YOU can talk in complete confidence to Gscene Magazine.
Email: info@gscene.com and tell us your story.
THE change will be announced officially tomorrow (Thursday, June 25) at a special Gala at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London starting at 8pm.
The charity, which was forty years old last year, provides confidential phone, e-mail and instant messaging services to support people who want to talk about sexuality and/or gender identity.
Dave Maher, Switchboard’s Co-Chair, said: “So much is changing for our LGBT+ communities and so is our name to make it clear that we’re here for everyone, wherever they live, and in whichever way they choose to define their sexuality or gender identity.”
“Even in our increasingly interconnected age, it’s not always easy to find the support we need at crucial times in our lives and Switchboard’s volunteers will continue to be here with calm words when those are needed most.”
Nuala O’Sullivan, Switchboard’s Co-Chair, added: “This is an incredibly exciting time for Switchboard. We have so much to celebrate and a new chapter to look forward to. Our new name will help us to spread the message that we continue to provide a safe and confidential space where people’s concerns can be listened to and talked through.”
More than fifteen thousand people use Switchboard’s services every year to talk about a variety of subjects including coming out, discrimination, and sexual health. Volunteers are trained to listen, signpost people to specialist services and to support them to make informed decisions for themselves.
Switchboard is a voluntary organisation with charitable status whose aim is to provide an information, support and referral service for anyone who needs to consider issues around sexuality and gender identity.
For more details click here:
Over 300 leading members of London’s business community and their guests showed their support for the LGBT+ community at the annual event that raises funds for Pride in London.
At the Gala, it was announced that former Lord Mayor of London, Dame Fiona Woolf CBE, was becoming a Patron of Pride in London. Dame Fiona joins Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Sir Ian McKellen and Martina Navratilova who are all Patrons of the organisation.
Guest of honour, was Mary Portas who was accompanied by her wife, Melanie Rickey. Guests were entertained after dinner by Alfie Boe and Sinitta joined the party.
Randy Berry, US State Department Special Envoy for LGBT Rights also attended alongside LGBT+ and straight ally groups from Gala Dinner sponsors Baker & McKenzie and Citi as well as headline sponsors Barclays.
Political attendees included Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan MP, the first out Lesbian in the House of Commons Angela Eagle MP as well as London Mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan MP and Sandi Toksvig, founder of the Women’s Equality Party. They were joined by human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
Dame Fiona Woolf, former Lord Mayor of London, said: “Last year I was delighted to host the first LGBT+ dinner at the Mansion House, it was an important moment both for Pride and to highlight diversity in the City. I am now honoured to be joining such an outstanding team of Patrons, and thrilled to be continuing my association with Pride. Together we will be working to ensure that talent is allowed to rise uninhibited in the capital, so people can be out and proud in all parts of London.”
Chair of Pride in London, Michael Salter, added: “The Mansion House is a magnificent and fitting setting to begin our celebration of Pride Heroes. Those heroes come from every walk of life and our campaign features scores both famous and unsung nominated by the community. Our sponsors who gathered this evening make Pride possible and used the evening to celebrate the heroes in their own organisations as well as to raise additional funds to secure the future of the UK’s biggest LGBT+ event.”
Pride in London is a week-long festival, which takes place from June 20-28 and celebrates all aspects of the LGBT+ community. This year’s Parade will be on Saturday, June 27, alongside the festival in Trafalgar Square and activities in Soho.
The theme of this year’s Pride Parade is ‘Pride Heroes’, celebrating individuals who have contributed to LGBT+ rights over the years.
WITH the death of Martin Fisher on April 20 2015, the world of HIV lost one of its brightest stars.
Although he is mourned globally, his loss is of course felt most keenly by his partner Adrian and his family, as well as friends, colleagues and patients here in Brighton and Hove.
Martin was born in Cyprus, where his Dad was serving with the Royal Air Force, and on returning to England he was educated in Taunton, Somerset, before going on to study Medicine at Guy’s Hospital Medical School. After his general medical training he specialised in genitourinary medicine (GUM) and the relatively new specialty of HIV, first at the old Westminster Hospital (forerunner of the shiny new Chelsea and Westminster!) and then at St Mary’s in Paddington.
