The Pride House Podcast Pride House Birmingham

It's the 10th and final episode of the Pride House Podcast series, bringing you conversations about LGBTQ+ rights and Commonwealth sport in and around Birmingham 2022.

Was the Pride House Birmingham project and venue a success? What impact did it have in the West Midlands and further afield, in terms of engagement from athletes and spectators? And where does the Pride House movement go from here?

To discuss these questions and more, host Jon Holmes is joined by four guests who all strongly supported PHB, in a variety of ways…


Moud Goba, national manager of charity Micro Rainbow, who was among the group of LGBTQ+ activists accompanying Tom Daley at the Opening Ceremony
Nontu Maraire, member of PHB's Advisory Board, and Moving On and Regional co-ordinator for Micro Rainbow, who spoke alongside Moud at the 'Routes and Rainbows' event on LGBTQ+ asylum seekers
Saima Razzaq, head of Diversity and Inclusion at Birmingham Pride
Verity Smith, Sports Inclusion Manager at the charity Mermaids, who like Saima was a speaker as well as a visitor to PHB

The panel reflect on the highlights and challenges of PHB; assess its impact on the city and region, and on other communities; and ask what learnings can be taken for the benefit of future Pride Houses.

We also recommend listening to Jack Murley’s BBC LGBT Sport Podcast episode from August 12 with PHB Ambassador Stacey Francis-Bayman and exec team member Neil Basterfield.

Thank you to everyone who supported, visited and shared the message of Pride House Birmingham, and for listening to this podcast! You can still send us your thoughts via social media...

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PrideHouseBham
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pridehousebham
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrideHouseBham
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pridehousebham

Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E

The conversations in and around the Commonwealth Games continue on The Pride House Podcast, presented by Jon Holmes - for this episode, our guests are the Olympic and Commonwealth gold medal-winning diver Matthew Mitcham, history-making activist Jason Jones from Trinidad and Tobago and a rising star in athletics, Glen Quayle.

Matthew, who was a Glasgow 2014 champion for Australia in synchro 10m platform and who also has six Commonwealth silver medals to his name, popped in to Pride House before heading to Sandwell for commentary duties. He was also a Pride House Ambassador at Gold Coast 2018 - in the chat, he gives us his take on the venue in Birmingham and discusses the impact of LGBTQ+ visibility among athletes at major events.

He also talks about Tom Daley's appearance at the Opening Ceremony alongside a group of activists, one of whom - Jason Jones - came back to Pride House afterwards for another visit! He talks about what it was like to be part of that special moment in the fight for equality watched by a billion people around the world, and how next year's Commonwealth Youth Games in his homeland present an important opportunity to keep the Pride House momentum going.

Finally, we were delighted to welcome one of the competing athletes from Birmingham 2022 - 20-year-old Isle of Man pole vaulter Glen Quayle - to Pride House and we showed him his entry in our 'Photos of Pride' exhibition. Hear from Glen ahead of his challenge at the Alexander Stadium on Saturday night.

Remember, if you're in or near Birmingham up to and including Monday 8 August, visit Pride House at 143 Bromsgrove St, above The Loft Bar & Kitchen! We're open every day from 10am til late.

Links

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/ 

Pride House Birmingham featured on the official Birmingham 2022 website - https://www.birmingham2022.com/news/2556327/pride-house-birmingham-will-explore-diversity-across-the-commonwealth 

More news and content - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/tag/pride-house  

Pride House International - http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/

Follow us on social media

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PrideHouseBham

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pridehousebham

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrideHouseBham

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pridehousebham

Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E

We're back with another special episode of The Pride House Podcast, presented by Jon Holmes - this time our guests include Tom Daley who visited Pride House Birmingham in the Gay Village on Thursday with friends ahead of his appearance as a batonbearer in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony that night.

Find out what Tom had to say about our venue - he also reveals new information about his forthcoming documentary film about LGBTQ+ rights in the Commonwealth, which airs on Tuesday 9 August.

