FYi

FYi RADiO is delighted to announce that it will be holding a fantastic event at City Hall on Saturday 7^th February for young people aged 16 – 25 years old for LGBT History Month.

The event, from 2pm-6pm, will look into politics and youth, and LGBT representation in politics and life in general today and through history.

The team will run a selection of workshops for the attendees. Workshops will cover technical aspects of podcasting; writing radio scripts; and programme-making.

Following the workshops, FYi will guide its volunteers through recording their own radio show, to be podcast on FYIi RADiO’s site.

Youth groups will have the chance to interview special guests to create unique podcasts for educational resources and to be available for download from www.fyiradio.net

FYI Radio is pleased to confirm that a number of special guests will attend the event to give young LGBT people an insight to their careers and the community.

Guests to be interviewed during the event include:

·  Richard Barnes is a Deputy Mayor of London, appointed by Boris Johnson in 2008 and responsible for community cohesion and regeneration. He is the first openly gay man to hold the position.

·  Peter Tatchell is an LGBT Rights campaigner who began campaigning for equality in 1971 when he was a leading member of the Gay Liberation Front. He was selected as the Labour candidate for Bermondsey in 1981, where he was denounced by Michael Foot for supporting extra-Parliamentary action against the Conservative government. In the 1990s, Peter co-founded gay equality group OutRage! and has been involved in LGBT rights campaigning in the UK and abroad ever since.

·  Jonathan Richards is Head of Programming, LBC and Heart Radio stations.

·  Matthew Hodson is Head of Programming at GMFA. The charity promotes sexual health for gay and bisexual men, through web and print advertising campaigns, community building events and group work.

·  Pav Ahktar is a Labour councillor for Stockwell in Lambeth. He is one of very few out gay Muslim politicians in the world. He works for UNISON, the trade union, and the chair of Imaan, the Islamic LGBT organisation. Pav also advises the Mayor of London on LGBT issues.

·  Dr. Christian Jessen is a presenter on Channel 4’s Embarrassing Illnesses. He writes for Gay Times, QX , AXM , Arena, FHM and Men’s Health. Now working as a doctor in Harley Street, Christian previously researched malaria and HIV in Kenya and Uganda, and helped set up a private sexual health and travel clinic in London.

·  Brendan Dine is Practice Director and LGBT Client Liaison Officer for Gay Lawyers, a legal firm that specialises in assisting the gay community.

Performing on the day will be up and coming band Axe Kid who recently featured on Orange Unsigned on Channel 4.

Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes said:

“I am delighted to welcome FYi Radio to City Hall during lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) History Month. The Mayor and I are keen to celebrate the positive achievements of LGBT young people in London.

“As a youth-led project, FYi Radio understands what inspires young people, offering them practical media skills and the opportunity to use them. I strongly encourage young people to seize this fantastic free opportunity and get involved.”

Further guests will be announced in the lead up to the event. The queer alternative youth radio station is calling for youth groups (16 – 25 years old) and individuals to book a place on the course due to limited places available.

Topics for discussion during the day include:

·  Are high-profile gay people representative of today’s LGBT community?

·  Do LGBT people succeed in high-profile roles?

·  Is politics representative of the youth?

·  How has the representation of LGBT people changed in history?

·  How can we achieve more accurate representation?

·  What can young LGBT people do to ensure a better future?

·  What more can be done to support you LGBT people entering politics and public life?

The event will be free of charge and refreshments will be served.

In perhaps the most predictable news of the year, Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles has once again managed to transmit homophobic comments to an international audience, provoking several complaints from the public.

During a show on Tuesday, Moyles claimed that Will Young would be wearing a dress to celebrate his 30^th birthday, as well as managing to make an inappropriate joke about Auschwitz.

All Moyles needs to do now is upset black, Asian and disabled communities and he will have ticked every box.

A Radio 1 spokesperson said that Moyles’ comments were ‘misjudged’ and that the BBC ‘will be speaking to Chris and his team about them.’  

More Gayness, we talk Eurovision, Celebrity Big Brother, Amy Winehouse and the Wino Awards. Dr Who crops up along side X-Factor….enjoy

GAY IN THE UK ep 5

Tim and Ryan went to Bournemouth to visit Space Youth Project to discover what life is like on the south coast.

Here at FYI we were amused by the debate raging over whether or not Tintin - that be-quiffed androgenous cartoon hero - was a homosexualist.

According to The Times’ Matthew Parris, Tintin was in fact a gay, because he wore ankle-swingers, a scarf, and lived with his middle-aged male sailor friend.

Marcel Wilmet, spokesman for Tintin creator Studios Herge, is reportedly outraged.

“Just because there is an absence of women does not mean that Tintin was gay,” he told The Sun.

“Tintin is not at all gay.”

Yes, that was “at all”. Not even a little bit gay.

“He was very macho in fact,” continued Mr Wilmet, apparently unaware of 30 years of gay-bodybuilder culture, “He has many friends who are boys but they are not boyfriends.”

FYI asks:

• Was Tintin gay?
• Would anyone watching the programme have noticed said gayness at the time?
• Should we care?
• Why do people say such silly things as soon as a gay rumour emerges?