In May 1995, aged 30, and not quite seven years since graduating from Guy’s, Martin applied for two Consultant posts: at Kings College Hospital in London and Brighton Health Care (as the Trust was then called). The rest, as they say, is history.
After a short sabbatical in San Francisco, Martin started work in Brighton on October 2, just a few days after the results of the DELTA trial were presented at the European Aids Conference in Copenhagen. This was a defining moment in HIV medicine: after the disappointing results of the CONCORDE study (that showed AZT alone was no better than placebo), DELTA demonstrated that a combination of two drugs was superior to monotherapy, resulting in improvements in quality and length of life. He couldn’t have arrived at a better time!
Considering the size of the local HIV population (one of the largest outside London) services were underdeveloped, though not for the want of campaigning by local activists (mainly from the LGBT community) and from within the NHS. Most inpatients were cared for by the nurses and respiratory physicians in a specialist ward at Hove General Hospital (now Tennyson Court on Sackville Road), whilst outpatients were mainly seen by the GUM doctors at the recently opened Lawson Unit. Consequently, many local people who wanted to access the latest treatment went to London for their care.
These were the days before viral load and resistance testing were available, when there were only 3 licensed antiretrovirals, and when fewer than 15% of people attending the Lawson Unit were on treatment. The 6-bedded ward was always full, and there were usually 6-12 additional patients on other wards, all with HIV-related conditions. Over a third of people who were diagnosed with HIV already had advanced disease and in Brighton there were about two HIV-related deaths each month (13 per 100 patient years).
Now there are over 20 antivirals and more than 90% of Lawson patients are on treatment. People who are on treatment are rarely admitted to hospital for an HIV-related problem, and their life expectancy is similar to those without the virus. Many factors have contributed to this seismic shift, and Martin played a part in most of them, locally and globally: from the development of new medicines and supporting people taking them, to reducing the number with undiagnosed HIV, and strengthening partnerships with GPs and other specialities.
Martin worked tirelessly and fearlessly to transform the service, arguing his case eloquently and persistently with Trust managers and Commissioners. He was a strong supporter of the whole multidisciplinary team and never scorned a suggestion made by a junior colleague. He enjoyed healthy discussion (though it wasn’t easy to persuade him to change his mind!) and he valued and encouraged the contributions of anyone who shared his vision and passion to provide the very best care. He was a great advocate of patient involvement, championing the establishment of Patient Representatives in the clinic, and respected and valued the insights patients had into their own care and the development of the service.
Martin had a deep affection for both the people he cared for and those he worked with, and continually strove to help them ‘be the best that they could be‘. His enthusiasm was infectious and his ‘can-do’ attitude empowering, and this ethos ensured that, as the team grew, it attracted high calibre professionals who also wanted to make Brighton the leading HIV centre.
There isn’t space to list his many achievements, but one local example is the enormous contribution he made to improving how and where services were provided. This began when Hove General closed in 1997, and he successfully lobbied the Elton John Aids Foundation to contribute generously towards the refurbishment and running costs of the new inpatient, day care and research unit at Brighton General. At the same time his support was also crucial in enabling the Sussex Eye Hospital Pharmacy to be re-opened and used for dispensing Lawson Unit and Claude Nicol Centre prescriptions, rather than patients having to trek over to the pharmacy in the tower block.
Martin was a brilliant clinician, a prodigious researcher and a naturally gifted and engaging lecturer, so it’s no surprise that he was much in demand to speak at conferences, workshops and training courses worldwide. For many years he was an active member of the British HIV Association (BHIVA) and the British Association of Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), serving on committees, writing guidelines and organising conferences. He was highly influential at a national and international level, and we in Brighton were fortunate to be represented by him.
In February 2013 he was appointed to the Chair of HIV Medicine at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and a few months later he was presented with a Golden Handbags Lifetime Achievement Award, for developing Brighton’s services for people with HIV. Characteristically, the award was a complete surprise to him: just one illustration that, despite his high profile professional role, Martin was very humble.
Apart from his incredibly successful career Martin had a wide range of interests, including cooking, DJing, piano playing and sailing. For many years he was an Arsenal Season Ticket holder, and on the rare occasions that his clinic finished on time it was usually because he was heading to North London for a match.
