st July - here
are the details of QueerSpace's special event:
The Big
QueerSpace History Bus Tour!
Wednesday
28 July at 6.45pm sharp
Bus departs from the front of the LGBT
Centre, Waring Street
Tickets are £6 and include nibbles in
Dubarrys afterwards
As Belfast Pride
prepares to celebrate 20 years of existence, what better time to take a
look back at the history of the LGBT community in Belfast?
Get on board a familiar sight in the city – an open-top double-decker bus
that will follow a route especially designed by QueerSpace to take in the
queer landmarks.
Guest speakers and your glamorous compere will inform and entertain with
stories of the people and places that form the backdrop to the growing
confidence of our community in Belfast.
The Big Queer Bus Tour will last 2 hours. Then join us afterwards for
drinks and nibbles in Dubarrys Bar. And don’t forget a raincoat just in
case the weather’s not so kind!
The QueerSpace Bus Tour is set to
be one of the highlights of this year’s Belfast Pride! Tickets (priced £6) are available from QueerSpace, any
Wednesday evening at 8pm or at InSpace on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of the
month from 3 – 6pm in LGBT Centre, 1st floor, 9 – 13 Waring Street.
At the
beginning of March, QueerSpace celebrated its 12th Birthday with two
special events -
thanks for coming down to the
party!
12th Birthday InSpace - Saturday 6th March
First
off, on Saturday 6th March we
celebrated with a
12th Birthday InSpace in the LGBT Centre.
As well as munching on birthday cake, QueerSpace looked back at a
few of the many significant events in our history.
Then Stephen Birkett treated us to a reading from his second recently-published novel, 'Ulster Gay'.
QueerSpace also unveiled its Queers of the Year for 2010:
Ruth McCarthy &
Stephen Birkett. The awards were in recognition of their huge
contribution to the LGBT community in Northern Ireland.
LGBT Community
Activism workshop - Wednesday 10th March
The second part of QueerSpace's 12th Birthday was
a
workshop on LGBT community activism
which took place
on
Wednesday 10th March.
The workshop included contributions from the
Volunteer Development Agency
and from Cara McCann, former CoSO Development Officer, as well as members
of the QueerSpace collective and the wider LGBT community.
The workshop discussion brought out many useful thoughts
and ideas which QueerSpace will be taking forward in the next few months.
QueerSpace welcomed back the many
people who've been involved with the collective during its 12 years.
Here are some photos of the
QueerSpace 12th Birthday Party.
Unite
against Hate is a new campaign which aims to see an end to hate crime
in Northern Ireland.
The campaign brings together partners including the
PSNI, and the
Community
Relations Council with those in wider society such as the community
sector, sporting bodies and the media. Its objectives include promoting
diversity and creating a climate of zero tolerance for hate crime and
discrimination.
QueerSpace wholeheartedly supports the Unite Against Hate
Campaign. We will continue to work with all sectors of society to combat
homophobia and all other forms of hate.
We can all play our part in creating a Northern
Ireland society which is peaceful, inclusive and fair for all. Start today
by signing the petition and pledging your support. Together, we can
make a difference.
After
many happy years in Cathedral Buildings in Donegall Street, in summer 2009 QueerSpace moved to a new
home, just down the street and closer to the city centre.
At
the start of July, we re-located (along with our landlord,
Cara-Friend)
to the 1st floor of the Old War Memorial Building, 9 - 13 Waring
Street, Belfast BT1 2DX. The building is beside Clanmil Housing and
opposite the Premier Inn hotel.
The
move has brought long overdue improvements to QueerSpace's accessibility
for users - the new space is bigger and has modern lift access, as well as
accessible toilets on the same floor.
QueerSpace's weekly
collective meetings continue on Wednesday evenings at 7.30pm in the
Waring Street building, and as
always, you're welcome to come along and get involved.
And the InSpace Coffee Lounge takes place on the
1st and 3rd Saturday of each month from 3 - 6pm.
