Craig Hanlon-Smith a regular columnist and feature writer for Gscene magazine runs in The Vitality Brighton Half Marathon in February to raise awareness of HIV/Aids and raise money for Terrence Higgins Trust (THT).
Craig said: For years I have been writing in my GScene articles: Get up off your disco arse and do something. And now it’s my turn. On February 26 I will be running The Vitality Brighton Half Marathon on behalf of Terrence Higgins Trust.
Terry Higgins was one of the first people in the UK to die from an AIDS related illness and the charity was set up by his loved ones to personalise and humanise the issue of AIDS.
On World AIDS Day in December 2016, I was shocked to work with some young people who did not know it was World AIDS Day, but more so that many of them had not heard of HIV or AIDS. These were 17 and 18-year-old young adults who have spent their lives in a publicly funded education system. I was, and remain appalled.
And so my run is yes, to raise money, but also through the work I am involved with in education and with Mad ‘Ed Theatre to raise awareness.
Thank you in advance for supporting me and my chosen charity. Any donation is gratefully received.”
Renowned lesbian celebrity and playwright Clare Summerskill talks about her work with the play Rights of Passage.
Rights of Passage is a play by Clare Summerskill, created from interviews with LGBT+ asylum seekers in the UK. This production toured to theatres nationally earlier this year over a six-week period, and was met with critical acclaim and a huge amount of interest in the subject matter that it addressed.
Clare was in the production herself, acting alongside fellow cast members of her theatre company, Artemis. The play focused on the stories of three contributors, a gay man from Iran, a lesbian from Uganda, and a gay man from Malaysia, and tells their moving and courageous stories.
In this presentational talk Clare discusses issues which the play addresses, including the situation of LGBT+ rights internationally, legal criteria which allow LGBT+ people who are persecuted in their home country to seek asylum in other nations, and Home Office interview questioning methods which ask people to ‘prove’ that they are gay. She reads extracts from the play highlighting some of these matters, and she also presents a selection of character monologues. The presentational talk concludes with an original song which Clare sings with guitar, pertinent to the content of the play.
Clare Summerskill is a playwright, an actress, a singer-songwriter and a lesbian comedienne. She regularly performs her own one-woman comedy shows and tours them to theatres in England and the US. She has also written and produced several plays and films for her theatre company, Artemis.
Her published works include We’re the Girls! (2008), Hearing Voices, a play based on service users’ experiences of the mental health system, Gateway to Heaven:50 years of Lesbian and Gay Oral History (2012), and Rights of Passage (2016). She is currently researching a PhD at Royal Holloway University of London on verbatim theatre.
For more information about Clare Summerskill, click here:
Event: Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies and Sussex Centre for Migration Research presents RIGHTS OF PASSAGE – A presentational talk by Clare Summerskill
Where: Silverstone Building lecture theatre room 121, in the basement. University of Sussex
George Michael fans celebrate his life at Tropicana Beach Club’s Tribute Party.
Tropicana Beach Club, a Covent Garden nightclub which takes inspiration from the hit, Club Tropicana hosted a marathon George Michael Tribute Party on Friday January 6 and Saturday January 7 to raise money for Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), Macmillan Cancer Support and Childline, three charities which the late star had generously supported.
Over 2500 fans attended the events raising £5,500 in donations and more promised from the sales of a Club Tropicana cocktail special in which the club is donating all takings from throughout the month of January.
Anthony Knight, Marketing Manager of Tropicana Beach Club and the event organiser said:“As a gay man myself, I have nothing but respect for George Michael. He didn’t just open the doors, he broke them down for the gay community. He inspired people to be proud of who they were and was a fantastic ambassador for LGBT rights.”
“We wanted to pay tribute to George Michael and raising money for charity felt like the best way to do this following the recent stories of just how generous he was. We waived our usual £10 entry fee and asked for people to give what they could. I have been humbled at the response. We’ve been sent everything from signed George Michael concert tickets to football boots signed by premiership football stars to auction off to help reach our target of £10,000.”
The event which was originally planned to be a small celebration on a Thursday night attracted worldwide attention with fans flying in from as far as America, Germany, France, Holland, Greece and Dubai to attend. Within days, of announcing the event thousands had responded with over 11,000 fans registering their interest to attend with extra dates added to accommodate demand.
