Homotopia is an international

LGBTQ+ ' 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 ...

arts festival held annually in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The festival takes place in late-October and throughout November every year and features a mixture of theatre, dance, film, photography, art, cabaret and debate at numerous venues across Liverpool. Homotopia is the longest running annual LGBT arts and culture festival in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

History

Homotopia was launched as a pilot project on 1 November 2004, in response to Liverpool's successful bid to become European Capital of Culture. The festival was commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company's Creative Communities project, and started life as a ten-day programme of film, theatre, photography, art, comedy, storytelling and heritage designed to bring together an assortment of artists. Heavily supported by

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

, the initiative was hailed as a sign of the city's 'growing maturity' in the run up to Capital of Culture and as an opportunity for the gay and lesbian community to play a vital part in the region's rich and diverse cultural life. The first event was attended by some 2750 people, but by the following year its visitor numbers had doubled, partly due to the high calibre of guests who had featured including prominent gay rights activist

Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is a British human rights campaigner, originally from Australia, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate for Bermondsey ...

. By 2008, the festival had showcased the largest

Tom of Finland Touko Valio Laaksonen (8 May 1920 – 7 November 1991), pseudonym Tom of Finland, was a Finnish artist who made stylized highly masculinized homoerotic art, and influenced late 20th-century gay culture. He has been called the "most influential ...

art retrospective in the UK as well as the first ever

North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

Grand Vogue Ball and visitor numbers had climbed to over 12,000. City leaders praised the celebration as a highlight of Liverpool's cultural calendar. 2009 marked a new chapter for Homotopia, when a youth visit to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

helped to forge new international partnerships. The visit became instrumental in the development of the festival's international arts programme and burgeoning social justice work. The trip also inspired an anti-homophobia documentary and education pack, which was rolled out to 100 schools and youth centres across Liverpool, gaining notable support from out gay

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

actor

Sir 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 ...

. Since 2010, in addition to offering its diverse Liverpool schedule, Homotopia's work has expanded internationally and attracted audiences at various functions in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. In 2011, Homotopia was granted National Portfolio status by

Arts Council England Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...

. In 2018, Homotopia founder and long term Artistic Director, Gary Everett, parted ways with the organisation. Guest Curator, Cheryl Martin, led the programming of the 2018 festival. After a period of uncertainty, the Board of Trustees appointed Char Binns as Festival Director in early 2020. Alex Ferguson was appointed as Producer to lead the organisation into a new era. The pair had previously managed the festival in a freelance capacity.

Structure and governance

Homotopia was founded in 2004 as an

unincorporated association Unincorporated associations are one vehicle for people to cooperate towards a common goal. The range of possible unincorporated associations is nearly limitless, but typical examples are: :* An amateur football team who agree to hire a pitch onc ...

, with a small grant from

. In 2012, in the same year it was included in the Arts Council England National Portfolio of organisations (NPO), it became a

private limited company A private limited company is any type of business entity in "private" ownership used in many jurisdictions, in contrast to a publicly listed company, with some differences from country to country. Examples include the '' LLC'' in the United Sta ...

limited by guarantee, with charitable aims. Its main annual funders are

and Liverpool City Council. As of 2023, it is governed by a nine member

Board of Trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

who volunteer their time to run the festival and oversee its finances. The board members are (as of 2023): *Jess Shannon (Chair) *Daniel Kilbride (Deputy Chair) *Darren Begley *Joan Burnett *Gillian Clotworthy *Tabitha Lamb *Sinéad Nunes *Francesca Peschier *Stephen Welsh Additional staff include: *Alex Ferguson - Executive Director *Alice Holland - Festival Programmer *Olivia Graham - Marketing and Development Manager *Josiah Worth - Creative Partnerships Producer *Jess Gallie-Daly - Marketing Officer *Al Matthews - Finance Officer Board members do not have to identify as

LGBTQIA ' is an Acronym, 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 Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term for Sexuality and gende ...

