Glasgay! Festival was a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...

and

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

arts festival An arts festival is a festival that can encompass a wide range of art forms including music, dance, film, fine art, literature, poetry and isn't solely focused on visual arts. Arts festivals may feature a mixed program that include music, lite ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. From 1993 to 2014 it was part of the diversity of Glasgow's

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

scene, an annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Arts Festival held usually in October/November, formerly organised by GALA Scotland Ltd.

History

Glasgay! was as an annual arts festival that ran from 1993 to 2014. The operating Company, GALA Scotland Ltd, (now known as Outspoken Arts Scotland Limited) was established in April 1995. The festival was a multi-art form festival of professional work by

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

performing artists. The programme encompassed theatre, dance, literature, film, music and comedy events and appeared in dozens of venues across the city of

. At its height it was one of the UK's largest multi-arts festival for

people (and their friends), celebrating artistic talent and diversity as well as providing a platform for aspiring artists. It was founded as a direct response the

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

legislation banning the promotion of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle. Glasgay! launched on Saturday 30 October 1993. This lesbian and gay arts festival was the innovation of Cordelia Ditton, well known in national arts scene as a performer, writer, and co-director of Gay Sweatshop. The introduction of Section 28 in 1988 galvanised a whole new era of political and public agitation and resulted also in the founding in 1989 of the influential national lobbying group

Stonewall (charity) Stonewall (officially Stonewall Equality Limited) is a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity in the United Kingdom. It is the largest LGBT rights organisation in Europe. Named after the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York Ci ...

. Cordelia Ditton had been involved in the campaign against Section 28 and recognised that important local organisations such as the Glasgow branch of Switchboard already existed. However, it was her idea that a lesbian and gay arts festival, would make the lesbian and gay communities of Glasgow more visible. In 1991 she joined forces with Glasgow-based freelance arts administrator Dominic D’Angelo. Both were determined to produce an arts festival that would show gay lifestyles and performers and work in a very, very positive light. The mission was to change public opinion about lesbian and gay people and to show the wealth of amazing work that was out there. The 1993 Festival opened to huge acclaim garnering audiences of just over 26,000 attenders. However, there were hateful campaigns in the press, from Tory Councillors and members of the public de-crying the use of public money on such gay art. Despite this backlash the festival was initially established as a biennial event. After the 1995 edition Cordelia Ditton stepped down and a new board of directors, led by Dominic D'Angelo and others was convened and the charity Gala Scotland Ltd established. This company then carried forward the legacy and produced the festival from 1996 to 2014. The work of the festival was always dominated by the prevailing social climate in terms of acceptance, tolerance and understanding of LGBT rights, equality and the march of progress. That social progress has resulted in the repealing of Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1998; and enactment of new equality laws, the Civil Partnership Act (2004) and The Equality Act (2010). Glasgay! artists across the generations always presented work that continually reflected social attitudes, behaviours and experiences of the LGBT community. The Glasgay! Festival was a place where LGBT life was acknowledged, celebrated and understood. Over the 21 years of its history the festival was funded mainly on a year to year basis by the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...

and, subsequently its successor,

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

and

Glasgow City Council Glasgow City Council is the local government authority for the City of Glasgow, Scotland. It was created in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, largely with the boundaries of the post-1975 City of Glasgow district of the S ...

. From 2007 to 2014 it enjoyed regular 3 year funding agreements from the Scottish Arts Council/Creative Scotland. In 2015 the company was unsuccessful in its bid to become a new RFO client and the Board was asked to consider the future of the festival without the support of Creative Scotland. The company was also asked to consider its national role as a promoter of equality and the broader protected characteristics. It was clear that whilst the festival clearly enjoyed strong support in Glasgow the need to spread the message of equality, particularly to outer-lying communities was the principal challenge. The Company agreed to enter a period of funding transition and the board took the bold step of retiring the festival and renaming the charity, rebranding and re-purposing the mission. A new name Outspoken Arts Scotland was chosen to reflect the campaigning roots of the festival as the legacy of a movement. A new mission was adopted to work in outlying communities and to work across all, or most, of the protected characteristics. This transition period lasted for nearly two years 2015-2017 and the Company delivered a number of projects across that period. The Company continues to be funded by Creative Scotland & Glasgow City Council and since 2018 by

Renfrewshire Council Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

. Archives: The entire administrative, artistic, press & PR archive of the Glasgay! Festival 1993-2014 was transferred to Glasgow University's Scottish Theatre Archive in Spring 2018. This archive is still being catalogued and documented but reference to it should eventually appear at this link.

Past work

The company commissioned 16 new works for theatre and funded over 40 co-productions since 2006. It worked with over 400 artists in its lifetime and regularly engaged both established mature talent as well as championing emergent talent. In its history the festival has worked with many of the top gay and lesbian artists in the world. Names such as

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural i ...

Simon Fanshawe Simon Hew Dalrymple Fanshawe OBE (born 26 December 1956, in Devizes, England) is a writer and broadcaster. He contributes frequently to British newspapers, television and radio. He is also now a consultant and non-executive director of public a ...

Donna McPhail Donna McPhail is a British journalist, and was formerly a television presenter and stand-up comedian. McPhail is from London and was noted for her stand-up comedy in the 1990s, most prominently in her nomination for the Perrier Comedy Award in 19 ...

, Edwin Morgan,

Jackie Kay Jacqueline Margaret Kay, (born 9 November 1961), is a Scottish poet, playwright, and novelist, known for her works ''Other Lovers'' (1993), ''Trumpet'' (1998) and ''Red Dust Road'' (2011). Kay has won many awards, including the Guardian Fictio ...

