Giving Back's no Joke!

On a rare night out where we were out for our own pleasure and not donning our metaphorical Planet London hats, we were treated to a night of comedy on Thursday night in aid of The Albert Kennedy Trust. The event was a private fundraiser hosted by Parliout (Parliament's LGBT network which launched in December 2010).

We're all for events like this that support the LGBT community - they bring people together, bring out quality LGBT talent as well as the generous LGBT spirit.

With an all-female line up of 5 well-known comedians and comedy troupe, who had all donated their time to take part in this event for just a fare home, we knew we would not be disappointed.

Given the cause of the event and the hosts, it was unsurprising to hear many of the jokes focussing on coming out and political advancements for gay rights - some of the jokes even came from the compere, Deputy Speaker Nigel Evans as he warmed up the crowd.

However, one comic sentiment really struck a chord with us, and is perhaps the reason I'm typing away right now; the notion of lesbian invisibility, how common it is for us to find ourselves hiding our true selves in mixed company, and the lack of British celebrity lesbians.

The comedians obviously relished in having an LGBT audience and got the chance to use lots of in-jokes. It was very refreshing to see an all-female line up providing that lesbians have talent and should not be afraid to show it.

Indeed, this was the second all-female and LGBT comedy event this month in London as Candy Bar has also launched a new comedy night called 'Red in the Face' which is a new monthly night, so whilst this was a private event, lesbians across London can see similar talent on a regular basis.

At Planet London we're keen to help promote lesbian visibility, and not just among celebrities, which is in part why we launched our successful women feature and we were happy to hear the subject being discussed in a light-hearted way that had the audience in fits of laughter whilst raising a subject that is all too true.

The key message we took was that whilst America has many high profile 'celesbians' (celebrity lesbians), the UK is somewhat lacking. The suggestion that we ask straight celebrities to join our cause was funny, in reality it isn't a solution. We think these comedians and the other successful women in London and across the UK should be proud to be out there (excuse the pun) championing for us all as truly successful women who are celesbians and role models in our eyes.

In the spirit of lesbian visibility we felt we should let you know who these amazing celesbians were: Hannah Brackenbury, Julie Jepson, The Short and Girlie Show, Lara A King, Jen Brister and Clare Summerskill