Press Release – Carols for Christmas with the LGBT community of South Wales

The Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement South Wales/De Cymru are branching out this year and holding an interfaith Christmas celebration in Swansea. They have planned a multi-faith celebration of Christmas with a variety of organisations and faiths from the Swansea area. It will be held on Friday 14th December at 7.30pm in the Quaker Meeting House, St Helen’s Road, Swansea and is open to all, regardless of faith or sexuality.

For the last seven years, they have held a very popular ‘Carols for Christmas’ evening in Cardiff. So popular, in fact, that it outgrew its original venue of the Cardiff Quaker Meeting House and is now held regularly at St John the Baptist, The Hayes, Cardiff. This year, the Cardiff event is being held on Saturday 8th December at 8pm. The evening follows the traditional format of well-loved carols sung by candle light, with readings read by representatives of different organisations in the LGBT community of South Wales followed by mince pies and mulled drink. In amongst the jollity and humour, there is a quiet time of reflection with the readings from the ‘Wall of Hopes and Dreams’. This ‘Wall’ is where people can put their own thoughts and hopes for the future. Hearing the everyday thoughts of gay and lesbian people is very moving; it clearly shows how much intolerance and homophobia still exists in society at large.

“This is the seventh year that we have held a Carols for Christmas evening and every year it has become more popular,” said Simon, convenor of the local group. “We think it’s a great way for gay men and women and those who support them to get together and celebrate Christmas. As well as the traditional carol singing, the Queer Choir will be performing something from their extensive repertoire and there will be an opportunity to chat after the service over refreshments. We are really excited about launching a sister-event in Swansea and hope that that will be just as popular.

“Many gay and lesbian people only hear the anti-gay messages from the church. Sadly they abandon the faith they were taught as children. Both of these celebrations are open to all people; there is a special place for non-Christians who wish to celebrate Christmas in the traditional way.”

At the recent Mardi Gras event in Cardiff, LGCM South Wales and their supporters worked hard to collect all the homophobic yellow leaflets distributed by Stephen Green and the Christian Voice. They will be producing some papier mache artwork in the New Year to take to next year’s Mardi Gras.

Janet Jeffries from FFLAG (Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gay Men) added “It was wonderful to see so many family groups there last year and we do hope that even more gay men and women will want to bring their families along to the Carol Service this time. We have many parents of gay people who come along to the Carols Evening because of its inclusive nature.”