Mary Mac and vocal powerhouse Gabriella Parrish join ex-Collabro star Richard Hadfield at the Golden Handbags on Sunday, June 23 at the Hilton Brighton Metropole.
THE glittering award ceremony will once again this year be hosted and presented by the indomitable Lola Lasagne.
MARY will be jetting in from Lanzerote where she now lives especially for the evening and promises no crowd surfing anywhere near the Mayor’s table. Gabriella Parrish who appeared on a BBC show about Adele impersonators which included, unknown to the contestants Adele herself, returns by popular demand after her stunning debut at the Golden Handbags in 2017 when she won the Golden Handbag for best singer.
Mary and Gabriella will be supporting Richard Hadfield who won Britain’s Got Talent in 2014 with musical theatre vocal group Collabro. Before Richard left the group to pursue a solo career in 2016, Collabro’s first album Stars debuted in the UK album charts at number one and their second album Act Two reached number two. Their first national tour culminated with a sold out headlining show at the London Palladium.
The annual awards celebrating LGBT+ Brighton & Hove takes place in the magnificent surroundings of the Oxford Suite Ballroom at the Brighton Hilton Metropole on Sunday, June 23 at 7.30pm.
Gabriella Parrish
The awards, now in their twenty fourth year, celebrate everything fabulous and supportive about Brighton’s LGBT+ communities while recognising the magnificent work done by volunteers fifty two weeks of the year in LGBT+ Brighton & Hove.
Voting in this year’s awards is now open online at www.gscene.com
All VIP tables have sold out, but individual unreserved tickets on public tables costing £20 are still available from Prowler at 112 St James’s Street, Brighton. Prowler do not charge a booking fee so you need to attend in person at the shop and pay in cash. If you experience difficulties securing a ticket email info@gscene.com
Headline sponsors of the glittering awards this year are Reveries Event Production and Design who are providing the set, stage, lighting design and production on the evening, E3 Events and PSAV®.
Once again this year Security and Event Solutions will provided security personnel for the evening and the tables in the ballroom will be dressed by Billie Lewis Promotions.
Last year, 1,055 young people approached Brighton & Hove City Council for help with their homelessness, which is an increase of 40% over two years. In addition, ‘rough sleeping’ has increased in the City by 929% since 2010.
upset boy against a wall
BRIGHTON-based charity, Sussex Nightstop, has been working to decrease these statistics and, through early intervention, stop the repetitive cycle of youth homelessness by supporting vulnerable young people who are particularly at risk of becoming homeless, especially when a family breakdown is involved. Its summer ‘Sleep Safe’ campaign is particularly poignant at this time of year as, during the summer months, the focus on youth homelessness subsides due to the good weather.
However, the risks to young people are even more prevalent during this time than in the colder months, as they are able to sleep on the beach in the warmer climate, exposing themselves to a great many dangers. Sleeping rough on the beach is unsafe leaving young people open to negative influences such as abuse, potential violence and the behaviour of late-night drunken revellers.
This summer, working alongside its activities to help stop youth homelessness, the Sussex Nightstop team is eager to reach out to and help the ‘Hidden Homeless’ – those young people who sofa-surf at friends or relatives whilst trying to find stable housing or accommodation.
The facts are scary, one in five young people, aged 16 to 25, have sofa-surfed and new UK-wide research from the BBC has found that 41% of young people have stayed with friends on floors or sofas for at least one night and just over 9% did so for over a month. The findings also highlighted that young men are more likely to have sofa surfed than young women with 48% of the 484 men questioned saying they had, compared with 34% of 519 women.
Sofa-surfing, the umbrella term encompassing a number of different living arrangements, is a risky option that many of the City’s young homeless resort to. The perils of sofa-surfing are wide ranging and include exposure to predation, harmful influences such as drugs and alcohol, staying with near or unknown strangers, fatigue due to poor and irregular sleep patterns, weight loss, anxiety, possible abuse, depression, exploitation and grooming.
Through its team of dedicated Volunteer Hosts – who offer their spare room on a night-by-night basis – Sussex Nightstop is providing the young homeless people of Brighton and Hove a safe and secure space from which to work on rectifying their housing issues, helping to remove the worrisome risk of slipping into long-term homelessness or turning to the streets and hazardous rough sleeping.
Nightstop’s Executive Director, Alison Marino said:“The most common reasons for young people resorting to staying at friends and sofa-surfing include parents being unable or unwilling to provide housing, extended family members being unable to help or splitting up with a partner, alongside other contributing factors such as tenancies ending, domestic abuse, rent arrears and leaving care.
