15/06/2013 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

Dancing Queens at Brighton Pride

Posted on 15/06/201315/06/2013 by Besi

Norman Cooke at Brighton Pride 2012: Photo by Chris Jepson

With the return in August of the star studded main stage to Brighton Pride, featuring an impressive line up of international artistis including Alison Moyet, the original Sugarbabes vocalists, Stooshe and Paloma Faith playing a special DJ set, it could be easy to forget that this year’s festival is set also to be one great big dance fest filled with dancing queens!

There have never been so many dance zones and so many outstanding DJ’s at Pride. In fact the festival on Preston Park alone will feature in excess of 30 DJ’s meaning that you can dance and shake your thing all day whatever your musical tastes or age.

Dance highlights include the brand new Bears Zone with an alfresco dance area featuring DJ’s Severino, HiFi Sean, Micky Galliano, Phil Lovedisco and Chris Barker, among it’s unique DJ line up.

The popular Women’s dance tent hosted by the official Pride Gaydar girls weekender has a fantastic line up of all female DJ stars including Missy B, Amy B and Sandra D alongside a packed day of women’s dance DJ allstars.

One of the main attractions for dance enthusiasts on the park is always the Calabash tent featuring a host of top DJ’s headed up by Rob Ninebob as well as Affy and Ali Go Bang.

Lovers of line dancing will be pleased to know that the Cactus Club will be hosting the line dancing tent featuring plenty of western dancing fun for everyone including a very special wheelchair line dancing lesson and session.

The mecca of all things dance and the main focus for dance orientated Pride goers is always the Wild Fruit dance big top that boasts amazing dancers, performers and top production values as well as world class DJ’s including The Freemasons with Steve Pitron, Seamus Haji, Maze & Masters and Dulcie Danger.

Event: Icons on the Park

Where: Preston Park, Brighton

When: Saturday, August 3

Time: 12 noon – 8pm

Tickets: £12.50 at present, rising to £17.50 at the beginning of July and more on the day

To Book tickets, CLICK HERE:

Well done Nancy

Posted on 15/06/201315/06/2013 by Besi

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, moved quickly to congratulate the new Labour candidate on her selection to contest the seat at the 2015 General Election.

Labour have selected Nancy Platts, who stood unsuccessfully in Brighton Pavilion in 2010, to be their candidate in Kemptown & Peacehaven in 2015.

Simon said:

“Congratulations to Nancy on securing the Labour nomination for this seat. As the Member of Parliament for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven I know what a special place it is and I would be happy to show Labour’s new candidate the many wonderful parts of the constituency.”

He added:

“Since 2010 I have been working hard across the constituency, taking up thousands of cases on behalf of residents, from the Marina to Moulsecoomb and from the pier to Peacehaven. I will continue to do my best for all residents, regardless of how they vote.”

“I would also like to add my commiserations to Katie Ghose, who, as someone with local links, would have been a good candidate. Some people may be surprised Labour have selected someone from London over a local candidate”

He concluded by saying:

“I always believe that people want to see politicians rise above petty, personal, point scoring and see them tackle the real issues like unemployment, the wider economy and immigration. These are the issues I focus on every day and I hope the new Labour candidate will join me in promising to run a clean campaign.”

“Constituents can rest assured that rather than obsessing about elections I am getting on with the job of representing local people in Parliament.”

Labour chose Parliamentary candidates

Posted on 15/06/201315/06/2013 by Besi

Brighton, Hove and District Labour Party today selected two of their three candidates for Brighton & Hove at the next general election.

Dr Peter Kyle topped the ballot of Labour Party members and will contest the Hove and Portslade Parliamentary seat, where a 1.9% swing is required to take the seat from the sitting Conservative MP.

Dr Kyle a former Pride trustee, said:

“Local residents are fed up at the lack of economic development, quality job creation, and wasted money on poorly thought through traffic schemes. I have a track record of delivering for people in greatest need, which I will do during the campaign and in Westminster. I’m raring to go, I have the passion and background to win this seat back and I can’t wait to get going”

“Under Ed Miliband Labour will rebuild Britain – invest in our economy, halt the dismantling of our NHS, and ensure there is adequate support for the most vulnerable members of our society. I am looking forward to campaigning with local people on these, the issues that really matter.”

Nancy Platts who stood for Labour in Brighton Pavilion at the last election has been selected as Labour’s candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. Ms Platts topped the ballot and will contest the Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven Parliamentary seat, where a 1.6% swing is required for Labour to retake the seat from the Conservatives.

