Girls just wanna have fun …and go Out on the Dock

Planet London is taking to the docks and looking forward to seeing you in the vaults on the Ground Floor of the Tobacco Dock this Saturday. It's the SummerRites 'Out on the Dock' event and our stand will be open from 12pm - 8pm (after that the party continues to midnight)...

Summer Rites, supported by Smirnoff, have joined forces with established lesbian event organisers Nicola Chubb and Rebecca Paisis – known for a wide range of events on the scene, including CODE, One Love, Winter Pride and the infamously glam MINT nights to bring the LGBT community Out on the Dock - one of this summer’s biggest, most diverse LGBT festivals. 

We all know that feeling of getting excited about that hyped up LGBT festival, only to turn up and be faced with masses of gyrating gay men and a ridiculously cramped area for the ladies. You also don’t need to worry about the wrath of the unpredictable British summer as Out on the Dock has both covered and open air areas for you to shake it like it hot - no matter what the weatherman says…

Now don’t get me wrong, every LGBT festival needs a hearty dose of hip-grinding pretty boys (work it baby!), yet I know you hear me when I say that these fabulously frivolous festivals need a heck of a load more fun-loving females. Out on the Dock promises to be pleasingly girl-heavy and brings together a number of well known LBQ event organisers and DJs to get it on for the girls. 

There will be over 30 world class brands coming together in 10 humongous arenas, including Bootilicious and luscious latin club Exilio, as well as massive reunion names performing, such as Love Muscle, Trade, DTPM, Crash, Hazell Dean and the splendid sexy songstress Sinitta – for all you rampant ravers of the 90s and early 2000s.
I am loving the fact that us girls will have a whole arena to ourselves, as well as the swanky MINT champagne and cocktail bar, so we can mingle with like-minded ladies and strut our sassy stuff after a bout of energetic dancing with the festival-going masses.

With perk-abundant VIP tickets, thrifty student tickets, reduced-price key worker tickets and general tickets available, there is no good excuse not to join me for one of the most diverse LGBT festivals of the year - and show the guys exactly how we like to party.

Tickets, from £20, can be purchased from this Link https://www.summerritesevents.com/  (or get yourself a VIP ticket for just £60 which includes food and drink all night!)

DIVE INTO A SPRING FLING

Out to Swim celebrates women in May with free introductory sessions across a range of disciplines

Out To Swim (OTS) is proud to be offering a range of activities and events in May especially for women who swim, or who want to swim more.

May will celebrate OTS’s female members, and open the doors to encourage more women to get in the pool. New female members will be able to participate in a range of activities, from beginners and improvers lessons to coached swimming, synchronised swimming and water polo. For these activities we offer free taster sessions (one free session for lessons, three free sessions for all other activities).

OTS member Alex Davis says “During the past eight years with OTS I've taken part in synchro demonstrations, played water polo, competed in swimming competitions all over the world and had innumerable cakes, dinners and celebrations with fellow team members. I can’t recommend the club enough to any women looking to improve their fitness, take part in new challenges and make some great friends in the process.”

OTS will also be hosting lots of women's events this month, starting with drinks on Thursday 8th May at OTS’s new monthly Women's event. The month will end with a big celebration on the 31st May, which will include a free fun swim with club swimmers past and present and a party. 

The swimming offer

• Beginners Lessons Programme offering one of the best programmes for adults in the country, with four groups of varying ability to suit every level
• Qualified, experienced, award winning teachers to guide you through all the skills to build your swimming strength and fitness
• Coached swimming sessions for club level and competitive swimmers to improve fitness and technique (indoor all year, open water during summer months)
• Water Polo sessions to introduce to and develop skills in this team sport
• Synchronised swimming sessions to improve technique and core strength

Come along for your first swim on a Sunday night or to the women's session on a Thursday night to be sure of an extra warm welcome!

Sunday 7-8pm - Queen Mother Sports Centre

223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, Victoria, London, SW1V 1EL

• New Members
• Swimming Lessons
• Development
• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3

5.45-7.15pm - Queen Mother Sports Centre

• Synchronised Swimming Coached Session

6.45-7.45pm - Marshall Street Leisure Centre

• 15 Marshall Street, London, W1F 7EL
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

Monday

7-8.30pm - The Serpentine Lido (registration from 6:30pm)  Hyde Park, London, W2 2UH

• 2nd June until 8th September ( you must register with OTS and SwimforTri )

7-8.30pm - Queen Mother Sports Centre  223 Vauxhall Bridge Road, Victoria, London, SW1V 1EL

• Synchronised Swimming Coached Session

7.30-8.30pm - Oasis Leisure Centre  32 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9AG

• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

8-9pm Impulse Leisure - Wadurs  Kingston Broadway, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN43 6TE

• Out to Swim South, Two Lanes

Tuesday 8-9pm - University of London Union Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY

• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

Wednesday 8.30-9.30pm - Prince Regent Swimming Complex Church Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1YA

• Two Coached Lanes

8-9pm - Orchard Lisle Swimming Pool At Guys Basement of Wolfson House, Weston Street, London, SE1 3RB

