Sheffield Live: Ponds Forge protest against ‘hate’ preacher visit
January 25, 2020
Around a hundred people from LGBTQ+ communities and allies joined a protest outside Ponds Forge International Sports Centre against a planned visit, to be hosted by Sheffield International Venues, of US preacher Franklin Graham. Graham has been accused of promoting homophobic and Islamaphobic views which protesters say constitute hate speech and represent a risk to social cohesion. They are calling for his planned visit to Sheffield in June be cancelled. Baillor Jalloh reports for Sheffield Live!
Sky-News: Sheffield Arena urged to cancel event by ‘homophobic’ Trump ally | UK news
January 17, 2020
LGBTQ+ leaders in Sheffield have called for the cancellation of an upcoming UK tour by Donald Trump’s most prominent evangelical ally, claiming he promotes homophobic views.
Franklin Graham, the influential son of the late American preacher Billy Graham, has previously said he believes gay marriage is a sin.
Graham is currently on a tour of Florida – which has attracted protests from thousands of other Christians – and is to tour eight UK cities later this year. He is due to visit Sheffield Arena in June as part of his tour, which is not open to the public.
Sheffield City Trust, which runs the venue, has said it does not endorse Graham’s views but supports the right to free speech.
Guardian: Sheffield Arena urged to cancel event by 'homophobic' Trump ally
January 17, 2020
LGBTQ+ leaders in Sheffield have called for the cancellation of an upcoming UK tour by Donald Trump’s most prominent evangelical ally, claiming he promotes homophobic views.
Franklin Graham, the influential son of the late American preacher Billy Graham, has previously said he believes gay marriage is a sin.
Graham is currently on a tour of Florida – which has attracted protests from thousands of other Christians – and is to tour eight UK cities later this year. He is due to visit Sheffield Arena in June as part of his tour, which is not open to the public.
Sheffield City Trust, which runs the venue, has said it does not endorse Graham’s views but supports the right to free speech.
BBC: LGBT+ group wants Franklin Graham's Sheffield visit cancelled
January 16, 2020
LGBT+ leaders have called for a visit to Sheffield by an American evangelist to be cancelled claiming he promotes homophobic views.
Franklin Graham is due to appear at Sheffield Arena in June as part of an eight-city tour of the UK, which is not open to the public.
Mr Graham, the son of the late preacher Billy Graham, has said he believes gay marriage is a "sin".
Sheffield City Trust, which runs the venue, does "not endorse the views".
Mr Graham said: "I'm not coming to Sheffield to preach against anyone, I'm coming to tell everyone about a God who loves them.
"The Gospel's life-saving truth and power applies to everyone in this great city."
The protest letter said: "Franklin Graham has repeatedly publicly promoted his homophobic beliefs."
Sent to the Sheffield City Trust, it was signed by 22 representatives of the city's LGBT+ community.
The Sheffield Tab: LGBT+ groups demand homophobic hate preacher is banned from Sheffield
January 16, 2020
LGBT+ groups have demanded that a controversial Christian preacher who has called the LGBT+ community a "moral 9/11" be banned from speaking in Sheffield.
Franklin Graham is set to speak in June at the city's FlyDSA Arena, home to Sheffield varsity ice hockey, as part of his many ‘’Christian revival tours’’, sparking uproar among campaigners.
The American pastor, son of the late preacher Billy Graham, has branded gay marriage a "sin" and is known for his shameless homophobia.
But 22 LGBT+ campaigners in Sheffield moved to stop the speech from going ahead today, penning an open letter to Sheffield City Trust claiming that his views "far exceed freedom of speech".
They accuse him of "hate speech and incitement to violence against LGBT+ communities and individuals which should not be welcomed in our city, or anywhere else".
Sheffield Short Film Festival: Heather Paterson – 2020 Jury
December 19, 2019
Sheffield Short Film Festival is proud to introduce the very first judge for our inaugural 2020 festival.
Heather Paterson will judge the Best Queer Short award.
