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Do you have a view on any extension of Gatwick airport?

Gatwick Airport

Gatwick Airport, Britain’s second largest airport and the busiest single-runway airport in the world, has submitted a proposal to the Airports Commission for a second runway, positioned to the south of the current site.

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, is urging local residents and businesses to send him their views on the proposal.

Mike said:

“The operators of Gatwick have submitted an important proposal which has the potential to help our local economy. Brighton & Hove has a large number of people who work within the airline industry and the expansion of Gatwick could mean a huge amount of investment will come our way, which is why I hope that local residents and businesses will let me know how they feel about the proposal.”

For more information on the bid, CLICK HERE:

To email Mike, CLICK HERE:    

Gatwick Airport

 

 

Human rights campaigner supports Totnes Pride

 

Totnes PrideHuman Rights campaigner Peter Tatchell will be the guest of honour at the first ever Totnes Pride event, which will bring south Devon’s Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) community together with their friends and families for a full day and night of celebrations.

Devon-based LGBT organisation Proud2Be is laying on a whole host of events in Totnes on Saturday 14 in what will be the UK’s largest rural Pride event.

The day starts at 11.30am at Totnes Civic Hall, where visitors can take part in a panel debate, workshops and talks from some leading LGBT figures, including Peter Tatchell and Elly Barnes, who topped the Independent newspaper’s Pink List, the rundown of the 250 most influential people in the LGBT community.

A night of entertainment, dance and music follows featuring the UK’s top Burlesque group Kinky & Quirky, live music from Sound of the Sirens, Rebecca Maze, and top DJs at the South Devon Arts Centre from 8pm.

Entry to the daytime events at Totnes Civic Hall is just £1 for adults, 50p for 11-18 year olds, and is free to those under 11s.

Tickets to the Totnes Pride After Party are £12.50 and available from the South Devon Arts Box Office on 0844 888 0435 or online at www.southdevonarts.co.uk

Peter Tatchell, said:

“I am proud to support Proud2Be Totnes Pride 2013.”

“I’ll be there and I hope you will join me for a fabulous celebration. LGBT community makes an important, positive contribution to Totnes and Devon. Proud2Be Totnes Pride is the recognition that LGBT people are part of south Devon. We’re here, we’re queer and we love Totnes.”

“There have long been LGBT Pride events in big cities like London and Bristol, but it is really important that Pride celebrations also happen in smaller towns and cities too. LGBT people are often invisible in more rural parts of the country. Their input into local communities is frequently overlooked.”

“It is important to keep campaigning for LGBT acceptance and human rights in Devon and all across the UK. The battle for marriage equality is almost won but not quite. We are still campaigning for equal love rights. Our efforts are part of a worldwide movement for LGBT equality. We are part of an unstoppable global trend.”

Totnes-based Proud2Be was launched two years when gay identical twin brothers, Mat and Jon Price sat in front of their web cam and recorded a short video. In the video they explained how they are both proud to be gay.

Mat said:

“In truth we had been ashamed to be gay before that moment.” 

“After years of messages from our school, church, the media and certain members of our family, that being gay was wrong, we had internalised those messages and started to believe them. When a friend asked us if we were proud to be gay we both said no. But that was the catalyst for our change in attitude and three years later the Proud2Be Project was born.

“Our mission is to encourage and support all lesbian, gay, bisexual & trans (LGBT) people to be proud of who they are.”

Since its launch, Proud2Be now holds monthly get togethers and other events in Totnes. The organisation has also received the backing of some famous names including Stephen Fry, and the twins also host their own radio show on local community station Soundart.

Jon said:

“Totnes Pride is going to be a wonderful day for Totnes and south Devon.” 

“It will be a day when the LGBT community, as well as our friends and families, can celebrate and show everyone they’re proud of who they are. We’re delighted to have the support of so many people and organisations and just can’t wait for the day itself to come.

“We’ll have some great talks, debates and events for all ages during the day at the Civic Hall, and then we’ll really let our hair down with a huge party at the South Devon Arts Centre. It’s going to be spectacular.”

