Well we’re into another month and 5 weeks away from LEEDS PRIDE 2011 the venues have received their stocks of OFFICIAL WRISTBANDS these are a limited edition they are on sale at £3 EACH GET YOUR PIECE OF HISTORY BEFORE THEYRE ALL GONE !!!

Next weekend sees my annual pilgrimage to SPARKLE the NATIONAL TRANSGENDER CELEBRATION lucky for me you may think she’s getting a break from work far be that from the truth.

MESMAC are sharing a stall with L.F.F. SWITCH ,EVOLVE, GAY LEEDS.COM,L.I.P.S. and LEEDS PRIDE 2011 we are taking a host of publicity material for all the LEEDS SCENE in the hope that we can convince others that don’t already know that LEEDS is the place to be and be seen.

The whole pride season is getting into swing now and news of various events filters through every week.

News from TURKEY

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite and transsexual individuals celebrate the 19th Pride Week from 20-26 June in Istanbul. The event kicked off with the second Trans Pride March on Sunday. It comes right after the gay rights resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Council.

The 19^th LGBTT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transvestite and Transsexual) Pride Week kicked off this Monday (20 June) in Istanbul. Workshops, discussions, movies, a concert and a picnic will be held until 26 June. "Breaking Taboos" is this year's theme of the Pride Week which also includes the "Hormone-fed Tomato" Award ceremony and that will culminate in the Pride March on Istiklal Avenue.

Topics to be discussed during the week are homophobia and transphobia, social gender roles and the institutionalized family, policies that discipline the body and determine a certain identity, a male-dominated urban organization and urban transformation and policies that pander to discrimination and hate.

The 7^th "Hormone-fed Tomato" Award will be given to a person or an institution that excelled at homophobic or transphobic behaviour throughout the past year. The winner will be determined by an internet poll.

Trans Pride March

The Trans Pride March was held for the second time this year. On Sunday (19 June), hundreds of people walked down Istiklal Avenue in the popular district of Takism/Beyoğlu to draw attention to oppression, violence and discrimination against trans individuals and to demonstrate their solidarity with them.

Bianet talked to lawyer Yasemin Öz who attended the Trans Pride March. She underlined the importance to march down this very avenue: "Transsexuals are always being drawn to ghettos in Beyoğlu; they hide in the streets. They encounter violence and discrimination on the very same street we are walking down right now. It is very important that we are able to have such a huge event right here. The large number of participants shows that we can change something in Turkey".

Asya, an LGBTT individual living in Istanbul, claimed, "We step up against the violence and the discrimination we experienced from the state, the society and the police. This year's trans march was very good. We, as transgender/transsexual people, can easily express ourselves; we have our associations and organizations. We all want is justice. I am paying taxes in this country and I am a citizen of this country. This country should give my pride back to me".

Also a group of people from Kuwait attended the trans march. They came to Turkey to join the Trans Pride March in particular because there was no Pride March in their own country.

Various LGBTT organizations issued press releases at the end of the Trans Pride March.

UN Human Rights Council passed gay rights resolution

On 17 June, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council passed a resolution to counteract discrimination and violence against LGBTT individuals. The resolution came on the final day of the council's 19^th session and envisages a study into violence and discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation and gender identity.

The Human Rights Council has 43 member states. The resolution passed with a relatively narrow majority of 23 to 19 votes. Three countries abstained from voting.

The resolution was submitted by South Africa. While the decision was supported by the USA, the European Union, Brazil and other Latin American countries, support was refused by Nigeria and other African and Islam countries because, in their opinion, it was not related to human rights.

MY WEDDING INVITATION NEVER ARRIVED!!!

Surprisingly Kate Moss didn't look to the stars of LEEDS for her wedding we have the best musclemen best djs and the best drag artistes so she should have come here methinks!

Kate Moss has hired a team of transvestites to chaperone guests at her wedding to The Kills rocker Jamie Hince on Friday (01.07.11).

Kate Moss has reportedly hired a team of transvestites to chaperone guests at her wedding.

The supermodel - who is set to tie the knot with The Kills frontman Jamie Hince in Oxfordshire, South East England, on Friday (01.07.11) - has also enlisted the services of naked men who will be adorned with fake tattoos of the couple's faces on their chest.

One guest revealed: "Kate has hired a small team of transvestites to chaperone guests to the toilets and back to their seats. Most of them will be 6ft 5ins in their heels.

"She's also having naked musclemen with fake tattoos on their backs and chests of Kate and Jamie's names and faces.

"Kate's hoping guests will have pictures with them."

The couple have also arranged for some unusual acts to entertain their guests during the reception, including a dancer, trapeze artist and a group of pipers.

The source added to the Daily Star newspaper: "There will also be a huge champagne glass set up in the grounds with a naked woman dancing in pink smoke.

"Finally there is an incredible trapeze artist who will strip as she does her act and Scottish pipers who'll play as guests are shown to their dinner seats."

The 37-year-old supermodel has also organised a box of dressing up clothes, including moustaches, hats and wigs, to be delivered to her wedding for guests to wear.

Kate - who is famed for her partying ways - and Jamie recently sent attendees a gift list that included 14 crystal ashtrays which cost £240 each and crates of 2002 Louis Roederer Cristal champagne at £1,833 each.

Among the less-expensive items, the couple also asked for a rabbit-shaped jelly mould for £35 and a pair of tea strainers at £12.95.

So that's it short and sweet this week but I expect to come back from SPARKLE with a host of things that will interest our readers and hopefully we will convince many more to log on to GAY LEEDS.COM

LOVE AND KISSES

SUSAN XX