“To address this important issue, this year we are focused on our summer ‘Sleep Safe’ campaign which aims to raise £10,000 towards helping the young, vulnerable people of Brighton and Hove. Its underlying message is to highlight and address the veiled problem of youth homelessness and how, through early intervention, those at risk can be supported and steered to a brighter, safer future – breaking the cycle of homelessness. But this campaign is just the tip of the iceberg; we need Brighton and Hove residents, the City’s commercial organisations and the Sussex community as a whole to get behind us to help us achieve our goal of having a safe bed available to those in need every night of the week.”
The number of those sleeping rough in Brighton is a constantly changing population and, unfortunately, statistics show that people sleeping rough die younger, are more likely to get ill and are more defenceless and exposed, so more susceptible to violence.
Rough sleepers are defined for the purpose of the statistics as people sleeping, or bedded down, in the open air, such as on the streets, on the beach, under the Pier, in doorways, parks or bus shelters; or in other places not fit for habitation such as sheds and car parks.
Alison continued:“The ‘Hidden Homeless’ fall under the category of ‘Provisionally Accommodated’ as they are seen as people who live temporarily with others, but without any guarantee of continued residency or any immediate prospects for getting permanent housing.
For example, a young person could be staying in temporary accommodation, but they are not rough sleeping as they have a proper roof over their head at night. Therefore, it is possible to be homeless, but not be rough sleeping.
“When a young person stays with one of our Volunteer Hosts, they can expect their own private bedroom, an evening meal and breakfast, the opportunity to wash dirty laundry, have a bath or shower and we cover the cost of bus tickets to and from the Host’s home where needed. A Befriender can also take the young person to the Host’s home, so any feelings of anxiety or nervousness at meeting new people are removed, they don’t have to do it alone, we’ll be right there with them.”
Sussex Nightstop has matched 3,000 bed nights to 345 young people, trained and supported over 70 households and 90% of the young people who have used the Sussex Nightstop services have gone on to secure safer, more suitable housing.
Cllr John Allcock
Cllr John Allcock (Labour, Goldsmid Ward) said in support of the Sussex Nightstop campaign:“We’re experiencing a national housing crisis and the impact is significant here in Brighton & Hove. We welcome Sussex Nightstop’s campaign highlighting the dangers encountered by those who are rough sleeping, specifically regarding youth homelessness, and to raise awareness of the help available for under 26-year olds facing homelessness across the city.
As a council, we’re working together with a wide range of local organisations to make a positive difference to people in need. The council is committed to work with partners to tackle the housing shortage which is the main cause of homelessness and work towards eliminating the need for rough sleeping.”
To support Sussex Nightstop’s work with a donation, click here:
There’s still time for North East music fans to secure prime viewing spots at one of the UK’s largest free LGBT+ festivals this summer.
Fleur East
NORTHERN Pride Festival returns from July 19 to 21, with a host of big name acts taking to the stage at the Festival Arena, at Newcastle’s Town Moor over the Festival weekend.
And festival-goers can make sure they have the best views of top performers including Fleur East, Saara Aalto and Liberty X, with a limited number of Platinum Passes still available to purchase.
Starting at £29.99 for one day or £39.99 for a weekend, the tickets allow music fans access to a separate marquee, bar and garden area, along with posh toilets.
There is even the chance that ticket holders will be able to mingle with the stars when they go to grab a drink between performances.
Ste Dunn
Ste Dunn, chair of Northern Pride, says the passes are fantastic value for money.“There’s a whole host of things to enjoy for free at the festival but the Platinum Passes are very popular with music fans who want to make sure they can get close to the stage to see their favourite stars,”said Ste.
“There are a number of perks that come with the tickets, including shorter queues for the bars and toilets, and it all goes towards a good cause with the proceeds helping to fund the event and keep it free for future years.”
Also performing over the weekend are singer-songwriter Katherine Ellis, house music group Baby D, pop singer Sonia, former Union J star Jaymi Hensley, UK’s entry for this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, Michael Rice and more.
Photo Rob Chambers
Across from the Town Moor’s Festival Arena, the Community Village will set up at Exhibition Park with the Curious Arts Stage, Rainbow Village and a number of zones including the Family and Youth Zone and the Health and Wellbeing Zone.
Reports says strategy and funding overhaul needed for sexual health system at tipping point.
