}
OH438 Interview with Daryn Carter (OutStories Bristol)
Please note this is not a full complete transcript but a detailed summary of the recording
Born in Germany, 9 March 1982. Daryn Carter [DC]. Has mental block about early life: had unhappy childhood, ran away to London at 16. His parents divorced when he was two. Has one brother who stayed with father; DC stayed with mother and didn’t find out about brother’s existence until he was 17yo. Moved around a lot as child: born in Germany, moved to USA then around UK, settling in Surrey, at Redhill near Reigate.
[00:01:59] Came “bursting out the closet” at 16. Had been fat child, lost seven stone aged of 16 and gained confidence. Felt able to change his life and leave family home.
[00:02:50] “As someone who knew he was gay at that age, and beforehand, I knew that I could go and find people in London and I knew that I could go out and be amongst friends, and be safe. That’s all I wanted to do was to go and meet people and have friends.” In 1996/7 started going to London. Found it easy to find gay places so he visited bars, chatted to barmen and their friends and boys handing out flyers for G.A.Y. [London club, then at Falconberg Court, Soho]. Sometimes he couldn’t get into the bars because he was too young. He spent a lot of time on Old Compton Street [Soho, London].
[00:04:15] Describes Old Compton St on Saturday nights: very busy, always raining, more gay bars in 1996 than in 2012. There were lots of small gay bars and bars that welcomed gay people.
[00:05:00] Describes fashions at time: Story about someone at Heaven [London nightclub, Villiers St, Charing Cross] ripping his adidas trousers off him. People wore shell suits and bright colours. Some wore chaps.
[00:05:05] Describes bars on Old Compton St: Admiral Duncan and Comptons catered to older people. Ku Bar [on Charing Cross Rd] for younger crowd: he spent a lot of time there. Describes London as lonely place, gay scene often cliquey. At the time he was living in Surrey and travelling to and from London, staying with friends or sleeping on streets or Leicester Square tube station.
[00:07:32] He moves to a room in Notting Hill [area of London]. Describes flat as awful, above a tattoo parlour. Describes flat. He paid around £10 a week rent. Story about borrowing money off landlord and recently trying to pay him back.
[00:08:30] He found moving to London a positive experience because when he lived in Surrey his gay life was lived out in London.
[00:08:42] “I didn’t have any gay friends. I didn’t know anyone who was gay.” Story about one boy he knew who was gay, who worked in shopping centre. DC would hang around him as often as possible.
[00:09:27] Describes Notting Hill flat. Many gay people coming and going. He didn’t know many of them, apart from a man called Michael and his friend Shane, whom DC dated at the age of 17. He wouldn’t class him as his first boyfriend: he had other relationships before. Describes looking at diary from that time and seeing how quickly relationships moved on: two months was a long relationship. He was still at school although living in London flat.
[00:11:20] Describes life at an all-boys school
[00:11:40] “I was bullied for being gay before I even knew that I was gay, really”. DC’s schoolwork was stolen, he was pushed and called names. He had a lonely time. He moved to a further education college to take A-levels. Found it easier because there were girls and he was out of the closet. Describes wearing ‘Soho-style’ clothes in a Surrey village. He had a close group of friends, although there were still some bullies.
[00:13:41] “At an end of year awards ceremony, I was voted ‘Campest Person’. I think everyone had a good laugh at it and thought it was really funny but you know, to me that was still a bit upsetting – even though I probably am really camp!”
[00:14:00] College was very understanding about him living in London and that his home life was unhappy. Sometimes he slept at the college. He applied to universities and chose Westminster, because wanted to stay in London. He rented a room with a friend then moved into student house in Seven Sisters [area of North London].
[00:15:50] He wasn’t particularly out at university and there was no LGBT society but he had his own gay friends, so it wasn’t important. At the age of 18 or 19, while he started working as temp and got a job at the BBC, where stayed until end of degree and then got a permanent job. He worked in children’s TV and as researcher. Story about the celebrities he met.
[00:17:40] Describes relationship with a man called Simon, which he wasn’t enjoying. Story about how he met his next boyfriend David whom he was with for nearly 10 years.
[00:18:59] David got a job in Bristol in 2001. Initially they maintained a long-distance relationship until he got a job at BBC Bristol. Describes job.