Nancy said:

“I am delighted to have been selected as the Labour candidate for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. Two decades of campaign experience; real life experience, gives me a genuine connection to the lives of people across the constituency, and a track record of delivering practical change on issues such as Sure Start, fuel poverty and transport.

“I will fight to expose cruel Coalition cuts, and demonstrate that Labour has an alternative for good jobs, affordable homes and better schools. Every time a policy negatively impacts on the residents of Brighton Kemptown, I will challenge the Conservative MP as to why he voted for it in Westminster – such as the £30 million cuts to the local NHS trust and the Bedroom Tax.”

The final selection for the Brighton Pavilion seat, currently held by Caroline Lucas, MP will be held on July 20.

Get sporty and active!

Posted on 15/06/201315/06/2013 by Besi

The country’s biggest sporting festival is back for two weeks this summer. The annual TAKEPART festival runs from June 22 to July 7.

The festival offers hundreds of events, activities and taster sessions featuring sports and activities of all types. The celebration links local clubs and organisations to provide a huge range of local opportunities as well as profiling major events in the city.

The TAKEPART festival is organised by the council’s Sports Development team. TAKEPART is a mix of the high profile events and community-based ventures, helping to build fitness levels for all ages in neighbourhoods across Brighton & Hove. The emphasis is on finding an activity to enjoy, whether a traditional sport or a more passive pastime such as healthwalks or yoga, to improve wellbeing.

Brighton Lesbian & Gay Sports Society (BLGSS) organise the Big Gay Sports Day at the Stanley Deason Leisure Centre on June 29 from 10am-5pm. For full details, CLICK HERE:

Like much of the TAKEPART programme, the Active Forever session on June 27 is a free event. The aim of the day is to encourage older people to be more active. One featured group in Active Forever is the Zumba for Older People from Moulscomb. Zumba dance moves have been adapted to suit a slightly slower pace while still delivering an exercise workout for the over 50 age range.

Zumba participant Marion Guy said:

“I started Zumba to get out and about. Also because it is different to anything I have done before. I very much enjoy the music and the dancing. And I enjoy the company of the other women in the group.”

Jan Sutherland, Brighton & Hove City Council Sport & Physical Activity Manager, added:

“The TAKEPART festival is a fixture in the sporting calendar and provides a great start to the summer. Yet again the sports development team has worked with local clubs and organisations to produce an exciting and inclusive programme. There are plenty of new activities to choose from and I encourage everyone to have a look at the programme and see how you can take part.”

To get full details of the event programme, CLICK HERE:

Brighton gay radio!

Posted on 15/06/201318/06/2013 by Besi

Brighton Gay Radio is on line 24 hours a day playing poptastic music round the clock. DJ Mark ‘Marcia’ Jenkins, well known to Bulldog regulars as DJ Marcia is in charge of all programming which features camp classics from the last forty years of gayness. Mark has been resident DJ at the legendary Bulldog Glitterball Monday nights for the last 12 years.

The station runs 24 hours a day and you can find the daily schedule at www.brightongayradio.com

My particular favourite is Wednesdays All Presenting Day which features Marcia’s Brighton Whats On Guide for the over 70’s with fabulously out of fashion music at 8pm JMD Superstar a weekly fans tribute show to the wonderfully camp Jane McDonald.

Mark started the station last July because he felt most gay media and radio stations cater for a youngish audience and are dance and business orientated.

Mark says:

“Working for years at the Bulldog I realised that many older queens (and some younger ones) reacted very well to the older, slightly camp classics.”

“Brighton Gay Radio gives me the opportunity to share my music passions with all those who are like minded.”

The weekly schedule is as follows:

• Mondays: Marcias Glitterball Year featuring music from a year gone by and based on the legendary Bulldog Glitter Ball Nights.

• Tuesdays: Check out the online diary changes every week

• Wednesdays: Feature Marcia’s Brighton Show; A Whats On Guide for the over 70s with fabulously out of fashion music. If you want anything mentioned during the show just EMAIL: At 8pm there is a weekly fans tribute to the fabulously camp Jane McDonald. Marcia is a huge fan!

