Gscene - James Ledward's - Blog

KEMPTOWN Parliamentary candidate for the Greens, Ben Duncan is calling on Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to halt the deportation of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender asylum seekers to Iran, after it emerged that a lesbian living in Sheffield was due to be sent to Tehran next week to face imprisonment for her sexuality.

Pegah Emambakhsh is an Iranian lesbian who fled to the UK after her partner was arrested in 2005. Her asylum application, claiming refugee status on the basis of her fear of imprisonment in Iran, was rejected, and she is due to be deported to Tehran today. Since she fled Iran in 2005, she has become a high-profile Lesbian rights campaigner.

Cllr Duncan, who also sits on Brighton and Hove City Council’s Equalities Forum, said:

“The fact that there are 77 countries around the world which continue to punish the ‘crime’ of homosexuality with imprisonment or death should shame us all. As the old saying goes, ‘until we are all free, none of us are free’.

“The Government should be bringing pressure to bear on its counterparts in these countries to stop discriminating against their LGBT communities and begin respecting universal human rights for all. In the meantime, we certainly shouldn’t be deporting LGBT asylum seekers to face further persecution at their hands.

“That’s why I’ve urged the Home Secretary to intervene in this case – and grant Pegah the same freedom from persecution and discrimination we would expect her to enjoy if she was from Brighton rather than Tehran.”

Ben Duncan is the Green Councillor for Queens Park.

In October, the Sussex Gay Professionals will merge with Village Drinks, the London based social event group for gay professionals, and all events after will be named ‘Village Drinks Brighton’.

This week, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, endorsed Village Drinks as “a key social and professional network.”

Events are now being planned for October through to April 2008. Invites are also going out to other professional gay networks and groups in the Brighton area, as well as to various local businesses that might have interested members.

You can sign up at:

http://www.villagedrinks.co.uk/signup.php as the present meetup.com website is due to close shortly.

The date for the first Village Drinks Brighton event will be announced to members soon.

Vote for your choice at www.realbrighton.com/aidsmemorial from September 3, 2007

In July a public call was made for expressions of interest from people and groups to develop proposals to create a Brighton & Hove AIDS Memorial. The closing date for this process is the August 31, 2007 at 9am. A process of shortlisting the proposals will then be convened by former council leader Simon Burgess.

On September 3, 2007 all submitted proposals will be published on the specially constructed website, kindly hosted by Real Brighton, and a public ballot will open and run until midnight September 21, 2007. Shortly thereafter the winner of the ballot will be announced.

All signatories of the original online AIDS Memorial petition will be directly notified and all members of the public are encouraged to participate.

Simply go to www.realbrighton.com/aidsmemorial, take a look at the proposals and have your say. The process is designed to be as open and transparent as possible and the ballot is run independently to ensure this.

Paul Elgood commented: ‘People will have a real choice as to how they want to see the project come to fruition. We already have received a great range of proposals, which we think will inspire debate and discussion. The winner is really down to you, so make sure you have your say."

If you want to run in one of the fastest marathons in the world, the Berlin Marathon, then contact the Sussex Beacon who are offering guaranteed places.

Not content with being one of the fastest marathons in the world, the course route takes in more sights than an open top bus tour of Berlin!

Join the Sussex Beacon Team who will support you all the way, from fundraising advice to your very own Sussex Beacon running vest. Not forgetting the pre-race pasta party!

All you need to do is raise £1000 in sponsorship!
The Berlin Marathon is on Sunday September 30 and starts and finishes near the Brandenburg Gate, one of Berlin's most famous landmarks and attracts a field of more than 40,000 athletes. It’s a fast and furious course – perfect if you want to get that Personal Best time or for a first marathon.

• To support the Sussex Beacon and run the Berlin marathon call Lucy Brandram on 01273 694222 ext 232 (during office hours). Alternatively, email lucy.brandram@sussexbeacon.org.uk

SPA 9 - £19,647 - £21,501

The Anti-Victimisation Unit (AVU) based at Brighton Police Station has a vacancy for the post of LGBT Community Liaison Officer. The AVU is a unit consisting of 16 police and support staff providing an investigative and operational response to homophobic/biphobic/transphobic and racist/religious crime and domestic violence.

The role of the liaison officer is to:-

• Encourage the reporting of LGBT hate crime and to ensure members of the LGBT community receive an appropriate service.
• Provide protective measures to victims of and witnesses to LGBT hate crime.
• Perform a witness liaison role following a homophobic incident – keeping victims and witnesses updates on the progress of cases through the Criminal Justice System and to link with other supportive agencies to facilitate ongoing support to victims and witnesses.
• Establish and maintain links with the community to build trust and confidence between them and the police.
• Perform an advisory role to police officers investigating LGBT hate crime and to police managers with regards to the needs of LGBT individuals and the wider community.
• Participate in development work around LGBT community safety in the city of Brighton and Hove.

We are looking for candidates who possess the following skills:-
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• A proven knowledge and understanding of diversity issues within the LGBT communities.
• Excellent organisational skills – including a high degree of IT skills.
• Resilience and the ability to challenge internal structures and processes.
• An open-minded approach to problem solving and community engagement.

The post involves working 37 hours per week as well as weekends as directed. A significant number of meetings are held outside of normal office hours.

For an application pack, please write to the HR Unit, Brighton Police Station, John Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 0LA. Alternatively you may e-mail Brighton.HR@sussex.pnn.police.uk

Closing date for applications – Wed 22nd Aug 2007.

Gaydar.co.uk becomes the official online sponsor of Manchester Pride in a new three-year deal which also gives the leading personals site and its sister brands exclusive sponsorship of the main festival stage during one of the biggest street parties the City has ever seen.

Online sponsorship of the festival website, www.manchesterpride.com will combine banners and special promotions with click throughs to the gaydar portals and the chance to win Gaydar.co.uk and GaydarGirls.com upgrades.

The Manchester site is a first port of call for gay and lesbian people visiting the city and forms part of the Manchester Gay Destination Campaign.

GaydarRadio will broadcast live from Manchester Pride on the opening day, August 24, with further inserts across Saturday and live coverage of the Parade.

Manchester Pride takes place this year from August 24-27. More than 250,000 people are expected to watch the main Parade on August 25.

Further to yesterdays request for action in having Christian Voice and The National Front moved from the narrow entrance to Preston Park on Saturday, Sussex Police have confirmed that in the last 24 hours they have been completely inundated with email requests about the issue and have got the message loud and clear that LGBT people are outraged by their proposed presence in such a sensitive position as the Pride parade enters Preston Park.

In fact they have received so many emails it is now creating a problem with the Police email system and they are having problems responding individually to the massive LGBT community response.

They want everyone who has contacted them to know they acknowledge the large number of concerns that have been expressed to them and that these concerns are being addressed at the highest level.

There are now too many emails to be individually answered without putting constraints on their operational duties and they apologies for this.

Thank you for taking time to circulate the email to all your friends at such short notice yesterday.

Please circulate everybody you contacted from your personal diaries thanking them for a job well done.