Rhona Cameron Rhona Cameron (born 27 September 1965) is a Scottish comedian, writer and TV presenter. She rose to prominence via the stand-up comedy circuit, and was a regular on British television in the 1990s. Television career In 1992, she won ''So You T ...

Annie Sprinkle Annie M. Sprinkle (born Ellen F. Steinberg on July 23, 1954) is an American certified sexologist, performance artist, former sex worker, and advocate for sex work and health care. Citing: Sprinkle has worked as a prostitute, sex educator, femi ...

Penny Arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...

Bette Bourne Bette Bourne (born Peter Bourne, 22 September 1939) is a British actor, drag queen, campaigner, and activist. His theatrical career has spanned six decades. He came to prominence in the mid-1970s onwards after joining the New York-based alterna ...

, Diamanda Galas, Neil Bartlett,

Scott Capurro Scott Allen Capurro (born December 10, 1962) is an American comedian, writer and actor based in San Francisco. His comedy material is deliberately provocative, referring often to gay life and culture, politics, race and racism, and popular cultu ...

Pam Ann Pam Ann is the air hostess alter-ego of Australian comedian, writer, producer & DJ Caroline Reid. Performances focus on the nuances of air travel, identifying the individual quirks of some of the biggest international airlines and their media ...

, Four Poofs and a Piano, Lypsinka,

Louise Welsh Louise Welsh (born 1 February 1965 in London) is an English-born author of short stories and psychological thrillers, resident in Glasgow, Scotland. She has also written three plays, an opera, edited volumes of prose and poetry, and contributed ...

Marc Almond Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeon ...

Zoë Strachan Zoë Strachan (born 1975) is a Scottish novelist and journalist. She also teaches creative writing at the University of Glasgow. Biography Strachan grew up in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. She studied Archaeology and Philosophy at the University of Gl ...

, Stewart Laing, and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

are amongst the many others that have graced Glasgow's stages.

Commissions

Commissioned Work (Year) Writer/Creators
1. DONALD DOES DUSTY (2006) by

Diane Torr Diane Marian Torr (10 November 1948 – 31 May 2017) was an artist, writer and educator, particularly known as a male impersonator and for her drag king, "Man for a Day" and gender-as-performance workshops. For the last years of her life, Torr l ...

2. TAMBURLAINE MUST DIE (2007) by

3. ELYSIAN FIELDS (2008) by Derek McLuckie
4. INSIDEOUT (Exhibition) (2009) by Dani Marti
5. JESUS QUEEN OF HEAVEN (2009) by Jo Clifford
6. A CHILD MADE OF LOVE (2009) by Matthew McVarish
7. MEMORY CELLS (2009) by

8. PLAYING HOUSES (2009) by Martin O'Connor
9. THE MAW BROON MONOLOGUES (2009) by

10. PANIC PATTERNS (2010) by

11. THE BRIDGE (2010) by

Wendy Miller Wendy Miller (born March 3, 1981) is a Canadian curler, who currently throws lead stones out of the Yellowknife Curling Club in Yellowknife. Career 2011–current With no junior curling experience, Miller made her National curling debut at the ...

Rachel Amey Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

12. EDWIN MORGAN'S DREAMS AND OTHER NIGHTMARES (2011) by

Liz Lochhead Liz Lochhead Hon FRSE (born 26 December 1947) is a Scottish poet, playwright, translator and broadcaster. Between 2011 and 2016 she was the Makar, or National Poet of Scotland, and served as Poet Laureate for Glasgow between 2005 and 2011. E ...

13. CURED (2013) by Stef Smith
14. THE NEW MAW BROON MONOLOGUES (2013) by

15. WILFUL FORGETTING (2013) by Donna Rutherford with Martin O'Connor
16. CARDINAL SINNE (2014) by Raymond Burke

Main venues

Venues include the

Glasgow Film Theatre The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) is an independent cinema in the city centre of Glasgow. GFT is a registered charity. It occupies a purpose-built cinema building, first opened in 1939, and now protected as a category B listed building. History a ...

(GFT), the CCA,

Tron Theatre The Tron Theatre is located in the corner of Trongate and Chisholm Street, in what was formerly the Tron Kirk which had started as the Collegiate Church of Our Lady and St. Anne in the Trongate area of Glasgow, Scotland. The Tron Steeple still ...

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

, The Arches, King's Theatre, Theatre Royal,

RSAMD The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

, St Andrew's in the Square, Art School,

The Stand ''The Stand'' is a post-apocalyptic dark fantasy novel written by American author Stephen King and first published in 1978 by Doubleday. The plot centers on a deadly pandemic of weaponized influenza and its aftermath, in which the few surv ...

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum is a museum and art gallery in Glasgow, Scotland. It reopened in 2006 after a three-year refurbishment and since then has been one of Scotland's most popular visitor attractions. The museum has 22 galleries, h ...

and Glasgow's gay scene.

External links

Legacy siteOfficial sitePress Cuttings Archive
{{LGBT topics in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in Glasgow LGBT events in Scotland Arts festivals in Scotland Annual events in Glasgow 1993 establishments in Scotland Recurring events established in 1993 Festivals in Glasgow Theatre festivals in Scotland Autumn events in Scotland LGBT festivals in the United Kingdom LGBT culture in Glasgow

History

Past work

Commissions

Main venues

See also

External links