With Tom was previous Pride House Podcast guest Glenroy Murray from the Jamaican rights organisation J-FLAG. Glenroy was also part of the group of LGBTQ+ rights activists accompanying Tom at the Alexander Stadium. We catch up with him as well.

And we also grabbed a chat with Sydney Morning Herald writer Andrew Webster, who happened to pop by at a very opportune moment to meet Tom! We spoke to Andrew about the big LGBTQ+ in sports story in Australia at the moment - the Manly Sea Eagles pride jersey - and his thoughts on the need for Pride Houses at major sporting events.

And remember, if you're in or near Birmingham - whether for the Commonwealth Games or not - be sure to pop into Pride House at 143 Bromsgrove St, above The Loft Bar & Kitchen! Open every day from 10am til late until Monday 8 August.

Links

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/ 

Pride House Birmingham featured on the official Birmingham 2022 website - https://www.birmingham2022.com/news/2556327/pride-house-birmingham-will-explore-diversity-across-the-commonwealth 

More news and content - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/tag/pride-house  

Pride House International - http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/

Follow us on social media

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PrideHouseBham

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pridehousebham

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrideHouseBham

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pridehousebham



Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E

In this special episode of The Pride House Podcast hosted by Pride House Birmingham's Jon Holmes, you'll hear interviews from a special launch event of a new exhibition of the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, which is on up to and including Monday 8 August 2022 at The Southside Building in the city centre.

It's an incredibly powerful experience to see the lovingly crafted quilt panels close up, with each one commemorating people who lost their lives to HIV/AIDS in the UK in 1980s and early 1990s.

The exhibition is part of the Pride House Birmingham programme and it's open for public viewings every weekday during that period from 9am to 6pm - just book an hour-long slot through this link.

Jon chats to his Pride House Birmingham colleague Neil Basterfield, who's responsible for organising the exhibition; Saving Lives campaigner Tom Hayes aka @PositiveLad on Twitter; the rugby broadcaster Nick Heath; and the inspirational Birmingham-born activist Jonathan Blake, who's one of the UK's oldest survivors living with HIV and who describes the exhibition as "phenomenal".

If you're in or near Birmingham - whether for the Commonwealth Games or not - be sure to pop into Pride House at 143 Bromsgrove St, above The Loft Bar & Kitchen, and check out the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt too.

Links

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/

Pride House Birmingham featured on the official Birmingham 2022 website - https://www.birmingham2022.com/news/2556327/pride-house-birmingham-will-explore-diversity-across-the-commonwealth

More news and content - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/tag/pride-house 

Pride House International - http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/

Social media

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PrideHouseBham

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pridehousebham

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrideHouseBham

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pridehousebham



Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E

The waiting is over... you can now check in to Pride House Birmingham and enjoy all the venue has to offer! On Friday, July 22, the project reached its most important milestone so far - the very first day of welcoming guests into the superb space above The Loft Bar & Kitchen on Bromsgrove St in the heart of the city's Gay Village.

First to see the House come to life was a delegation from the Commonwealth Games Federation and in this special episode of the Pride House Podcast, you can hear interviews with three members of that visiting party - Brendan Williams, the chair of the CGF's Athletes Advisory Commission; Hartwell Mhunduru, the Federation's Human Rights and Inclusion Lead; and Katie Sadlier, the CGF's chief executive.

We also bring you a chat with one of our Pride House Ambassadors, the marvellous Michael Gunning; and Councillor John Cotton, Cabinet Member for Social Justice, Community Safety and Equalities on Birmingham City Council.

Later on Friday, a fabulous opening night party was held with VIP special guests, with Pride House then open to the public.

Enjoy the conversations - and if you're in or near Birmingham, be sure to drop in! Pride House Birmingham is open every day at 10am til late, until the Games conclude on Monday, August 8.