Belfast
Pride 2009 ran from Saturday 25th July to Saturday 1st
August and was a wonderful success.
The festival was a week of
community events including public debates, arts performances, a church service
and a sci-fi discussion, all culminating in the Parade & Party in the Square on
Saturday 1st August.
And QueerSpace was certainly in
the thick of it. Our main Belfast Pride event took place on
Wednesday 29th July
in the Black Box. "Love... and Marriage?" was an opportunity to discuss civil
partnership and gay marriage with guest speakers including Ailbhe Smyth from the
National Lesbian & Gay Federation in Dublin, Reverend Chris Hudson and couples
who have tied the knot themselves.
Shannon Sickels opened the
evening with a moving recital of why civil partnership is so important to her
and her wife Grainne. Then the discussion was ably
chaired by respected local journalist and commentator, Fionola Meredith.
But the evening had a light-hearted side too, with a performance by Quire: Belfast LGBT Singers
and QueerSpace’s version of the gameshow ‘Mr & Mr/Mrs & Mrs’ with our very own
Fern and Phil!!!
Thanks to Fionola and Patrick
Sanders, to Shannon, Ailbhe, Chris, Isabella, David, Vincent, Geraldine, Orla
and Quire for making the event so special.
And a huge thanks to everyone who
joined us in the Black Box on the night - if you missed it,
here are the photos.
QueerSpace
volunteers were also busy at the Pride Parade and Party in the Square
on Saturday 1st August.
Folk joined us from 12 noon for a fair trade
coffee at the InSpace Coffee stand in the Community Fair marquee -
it was a great opportunity to relax amid the chaos of Custom House Square!
And keep an eye out for the QueerSpace
sandwich boards as we march with Pride on the parade itself!
Congratulations to the Pride Committee for a fantastic Belfast Pride 2009!
QueerSpace has joined the
YouTube age! Well done
to Ken for putting together this movie which charts the history of
QueerSpace and gives you a flavour of what we're all about - volunteering,
collective action, events, LGBT activism and above all, FUN!
Feel free to share the movie on your own social networks,
whether Facebook, Bebo, MySpace etc and help spread the message. There's
more video in our Belfast Pride
2007 photo gallery.
Have
you suffered an assault or attack because you are gay? Did
you know you can report it to the police as a homophobic incident? You
didn't? Well you can.
If you are the victim of any crime and you
think you were targeted because of your sexuality, then the police want to
know about it. When you report the crime to the police in the normal way,
make sure you tell them that you want them to fill in a Form 80 about the
incident. If you don't want to report it to the police
directly, or you want to remain anonymous then you can report it via
Cara-Friend,
GLYNI,
Lesbian
Line,
Rainbow or
NIGRA (visit our links page for full contact details).
All incidents should be reported as this will
help the police and the community to spot any patterns in the crimes and
could also help ensure that more resources are given to combat homophobic
crimes in Northern Ireland.
As part of Belfast Pride 2003, the
Institute for
Conflict Research launched its study: An Acceptable Prejudice? Homophobic Violence and
Harassment in Northern Ireland at Clanmil Housing on Tuesday 29th
July. One of the authors, Neil Jarman, appeared on various media outlets
during the day, highlighting the findings of this important report.
You can download a copy in Adobe
Acrobat (PDF) format
here.
QueerSpace
is a member of the Coalition on Sexual Orientation.For more information, visit the CoSO
website.
The
appearance of anyone’s image on this website is not an indication of their
sexual orientation.
Last updated:
22 June 2010
Want more info, to pass on a compliment or
complaint or to
volunteer? Email QueerSpace
and let us know. We want to hear from you - make QueerSpace your space.
After
many happy years in Cathedral Buildings in Donegall Street, in summer 2009 QueerSpace moved to a new
home, just down the street and closer to the city centre.
But the evening had a light-hearted side too, with a performance by
