Millions of us have been gripped by coverage of the London 2012 Olympic Games, from the frankly bonkers opening ceremony (any idea where we can buy a light-up duvet?), to Bradley Wiggins cementing his status as the United Kingdom’s greatest living Olympian, and potential BBC Sports Personality of the Year shoe-in.

The Olympics represents a set of ideals, of friendship, solidarity, and fair play. Yet several countries involved in the games discriminate against female athletes. Even more surprising is the ratio of out gay athletes competing in London versus total contestants. In an open letter to Jacques Rogge, the current President of the International Olympic Committee, veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell highlights the following:

"In more than 150 countries, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) athletes have to hide their sexuality to get selected for their country's Olympic squad; otherwise they risk not only non-selection but also employment discrimination, police harassment and imprisonment (nearly 80 countries still criminalise LGBT people). In the absence of laws against homophobic and transphobic discrimination, victimisation and bias based on sexual orientation and gender identity is routine in most competing nations; not only in sport but in every aspect of life."

Some developing nations are obvious offenders, but shockingly homophobia in sport is still commonplace in the United Kingdom. There is still a complete lack of out gay male football players, both in the Premiership and lower divisions, whilst pioneering gay rugby player Gareth Thomas remains in the minority.

We’ve been saddened and appalled this week by the bullying of teenage diver Tom Daley via Twitter. Disturbingly Daniel Thomas, a Welsh Premier league footballer, was suspended after a particularly offensive homophobic message concerning Daley was sent from his mobile phone.

The police have, quite rightly, taken a zero tolerance approach to these malicious communications, and it’s important that we stand together as a country against such animosity. This unified approach towards homophobia sends a strong message out to other nations. It says; “We don’t accept the discrimination of anyone based on their gender identity or sexual preference, and neither should your citizens”.

Fortunately Manchester is one of the most LGBT-friendly cities in the world, but we sometimes forget this and become complacent. Yes, homophobia still exists, but not to anywhere near the extent of other countries. During the fall-out of the aborted World Pride celebrations in London commentators wondered if Pride festivals were still relevant – to which the answer is, of course, YES.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender visibility, and our freedom to express ourselves, is an important part of this message. So, this Manchester Pride come out, come out, wherever you are, and show your solidarity in the fight against discrimination, because being out and proud isn’t just a personal victory, it’s a victory against intolerance throughout the world.

by Andrew Roberts

I’m sure every one of us has a music artist who we truly regard as our favourite one, even though we say many are. For me there’s a choice of two and sadly one of them has just passed away, Donna Summer.

Donna Summer’s story is similar to many singers of her time, raised close to the church and finding their voices through singing with the choir there. Donna went on to work in musical theatre and her move to Germany with a touring production led her to meeting the music producer Giorgio Moroder. It was with him that she made her greatest songs and in my opinion some of the best music you will hear.

It started with “Love to Love You Baby” in 1975, feeling the song wasn’t quite right at around four minutes, it was decided to extend it to close to 17 minutes. With this “extended mix” the 12” single was born. The song created much controversy due to its “graphic content” and was banned by many radio stations, but it was a big hit with the disco crowd.

In 1977, Donna and Giorgio revolutionised music again by making a synthesised disco record, “I Feel Love”. I’ve always upheld the belief that, now in a modern club, the song would not sound like it is over 30 years old and is possibly one of my favourite records ever.

Hits followed such as "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", "Last Dance" and her massive diva duet with Barbra Streisand "Enough is Enough". Donna worked with Stock Aitken & Waterman in the late 80s and continued to make music up until her death.

I could dissect every single Donna Summer song at length and pick at her private and public life. Yes, there are issues surrounding her comments made in the 80s but I don’t want to go into that, because I’d like to remember her music rather than her personality.

I’m truly saddened by her passing and rather than ramble on, I’ll just leave you with one of the undisputed Queen of Disco’s greatest songs.