For more information, CLICK HERE:

EVENT: Totnes Pride 2013

WHERE: Totnes, Devon

WHEN: Saturday, September 14

Tickets: www.southdevonarts.co.uk

 

Big increase in Hep C diagnoses

Public Health EnglandHepatitis C diagnoses in England rose by more than a third last year.

Figures released by Public Health England (PHE) in its annual hepatitis C report show that laboratory confirmed new diagnoses of hepatitis C infections reported in England rose to 10,873 cases in 2012, up from 7,882 cases in 2010 – when statutory notification by diagnostic laboratories was first introduced.

In London, which accounts for 26 per cent of all hepatitis C cases reported in England in 2012, cases have almost trebled to 2,844 cases in 2012, up from 954 in 2010.

The report confirms that around 160,000 people are living with chronic hepatitis C virus infection in England – many of whom are unaware of their infection. Across the UK more than 215,000 individuals are thought to be chronically infected.

Dr Helen Harris, a hepatitis expert at PHE, who led the publication of the report, said:

“While there has been an increase in confirmed cases of hepatitis C infection, partly as a result of increased testing and partly because of improved laboratory reporting, sadly, many people chronically infected with hepatitis C remain unaware of their infection. For many, it can be several years or even decades before they develop symptoms. It is therefore vital to raise awareness about this condition so that more individuals are diagnosed and treated.

 “Antiviral therapies exist that will clear the virus in most cases, yet only around three per cent of the chronically infected population in England access them each year.”

Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus. The virus causes inflammation of the liver, and if left untreated, can result in chronic liver disease, liver failure, or even death. In the UK, the greatest risk of hepatitis C infection is through sharing equipment for injecting drugs.

For the full report, CLICK HERE: 

 

ICONS EXHIBITION: Private view at Jubilee Library

Icons Exhibition

Brighton Pride’s Art Exhibition ‘ICONS’ officially opened at the Jubilee Library on Wednesday evening with a Private View hosted by comedienne Zoe Lyons. The exhibition has been organised by Brighton-based Thirteen Art Productions and is a central part of Pride’s first ever Arts & Film Festival, which covers multi-aspects of LGBT art, culture and lifestyle.

A selection of talented artists from the LGBT community (and their supporters) have produced an astounding mix of artwork which is showing alongside some exclusive and original posters by American Pop-artist Keith Haring, donated by The Keith Haring Foundation in New York.

Haring died in 1990 of Aids. The mission of the Keith Haring Foundation is to sustain, expand, and protect the legacy of Keith Haring, his art, and his ideals. The Foundation supports not-for-profit organisations that assist children, as well as organisations involved in education, research and care related to AIDS.

The busy centrally located venue saw an enthusiastic crowd bid for the Haring posters, which sold out on the night. The whole event has so far raised over £2,000 for Pride and The Rainbow Fund, a charitable fund to benefit of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Community in Brighton & Hove and to help maintain the Brighton & Hove AIDS Memorial.

Local artist Romany Mark Bruce who sculptured the Brighton Aids Memorial ‘Tay’ and photographer Mark Vessey are amongst a number of talented participants.

Profits from the event itself and 10% of any other artwork sales will be donated to Pride.

The exhibition takes place at the Jubilee Library till August 1.

The Keith Haring Foundation have also licensed the use of an image for limited edition merchandise to accompany the first Brighton Pride, Arts & Film Festival. The items, including t-shirts, totebags, badges and posters which will be on sale via Pride’s website from July and at Icons on The Park on August 3.

Artist and organiser, Hizze Fletcher, says:

”We are all so overwhelmed by the support of The Keith Haring Foundation and the interest that has been generated around this event.

“It is a great opportunity to showcase the talents of the LGBT artistic community (and their supporters) and we are looking forward to an expanded Arts Festival next year as part of the new community-driven Pride organisation”

EVENT: ICONS Exhibition

WHERE: Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, Brighton

WHEN: Till August 1

TIMES: Monday-Tuesday, Thursday 10am-7pm: Wednesday, Friday & Saturday, 10am-5pm: Sunday, 11am-5pm

For more information about Pride Arts & Films Festival, CLICK HERE:

ICONS Exhibition

Slavery Remembrance Day Friday, August 23

Slavery Remembrance Day Liverpool

Gee Walker will lead a Walk of Remembrance through Liverpool city centre as part of Slavery Remembrance Day commemorations next month.

