18/02/2014 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

REVIEW: Ooh Yes I Do!: The Ultimate Gay & Lesbian Lesbian Wedding Planner

Posted on 18/02/201403/04/2014 by Eric Page

Ooh Yes I Do!: The Ultimate Gay & Lesbian Wedding Planner :Richard Gough-Buijs

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good bloke must be in want of the ultimate gay and lesbian wedding planner.

So you pitched, they agreed, you smirked, swapped diamonds and white Welsh gold engagement rings and learnt to spell fiancé, oh and, at long long last got the permission of your government and the agreement of society to legally do what you’ve been doing for years anyway. Yes! Now it’s time to take the ultimate step, and no it’s not time for the full back tattoo of Liberace, but time to plan your wedding.

‘Ooh Yes I Do!’, hot from the ipad of Richard Gough-Buijs hopes to help you though the traumatic days of wonder and worry that lead up to the big day. Unaccustomed as you are to public wedding planning this book offers a helpful and well researched step by step guide to getting the day right. The books aims to promote thought regarding the big issues of the day, like stationary design or venue choice and the more prosaic, such as choosing your surname or colour theme.

I rather liked the parts of ‘do it yourself’ creative and craft making suggestions and giggled warm heartedly at the ideas for a home made ring cushion. LGBT Weddings are obviously an irony free zone. However, my cynical asides aside Gough-Buijs does think of everything, every small detail from the music to suggestions for bio degradable confetti. There is also an interesting chapter full of facts on LGBT civil unions and same-sex marriages around the world, useful for your wedding breakfast quiz.

You can check out the book on line here:

The book does come across slightly as a control freaky Martha Steward but then I suspect this is what’s needed to get a huge special day such as your wedding, exactly precisely right. There’s lots of lovely suggestions for Sussex based LGBT wedding folk, photographers, cake makers, Gilded Llama hire etc (I made the last one up…) and the book does have a lovely collection of photos of the Gough-Buijs own very special day and those of some other LGBT folk, they do all look very happy, photo’s are from local photographer Hannah Brackenbury. You can see more of her work here:

The wedding planner market is very competitive, with a fair amount of well produced high quality books aimed at the discerning LGBT audience too, so this book would have benefited from an editors constructively critical eye thrown over it just to iron out some of the kinks, such as the faintness of print on chapter headings and the increasingly irritating background on the printed pages which gets worse as you plough through the book, and distracts from the quality of the information being shared. A bit like inviting me to a meticulously planned wedding, which seems like a great idea at the time, however after two bottles of wine and an unfortunate lurch at the buff Latino waiter I was ‘helped’ to the taxi……other than that, for a self published book this is a well researched and very instructive book with every possible wedding thing thought out.

I’ve no plans to get wed, don’t even agree with gay weddings but if your heart is enthused for hitching to your betrothed then this book; from Gough-Buijs who’s been there, done it and done it rather successfully with panache and style; if the photo’s are anything to go by, is worth looking at.

It’s always hard to review a self published book particularly one which is an anthology of such a personal event in a persons life, and celebrates the joining of these two charming gents as much as the planning of the fine ceremony that joined them, but if you overlook the slightly smug boldness of Gough-Buijs and his perfect wedding then this book should be very helpful in guiding you through the highs and lows of getting the BIG DAY right, and I mean utterly hand finished antique ivory silk perfect, not just pasty magnolia right…..

Out now £12.99

For more info or to buy the book see here:

Couple chosen for historic “I do” at Royal Pavilion

Posted on 18/02/201418/02/2014 by Besi

The first same sex marriage ceremony in Brighton & Hove will take place just after midnight on Saturday, March 29, as soon as the law allows.

Neil Allard (left) and Andrew Wale will become the first same sex married couple in England when they get married on March 29 in the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. — Neil Allard (left) and Andrew Wale will become one of the first same sex married couples in England

The ceremony will mark a first in the city and is also set to be one of the first same sex marriages anywhere in the country.

