Day: February 23, 2013

Brighton Pride organisers have renamed the annual Pride Parade the LGBT Community Parade and have chosen Gay Icons as the theme for this years extravaganza.

Gay Icons will be a celebration of individuals that the LGBT community have historically found to be important and inspirational through their work or life stories and those who have changed all our LGBT lives and rights through their work and deeds or simply by the force of their characters and attitudes regardless of their own sexual orientation.

The concept artwork for Pride 2013 is based on the groundbreaking and iconic cover of the Beatles Sgt Peppers album that was released the very same year as the de-criminalisation of homosexual acts in the UK 1967 and contains images of those people suggested as icons by members of our LGBT community themselves via facebook.

The first image released represents only the tip of the iceberg so far.

The artwork is designed to be a constantly evolving piece of community development in the run up to Pride itself and the icons pictured will be ever changing to reflect what has been suggested by people in the community at large.

This is the very first time that the community has been able to be so closely involved with Prides imagery and Pride organisers are encouraging members in every part of the wide ranging LGBT communities in Brighton & Hove to get involved and tell them via facebook who their icon is and why.

To contribute your suggestion click here:

Pride director Paul Kemp, said:

“It was keenly felt by many community members that Pride should reclaim the word ‘Gay’ that in recent years has been commonly used in a derogatory fashion in society and especially among young people. We are thrilled to include the word ‘Gay’ and although it does not always adequately describe how diverse we are as a community it is a word we use with PRIDE!

In a bid to improve the health and wellbeing of the transgender community, HIV and sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) has launched new and expanded sections of its website containing tailored advice and support for transgender people.

Last year, in a UK first, the charity produced Trans Health Matters, two guides on a range of health and wellbeing issues affecting trans women and transmen. The guides proved incredibly popular with transgender communities both in the UK and overseas. Due to the interest THT has now added two new sections to its website.

The new pages contain information and advice on a number of issues, from how to guard against HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), to more specific support for anyone considering or going through gender confirmation surgery.

In addition to health information, the pages offer advice on broader wellbeing, including body image, disclosure, relationships, and civil and human rights. They also include a number of first person accounts written by transmen and trans women, and quick links where visitors can access support by telephone or online.

Michelle Ross, Trans Awareness Co-ordinator at Terrence Higgins Trust, said:

“Following the publication of Trans Health Matters, we were swamped with requests from hundreds of trans people. What really stood out was how many of these requests came from other parts of the world. We always suspected there was a broader need for this kind of targeted information, and that’s why we’re thrilled that these new web pages will reach trans people all over the globe and support them to make more informed life choices which enhance their health, wellbeing and happiness.”

While research into trans health remains patchy, there is a growing consensus that transgender people can be at a dramatically increased risk of HIV and sexual ill health. In Europe, estimates of HIV prevalence among trans women range from 11.5% to 57%. In contrast, HIV prevalence among the UK’s general population is 0.15%, rising to 5% among gay and bisexual men.

For further information on Terrence Higgins Trust’s services for transgender people, email transwomen@tht.org.uk or transmen@tht.org.uk

For more information view: www.tht.org.uk/transwomen and www.tht.org.uk/transmen

Transport Minister and Lewes MP, Norman Baker has congratulated Simon Kirby,  the Conservative MP for Kemptown & Peacehaven for his work steering the Disabled Persons’ Parking Badges Act onto the statute book.

Simon, who introduced the Bill as a Private Member’s Bill in 2012 and steered it through Parliament said:

“The Act will make a real difference for disabled people who rely on this vital scheme for everyday living by clamping down on blue badge abuse.”

The Kemptown MP maintains that abuse of the Blue Badge scheme is a serious problem, costing local authorities millions and depriving genuine badge holders of the parking spaces they need in order to live independent lives.

In his letter to Simon, Norman Baker wrote:

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you  for picking up this legislation and helping to steer it successfully through the Private Member’s process and on to the statute book.”

Brighton & Hove Trading Standards secured a successful prosecution to stop an elaborate scam targeted at small businesses when Russell Chandler was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Lewes Crown Court  on Thursday, February 21, for making false representations.

Chandler, 29, also known as Alfred Chase, set up a company called Harrington Builds and cold called businesses that were advertising on the internet purporting to offer contracts for work.

The businesses were told that Harrington Builds UK was looking to build up a consortium of contractors to sub-contract work to in their area. They were promised that this job would be the first of many.

The company used salespeople and had a website.

Taking up the offer involved agreeing to pay Harrington Builds a ‘one off administration fee’ of £250 which would ultimately be refundable.

Businesses were asked to provide documents and references and were issued with ‘follow up contracts’ including a reference number. However, no work was forthcoming and, when people became suspicious, were unable to get through to the company by telephone.

The types of contracts that were said to be available included cleaning, painting and decorating, electrical work, garden maintenance and rubbish collection,

The scam was worked from Brighton & Hove but targeted people from all over the country during 2011 which is when Brighton & Hove Trading Standards starting investigating.

Mr Chandler pleaded guilty to 11 counts of making false representations.

Jo Player, trading standards manager for Brighton & Hove City Council said:

“This was a blatant scam targeting small businesses who can ill afford to waste money in these times.

“Trading Standards operate the well-respected ‘Buy with Confidence’ scheme where businesses can advertise their services and the public can find reliable traders.”