More info

Pride House Birmingham (PHB) is a venue dedicated to LGBTIQ+ inclusion, diversity and culture - it is already open to all ahead of the start of the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, July 28, and will continue to welcome guests for the duration of the multi-sports event.

Pride Houses have been established at many sporting events around the world since 2010. Visitors include competing athletes, fans and spectators, VIPs, and people fulfilling other roles in the event itself. A busy programme of exhibitions, activities, performances, screenings and entertainment is supplemented by viewing opportunities of live sport.

At Birmingham 2022, and for the first time in Commonwealth Games history, the Pride House is fully integrated with a presence in the Athletes Villages, ensuring wider awareness of its 'Celebrate, Participate, Educate' ethos. An ongoing series of Pride House workshops has been delivered to local schools in recent months, funded by the Commonwealth Sport Foundation.

PHB is being championed by a group of athlete Ambassadors, five of which will compete at Birmingham 2022 - Team England duo Stacey Francis-Bayman (netball) and Tom Bosworth (athletics); Scotland wheelchair basketball stars Robyn Love and Jude Hamer; and India sprinter Dutee Chand. The other Ambassadors are former Jamaica and Great Britain swimmer Michael Gunning; global advocate and inclusion expert Amazin LeThi, a former professional bodybuilder; and the two-time Paralympic gold medal-winning rower Lauren Rowles, who competed for England in para-athletics at Glasgow 2014.

The venue is supported by main sponsors E.ON, PWC, DXC Technology and LSH Autos.

Links

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/

Pride House Birmingham featured on the official Birmingham 2022 website - https://www.birmingham2022.com/news/2556327/pride-house-birmingham-will-explore-diversity-across-the-commonwealth

More news and content - https://sportsmedialgbt.com/tag/pride-house 

Pride House International - http://www.pridehouseinternational.org/

Social media

Twitter - https://twitter.com/PrideHouseBham

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/pridehousebham

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/PrideHouseBham

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@pridehousebham



Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attrib

When para swimmer Theresa Goh came out publicly via the media after a career in which she had competed at two Commonwealth Games and won a Paralympics medal, she was truly blazing a trail for Asian LGBTQ+ athletes.

Goh shared her truth in 2017 in an interview with the biggest newspaper in her homeland of Singapore, one of three Commonwealth countries with coastlines onto the South China Sea. Malaysia and Brunei are the others - all retain colonial-era laws put in place during British rule that criminalise same-sex intimacy.

On the fifth episode of the Pride House Podcast, Goh joins Pride House Ambassador and fellow athlete activist Amazin LeThi and the Malaysian equality campaigner Numan Afifi for a conversation with host Jon Holmes about fighting for change in the region in the face of contrasting levels of discrimination.

Goh carries what she describes as “a pretty unique set of labels” and she talks through her passion for an intersectional approach to advocacy. She says that, in Singapore, Section 377A - the part of the penal code that makes sex between male adults illegal - may not be stringently enforced but it contributes to an ongoing climate of stigma and discrimination.

She also explains why she wanted to be visible for more than just her sport and offers suggestions for how Pride House can make an impact on podiums at Birmingham 2022.

Amazin says these Games offer “the perfect platform” for detailed discussions about specific forms of inclusion, such as for Asian LGBTQ+ athletes, and explains how “the power of storytelling” can make a difference.

Numan describes the worsening situation in Malaysia with regards to hate speech and urges sports personalities competing at the Games to raise their voices as allies.

Follow the links for more info. If you enjoyed this episode, please let us know!

Theresa Goh on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/wheelie_wonka/

Amazin LeThi on Twitter - https://twitter.com/amazinlethi

Numan Afifi on Twitter - https://twitter.com/NumanAfifi

Pride House Birmingham - https://pridehousebham.org.uk/

Music credit: Song: MusicbyAden - Freedom. Music provided by Vlog No Copyright Music. Creative Commons - Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported. Video Link: https://youtu.be/AUQE67tap_E