Guests were treated to tribute performances, celebrity sing-alongs and danced until 2am in the morning wearing George Michael masks. Fans were invited to the stage by compere, Jullian Bennett, a close friend of the late star to share their memories of George.
Hannah Jefferson-Smith, a 29 year-old student nurse who had travelled down from Glasgow shared that she had lost her virginity to Careless Whisper when she was 20. There were cheers before the gathered fans burst into a cover of the hit.
In one dedicated corner of the club, fans stuck message of tribute to the singer on a wall. “Childhood soundtrack, foundation of friendships, lonely days, joyful dances, cheesy sing alongs – all scream George. Lovely, genuine, funny man of ours. Lots of love,” one note read.
Amrit Sagoo, 40, dressed in the uniform of a policeman was one of the first to arrive: “As a gay man growing up around a lot of straight men, listening to George Michael gave me a sense of release,” he said. “In my deepest, loneliest of times, his music was a source of comfort to me.”
Jane Barron, from THT, said:“We are grateful to Tropicana Beach Club for raising funds towards our vital work supporting people affected by HIV. The funds they raise in George Michael’s memory will help us towards our vision of a world where people living with HIV can live healthy lives, free from prejudice and discrimination.”
The Pink Humanist is an online magazine published by the UK LGBT charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT), featuring topics of special interest to those who identify as atheists, freethinkers, humanists, secularists and sceptics in the LGTB+ communities and those who support them.
The magazine’s editor is Barry Duke who also edits the Freethinker (the Voice of Atheism since 1881).
In the latest issue (Winter 2017) human rights campaigners Peter Tatchell and Leo Igwe respectively write about the contentious Ashers Bakery gay cake legal battle, and Chad’s decision to criminalise homosexuality.
The issue also contains details of Malta’s decision to ban gay cure therapy and the dismay this move has caused to Christian zealots who remain convinced that homosexuality can be eliminated through reparative therapy.
The cover story by Barry Duke explores the reasons why Islam’s hatred of homosexuals shows no signs of abating and continues to blight the lives of millions of LGBT+ Muslims.
The issue also carried the obituaries of four prominent gay rights champions who died in December 2016 – Brighton resident Ted McFadyen, Australian Anne Deveson, Rabbi Lionel Blue and Lord Jenkin.
There is also a review of an excellent new graphic novel – The Case of Alan Turing: The Extraordinary and Tragic Story of the Legendary Codebreaker.
To download the current, as well as past issues of the magazine in pdf format from ThePink Humanist website, click here:
To download the magazine as a pdf document, go to Archived Issues then Back Issues and place the cursor on any cover. In the top left corner of the cover you will see click here to download pdf.
Additionally, individual articles can be accessed directly from the site’s home page. These contain all relevant hyperlinks.
The B RIGHT ON Festival taking place in February during LGBT History month will celebrate 25 years of the work of the Sussex Beacon in Brighton and Hove.
In the presence of the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, Cllr Pete West, Celebration! is the opening event of the B RIGHT ON Festival and the curtain raiser to LGBT+ History Month 2017, which is being staged for the first time in the specially constructed Phil Starr Pavilion on New Steine Gardens.
Artists confirmed to appear include Myra Dubois, Lorraine Bowen, Miss Jason, Dave Lynn, Davina Sparkle, Kara van Park and Sally Vate who will all be celebrating the fabulous contribution the Sussex Beacon has made to the lives of HIV positive people their friends and families in Brighton and Hove for the last 25 years.
LGBT History Month is the annual international month-long observance of LGBT History and the opportunity to commemorate and remember the bravery of those who campaigned and spoke out over the years to help us achieve the freedoms and equality we enjoy today.
Celebration! will take place in The PHIL STARR PAVILION, New Steine Gardens, Brighton, BN2 1PB, a specially erected and heated multi purpose community facility with a fully functional stage, hi-tech light and sound system and on site licensed bar.
This ground breaking affiliation seeks to engage the city in the wide range of issues highlighted through the work of the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum, as well as partner/stakeholder work and is supported with grants from the Pride Social Impact Fund and the Rainbow Fund.
Event:CELEBRATION – Celebrating 25 years of the Sussex Beacon
Where: Phil Starr Pavilion, New Steine Gardens, Brighton, BN2 1PB
Dr Samuel Hall on why 2016 wasn’t all bad and where we need to be if we want to change the world.
