Personally, I think it’s brilliant news that, as the Birmingham Mail says:

HARD-UP Birmingham City Council is putting £10,000 towards the cost of a rhinestone-encrusted model of a rhinoceros to mark the entry to the city’s Gay Village.

and I’m pleased to see I’m not alone in that. Although the story goes on to say that the money will probably be repaid to the council anyway (it’s a s106 thing, planning law fans).

It’s a bit of a shame it’ll be all the way up on top of a building though.

There are some blog posts here showing how exactly one might go about making something like this.

Birmingham’s festival of queer culture – Shout – is taking place from 4 – 23 November, with a wide range of events happening across the city in exploration and celebration of LBGT communities and individuals.

Visibility and Invisibility are major themes of this year’s festival providing opportunities to increase the visibility of the LGBT community within the city and to make arts and culture a more visible part of our own lives.

But the festival themes also enable us to ask challenging questions about the invisibility of some sections of our own community in particular those who are old, have a disability or are from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds.

The launch weekend is being held at mac on 4 – 7 November, hosting three theatre performances and a documentary screening. The first night kicks off at 6.30pm in the Terrace Gallery at mac, and will showcase live performances, interventions and the premiere of new work by artist, Qasim Riza Shaheen, which will be proceeded by an 8 week residency.

The festival will continue to present events in visual arts, film, live performance, comedy, artist talks, research and social events. For a full run down of what’s on, take a look at the Shout website, where you can also purchase tickets and find out more about associated artists and venues.