Roll up, roll up for week five of GCN’s In And Out Digital Festival of LGBT+ Creativity! As this necessary period of lockdown and social distancing continues, we’re here to help the community stay connected – and have fun while we do it.

All of the amazing events will be live-streamed from Facebook directly into your homes, so keep an eye out and enjoy!

As we enter week five, we want to say a special thank you to all of you who have tuned in and supported us, be that through our support page or by simply clicking like. We appreciate your support and hope that our In And Out Digital Festival of LGBT+ Creativity is helping you through these challenging times.

So what can you expect this week?!

Tuesday 7pm – Ireland’s LGBT+ Diaspora with Dr Mary McAuliffe and Margo Gorman

Continuing our series of Town Hall Talks, our host Dr Mary McAuliffe is joined by the writer and activist Margo Gorman for a fascinating conversation about emigrating to the UK in the 1970’s, becoming involved in with Lesbian and Gay activists in Lancaster, and working on one of the first gay magazines in the UK – Outcome.

Margo will talk about identities, silences, histories, communities, and introduce us to her writing, including the books Bone and Blood: A Berlin Novel and Michel-Michelle.

Wednesday 7pm – Drag And Draw Online with Bonnie Ann Clyde

Run by Adrian Colwell, Drag and Draw is a one-of-a-kind life drawing class with drag performers as models! Very suitable for drawing beginners, they also give experienced artists the opportunity to draw a very untypical life drawing model – think more sass! 

For this online session, the fabulous Bonnie Ann Clyde will be posing and performing. Bonnie will be joined by the mega talented Ailbhe O’Connor who will be leading the class. There’ll be lip-syncs, fast-paced drawing exercises and some audience interaction. Grab whatever drawing materials you have at home and join in!

Drag and Draw is heavily committed to accessibility and inclusivity. There will be Irish Sign Language interpreters available.

Thursday 7pm – In The Kitchen with Gar Cox’s Lockdown Radio

Take the best of both worlds and, fittingly, putting them in a mixing pot, the magnetic Gar Cox will combine cookery and folk music for an evening of unmissable entertainment.

Singer songwriter Gar will draw on a lifetime of adventures and misadventures, and on influences from country to disco as he regales you with tales, cooks and sings.

Humorous but sincere, incisive but kind-hearted, Gar’s songs come above all from a love of people, the stories they tell, and the lives they lead. Gar has been throwing his lockdown radio do’s twice a week, with cake, cookies, soups and stews, Joni Mitchell songs, or songs to cry to or sing along to. And we’re delighted he’ll be sharing an evening with us!

As a registered charity with a not-for-profit business model, the coming months will challenging but with your help, we’ll get through this together. If you like what we do here at GCN, you can support us from as little as €1.99 a month.

If you are an LGBT+ creative or ally and would like to be part of our In And Out Digital Festival of LGBT+ Creativity get in touch at [email protected]. If you would like to support Ireland’s LGBT+ press by sponsoring one or some of the events email [email protected].

Stay safe xx