Sir Ewan Forbes (centre)
It seems to me that ‘time’ passes more and more quickly. I’m sure this year only just began. Of course time is relative, the older you get, the quicker it goes. A year is almost one fiftieth of my life, but only one tenth of my youngest son’s, so no wonder this year has gone quickly for me. Depressing but true. Perhaps it’s time to stop counting time and just enjoy the passing of it, and more importantly, make sure that what I do in the time I have left really means something.
In any case, I sincerely hope that 2017 is a better year for the planet. It strikes me that many of us will be glad to have seen the back of 2016, with its seismic political shifts, the rise of the ugly twin towers of nationalism and uber-capitalism, miserable human rights records in the Middle East and beyond, as well as its more than fair share of creative human loss; David Bowie, George Michael, Caroline Aherne, Alan Rickman, Natalie Cole, Leonard Cohen, Pete Burns, Alexis Arquette, Gene Wilder, Prince, Victoria Wood, David Guest, Ronnie Corbett and Terry Wogan to name a few.
Oddly, it’s been a pretty momentous year for me personally, in a very positive way. 2016 is a year that I will not forget, for all the reasons listed above and more, but most of all because this was the year I married the love of my life. I’m truly blessed to have the commitment and love of a woman who has changed my outlook on life completely, as well as restoring my faith in humanity by loving me unconditionally despite, in spite, or perhaps even because of, my transness.
Dr Sam Hall
The events of the year just ended have forced me to reflect more deeply than I’ve ever done before about the human race and our part in the ever evolving story of humanity. I’ve been trawling the news in a desperate attempt to get to the bottom of so many questions. Why? Why did the US put a cut-throat businessman in the White House? Why did half of the UK want to separate themselves from the EU? What is the UN for if we cannot protect innocent lives during a divisive and deeply destructive civil war in Syria?
At some point I turned the corner from looking for answers to accepting things as they are, a revealing of the many faces of humanity, both beautiful and ugly, hopeful and desperate, love and its diametric opposite, which is fear. Fear, not hate, is the opposite of love. People do and say nasty things because they’re afraid. Afraid of losing their livelihoods; afraid of not being able to feed themselves or their families; afraid of ill-health; old age; incapacitation; afraid that their lives might have to change; afraid of realising that we are all worthy of dignity and respect.
Once you arrive at the conclusion that we’re all equal, and that any privilege we have is pure chance not merit, it’s hard not to weep over the state of the planet. We’re a generation of post-war babies who remember the past through our parents and grew up with a ‘never again’ mentality, honed in the decades following WWII. But guess what? We forgot to teach our kids. The growth of capitalism has rendered us all so small-minded, needing to protect ourselves and our material belongings at the expense of others. The so-called ‘Millennials’ are furiously scrabbling around in the history books to work out why the hell people are so selfish.
And yet there is hope. I see it in my children most of all. Bright young things, advantaged, healthy, educated and determined. Hell-bent on studying politics and sociology, inquisitive minds sure that they can do a better job than the generation they’re poised to succeed. And I sincerely hope that they do.
We all stand on the shoulders of giants, so that anything good that flowers in our lives must have grown from a seed planted by someone who went before us. I look to those who trod my path in some way for inspiration. In the past I’ve written about Michael Dillon, a physician and the first transman to undergo phalloplasty. He died at 47 (my age now) in 1962, having led a trailblazing life which ended in the peace of a Buddhist monastery.
I’ve also recently stumbled across another transgender man who worked as a doctor around the same time. Born in 1912, Sir Ewan Forbes forged his way living as a man in a time when being openly transgender was not an option. He struggled with being raised as a girl in aristocratic circles and eventually managed, like Michael Dillon, to get his birth certificate changed, claiming that his registration as female had been a ‘ghastly mistake’, and going on to marry his wife in the Scottish Kirk (church). This allowed him to inherit his father’s baronetcy, restricted to male heirs, in spite of his cousin disputing his claim to the family title and chattels. The case went all the way through the courts to the Home Secretary before finally being settled in his favour in 1968.
