LGBTQI+ History PlayAre you interested in taking part? Do you have a story to tell? Click on this image to find out more. Contact details: ComeYewOut@protonmail.com
On another note, you may wish to participate in ‘A Journey Of Gender for Trans Day Of Visibility‘. If anyone is interested in sending in video clips of poems, reading a story, or saying something positive about their journey with their gender, find out more on Facebook here:
We are sure it will be no surprise to you to read that Norwich Pride will not happen on 25th July 2020. At least not in the format we all love. There will be no stalls, no march and no city centre entertainment on the day. We understand this will be a disappointment to our wonderful LGBT+ community and supportive allies, however, we do not think it is responsible to make demands on the local authorities, our volunteers, emergency services and other key partners at this difficult time. Our priority as organisers, who are all volunteers, is to re-focus our energies on self-care, and supporting our families, friends, and neighbours. We all have more pressing priorities right now due to the Covid-19 crisis.
We are facing an unprecedented time with lots of uncertainty and many lost opportunities to get together and celebrate. But we also know that Norwich is a unique place, and our reaction to this situation will also be unique. We therefore want to share some of our ideas to ensure a celebration of our community can take place, even if not face-to-face. We can begin some of these ideas now!
Creating a Virtual Pride
• Create a rainbow trail of flags and posters in every street across Norwich and share photos online so LGBT+ people know we are not alone.
• Work with local radio stations to ensure our voices are heard.
• Fly the rainbow flag across the city on the 25th July
• Keep sharing virtual events and ideas to connect people over the next few months
• Consider some kind of gathering (if allowed) later in 2020 and consider how we can support our local LGBT+ venues
Jo Caulfield, Chair of Norwich Pride 2020 said – ‘Norwich is great place to live and the LGBT+ people who live here inspire us every day. We want to ensure Norwich Pride is visible and present for our community. We want to help us all get through this. Please share your ideas by emailing us info@norwichpride.org.uk .’
Thank you to the LGBT+ organisations and our allies who have already shown solidarity and support by signing and sharing our Norwich Pride Pledge. Please continue to do this, as the spirit of Norwich Pride lives on.
Our mission is unchanged, we want to ensure that we live in a city where everyone can feel safe and proud to be themselves.
Hello everyone, how are you coping? In our normal pre-coronavirus lives we would have been planning for the Saturday’s Oasis meeting and trying outfits which were tri-coloured.
How British life has changed in the last few weeks! I suppose we saw it coming, but like all of us thought it wouldn’t involve us.
I know a few weeks ago I spend time, each night, looking at Public Health England website and seeing how the virus was spreading across the country, but NOT in Norfolk. Why was that? Was it because most people lived further from each other? Was it because half of Norfolk consisted of a coastline. Of course it was short lived, and cases started to appear. Now we are in double figures.
Of course it been really hard social distancing. Just a fortnight previous I was due to go out for a meal and theatre visit to the end of the pier theatre, in Cromer, with my good friend Vicky, to see Funny Girls. We saw them on their home turf in Blackpool probably many years ago, and it was to be their first tour.
Alas, with many theatres closing their doors and cancelling shows it wasn’t long before I got my corvid-19 email from the box office.
I am very lucky because I can dress at home, but I know there are many who are unable to express themselves at home. This will be a very stressful time for them. If you need to chat contact us an I will connect you with someone who has offered to help.
I know many of our ladies that attend Oasis are also in the venerable group and will probably be spending a lot more time at home. Partners may like that, having their other halves back to do all those jobs around the house and garden which they promised they would do, but never did.
I remember all those years when I was a closet cross-dressers, desperate to go out and be proud. So with social distancing I suppose I shall become one again, dressing more at home, in the garden and walks out. (but remember – only one a day!)
I did hear that if kids are off school for too long then the parents will have developed the vaccine before the scientists!
So here is a round up of what some of our ladies have been doing in this forced isolation.
What are you doing?
I’ve managed to get the last delivery from my local building firm before the shut down so I can get all the garden jobs done. Then I start on the house.
I suppose if you want to dress to go for those essential errands consider doing what was on social media at the beginning of this epidemic. (any plastic bucket will do!)
With the likelihood of no meeting in the foreseeable future are you interested in writing something to go in a post? A note about how your coping with social distancing, or what Oasis means to you. If you do contact us here, or add your comments at the bottom of this post.
Beccie
For details about Covid-19 and Oasis meetings click here
Hi everyone,
I thought it would be a good idea to update you all on Oasis matters.
We are experiencing a difficult time which is likely to last for several months. The March Oasis is cancelled and I have today cancelled our visit by M and Co as the April meeting will also not go ahead. This means we will not be able to update our summer wardrobes, but then, we won’t be going anywhere anyway. I hope I can rearrange M and Co in time for the autumn and winter fashions.
We will have to watch developments before a decision is made about the May meeting but check the website for updates.
I can reassure you that we will not have to pay for the hall whilst Oasis is suspended.
The information I posted earlier on novel covid19 is now well out of date and so I attach the latest from NHS England. I’m sure you are well aware of the recommendations but I publish them here just in case. Many of us fall into the categories of over 70 or at risk through medical conditions and it is imperative we follow the advice in respect of both self-isolating and social distancing.
One area of confusion has been misinformation about the use of anti-inflammatories (such as ibruprofen) in conjunction with paracetamol. NHS advice has recently changed and the recommendations to treat the symptoms of coronavirus are now to take paracetamol but not ibruprofen, unless you are already prescribed ibruprofen for existing conditions.
The next few months will be a difficult time for everyone. For transgender people it might add a further layer of difficulty. For those who are unable to express themselves at home it will be a stressful time and I would urge you to contact Oasis through the website. We can then make contact by phone or email.
I’m sorry I can’t make this message any more cheerful, but these are bleak times for us. Stay strong and well and I hope to see you all back at St George’s Hall as soon as it is possible to do so.
Serena
Studies suggest that most people who transition to another gender do not have second thoughts. But after two trans men met and fell in love, their personal gender journeys took an unexpected turn, to a destination neither had foreseen.
“I always felt we have a very special history. We have special bodies, and a special connection based on the physical experience we had.”
Ellie is 21 and Belgian. Her German partner, Nele, is 24. Both took testosterone to become more masculine, and they had their breasts removed in double mastectomy surgery. Now they have detransitioned, and live again as female – the gender they were assigned at birth.
“I’m very happy I didn’t have a hysterectomy,” reflects Nele. “It means I can stop taking hormones, and my body will return to looking feminine.”
Last year, they both made the decision to end their use of testosterone and start using the female pronouns “she” and “her” again. Slowly their own natural oestrogen has begun to re-feminise their bodies.
Click on the image or this link to find out more.
To listen to two episodes of the She2He2She series click on this link.
