Mayor of London supports gay arts festival

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London Mayor Boris Johnson is supporting this year’s GFEST, the capital’s LGBT arts festival for all.

Mr Johnson said: “The GFEST — Gaywise FESTival encourages cultural change by challenging misconceptions about the LGBT community, raises awareness about social issues, promotes greater understanding, and inspires creativity.”

GFEST is taking place from 7 – 9 November at the Bernie Grant Centre in Tottenham and will feature a mixture of cinema and arts performances based on the London riots of 2011.

The festival has attracted cross party support including from the Prime Minister, former arts and culture ministers and MPs.

Niranjan Kamatkar, the artistic director of GFEST and the arts charity Wise Thoughts, which organises the annual November event said that he is very pleased with the Mayor’s statement of support.

GFEST is one of the first LGBT arts events that was launched in the UK Parliament in 2008 with the support of Labour MP David Lammy.

More information about the festival can be found here.