Brighton & Hove City Council senior ceremonies registrar Trevor Love said: “This will be a momentous and historic day for the Registration Service in England and Wales, and for all of those couples making their marriage vows together. Brighton & Hove is a popular location for ceremonies and we have been busy keeping people up to date with the latest news about the introduction of same sex marriage. It is wonderful to see this law change being welcomed so enthusiastically in the city.”

Last December, when the Home Office announced the law would come into effect in March 2014, Brighton & Hove City Council was able to finalise plans to commemorate the date.

The Register Office, in partnership with the Royal Pavilion, invited same sex couples to apply to be the first to be married in the city.

Couples were asked to explain why the Royal Pavilion is special for them and what it would mean to be married there in the city’s first same sex wedding ceremony. The chosen couple will not only become the first same sex couple to marry in they city, they will also be the first late night ceremony in Brighton & Hove as well the first wedding in the Music Room at the Royal Pavilion.

Applications were considered by a panel including representatives from the Register Office, the Royal Pavilion and Councillor Leo Littman. All names and ages of the couples applying were removed before their comments were shared with the panel.

The chosen couple is Andrew Wale and Neil Allard. The pair will be married in the Music Room of the Royal Pavilion at one minute passed midnight on Saturday, March 29 2014.

After hearing the news, Andrew said: “I feel so lucky to live in a country where human rights and equality are moving in the right direction, and in a city with such an impressive history of tolerance and inclusion. To be the first same-sex couple to have the opportunity to be married here is a great privilege. We are very excited to be a small part of this huge step forward.”

Neil added: “As well as being the most iconic building in Sussex, the Royal Pavilion has become part of our personal iconography. This city will always be a special place for us because it’s where we met and fell in love and the Pavilion is the heart of the city.”

The application submitted by Andrew and Neil read:

“I am writing to apply for my partner and I to be the first same-sex couple to be married in Brighton, at The Royal Pavilion Music Room, on 29th. March 2014.

“On March 3, we will have been together for 7 years, and we can’t think of any better way to celebrate than to publicly proclaim our love, and to make our commitment to one another legally binding, in one of the most beautiful and iconic settings in our home city. The Royal Pavilion provided the backdrop to our early dates – visits to the theatre, picnics in the gardens and strolls around the Pavilion itself – it continues to feature in our daily lives together.

“The Royal Pavilion is such a special place to us and is representative of so much of why we love Brighton and Hove – it’s such a unique building, the design of which expresses a love of colour, contrast and individual taste.

“The building, and its creator, gave the city its reputation for free thinking and a shameless appreciation of pleasure which have fed the imaginations of its community and those of countless numbers of visitors over the decades.

“In previous years we had been planning to have a civil partnership, but decided to hold on when it became clear that the day might come when law changed to allow us to have a ceremony which brought us true equality.

“We are so happy, for ourselves and for the thousands of other committed same-sex couples that that day is nearly here. To be the first same-sex couple to marry in Brighton would be an honour and a thrilling privilege.

“Although we would dearly love to have our ceremony in the Royal Pavilion, the fact that we are now allowed to marry at all is enough to counteract any disappointment we might feel if we are not chosen, and we would wish the lucky couple the most wonderful wedding.”

Community Works LGBT Group Meeting

Posted on 18/02/201418/02/2014 by Besi

Community Works is the local community and voluntary sector influencing organisation offering advice and support to all voluntary sector groups.

Community Works wants voluntary and community action to have the greatest possible impact on people in Brighton and Hove and they put in place the support and networks that make it happen.

Gary Pargeter from Lunch Positive and Chris Cooke from Kemp Town in Bloom were recently elected Volunteer LGBT Community Representatives with Community Works. They are inviting all local LGBT groups and organisations to a short meeting to talk about their role as community reps, find out what support they need, how peer support can be developed and to start helping LGBT voluntary groups have a voice in local strategy and decision making.

Gary Pargeter volunteer project manager at Lunch Positive, said: “Community Works (formerly CVSF) has been invaluable to our organisation and to the people we help. It has provided training, advice, support and hugely useful opportunities to meet other groups where we’ve found and shared support. Our LGBT groups do so much great work. It would be amazing if we could all get to know each another better, find out what’s needed and also find more ways to support one another.”