, but must have a good understanding of the challenges faced by the community and share a 'passion for queer culture'. The board meets every two to three months in

Liverpool City Centre Liverpool city centre is the commercial, cultural, financial and historical centre of Liverpool, England. The inner city districts of Vauxhall, Liverpool, Vauxhall, Everton, Liverpool, Everton, Edge Hill, Merseyside, Edge Hill, Kensington, Liv ...

and/or via Zoom meetings. Board members are required to maintain a minimum of 50 percent attendance at meetings. They must be willing to attend key events, launches and performances, be an advocate and ambassador for the festival and must serve for a maximum term of 4 years (2 x terms of 2 years).

Past festivals

Gallery

File:Fenella Fielding at Homotopia 2015.jpg,

Fenella Fielding Fenella Fielding, OBE (born Fenella Marion Feldman; 17 November 1927 – 11 September 2018) was an English stage, film and television actress who rose to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s, and was often referred to as "England's first lad ...

, Homotopia 2015 launch at Camp and Furnace File:Lily savage wardrobe 2011.jpg, World premiere of 'Savage Style', 2011 festival: Outfits worn by

Lily Savage Paul James O'Grady MBE DL (born 14 June 1955) is an English comedian, broadcaster, actor, writer and former drag queen. He achieved notability in the London gay scene during the 1980s with his drag queen persona Lily Savage, very popular in ...

File:The Liverpool Grand Vogue Ball, Homotopia Festival (2008).jpg, The Liverpool Grand Vogue Ball, 2008 festival File:April ashley @ homotopia 2008.jpg, An Evening With

April Ashley April Ashley (29 April 1935 – 27 December 2021) was an English model. She was outed as a transgender woman by ''The Sunday People'' newspaper in 1961 and is one of the earliest British people known to have had sex reassignment surgery. Her ...

, 2008 festival File:Federation @ homotopia 2006.jpg, Club Federation @ 2006 festival File:Lady Sian @ Homotopia.png, Lady Sian @ The Lavender Club ( Unity Theatre), 2004 festival File:Homotopia 2004.png, Homotopia 2004 Closing Party @ The Masque, Liverpool

Global impact of the festival

Over the years, the Homotopia festival has forged links with groups and organisations around the world and its international work includes the following... * Homotopia 2012, in association with the

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth coun ...

, developed a new human rights led project in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

. 'Art As Social Change' chronicled the emergence of gay rights movements in the UK and Europe through photographs, testimonies and film. * Homotopia brought its

exhibition to

Kulturhuset House of Culture (Swedish: Kulturhuset) is a cultural center situated to the south of Sergels torg in central Stockholm, Sweden. The House of Culture has been described as a symbol for Stockholm as well as of the growth of modernism in Sweden. ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in June 2012. * In 2012, Homotopia launched the world's first IDAHO 50, a collaboration with 50 of Liverpool's leading companies, organisations and institutions to support action against

Homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

Transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

. * In 2011, Homotopia's

exhibition formed part of the official programme for Turku's European Capital of Culture year. It attracted a record audience of 90,000 to the

Logomo Logomo is an old VR machine shop and a current cultural venue in Turku in close proximity to the Turku railway station. The building was opened in 2011 as a part of the Turku European Capital of Culture festivities. The building includes gall ...

space. * In November 2011, Tranny Hotel was held in Liverpool as part of the European-wide transgender arts festival. The city was one of only 11 cities in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to hold the event. * In December 2010, Homotopia produced a series of interventions, debates and research culminating with the Pansy Project in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

as part of its European Capital of Culture year. Hundreds of pansies were planted to symbolize the ongoing international struggle for LGBT rights and equality. * In 2009, 12 young people from Homotopia's Project Triangle went to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

and

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

to learn about the Holocaust. A group of young LGBTQ people from Poland's KPH travelled to Liverpool to learn from

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statute, statutory Fire service in the UK, fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory Fire and Rescue Authority responsible for all 999 fire br ...

and

. The visit inspired a training programme for Polish police.

References

External links

Official Homotopia website

Homotopia's queer TV station
{{LGBT topics in the United Kingdom LGBT culture in Liverpool LGBT events in England Festivals in Liverpool LGBT organisations in England Annual events in England LGBT festivals in the United Kingdom