PRIDE in London 2014 Campaign

It’s time to get your hashtags out!

Pride In London – the organisation that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community in London have unveiled this years theme ahead of the Pride festival which runs from June 22^nd – 29^th with the fabulous parade on the 28^th.

The theme last year was Love and Marriage in support of the Equal Marriage Bill which was going through, but this year in light of the goings on in Russia and Uganda, freedom and equality is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and the theme is #FreedomTo

Michael Salter, the chair of Pride in Britain says “#FreedomTo is a celebration of our capital’s brilliant diversity, but it’s also an opportunity to recognise that there is still so much work to do to win true freedom for everyone – not just in London, but around the world”

He also said the theme “can be interpreted however you want” and the organisers are asking people to hold up posters saying #FreedomTo and whatever freedom means to them, across various social media to bring awareness to the theme and to Pride.

There has already been lots of hashtagging support from some high-profile people including Graham Norton, Louie Spence and Sir Ian McKellan.

What does freedom mean to you? Join in the campaign and upload your hashtags to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and you could be in with a chance to be part of Pride in London’s first advertising campaign on the tubes and buses next month.

Laverne Cox covers TIME Magazine

Actor and activist Laverne Cox made history by becoming the first transgender person to appear on the cover of America’s influential TIME magazine, last week. Cox, who is best known for her role as Sophia Burset in the brilliant Netflix series Orange Is The New Black, is the first transgender black woman to appear in a popular television series and has used her fame to bring attention to the trans community. In her interview, Cox says, “There’s not just one trans story. There’s not just one trans experience” and talks about the misunderstanding and discrimination that trans people often face. There was outrage and substantial backlash, understandably, when Laverne was left off of the TIMES 100 Most Influential people list this April, especially after heaps of reader support, but the cover and feature story will go a way to make it up to her and the trans women to whom she is a role model.

We think she’s fabulous! Orange Is The New Black series 2 is back on Netflix on June 6^th and we can’t wait!

As written for LGBT Jigsaw

As written for 

Orange Is The New Black season 2

I don't think anyone could possibly be more excited than I am!

Tomorrow will be all about a glass of wine and getting stuck in to season 2. Will anyone be joining me?

Eat: Earlham Street Clubhouse

Nineties nostalgia, pizzas and cocktails - Earlham Street Clubhouse down in Covent Garden excels at them all.
As soon as I arrived I felt like an American college student, the entire building is designed to look like a frat house and the attention to detail is immense; Nineties advertising images, a jukebox, college sports team paraphernalia and some random objects like a mermaid. Everybody remembers stealing random stuff like traffic cones and cafe signs to bring back to their student digs after a drunken freshers night so this felt fully authentic. You didn't do that at uni? Oh. Just me and my uni pals then, who I happened to attend Earlham Street Clubhouse with. My friends and I are dubbed 'Group A' and we are kind of our own version of a sorority without an annoying 'kappa gamma bamma boo' song.

We started at the bar where the drinks menus hang from the ceiling (we broke at least two of these...ooops!)

All of the cocktails are named after or reference 90's films and culture. I don't think I need to even say how excited this made me! The drinks are specially designed by award winning cocktail guys Soulshakers and offer a 'modern touch on many classics'.

I started with a Cruel Intentions (love that film) and the others had Heather's Revenge, Milky Bar Kid and Rolling With The Homies (Clueless!)

We headed to our booth which are cute, darkly lit nooks with phones to call the other tables. Dreamphone anyone?

All that's on the menu is pizza. Well if you're sick at one thing why bother with anything else?

Any ideas what gassed me about the menu?
We all decided to Ross and Rachel (WE WERE ON A BREAK!!!) and go half and half on 20" pizzas - between 6 we ordered everything on the menu. We managed to fit the huge wooden slabs that housed the pizzas on our table, no easy task with all our cocktails!

I had an American Beauty; thin crispy base, gooey cheese, delicate shavings of grilled aubergine and courgette and peppers. The Plain Jane was a simple classic - not too dry, not too tomatoey.

There were no complaints from the meat eaters either...

The cocktails and chatter kept flowing for so long we didn't have the time or space to try the Crodough, the very latest in food hybrids...but I will next time!

Even the toilets are plastered with yearbook photos of celebrities when they were young, I wish I'd got a photo of those!
The music was in keeping with the theme and actually incredible - we rocked out to Sisqo Thong Song, The Fugees Ready or Not and Bobby Brown Two Can Play That Game among others

Shanika Says - there are only 7 booths so I'd advise booking especially if you plan to go on a Friday or Saturday or in a large group.
Oh and you are never too old to mess about on the phones.