ON THE DOWNLOW
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF QUEER GLASTONBURY
NYC DOWNLOW
WORDS: CLIFF JOANNOU
Rewind to the Seventies. It was a time after the Stonewall riots in New York City and the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales. The first Pride marches had taken root. The era of sexual liberation was underway as queer people found their freedom in the streets, bars and bathhouses of the Western world’s major cities. Young people flocked to dance and celebrate, revelling in the joyous explosion of newfound identity. It was a time before the Aids crisis, before wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and financial crashes; before the world forgot how to love.
It’s this spirit of celebration and pleasure, underscored by social responsibility and community, that has inspired Glastonbury’s NYC Downlow.
JOE HAYLOW, KAMIL KUSTOSZ, JACOB LOVE, PETER PODWORSKI, MARY STAM CLARK, NICK NIC SERPELL-RAND