[00:19:58] Describes transition of moving from London to Bristol as a culture shock. Describes differences between Bristol and London, including smaller gay scene. Lists Bristol gay clubs of a decade before: Vibes, Queen Shilling, Old Market Tavern, Pineapple.
[00:20:50] Joins Bristol University LGBT society. Describes Thursday’s student night at the Queen Shilling [Bristol night club]. He thinks Bristol is smaller and less varied than London and describes what he misses in London, e.g. Chinatown, diverse gay scene.
[00:21:33] “The diversity of music […] places like Popstarz [London Club] I missed, Shinky Shonky [London club] I missed it with such a passion when I came down here. I really would love to see something like that in Bristol.”
[00:21:54] Recording paused while he gets out some badges and souvenirs of his time in London.
[00:21:58] RUSTLING SOUND IN BACKGROUND.
[00:22:18] Describes club Shinky Shonky. Story about Boogaloo Stu, who hosted the night and also hosted Bristol Pride in 2010 and 2011. Story about badges that were given out at the club.
[00:24:40] Compares Pineapple/Queen Shilling to Shinky Shonky.
[00:24:47] “I guess it depends what you want to get out of going clubbing. Do you want to meet people? If so, then that stays the same. You still get to meet people. But I guess it was the music I missed and just knowing that if I wanted to have an indie night I had somewhere to go. This was before places like Wonky [Bristol club night].”
[00:25:12] David had been in Bristol longer so DC adopted by his group of friends. Describes importance of Bristol Uni LGBT society for meeting people. Pleased to be allowed to join although he was not a student and never went to Bristol Uni. Describes events LGBT society involved in: clubbing events; coffee meetings; bowling; talks; he mainly went clubbing with them. Describes the places they met.
[00:26:56] “We used to shag tags on a Thursday there. You get given a number as you go in. Trailer Trash used to host the night. You get given your number as you go in and then people could write on a piece of paper a message to you and write your number on the front then stick it on a board. We used to have great fun setting up our friends and writing them anonymous messages from people that we’d seen.” [27’43”]
Discusses LGBT society’s membership: mainly students and people who had graduated but was open to anyone who wanted to join. He is still involved in it although the nature of his involvement changed: initially was social, now involved in Pride and other events.
[00:28:53] Describes how he got involved in Pride in 2009. He was asked to get involved as part of the committee by Anna Rutherford and Amy Wilson. He was asked to join because of his involvement in the scene and not because he was promoting any particular LGBT events at time.
[00:30:41] “It was still quite a challenge. There was a lot to overcome for the 2010 event and I think that’s really the stigma of ‘old Pride’. I think whenever you said ‘Pride’ to someone, they’d go ‘Oh yeah? That’ll never happen.” I think they’d got so used to people saying ‘We’re gonna do Pride!’ and it not happening…” Describes problems encountered from previous Prides and excitement of shaping the new event plus the challenges: no office, long hours, no pay.
[00:32:12] Describes visiting other Prides in UK. Describes Summer Rites [London gay festival] in 1999 and a gay event in Finsbury Park [in London] in 2000/2001, which was expensive.
[00:33:54] Story about visiting Brighton Pride.
[00:33:52] “I’d been to Brighton Pride as well […] that was just amazing […] for me, seeing so many gay people. Yeah, it was really, really good fun and that was something I wanted to try and put into Bristol’s, something like that.”
[00:34:38] Describes what is involved in putting Pride together.
[00:34:55] “It’s just a lot of things to think about. What do you put on? What do you do? Where do you get the money from for it? And that’s the main thing: where do you get the money for it? [….] It’s looking at sponsors really. That’s the key thing, going to sponsors to show what you do. There’s a lot of putting marketing packs together and trying to get photos and statistics. Trying to sell Pride to them, really, and trying to sell the benefits of it.” Describes way of selling Pride to sponsors. Story about friends getting weary of donating money when Pride took fundraising buckets around pubs and clubs of Bristol gay scene. Donors wanted to be certain that their money would make Pride happen but they were excited at prospect of it taking place. Bar owners were co-operative and wanted to get behind it. Pride 2010 took six months to organise: he describes problems of organising infrastructure. Pride 2010 took place in Castle Park, because of its location between Old Market and Frogmore St.
[00:39:59] Describes logistics involved including problems and practicalities encountered. Discusses costs involved and says that many were waived or reduced.
[00:41:00] Describes Bristol Council’s involvement in Pride.
