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Brighton Bear Weekend announce stage acts for park event

As part of Brighton Bear Weekend (June 15-18), organisers are staging a Bear-B-Que sponsored by Prowler on Saturday, June 17 in Dorset Gardens in the heart of the gay village in Kemp Town.

For the first time this year, the event will feature a main stage filled with local talent and entertainers, all compared by Jon Borthwick.

The running order for the afternoon will be:

Kara van Park

1400 – 1430    Jon Borthwick/Mysterry

1430 – 1500    Jason Thorpe

1500 – 1530    Spice

1530 – 1600    Wain (Kara) Douglas

1600 – 1630    Dave Lynn

1630 – 1700    Rainbow Chorus

1700-1710      Rainbow Chorus/Dave Lynn

1710-1715       Jon Borthwick

The Bear-B-Que will have a full bar run by the volunteers of the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum and a community BBQ run by the volunteers of Lunch Positive, the weekly HIV club to raise money for the charity.

Other attractions will include market stalls, a tombola, sideshows run by the Brighton & Hove Sea Serpents gay rugby team and there will be a BBW merchandise stall.

Bobo-Bear
Bobo-Bear

After the event, London-based illustrator BoBo-Bear will appear in Prowler on St James Street, to sign merchandise and posters he has produced for BBW events.

Bear-a-oke, hosted by Chris Hibbert and Jon Borthwick starts at 5.30pm in Bar Broadway on Steine Street.

BBW raise money for the Rainbow Fund who award grants to local LGBT+/HIV organisations delivering effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove

For the full line-up of Brighton Bear Weekend events, click here:

Gay hook up site supports LGBT+ rights at L.A. Pride

Gay hook up site’s message promotes national solidarity in Support of LGBT + Rights.

Gay hookup site Squirt.org affirmed its support of LGBT+ rights at L.A. Pride’s Resist March on Sunday, June 11 with bus shelter ads proclaiming “Let’s Make America Gay Again.”

The signs, featuring two gay men holding the American flag along with the words “Dear Mr. President, Let’s Make America Gay Again,” had first appeared on billboards in Los Angeles and New York City during President Donald Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

The adverts placed in 15 bus shelters along the parade route, were a play on Trump’s campaign slogan “Let’s Make America Great Again,” and demonstrate Canada based Squirt.org’s commitment to support gay rights world-wide as well as to positively encourage Trump and his administration to take LGBT+ rights seriously. The ads will remain up for the rest of this week.

“To us, ‘Make America Gay Again’ isn’t just a catch phrase, but a statement in support of gay and LGBT+ rights at a time when fear is at an all-time high!” said Attila Szatmari, digital business director for Pink Triangle Press, Squirt.org’s parent company. “We received such a positive response to the billboard campaign we wanted to bring that energy back and give people that sense of community and solidarity with a powerful message!”

 The ResistMarch replaced this year’s annual L.A. Pride Parade after organisers agreed to set aside the festive parade in favour of a march to oppose growing anti-gay and anti-LGBT+ sentiment under the Trump Administration.

The march began at Hollywood and Highland and follow a 3.1 mile route to La Brea Avenue, then turn onto Santa Monica Boulevard and ended at San Vicente Boulevard in West Hollywood, at the entrance of the Pride festival site.

The original billboard campaign was the result of much discussion and fear by many in the gay community who were apprehensive about the Trump administration.

Trump’s opposition in 2016 to gay marriage and support for judges who would seek to overturn the Marriage Equality Act that legalised gay unions is one of the many points of concern.

Transgender rights have also come under fire after Trump has repeatedly voiced his support for the controversial law in North Carolina that bans transgender people from using bathrooms that do not conform with the gender that they were born with.

Moreover, Trump has also vowed to sign the so-called First Amendment Defense Act that protects discrimination on religious grounds, thereby prohibiting action against those who “believes or acts in accordance of their religious beliefs or moral conviction” that marriage is defined as the union between a man and woman.

