The theme of this year’s Pride Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Parade is The World’s A Disco.
Dance along with 160,000 fellow revellers and spectators, take your partner by the hand and celebrate the music, dance and colour of the globe while remembering those LGBT people in 78 countries worldwide who are denied their LGBT rights and freedoms.
Leave your imagination to run wild with costumes and floats celebrating the diversity of disco, the sauciness of salsa and the fabulous world of dance. From Bollywood to ballroom, calypso to country, dabke to disco, flamenco to fandango, and gumboot to guapacha, samba to street dance or tango to tap, for one proud day take a spin at the world’s disco.
The World’s A Disco community parade will highlight not only the diversity of the world’s dancefloors but the plight of those across the globe whose basic freedom to live is denied.
Campaigning under the theme Freedom To Live, the parade will include 78 placards representing those countries where homosexual acts are illegal as Pride Brighton & Hove stands beside our global LGBTQ brothers and sisters.
As Kylie would say, your disco needs you.
More importantly Pride Brighton and Hove in 2014 needs you.
To register your Parade entry today for your 10% early registration discount, CLICK HERE:
To register as a Parade Steward (and get a free ticket for the park) or volunteers to carry one of the 78 Freedom To Live placards representing the 78 countries where homosexuality is illegal, CLICK HERE:
What: Brighton Pride Community Parade: The World’s A Disco
47% of men disagree that a gay male couple can do as good a job bringing up children as a man and a woman, in contrast to 30% of women.
Natcen
New analysis of the British Social Attitudes survey published by NatCen Social Research during gay adoption week reveals that men take a more conservative stance on gay adoption and parenting.
• 47% of men do not think that a same sex male couple can bring children up as well as male-female couples, while just 30% of women do.
When it comes to lesbian partners raising children, views are softer, but a gender gap remains.
• 42% of men doubt same sex female couples’ ability to raise children, in comparison to 27% of women.
Men are also more likely to differentiate between gay male and lesbian couples.
Overall, 35% of all Brits say that lesbian couples cannot bring up children as well as male-female couples, in comparison to 39% of those who doubt gay male couples’ ability.
Public increasingly open-minded
Just under half (49%) of Brits agree that gay couples should be allowed to adopt while 44% say that they should not. This represents a dramatic change on thirty years ago; in 1983, 8% of the population agreed with gay adoption, while 87% disagreed.
The analysis also shows strong generational trends, with older people far more likely to be concerned about same sex couples bringing up children:
· 20% of 17-34 year olds think that same sex male couples can’t bring up children as well as opposite sex couples, in comparison to 57% of the over-55s
· 17% of 17-34 year olds think that lesbian couples can’t bring up children as well as couples of the opposite sex, in comparison to 50% of the over-55s
Penny Young
Penny Young, Chief Executive of NatCen Social Research said: “This research shows just how much things have changed, but also that among a large minority traditional perceptions of families remain intact. Although campaigners may well be disheartened by just how much this issue continues to divide the public, there are certainly positives for them to take from this research – the vast generational differences suggest a view on its way out.”
NatCen Social Research is an independent, not for profit organisation who believe that social research has the power to make life better. By really understanding the complexity of people’s lives and what they think about the issues that affect them, they give the public a powerful and influential role in shaping decisions and services that can make a difference to everyone.
Each year NatCen’s British Social Attitudes survey asks over 3,000 people what it’s like to live in Britain and what they think about how Britain is run.
Since 1983 they have been measuring and tracking changes in people’s social, political and moral attitudes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports the case of a woman who was infected with HIV during sex with another woman.
The case which happened in Texas in 2012 involved a monogamous lesbian couple. One of the women was positive the other was not. The couple did not take any protective measures during sex and had engaged in sexual activity that resulted in the exchange of blood through cuts and grazes.
The partner who had been HIV-free became infected. Health officials could find no other explanation why and concluded that it was likely she was infected by her partner.
The report says that while the risk of HIV transmission between female sex partners is low, it can occur when bodily fluids such as menstrual blood and vaginal fluids come into contact with a cut, abrasion or a mucus membrane.
Researchers say this case study emphasises the need for all couples, including women who have sex with women to take measures to prevent HIV transmission and to avoid all contact between HIV-infected blood or blood-contaminated bodily fluids and broken skin, wounds or mucus membranes.
The report was published in the March 13 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Paul Ward, Acting Chief Executive at Terrence Higgins Trust, said:“Sex between two women carries an extremely low risk of HIV transmission. However, in any sexual pairing, the risk of transmission increases when one of the couple has HIV but is not on treatment. In this case, when the HIV-positive partner stopped taking anti-HIV drugs in 2010, it is likely the amount of virus in her blood increased dramatically. Modern drug treatments don’t just keep people with HIV fit and well; they can also greatly reduce the risk of infection.”
