AIMEE DRIVER

Bradford lass Aimee is perhaps best known for being in the band Scars on 45 and tells us how a girl from Bradford was asked to do the vocals on one track and then became part of a band that has successfully toured the states for a decade. Join us as we talk about music, family and when we might expect a new album from Scars on 45.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

MICHAEL WALKER

Michael Walker, class struggle social democrat and host of Tysky Sour from Novara Media talks about the emergence of Novara Media and why it is important in providing us lefties some solace in today's world!

We also delve into Queer politics, his coming out journey, using your privilege to support, elevate and challenge oppressive systems and what queer liberation looks like in todays world.

JENNY WILSON

Jenny is the the Chair of Happy Valley Pride (based in the Calder Valley, UK) and founder of the International Day of Consent. Listen in to hear about the amazing work done by Happy Valley Pride, why Jenny believes pride is still a protest and why setting up the International Day of consent was so important.

Follow Rainbow Conversations on Instagram & Twitter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Originally from South Wales, Liam was a NDCWales associate and Royal Ballet Junior associate before studying contemporary dance at Coleg Gwent in Newport. This led Liam to London to complete his degree at London Contemporary Dance School. Upon graduating Liam joined Richard Alston Dance Company, touring nationally and internationally for 8 years. During his time in the company Liam was nominated 7 times in 6 consecutive years at the Critics Circle National Dance Awards. In February 2018 he won Best Male Dancer 2017. Liam then went on to dance with BalletBoyz for 2 years. He has also danced works by James Cousins, Eleesha Young-Drennan, Bob Cohan, Iván Pérez, Christopher Wheeldon, Xei Xin, Maxine Doyle, Martin Lawrance, Kim Brandstrup, Paul Roberts for BBC The Greatest Dancer and Jay Ravell for Years and Years Pyramid Stage set at Glastonbury. Liam made his choreographic debut in November 2020 with 'The Three Sections' for FFIN Dance and has recently created 'Murmurations' for Ballet Cymru. Currently Liam is working freelance and teaching on the BA course at London Contemporary Dance School.

Follow Liam on Instagram

The Bookish Type is a queer indie bookshop in Leeds. They started out by running pop-up bookstalls in 2019, then set up a website and finally opened the shop in September 2020.

They sell a range of queer literature: fiction, children’s books, YA, memoirs, poetry, short stories, zines, non-fiction, colouring books and graphic novels. They champion LGBTIQA+ authors and books with queer themes and characters because they know the importance of seeing yourself – and your community – represented.

They are a community bookshop so aim to actively support and work with the local queer community. They have a Pay It Forward scheme, run Queer History Tours around Leeds and hold Secondhand Sundays to raise money for good causes. They offer discounts to local book groups and Joe, our Saturday Boy, runs a book group for older LGBTIQA+ people in collaboration with the Leeds LGBT+ Community Consortium.

Check out there website here and follow them on Instagram

Follow Rainbow Conversations on Instagram and Twitter

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

XAVIER DE SOUSA

Xavier de Sousa (he/they) is an independent performance maker and culture worker based between England and Portugal. He has collaborated with a variety of performance artists and live artists and his solo work in clude POST, Almost Xav, Pós- and the durational show REGNANT.

Xavier curates digital performance programme performingbordersand New Queers on the Block, the Marlborough Productions’ Artist and Community Development programme.

Xavier is a co-founder of Migrants in Culture and is a member of the BECTU union and the Independent Theatre Council.

TOM DOYLE

Tom Is the Chief Executive of Yorkshire MESMAC group of services. He has been involved in LGBT Issues and in particular HIV and sexual health promotion for over 30 years as an activist, volunteer and paid worker.

Before joining Yorkshire MESMAC in 1990 Tom worked in community theatre, and theatre in education where he developed a strong interest in Community Development which led him to move on to become a Social Action Broadcaster on local radio.

He is the founder and Chaired of Leeds LGBT+ Pride for 10 years.

