Many comedians talk about undertaking a world tour, but no one has managed to pull it off anywhere near as convincingly as Eddie Izzard. James Rampton has a chat to the man himself in advance of his show at Sheffield’s Motorpoint Area this month. With his globetrotting show, Force Majeure, the comic is bringing new meaning to the phrase “world tour”. He is visiting the four corners of the globe, performing everywhere from South [...]

  Led by Musical Director Jane Edwardson, the Leeds-based queer choir Gay Abandon will present a blockbuster night of songs from the movies on Saturday June 22nd at Leeds College of Music. They will be joined by their ‘twin’ LGBT choir Sang&Klang:los! from Dortmund, Germany who last sang in Leeds in 2001. Gay Abandon has had a busy time in the two years since they last put on a concert at Leeds College of Music: [...]

  ‘It’s a city centre celebration with the LGBT communities in Bradford,’ says the organisers of this year’s Bradford Pride. It takes place on June 1st, from 1pm through to 7pm, in the city’s Centenary Square. ‘Join in the fun for a day of live music from both national and local artists as we celebrate the diversity of our communities in Bradford,’ they continue. ‘Bradford LGBT Pride is now in its eighth year and is [...]

  York’s gay Pride – which, in 2012, held the historic city’s first Pride parade – is to join with the city’s professional football and rugby league teams for this year’s event, to take a groundbreaking stand against homophobia in sport. York Pride, on Saturday 1st June, will as last year, begin with a parade (meeting at The Minster at midday) through the ancient streets of York – but this year it will also include [...]

In the first of a two-part article, Belinda and Heidi O’Hooley-Tidow wonder why, in these supposedly enlightened times, the gay scene still seems to be predominantly men running events for other men. In the last issue of Shout!, there was a feature on the recent Owlie Awards – along with a picture of the winners and people standing in to collect the awards for winners who couldn’t be there. Out of the 21 people pictured, [...]

(Pic: Jake Keeble) A chilly Thursday February night saw the fifth annual ‘Leeds LGBT Awards’ – The Owlies – at The Alea Casino. ‘To say that this year’s was the biggest and best ever wouldn’t be an exaggeration,’ say the organisers with a smile. ‘This year’s winners include Leeds Pride for best event, Tracy Farrar for best door-person, Shout! for best media, and a double whammy going to Jon Bishop for best venue manager, and [...]

  Despite the recent rash of benefit, tax and welfare changes, the goverment has been surprisingly quiet on one particular ‘reform’: the start of the next tax year, gay men (but, strangely, not lesbians) will be required to submit a quarterly ‘partner form’, indicating how many sexual partners they’ve had over the previous three months. Leslie Knope, a spokeswoman for The Department of Work and Pensions, said: ‘In line with our ongoing reforms, we need [...]

Disabled Leeds teenager Nathan Popple and his step-mum Sarah Carmody (pictured) are celebrating after hearing they have been nominated for the prestigious National Diversity Awards, the finals of which will be held in Leeds in September. Popple has been nominated for the ‘Positive Role Model’ award for his work in highlighting the accessibility of Leeds, through his website – www.accessibleleeds.com – and for his work as an executive member of the Leeds Youth Council, whilst [...]

  As spring is just around the corner, the countdown to Leeds LGBT Pride begins. Faces from across the scene will be politely asking you to help ‘fill their buckets’ as the mission to raise funds gets underway. This year’s event will be held on Sunday 4th August and will be themed ‘Over the Rainbow’. In an interview with Gayleeds.com, Leeds gay entrepreneur Terry George said: ‘It’s my favourite day of the year, when so [...]

A few days after her father died, four years ago, queer writer and actor Emma Decent (pictured) was shocked to discover she had a sister she had never heard of. Finding out the secret took her on a journey no one could have imagined – a journey that has inspired a new piece of solo theatre, including multimedia, called Beyond Dreams of Aberystwyth which she is developing with support from The Arts Council. ‘My father [...]

Social groups are a great way to meet new people whilst simultaneously visiting interesting places, and Yorkshire Relish has been bringing people together like this for almost 20 years. ‘Not only is it exclusively for the LGB community,’ says Rob Wilson (pictured, having a snack) who took over the organisation of the club at the beginning of the year.‘ But over the years, the members of this amicable club have visited most of the restaurants [...]

The curtain may rise at 7.15pm nightly on the hit musical La Cage aux Folles – to be staged at Yeadon Town Hall from 12th to 16th March – but audiences are being encouraged to arrive early and sample a La Cage cocktail – served by specially selected hunky waiters or bunny angels – all (un)dressed to please!! The hunks and angels have been selected by Yeadon Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society to patrol the [...]