So many wonderful tributes have been paid to Martin: from the HIV community in Sussex, from his patients and from colleagues around the world, reflecting the extraordinary contribution he made to HIV medicine, locally, nationally and internationally. He was many things to different people: to me he was an inspiration, a mentor, colleague and friend. The world is just that little bit dimmer without him, but his legacy will live on for generations through the lives he touched.
Heather Leake Date
AT the event in Westminster, Simon spoke with heart patients and BHF-funded researchers to learn more about the latest research projects, the hope they offer to people with heart conditions and why government support is vital.
There are an estimated 8,420 people in Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven living with heart and circulatory disease, and seven million people across the UK. It causes a quarter of all deaths in the UK.
Simon said: “Heart disease is a devastating condition that affects thousands of people across Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven. But with the public’s support, charities like the BHF are able to fund some of the world’s leading researchers, who work tirelessly to find the next major breakthrough that could help save more lives.”
“If we are to continue making great strides in heart research both the public, including people in Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven and the Government need to support our brightest scientists.”
To find out more about the work carried out by BHF researchers, click here:
For an extended look at alcohol-induced heart damage, read the Ultimate Guide to Alcohol-Induced Heart Damage by Paul at Rehab Recovery.
JACKIE and Eve became civil partners three years ago this September after a whirlwind romance.
Jackie a civil servant for 14 years, travelled the world and lived in America for three and a half-year before she met Eve.
Eve, a tattoo artist for the last 14 years lived in New Zealand before coming to settle in Brighton where three years ago she opened the tattoo parlour, Velvet Tattoo at 48 Norfolk Square, just a few doors away from Velvet Jacks.
The lovely Jaqi Nails makes up the team behind the bar.
Velvet Jacks, a quirky, boutique cafe bar with seaviews is located on Western Road on the borders of Brighton and Hove. It has been beautifully designed and decorated with the bar itself created from reclaimed wood.
During the day they serve Dury coffees, teas and cakes. If you want something more savoury try a 10 inch wood fired pizza priced between £7-£8 or rustic rolls and humous and olive snacks.
The bar offers a fine selection of wines by the glass or by the bottle. A bottle of Parini Pinot Grigio delle Venezie is £16.50 with a bottle of red Short Mile Bay Shiraz costing just £14.50.
A huge bonus is that the bar is located on the sunny side of the street where you can sit outside to drink on tap beer including; Oranjeboom, Asahi, Oyster Ale and Whistable Bay Blonde premium lager.
During happy hour on weekdays between 4pm-7pm, you can buy a large glass of wine for the price of a medium. There will be a quiz night every Tuesday and regular live acoustic music performances.
As they are conveniently located just 200 metres from the start of the Pride parade, Velvet Jacks will be offering a pre-breakfast on Saturday, August 1 before the Pride parade starts.
Velvet Jacks is at 50 Norfolk Square, Brighton, telephone number: 07720 661290. Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday 11am-midnight: Sunday noon-11pm: Closed Mondays
THEY recently bought the Kemptown Trading Post and Cafe on St George’s Road, Kemptown, presenting them with the perfect opportunity to work under the same roof while still doing their own thing.
The Kemptown Trading Post, a long established business, already trading successfully, is full of interesting market stalls and incorporates a café.
Following a soft refurbishment in the décor and introduction of a new food menu, Herve and Georges intend offering a great shopping experience mixed with great food, creating a one of a kind experience for people living in Kemptown.
Hervé wanted to go back to his roots having previously worked for Valentino in the eighties, and other labels in London’s prestigious Bond and Sloane Streets. He will be looking after the market side of the business.
Hervé said: “I love the hotel trade, but I wanted to use my creative side and love for fashion to take over the Kemptown Trading post and do new things. Of course we are keeping the collectables and antiques. However, I also wanted to sell second-hand designer bags and accessories such as Louis Vuitton and Gucci wallets, and sun glasses for men as well as women. I also want to offer 
some vintage and designer men’s wear and second-hand or old collections at very reasonable prices. Brighton and Kemptown, which is a thriving area, is the perfect place to express oneself in the way we dress with its eclectic and colourful characters you see around. It reminds me of London and has brought the fashion back into me. I am looking forward to making Kemptown Trading Post a very interesting place with exciting and unusual finds.”