FOLLOW RAINBOW CONVERSATIONS ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

PHYLLIS CHRISTOPHER

Buy Dark Room: San Francisco Sex and Protest, 1988–2003 here

Phyllis Christopher is a photographer whose work documenting LGBTQ sexuality and protest in San Francisco has been published widely in anthologies such as Nothing But The Girl: The Blatant Lesbian Image (Susie Bright and Jill Posener, 1996), Photo Sex: Fine Art Sexual Photography Comes of Age (David Steinberg, 2003), Art & Queer Culture (Catherine Lord and Richard Meyer, 2013) as well as magazines such as DIVA, Aperture and Art Monthly. Between 1991 and 1994 Christopher was the photo editor of the groundbreaking lesbian erotica magazine On Our Backs. She has featured on HBO’s ‘Sexbytes’, Canadian television’s ‘Sex TV’ and the documentary film, Erotica – A Journey into Female Sexuality. Recently, her photographs have been included in various exhibitions including ‘On Our Backs: An Archive’ (The NewBridge Project, Newcastle, 2016) and ‘Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance’ (Nottingham Contemporary, De La Warr Pavilion and Arnolfini, Bristol, 2019). She is a 2020 finalist of the Queer|Art Robert Giard Grant for Emerging LGBTQ+ Photographers.

Current exhibitions by Phyllis Christopher:

‘Contacts’, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, 23 Oct 2021 – 20 Mar 2022

'Heads and Tails’, Grand Union, Birmingham, through March 2022

For more information on Phyllis and her work please check out her website

THE SUN HOTEL, BRADFORD

The Sun Hotel in Bradford is the oldest lgbtq+ bar in the district. It hosts international drag queens every weekend. Once described by one reviewer as being stuck in the 80s the bar proudly owns this title as the music is cheesy, the drinks cheap and plenty of characters in attendance. For more information please check out their Facebook page

PEACE MUSEUM UK

The Peace Museum explores the history and the often untold stories of peace, peacemakers, social reform and peace movements. It occupies three small galleries in one of Bradford’s many fine Victorian buildings. It is unique in that it is the only accredited museum of its kind in the UK.

Peace Out is a project exploring Peace and LGBTQ+ activism. 

The exhibition aims to explore the journey from Stonewall, a moment in history that exemplifies violence perpetrated against LGBTQ+ people and their violent retaliation, and marks the beginning of the following struggle for equality and justice. It can be viewed online here

Check the Peace Museum out on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Rainbow Conversations host Richard Dunbar as he speaks to two amazing creative souls for Episode 6!

Richard is first joined by the New York based stylist and creative director J Leve. We cover a whole host of topics as we hear about J's time growing up in Kentucky and how despite being a talented vocalist and performer they couldn't be their true self on stage due to societal expectations & toxic masculinity. J is a true visionary, inspiration and someone who has a real sense of justice. Join us as we explore issues ranging from mental health, feminism and how we achieve queer liberation.

And in the Rainbow Spotlight this episode we have international dancer Vince Virr who takes us on an intriguing journey from a boy from Bradford who when younger didn't understand what dance was to now being a prolific dancer who has danced with companies and created his own work across the globe. Vince talks passionately about how dancing across the world has deepened his understanding of people, places and society more widely. Vince also talks how the journey to self acceptance is never straight forward!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Rainbow Conversations host Richard Dunbar as he speaks to Jason & Sivat from A Place To Be Yourself in Cambodia-a safe space for LGBTIQ+ individuals to meet and be themselves in Siem Reap. They both talk about the importance of creating space for the community, their coming out journeys and what life is like for the LGBTQ+ community more widely in Cambodia.

The mission of A Place To Be Yourself:

"To create a safe space for LGBTIQ+ individuals to meet, learn through peer support about sexuality and gender and access information about health care, counselling services and their rights in Cambodia. Advocacy alongside LGBTIQ+ individuals to promote exposure, challenge stereotypes and decrease stigma across social, familial and professional realms as they develop and act on their own solutions. "

You can read more about the pursuit of equality and freedom for the LGBTQ+ community in Cambodia by clicking here

You can follow A Place To Be Yourself on Instagram & Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Follow Rainbow Conversations on Instagram & Twitter

Divina De Campo

Tune in as we speak to the Queen of the North & Drag Race Superstar Divina De Campo. Divina speaks about their journey into drag, how the actions of Government affect attacks on the LGBTQ+ community, their drag race experience and some up and coming projects. As always Divina gives us laughs, interesting insights and brutal honesty about the state of the world.

You can follow Divina on their socials, download their EPs and see what else they are up to by clicking here

BRADFORD 2025

Bradford district is bidding to be UK City of Culture in 2025 and we hear from team members Ezra and May on why it is Bradford's time, what sets us apart from others and why it's important we continue to develop the queer arts sector.

We also talk about what we love about Christmas and why it is important we support young people in care over the festive period.

For more information on Bradford's bid to be UK City of Culture in 2025 and to sign up to the newsletter click here. You can keep up to date by following Bradford 2025 on Instagram, Twitter & Facebook

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.