Towards the back of last week, I pretty much had this week’s blog written (in my head). It was going to be all about the release of Madonna’s new album MDNA and I would go on and on about how wonderful it was and the direction she was taking and fall at her feet all over again. However, when it comes to pop royalty a lot can change over the course of a weekend and more importantly in a matter of hours on a regular Monday. 

On Sunday night it was the princess of pop, Kylie Minogue, which got me all flustered. She announced via Twitter that her “Anti Tour” would be hitting Manchester Academy and London Hammersmith Apollo in a matter of days, well a week in fact. The “Anti Tour” is exactly what it says in the title. Kylie had hinted after her enormous Aphrodite shows that she would like to go on the road with no production, play a couple of nights in selected tiny venues and her set would be made up of B-sides, album tracks, demos and songs that would never make it on to the set list of her usual mammoth glitter cannoned touring extravaganzas. Now, I thought this stripped back tour would come with a stripped back price – more fool me as the tickets were still £79. I initially recoiled at that price, but after some pondering, sweating at my bank balance and coercion from some friends I caved in and I can’t believe I’ll be seeing her in such a tiny venue.

So where does Madonna fit in to all this? Well, she too has announced a further UK date to her MDNA tour, yet this time it’s in an arena. When the tour was initially announced in February I was very excited but then I was disheartened when I saw that she would be playing Hyde Park in London. Not a venue I would like to see a concert by one of my favourite artists and after the fiasco that followed her Sticky and Sweet show at Wembley Stadium, I was immediately put off and added this to the other tour I missed out on: Confessions (I was gutted I missed that). So, Birmingham NIA has been added on 17th July and tickets will go on sale on Friday. The prices range from an acceptable £55 up to nearly £200. Will I get a ticket? After the usual performance of should I/shouldn’t I, I probably will and no doubt it’ll be amazing.

Oh and as far as her album goes there are plenty of reviews around. Some of them are more glowing than others. Personally I’m not yet convinced by it and I can’t make a proper judgement. On first few listens I could only review it with the sound of a disappointed sigh. Written by Andrew Roberts

On Saturday 17th March a new Annie Lennox exhibition will open at The Lowry. The exhibition has been organised by the Victoria & Albert Museum, however it has been expanded to almost double the size of the original London show for its visit to the North.

At the heart of the exhibition is the installation originally devised for the V&A and designed around the concept of a ‘House’, providing a visual journey through different facets of Lennox’s creativity. Objects on show will include accessories and costumes, such as the Union Jack suit worn at the 1999 Brit Awards, and the sequinned evening dress worn in the “Little Bird” music video. There will be handwritten lyrics, music manuscripts, personal treasures and a selection of awards ranging from the GRAMMYs to an Oscar. Items from the political causes Lennox has championed such as the SING campaign for HIV/AIDS awareness will also be on display.

The exhibition will also feature numerous photographs, framed gold, silver and platinum discs showcasing the incredible sales achieved throughout her career as a solo artist and as a member of Eurythmics and The Tourists. There will also be video projections which have been arranged by Annie herself, various music videos and a selection of interviews which have been recorded at different points in her career and an original V&A film of Annie in conversation, examining her thoughts on song writing and the creative process.

For me, the most interesting part of this exhibition will be the “Cabinet of Curiosities”. This particular part has been curated by Annie and features personal items that she loves and has collected over the years. When items like this are displayed, I think that you get to know the person a little bit more - rather than just celebrity.

The exhibition runs until Sunday 17th June. Find out more.

Written by Andrew Roberts.

This year Manchester welcomed a new bar to its Gay Village by the name of G-A-Y. An extension of its London brand, this was the first time the video bar had left its Capital hometown, and it has settled in nicely in a matter of months. This week Manchester Pride caught up with the man behind the brand - owner Jeremy Joseph - to discuss the move to the North West, his role over our 2011 festival and any future plans for G-A-Y, whether in London, Manchester or beyond...

So, Jeremy, what was it about Manchester that made you want to bring the G-A-Y brand here?