Georges has worked in the food and beverage industry for the last 25 years. He started in the south of France before moving to London where he worked at Le Suquet on Draycott Avenue among other places.
He opened his own French restaurant in Clapham called Brasserie Metz, which was reminiscent of his French home town. Georges ultimately sold his restaurant to move to Brighton and help his partner Hervé open the New Steine Hotel. Meanwhile, Georges developed his career working at the Seattle Hotel and Myhotel, before opening his own business once again – Cup Of Joe.
Georges has brought in his trademark delicious salads and healthy food options to Cup Of Joe, as well as classics such as eggs Benedict, Florentine and the traditional English breakfast; alongside French inspired treats such as his tasty Croque-Monsieur and Goat’s Cheese toast.
The coffee on offer is Verona Espresso Blend which he says is delicious and you can also enjoy a wide selection of afternoon teas, whilst enjoying some classic English cakes, such as Victoria sponge, carrot, coffee and walnut cakes. Everyone is welcome, including our four legged friends!
Both businesses are open Monday to Friday 8am till 5pm and Saturday and Sunday from 9am till 5pm
Their Launch party is on Friday, July 3 from 5pm till 8pm
The market will be open and each stall will donate 10% of their sales to the Rainbow Fund and Martlets charity and artist Romany Mark Bruce will be exhibiting some of his paintings.
If you can’t make it to the launch party, stalls will still be donating on purchases made that weekend from Friday, July 3 from 8am till Sunday July 5 till 5pm.
A fantastic way to treat yourself to helping great causes!
THE Wembley arch, which is 133 metres tall and 315 meters long, will be joined by the Coca-Cola London Eye which will also light up in rainbow colours this weekend as the annual Pride Parade takes over central London on Saturday, June 27.
250 community groups, charities, businesses and organisations have signed up to take part in the parade – 20% of them new to Pride this year.
The theme of this year’s Pride Parade is Pride Heroes celebrating individuals who have contributed to LGBT+ rights over the years.
Michael Salter, Chairman of Pride in London, said: “The annual Pride Parade now includes over 250 groups representing the incredible diversity of London’s LGBT+ community. And this year’s Parade theme #PrideHeroes will ensure this is the most colourful and exhilarating Parade the city has ever seen.”
As part of the #PrideHeroes campaign, participants and members of London’s LGBT+ community, including its straight allies, are being asked to nominate their own Pride Heroes, from the famous to the unsung, and to share their suggestions via the hashtag #PrideHeroes.
Shaun Dellenty, a deputy head teacher and founder of Inclusion For All which tackles homophobia in schools and other organisations, features in the advertising campaign and is nominated as a Pride Hero.
Shaun said: “As someone who walked out of the state education system in 1987 due to years of sustained homophobic bullying with the full intention of ending my life, it’s unacceptable to me that a student could be experiencing the same homophobia today. I wrote and set-up ‘Inclusion for All’ as a training programme to be delivered in my school and today is has a global reach. Pride is absolutely still relevant today. The day I saw my first Pride Parade in 1996 was the day I accepted myself finally.”
To view Shaun’s story, click here:
Hundreds of #PrideHeroes nominations have already been submitted, including nominations by Mayor of London Boris Johnson and MOBO nominated artist Rebecca Ferguson who will be performing on Pride’s main stage in Trafalgar Square on June 27.
For a full list of nominations, click here:
Pride in London is a week-long festival, running from June 20-28, celebrating all aspects of the LGBT+ community. Last year more than 30,000 people joined the annual Parade, which is one of the city’s biggest one-day events, second only to the London Marathon. This year’s Parade takes place on Saturday, June 27, alongside the festival in Trafalgar Square and activities in Soho.
AS a result perpetrators are evading justice, a new report published today reveals.
Evidence suggests around 35,000 cases of hate crime committed against people because of their sexual orientation go unreported every year. The work, supported by GB governments and produced for the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), found that 88 per cent of LGB and T people had experienced some form of hate incident leaving them with emotional and physical scars.
Yet research conducted by the University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies found only 14 per cent of lesbian, gay and bisexual victims reported their most recent experience of hate crime to the police.
Evidence shows that while victims of transphobia can be targeted up to 50 times in one year, only three in ten report the incident.
