Jonathan Simpson appointed as London’s first gay Mayor

Councillor Jonathan Simpson was made Mayor of the Borough of Camden, London, last night in front of a crammed council chamber, with London Gay Men’s Chorus providing the soundtrack, and with a pledge that the borough will retain its status as the capital on Britain’s musical scene.

The historic appointment makes the former Stonewall board member the first openly-gay Mayor in London.

The Mayor of Camden said: “It is a fantastic honour to be the Mayor of Camden.  I’ve been proud to represent the council since 2002, and now I intend to use this special year to do all I can to promote the borough’s incredible music and to encourage everybody to be active as citizens.”

He introduced the council to broadcaster Amy Lamé, who he met at a bar in gay-district Vauxhall, as  his “glamour-puss” Mayoress.

In the opening speech, his fellow Labour councillor Theo Blackwell told the chamber: “In the immortal words of Spinal Tap, this Mayor turned it up to eleven. Rock on, Jonathan!”

Protest to be held in London over imprisonment of Malawi couple

A protest is to be held this Saturday 29 May in solidarity with Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, the gay couple recently sentenced to 14 years in prison with hard labour in Malawi.

There have been calls for the United Kingdom to cease giving aid to Malawi until the couple are released. However, international development minister Alan Duncan MP stated: “We must be wary of calls to use aid money as a political weapon.” He added: “Our aid programme is worth almost £80 million this year and is aimed directly at helping those most in need. We cannot make them victims along with Mr Chimbalanga and Mr Monjeza.”

The protest begins at 1pm outside the Malawi High Commission, 70 Winnington Raod, London N2 0TX.

38 years ago, 2,000 people joined together in London’s Trafalgar Square  for the UK’s first Gay Pride Rally. Last year, Pride London had an attendance of over 1,000,000 people and was one of the UK’s biggest events. This year the festival will be held on July 3rd. More information can be found at PrideLondon.org.