If you’re a local LGBT organisation, no matter what your size or your work, go along to this meeting which is being hosted as part of the LGBT Community Safety Forum on Saturday, March 1 at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, Brighton.

Community Works Reps will take up the first part of the meeting from 1-2 pm and refreshments will be provided.

To confirm your attendance or ask any questions, EMAIL:

Or telephone: 07846 464384

‘Train the change’

Posted on 18/02/2014 by Besi

New Anti HIV stigma campaign to be launched in Ramsgate.

Train the change is a training campaign started by award winning HIV activist Jayce Carberry and Ramsgate training company edUKate Training.

Train the change started as a conversation between Jayce and his Mum, Carole, owner of edUKate – about where the root of stigma lay, This happened after Jayce was subjected to stigma by an employee at the Maidstone Job Centre. Both agreed this was due to lack of education.

Jayce and edUKate then started working on a training programme in HIV, Aids & Stigma Awareness, which they called Train The Change.

They plan to deliver Train The Change across the UK, with interest already being shown by a local school for their older students.

The course is structured: The history of HIV & Aids, understanding HIV & Aids, understanding transmission of HIV, treatment and support for people living with HIV, appropriate and inappropriate language and phrases and the stigma surrounding HIV.

Jayce said: “I have been living with HIV since 2012, and coped well with my diagnosis, until the day I was subjected to stigma. All of a sudden I felt embarrassed, vulnerable and ashamed. Almost a year has passed, and I couldn’t shake off the thought that I was made to feel like that because the person was uneducated – I had to change that. We had the training issue addressed at Maidstone Jobcentre, but now I feel it is time to really change people attitudes and knowledge about HIV.”

A spokensperson for edUKate training, said: “When we think about the stigma surrounding HIV, we think about the causes; often ignorance and lack of education.

“Train the change is a HIV, AIDS and Stigma awareness course that we plan to deliver across the UK, in the hope that we can make an impact on the stigma attached to people living with HIV & Aids.

“We will also be personally donating a large percentage of all money raised to HIV & Aids charities – which we will announce later in the year. “

The campaign will be launched at The Marlowe Academy, Stirling Way, Ramsgate CT12 6NB on Thursday, February 20 at 7pm and organisers hope to have in attendance MPs, councillors, local teaching staff, key members of the local community and supporters of Jayce’s campaigning – including Brighton based, Martin Lowe, who nominated Jayce for the Argus Local Hero Award.

What: Launch of Train the change

Where: Marlowe Academy, Stirling Way, Ramsgate CT12 6NB

When: Thursday February 20

Time: 7pm

Speaking Volumes Project – ‘Let the books do the talking’

Posted on 18/02/201427/02/2014 by Besi

New project gives HIV positive people the chance to share their stories and experiences of living with HIV without needing to publicly disclose their status.

The project will be launched on World Health Day, Monday, April 7 2014, 5.30-6.30pm, Jubilee Library, Jubilee St, Brighton, BN1 1GE.

Speaking Volumes will be on display at the Jubilee Library for two months until June 7, 2014 and the stories will also be available online.

Speaking Volumes is a flexible and responsive storytelling project, designed to give marginalised people a voice, and allow the public to hear the stories of the disenfranchised – with the aim of increasing understanding and reducing stigma.

Working with HIV positive people living in Sussex to record their stories, the Speaking Volumes ‘living books’ will be on display in the Jubilee Library for two months, before moving to other venues, enabling as many people as possible to engage with the material. The recordings will also be permanently available on the Speaking Volumes website.

“It feels like we have been waiting for the chance to share our story for years” said: Lily Rose, a Project participant.

The project not only helps to dispel stigma, it also provides a supportive space for people with similar issues to meet. As marginalised people are often isolated, a crucial element of the project is the development of support networks, which have already burgeoned.

Angelina Namiba, a Project Participant, said: “Having HIV does not stop you from being a mum, does not stop you from having a relationship and does not stop you from working. All you need to do is get the right treatment, care and support and you can live as healthy a life as anyone else. Don’t let HIV define who you are. Take control.”

