Running order
7.00pm - welcome from producer Sarah Nicol (including how people can listen to the book) and author dan glass
7.15pm - A tribute to Andrew Lumsden (one of the key contributors in the book) - who passed away in 2023 as we listen to his recordings. See Guardian obituary -Journalist and leading gay rights campaigner who helped set up Gay News and the first Pride march in 1972.
Dan de la Motte will also be selling artworks by the legendary Andrew Lumsden
7.30pm - Readings from three key contributors and activists in the book looking at key issues facing our community today (and since United Queerdom came out in 2020).
Don Pepper - Senior gay activist, original member of the Gay Liberation Front (GLF), co-chair of Westminster Forum and queer performance poet, has been fighting fascism for fifty years. Strives to educate straight people about queer history.
Amy Roberts - Amy Roberts day job is a scientist, and her gay job is Chair of Friends of the Joiners Arms. She wants to take you to an accessible, not-for-profit, community-owned gay bar"
Victoria Suvoroff is a PhD candidate at School of Languages, Cultures and Societies at University of Leeds. Her current research is looking at the impact of exile while using non-representational methodologies to examine displaced contemporary queer visual art practices between 2020-2024 in the UK. She holds an MRes in Arts and Cultural Research from the University of Brighton. Suvoroff is a contemporary artist, independent curator, and a co-founder of the United Queerdom community group of LGBTQIA+ migrants from Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Northern and Central Asia living in the UK.
Mazharul Islam (Maz) is a Bangladeshi LGBTQIA+ activist and a pioneer of the country’s queer movement. A former management member of Boys of Bangladesh, he fled to London in 2016 following the murder of two activist friends. Since then, he has worked with organizations such as Queer Tours of London, ACT UP London, and the Peter Tatchell Foundation. An award-winning campaigner (Attitude Pride Award 2018), Maz has led protests seeking justice for victims of anti-LGBTQIA+ violence and has been featured in Vogue online and the BBC. He is the founder of The Rainbow Tree, an organization supporting Bangladeshi queer individuals in the UK and globally. Maz has contributed to various books and exhibitions highlighting his activism and artistic work. His contributions include We Can Do Better Than This by Amelia Abraham and United Queerdoom and Queer Footprint by Dan Glass.
Dan de la Motte is an actor/performer, presenter and creative practitioner, born and
based in London. Recent work has included Too Much Pills & Liquor (The Divine), On Railton Road (Museum of the Home), Live to Tell: (A Proposal For) The Madonna Jukebox Musical (Omnibus Theatre and Camden People’s Theatre), Route 158 (Punchdrunk Enrichment schools tour), Rock n Roll Nature Revelation (festivals tour with Timberlina), Be More Mushroom (at St Margaret’s House, Bethnal Green, where he was co-Artist-in-Residence for 6 months). Upcoming projects include continuation of on BOB, a documentary celebrating the life of war-time Dutch gay activist Bob Angelo. Elsewhere, Dan is a presenter, host, facilitator and workshop leader and has recently worked with and for, among others, the Unicorn Theatre, Yard Theatre, Museum of London, Queer Tours of London and National Portrait Gallery. Dan sits on Equity’s National Council, is an Associate Artist with Fevered Sleep and is a Creative Climate Leader with arts/environment charity Julie’s Bicycle.
@Dandelamotte
Olimpia Burchiellaro is an economic anthropologist with a special focus on questions of gender/sexuality. She is a senior lecturer in Management at the University of Essex. She is the author ofThe Gentrification of Queer Activism (Bristol University Press, 2023) and since 2022, sits on the Management Committee of The Friends of the Joiners Arms.
The Friends of the Joiners Arms are an award-winning are an award-winning campaign group which came into existence in 2014 to fight against the closure of the Joiners Arms, a queer pub, on Hackney Road in East London. FOTJA has since transformed into an organization passionate about protecting and creating queer spaces. We aim to open London’s first community-run LGBTQI+ space and want to help reverse the pattern of mass closures of queer venues.
8.30pm - Drinks, snacks and mingling!
‘UNITED QUEERDOM - From the Legends of the Gay Liberation Front to the Queers of Tomorrow’’ Testimonials
'Born to riot! If you want to illuminate the world without fossil fuels, send for Dan Glass.’ Andrew Lumsden, founding activist with the ‘Gay Liberation Front’
‘A joy ride, albeit a very serious one.' David William Foster, Arizona State University
‘A fascinating and inspiring tour through queer activism and beyond.’ Meg-John Barker, author of Queer: A Graphic History
‘Testimony of an extraordinary history that is recognizable, obscured, and deeply moving.' Tim Dean, author of Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking
‘A road map for the ongoing evolution of queer activism and organising.' Ricky Varghese, author of Raw
‘United Queerdom is a thing of beauty. Dan Glass has penned a memoir that pulsates with existential rage, solidarity, and tactical hope.’Amin Ghaziani, University of British Columbia
United Queerdom Audiobook producer
Sarah Nicol is an audio producer and sound recordist who has been working within the audio industry for over twenty years. Starting out in Student Radio in New Zealand, Sarah moved into live music and then television, working at Māori Television, MTV, Channel 4 and the London Olympics. In 2013 Sarah became General Manager of Resonance FM, a Community Arts Radio Station in London.
Sarah is currently freelancing as a Studio Manager at the BBC and Monocle Radio and editing Museum of Homelessness’s Deep Dive podcast.
United Queerdom - author - Dan Glass is an ‘Aids Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) healthcare and human rights activist, educator, performer and film presenter recognised as 'Activist of the Year,' ‘campaigning role model’ and 'BBC Greater Londoner' for founding ‘Queer Tours of London - A Mince Through Time’. His book(s) ‘United Queerdom’ won Observer book of the week and is now touring ‘Queer Footprints’. Dedicating his life to transformational leadership influenced by his Grandparents stories surviving the Nazi Holocaust, Dan is now on the international committee of Training for Transformation, the Beautiful Trouble art-ivist network and an artist with ‘In Place of War’, catalysing empowerment programmes in Uganda, Poland and beyond. Dan recently founded Queer/Trans Muay Thai & Self Defence movement Bender Defenders. Dan recently presented ‘Never Again - Fighting the Polish far-right’, Censoring Palestine: The Weaponisation Of Anti-Semitism and the Coronavirus cabaret: the online show combating social isolation.’ Contact dan at www.theglassishalffull.co.uk and at alright@theglassishalffull.co.uk / @danglassmincer