• Thursdays: Local resident Ian Fennell takes control with his community show Scene and Heard. If you want anything covered EMAIL:

• Friday: ABBA Friday (once again slightly gay). Both this show and the Jane McDonald show have picked up a big following all over Europe

• Weekends: Features non stop camp classics covering everything from Eurovision favourites, Pride Anthems to Madonna and 80s classics

Check out Brighton Gay Radio it is fabulously uplifting and yes fabulously camp: www.brightongayradio.com

Death in Venice: ENO: Opera Review

Posted on 15/06/201308/01/2016 by Michael Hootman

Benjamin Britten’s last opera is perhaps his finest: a work which, although it embraces aspects of discordant modernism, also contains some of opera’s most hauntingly melodic music. Deborah Warner’s production brings out the opera’s eerie beauty, its internal struggle between sensuality and repression, and manages to almost palpably convey the atmosphere of a decaying, pestilent and ‘ambiguous‘ Venice.

If the music can be challenging, the opera’s theme is even more so. Gustav von Aschenbach (John Graham-Hall) is an uptight middle-aged writer whose creativity is blocked. Hoping a sojourn in the South will revive him he travels to Venice where – and there’s no easy way to put this – he becomes obsessed with a pretty teenage boy. (I’d half feared – and half hoped – for an updated production with its protagonist a ’70s DJ.) But the exact nature of this obsession is every bit as ambiguous as the city it takes place in. Aschenbach feels, or at least says he feels, ‘a father’s pleasure, a father’s warmth‘ when contemplating Tadzio. In the same way that most of Venice is underwater, so could this simple explanation be the most easily comprehended extent of murkier, subconscious desires.

Graham-Hall’s interpretation of Aschenbach is revelatory. As written there is a danger he can come across as pompous, vain and almost comically self-important. Graham-Hall manages the not inconsiderable feat of making the opera’s hero entirely sympathetic, a man whose obsession takes him to the edge of madness. Occasionally there is something vulnerable, almost childlike, in the way he tries to explain to himself his feelings that he fears would shame his ‘decent, stern’ forebears. A rather leadenly written piece of recitative in which Aschenbach assesses his critical reputation is now something read in a newspaper article. Under Warner’s direction the evaluation that he has ‘accepted, even welcomed the austere demands of maturity‘ is delivered with a wonderfully self-deprecating irony.

Andrew Shore gives equally good performances playing a number of characters who Aschenbach meets on his journey. Amongst his seven roles his Elderly Fop, Old Gondolier and in particular the cackling leader of a troupe of players, are either marvellously comic, strangely sinister, or both. These roles are in a sense the backbone of the opera, a series of chance encounters which seem to presage humiliation and death.

For pure vocal brilliance Tim Mead’s Apollo is perhaps the show’s highlight. His delivery of the aria ‘He Who Loves Beauty‘ genuinely gave me a thrill of pure pleasure as he perfectly seems to realise the voice of an ancient God.

Visually Warner’s production is flawless. With its immaculately costumed cast, its evocative ballet sequences, its grand hotels represented by giant billowing curtains, its subtle projections of sky and sea, this is as good-looking an opera as I’ve seen in ages.

Continues at the English National Opera, London Coliseum, St Martins Lane, London.

Performances: Tues 18, Fri 21, Mon 24 and Weds 26 June.

For more information and tickets click here.

Kemptown MP calls for Council to protect community spaces

Posted on 15/06/2013 by Besi

Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, has written to the City Council to urge them to act swiftly to reopen the transit site for travellers at Horsdean.

Simon said:

“With the summer now fast approaching, undoubtedly groups of travellers will return to the City looking for somewhere to stay. I am therefore concerned that the Council’s dedicated transit site at Horsdean has now remained closed for many months with no sign of being reopened, increasing the likelihood of unauthorised encampments at inappropriate sites, as recently witnessed on ground by the cemetery in Woodingdean.”

“I am therefore calling on the City Council to ensure the transit site at Horsdean is open again as soon as possible and to ensure that travellers wishing to stay in the City are directed to this site, rather than setting up camps in places like Happy Valley, Saltdean Oval and East Brighton Park as has happened previously.”

Simon concluded:

“Many residents continue to contact me about this issue and I am concerned that the City Council still does not have adequate plans in place to deal with unauthorised encampments satisfactorily. Local residents should not suffer inconvenience as a result of the Council’s failure.”

Stonewall Manchester conference a success

Posted on 15/06/2013 by Besi

Over 200 delegates from major British employers attending yesterdays Stonewall Workplace Conference in Manchester heard from inspirational speakers including Coronation Street actor Charlie Condou and Leicestershire Police Assistant Chief Constable Steph Morgan.