I don’t think it was just Manchester . . . we’d been looking at venues across the country and it is about finding the right venue that will fit the brand. I’d looked at Canal Street in the past and seen venues that we thought could fit it; we’d come for a drink at Spirit and thought “this is the venue I want”. And now we’re here!

Obviously our 21st birthday was the first Manchester Pride you had been a part of whilst having your own bar in the North West. How did you find that?

Well, everything is really hard for us at the moment as with everything we are doing it’s the first time we’re doing it here in Manchester. The people on Canal Street, such as Polly from Taurus, your guys’ Entertainment Co-ordinator Ian Hyde and Festival Director Jackie Crozier have been extremely helpful. They gave us advice on what it would be like at Pride, and they were pretty spot on, even with things like staff hours, how much change to order etc. It was hard to work out everything in time but we got good advice and it worked out really well.

As a huge part of this year’s Manchester Pride G-A-Y presented your good friends Alexandra Burke and the Sugababes. Was that special for you all?

It was fantastic. With Alex especially, we were really pleased. What I think is extremely important is to have a headliner who is not necessarily promoting something but wants to perform because pride is important to them, and this is the case for Alex, and she’s got a great relationship with G-A-Y.

After checking that she was available, her dancers were etc, she said she 100% wanted to be a part of the event. I thought she was perfect at Pride – the standard of pride events around the UK has not been, like, “wow” to everyone... When Alex was added to Manchester’s line-up I think it solidified it as fantastic.

What were your main highlights from this year’s Manchester Pride?

I think the highlight was getting through it! We [G-A-Y] had London Pride as well as, so I couldn’t make it up for the Friday and Saturday and it was killing me . . . and I wanted to get up here, it was really frustrating. As soon as Mel C had gotten off stage in London, I got a car up to Manchester for the remainder of the Big Weekend.

Despite the fact G-A-Y was shut by the time we arrived, and a lot of the bars were, there was a real atmosphere. It was surreal, last time I was at Manchester Pride it was not closed off and it had a very different set up. I had just done London Pride and I thought, you know, London could learn from Manchester. There are certain parts of London Pride that aren’t safe – and as annoying as it is to have to show your wristband when you come in and out of the gates, I think that they are a great thing. Manchester Pride must be one of the best organised Prides in the UK at the moment.

Who would be your dream line-up for Manchester Pride 2012?

I can’t answer that because it’s a long way off and a lot will happen . . . If I had the day to schedule it, a G-A-Y day, I would love to put Steps on... Otherwise, I think it is more about putting acts on who are in more of a mood to party, not there to promote but to have a fantastic time with the audience and create some excitement. When Alexandra Burke came on the crowd went wild! I’d like acts like Alexandra again, who have a good relationship with the gay community. It’s all well and good having lots of hits, but only if you have a good relationship with the gay community should they be performing at Pride.

I think the public should have a bit of a say; I mean obviously we have to have a realistic idea of budgets and availability, but public polls etc to see who people want to see would be great. People pay for Pride, it is a community event, so perhaps the community should have a bit of a say.

What makes you Proud to be a gay person in the UK today?

That’s a really hard question! Who said I am?? (Laughs)

I think one thing that makes me proud to be gay as that, when something bad happens, the community all comes together. I remember with the age of consent and Section 28, the community come together to support one another. There is a real purpose for why there is a gay pride and why we have one; gay pride for me is about looking out for one another and supporting one another, it is not just an excuse to all get hammered. Gay pride is how we can educate the newer generations, be there for each other and also support those being bullied for their sexuality and gender. There is even bullying in our own community, including those living with HIV who we must also support. Pride is all about us coming together in unison.

What does the future hold for yourself and G-A-Y?

It’s hard because a lot of things you don’t plan... I think most importantly for us, we’d like to expand and have more venues, but it would be good to do some big club events in Manchester. I’d like to get winter out of the way first as I have not been looking forward to winter in Manchester!

The rest of the year is going to be all X-Factor, with the acts performing at our venue in London as well as us showing it on the screens in Manchester... And then it’s onto New Year’s Eve!