Dr Walker lost her son Anthony, 18, in a racially-motivated attack in Huyton, Liverpool in July 2005. The Walker family set up The Anthony Walker Foundation (AWF) following his tragic death.

Slavery Remembrance Day has been commemorated in Liverpool every August 23 since 1999. It is organised by National Museums Liverpool in partnership with Liverpool City Council.

As well as remembering those lost through the transatlantic slave trade, Slavery Remembrance Day reminds us of the threat of racism and discrimination in modern society.

The Walk of Remembrance will take place on Friday, August 23 at 12 noon and weave through Church Street and Liverpool ONE before reaching the Albert Dock. The traditional African Libation ceremony will begin at 1pm outside the International Slavery Museum.

On Thursday, August 22 at 6pm a Memorial Lecture will be delivered by leading Jamaican academic, Professor Verene Shepherd, at Liverpool Town Hall.

Booking is essential for this free event: Telephone: 0151 478 4240.

Claire Benjamin, Head of Communities at National Museums Liverpool, said:

“We are honoured that the Walker family have agreed to take part in the Walk of Remembrance.

“Gee is an inspiration and her presence will add something very special to what is always a very moving and poignant day.

“Everyone is welcome to join us on 23 August and we’d hope Liverpool people come out and lend their support.

“We are also thrilled to welcome Professor Verene Shepherd to the city. The Memorial Lecture is always very popular and we look forward to hearing Professor Shepherd’s lecture.”

 Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said:

“It is vital that our children grow up realising the importance of Slavery Remembrance Day and what it means to live in a society that respects others regardless of their race or colour.

 “I am delighted that Gee Walker has kindly agreed to lead this year’s walk, her courage and dignity is humbling for all of us.

“I hope as many people, young and old, take part in the activities taking place over the weekend but more importantly I hope we can encourage others to understand different cultures and help create a better, more inclusive future for everyone.”

Three days of free activity around Slavery Remembrance Day include:

• Saturday, August 17: Family Day at the International Slavery Museum runs from 1-4pm and includes activities inspired by Black achievement.

• Thursday August 22: Memorial Lecture at Liverpool Town Hall by Professor Verene Shepherd: “Enough done be enough! Women, enslavement and emancipation”. Starts at 6pm. Booking is essential: Telephone: 0151 478 4240.

• Friday August 23: Walk of Remembrance (starts noon) through Liverpool city centre and Libation ceremony (starts 1pm) at Albert Dock.

Following the Libation a variety of events take place on Friday August 23 at the International Slavery Museum including the showing of Akwantu: the Journey. This ground-breaking documentary tells the story of the legendary Maroons of Jamaica and their fight for freedom.

For details of all Slavery Remembrance Day events, CLICK HERE: 

 

 

New April Ashley exhibition

April Ashley
April Ashley

The Museum of Liverpool is to host a new major exhibition this September looking at the history of transgendered people in Britain over the past 70 years, focusing on the experiences of one exceptional individual. The exhibition opens on September 27, 2013 and runs till September 21, 2014.

April Ashley: Portrait of a lady will, for the first time explore the story of April Ashley MBE, one of the first people in the world to undergo pioneering gender reassignment surgery.

The year-long exhibition has been funded with a £78,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and curated by Homotopia in partnership with National Museums Liverpool. It will draw on April Ashley’s previously unseen photographic archive and personal documents to investigate the wider impact of changing social and legal conditions for all transgender, lesbian, gay and bisexual people from 1935 to today.

Born George Jamieson in Liverpool in 1935, he grew up praying that each morning he would wake up a girl. He joined the Merchant Navy aged 14 to escape his unhappy home life and the confusion around his gender. He attempted suicide, and tried a second time on returning home leading to his admission to a mental institution for electric shock treatment.

