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Pink Narcissus: Blood on the Page: Music Review

1362545024_10152628653860198_1467210600_nWith their new 6-track EP, Brighton’s self-styled ‘freak rockers’ Pink Narcissus have sparkled up grunge with a pinch of glitter.

Blood on the Page, opens without fanfare into the spitting Victims, a bloodied and bruised call to arms for those suffering prejudice; it’s a rip-roaring riff-filled gem filled with suitably off-kilter vocals by eccentric front man Oli Spleen.

The posturing Spleen’s decadent delivery counters the biting music of the cool Traps, a trippy number with a sardonic vocal and a great hook before tearing into the first single, Orphan Eyes, a swashbuckling alternative dancefloor-ready glamathon, the driving verses leading to a swirling chorus of fuzzy guitars.

Whilst, PN wear their influences on their sleeves: a bit of Nirvana here, a bit of Bowie there, they retain their own cohesive sound, which effortlessly merges 90s grunge with the pomposity of 70s glam-rock.

The semi-catatonic Great Divide recalls woozy mornings after sleepless heavy nights, the stench of beer and nicotine still lingering, ears still ringing, while the shuffling Yield to the Night, peppered with sparks of Paddy Longlegs‘ guitar, closes the album with unabashed sex appeal from an increasingly unhinged Spleen.

Catch Pink Narcissus at The Green Door Store, Brighton on Tuesday, April 16 at 7pm.

For more info, view: www.reverbnation.com/pinknarcissus

Stonewall Equality Dinner raises record amount

Dr Christian Jessen  and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe
Dr Christian Jessen and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe

Over 500 guests, including celebrities and politicians, attended Stonewall’s annual Equality Dinner at London’s Dorchester Hotel this week. The Dinner, hosted by Stella Duffy, raised a record-breaking £394,000 to support Stonewall’s campaigns against homophobia in Britain and worldwide. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe attended the Dinner – the first time a leader of Britain’s largest police force has attended such a major gay equality event.

Dinner guests included Clare Balding, Gok Wan, Val McDermid, Alice Arnold and MPs John Bercow, Nick Herbert, Diane Abbott, Angela Eagle and Chris Bryant. Christopher Biggins led a live auction, with lots including tea with Tony Blair, champagne with Jennifer Saunders and VIP tickets to Elton John’s show in Las Vegas. Boy George DJed at the after-dinner party.

Channel 4’s Embarrassing Bodies host Dr Christian Jessen gave an emotional speech during dinner, in which he spoke about a school friend who had taken his own life after being homophobically bullied.

He said:

“It’s a shocking fact that over half of lesbian, gay and bisexual pupils experience homophobic bullying and I think it’s embarrassing and shameful that in 2013 there are still young people, like my friend Paul, who struggle to understand why what they are seems to matter so much more than who they are.”

Stonewall Deputy Chief Executive Laura Doughty, said:

“Homophobia remains a huge problem in Britain’s schools, and in 80 countries worldwide it’s illegal to be gay. These are just two of the challenges we’re dealing with every single day. We know we face a huge challenge in making homophobia thing of the past, and we’re enormously grateful to everyone who made this evening such a huge success.”
 

The Stonewall Equality Dinner was supported by Aviva, and Sir Elton John, Tony Blair, Val McDermid and Graham Norton were among those who donated lots for the auctions. Lots included a meet-and-greet experience with Ian McKellen in New York, dinner dates with Gok Wan, Clare Balding and Alice Arnold, VIP tickets to the MTV Europe Music Awards and a Maggi Hambling painting.

Open Gardens ‘early bird’ tickets available

OPen GardensThe Sussex Beacon, the HIV charity, are offering a 20% early bird discount for weekend tickets bought in April to the Brighton & Hove Open Gardens event taking place on Saturday, June 20 and Sunday, June 30 from 11am.

From small city centre courtyards to expansive open spaces, the event sees over 70 private gardens and community spaces open to the public to raise money for The Sussex Beacon.

Gardeners will make you feel at home with a cup of tea, a slice of cake or even lunch and a glass of bubbly across inspiring places in Hove, Montpelier, Fiveways and Roundhill, Preston Park and Surrenden, Stanmer, East of Brighton, Rottingdean, Saltdean and Newhaven.

For more info and to receive the discount, using the code SB2357, CLICK HERE: 

Eastbourne Theatre changes hands

Royal Hippodrome, Eastbourne
Royal Hippodrome, Eastbourne

Eastbourne’s oldest theatre, The Royal Hippodrome, has been taken over by new management.

Hippodrome EastbourneRHT Management aim to run the the 130-year-old theatre, which is located in the Devonshire West Ward, a ward recently awarded £1million over the next 10 years as part of the National Lottery’s Big Local initiative, as a community venture, mixing professional theatre with the needs of the local community.

As part of this community initiative, the Eastbourne Hospitality Association (EHA) will relocate its offices to the theatre and operate a new part-time tourist accommodation centre (TIC), giving the building an ‘always open’ feel, something which it has recently lacked.

The Dance Studio at the theatre is being refurbished along with other small areas of the theatre and for 2013, RHT Management have announced a large programme of events including this year’s variety show which starts on April 30 and plays every Tuesday and Wednesday night until October, and there will be a 130th anniversary season of one night specials kicking off on Saturday, May 4. The theatre will be also hosting its first ever summer school.

Cllr Carolyn Heaps, Eastbourne Borough Council Cabinet Member for Tourism & Leisure, said “Our priority is to ensure that the extraordinary heritage of the Royal Hippodrome Theatre lives on through a new, dynamic and viable management structure”.