If you could describe G-A-Y in five words to anyone who had never been, how would you do so?

I’ve never done anything in five words...

“Cheaper – than – any – other – bar – on – Canal – Street” – that’s eight!

It’s an extension of the London brand but is not an attempted takeover at all; our brand is a video bar with Manchester staff, trying to keep drinks prices at an all time low. People need to understand with bars is that we are going through rent increases at the minute; many things are including and affecting the bars all the time, so it is important to support the bars so we can keep the drinks prices as low as possible for you all!

G-A-Y has £1.50 drinks offers Sunday – Thursday, £2 drinks offers on a Friday and various offers on Saturday. We love ideas from people on how we can grow, do things, everything – a lot of what we do comes from the customers . . .

Anything else you would like to add?

Yes! G-A-Y’s charity is The Elton John AIDS Foundation, which you can donate to by visiting www.justgiving.com/G-A-Y - we have raised £82, 000 so far and want to make that £100, 000 by the end of the year!

As the name would suggest, the two of you are father and son. How does this relationship affect your music and have you always used music as a means of family bonding?

We don't really pick any type of genre to perform and with our generational gap we listen to varius types of music along with music from different eras. In short we love music and will perform songs we think suit our voices. Musica has always been a part of our lives both of us are very aware that we can pipe up at any moment, the car, the supermarket even the tennis court. It's a laugh as much as it is work.

You were first seen by the nation on Britain's Got Talent in 2010, and today have over 14 million views on YouTube. How does it feel to be so watched and recognized, and have things changed greatly since your time on the show?

It feels very overwhelming that a year has passed and we still get recognised. I suppose the reference point of youtube is always there and people can be constantly reminded. We have of course appeared on various other TV shows since and presented for a couple so have been seen in a different environment which is great. Have our lives changed?? Well we haven't let that happen really. We have always and will always be very positive and pro-active people so our exposure on BGT has just helped this. We are now just busier than ever.

Tell us a bit about The Jennifer Charity.

Well we have set up the Jennifer charity to support widowed fathers and their children. Jennifer was James' mother, Graham's wife and she died when James was only 1 leaving Graham to raise James alone. There was very little support from external sources other than family and much pressure from social services as single fathers were often looked upon s being uncapable. Unfortunately 25 years on there still was no official provision for widowed fathers and we decided it was time to change that.

Father and Son are performing at this year's Manchester Pride. How is Pride important to you both, and what can we expect from your set?

James has performed at 3 previous Pride events and really was where his career got a kick start. He met his first producer at pride when being on the same bill as Irish Boyband Too Close for Europride and it led to him co-writing and recording an album. There are lots of good memories I have of performing at Manchester Pride and we are both looking forward to being on the stage together this year. The set is going to be generally what you might expect. Big vocals, catchy songs and one surprise song that the audience wouldn't really think we would perform.

Manchester Pride has also special memoties because my theatre company 2toned performed Didn't We at the first extended fringe festival a couple of years ago.

The Pride event is also a massively important event in Manchester and across the country because it allows members of the LGBT community to come together in a safe environment and feel part of something really special, not to mention the amount of money that is raised for people living with HIV and AIDS in the UK which is still an important issue.

What does the future hold for Father and Son?

We are obviously pushing the charity and campaiging across the country for Jennifer so that is a big project in itself however we are currently filming and 'Dad Documentary' with The Sound Research Company which is an international look at the lives of single fathers. We are also developing our own radio show with Tower FM of UTV. We have regular slots on their breakfast show and really looking forward to getting our new podcast from September leading to our own full length show later in the year. Seperatly we are both persuing acting careers as this is something we are both trained in and have been working closely with directors to find the right parts. James also writes a regular blog for Celebritain.com.