George later moved to Jersey and then Paris where he began living as April, working at Le Carrousel nightclub in Paris to earn the money he needed for pioneering gender reassignment surgery. April was Dr Georges Burou’s ninth patient when she had the surgery at his clinic in Casablanca, Morocco in 1960.

Gary Everett, Exhibition Curator and Director of Homotopia, said:

“After such an unhappy start in life, it was remarkable that April returned to Britain and became a successful model and actress, photographed by David Bailey and appearing in Vogue. It was all the more shocking then, when her story became a public scandal when she was ‘outed’ as transsexual by the Sunday People in 1961.”

From that point onwards, April’s life was often headline news, including the story of her divorce from The Honourable Arthur Corbett, later 3rd Baron Rowallan  in 1970, when the judge ruled that April remained a biological man and therefore the marriage was invalid and annulled. This very public divorce set a legal precedent for all transsexuals that remained until 2004 when the Gender Recognition Act was passed to legally allow people to change gender,

Gary continues:

“April has had an astonishing life but throughout it all she has fought for her rights, and provided advice and support for those suffering similar discrimination. The impact April’s life has had on law and legal definitions of gender and identity has been enormous, and her strength and determination is admired by many, which led her to receiving the MBE in 2012.”

The exhibition has been part of an ongoing project by Homotopia and funded by HLF to record and reflect shifting social attitudes and representations of gender and sexuality. The exhibition will feature personal histories captured by the project, telling individual experiences and of the impact April has had on the movement from marginalisation and prejudice towards inclusion and equality.

Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool, said:

“This exhibition is highly significant in telling the story of an iconic figure in Liverpool’s history, and we are really pleased to be hosting it at the Museum of Liverpool. The Museum is dedicated to highlighting the many landmark events and people associated with Liverpool. As one of Britain’s first transsexuals, April Ashley’s story – which began in this, her home city – has had a tremendous impact on the trans community and people across the globe.

“The exhibition is internationally important and will share April’s story along with experiences of transgender people during the last 70 years. As a social history museum it was essential for us to be involved, supporting Homotopia to co-produce the exhibition in order to share with our visitors how April’s life has influenced the social, political and legal aspects of transgendered people’s histories.”

 

 

 

Have your say on drugs and alcohol services

 

Brighton & Hove CouncilThere is to be a city-wide review of drug and alcohol treatment services in Brighton & Hove to ensure services meet local needs.

The consultation aims to ensure that services offer the best opportunity for people who use legal as well as illegal substances and also alcohol to recover and reintegrate within the local community.

The review is for services for people aged over 18 years and over.

Existing services have been in place since 2007. Brighton & Hove City Council is working to put new drug and alcohol services in place from April 1, 2015.

The purpose of this consultation is to seek views from interested parties on future drug and alcohol treatment services.

The consultation is aimed at:

• Brighton and Hove residents who use local drug and alcohol treatment services, and their family, partners and friends

• People who have previously used drug and alcohol treatment services or those who are considering accessing drug or alcohol services in Brighton and Hove

• Professionals and member of the public with an interest in drug and alcohol services and issues in Brighton and Hove

Dr Peter Wilkinson, Brighton & Hove deputy director of public health, said:

“We want to make sure we provide the very best substance misuse and alcohol services for local people and that’s why we want as big a discussion city-wide as possible.

“We want to hear the views of residents who use the services and their families, partners and friends as well as former users of the services and other professionals and members of the public with an interest. If anyone knows of someone who might have a viewpoint please encourage them to take part. You will not be asked to register or leave any personal details.”

Closing date for responses is Wednesday, August 14, 2013.

The Brighton & Hove Community Voluntary Sector Forum  have raised concerns with the City Council as to why this important consultation is only running for 3 weeks.

The Brighton and Hove Public Health Team have responded with the following points:

• The time of year for consultation was set by the schedule of transferring from Health to the Local Authority, so it could not of been done sooner, and it requires a lengthy lead in time for services to change from April 2015

* They are doing everything possible to ensure they implement a fair and transparent process – and are distributing the consultation as extensively as they can.

