Short tweet-sized stories inspired people to sing with pride at a special concert in Norwich.
The Sing with Pride OUT140 Micro Concert took place at the United Reformed Church, in Princes Street, last night as part of the Pride 5 Festival's music-themed day of events.
The event saw some entries from OUT140: Little Book of Coming Out Stories – where ordinary people tell their coming out stories in 140 characters or less – sung by the Sing with Pride choir.
The OUT140 stories included, 'I'm not straight, more like a wavy line', and 'I tell everyone I'm a gay so that one day no-one in Norwich can ever say they haven't met a lesbian', and they were put to music by artists including Stephanie Anderson, Mary Lovett, Kimberley Moore and Richard Emms.
Michelle Savage, Norwich Pride communications officer who leads the OUT140 project with Vince Laws, said: 'OUT140 is a constantly evolving project. First it was a multimedia show, then it was an art exhibition, then it was a book and now it's a concert.
'It continues to delight and inspire people in whatever form it takes.
'Why? Because at the heart of it are tiny stories from real people. You can't help but be moved by the honesty, the humour, the sadness and the joy.'
Other events in yesterday's Pride 5 music programme included Jules Bremner's talk Love Music Hate Racism and Homophobia and Di Cunningham's talk about producing and presenting on Future Radio. DJ Jules spent two hours on decks outside the Forum and there was also a Break the Chain flashmob dance practice.
Today's Pride 5 Festival events have a youth theme. All day at the Forum there is a Take A Walk In Our Shoes exhibition by BLAH LGB Youth Group and Norfolk LGBT Project. At 1pm, there is a garden party at St Margaret's Church of Art, which is hosting the Pride without Prejudice exhibition. At 2pm, St Margaret's is hosting Pride Art School. At 3pm, at the Forum, there will be the talk Teach with Pride: How to Tackle Homophobia in our Schools. This evening there will be Pride parties across the city.
For more on Norwich Pride events, including Saturday's Pride Parade, visit www.norwichpride.org.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here