Manchester Pride are delighted to welcome Father and Son to the festival this year, and they will be performing in the Gaydar Main Arena on Monday 29 August. For more information on Father and Son, see:

Twitter - @FatherandSonBGT

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Father-Son-Entertainment/172848006113802

WWW - FatherandSonEntertainment.com

Charity - www.JenniferCharity.co.uk

Written by Andrew Roberts

Every year I seem to have the same Pride sequence of events:

• Check which friends are going and then offer out my spare room on first come first served -it’s gone in case you were wondering, as has the blow up and the sofa.
• Wait until the last minute to get my early bird wristband, not because I’m not keen, usually because I’m waiting to get paid.
• Start to think about how drunk I’m likely to be and how little sleep I’ll have and promise myself that this year I will pace myself*. (*unlikely)
• Decide what Fringe events to go and see. I’ve made my mind up early this time and will cover them in another blog.
• Think about where to go on what night.
• Hope the sun is out.
• Finally I try to guess the line-up for the main stage headliners. I’ve never once got it right.

It’s that time when the acts begin to be announced and this year’s “Best of British” festival has an excellent line-up to please all musical tastes!

Following in the footsteps of previous acts like Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Little Boots this year’s lady of pop will be Pixie Lott! She’s had a string of hits, an album that has sold by the bucket load, countless live performances including T4 on the Beach most recently and various TV appearances including a spot on The X Factor judging panel. For such a young artist she seems to have really grabbed the pop buying public’s attention and her number 1s have proved it. I think she’ll be a great headline act.

There will also be two groups performing over the weekend. First up are the group that have had (allegedly) more in fights than Fleetwood Mac or Oasis, more combinations of members than The Supremes and are the most successful female recording artists of the 21st century. Yes it is version 4.0 of the Sugababes! They’ve always been the girl band that is totally acceptable to publicly like and in my opinion more edgy than Girls Aloud in their look and sound. I’ve seen them live at a festival and on their own tour. They were fantastic on both counts with incredible live voices. It’s been a shame that they’ve been in the pop wilderness for a little while, but I think they’ll be back as big as before. I’ve heard a clip of the new single “Freedom” and it sounds like they are back on form.

The second group to feature are Blue. The reformed band recently represented the UK at Eurovision and they seem to be riding the wave of new found popularity. I expect the guys to be quite a big hit, especially as they’re keen on whipping their clothes off given opportunities….Duncan in his pants anyone?

There will also be a host of other established artists including Patrick Wolf. Patrick currently has 5 albums under his belt and his recent singles “The City” and “House” have gained him well deserved exposure. He, for one, is someone that I’m really keen to see live.

Other acts include the new girl group Soundgirl. Their single “Don’t Know Why” is doing the rounds on the radio and is a very catchy summery pop song. They get extra brownie points from me for sampling Carly Simon. There will also be 80s legends Toyah Wilcox and Hazel Dean. Also appearing over the Big Weekend will be; Cosmo Jarvis, Santiago Street Machine, Denise Black and the Loose Screw, Rowetta, Horse, Angie Brown, Rubika and Zukas Fontaine. No doubt there will be more names to be added in the weeks to come.

Not only is Pride a celebration for the LGBT community to be proud of who they are, it’s also a great weekend of music for all to enjoy!

Written by Sophia Daly

Sir Elton John and David Furnish have been shortlisted for the Celebrity Dad of the Year Award and are the first gay couple to ever be nominated. The iconic musician and his partner welcomed their son Zachary to the world on Christmas Day last year through a surrogate mother and the couple are said to be “thrilled” at the news of their nomination.

Last year’s winner, Peter Andre (who has two children Junior and Princess with ex-wife Katie Price) is hoping to hang on to his title and is again nominated this year. Other nominees for this year’s award include footballers Wayne Rooney and David Beckham, TV personality Jonathan Ross and Take That front man Gary Barlow.

According to the organisers of The Premier Inn Celebrity Dad of the Year 2011 award, it aims to: "Reward the celebrity dad who has impressed the nation by balancing a hectic public life with the demands of parenting."

Sir Elton and David have also stated that they have not given up hope of caring for a HIV-positive Ukrainian toddler and his three year old brother, whom they met last year at an orphanage for children whose parents had fallen victim to AIDS last year.

