Update: Ruth Hunt events; musical; talk; call for contributions
Go York lecture: Ruth Hunt and York LGBT Forum meeting
Tonight at 18:30, Stonewall Chief Executive Ruth Hunt will deliver a lecture as part of the Go York series. She will then proceed to tonight’s York LGBT Forum meeting in DG/123 directly after. To order a ticket for the former, see the Go York lectures page. Below is a biography of Ruth from that page.
Ruth Hunt is Chief Executive of Stonewall, having worked in senior positions at Stonewall since 2011. She has successfully led the development of the organisation’s groundbreaking policy, campaigning and research outputs. These include Stonewall’s pioneering work to tackle homophobic bullying in schools, effective interventions to improve the health of lesbian, gay and bisexual people and Stonewall’s acclaimed leadership development programmes. Ruth has spearheaded efforts on engaging people of faith in Stonewall’s work.
At Stonewall, Ruth has overseen the rapid growth of Stonewall’s public affairs and education teams as well as developing the infrastructure of Stonewall Scotland and Stonewall Cymru. Specifically, she led Stonewall Scotland’s lobbying to secure the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill as well as giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament Equal Opportunities Committee on marriage equality. Ruth has also developed strategic partnerships with organisations such as the Ministry of Defence, the Department of Health, Accenture, McKinsey and the UK Border Agency. Ruth’s expertise has been recognised across the third sector, and she has worked closely with a number of high-profile charities to develop their campaigning functions.
Ruth attended St. Hilda’s College, Oxford where she studied English and was elected President of Oxford University Student Union. Prior to Stonewall, Ruth worked at the Equality Challenge Unit where she led work advising higher education institutions on sexual orientation and gender identity equality.
In 2013, Ruth was voted the fifth most influential LGBT person in Britain in The Independent’s Pink List.
The Copla Musical
This weekend, HisPanic Breakdown will be bringing their production The Copla Musical to Upstage Centre Youth Theatre in York. Performances will take place on Saturday 30 May 22:00-23:00 and Sunday 31 May 19:00-20:00. A description of the show from its website – where you can find details on how to purchase tickets – is below.
The Copla Musical is a story of freedom, romance and loss – all set in the heart of the Spanish Civil War, where drag artist La Gitana is rescued from prison by a group of Republican fighters and sets out on a mission to spy on the forces that captured her. She moves continents, becomes a drag sensation, finds love… yet always struggles to merge her Spanish past with her American future. La Gitana’s struggle to fit into a changing world is mirrored in her personal life, and through it all, she sings to us… her audience.
The Copla Musical is a project developed through years of research and inspired by traditional Spanish Copla (folk) songs that have not seen the light outside of Spain, but now take form of a contemporary musical in English. The production involves storytelling and musical numbers through La Gitana’s cabaret performances that aim to recreate the original atmosphere of Spanish Copla. Copla was an actual genre of music repressed by Franco’s dictatorship and ultimately lost into history… until you see this story unfold.
The Case of Alan Turing
York Amnesty International have arranged for Alan Turing’s biographer to deliver a talk at Orillo Studios on Wednesday 10 June 19:30-21:00. A description of the show from the York Amnesty International blog – where you can find details on how to purchase tickets – is below.
The mathematician Alan Turing, generally recognised as the founder of computer science and the leading scientific figure of Second World War codebreaking, was prosecuted in 1952 under the law which in those days made all homosexual activity illegal. His trial and punishment, and his death in 1954, have in recent years acquired the status of a historic human rights story. As Alan Turing’s biographer, Andrew Hodges will focus on bringing out the real human being behind this story, with his very special friends, relationships, words and deeds.
Andrew Hodges was active in the early Gay Liberation movement of the early 1970s, and has been involved in the Alan Turing story since 1972. His large-scale biography, Alan Turing: The Enigma was published in 1983, and has inspired works of drama, music and film. Personal website: www.synth.co.uk
Call for contributions on being LGBT at York St John
We’re working on a collection of stories on what it’s like to be LGBT at York St John. The form of this is flexible – you could write a few sentences, a few paragraphs or a few pages. We would also like to hear the ally perspective. If you have anything you could share, such as general thoughts on the ethos of the institution or personal experiences/memories, present or historical (diachronic/how things have developed), please do contact Ynda!
