QueerMutiny, The Forest, 18 Jan

Dubbed 'an alternative to Edinburgh's commercial gay scene', the first QueerMutiny Edinburgh event represents a desire for something more critical and genuine. A group of young queers managed to do a great job of publicising the free BYO event with a prolific stickering campaign, and as a result attract a sweet (and unexpected – where are these people hiding?) motley crew of 'queers of all sexualities', filling the big upstairs hall of the Forest. It's refreshing to have something other than drinking to focus on, in the form of yummy free home-made vegan haggis and a film. Although people are inevitably checking each other out, the usual gay scene bitchiness seems less prominent and people interact more.

The chosen movie, Fremde Haut, is gloomy in subject matter but, in drawing links between the politics of gender, sexuality, nationhood and state power, is an excellent and necessary reminder of the radical origins of the 'Queer' politics that motivate QueerMutiny. It illustrates the power of the state in deciding people's eligibility for asylum, and the subtle and blithe ways that heteronormativity is enforced in everyday and institutional settings.

The film is followed by dancing and socialising, and it's awesome to see so many queers strewn about the hallways and stairs of the Forest. The night experiences a bit of a lull when the electro tunes (Le Tigre, Peaches, Ladytron etc) are usurped by a dancefloor-clearing rogue happy-hardcore set, but all in all, the atmosphere is unpretentious, positive, fun and welcoming.