Green councillors have taken the charity Guide Dogs’ blindfold challenge, which sees participants putting on a blindfold and navigating local streets guided only by dogs, long canes and assistants.
Cllr Ian Davey takes the Guide Dog Challenge
The challenge was started by Guide Dogs to help decision-makers better understand what it’s like for people who are blind or partially sighted.
During the walk around central Hove, Councillors Pete West, Ian Davey and Chris Hawtree encountered the problems regularly faced by people who are blind or partially sighted, including A-boards, street clutter, and cars parked on or blocking pavements.
Greens have committed to ongoing dialogue with the charity to ensure that their views can be taken into account when the council committee makes decisions on issues like road layouts and parking enforcement.
Councillor Pete West, Chair of the Environment Transport & Sustainability Committee said:“While nothing can fully represent the difficulties people who are blind and partially sighted experience, Guide Dogs helped us understand how poor road design, street clutter and pavement quality can make journeys that should be simple much more complicated.
“It was a truly profound and helpful experience for councillors and officers that took part, and we all really appreciate the commitment made by everyone who came along to show us the ropes last week. I’ve invited Guide Dogs to present their campaigns to the whole council committee, and hope that other councillors from other parties will also benefit from their feedback.”
Residents in Goldsmid and Central Hove will soon lose their black boxes as new communal recycling bins are rolled out.
By the end of next week (Friday March 21) Brighton & Hove City Council will have installed the bins in 63 streets in Goldsmid and Central Hove, as part of Phase 4 of the communal recycling scheme.
Residents can start using the mixed recycling bins to recycle their plastic bottles, food and drink cans, cardboard and paper as soon as they arrive in their street.
The last black box collections will take place during the week beginning March 24. As the scheme ends, residents can choose to keep their boxes to store their recycling or leave the empty boxes outside for the council to collect and re-use in other parts of the city.
Most of the communal bins, which will be emptied at least three times a week, have been placed alongside existing communal refuse bins to avoid taking up parking spaces. Locations of the glass recycling bins have been chosen to minimise problems with noise.
Residents helped decide where the bins should be located following feedback from the public consultation and exhibitions staged last year.
Cllr Pete West
Cllr Pete West, chair of the environment, transport and sustainability committee said:“It’s great to see the new communal bins arriving in more areas of the city centre enabling many more residents to drop off their recycling whenever they like.”
He added that the new scheme will also see the end of black boxes cluttering pavements and doorsteps, and stop passers-by using them as bins, contaminating contents and causing wind-blown litter.
The introduction of the scheme is expected to bring big increases in recycling rates. A trial of over 3,000 homes in Brunswick and Adelaide during 2012, saw recycling rates rise from 12.5 per cent to 21 per cent.
The scheme is being funded with an £840,000 government grant to help councils improve waste collection and recycling services. The scheme is expected to result in savings of approximately £500k over 6 years.
The communal bin roll-out will be completed by May this year and will eventually serve 32,000 city centre households from West Hove to East Brighton.
Specialist lawyers ask Government to confirm timescales for civil partnerships to be converted into same-sex marriage.
A couple taking legal advice regarding the implementation of same-sex marriage is calling on the Government to issue a clear and defined timeframe for when those in civil partnership can convert to marriage – as the current system doesn’t allow it to happen.
The new same-sex marriage laws allowed applications from Thursday 13 March with the first marriages to take place on March 29 this year. However the Government says those in civil partnerships cannot get married until systems are updated to allow for the conversion and says this will only be done by the end of the year.
A gay couple from Barnsley sought legal advice from specialist family lawyers at Irwin Mitchell in their bid to find out exactly when they can get married and put pressure on the Government to commit to a clearer timeframe.
Irwin Mitchell has been liaising with the Department For Culture, Media & Sport to speed up the process and is urging the Government commits to a specific timeframe by which the appropriate systems will be implemented to allow for the conversion from civil partnership to same-sex marriage.
The law firm has also been approached by several people suffering from the practicalities of not being able to marry such as people unable to get international visas to join their partners in other countries
Michael and Paul Atwal-Brice, from Thurnscoe, Barnsley entered into a civil partnership in 2008 as marriage was not an option available to same sex couples at the time. Like many same sex couples they were delighted when the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 was passed and same sex marriage became lawful and planned to become one of the first couples to convert to marriage when the legislation came into force on March 29, 2014.
However, they were told that they would not be able to marry before the end of the year and even then there is no set date which they can begin planning for. They have asked lawyers to keep pressure on the Government to confirm the timetables for when Section 9 of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 is to be brought in to allow couples wishing to convert their civil partnerships into marriage to do so.
According to Government figures, 55,000 civil partnerships have been formed in England and Wales and Irwin Mitchell says that those in this position that wish to marry are being treated unfairly.