The public can vote for their favourite father on the Premier Inn Facebook page so let’s raise awareness for LGBT parents across the UK and vote for Sir Elton John and David Furnish.

This is not the only story in the media about LGBT parents; Eastenders is the latest TV show to take on the subject as a storyline. Walford’s favourite gay couple Christian and Syed have decided to try for a family by starting the adoption process. Their relationship has survived through thick and thin in the last 2 years of the hit soap opera and it came to its peak when Christian proposed to Syed last week. Let’s hope the writers of the show have a happy ending planned for the couple and they are successful with their adoption as it will help promote LGBT parents across the UK and their ability to provide an equally stable home for children as heterosexual couples.

k.d. lang has become the latest in a list of celebrities sending their birthday wishes to Manchester Pride who, in case you didn't know, will be turning 21 in August.

k.d., who blew crowds away with a stunning performance at The Bridgewater Hall recently, has recorded a video message in support of the event which you can watch below or on our Youtube channel.

We have plenty more messages to reveal over the coming months so keep your eyes peeled on our website to see who pops up.

WRITTEN BY ANDREW ROBERTS

The X Factor circus is well and truly up and running on both sides of the Atlantic, with the last few days being pretty “big” in terms of events.

It all started with the Cheryl Cole is she/isn’t she judging fiasco. To be honest, I think a lot of people were pretty bored of it by the time X Factor USA announced that she was going to be the fourth judge alongside Paula “a little bit crazy” Abdul, LA Reid and Simon Cowell. Cheryl was unveiled to the public in a cloud of Elnette and colour blocking; she’d been well and truly “Americanised” and basically turned her back on us dowdy Brits. Fast forward a week and a bit, the Cole drama resurfaced, she was dumped for reasons that have not really been made clear and into the breach stepped Nicole Scherzinger who was originally a co-host with Steve Jones. To me this was all a bit too convenient. I loved Nicole on the UK version, so why she wasn’t taken on immediately for the US one was a bit odd. I think they (the execs) realised that this should have been the line up from the start but had to let Simon have his way.

Speaking of Simon Cowell, it was during his over the top grand entrance on Britain’s Got Talent - which I think has worked perfectly well without him & he looked like he didn’t really care about what was going on during the 1st live show….I’ve digressed – that the ITV Press Centre conveniently dropped into Twitter’s timeline the line-up for X Factor UK.

• Louis Walsh – From early on we knew he was going to continue as a judge. I find most of the time he just goes on with himself and makes random comments, but he’s quite entertaining.
• Gary Barlow – This position was confirmed last month and he is touted to be the “head judge”. I think he’ll also give criticism quite fairly. He also seems like a really nice bloke and has certainly got the talent to back up his position as a judge. I’m happy with his appointment; he’s always been my favourite in Take That too.
• Kelly Rowland – She’ll have an intro as long as my arm, multi-platinum selling, global mega star, former child of Destiny, now on every house song that needs a bit of a vocal oomph, the list could go on. There’s no denying it, she’s famous, she’s gets a lot of radio airplay and she’s got a cracking voice. How she’ll do in a judging role is yet to be seen, personally I think she’ll be pretty good.
• Tulisa “N-Dubz” Contostavlos – At this point I’m lost for words, really I am. I think she’ll be gobby, unpredictable and either TV gold or a car crash. Musically I can’t say I’ve listened to an N-Dubz song by choice and their TV programme has never been shown in my household. Granted I have seen an episode, but that was when I was at a friend’s and it’s rude to turn over in someone else’s house.

The girls could bring a new type of auditionee to the show, more R’n’B, more singers suited to dance music and perhaps more N-Dubz/”street” groups or singers/rappers.

For now I’m reserving judgement but I know that once it’s on TV, I’ll be glued. I’ll also make an early prediction on which judge gets what. Gary – groups or overs, Tulisa – girls, Kelly – boys and Louis will no doubt be lumped with the category no one wants.