[00:41:10] “They certainly see the benefit of doing a Pride event in terms of showcasing Bristol as a city that values equality and diversity but also for the economic value of it. You know, bringing people into the hotels, the shops and highlighting the culture and arts of Bristol.”
[00:42:15] Story about what it felt like on day of Pride 2010: good but stressful. Relaxation only began in evening.
[00:43: 12] Describes performers that day: Sonique; Bugaloo Stu; Le Gateau Chocolat – describes his act; Trailer Trash; Roofie T [?]; local acts and bands.
[00:44: 32] Talks about work involved after the event is over, e.g. accounts, paperwork. He also spent the time enjoying his freedom then began new job. Describes job. Stopped working in January 2011 and began planning Pride 2011. Worked on Pride by day and the cloakroom at Flamingo’s at night until 5am. He had split up with David by this point. Story about working in cloakroom.
[00:46:44] “You saw some shocking things. You know, you do get the drunk people, you get the sad people. And they’d always come and talk to me – I don’t know why. I’d be stuck on the door and someone would be telling me their woes. I feel quite empathic. If you tell me a really sad story I’ll probably start crying! It really affected me, hearing people’s stories.” He found working at the club a good way to talk to people about Pride but he found the hours gruelling and gave it up.
[00:47:33] Describes organising his second Pride in 2011. It seemed easier but there were economic challenges through recession, e.g. sponsors pulling out and having to find different ways of getting money. Still in Castle Park and not significantly scaled down despite recession.
[00:49:08] Describes personal reasons why Pride is so important to him.
[00:49:10 “Because of what I’d been through, kind of feeling lonely and not having that LGBT support when I was younger, having a really bad home life, so knowing how bad it can be for people, especially for young people, I think that for me is important. Every year you’ll get messages from people saying ‘you’ve finally made me feel okay to come out’”. He also loves doing it because it’s it fun. Describes his pride and excitement at making it happen.
[00:50:45] He hopes that Pride helps combat homophobia in Bristol: now many straight venues want to get involved and offer gay nights.
[00:51: 20] Describes experiencing homophobia in Bristol. Story about being abused on Whiteladies Rd. Describes feeling intimidated and leaving venues.
[00:52:25] “I remember one time just hearing someone talking about the fact that they’d seen some ‘fags’ out on the street and isn’t it disgusting, obviously doing it loud enough so you can hear it”.
[00:53:05] Talks about zero tolerance to discrimination being adopted by venues in Bristol and lists venues that have tried to attract gay customers. Describes the tolerant clientele at the Hatchet pub.
[00:54:49] V_013 asks how Pride 2012 and English Defence League march came to both take place on the same day. DC says the police said they weren’t aware Pride was happening that day. EDL claimed they wanted to march week after (Harbour Festival), and the cancelled St Paul’s Carnival was the week before. Pride was the “lesser of two evils”. He found out about the EDL march a couple of months before Pride. He thought people would be too scared to come to Pride and sponsors began raising issue. Black people said they wouldn’t come to city centre that day, and the university couldn’t promote it to students because of duty of care. He held crisis talks with sponsors and had to think about moving Pride route. The police asked him to move Pride from College Green to Clifton Downs.
[00:57: 30] Describes why Pride 2012 was held at College Green and not Castle Park: to save money and because it was a more accessible site – he stood ground against the police to keep it there. On the day, there were no incidents and he believes perhaps even more people came to support Pride because of EDL’s presence.
[00:58:36] Describes how Pride has evolved from being ‘gay pride’ to a celebration of diversity and equality. There were more BME and disabled people at 2012 event and he feels the EDL march may even have helped their participation.
[00:59:30] Describes what’s involved in planning a Pride march route. 2012’s route up Park Street made it difficult for older people/people with mobility issues. The route is chosen for visibility and safety reasons, after negotiating with police and council. Story about someone trying to drive around the march in a car.
[01:01:00] Describes reaction of Bristol people to march: families come and straight people come. He goes to many different Prides around the country to promote Bristol Pride. Story about visiting Birmingham Pride, the crowds watching parade and media interest there, compared to lack of this in Bristol. [01:02:13- clattering noise in background.] Would like to see more people coming to watch the parade in Bristol.
[01:02:35] He is now working on Pride 2013 and World AIDS Day event in December. Describes work he is putting into it, including finding a venue, as College Green too small. Events are already booked and many people are volunteering to get involved.