One of the original co-founders of Pride Sheffield, Heather is currently chair of the LGBT+ hub of Sheffield’s Equality Hub network and has worked with LGBT+, women’s and equality groups for 20 years. Her passion, commitment and energy devoted to championing diversity is an inspiration.
Currently she brings people in the region together through her work with the Equality Hub Network. She also uses her regular column in Exposed Magazine and sizeable online following to champion and promote the work of groups and campaigns across the region.
Sheffield Shorts is proud to have Heather on our jury panel.
SAYiT: Heather Paterson at the European Diversity Awards
November 22, 2019
SAYiT team member Heather Paterson was nominated for Campaigner of the Year at the 2019 European Diversity Awards and attended the ceremony on Thursday 14th November. ”Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending the 10th Annual European Diversity Awards as a shortlisted nominee in the Kantar Campaigner of the Year Category. It’s been a pleasure to work with LGBT+ communities in Sheffield and South Yorkshire over the past 20 years and currently on the Call It Out Project as part of the team at SAYiT, and in what are often increasingly challenging times it’s great to be able to come together and see examples of much of the great work being done to promote equality, diversity and inclusion across Europe. Huge congratulations to all of the nominees and the well-deserved Campaigner of the Year Winner, Siena Castellon, the youngest nominee at 17 years old and founder of Neurodiversity Celebration Week.”
Exposed Magazine: LGBTQ+ Sheffield: Happy Fall To All
September 26, 2019
October is here, bringing the dark nights and a chill in the air, but it’s not all doom and gloom as we have an abundance of queer happenings to get stuck into.
As new and returning students flock back to the Steel City, we have Sheffield University’s LGBT+ committee welcome week with the return of the Tuesday social [Tue 1 Oct], coffee social [Fri 4 Oct] and the launch of their new brunch club [Sat 5 Oct]. Combining intrepid journalism with personal experience, Amelia Abraham discusses her book, Queer Intentions [Sat 12 Oct] exploring the joys and pains of being LGBTQ+ at a time when queer culture has seemingly never been so mainstream at Off the Shelf. Matthew Todd talks about his book Pride [Wed 9 Oct] marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots when police raided a New York gay bar – a key moment in the beginning of the fight for LGBTQ rights.
Exposed Magazine: A welcome to friends, new and old!
September 12, 2019
It’s September already, which means that the city is getting busy as students both old and new head back to the Steel City for the new academic year.
If you’ve been away over the summer and think you’ve missed festival season, then fear not – Diversity Fest returns (Sun 29 Sep) for their fifth year at Hagglers Corner; an event where all communities, genders, sexualities, ages and abilities come together to celebrate diversity through music, dance, spoken word, film and art. Tune in to the Diversity Fest radio show every Thursday on Sheffield Live to hear from some of the groups and acts involved, or head to their final planning meeting at Hagglers Corner (Sun 22 Sep) to get involved and help out on the day.
For more community vibes check out Foodhall’s Community Carnival (Sat 14/Sun 15 Sep) for a weekend of FUNdraising for local LGBT+ youth charity SAYiT. Expect live music, local vendors, local beverages, vegetarian/vegan food, pottery workshops and DJ sets in the evening.
inews: Government’s anti-knife chicken boxes criticised for being a ‘crude, offensive and harmful gimmick’
August 14, 2019
The Home Office has been accused of pedalling racial stereotypes in a “crude” and “offensive” plan to cover fried chicken packaging with anti-knife crime slogans.
Young people will be warned of the dangers of carrying a knife on specially branded chicken shop boxes as part of the Government’s #knifefree campaign.
Following backlash over the campaign, the Government said it was an evidence-based project and Home Secretary Priti Patel said she would “not apologise” for “communicating tragic consequences of carrying a knife”.
But her opposition counterpart Diane Abbott and fellow Labour MP David Lammy dismissed the strategy as a harmful gimmick and called on the Government to properly invest in communities to tackle violent crime.
Campaigners and members of the public also reacted with anger to the scheme, posting online that it was an example of “institutional racism”.