Eurovision Song Contest 2013 in Malmö, Sweden will be the 58th broadcast of the annual musical spectacular. This year, join in on the theme of ‘We Are One’ by bringing together friends, colleagues or neighbours for a Eurovision party in aid of Stonewall.

Celebrate the Eurovision Song Contest on 18 May with a fabulous party in aid of Stonewall. Hosting a party doesn’t need to mean loads of work – we’ve designed invitations to send to guests and hilarious games to be played throughout the night. Eurovision presenter Graham Norton has even lent us his favourite party recipes for you to try out! Or, model Eurovision host country Sweden, and have a smorgasbord with each guest bringing along a dish! We’ve provided you with all the tools you need to make your party a success. You can enjoy the fun of Eurovision knowing you’re helping to support thousands of lesbian, gay and bisexual people at the same time.

To find out more about what you can do and to download resources visit the Stonewall website.

Get fit, sporty and have fun. Put on your running shoes and join the Stonewall team for the Brighton Marathon.

Don’t miss out on your chance to run next year, contact Reiko at reiko.murray@stonewall.org.uk for information on how to run for Stonewall.

For more information on the marathon please cliciwch yma to visit the Brighton Marathon website.

Thank you!

Thank you to the Stonewall supporters who ran for Stonewall in the 2012 Brighton Marathon, together they raised an amazing £5,000!

Lance Corporal James Wharton, one of the eight supporters who took part in the Brighton Marathon for Stonewall in 2011, completed the marathon in 4 hours 52 minutes.

A slightly tired James Wharton said after the marathon: ‘It was a pleasure to run for a cause I’m passionate about – although pounding the streets in camouflage trousers and army boots in temperatures over 20 degrees was as hard as any army mission I’ve completed!’

On Tuesday 5 February MPs will vote on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill which will extend the legal form of marriage to same-sex couples. This is the first key parliamentary step towards securing marriage equality in England and Wales.

Sadly, we’ve already seen huge amounts of well-funded and often vitriolic opposition to this modest measure. In just the past few months loving and committed same-sex relationships have been publicly compared to bestiality, slavery and child abuse by opponents of equal marriage.

Now is the time to make sure that your voice is heard. So speak now, or forever hold your peace.

What you can do

Write to your MP

MPs will have their first vote on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill on Tuesday 5 February. Please write to your MP to let them know why you support marriage equality.

You might want to tell them what it would mean for you and your partner. Perhaps you have a son or daughter, an auntie or an uncle or a Mum or Dad who you’d like to see marry the person they love.

All you need to do is write to your local MP to tell them why marriage equality matters to you and why you’d like them to support this Bill.

If you hear back from your MP don’t forget to let us know by emailing info@stonewall.org.uk

You can find out who your MP is and how to contact them here.

Tweet your MP

Many MPs now communicate with local constituents via Twitter. If you are a regular tweeter you might want to contact your local MP to let them know you support #EqualMarriage.

You can find out if your MP uses Twitter yma. If you hear from your MP via Twitter then let us know by tweeting us at @stonewalluk.

And don’t forget that you can also share one of our fantastic e-postcards with them!

Send a postcard

Everyone likes receiving something in the post that isn’t their latest gas bill! You can show your support for equality by ordering one of our fantastic postcards to send to your friends, family or local MP.

Show your support for equality online

We have a huge selection of Twitter and Facebook profile pictures, Facebook banners and e-postcards that you can share online.  Make sure your friends and family know that you’ve said ‘I Do’ to equal marriage.

Donate

Long-term same-sex relationships are being publicly compared to bestiality, slavery and child abuse by opponents of equal marriage – who will stop at almost nothing to prevent Britain’s lesbian, gay and bisexual people from enjoying this last measure of equality. Organised opposition from groups such as the so-called Coalition for Marriage and the Catholic Church is attempting to gain momentum and media coverage to whip up a public frenzy.

We know this campaign will only intensify over the coming weeks and months, making it critical that we make sure the voices of Britain’s 3.7 million gay people are heard above the bigotry and ignorance.

Your donation will help us tackle this very well-funded campaign against equality and help us continue to push for the extension of the legal form of marriage to same-sex couples.

Become a Friend of Stonewall

We’ll be campaigning hard over the coming months to ensure that MPs and members of the House of Lords support this final modest measure of legislative equality.

We need your help to do this. You can become a Friend of Stonewall by donating just £5 a month.

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And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date with the campaign – tweet about the campaign using #equalmarriage.

Why not support Stonewall while doing your festive shopping?

Enjoy our equality goodies and support our ongoing work tackling homophobia. But make sure to order before Monday 10 December to receive your gifts in time for Christmas.

After the popularity of our ‘Some people are gay. Get over it!’ campaign we’re giving you the chance to buy your own t-shirt or mug and we’ve even got limited edition greetings cards featuring the buses themselves!

Check out the Stonewall website or click on the images to place your order.

Last week Stonewall released the eighth edition of Starting Out, Britain’s lesbian, gay and bisexual Careers Guide both online and in print.

Starting Out – supported by Credit Suisse – features profiles of 425 employers from sectors including banking, defence, retail and local government. All the employers listed are members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, and are committed to making their workplaces gay-friendly. The guide is targeted at the 150,000 lesbian, gay and bisexual students in Britain, as well as all discerning jobseekers and graduates.

Colleen Humphrey, Stonewall Director of Workplace said: ‘We know people perform better when they can be themselves, and the number of employers featured in Starting Out shows they know this too. Every employer featured is eager to recruit the very best in lesbian, gay and bisexual talent. They all know that creating a fully supportive and inclusive work environment makes sound business sense because when staff achieve their full potential, businesses clearly benefit.’

15,000 copies of Starting Out are being distributed to students’ unions, university career services, employment agencies and university lesbian and gay societies and sixth forms across Britain. Job seekers can also access an interactive Starting Out online, which includes current jobs vacancies from Proud Employers – helping jobseekers quickly identify the opportunities they are interested in.

Starting Out is available online at www.startingoutguide.org.uk Free copies are also available by contacting Stonewall’s freephone InfoLine: 08000 50 20 20.