These men sowed the seeds that I, and many like me, are reaping in our lives today. Although the necessary secrecy surrounding their lives and transitions meant that their cases were not used as precedents in later judgments on the legal recognition of gender variance, surely these men forged a path that had not previously existed – a path that I now walk, alongside others, which is rough-hewn, full of pot-holes, twists and turns, but a path none-the-less. It’s a path that I hope my treading will smooth out and straighten up even further.
I don’t know what events in my life could possibly be as monumental as those in the histories of these two men, but I do know that there are still very few of us in the public eye, and that is where we need to be if we really want to change the world.
Terrence Higgins Trusts’ (THT) Health Wealth and Happiness project for over 50s living with HIV, teams up with Lunch Positive to offer IT support once a month at the popular HIV lunch club.
Staff and volunteers from THT will be on hand on the third Friday of every month to offer training and support to any members who need help or advice about their laptop, phone or tablet.
Alice Booth
Project manager Alice Booth, said: “It’s an opportunity to find out how to get the most out of your devices, discover some useful apps or websites, and learn a bit more about how your technology can help you.”
The Health Wealth and Happiness Project also offers monthly peer support groups with interesting speakers and runs occasional day trips and wellbeing events. The project is open to anyone living with HIV who is 50+.
To find out more or to be added to the mailing list telephone Alice Booth on 077692 39295, or email: alice.booth@tht.org.uk
Lunch Positive takes place every Friday from 12-3pm at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church.
The Health Wealth and Happiness project for people 50+ living with HIV are also running a free HIV & Ageing Awareness training session on February 23 from 10am – 1pm at 61 Ship Street, Brighton.
Housing Minister rejects request by Brighton and Hove Green Councillors’ for funds to build new homes.
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Green Councillors on Brighton & Hove City Council are disappointed with the Government after Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell MP, rejected their alternative proposals for funding to build more affordable housing in the city.
Despite growing housing waiting lists, and limited stock, a borrowing cap prevents local councils from accessing funds in the ‘housing revenue account’ (HRA) which could be utilised to build much needed social housing.
At a meeting of full council in October, the Green Group put forward a motion asking that the government put an end to the cap in the housing revenue account, in order to allow the council to invest in new homes.
The move, which is supported by the Local Government Association, is estimated to give councils nationally access to more than £7 billion and would provide the means to build over 60,000 homes.
In a written response to the Green Group’s motion, Minister for Housing and Planning Gavin Barwell MP, said: “there are no plans to remove the caps or to re-open the HRA borrowing programme.”
Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “We are beyond disappointed that there are no signals that central government want to help the city ease our housing crisis by allowing us to borrow above the cap in the housing revenue account. The Tory mantra for public services is ‘cut red tape’ yet they are committed to restricting our capacity to fund more house building. We asked for change because lifting the cap on borrowing would enable us to make a real difference – to build more homes, to generate revenue and ease the crisis in Brighton and Hove.
“Alternatives are needed because we have serious issues with housing in the city. Homelessness has doubled in the last 5 years. 88,000 residents in our city cannot afford to rent or buy without needing help or spending a disproportionate amount of their income on housing.
“None of this is helped by the conscious political effort over the years by successive Conservative and Labour governments to decimate council housing stock, to the point where 80 homes a year in the city cease to be available as socially rented housing due to sales under the right to buy. Around the country between 2012 and 2016, while 41,000 council homes were sold, only around 5,000 were built.[4] This, plus the other cuts being imposed on councils means housing is rapidly becoming an extreme challenge which we are not being given the tools to address.
“We have proposed a solution – a solution backed by hard evidence and by the national body representing councils- and the government have rejected it. This of course leaves us with fewer resources to build homes and avert homelessness. But it will not stop us pushing for bold solutions and for more truly affordable homes.”
The Green Group have also been campaigning for more affordable homes, and have recently secured a change which will see the cost of rent in in the new council joint housing venture with Hyde Housing lowered to more affordable rates for people on the living wage. The Green Group campaign for rents set as a measure of people’s income rather than the market rate, arguing that lower rents save taxpayer’s money in the long run by minimising the need for housing benefit payments.
Cllr David Gibson
Councillor David Gibson, Housing Spokesperson for the Green Group, said: “Refusing to lift the borrowing cap is part of a raft of policies designed to attack council housing at a time when it is needed more than ever. Rather than wasting billions on housing benefit for an overpriced private rented sector, the government should allow councils to borrow with grant support and build much needed homes at social rents which research shows saves money in the medium term because of the lower benefit bills.”