[01:03:53] Describes how people are recruited to get involved in Pride.
[01:04:40] Story about being invited to 10 Downing Street in 2011 for Pride organisers/LGBT charities. He recognised many people there from when he was a young man on the scene in London. Story about meeting David Cameron and his commenting on DC’s dyed blue hair. Ian McKellen [actor] was also there; story about previous time DC had met him.
[01:07:10] He is still in love with Bristol and sees the city changing and improving. [01:07:32] in answer to question ‘Do you think it’s becoming a more gay-friendly city?”] “Yeah, I do. I had to think about that one. I think stuff still happens and you still hear about homophobia. But no, it’s getting better. [VOICE CRACKS; COUGHS] Things are changing and things are becoming more exciting. There’s always something happening.” Describes cultural events around city that excite him. He still feels that Bristol has things to offer and he is very happy here.
GOLDEN QUOTES 00:02:50: “As someone who knew he was gay at that age, and beforehand, I knew that I could go and find people in London and I knew that I could go out and be amongst friends, and be safe. That’s all I wanted to do was to go and meet people and have friends.”
[00:08:42] “I didn’t have any gay friends. I didn’t know anyone who was gay.”
[00:11:40] “I was bullied for being gay before I even knew that I was gay, really”.
[00:13:41] “At an end of year awards ceremony, I was voted ‘Campest Person’. I think everyone had a good laugh at it and thought it was really funny but you know, to me, that was still a bit upsetting – even though I probably am really camp!”
[00:21:33] “The diversity of music […] places like Popstarz [London Club] I missed, Shinky Shonky [London club] I missed it with such a passion when I came down here. I really would love to see something like that in Bristol.”
[00:24:47] “I guess it depends what you want to get out of going clubbing. Do you want to meet people? If so, then that stays the same. You still get to meet people. But I guess it was the music I missed and just knowing that if I wanted to have an indie night I had somewhere to go. This was before places like Wonky.”
[00:26:56] “We used to shag tags on a Thursday there. You get given a number as you go in. Trailer Trash used to host the night. You get given your number as you go in and then people could write on a piece of paper a message to you and write your number on the front then stick it on a board. We used to have great fun setting up our friends and writing them anonymous messages from people that we’d seen.”
[00:30:41] “It was still quite a challenge. There was a lot to overcome for the 2010 event and I think that’s really the stigma of ‘old Pride’. I think whenever you said ‘Pride’ to someone, they’d go ‘Oh yeah? That’ll never happen.” I think they’d got so used to people saying ‘We’re gonna do Pride!’ and it not happening…”
[00:33:52] “I’d been to Brighton Pride as well […]that was just amazing […] for me, seeing so many gay people. Yeah, it was really, really good fun and that was something I wanted to try and put into Bristol’s, something like that.”
[00:34:55] “It’s just a lot of things to think about. What do you put on? What do you do? Where do you get the money from for it? And that’s the main thing: where do you get the money for it? [….] It’s looking at sponsors really. That’s the key thing, going to sponsors to show what you do. There’s a lot of putting marketing packs together and trying to get photos and statistics. Trying to sell Pride to them, really, and trying to sell the benefits of it.”
[00:41:10] “They certainly see the benefit of doing a Pride event in terms of showcasing Bristol as a city that values equality and diversity but also for the economic value of it. You know, bringing people into the hotels, the shops and highlighting the culture and arts of Bristol.”
[00:46:44] “You saw some shocking things. You know, you do get the drunk people, you get the sad people. And they’d always come and talk to me – I don’t know why. I’d be stuck on the door and someone would be telling me their woes. I feel quite empathic. If you tell me a really sad story I’ll probably start crying! It really affected me, hearing people’s stories.”
[00:49:10 Because of what I’d been through, kind of feeling lonely and not having that LGBT support when I was younger, having a really bad home life, so knowing how bad it can be for people, especially for young people, I think that for me is important. Every year you’ll get messages from people saying ‘you’ve finally made me feel okay to come out’”.
[00:52:25] “I remember one time just hearing someone talking about the fact that they’d seen some ‘fags’ out on the street and isn’t it disgusting, obviously doing it loud enough so you can hear it”.
[01:07:32] Do you think it’s becoming a more gay-friendly city? “Yeah, I do. I had to think about that one. I think stuff still happens and you still hear about homophobia. But no, it’s getting better. Things are changing and things are becoming more exciting. There’s always something happening.”
