(you may need flash installed on your PC or Mac to view the following video)

On the evening  the following will be provided:

• HIV and Syphilis quick testing
• Chlamydia urine tests
• Free condoms
• Free parking (Free car parking will be provided in the disabled car park outside Main Outpatients Entrance 3)
• Coffee and cake.

Come along on your own or with friends, get registered, meet the staff, have a chat and an informal pleasant evening.

Address: The Sexual Health Centre, Main Outpatients Entrance 1, Milton Keynes General Hospital, Standing Way, Eaglestone, Milton Keynes, MK6 5LD

On Sunday 28th February, Vegabond Cinemas will be screening the Sean Penn film MILK, in the Ground Bar at Pink Punters from 1800hrs – Box Office opens at 17.15hrsTickets are £4 – £2 Concessions

For more information contact jo.eadie {at} yahoo(.)com

STUNNING. That’s the only word to describe this film. If you haven’t seen it, prepare to be amazed. Clear the room and remove any distractions because you won’t want to miss a second of this remarkable recounting of the Harvey Milk story. Prepare to cry and scream, because you will do both.

“The Times of Harvey Milk” covers a bit of American history that almost NO Americans seem to know about, and this is a tragedy. Everyone should know about these events, and the astonishing, beautiful people who participated in them. Perhaps the most stunning moment comes when a red-haired straight woman, who became a frequent customer in Harvey Milk’s camera & film-processing shop, recalls the night after Milk and Mayor Mosconi were killed. Dan White was given a slap on the wrist for murdering Milk and Mayor George Mosconi… because the jurors thought he was under the influence of too many TWINKIES… the city erupted. The film of these riots is stunning, and you may find yourself wishing that you could be there with the rioters who STOOD UP to this historic injustice and demonstrated their rage.

People of all ages and all political persuasions will find this film a remarkable document of an important bit of American history. It is essential viewing for all.

For the first event, Bletchley Park will be celebrating the lives and achievements of the LGBT community.

Q:alliance and Pink Punters have been working with Bletchley Park over the last year to co-ordinate this event. Amongst other things, the event will focus on the life and work of codebreaker Alan Turing during his time at Bletchley Park, with special lectures and films.

Alan Turing who was one of many great mathematical minds who worked at Bletchley Park during World War Two, and was also a gay man. He is recognised for his great intellect and for his contribution towards breaking the Enigma codes and the development of the Bombe machine, all of which helped to shorten the war by two years and save thousands of lives. Later of course, his sexuality was to be the cause of his downfall.

• The Wartime Achievements of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park – Frank Carter, a college lecturer in mathematics and a longtime guide and researcher at Bletchley Park.
• Why we need to claim our history – Tony Fenwick, co-founder and Chair of LGBT History Month.
• Local issues around LGBT History Month and Bletchley Park – John Goss from Q:alliance, which provides information, support, representation and fun for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people who live, work and play in the Milton Keynes area.

Stephen Kettle the Sculptor of the famous Alan Turing slate Statue will also be at Bletchley Park throughout the day talking about his famous creation.

A selection of films will be shown in the Bletchley Park Enigma Cinema, plus a documentary about the life of Alan Turing.

Dr Andrew Hodges, esteemed authority on Alan Turing, will be our special guest and will also be available to sign copies of his book, ‘Alan Turing; the Enigma’”

Visitors can also see the office in which Alan Turing worked in Hut 8 and the Bombe machine, designed by Turing with Gordon Welchman to speed up the process of breaking the Enigma codes.

The Pink Punters Rainbow Bus will also be on site throughout the day

In addition, later that evening Vagabond Cinema in collaboration with Pink Punters  are screening the amazing film Milk starring Sean Penn.

This is the story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California’s first openly gay elected official.

Tickets for this one are on first come first served basis. Doors open at 5.15pm Screening starts at 6pm and the bar will be open. More details on Facebook.

citizens:mk is a developing alliance of communities – religious institutions, schools, unions, charities and community associations – working together for a better Milton Keynes. Using the methods of ‘community organising,’ the goal is social, economic and environmental justice. They will meet that goal by training people of all ages, faiths and backgrounds to take action together for change, as well as provide a voice for civil society to hold our elected officials to account.

For more details on citizens:mk, there approach and details on the assembly visit www.citizensmk.org.uk.

To celebrate International Women’s Day a ‘Festival of Womanhood’ will be held on Saturday 6th March from 11-3pm at Radcliffe School, Wolverton. The focus for the event will be celebrating womanhood and what women share as daughters, wives, mothers and grandmothers, crossing over different nationalities and cultures.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite you to our event and hope that you would be interested in supporting or contributing to the day. We are looking for anything that will help us celebrate being Women, such as taster exercise sessions, information stalls, health and advice, cultural stalls, hair, beauty and therapy, fashion, crafts.