THE Health and Social Care Select Committee report on sexual health highlights the ongoing funding crisis faced by sexual health services following public health cuts alongside unacceptable standards in service provision caused by a disjointed system, welcomed by NAT (National AIDS Trust).
The Committee has called for a new national strategy for sexual health and states that this must be backed up by clear quality standards and investment.
Deborah Gold
Deborah Gold, Chief Executive at NAT (National AIDS Trust) said: “The current system for delivering sexual health services is broken by its disjointed nature and by chronic underfunding. The result is that local authorities are forced to make impossible choices;, doctors do not have the resources they need and inevitably patients suffer. This is not acceptable. We strongly agree with the Committee that the system must be brought together by shared strategic aims for sexual health. Such a strategy must be monitored through clear standards, shared across the system to hold all those responsible to account.”
“Improved strategy alone will not put the system right. Cuts to the public health grant have had a significant adverse effect on the quality and outcomes of sexual health services. The Committee is right to call on Government to remedy this in the forthcoming Spending Review. Public health is a vital component of the health system and we call on the Government to agree a minimum spend on public health services as a proportion of the NHS budget, instead of treating public health services like a poor relation and an easy target for cuts.”
Prevention Green Paper The Committee calls on the Government to ensure that sexual health prevention forms a core part of the upcoming prevention Green Paper which was announced in a preceding framework document, Prevention is better than cure, in November.
Deborah said:“Given the obvious exclusion of sexual health from the preceding framework for prevention, we are not confident that the Green Paper will deliver what it needs to on sexual health. We are very clear that if sexual health is not a significant component of the prevention Green Paper this will be an abject failure to give sexual health the strategic importance needed.”
On PrEP she said:“The Committee has called for ‘immediate action’ on PrEP, describing access as a ‘postcode lottery.’ We welcome their comment and urge all involved to ensure that all possible spaces on the IMPACT Trial are made available urgently and that routine commissioning of PrEP is expedited.”
Relationships and Sex Education she said:“We entirely agree with the Committee that the Government must take a strong line on participation in Relationships and Sex Education. Too many young people are denied the right to vital information that is essential to their health and wellbeing, now and in the future. It is essential that all young people, including LGBT young people, have access to high quality RSE that is relevant to them.”
The 2019 programme for Brighton Early Music Festival (BREMF) is all about change and changing times.
WITH its theme of Metamorphosis, the Festival will present twenty seven events across Brighton & Hove this autumn, exploring transformation in many intriguing ways.
Deborah Roberts, Artistic Director, says:“The idea of things undergoing transforming change has long fascinated the human race. Our 2019 Festival explores the 2,000-year-old stories in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, as well as musical and social transformation over the centuries. We end the Festival with a re-creation of the medieval Feast of Fools, which reversed all the social hierarchy for a few days and allowed a ‘letting off of steam’ for people living under the control of a feudal system. Our own times are certainly troubled, with society at war with itself, the threat of runaway climate change, and a political system with which many are disillusioned. Our message is musical, and all about bringing people together positively. What better reminder that many of these themes have resonated throughout history?”
Headline events include the first public performance in modern times of Antoine Brumel’s complete Lamentations for Good Friday, recently discovered in a Florentine manuscript and performed by Musica Secreta; a day devoted to J S Bach – from his Musical Offering, through dynamic re-colouring on synthesizers in The Art of Moog, and ending with a ground bass meets jazz clubnight.
The culmination of the Festival is an immersive performance of The Feast of Fools, combining medieval music, street dance, community performers and children from Brighton & Hove schools.
The Festival has long been at the forefront of developing and mentoring young artists, and over half of this year’s events feature current or former members of the Festival’s BREMF Live! young artist scheme.
Bringing a new and often dramatic take on early music, alumnae of the scheme are making illustrious names for themselves on the early music scene. Standout shows of 2019 include Ceruleo’s Burying the Dead – a music theatre piece capturing London transformed by cataclysmic events, as seen through the eyes of Henry Purcell; and Fieri Consort’s play with music exploring the life of celebrated Venetian composer Barbara Strozzi, the 400th anniversary of whose birth falls this year.
Community events include a Highland Dance workshop and Ceilidh; and a wide range of family concerts for toddlers and older children from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Really Classical.
UK LGBT Humanist charity the Pink Triangle Trust (PTT) are “appalled” by the anti-LGBT demonstrations being held outside primary schools by religious people, mostly Muslims, who have been protesting about the inclusion of homosexuality in Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) lessons.