Born in Germany, 9 March 1982. Daryn Carter [DC]. Has mental block about early life: had unhappy childhood, ran away to London at 16. His parents divorced when he was two. Has one brother who stayed with father; DC stayed with mother and didn’t find out about brother’s existence until he was 17yo. Moved around a lot as child: born in Germany, moved to USA then around UK, settling in Surrey, at Redhill near Reigate.
[00:01:59] Came “bursting out the closet” at 16. Had been fat child, lost seven stone aged of 16 and gained confidence. Felt able to change his life and leave family home.
[00:02:50] “As someone who knew he was gay at that age, and beforehand, I knew that I could go and find people in London and I knew that I could go out and be amongst friends, and be safe. That’s all I wanted to do was to go and meet people and have friends.” In 1996/7 started going to London. Found it easy to find gay places so he visited bars, chatted to barmen and their friends and boys handing out flyers for G.A.Y. [London club, then at Falconberg Court, Soho]. Sometimes he couldn’t get into the bars because he was too young. He spent a lot of time on Old Compton Street [Soho, London].
[00:04:15] Describes Old Compton St on Saturday nights: very busy, always raining, more gay bars in 1996 than in 2012. There were lots of small gay bars and bars that welcomed gay people.
[00:05:00] Describes fashions at time: Story about someone at Heaven [London nightclub, Villiers St, Charing Cross] ripping his adidas trousers off him. People wore shell suits and bright colours. Some wore chaps.
[00:05:05] Describes bars on Old Compton St: Admiral Duncan and Comptons catered to older people. Ku Bar [on Charing Cross Rd] for younger crowd: he spent a lot of time there. Describes London as lonely place, gay scene often cliquey. At the time he was living in Surrey and travelling to and from London, staying with friends or sleeping on streets or Leicester Square tube station.
[00:07:32] He moves to a room in Notting Hill [area of London]. Describes flat as awful, above a tattoo parlour. Describes flat. He paid around £10 a week rent. Story about borrowing money off landlord and recently trying to pay him back.
[00:08:30] He found moving to London a positive experience because when he lived in Surrey his gay life was lived out in London.
[00:08:42] “I didn’t have any gay friends. I didn’t know anyone who was gay.” Story about one boy he knew who was gay, who worked in shopping centre. DC would hang around him as often as possible.
[00:09:27] Describes Notting Hill flat. Many gay people coming and going. He didn’t know many of them, apart from a man called Michael and his friend Shane, whom DC dated at the age of 17. He wouldn’t class him as his first boyfriend: he had other relationships before. Describes looking at diary from that time and seeing how quickly relationships moved on: two months was a long relationship. He was still at school although living in London flat.
[00:11:20] Describes life at an all-boys school
[00:11:40] “I was bullied for being gay before I even knew that I was gay, really”. DC’s schoolwork was stolen, he was pushed and called names. He had a lonely time. He moved to a further education college to take A-levels. Found it easier because there were girls and he was out of the closet. Describes wearing ‘Soho-style’ clothes in a Surrey village. He had a close group of friends, although there were still some bullies.
[00:13:41] “At an end of year awards ceremony, I was voted ‘Campest Person’. I think everyone had a good laugh at it and thought it was really funny but you know, to me that was still a bit upsetting – even though I probably am really camp!”
[00:14:00] College was very understanding about him living in London and that his home life was unhappy. Sometimes he slept at the college. He applied to universities and chose Westminster, because wanted to stay in London. He rented a room with a friend then moved into student house in Seven Sisters [area of North London].
[00:15:50] He wasn’t particularly out at university and there was no LGBT society but he had his own gay friends, so it wasn’t important. At the age of 18 or 19, while he started working as temp and got a job at the BBC, where stayed until end of degree and then got a permanent job. He worked in children’s TV and as researcher. Story about the celebrities he met.
[00:17:40] Describes relationship with a man called Simon, which he wasn’t enjoying. Story about how he met his next boyfriend David whom he was with for nearly 10 years.
[00:18:59] David got a job in Bristol in 2001. Initially they maintained a long-distance relationship until he got a job at BBC Bristol. Describes job.
[00:19:58] Describes transition of moving from London to Bristol as a culture shock. Describes differences between Bristol and London, including smaller gay scene. Lists Bristol gay clubs of a decade before: Vibes, Queen Shilling, Old Market Tavern, Pineapple.
