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TWO HOURS LEFT: to get Pride tickets for £12.50 from Brighton venues

Brighton Pride

The tropical weather is putting everybody in a sizzling mood for Pride. Brighton is a sea of naked, bronzed bodies all topping up their tans for the most talked about Brighton Pride ever.

Tickets for Brighton Pride are £20 on the day.

You can still get tickets from Brighton shops and bars for £12.50 until today, Sunday, July 20.

The forecast for the Pride weekend is amazing which means that demand for the Pride campsite is higher than ever.

To book space on the Pride camp site, CLICK HERE:

Tickets are available from the following venues in Brighton:

• Prowler (London and Brighton)
• Queens Arms
• Charles Street
• Legends
• Bar Revenge
• Poison Ivy
• A-bar
• Bar 56
• Marine Tavern
• Dr Brightons
• 112 Church St

Vince Laws takes on Norwich Pride

Vince Laws
Vince Laws

Controversial poet, artist and activist Vince Laws will be unveiling his new work Homosexual Propaganda at the launch of Pride Without Prejudice, an art show celebrating the fifth anniversary of Norwich Pride, at St Margaret’s Church of Art, St Benedict’s Street, Norwich on Monday, July 22.

Homosexual Propaganda, which features a gay couple dancing, smoking and drinking, beneath a 5 meter red rainbow, has been interpreted by some as phallic and will stay firmly up alongside other works, until Saturday, August 3.

Vince said:

“Homosexual Propaganda is a response to Putin’s criminalisation of the LGBT community in Russia, and a delayed reaction to Clause 28 in this country, which prevented the ‘promotion of homosexuality’, whatever that means.

“I wondered how to go about promoting homosexuality, how does one encourage others to give it a go? I know it’s slightly ridiculous, but if after seeing my work someone does feel a drift towards same-sex passion, I’d love to know.”

At the launch, Vince will be recreating BANNED, a filmed, photographed live happening which was seen in February this year at the Jubilee Library, Brighton.

Vince Laws

From 7pm, 76 people will be face painted with the names of the 76 countries where homosexuality is BANNED. There will be a group photo at 8pm, accompanied by a rendition of Something Inside So Strong – bring instruments and voices!

To sign up, EMAIL:  

To join the Facebook event, CLICK HERE:  

Vince has also donated a piece of artwork for a raffle, which will raise money for the Bring Philippa Home appeal.

For more information, CLICK HERE:

In the week running up to Norwich Pride’s 5th Birthday on Saturday, July 27, Vince will be hanging the OUT140 rainbow and coming-out speech bubbles, which tell coming out stories in 140 characters of less, in The Forum, Millennium Plain, Norwich.

Pride Without Prejudice is due to take place over the fortnight either side of the main Norwich Pride Parade, which takes place on Saturday, July 27.

Celebrating Diversity, this exhibition is open to all artists regardless of style, qualification, experience, age, race, sexuality, or gender. These events are a great chance for artists to show their creations to the public, meet other local artists, gain invaluable feedback & possibly sell their work. No commission is charged on any sales made.

For more information about Norwich Pride, CLICK HERE:

For more information on Vince Laws, CLICK HERE:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Well done Simon!

Simon Kirby, MP
Simon Kirby, MP

“Last week the Same Sex Marriage Bill became law. As one of the many gay Tory MPs, who spoke in favour of the Bill and received press coverage, I wanted to put on record the invaluable work my colleague, Simon Kirby MP for Kemptown and Peacehaven undertook to get the Bill through Parliament.

There are many Parliamentarians who deserve a huge amount of credit for bringing about this historic change in the law. I want to take the opportunity to commend the work of MP Simon Kirby, because otherwise I fear that he may not get the credit he undoubtedly deserves.

I know that Simon is very proud to represent a constituency which is as diverse as Brighton Kemptown, and he has always been a strong voice for the LGBT community in Parliament.

Since the issue of same sex marriage came onto the political agenda last year Simon has worked tirelessly to get a Bill onto the floor of the House of Commons and put a great deal of effort into drumming up support amongst colleagues and steering the Bill through Parliament. As a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport he has a close working relationship with Maria Miller and Hugh Robertson which has enabled him to be a particularly effective advocate for equal marriage.

Much of this work is very much behind the scenes, and as such it is at risk of going unnoticed. However, I think it is important to acknowledge the contribution that Simon has made, which has gone a long way towards the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill achieving Royal Assent today. I noticed that Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill paid tribute to Simon yesterday, identifying him as “a dogged supporter of the right thing.” I would certainly echo that sentiment.

Now that the lengthy political process of getting a Bill into law is out of the way thousands of gay couples can look forward to planning their wedding ceremonies from next year.  I know that there will be many happy couples in Brighton Kemptown making such plans, and they can be very proud of their hard-working local MP for standing up for their rights throughout the equal marriage debate.

