Gay Archives - samuelshoesmith.uk

Nottinghamshire Pride 2022

A few weekends ago was Nottinghamshire Pride.  I had such a brilliant and action packed weekend and I wanted to write about it here.  It was my first one as a resident of Nottingham. The fact I could go back to my home comforts for a bit of a rest, to recharge myself and my […]

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Last week I read about how they were turning ‘Everybody’s Talking About Jamie’ into a film and it is due to be released early next year.  I was very excited to read this.  And just yesterday the trailer was released and instantly my friend Seb sent me it.  It looks wonderful. I can’t wait to […]

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia

Today is the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. It is a day to remember those who suffered from violence and discrimination as a result of their sexual and gender identities. It also notes the progress that has been made but importantly focus on the fact there is still so much to be done […]

PrEP is soon to be available on the NHS

It was announced a few days ago that Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP, will be made available on the NHS from next month. This antiretroviral medicine, if taken every day, can almost completely stop any acquired transmission of HIV during unprotected sex. It feels fitting that I write a piece about HIV in a climate where […]

My 2019

My 2019

Happy New Year 2020! We enter a new year and a new decade. May it be a good one! As I reviewed my photos from 2019 I realised just how eventful the year has been. I’ve just read the piece I wrote back as we entered the year and I prophesied that “2019 will be […]

Repealing Section 28

A couple of days ago back in 2003 Labour thankfully repealed Section 28. The Tories brought in this terrible piece of legislation in 1987 stating that councils should not “promote” homosexuality or allow teaching in schools of the acceptability of homosexuality as a family relationship. It fostered a culture of ignoring and forgetting about LGBT+ […]

50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots

Today is the 50th anniversary of The Stonewall Riots. Half a century ago, in the early hours of this morning, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a bar in the gay area of New York and then faced an almighty backlash.  This spurred the gay liberation and Pride movements over the succeeding decades. Raids in gay […]

LGBTQ+ in May

I sometimes think that everything is sorted and well.  There now is no need to campaign for equality or to even celebrate what has been achieved because, well, everything is equal, nice, and everyone is open minded, respectful and gets along with each other, right?  This is not the case. During the latter event I […]

Happy New Year 2019!

I often start my Happy New Year post by saying the year just gone has been “great”, “special” or even “wonderful”, but 2018 has been marked by a devastating loss and it has overshadowed the good times. However, these good times do need to be revisited as now is the time to reflect on the […]

Rainbow zebra

Manchester, Leicester Prides.

Dear Diary, I wrote this piece and forgot to publish it.  I had some other more pressing things on.  I just checked through my drafts and here was the article I had written a few months ago. I suppose the benefit of publishing it now is that as I re-read this and voice record it […]

Leeds and Wellingborough Prides

A week and a bit ago I wanted to go somewhere new.  I do enjoy Gay Pride events.  Therefore I wanted to mix the two so I scrolled through a website which listed all of the year’s Pride events in a big table to see if anytook my fancy.  Leeds caught my attention but I […]

Mobikes in Manchester

Dear Diary, Back in July, I had a couple of days free so decided I was going to make the most of it. Usually, I catch up on emails, watch some films, some programmes and do some “paperwork”. My definition of “paperwork” is wide reaching but amongst other things, it includes reading articles, writing them […]

Gay Pride Manchester 2017

A week ago today, around this very time, I was preparing for my second night out in Manchester.  Seb and I attended Manchester Pride 2017. I cycled from my house to the station and then locked up my bicycle.  With 12 minutes to spare before my train, I had a rhubarb cider from The Little […]

London Gay Pride 2017

This was my third time at London Pride, where I watched the parade and absorbed the atmosphere. It is a wonderful event. I think it is the ambience and the sprawling crowds. One is free to be how they want to be, to wear what want to wear and celebrate who they are. Wider society […]

Torremolinos – take me back

A month ago today I landed back home after a week spent in Torremolinos in Spain.  During this past month, I have spent too many minutes looking through the photo album and re-living this wonderful holiday.  I wanted to briefly document the trip.  Here are some photos: It was a much needed rest.  I finished […]

Protest, crawl and ppaaarrttayy

I had a bloody good time. On Saturday 11th February I was scheduled to work and did everything I could to get the day off. I managed it. The week before I had met up with Tom who had said about the idea of doing a Spoons bar crawl. That Saturday was also the day […]

Two cities

I meant to write this last year. Opps. I never got round to it. I went to Paris on my own back on November 21st. The accompanying photo album was waiting on my desktop to be uploaded here along with an article. Then it went to the front of the queue. It was joined by […]

Happy New Year 2017!

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 was a pretty great year for me. A huge thank you to everyone who made it wonderful. Life can be taken so fast so it’s important to grasp it and enjoy it. Live it! Carpe diem. YOLO. I shall make 2017 a special one. The plans on how to do […]

Newcastle a few weeks ago

For too long it has been the same; I go to a few different places and become comfortable with the familiarity.  I frequent them, have a great time as always but do not seek anything new. I decided to change that.  I wanted to go somewhere different.  In conjunction with my friend Seb, we decided […]

Gay night out in Manchester

I am not quite sure how much I managed to miss writing a blog post after my gay night out in Manchester. It was a moment of brilliance. How? Anyway, back on August 6th I got the train with Seb to Manchester. After a quick stop off in Nottingham, we arrived late afternoon and walked, […]