23/05/2013 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Labour leader calls for all Green group councillors to resign their council seats after Green rebels fail to unseat their leader

Posted on 23/05/201323/05/2013 by Besi

Cllr Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative group on Brighton & Hove Council has revealed he was approached by a spokesperson for a rebel group of Green councillors yesterday asking for support in removing the present Council Leader, Cllr Jason Kitcat as Council Leader at todays Annual Council Meeting.

Cllr Morgan says that almost half the Green group have asked Labour to propose Green councillor for Brunswick & Adelaide ward and Deputy Leader of the Council, Cllr Phelim McCafferty to replace Councillor Kitcat at today’s Annual Council meeting.

Councillor Morgan has refused to involve the Labour group in Green infighting.

He said:

“The Green Party in Brighton and Hove is now irrevocably split. To ask an opposition group to help oust their Party leader and choose a new one is utterly desperate and absurd.

“The Greens cannot now reasonably expect to run the city council.

“Residents need a council leadership which can sort out the mess in the town hall and clear up the mess on our streets. If they cannot work together, I call on members of the Green group to resign their seats on the council, and give residents the chance to elect Labour councillors who will put the interests of residents and the city before petty party political infighting.”

Cllr Morgan has published a screen shot from his twitter account of a discussion yesterday with the Green Councillor for Goldsmid Ward, Alex Phillips. Cllr Philips reveals the rebel Greens were 2 votes short of ousting Cllr Kitcat at todays Annual Council Meeting and asks if Labour would propose Cllr Phelim McCaffery as new leader.

The Labour and Cooperative Group have justified circulating the screen shot as they “believe this to be in the public interest”.

web_TwitterScreenGrab

Just 16 days left to register for the LGBT Community Pride Parade

Posted on 23/05/201324/05/2013 by Besi

This years edition of the LGBT Community parade is set to be the most outrageous and colourful ever with Pride supporters all enthusiastically embracing the ‘Icons’ theme.

Organisers already have a whole hosts of Freddie Mercurys, Madonnas and Lady Gaga’s taking part as well as decorated floats and walking groups becoming their ‘Icons’ for the big day.

“I knew that the community and certain individuals would just love this years theme’’ says Dulcie Danger “the subject of Icons is so broad and people are choosing to interpret it in their own way which is very exciting. There are bound to be some real surprises on the day”

Each year the eyes of the city focus on the Pride LGBT Community Parade while the media give the Parade national and international profile. For this reason businesses, voluntary groups and general show offs choose the parade as a great way to engage the general public and spread their message.

While most of the space on the parade has already been booked, you still have 16 days left to secure a position on one of the most viewed Pride Parades in the UK.

Get your application to the Pride office before the June 7 to secure your proud place.

To get an application form, CLICK HERE:

Rainbow Fund reports on recent grant funding for LGBT groups

Posted on 23/05/201323/05/2013 by Besi

During the 2012/13 financial year the Rainbow Fund gave out over £31,000 worth of grants to a wide range of local LGBT groups. The Fund receives money from fundraisers throughout the year to provide grants to local groups providing front line services to the local LBGT community.

The Rainbow Fund has no salaries to pay, no expenses, no office costs and so all of its activists can wear the same ‘Volunteer’ badge at events. The only overhead relates to the safe receipt and fair distribution of grants by the Sussex Community Foundation, the group’s professional advisers.

The Rainbow Fund’s constitution ensures that donated funds are given out as quickly as possible after receipt, and usually within approximately four months.

Groups and projects funded in 2012/13 include Lunch Positive, LGBT Switchboard, Sussex Beacon, Allsorts, Radio Reverb’s Out in Brighton, LGBT Community Safety Forum, GEMS and the provision of maintaince funding for the AIDS Memorial.

Each group funded has to report on the outcomes of their grant, and how it benefited the local LGBT community.

Talking about how the funding benefitted their organisation, Helen Jones, Director of MindOut, said:

‘The Rainbow Fund has enabled MindOut to provide weekly support for 49 people over a year. The group is run by and for LGB&T people who experience mental health issues. With the Rainbow Fund grant, we are able to provide a safe, welcoming, space for people to share their experiences, give and receive support to each other. This is a vital opportunity for some very isolated people to build social networks, and a rare alternative to the commercial LGB&T ‘scene’.’

Feedback from users of the service says:

“.. a supportive space to breathe, a break from life, space to talk and think”

“I can express myself without being judged, empathy can go a long way”

“The groups are open, accepting, warm, friendly”

Rainbow Fund Chairman Paul Elgood, said:

“MindOut is an excellent example of how the money donated to the Rainbow Fund is put to good use benefitting the local LGBT community.

‘The money donated to the Rainbow Fund is given out quickly and on a needs-led basis for frontline projects.

“We have to keep encouraging our suspporters to fundraising otherwise there will be no money for the next round of grants, it really is as simple as that.

‘”n the coming months we are looking forward to events such as the Brighton Bear Weekend, Golden Handbags and Pride. Please give generously if you can.”