The launch of the report coincides with a major new campaign to raise awareness of LGBT hate crime by a partnership of 31 organisations, funded by the EHRC.
With the message of ‘Recognise it. Report it.’ it is hoped the campaign will empower LGBT people to stand up against hate crime through education and training as well as establishing local partnerships.
Led by the LGBT Consortium, this is the first time that groups from across England and Wales have come together to tackle hate crime, with a focus on rural communities where reporting is especially low.
Paul Roberts, Chief Executive of the LGBT Consortium, said: “LGBT communities are already working with the police to remove barriers to reporting, and offer practical and emotional support. However, too often, LGBT people don’t know they are experiencing hate crime or just shrug it off.
“Collectively, we are saying it is time to move on from this. Our message today is recognise hate crime when it happens, report it, and get support when you need it.”
Figures highlighted in the report include:
♦ Only 4,267 incidents were recorded by police in 2013, despite the Crime Survey for England and Wales showing 39,000 homophobic hate incidents over the same period. That’s nine times higher than the reported figure
♦ Eight in ten LGB people have been verbally abused or harassed and one in ten have been physically assaulted
♦ One in eight LGB people had received unwanted sexual contact
The report lists a variety of reasons for under-reporting including the ‘normalisation’ of hate incidents, concern about wasting police time, fears about being outed and previous negative experiences with the police.
Equality and Human Rights Commissioner Evelyn Asante-Mensah, said: “Pride season is upon us and it seems an opportune moment to reflect on the great steps made towards equality, while also realising that LGBT communities still have to live with severe forms of discrimination and prejudice.
“Just as the Commission is doing with disability hate crime, we need to bring this problem into the open and create a culture where victims are confident to come forward and society confronts all forms of abuse.”
The report makes a series of recommendations to tackle the issues surrounding reporting of hate crimes.
These include:
♦ Increased community outreach by police to build trust with LGBT communities
♦ An increase in third-party reporting systems were needed;
♦ Increasing awareness of how and where to report hate crime and looking at what can be learned from the reporting of other types of hate crime.
Galop, a specialist LGBT anti-violence charity, has joined the year-long anti-hate crime initiative as one of the lead delivery partners.
Their Chief Executive, Nik Noone, said:“It is not acceptable that people go so long without support and assistance, so I am pleased that the EHRC is steadfastly behind our partnership’s work to build strong local community responses to homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in every village, town and city.”
Report author, Dr Stevie-Jade Hardy, a lecturer at the University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies, said:“Hate crimes are a routine, and mostly unreported feature of many LGBT people’s daily lives.
“Simply expecting victims to report without taking meaningful action to dismantle perceived and actual barriers is futile, particularly when the evidence shows that many have little confidence in the capacity of authorities to act empathetically or effectively.”
The Commission is also funding the UK’s only 24/7 nationwide LGBT hate crime helpline, run by Stop Hate UK : Telephone: 0808 801 0661.
Other regional helplines can be found at www.lgbthatecrime.org.uk
For local advice, telephone: 01273 231189
THE project, entitled Tremors, comprises of a series of images created by Jason Williams to illustrate the sense of disconnection sometimes felt by members of the Trans Community in their hometown.
Brighton born and bred, Jason is currently studying photography at Brighton City College and this is the first time he has exhibited his work outside of the College.
Nick is therefore particularly keen to encourage the local community to embrace this rare opportunity to support Jason by viewing the young photographer’s work.
Nick said: “When I first saw ‘Tremors’ I was struck by the significance of the message Jason’s work conveyed to me. What it said to me is that even here in Brighton and Hove, young trans people can still grow up having experiences that leave them feeling unsafe and uncertain of their place in the world.
“As a young gay man myself who also grew up here in Brighton, I could relate to this in many ways and it also reminded me of the challenges I’ve also experienced over the years of living here. With Trans Pride approaching, this is clearly an important opportunity to help Jason and hopefully other trans people by displaying this important and thought-provoking work.”
For more information about Nick Ford Photography, click here:
Event: Tremors an exhibition of photography by Jason Williams
Where: Nick Ford Photography, Oxford Street Studio, 19 Oxford Street, Brighton, BN1 4LA
When: Monday, July 20 – Wednesday, July 22
Time: 10.00 – 5pm
Entry: Free
You must be logged in to post a comment.