THE PTT draws parallels with the Salman Rushdie affair of 1989. “Once again Muslims are protesting about something which many of them haven’t even read. Then it was a novel; now it is the No Outsiders programme or the government’s position on RSE. Again mob rule is winning. Then the author was forced into hiding and those who translated his book physically attacked. Now schools are being forced to change what they teach”.
Shabana Mahmood MP
Birmingham Labour MP, Roger Godsiff, has publicly doubted whether the lessons are “age appropriate”, despite Ofsted’s judgement they are, while another Birmingham Labour MP Shabana Mahmood, defended the protesters who forced Parkfield School to suspend its lessons earlier this year.
Conservative Party leadership candidate, the former work and pensions secretary and MP for Tatton, Esther McVey, when asked about the issue during a TV interview last week said she though any decisions should be left to parents to make.
A spokesperson for PTT said:“RSE programmes which protect LGBT rights and women’s rights are under threat. Muslim intolerance and intransigence is playing out publicly adding more fuel to the culture war between Islamists and anti-Muslim bigots. This episode is undermining the idea that we should live in a cohesive society where human rights are universal.
“The government must resist this growing attempt to undermine RSE education. The government says it defends teachers’ ability to do their jobs in the face of unreasonable pressure. But, the attempt to undermine teaching which acknowledges LGBT people’s existence is a well-coordinated and deeply intimidating campaign which requires a national response. Leaving individual schools to face the wrath of vocal, intolerant, reactionary religious groups is not good enough.”
Yesterday, June 1 Birmingham City Council obtained a temporary High Court injunction banning protestors from the area following several weeks of protests outside Anderton Park Primary School. The council said the situation was “too serious to tolerate” and cited “increasing fears for the safety and well-being of the staff, children and parents of the school when they come back from their half-term break”.
The interim injunction covers the streets immediately surrounding the school and prevents protesters printing or distributing leaflets, inviting others to protest and encouraging people to congregate at the entrance.
Cllr Ian Ward
Leader of Birmingham City Council Councillor Ian Ward said:“I’m pleased that common sense has prevailed because children right across Birmingham should be free to attend school safely and without disruption.
“All our schools must be safe spaces and we will not tolerate the ongoing intimidation of parents, hard-working school staff and local residents.
“We’ll continue to support the school and its staff and I would urge parents to take this opportunity to engage in constructive dialogue with the school about any concerns they may have.”
Damian Hinds MP
Following the High Court injunction, the Education Secretary, Damian Hinds said:“I welcome the High Court’s decision to put this injunction in place.
“It is not right to protest in front of schools – it is frightening to children and disrespectful to hard working teachers.
“This will allow children to return to school and parents to continue peaceful and constructive discussions with staff.
“I support and trust head teachers to make decisions in the interests of their pupils – parents should share their views and concerns, and schools should listen.
“However, what is taught and how is ultimately a decision for schools. Consultation does not mean parents have a veto on curriculum content.
“There is no reason why teaching children about the society that we live in and the different types of loving, healthy relationships that exist cannot be done in a way that respects everyone.”
At Birmingham Pride on May 25 the Parade was led by teacher Andrew Moffat the man behind the No Outsiders educational programme which has resulted in major protests earlier in the year outside Parkfield Community School in Alum Rock.
“No, Alice, I don’t want to become a man, I just want to stop trying to be a woman.”
FOLLOWING a critically-acclaimed West End run Jon Brittain’s Rotterdam is embarking on a UK tour.
It’s New Year in Rotterdam, and Alice has finally plucked up the courage to email her parents and tell them she’s gay. But before she can hit send, her girlfriend Fiona reveals that he has always identified as a man and now wants to start living as one named Adrian.
As Adrian begins his transition, Alice must face a question she never thought she’d ask… does this mean she’s straight?
A bittersweet comedy about gender, sexuality and being a long way from home from writer Jon Brittain, co-creator of Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho, and writer of What Would Spock Do? and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo.
★★★★ “Smartly observed and very funny… warm and emotionally intelligent” Evening Standard
★★★★“Brittain’s play is another reminder – warm, witty and wise – of the stupidity of thinking that there are only two genders” Time Out
Event:Rotterdam by Jon Brittain
Where: Devonshire Park Theatre, 8-10 Compton St, Eastbourne BN21 4BW
When: Monday June 10 – Wednesday June 12
Time: Evenings at 7.45pm – Wednesday matinee 2.30pm
Cost: Monday – Wednesday £17 – £25 Wednesday matinee £19 all seats Concessions £1.50 off (7.45pm only)
Under 16s & Students £9 Under 25s £10 – Price inclusive of £1 per ticket booking fee
This summer the Hayward Gallery presents from June 12 – September 8, Kiss My Genders, a new and extensive, group exhibition of over thirty international artists whose work explores and engages with gender identity.