[00:20:50] Joins Bristol University LGBT society. Describes Thursday’s student night at the Queen Shilling [Bristol night club]. He thinks Bristol is smaller and less varied than London and describes what he misses in London, e.g. Chinatown, diverse gay scene.
[00:21:33] “The diversity of music […] places like Popstarz [London Club] I missed, Shinky Shonky [London club] I missed it with such a passion when I came down here. I really would love to see something like that in Bristol.”
[00:21:54] Recording paused while he gets out some badges and souvenirs of his time in London.
[00:21:58] RUSTLING SOUND IN BACKGROUND.
[00:22:18] Describes club Shinky Shonky. Story about Boogaloo Stu, who hosted the night and also hosted Bristol Pride in 2010 and 2011. Story about badges that were given out at the club.
[00:24:40] Compares Pineapple/Queen Shilling to Shinky Shonky.
[00:24:47] “I guess it depends what you want to get out of going clubbing. Do you want to meet people? If so, then that stays the same. You still get to meet people. But I guess it was the music I missed and just knowing that if I wanted to have an indie night I had somewhere to go. This was before places like Wonky [Bristol club night].”
[00:25:12] David had been in Bristol longer so DC adopted by his group of friends. Describes importance of Bristol Uni LGBT society for meeting people. Pleased to be allowed to join although he was not a student and never went to Bristol Uni. Describes events LGBT society involved in: clubbing events; coffee meetings; bowling; talks; he mainly went clubbing with them. Describes the places they met.
[00:26:56] “We used to shag tags on a Thursday there. You get given a number as you go in. Trailer Trash used to host the night. You get given your number as you go in and then people could write on a piece of paper a message to you and write your number on the front then stick it on a board. We used to have great fun setting up our friends and writing them anonymous messages from people that we’d seen.” [27’43”]
Discusses LGBT society’s membership: mainly students and people who had graduated but was open to anyone who wanted to join. He is still involved in it although the nature of his involvement changed: initially was social, now involved in Pride and other events.
[00:28:53] Describes how he got involved in Pride in 2009. He was asked to get involved as part of the committee by Anna Rutherford and Amy Wilson. He was asked to join because of his involvement in the scene and not because he was promoting any particular LGBT events at time.
[00:30:41] “It was still quite a challenge. There was a lot to overcome for the 2010 event and I think that’s really the stigma of ‘old Pride’. I think whenever you said ‘Pride’ to someone, they’d go ‘Oh yeah? That’ll never happen.” I think they’d got so used to people saying ‘We’re gonna do Pride!’ and it not happening…” Describes problems encountered from previous Prides and excitement of shaping the new event plus the challenges: no office, long hours, no pay.
[00:32:12] Describes visiting other Prides in UK. Describes Summer Rites [London gay festival] in 1999 and a gay event in Finsbury Park [in London] in 2000/2001, which was expensive.
[00:33:54] Story about visiting Brighton Pride.
[00:33:52] “I’d been to Brighton Pride as well […] that was just amazing […] for me, seeing so many gay people. Yeah, it was really, really good fun and that was something I wanted to try and put into Bristol’s, something like that.”
[00:34:38] Describes what is involved in putting Pride together.
[00:34:55] “It’s just a lot of things to think about. What do you put on? What do you do? Where do you get the money from for it? And that’s the main thing: where do you get the money for it? [….] It’s looking at sponsors really. That’s the key thing, going to sponsors to show what you do. There’s a lot of putting marketing packs together and trying to get photos and statistics. Trying to sell Pride to them, really, and trying to sell the benefits of it.” Describes way of selling Pride to sponsors. Story about friends getting weary of donating money when Pride took fundraising buckets around pubs and clubs of Bristol gay scene. Donors wanted to be certain that their money would make Pride happen but they were excited at prospect of it taking place. Bar owners were co-operative and wanted to get behind it. Pride 2010 took six months to organise: he describes problems of organising infrastructure. Pride 2010 took place in Castle Park, because of its location between Old Market and Frogmore St.
[00:39:59] Describes logistics involved including problems and practicalities encountered. Discusses costs involved and says that many were waived or reduced.
[00:41:00] Describes Bristol Council’s involvement in Pride.