If you know of anybody or can help yourself  or if you have any ideas and would like to join us please get in touch with Mrs M Tumulty at Radcliffe School on 01908 682 208 or Tracy Whitmore, MKCVO Community Mobiliser on 07738 405378.

We want to make this an Annual celebration that women will talk about for years to come!

We look forward to hearing from you

Festival of Womanhood Committee

Many organisations are interested in the LGBT community. Who is offering what? What is out there? How can you participate in what already exists?

The objective is to bring together all those who are interested in the LGBT community in the area and facilitate communication. If you are interested in the LGBT community or in finding out what there is; whether you are lesbian, gay, bi- or trans, or whether you are interested, concerned or related to someone who is, come and join us for the day.

The day will include presentations by over twenty organisations that are organising or offering services, events or activities to the LGBT community.

During the day, you will have the opportunity to circulate, listen to the presentations which you believe may be of interest to you, and meet people.

Of particular interest will be a debate with questions and answers between local parliamentary candidates from the three main national parties and a projection of Olivia Humphreys “Latecomers” about older people coming out.

For more information, please contact PeterJLeeson {at} hotmail(.)com

This meeting is provided free of charge to all participants, no financial assistance to the costs of the day can be provided to the groups making presentations. It is recommended that participants bring a packed lunch. Coffee and tea will be available on site; doughnuts will be on sale for £1.00 each. Contributions towards the cost of organising are welcome.

Public Transport:

Free Rainbow Bus to pickup participants from  The Point, CMK at 9:30am.

Public Transport: MK Metro bus 7A from City Centre to Dulverton Drive.

Over the next few weeks theres a wide range of events, including social opportunities, walking groups, HIV Quicktesting, pub nights, counselling, meals out, the LGBT General Assembly (which is going to be HUGE – click here for details), International Day Against Homophobia in Football and a fantastic event looking at the life of Alan Turing at Bletchley Park in honour of LGBT History Month – check the calendar for details. If you have, or know of, an event that should be listed here, please email us at website {at} qalliance.org(.)uk.

Please note that try to provide accurate listings, but always get in contact with the event organiser to double check. Not all social groups are listed on the calendar, for a full list of groups that we know of in the area click here. Unless otherwise noted, the events are not run by Q:alliance.

In addition to the events listed, Pink Punters, the local LGBT club, is open Thurs-Sun from 9pm. For more details on Pink Punters visit www.pinkpunters.com.

I attended a conference on 1st Dec to look at what’s out there for people living with HIV in Milton Keynes. We had an interesting presentation by a HIV support organisation from Leicester which showed us what a good service looks like and spent time looking at what our needs were to live happily with HIV in MK.

Over half the people at the event were living with HIV, there was only one local gay positive man – most of the others were African people and there were a small number of white heterosexual women too.

It felt exciting to be in a safe space where people could talk honestly about their HIV status – their lives and the way they (often) need to keep it secret to avoid social stigma.

It was clear that there were vastly different needs for the different groups (gay men will often need different messages and services to African women) and also different needs at different stages – a newly diagnosed person will need very different things to someone who’s been on therapy for 10 years.

I was struck by the lack of communication at strategic level between people interested in HIV prevention and those interested in care services. This needs changing.

I was also struck by the importance of communications and advertising – most positive people in MK are unaware of the services available to them – we all need to get better at telling people about whet we do.

I was pleased to learn that MK has some specialist services – but I really don’t blame the (many) gay men I know who choose to access stuff in London – they just have more experience and resources there.

So, where’s it all going? If you are living with HIV and would like to tell us what you think of current services in MK, please get in touch (we will not share your details with anyone) – Q:alliance can let you know who’s out there to help or even talk directly to commissioners on your behalf if you prefer.

In the meantime, watch this space for news of NEW outreach in MK’s popular cruising areas next year and regular visits to Pink Punters.

Current HIV services in MK include:

• STaSS – HIV support organiastion
• H4 – Counselling for people living with HIV
• HIV Quick Testing – Free and confidential testing

A date for your calendars. On Saturday January 30th, the LGBT General Assembly 2010 (North Buckinghamshire) will be held at the Ridgeway Community Centre in Milton Keynes (map link). The objective is to bring together all those who are interested in the LGBT community in the area.

Whether you organise events or activities, or are interested in attending them, this is the opportunity. The day will consist of:

• Brief presentations by the various organisations as to what they do and offer
• Discussion as to what people would like to see as events
• Discussion on what is the LGBT community itself
• Public viewing of Olivia Humphreys’ film “Late-Comers” about “older” people coming out.

Topics to be covered include support, healthcare, sports, social evenings and more.

Tell us what you do, tell us what you want.

To be kept informed or to mark your interest, please get in contact with Peter Leeson – PeterJLeeson {at} hotmail(.)com or 01908 501426.