SPANNING the past 50 years,Kiss My Genders will bring together over 100 artworks by different generations of artists from around the world.
Employing a wide range of approaches, the participating artists share an interest in articulating and engaging with gender fluidity, as well as with non-binary, trans and intersex identities.
While the artists in Kiss My Genders work across a wide variety of media – including installation, video, painting, sculpture and wall drawings – the exhibition will place a particular emphasis on works that revisit the tradition of photographic portraiture.
A number of artists in the exhibition also treat the body itself as sculpture, and in doing so open up new possibilities for gender, beauty and representations of the human form, while others explore gender expression through performance, drag and masquerade.
These include:
Ajamu, a London-based visual activist whose work challenges conventional understanding of sexuality, desire, pleasure and cultural production within contemporary Britain.
Brooklyn-based performance artist Martine Gutierrez, who characterises identity as something ‘alien or unfamiliar’ in her ambitious photographic series Masking and Demons (both 2018)
Amrou Al-Kadhi, a British-Iraqi writer, drag performer and filmmaker, who in collaboration with British photographer Holly Falconer, created the photographic portrait Glamrou (2016) using triple exposure to communicate the experience of being in drag as a person of Muslim heritage.
A number of the artworks in the exhibition will address the broader social and political questions and contexts that intersect with gender identity.
Concerned with the way that marginalised groups are ‘forced to be their own saints’, Juliana Huxtable portrays herself as a mythological character or superhero in a series of powerful self-portraits or ‘self-imaginings’.
In The Memorial Dress (1993) – a black ball gown printed with the names of 25,000 individuals known to have died of AIDS-related illnesses – artist and AIDS activist Hunter Reynolds uses art as a tool to process trauma as well as transform it.
London-based artist duo Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings explore the politics, histories and aesthetics of queer space in their video installation Something for the Boys (2018)
In an unsettling series of photographs entitled Crime Scene (2012), Zanele Muholi draws attention to the violence suffered by South Africa’s lesbian and transgender communities.
Kiss My Genders will feature a number of new works and site-specific commissions. In the upper galleries, Jenkin van Zyl, the youngest artist in the exhibition, will present a new, expanded video work, Looners (2019), while Brooklyn-based visual artist Chitra Ganesh – whose work deals with representations of femininity, sexuality and power – will create a site-specific wall drawing.
Kiss My Genders will also extend beyond the gallery walls, with two new commissions that will transform elements of the Southbank Centre site.
Ad Minoliti, an Argentinian artist who uses brightly coloured geometric designs to represent a trans-human utopia, will design Southbank Centre’s Riverside Stage and will also create a series of flags to adorn the roof of Royal Festival Hall.
Elsewhere, South African artist Athi-Patra Ruga will transform the windows of Queen Elizabeth Hall and the Hayward Gallery foyer into a striking display of ‘stained glass’ featuring avatars designed by the artist. A poem by Tarek Lakhrissi – ‘Glory’ – will also greet visitors as they approach the stairs leading to Southbank Centre’s Mandela Walk.
The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue featuring original essays by Amrou Al-Kadhi, Paul Clinton, Charlie Fox, Jack Halberstam, Manuel Segade and Susan Stryker, as well as an excerpt from Renate Lorenz’s influential Queer Art: A Freak Theory, and poetry by Travis Alabanza, Jay Bernard, Nat Raha and Tarek Lakhrissi.
The exhibition’s title is taken from the song ‘Transome’ by Bolton-born, Berlin-based singer-songwriter, Planningtorock, who will also perform as part of the exhibition’s public programme.
Vincent Honoré, Guest Curator says: “Kiss My Genders brings together a leading group of international artists who explore and engage with gender identities. Conveyed through a wide range of mediums, this exhibition intends to be a wonderful celebration welcoming the brilliant differences and the rich spectra of genders within our society.”
Event:Kiss My Genders
Where: Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX
When: June 12 – September 8
Time: 11am – 7pm every day except Tuesdays. Late night opening on Thursdays until 9pm.
Brighton prepares to be invaded by large hairy Bears for the ninth annual Brighton Bear Weekend (BBW) from June 13-16 to raise money for the Rainbow Fund.