[00:41:10] “They certainly see the benefit of doing a Pride event in terms of showcasing Bristol as a city that values equality and diversity but also for the economic value of it. You know, bringing people into the hotels, the shops and highlighting the culture and arts of Bristol.”
[00:42:15] Story about what it felt like on day of Pride 2010: good but stressful. Relaxation only began in evening.
[00:43: 12] Describes performers that day: Sonique; Bugaloo Stu; Le Gateau Chocolat – describes his act; Trailer Trash; Roofie T [?]; local acts and bands.
[00:44: 32] Talks about work involved after the event is over, e.g. accounts, paperwork. He also spent the time enjoying his freedom then began new job. Describes job. Stopped working in January 2011 and began planning Pride 2011. Worked on Pride by day and the cloakroom at Flamingo’s at night until 5am. He had split up with David by this point. Story about working in cloakroom.
[00:46:44] “You saw some shocking things. You know, you do get the drunk people, you get the sad people. And they’d always come and talk to me – I don’t know why. I’d be stuck on the door and someone would be telling me their woes. I feel quite empathic. If you tell me a really sad story I’ll probably start crying! It really affected me, hearing people’s stories.” He found working at the club a good way to talk to people about Pride but he found the hours gruelling and gave it up.
[00:47:33] Describes organising his second Pride in 2011. It seemed easier but there were economic challenges through recession, e.g. sponsors pulling out and having to find different ways of getting money. Still in Castle Park and not significantly scaled down despite recession.
[00:49:08] Describes personal reasons why Pride is so important to him.
[00:49:10 “Because of what I’d been through, kind of feeling lonely and not having that LGBT support when I was younger, having a really bad home life, so knowing how bad it can be for people, especially for young people, I think that for me is important. Every year you’ll get messages from people saying ‘you’ve finally made me feel okay to come out’”. He also loves doing it because it’s it fun. Describes his pride and excitement at making it happen.
[00:50:45] He hopes that Pride helps combat homophobia in Bristol: now many straight venues want to get involved and offer gay nights.
[00:51: 20] Describes experiencing homophobia in Bristol. Story about being abused on Whiteladies Rd. Describes feeling intimidated and leaving venues.
[00:52:25] “I remember one time just hearing someone talking about the fact that they’d seen some ‘fags’ out on the street and isn’t it disgusting, obviously doing it loud enough so you can hear it”.
[00:53:05] Talks about zero tolerance to discrimination being adopted by venues in Bristol and lists venues that have tried to attract gay customers. Describes the tolerant clientele at the Hatchet pub.
[00:54:49] V_013 asks how Pride 2012 and English Defence League march came to both take place on the same day. DC says the police said they weren’t aware Pride was happening that day. EDL claimed they wanted to march week after (Harbour Festival), and the cancelled St Paul’s Carnival was the week before. Pride was the “lesser of two evils”. He found out about the EDL march a couple of months before Pride. He thought people would be too scared to come to Pride and sponsors began raising issue. Black people said they wouldn’t come to city centre that day, and the university couldn’t promote it to students because of duty of care. He held crisis talks with sponsors and had to think about moving Pride route. The police asked him to move Pride from College Green to Clifton Downs.
[00:57: 30] Describes why Pride 2012 was held at College Green and not Castle Park: to save money and because it was a more accessible site – he stood ground against the police to keep it there. On the day, there were no incidents and he believes perhaps even more people came to support Pride because of EDL’s presence.
[00:58:36] Describes how Pride has evolved from being ‘gay pride’ to a celebration of diversity and equality. There were more BME and disabled people at 2012 event and he feels the EDL march may even have helped their participation.
[00:59:30] Describes what’s involved in planning a Pride march route. 2012’s route up Park Street made it difficult for older people/people with mobility issues. The route is chosen for visibility and safety reasons, after negotiating with police and council. Story about someone trying to drive around the march in a car.
[01:01:00] Describes reaction of Bristol people to march: families come and straight people come. He goes to many different Prides around the country to promote Bristol Pride. Story about visiting Birmingham Pride, the crowds watching parade and media interest there, compared to lack of this in Bristol. [01:02:13- clattering noise in background.] Would like to see more people coming to watch the parade in Bristol.
[01:02:35] He is now working on Pride 2013 and World AIDS Day event in December. Describes work he is putting into it, including finding a venue, as College Green too small. Events are already booked and many people are volunteering to get involved.
[01:03:53] Describes how people are recruited to get involved in Pride.