Brighton Kemptown is not only a special place but it also has a very special MP!”

Mike Freer,

Conservative Member of Parliament for Finchley & Golders Green

Mike Freer, MP
Mike Freer, MP

THE LOST BOY, the Doodlebug and the Mysterious Number 80: Stevie Henden : Book review

 TLBTDATMN80_spread.indd

This is an eclectic and thought-provoking book, a modern day fairy tale in which the dreams and lives of four people are linked together across time, bound by love, friendship and fate

During the Blitz a young woman, Iris, has a vision of two lovers in peril and knows it’s her destiny to help them. Robert, a wounded and repressed Battle of Britain pilot, dreams of happiness and of love. Charlie, a troubled little boy with growing up in the repressed suburbs of 1950s South London, dreams of the number ’80’ and knows only that it means something terrible and a dark, disturbed man dreams repeatedly of Charlie and knows it is his destiny to kill him.

It is a tale of a great gay love story and loss, destiny, tragedy, spiritual transformation and self-acceptance. The plot is fun and moves along at a brisk pace, in fact it kept me interested and reading it until I’d finished it, and it’s a great compliment to a writer who can hold my attention for the whole book so I feel I have to read it in one go. I stayed up till 2.45am to finish it, I had to know how it ended and wasn’t disappointed one bit.

The tension and plot just gets tighter the further into the book you go and Henden leaves no plot strand un-woven back into the rich weft of this complex and reassuring tale. No secrets are left untold and yet each one revealed, reveals more about the plot.  In some soft echo of the interdependence and acceptance of its characters lives, loves and threats it’s very much like Armistead Maupin’s ‘Tales’ books and for a first book that’s high praise indeed Stevie.

The book is oddly profound in places, caught me off guard and almost moved me to tears, and gave me not one but two (count them) of the best gay deathbed scenes I’ve read in a long while (Lord Marchmain eat your heart out…).  I was surprised by how subtly the characters interwoven relationships and believable feelings are expressed. The dialogue can be just the slightest bit clunky on occasion and perhaps a harder editor might have caught this, but considering the magical delight of the plot this is a small criticism.

The set pieces of gay London in the 80s’s are recognisable and authentic, I know, I was there then.  The LGBT characters are wonderfully evocative of real people both creepy and joyful. The author covers the AIDS crisis with dignity and conveys the dark swift horror of those years when lovers, friends and family seemed to vanish in moments, but again Henden gives us a soft caring smile in the tears. The Valkyrien river memorial scene made me laugh out loud.

The plot is both terribly complicated and also very easy, on one level it’s a time travelling interwoven spiritual journey story of acceptance and coming of age with a savage murder mystery haunting it (phew…) and on the other, it’s about big gay love, plain and simple, although, as the book delights in pointing out, it’s rarely plain or simple to be in love.

This time-travelling tale moves between present day and World War Two London, the gay bars of the 1970s, Eva Peron’s Buenos Aires and Glastonbury Tor capturing each location with delight to make them come alive, I laughed – when Evita eventually appeared – at the audacity of the author and his ability to weave a cheeky plot line in with subtle delight, with a profoundly sad resonance holding the narrative together.

It felt like a very good and very gay Dr Who episode but with a much richer subtext and less of the moralising that even the great St Moffet tends towards. This book does have a moral, although I suspect the next time I read it, and that will be soon, the moral will change.

Stevie Henden is reading from The Lost boy at the Polari event at the Festival Hall on Tuesday July 30, if his real voice is a strong as the voices in this book the event will be a treat.

For more info on this evening view the Southbank website here:

You can also check out the authors face book page  to see when they are next reading from this charming book

Highly recommended and just the most perfect book to take away on holiday with you and delight in opening. It’s just as much fun to curl up with on a rainy afternoon at home too. Don’t get put off by the time travel element as there’s very little of it, and the book is full of great camp and fun characters. Best of all, it’s a believable love story between two very different men who struggle to accept that love and then cherish it when they do. Heart-warming in lots of ways.

Out now Paperback £9  E-reader £3.99

For more info or to buy the paperback or eBook see the publishers website here:

HAVE A WORD in August: at Emporium

Have a Word

‘Have A Word’ the LGBTQ arts literary performance event presented by Ellis Collins moved to Emporium, Brighton’s newest arts venue last month and the feedback has been very positive. People love the venue and the event!

The next Have a Word is on August 14 and performers include:

Vicki Crowther…Actor Model Storyteller

V G Le…Author Actor Comedian

Jonathan Kemp..Novelist Academic DJ

Della Lupa…Singer Songwriter Pianist

Music will be supplied by resident DJ Josh the Barber.

WHAT: Have a Word

WHERE: Emporium 88 London Road, Brighton

WHEN: August 14

TICKETS: £6: Early bird 10% discount tickets, CLICK HERE:

Facebook: CLICK HERE:

Supporting The Sussex Beacon with collection box.

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