NOW is the time, if you haven’t done it already, to pop to their website and purchase a wristband giving you a range of discounts and deals at venues during the weekend and tickets for the BBW/BeefMince Club night at The Rialto which comes to Brighton for the first time on Saturday, June 15.
Brighton Bear Weekend 2019 run from Thursday June 13 to Sunday June 16.
Programme of events:
Thursday, June 13
♦ Brighton Bear Quiz: Camelford Arms at 7pm
Friday, June 14
♦ Welcome Night and Cabaret: Amsterdam Bar & Kitchen at 7pm
♦ Mr Brighton Bear Competition: Subline at 11pm
Saturday, June 15
♦ Bear Breakfast and Bearspace focus group: Camelford Arms at 11am
♦ Royal Pavilion Tour: Royal Pavilion 11:30 am
♦ Brighton Bear Weekend’s Garden Party, Dorset Gardens at noon
♦ Bear-a-oke, Bar Broadway at 5:30 pm
♦ BeefMince Club Night, The Rialto at 10pm
Sunday, June 16
♦ LGBT Piers & Queers Walking Tour of Brighton at 11:30 am
♦ Sunday Roast Lunch, Amsterdam Bar & Kitchen and Camelford Arms at noon
♦ Cabaret with Dave the Bear, Amsterdam Bar & Kitchen at 3pm
♦ Bear Cabaret, Affinity Bar at 7:30 pm
♦ Sally Vate’s Bear Bingo, Charles Street Tap at 8:30 pm
♦ Underbears, Subline at 10pm
Many of your favourite entertainers will be appearing at these venues over the weekend, not to mention the lovely Dave Wilkes (appearing on this month’s cover) who will be joining the fun at various times over the weekend!
Print of Mario Diabolico
Don’t forget to buy tickets for the main raffle, with a first prize of a framed print of Mario Diabolico donated by The Strange Case Company which will be drawn in The Amsterdam Nar & Kitchen around 6.30pm on the Sunday, June 16.
Most events will be free to enter, but some will require a modest entry fee, or a ticket bought in advance. You can buy a wristband to receive great discounts on club entry, drinks and more.
For more information about tickets and wristbands, click here:
Graham Munday
Graham Munday of the BBW 2019 organising committee said:“The entire team welcome you all to 9th Brighton Bear Weekend. We continue to expand and this year we are very excited to team up with London’s finest Club night BeefMince. We also welcome the contestants of our inaugural Mister Brighton Bear competition, introduce our fantastic city via walking tours and watch Brighton’s finest cabaret talent at our Garden Party. Please support the Rainbow Fund, the Brighton and Hove Community Safety Forum and Lunch Positive. Eat and drink at the venues. Cheer the talent. Shop with those that support us. Have a fantastic time. Look after each other and have the best Brighton Bear Weekend ever.”
Finally don ‘t forget you can also make yourself look even more gorgeous with a colourful range of vests and T-shirts, available from their website or the Prowler Store in Saint James’s Street.
All Brighton Bear Weekend events raise money for the Rainbow Fund, who give grants to LGBT+/HIV organisations who provide effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove.
For more information about tickets and wristbands, click here:
Could you be crowned the first Mr Brighton Bear at Brighton Bear Weekend?
Friday June 14 sees the first ever Mr Brighton Bear competition during Brighton Weekend at Subline in St James Street. The winner will walk away with £200 in cash and the lovely hand-made sash with a cash prize for the runner up.
Don’t be shy – the competition is designed to be fun and entries are welcome from Bears, Cubs, Otters and wannabees – judging will be based on a number of factors – not just physique!
The rounds will include day wear, night (club) wear, and a freeform ‘wear what you dare’ round. You, the people, will vote anonymously to crown the winner and runner-up!
After the winners are announced, Subline will stay open until 4:00 am, giving you plenty of time to explore this men-only cruise bar with two dark rooms and plenty of intimate corners. DJ Screwpulous will be on the decks to get you moving on the dancefloor.
All Brighton Bear Weekend events raise money for the Rainbow Fund, who give grants to LGBT+/HIV organisations who provide effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove.
Nightstop’s Executive Director, Alison Marino said: “The most common reasons for young people resorting to staying at friends and sofa-surfing include parents being unable or unwilling to provide housing, extended family members being unable to help or splitting up with a partner, alongside other contributing factors such as tenancies ending, domestic abuse, rent arrears and leaving care.
Could you be crowned the first Mr Brighton Bear at Brighton Bear Weekend?
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