• The shaping of the draft specification has to be completed by October and will be developed as a result of combining findings from scoping national examples of good practice, evidence of need and the outcome of the consultation including online and the face to face interviews

• Time has been allowed for market development:  There is time and the correct procedures in place for local Community Voluntary Sector partners to market themselves to potentially partner organisations.

• Time is needed to enter the two staged funding agreement process where they are able to receive first submissions and then negotiate/bring together potential submissions and then allow time for applicants to re-submit

To view the consultation, CLICK HERE:

 

 

 

MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR: Highdown Gardens, Worthing: Review

Rainbow Shakespeare

Shakespeare used a neat trick in The Merry Wives of Windsor: he took a well-loved character from a couple of his history plays, dumped him in more prosperous surroundings and waited to see what would happen. Falstaff (Richard Kettles) getting chucked in the Thames in a laundry basket happened. And lo, British farce was born.

Worthing’s own Rainbow Shakespeare, a company which mixes seasoned professional actors with amateur ones,  have taken on the most rumpy pumpy of the Bard’s offerings this summer and done a sterling job with it, making a lovely outdoors evening’s entertainment for these long, sultry nights.

The plot is a bit silly and not one of Shakespeare’s best, but it does tend to make a change from the Much Ado’s and Dreams that abound in the hot weather, and it has just enough meat on its bones to make it a worthwhile project.

Attempting to woo two women at once – and two women who are friends for that matter – is never a good idea, but old letch Falstaff doesn’t really ‘do’ subtle and considered. He’s a man who leaps in at the deep end and invariably comes out smelling of fish.

Rainbow approach it in the spirit of Python, with Slender (Stuart Mortimer) being played like that soppy prince in the tower in Holy Grail, while Gallic doctor Caius (John Paul Elsmore) has an outrrrrageous French accent that would put the Taunters in the same film to shame. I did half expect him to burst out with “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries” but he restrained himself (but you could see it was a close run thing).

Rainbow Shakespeare

Then there’s Ford (Mark Lascelles), one of the gullible husbands who believes his pretty, witty wife is having it off with portly old Falstaff. He’s daffy enough when himself, in fetching bright green tights and wearing a floppy orange frisbee on his head while channelling a petulant Pam Ayres, but when he dons a comedy moustache and bright ginger wig to try to snare his missus and the old pig in the act, he becomes so happily absurd that you expect him to break into a silly walk any minute (it helps that he has the Cleese physique).

All this, plus a pace that goes at a right old lick, makes this Wives a jaunty, fun experience, with Falstaff himself being played by Kettles in the classic manner; big white beard, enormous belly and blustering, bluff delivery, while Rosalie Nickerson’s Mistress Quickly is very ‘ooooh matron’ and flapping hands.

The final Herne the Hunter scene is played out under an intense blue light and is the only time when the actors leave the stage (I wish they’d left it more in the body of the play as the staging is a touch static). The ‘fairies’ gather round a bush, giggling and tinkling, while the haystack Falstaff is duped once again by Shakespeare’s strong women.

So if you’re after your annual dollop of outdoor Bardery, I heartily recommend Rainbow Shakespeare’s lively take on the the Merry Wives. And, unlike a lot of outdoor performances, they don’t mind you taking a chair, so there’s none of this sitting on the floor nonsense which is murder for old bones. Comfort and comedy: now there’s an irresistible combination!

WHAT: The Merry Wives of Windsor

WHERE: Highdown Gardens, Worthing (follow the Littlehampton Road until you see the brown sign)

WHEN: Until July 28 at 7.30pm. Sat & Sun matinees at 2.30pm

TICKETS: £16 (half price for kids)

MORE INFO: http://www.worthingtheatres.co.uk/events-by-date/july/name,110636,en.asp

RUNNING TIME: About two hours

WOULD I SEE IT AGAIN: Yes, preferably in a huge thunderstorm for contrast!

 

 

 

 

Russian is a scary place for LGBT activists

LGBT Russia

No words are needed, just look at the photos.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/photos-from-russia-everyone-needs-to-see

We continue to do business with these thugs.

We continue to visit this country.

The 2014 Winter Olympics are in Russia.

The World Cup in 2018 will be there.

This has to stop!

Russian LGBT

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