Zoe Round, a specialist family lawyer at Irwin Mitchell solicitors in Sheffield, said:“Michael and Paul have been waiting for this legislation to be agreed for years and now, at the final hurdle, they are finding that the process to convert civil partnerships to marriage is not yet implemented.
“They should be registering their intent to marry today but instead all those couples in a civil partnership cannot convert to same-sex marriage because the Government hasn’t implemented the appropriate systems.
“The Government says that there are complications as they wish to ensure that the benefits and rights associated with marriage are backdated for those in civil partnerships. While Paul and Michael are pleased with this development, they want to make sure the Government stays true to its word and does indeed set a date for when they can marry.
“Those in a civil partnership can’t plan their wedding properly because they don’t yet know when they will be allowed to marry. The Government wanted to introduce same-sex marriage as soon as possible but it’s not available yet for many who wish to go through the process. If the Government does not implement the changes needed within a reasonable timeframe they could face legal action in the High Court.”
Paul, 34, who has two adopted disabled sons with partner Michael, 29, said:“We should be able to register our intent to marry today but instead we don’t know when we can get married because we’re already in a civil partnership.
“At the moment we, and others in the same situation, cannot set a date for our marriage because there isn’t the system in place to convert our civil partnership. We are being unfairly treated simply because we are in a long term relationship and have already committed to each other.
“We sought legal advice because we wanted to ensure there was pressure on the Government to implement the proper systems as soon as possible. At the moment all we have to work with is that it will be by the end of the year but that doesn’t help us and many other couples to plan for the future.”
Simon Kirby, MP
Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven lobbied hard to get the legislation through both the House of Commons and House of Lords.
He said:“There are around 50,000 couples who have entered into civil partnerships who would have chosen to get married if it were possible. Some of those couples live in my constituency and I know they will be disappointed that they were not able to convert their civil partnership into a marriage from the March 29.
“I understand that civil partnership conversion is more complicated than first time marriage in terms of administration and implementation. Same sex marriages will also be back dated to incorporate the period of civil partnership. However the delay is unfortunate, and I sympathise with the couple involved in this case. I have previously written to the Secretary of State making her aware of my concerns, and seeking greater clarity from her on when the necessary arrangements for civil partnership conversions will be in place.
“The date of March 29 for Equal Marriage ceremonies was earlier than originally anticipated. I think that demonstrates that the Government is determined to implement same sex marriage legalisation in full as early as possible. I want to assure people that I have worked tirelessly with the Government to make equal marriage a reality and I will continue working hard to represent people in civil partnerships who understandably want to marry the person they love as soon as they can.”
Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, has reaffirmed his support for a pilot badger vaccination scheme in East Sussex.
Simon Kirby, MP
Mr Kirby has previously raised this issue with the Prime Minister and called on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to carry out a pilot vaccination scheme in the area.
He said:“I have always been clear that my approach to the issue of tackling bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) would be guided by the scientific evidence.
“It remains my belief that a pilot badger vaccination programme in the high risk area of East Sussex would make a significant contribution to the scientific debate on the issue, and potentially prove that vaccination offers a cost effective solution in the fight against bTB.”
He continued:“I am pleased that the issue of how best to tackle bTB is being debated again and I shall be following the points made very closely. As it stands, I would be minded to support the back bench motion. I am keen to see an effective vaccination project as an alternative to culling.”
Mike Weatherley, MP for Hove and Portslade spoke about the importance of protecting Intellectual Property Rights in a speech during the Bill’s third reading last week (March 12).
Mike Weatherley, MP
The Prime Minister, appointed Mike as his adviser on Intellectual Property last year, with a particular focus on enforcement.
As an MP, Mike has pushed hard to raise awareness of Intellectual Property Rights amongst his colleagues in Parliament where his Rock the House initiative, is now Parliament’s largest competition and a popular vehicle to achieve this aim.
In his parliamentary speech, Mike said:“Above all else, what this Bill needs is for the Prime Minister to state categorically that IP Rights are the same as Property Rights and something to be cherished and protected. In many ways, Europe is looking to us in the UK for IP direction and this repeated message is important so rights are not drip fed away.”
For more information on the Intellectual Property Bill, CLICK HERE:
Commenting, Mike said:“The value of Intellectual Property to our country really cannot be overestimated, which is why protecting these rights is so important. The Intellectual Property Bill is certainly a positive step in the right direction. However, given that the creative industries add over £70 billion to our economy, I felt compelled to call on the Prime Minister to emphasise his support for Intellectual Property Rights and how that they need to be bolstered, not eroded.”
By the end of next week (Friday March 21) Brighton & Hove City Council will have installed the bins in 63 streets in Goldsmid and Central Hove, as part of Phase 4 of the communal recycling scheme.
A couple taking legal advice regarding the implementation of same-sex marriage is calling on the Government to issue a clear and defined timeframe for when those in civil partnership can convert to marriage – as the current system doesn’t allow it to happen.
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