Simon Kirby MP
Simon Kirby MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, said:“The Government is committed to delivering a housing market that works for everyone. In the Autumn Statement the Chancellor set out how we will invest to unlock land for housing where it is needed most, with a new £2 billion Housing Infrastructure Fund to support 100,000 new homes, and an additional £1.4 billion to deliver 40,000 more affordable homes. That means that over the course of the Parliament, the Government expects to more than double annual capital spending on housing in real terms.”
What do you give to the man who’s had everything? More head, and better head!
Once the blow job was just considered a part of foreplay. Now everyone knows it’s a centerpiece of great sex. A quick glance at the modern gents ‘dating’ apps are enough to see that going down is on the rise. But not everyone who claims to be a deepthroat expert really is one: the art of sucking and licking has to be learned.
With this neat little book from Alex Neustadter you can use your head to give the best head, exploring technique and ways to improve it, sharing experience and suggestions to explore and extend yours and his pleasure, this book is as stuffed full as you’re gonna be. It’s pretty forensic in details so it’s no quickie, and the author likes to go into quite precises instructions on various techniques, but is’ also a grab it go guide, you can follow all the instructions if you like and have a eye for technical excellence, or you can get on with it as an enthusiastic amateur keen to learn new tricks, but once you’ve mastered it, you’ll never be off your knees.
The first Holiday on Ice production I can remember to have an actual storyline, Believe is a modern-day take on Romeo and Juliet.
Creative director and choreographer Christopher Dean has created a completely different skating experience that combines the classic artistry you expect from a Torvill and Dean dance number with the most up to date high tech production values.
The music score produced by composer Stephen Emmer is world-class as are the video graphics on the back screen produced by Michael Al-Far. Paco Mispelters lighting design is the best we have seen at any Holiday on Ice show at the Brighton Centre over the years as is the set, designed by Luc Peumans.
This years production is more an ensemble piece than usual. The principals are all very impressive especially the Russian pair, Evgenii Belianin with the beautiful Daria Perminova and the Canadian pair of Andrew Buchanan and his wife Robin Johnstone who play the two romantic leads and beautifully capture the romantic chemistry of the choreography perfectly.
The opening scene is at times quite homoerotic, set in an underworld factory where men do what men do in their tight jeans and tight tank tops. Not a female skater in sight. Dean captures the mood with very stylised choreography for the male robot drone skaters which is extremely effective. Slowly the traditional camper Holiday on Ice influences infiltrate the production as do female skaters who inhabit and enjoy life in the overworld.
There is less reliance on tradition tricks from the skaters during this show and Dean’s choreography creates an environment where the performers have time to enjoy the space and movement his choreography creates for them. It was relaxing to watch and as the skaters introduced more jumps and spins it all added to the driving momentum of the production.
Highlights include; a pole dance number performed through a veil of dancing waters cascading from the roof of the Brighton Centre. A chorus line of male skaters from the underworld who dance like robots in total darkness. Their costumes are covered with different coloured lights, which creates a stunning effect through the dark. Finally two skaters performed an aerial duet on two red silks suspended from the ceiling, to the music of Ravel’s Bolero the music which won Dean his Olympic Gold Ice Skating medal at the Sarajevo Winter Games in 1984.
The finale arrives in true traditional Holiday on Ice style with the skaters resplendent in white, their costumes lit with little fairy lights. Was there really going to be no wheelan essential part of every Holiday on Ice Show? Christopher Dean was playing with us and had saved the wheel to be part of the finale, the best finale I can remember seeing in any Holiday On Ice show in the last 30 years. Flying skaters with fireworks in their boots just added to the overall wow factor of the unfolding spectacle.
I say it every year, Holiday on Ice is fantastic entertainment and provides a wonderful start to the new year. It is entertainment on a grand scale and deserves to receive support from everyone that loves spectacular live theatrical events.
Regular visitors to Holiday on Ice will either love or hate this show depending on their views of how this genre needs developing to move forward and survive. I loved it! The producers have finally found a modern concept that could attract a younger audience to venues all over Europe where this show will play.
You still have the chance to see this show on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
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