To donate directly to the Rainbow Fund, http://localgiving.com/charity/rainbowfund

The Flaming Lips: Brighton Dome: Review

Posted on 23/05/201323/05/2013 by Eric Page

My main knowledge of The Flaming Lips comes from a couple of albums released about a decade ago. They seemed quite sweet, though occasionally slight, collections about scientists and killer robots – not sure if such a category exists but let’s call it Geek Pop. Their show at the Dome last night showed that this was just one of many styles they embrace, from heavy psychedelic rock to glam rock to folk to krautrock, the group are certainly in no danger of getting stuck into any generic rut.

Visually the show is faultless. Wayne Coyne spends most of it on what looks like coiled alien entrails which act as conduits for hundreds of travelling lights. A huge video screen shows incredibly colourful, complex visuals for which no other word but ‘trippy’ will suffice. Coyne himself seems quite amiable but his talking to the audience is pretty grim. It’s either just dull, or occasionally he gets a vague idea into his head but instead of running with it he tries to make it work for about a minute, then mumblingy goes back to talking about having a cold. Occasionally the gig is a bit like watching the world’s worst stand up.

But musically the Lips are great: the heavy stuff is suitably bombastic, the crowd-pleasing Race for the Prize thrills the audience and there’s a decent cover of Bowie’s Heroes. Early on they play material from their new ‘difficult’ album, The Terror which – after few listens on Spotify – I think might be their best work yet. Anything which sees them gets them away from their slight tendency towards whimsicality towards something closer to Radiohead can only be for the best.

New patron for QueenSpark

Posted on 23/05/201323/05/2013 by Besi

QueenSpark, Brighton & Hove’s very own community publishing venture, has a new patron in the shape of Dr Margaretta Jolly.

Dr Jolly, a Reader in Cultural Studies at Sussex University, has been a fan of QueenSpark Books since she came across them in the 1990s, and has been involved with them in her other job as Director of the Centre for Life History and Life Writing Research for 15 years.

“We’re delighted that Margaretta has agreed to become one of our patrons,” says QueenSpark Development Director John Riches. “Her deep knowledge and expertise in the field of writing and oral history, and her support for our publications and work, will be immensely valuable to us.”

QueenSpark books are the oldest community-run book publisher in this country having celebrated their 40th birthday last year. This year they plan a new departure when they bring out a new graphic novel in October.
For more information, CLICK HERE:

Brand new website for Council

Posted on 23/05/2013 by Kat Pope

Brighton & Hove Council’s website is set to get a makeover in the next few months. A new format has been designed to make the site clearer and more concise, with visitors having to navigate fewer pages. There will also be access to more services online for residents.

The current website has already been awarded 4 stars in a national survey of local authority websites.

Council leader Jason Kitcat says:

“Despite this, we know we can make our services even easier to find and use online.”

“The improvements have been driven by feedback from residents and businesses,” he continues,”as well as by tapping expertise in our city’s vibrant digital sector.”

The new website will use open source system Drupal, which is already used by about 7 million websites globally.

To view the present Council website, CLICK HERE: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk

Blueprint 22 – A project for young people

Posted on 23/05/2013 by Besi

Blueprint 22 is a youth organisation for young people aged 16-25 years old. It offers a range of projects designed by young people for young people and operates along the coastal strip from Brighton through to Littlehampton.

Launched two years ago as a new social enterprise led by young people, it attracts a diverse clientele and has established a safe environment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Unsure (LGBTU) young people to express themselves.

Blueprint 22 offers a range of free LGBTU projects based in Worthing which include:-

• Profile a weekly drop-in session offering support and the opportunity to relax and make new friends.

• Face Value a weekly group for young people that are transgender or gender-questioning offering group support and activities to combat isolation.

• Screened Out with author Rose Collis an LGBT film-based project looking at the history of LGBTU films shown locally and helping young people create their own film that speaks to their generation.

• Speak Out! a research based project to help young people create social change and to combat homophobia, biphobia and transphobia using film to translate their message to a wider audience.

• What’s Love Got To Do With It? an LGBT project aimed at creating healthy and safe sexual and emotional relationships.

LGBTU young people have been trained to become peer mentors to enable them to offer support and guidance to their friends and new attendees at the various projects.

Prior to the launch of these projects access to LGBTU support in the Worthing area was extremely limited with young people having to access services in Brighton.

With a new timetable of LGBT activities and events for the Summer, Blueprint 22 aims to encourage Worthing to take pride in their LGBT young people.

Founder and project development director, Amanda Baker, said:

“I set up Blueprint 22 because I wanted to run an organisation that really meant what it said about two key things; putting young people first and getting young people to make it happen for themselves.

“I have worked with children and young people for 20 years and have been a project developer for a wide range of high profile services. Most importantly I am committed to encouraging young people to fulfil their potential and to enable them to reach their personal and professional goals with a bit of help, supporting and steering in the right direction.”

