Homophobia is gay: Dykes Motorbikes

This week my son aged 12 came back from school with a badge on.

HOMOPHOBIA IS GAY.

Its not just me I am sure. Who on earth thought that one up?

Ok so there could have been a 'good' heart behind it, really though a backhanded attempt is no attempt at all. To change homophobia in schools is going to have to take a little more thought than that.

Give me strenght!

So I'm going to let you know a little more about me.....

Dykes on Bikes.
Sappho Riders
Lesbians loose on motorbikes.

However you say it bikes are a passion a joy and a cheaper way of getting around.
My new Suzuki SV650 S is practical for motorway travel and general packing in the miles.

My Serrow is joy....she grunts and throbs just how i like it. She goes off road into the woods and mud, she zips down ditches and whizzes up slopes with me, she loves the wet and adores dry, oh! she is the one bike I think I will have to look after in her old age, no rest home for her.

I just love to ride and simple things like, putting my fingers on the throttle and taking an easy but determined grasp of the power that the bike has to offer.

The buffer of wind as I ride.

LGBT History is a passion and riding bikes is a joy.

The Intercom Trust, Heritage project presents;

Painting in the Picture

A hands-on, free, workshop for, lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender communities, their families and friends.
Saturday 29 September ExeterSaturday 20 October Taunton
10 A.M. – 4 P.M.

Everyday across the SW Peninsula people are working to conserve and celebrate the stories, places and events of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people that shaped our communities.

The intercom trust can advise groups, organisations and individuals on identifying, protecting and promoting cultural lgbt heritage.
The fact that so little has been conserved is testament to the invisibility of an otherwise rich, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender heritage.

LGBT Heritage brings unparalleled passion and dedication to finding solutions, to discovering and conservation of our ‘uncloseted rarities’. Cultural LGBT Heritage resources will inspire current and future generations.
So don’t miss out!
Visit our website at: http://www.intercomtrust.org.uk




Sarah Stephenson
Heritage Project coordinator
The Intercom Trust
Phone (01392) 678743
sarah@intercomtrust.org.uk

Archive: LGB/T Web pages

Ok! so there you are, you have spent years getting a web site together. What happens if it all goes, or you make changes?

Information is lost.

For lesbian, gay, bi and trans people the web is first point of contact. It offers news advice, guidance, dating, volunteer opportunities, forums, so on and so on, BUT has it always?

When was the first gay web site, the first lesbian web site. When did you first launch your web site and how much has it changed?

It is time to think about archiving web sites.

I know there are hundreds, thousands even, of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender web sites here and across the world.

Who is recording and archiving them all?

Try out this site and see just what a nightmare web site archiving is!

http://web.archive.org/collections/pioneers.html

OK so how on earth do we archive a web site.

This is the sort of thing that archivist's across the country are having nightmares about.

Two options Print it off, page by page on good quality paper, using good quality ink...........................................or................................................but what about links?

Putting it on a CD ROM or a DVD.

There is a problem with Cd's and DVDs. technology is changing so fast and in so many directions.

Consider when computers where simple machines/basic games consoles, computers would not have been able to read the information on a CD or DVD.

The floppy disk drive has become a recordable medium which is now becoming increasingly hard to open and read.

So what does that leave us with ?

Print the whole lot

There is nothing wrong with putting your wed sites pages on a disc, such as CD or DVD, however do try to print off the most important pages and you wont go far wrong.

You may like to think about archiving on a national archive site. Let me know if you should find a UK based web archive.

Happy archiving!

Archiving Photographs lesbian, gay, bisexul and trangender

Archiving and caring for your photographs.

How many photo's have you got in a box under the bed? have you ever thought that they might be of interest to someone who is researching a subject, culture, people or event?

No! well now is the time.

So what might you have?

There is the general photograph and negative.

Polaroids

Slides

And that old dusty black and white from before the digital age.

All of these photos are worth conceiving. Over time they will show a significant heritage both for you and your family and for wider communities.

So what do we do to help them last the tests of time?

Photographs, negatives and slides all want to be kept in cool dark places with good ventilation.

Is the attic or the cellar a good place?

No not really. If it is the best you can do then just keep them from the walls and areas where damp could reach them.

A room that doesn't get to hot or cold away from walls which can become damp etc.

Always always whenever you are doing anything in the line of archiving, WASH YOUR HANDS!

Avoid wherever possible using anything other than soft pencils on your photos.

Avoid at all times photo albums that have sticky surfaces.

Try to avoid cellotape, staples, paper clips or rubber bands.

If you are going to use a photograph try if you can to photocopy it. It preserves the original and allows you to make mistakes which will not damage the originals.

Enjoy your pix and let me know what you have in a shoe box. Photo's of gay prides maybe, first girlfriend or picture of a women's room?