ITV, the British Army, Accenture, the Co-operative and Ernst & Young were among the employers sharing best practice at the Conference, which was supported by Barclays.

During his speech about being a gay man working in the media, Charlie Condou, said:

“If I’d seen gay role models back in my teens, those years would have been very different. Thank god gay teens today can see dozens of different pictures of gay adulthood, letting them know they can be whoever they want to be – just like their straight friends. It’s not perfect, but we’re getting there.”

ACC Steph Morgan of Leicestershire Police

During a heartfelt speech about the importance of being a role model, Assistant Chief Constable Steph Morgan, said:

“You can’t be a leader if you can’t be yourself. I had a team, and I couldn’t tell you who was married or much about their lives – I never asked those questions because I didn’t want those questions back. I realised I had to come out, and to show an interest in others if I wanted to lead them.”

Stonewall’s next Workplace Conference is in Cardiff on 8 October.

To book, CLICK HERE:

Rugby League equality champion honoured by Queen

Posted on 15/06/2013 by Besi

Sarah Williams receiving the 2012 Stonewall Sports Award on behalf of the RFL

The sterling work done by Rugby Football League (RFL) Equality and Diversity Manager Sarah Williams has been recognised by the Queen in her Birthday Honours list. She has been awarded the MBE.

Since her appointment in November 2007, Sarah has helped Rugby League become the most proactive governing body in UK sport on issues such as race, sexuality, gender, disability, age and religion.

RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood said:

“It gives me great pleasure to congratulate Sarah on this richly deserved award; it is terrific that her outstanding efforts have been acknowledged in this way.

“Rugby League has long prided itself as a sport that is open to all and Sarah has helped reinforce and enhance our reputation for tolerance, inclusivity and proactivity.”

Sarah Williams MBE said:

“This honour is a fantastic recognition, not just of the work I do but more of Rugby League and the way in which the sport has led the way in its approach to equality and diversity.

“I have only been a catalyst because we could not have made the strides we have without the support of the governing body, players, coaches, supporters, administrators, clubs and every section of the sport.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the way in which Rugby League has embraced the whole equality agenda and I look forward to doing what I can to keep the sport in the vanguard of this exciting journey.”

In 2010 the RFL became the first sports governing body to appear in the Stonewall Index at Number 169; the following year the RFL climbed to 93 and then last year reached Number 53 in the Stonewall Top 100, prompting Stonewall to praise the way in which Rugby League leads the way in tackling homophobia in sport by awarding the RFL the prestigious Stonewall Sports Award.

Sarah has worked tirelessly in a number of ground-breaking areas, including publishing research on the perception of Rugby League among young Asian Muslims; helping devise a coaching courses for BME players, women and disabled players; setting up the RFL Rainbow Forum, an online group open to all LGBT Staff, players, coaches, match officials club staff and volunteers; and produced information packs and guidance for clubs that enable them to effectively tackle homophobia.

Have your say on coastal erosion

Posted on 15/06/201315/06/2013 by Besi

Brighton & Hove City Council are inviting local residents, businesses and other interested parties to give their views on options for managing the coastline between Brighton Marina and the River Adur for the next 100 years.

The strategy, which hopes to manage coastal erosion and sea flooding, has been put together by the council along with help from consulting engineers Halcrow Group Ltd, and in partnership with Adur and Worthing Councils and the Environment Agency, who are funding the strategy.

Cllr Pete West, Chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s Environment and Sustainability Committee, said:

“With changing climatic conditions, rising sea levels and increasing popularity both for recreation and commerce it is essential that our coastline is properly managed not just as a defence against the sea but also to maintain and enhance its environmental and economic value.

“We hope people will take this opportunity to give us their views on this piece of coastline between the Marina and River Adur and help shape a shortlist of options for further consideration.”

The consultation is open until June 23, after which a short list of preferred options will be developed with a formal period of consultation later this year. The final strategy will be completed next year.

To have your say, CLICK HERE:

Call us now

Day: June 15, 2013

Dancing Queens at Brighton Pride

Well done Nancy

Labour chose Parliamentary candidates

Get sporty and active!

Brighton gay radio!

Death in Venice: ENO: Opera Review

Kemptown MP calls for Council to protect community spaces

Stonewall Manchester conference a success

Rugby League equality champion honoured by Queen

Have your say on coastal erosion

Latest News

Call us now

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Latest News