For more information about Blueprint 22, CLICK HERE:

Calls for contributors to Brighton conference

Posted on 23/05/201323/05/2013 by Graham Robson

Brighton & Sussex Sexualities Network (BSSN) are calling for contributions to its conference, Queer in Brighton: Life Stories, Histories and Differences, which takes place at Brighton University on September 18 at 10am.

Co-organised by Queer in Brighton and Brighton Transformed, the conference seeks to work across activist/academic debates in order to develop understandings of LGBT and queer life stories, histories and differences in Brighton and beyond.

Organisers invite presentations, readings, workshops and other interventions that address questions such as:

• How is place important to queer politics and LGBT lives?
• What are queer life stories and queer his/her/hir-stories? How are these celebrated/contested? Who is left out of these stories?
• How can we tell our life stories and his/her/hir-stories?
• What does it mean to be/do/practice ‘queer’, ‘now’ and ‘then’?

• How do queer practices and understandings relate to embodied considerations, such as those relating to health?
• What are the norms/canons of queer representation in Brighton and other Sussex heritage sites?
• Is a queer historiography needed to tell a queer history?
• What politics do these themes bring to the table?

Proposals of around 200 words should be made to BSSN@brighton.ac.uk before July 25.

For more information, CLICK HERE:

Brighton student creates ‘Gender Blending’ jewellery

Posted on 23/05/2013 by Besi

Hannah Silverstein, a 3D design and craft student at Brighton University, will be exhibiting her ‘gender blending’ jewellery at this year’s Brighton University Graduate Degree Show at the Grand Parade Campus in May and June.

Hannah, who has previously exhibited work at the Trans Scrutiny Panel, has created a collection of jewellery to challenge the gender binary, which is created by using machine parts and tools. Thick hard steel has been blackened to imitate the traits of contemporary masculine jewellery, juxtaposed against decorative and delicate silver elements to illustrate the merging of both male and female aesthetics.

Hannah said:

“Gender is something which originates in and directly affects everyone. I and many others are coming to understand that gender is not so black and white, but more of a spectrum…

“I wanted to create a collection of jewellery which illustrates this belief by physically blending the polar opposites of gender display, juxtaposing the feminine against the masculine to create a somewhat androgynous outcome. Ultimately I hope by having the pieces worn around the neck they will catch the eye, provoke conversations and consequently create more of a public understanding of gender identity.”

Event: Gender Blending Jewellery Exhibition

Where: Brighton University, Grand Parade Campus

When: Friday, May 31 – Wednesday, June 12

Cost: Free entry

For more information, CLICK HERE:

Make like a Meerkat – An opinion piece by Kat Pope

Posted on 23/05/2013 by Kat Pope

Councils throughout the land are reknowned for stating the obvious and this week they have surpass themselves, for this week is a special week. It’s – drum roll please – NATIONAL WALK TO SCHOOL WEEK!

Surely, SURELY, if you had any sort of inclination to walk your kids to school you’d already be doing it. Is an official nudge going to make you more likely to get out of your comfy car seat and into the dangerous wilds of à pied Brighton & Hove? I think not.

But that doesn’t stop our elected peers thinking they know best. I mean, surely the money spent on a campaign such as this would be better spent on making public transport more affordable and more reliable. No?

Forty schools in Brighton & Hove will be taking part in this week of pedestrian zeal, with Fairlight Primary taking the brunt of most of it. They’re taking part in a competition to design ‘five minute walking zone’ signs with the winner being displayed on lamp posts around the area (which is fine and dandy if you live exactly five minutes walk away from the school but, as we know, most kids don’t).

Hold your head in your hands as now it gets a little surreal. Piers, a giant meerkat, will be greeting children across the city as they arrive at school.

Run away! Run away now! Honestly, if my son had seen a bloke dressed as a giant meerkat at the school gates when he was younger he would have run straight out into the path of an oncoming car in an effort to get away from the thing.

And I do so love this: “Brighton & Hove City Council is using the meerkat as a walking mascot because of the animal’s habit of looking left and right.”

Was someone, somewhere, sitting in an office in deepest Hove paid to come up with that. Bring back Tufty is all I can say. Squirrels look to the left and the right too you know. They’re usually looking for their nuts.

Councillor Ian Davey, lead member for transport at Brighton & Hove City Council, said:

“Walk to School Week is a great opportunity to encourage more families to walk to school. This year in Brighton & Hove schools are sharing local knowledge about the best ways to get to school, quickly, enjoyably and safely. The council supports schools throughout the year with travel planning and providing safe routes around schools.”

For more information on this madness: CLICK HERE:

Call us now

Day: May 23, 2013

Labour leader calls for all Green group councillors to resign their council seats after Green rebels fail to unseat their leader

Just 16 days left to register for the LGBT Community Pride Parade

Rainbow Fund reports on recent grant funding for LGBT groups

The Flaming Lips: Brighton Dome: Review

New patron for QueenSpark

Brand new website for Council

Blueprint 22 – A project for young people

Calls for contributors to Brighton conference

Brighton student creates ‘Gender Blending’ jewellery

Make like a Meerkat – An opinion piece by Kat Pope

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