Leicester LGBT Centre

Baroness Barker 'Comes Out' during House of Lords Speech

Baroness Liz Barker wasn't in the closet but to 'declare an interest' in such an environment as the House of Lord is still an incredible step.  Our heartfelt thanks to Baroness Barker for such a personal and balanced speech in favour of equal marriage for same sex couples.  It was a speech that even the staunchest opposer must have been unable to ignore.

Read on for Baroness Barker's impassioned speech to The House of Lords in full:

Read more...

LGBT Centre to hold Prostate Cancer Awareness Session for Gay and Bisexual Men

The Leicester LGBT Centre is holding an awareness raising session for gay and bisexual men on the issue of prostate cancer. Gay and bisexual men entering, or beyond, their 40s must deal in one way or another with the prospect of prostate cancer entering their lives. Couples in committed relationships with other men, are twice as likely as heterosexual men to have to deal directly with the disease within their relationship.
It is essential that the clinical oncology community is sensitive to the particular needs of gay and bisexual men because of their sexual orientation. The Leicester LGBT Centre is working with Macmillan Cancer Care and local health care providers to address and explore the options when prostate cancer is diagnosed.
The session will provide a unique opportunity to hear from and discuss with other participants, including cancer care professionals the specific issues for gay and bisexual men.
There will also be an opportunity to hear first hand from a survivor of prostate cancer on his individual journey into the world of "cancer " and the process of living and thriving after diagnosis. Guest speaker will be Julie Wortley, Prostate Cancer Nurse at University Hospitals of Leicester NhS Trust who has been sponsored by local charity PROSTAID to attend the event.
The session will include an open Q&A session.
DATE: Tuesday 25th June - TIME : 7.00pm – 9.00pm
VENUE: Leicester LGBT Centre, 15 Wellington St. Leicester LE1 6HH

50/50 Vote in favour of Equal Marriage from local MPs

The gay marriage bill has managed to survive the latest attempts to derail it.

Labour MPs joined Liberal Democrats and pro equal marriage Conservatives to vote against an amendment tabled by Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham.

The amendment would have extended civil partnerships to heterosexual couples and, although many people were fundamentally in agreement with this, it was seen as a way of derailing the process, by means of delay.

The next big threat will be in the Lords, where many peers are opposed to the legislation, however, with the amount of votes in favour (366 to 161) last night it will be much harder to block the bill.

Here is how our local MP's voted in regards to the equal marriage bill:

AGAINST

Bosworth – David Tredinnick Conservative

Harborough – Edward Garnier, Conservative

Loughborough – Nicky Morgan, Conservative

North West Leicestershire – Andrew Bridgen, Conservative

South West Leicestershire – Andrew Robathon, Conservative

FOR

Charnwood – Stephen Dorrell, Conservative

Leicester East – Keith Vaz, Labour

Leicester South – Jon Ashworth, Labour

Leicester West – Elizabeth Kendall, Labour

Rutland and Melton – Alan Duncan, Conservative