For more information, CLICK HERE:   

Have you written your will?

Martlets Hospice
Martlets Hospice

Martlets Hospice, the Hove-based charity providing end of life care services to adults with terminal diseases, is now taking bookings for its 2013 Will Writing Fortnight, which runs from May 6 till May 17.

Fifteen local Will writers will be donating their services in return for a suggested donation to the Hospice of £75 for updating a codicil, £110 for a single Will or £150 for a joint Will.

Gary Moyle, Hospice Legacies Officer, said :

“This is a great opportunity to make or update your Will and support the Martlets at the same time.
We hope too that some people will think about making a gift in their Will to the Martlets because we are dependent on gifts made in Wills for around 15% of our income.

“Using a professional Will writer ensures that your wishes will be carried out and the people and causes you care about will be remembered as you intend.

“Wills should be updated following significant family events such as marriage, civil partnership or the birth of children.”

Appointments are available to anyone who wants to make or update their Will.

Bookings can be made only between April 8 and May 3.

For more info, CLICK HERE:            

Or telephone Gary Moyle on 01273 747455;

or email at gary.moyle@themartletshospice.co.uk

Funding awarded to stage Candlelit Vigil

Candlelit Vigil 2012
Candlelit Vigil 2012

Lunch Positive, the Brighton & Hove charity which provides a weekly lunch club for people with HIV has been awarded £1985.00 to help toward the costs of staging the annual World AIDS Day Candlelight Vigil & Reading Of Names.

The event which is held on World AIDS Day December 1, is a public remembrance of people who have been lost to AIDS locally, and an expression of hope and solidarity for those who live with HIV/AIDS.
Funding has been awarded by the Community Development Fund through the Communities First Queen’s Park Ward Programme and will be spent on providing equipment to stage the vigil, improving wheelchair access and promoting the event.
Lunch Positive supports World AIDS Day events as a member of the Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Partnership  which is formed from a wide range of local charities and organisations which include the Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy, Sussex Beacon, THT South, CDO Sussex and Brighton & Hove City Council Community Safety Team.

If you would like to see more about the Vigil and Reading of Names and find details of how to leave a name to be read at the vigil, CLICK HERE:

Local entertainer goes hi-tech

Miss Jason
Miss Jason

Brighton cabaret star and current holder of the Golden Handbag Oscar for favourite entertainer, Miss Jason, will be launching her new App on Sunday, April 14 at The 2 Brewers, Clapham, London at 6pm.

The Miss Jason App will be a one-stop-shop for the cabaret artist, featuring weekly podcasts, videos, photos, social media connections, Miss Jason’s Half Hour, and a section for fan-uploaded photos.

To download the App for free from the Google Play Shop, CLICK HERE:

It will shortly be available from the Apple App Store. Search Miss Jason and get connected!

Scottish man prosecuted for not revealing his trans status

Chris WIlson
Chris WIlson

Chris Wilson a trans man has been sentenced to 3 years probation and 240 hours community service for “obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud” by failing to disclose his birth sex.

Scottish Transgender Alliance (STA) says fraud prosecution “threatens trans people’s right to privacy” and was “the wrong charge to bring.”

Chris Wilson was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh to 3 years probation and 240 hours community service, having pled guilty to two counts of “obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud”.

Although Wilson identifies as male he was prosecuted for not telling his sexual partners that he was labelled female at birth. Other factors affecting this  case included Wilson lying about his age claiming he was 17 when he was 21 while the two young women involved were only 15, although one had claimed to be 16. However, he was not charged with any offences relating to sexual activity with people below the age of 16.

Tim Hopkins, Director of the Equality Network, an organisation working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equality in Scotland, said:

“Chris Wilson broke the law by having sex with the 15 year old girl who had claimed to be 16. But he was not charged for that, instead the charge was “obtaining sexual intimacy by fraud” because in the Fiscal’s eyes he had “lied” about his gender. It was the wrong charge to bring, and the message it sends to trans people is you will be criminalised if you don’t share your gender history with sexual partners.”

Scotland’s national transgender equality charity, STA, based at the Equality Network, warned that “the nature of this prosecution has seriously undermined trans people’s trust in the Scottish criminal justice system.”

Nathan Gale, STA development worker at the Equality Network, said:

“We understand that some people may be distressed when they become aware of the trans status of a partner or former partner. But just in the same way that people aren’t obliged to share other personal information with potential partners, for example that they are married or have criminal convictions, trans people shouldn’t be forced to share private information about their gender history under fear of prosecution.”

Setting the sentence, judge Lord Bannatyne said he recognised that Chris Wilson did not dress as a man in order to commit offences, but “always dressed that way”.

As a comparative example, a 31 year old man who had sex with a 14 year old girl who had claimed to be over 16 was prosecuted at the Sheriff Court and also sentenced to 240 hours of community service, whereas Wilson’s case was prosecuted at the High Court, reserved for the most serious offences. This lends weight to the STA’s claim that Wilson’s fraud prosecution was “a completely inappropriate charge.”

At the time Wilson’s story came to light in early March, the Equality Network wrote to the Lord Advocate, saying:

“We are extremely concerned about the charge that was brought in this case, and the message that COPFS sends to the trans community by prosecuting a transgender person for presenting as a different gender to that which they were labelled at birth.” 

They asked the Lord Advocate for an urgent meeting to discuss how COPFS can address the trans community’s concerns, a request which has, as yet, gone unanswered.

Following Wilson’s sentencing, Gale said:

“I sincerely hope that COPFS will understand the seriousness of trans people’s fears and respond to our call to take urgent steps to address them.”

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