Amid this backdrop, the Los Angeles Daily News reported on April 4 that Los Angeles Police Department statistics showed a 15 percent increase in hate crimes in 2016, along with a notable spike in attacks against the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.

For more information about Squirt, click here:

Pride in Hull announce more artists for main stage

Sean Miley Moore
Sean Miley Moore

Pride in Hull announce two more names who will take to the stage in Queen’s Gardens on Saturday, July 22 to entertain the crowds alongside pop legend Marc Almond and 80s icon Sonia.

Joining the line-up is X-Factor star Sean Miley Moore who shot to fame on the 2015 series of the show with his spellbinding performances of David Bowie’s Life on Mars and California Dreaming by The Mamas and The Papas.

Cleopatra
Cleopatra

Also appearing are 90s teen trio Cleopatra, known for their string of top 5 hits that began with the infectious sing-along classic Cleopatra’s Theme. Signed to Madonna’s Maverick record label when they were aged just 14, 16 and 18, the Higgins sisters supported the Spice Girls at the peak of their fame on the UK leg of the Spiceworld Tour and performed at the request of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican Christmas Carol Concert.

Pride in Hull kick-starts the Hull UK City of Culture 2017 LGBT 50 programme – a series of events celebrating LGBT+ culture across the arts to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

To coincide with this, Pride in Hull has also been named ‘UK Pride’ by the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON).

David Boland, Chair of Trustees at Pride on Hull, said: “We’re so excited to be welcoming Cleopatra to our stage. This year we’re all about representing the five decades since the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and anyone who grew up in the 90s will be singing along to their hits!

“Sean Miley Moore was such a highlight of last year’s Pride in Hull, that we wanted to invite him back in this extra special year for our event, our city and the wider LGBT community.”

Also on the line-up are Blonde Electra, whose time on the X-Factor caused a storm, despite being short-lived, with Now magazine calling them the “most controversial contestants ever” and legendary Hull drag performer, Bobby Mandrel.

Pride in Hull is a free and unticketed event and will take place in Queen’s Gardens on Saturday, July 22.

For more information about Hull Pride, click here:

Sussex Beacon call for inpatients to tell their stories

Have you ever been an inpatient at The Sussex Beacon?

Did your stay benefit your health and personal circumstances? If so, the Beacon would really love to hear from you.

Graham Hamilton
Graham Hamilton

To celebrate their 25th year anniversary and raise funds to continue to serve for another 25 years plus, local author, Graham Hamilton, is compiling a book, Tales of The Sussex Beacon, with a selection of your words – in short stories, poems or letters – about your experience at The Beacon, how it helped you and why you think it’s so important to save this valuable service.

For more information and how to get involved, click here: to contact Graham Hamilton

Preview: Another year of MindOut for the laughs!

The annual bumper comedy cabaret extravaganza in support of MindOut returns in August.

A fun-filled evening showcasing great comedy with a good dose of musical entertainment thrown in is promised.

Headline act for the evening is award-winning Zoe Lyons fresh from her Little Misfits tour. If you missed her on BBC’s Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week or the News Quiz then this is the perfect opportunity to watch her live. Next up is king of cabaret noir Joe Black.

Compere for the evening will be Spice who will be introducing the hilarious Debra-Jane Appelby, as well as the dulcet tones of Laura Nixon as Marilyn Monroe, members of the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus and the fabulous Brighton icon Dolly Rocket.

Go along, take your friends and enjoy a fun-filled evening while raising vital funds for LGBT+ mental health charity MindOut!

For more information about MindOut services, click here:

 


Even: MINDOUT FOR THE LAUGHS

Where: Komedia, 44-47 Gardner St, Brighton BN1 1UN

When: Wednesday, August 2

Time: Doors 6.30pm for 7.30pm start

Cost: Tickets £15/£12 concessions available online or in person at Komedia

To book tickets online, click here:

Or call the box office on: 01273 647 100

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