• Development
• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

9-10pm - Porchester Baths Queensway, Bayswater W2 5HS

• Coached Waterpolo Session
• Intermediate & Advanced Members Only

Thursday 7-8pm - Oasis Sports Centre - Short Distance 32 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9AG

• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

7-8pm - Orchard Lisle Swimming Pool At Guys - Open Water Long Distance  Basement of Wolfson House, Weston Street, London, SE1 3RB

• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

8.00pm - Oasis Sports Centre 32 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9AG

• Main Club (1-4) Women’s Lane
• Mixed Development

Friday 8-9.30pm - Marshall Street Leisure Centre 15 Marshall Street, London, W1F 7EL

• Development
• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

8-9pm - Porchester Baths Queensway, Bayswater W2 5HS

• o Coached Waterpolo Session
• o Open to all ability levels

Saturday 5-6pm - University of London Union Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY

• Main Club Group 4
• Main Club Group 3
• Main Club Group 2
• Main Club Group 1

5-6pm - Roedean Independent School, Rodean Way, Brighton, BN2 5RQ

• Three Coached Lances
• One Instructor-led Lessons Lane

6-7pm - University of London Union Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HY

• Waterpolo Coached Session

6.45-7.45pm - Marshall Street Leisure Centre 15 Marshall Street, London, W1F 7EL

• Lessons

For more information, including full details of what OTS offer and session times, visit http://www.outtoswim.org/women/ or email ots.swim@gmail.com

Planet London 4 "SHE 4 ME"

**UPDATE** 3 May 2014


The SHE4ME video has reached over 265,000 views!

It has been selected to play at the California Women's Conference with a cast Q&A as well! The Creative Expressions Concert series, showcasing performing artists including Mary Lambert, will be streamed live online. The Marriage Equality USA sanctioned “Love Is Love” PSA set to Jen Foster’s SHE will be officially included in the program for Tuesday 20th May.  Also part of the program will be a live Q & A with the multiple award-winning writer/director Nicole Conn, Jane Wishon (Board President of Marriage Equality USA) and some of the cast members from SHE4ME including Mike C Manning (Disney), Gabrielle Christian (South Of Nowhere) and Traci Dinwiddie (Elena Undone).  More names expected to be announced closer to the event. To purchase tickets to the concert series visit: http://goo.gl/ynTR5k


Here are Planet London, we are standing up and supporting our US LGBT family, as well as all of our LGBT brothers and sisters around the world who aren't as lucky as we are now here in the UK, to say NOW is the time for same-sex marriage to be legal EVERYWHERE.

Some very creative folk who you will have heard of in their fields of music and film, collaborated to create SHE 4 ME, a public service announcement (PSA) as a new music video to an updated version of Jen Foster's 'She'. 

Watch & Share the video: (@SHE_4_ME #LoveIsLove)

 
Mary Dawson from the campaign tells us just why it's so important...

The present atmosphere surrounding marriage equality in the United States is thick with anticipation.  Since the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rulings striking down California's Proposition 8 and the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), there are seventeen states (plus Washington, DC) actively and legally marrying their citizens.  In the shadow of SCOTUS on DOMA, federal district judges have declared the state marriage bans of Utah, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Texas unconstitutional according to the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.  

Mary has written a very detailed and eloquent blog on the current position in the USA:  http://mindschmootz.net/2014/02/usa-4me/

The SHE 4 ME lead cast

The impact on the gay community is significant. It's a very different position to the UK where one national government-driven legal change does the job for everyone. Instead it's a fight one state at a time. As Mary writes...
I can’t begin to speak for the gay community as a whole, but for me, there are a myriad of emotions.  At one moment I am in awe at the pace in which this change is occurring.  At the next moment, I am scared to death of the pace in which this change is occurring. The American Supreme Court is a majority conservative court and often split their rulings 5-4. Avoidance is no longer an option for these justices, so as early as next year, full equality for same-sex couples could be determined by the law of the land and not by the fortune of geography.

On the role of Arts & Music influencing politics & society, Mary surmises...
How can the arts & music community influence politics & society? I don’t have to tell you about the long history of the arts making political statements.  Shakespeare is the first to come to mind in regard to political theater.  In the history of the United States, music has been used as anthems of solidarity for decades.  From the spirituals of the Antebellum South, to the lunch counters of the segregated 1960s, music has been the common chorus of overcoming the inequities imposed by a less than moral majority. 

And marriage equality doesn't mean that everyone will run out and get married straight away. Everyone involved in the SHE 4 ME project is taking part for their own reasons:
There are probably as many different answers to this question as there are people involved.  For me, it’s all about choice.  The legal protections notwithstanding, marriage is not for everyone.  Do I want to get married?  The prospects of wearing that Carolina Herrera gown I saw the other day makes me say, hell yeah.  I don’t know, but it sure is nice to have the choice, now isn’t it?

Why don't you check out our series of interviews with the stars and producers of the SHE 4 ME music video?

• Video review
• Nicole Pacent
• Jen Foster
• Nicole Conn
• Barbara Niven
• Cathy Debuono
• Guinevere Turner (to come)

By Katie