[01:04:40] Story about being invited to 10 Downing Street in 2011 for Pride organisers/LGBT charities. He recognised many people there from when he was a young man on the scene in London. Story about meeting David Cameron and his commenting on DC’s dyed blue hair. Ian McKellen [actor] was also there; story about previous time DC had met him.
[01:07:10] He is still in love with Bristol and sees the city changing and improving. [01:07:32] in answer to question ‘Do you think it’s becoming a more gay-friendly city?”] “Yeah, I do. I had to think about that one. I think stuff still happens and you still hear about homophobia. But no, it’s getting better. [VOICE CRACKS; COUGHS] Things are changing and things are becoming more exciting. There’s always something happening.” Describes cultural events around city that excite him. He still feels that Bristol has things to offer and he is very happy here.
GOLDEN QUOTES 00:02:50: “As someone who knew he was gay at that age, and beforehand, I knew that I could go and find people in London and I knew that I could go out and be amongst friends, and be safe. That’s all I wanted to do was to go and meet people and have friends.”
[00:08:42] “I didn’t have any gay friends. I didn’t know anyone who was gay.”
[00:11:40] “I was bullied for being gay before I even knew that I was gay, really”.
[00:13:41] “At an end of year awards ceremony, I was voted ‘Campest Person’. I think everyone had a good laugh at it and thought it was really funny but you know, to me, that was still a bit upsetting – even though I probably am really camp!”
[00:21:33] “The diversity of music […] places like Popstarz [London Club] I missed, Shinky Shonky [London club] I missed it with such a passion when I came down here. I really would love to see something like that in Bristol.”
[00:24:47] “I guess it depends what you want to get out of going clubbing. Do you want to meet people? If so, then that stays the same. You still get to meet people. But I guess it was the music I missed and just knowing that if I wanted to have an indie night I had somewhere to go. This was before places like Wonky.”
[00:26:56] “We used to shag tags on a Thursday there. You get given a number as you go in. Trailer Trash used to host the night. You get given your number as you go in and then people could write on a piece of paper a message to you and write your number on the front then stick it on a board. We used to have great fun setting up our friends and writing them anonymous messages from people that we’d seen.”
[00:30:41] “It was still quite a challenge. There was a lot to overcome for the 2010 event and I think that’s really the stigma of ‘old Pride’. I think whenever you said ‘Pride’ to someone, they’d go ‘Oh yeah? That’ll never happen.” I think they’d got so used to people saying ‘We’re gonna do Pride!’ and it not happening…”
[00:33:52] “I’d been to Brighton Pride as well […]that was just amazing […] for me, seeing so many gay people. Yeah, it was really, really good fun and that was something I wanted to try and put into Bristol’s, something like that.”
[00:34:55] “It’s just a lot of things to think about. What do you put on? What do you do? Where do you get the money from for it? And that’s the main thing: where do you get the money for it? [….] It’s looking at sponsors really. That’s the key thing, going to sponsors to show what you do. There’s a lot of putting marketing packs together and trying to get photos and statistics. Trying to sell Pride to them, really, and trying to sell the benefits of it.”
[00:41:10] “They certainly see the benefit of doing a Pride event in terms of showcasing Bristol as a city that values equality and diversity but also for the economic value of it. You know, bringing people into the hotels, the shops and highlighting the culture and arts of Bristol.”
[00:46:44] “You saw some shocking things. You know, you do get the drunk people, you get the sad people. And they’d always come and talk to me – I don’t know why. I’d be stuck on the door and someone would be telling me their woes. I feel quite empathic. If you tell me a really sad story I’ll probably start crying! It really affected me, hearing people’s stories.”
[00:49:10 Because of what I’d been through, kind of feeling lonely and not having that LGBT support when I was younger, having a really bad home life, so knowing how bad it can be for people, especially for young people, I think that for me is important. Every year you’ll get messages from people saying ‘you’ve finally made me feel okay to come out’”.
[00:52:25] “I remember one time just hearing someone talking about the fact that they’d seen some ‘fags’ out on the street and isn’t it disgusting, obviously doing it loud enough so you can hear it”.
[01:07:32] Do you think it’s becoming a more gay-friendly city? “Yeah, I do. I had to think about that one. I think stuff still happens and you still hear about homophobia. But no, it’s getting better. Things are changing and things are becoming more exciting. There’s always something happening.”