Speaking Volumes is special because it is not only a community oral-history or storytelling project, it is also a work of art. The presentation of the sound recordings in the Jubilee Library will be visually arresting and intriguing and will draw people in to engage with the project and listen to the stories.

Speaking Volumes is produced in association with Pink Fringe. www.pinkfringe.org.uk

For more information, CLICK HERE:

Or EMAIL: alice@speakingvolumesproject.org

What: Speaking Volumes Project – ‘Let the books do the talking’

Where: Jubilee Library, Jubilee St, Brighton, BN1 1GE.

When: April 7 to June 7

LGBT Safety Forum to organise ‘Access Tent’ at Pride 2014

Posted on 18/02/201427/02/2014 by Besi

The Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum (LGBT CSF) will be organising and facilitating the Access Tent at this years Brighton Pride.

It is the first time an LGBT organisation has provide the service for quite some years.

Discussions are underway to finalise the improved service and these will be announced at a public meeting on Saturday, March 1 at 2pm.

Joanna Rowland-Stuart, said: “as the disability rep of the LGBT Community Safety Forum and trans rep for REGARD the LGBT disability charity I am very happy the LGBT CSD is taking the lead on this project.

“The access tent is not just a meeting place for disabled visitors to pride, for them it’s also a refuge, a place to seek advice, to get help, first Aid and to report problems of any nature with their day at pride, up to and including reporting hate crime incidents.

“Because of this, it is essential that the Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum take the lead in organising, promoting and publicising this facility both to maximise its uptake by the disabled community at Pride but also to ensure that the access tent is fully effective and that the Forum itself is visible to the wider LGBT community.”

Billie Lewis, Chair of the LGBT CSF, added: “I am delighted we are able to provide this important service. I am hoping that the facility will not only benefit and empower those needing to use it but will remind the LGBT community that disabled people and the elderly are welcome at Pride and should be equally welcome throughout the LGBT scene.

“We will be working closely with other volunteer services to make sure the facility is as inclusive as possible.”

For more information on the Brighton and Hove LGBT Safety Forum, CLICK HERE:
www.lgbt-safety-forum-brighton.com

For more info on the pride access tent visit, CLICK HERE:
www.lgbt-help.com/pride

Proud2Be nominated for the UK’s Largest Diversity Awards

Posted on 18/02/2014 by Besi

Proud2Be have been nominated for the LGBT Community Organisation Award at The 2014 National Diversity Awards.

The ceremony celebrates some of the excellent and inspiring achievements of positive role models and community organisations from across the UK. The awards aim to recognise nominees in their respective fields of diversity including age, disability, gender, race, faith, religion and sexual orientation.

Proud2Be Project is an organisation set up by gay identical twin brothers Mat and Jon Price, to empower all lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning & intersex (LGBTQI) people to be proud of who they are. The project was launched two and a half years ago when the brothers recorded a short video. In the video they explained how they are both proud to be gay.

Since its launch, Proud2Be has grown hugely and now holds a monthly social group, social weekends and a yearly Pride event in South Devon, UK.

The twins host their own radio show which can be heard on www.soundartradio.org.uk/ and are planning on opening the first rural LGBTQI community hub in Devon, next year.

The brothers said: “We are very honoured to be nominated for a national diversity award, particularly as it recognises Proud2Be as a community organisation. We have spent the last few years engaging with our wonderfully diverse and vibrant community and even though as a group we still face oppression and discrimination, it has been a pleasure to see so many people come together and support one another in the face of such adversity.”

To nominate in the National Diversity Awards, CLICK HERE:

Hove MP Weatherley to choose best local curry house

Posted on 18/02/2014 by Sarah Green

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, is holding a competition to find the best South Asian restaurant in his Hove constituency.

The winner will be put forward as Hove and Portslade’s entrant in the 2014 Tiffin Cup.

Once again, Mike is calling on his constituents to nominate their favourite local curry house so that he and his team of curry lovers can pick a winner to put forward for the competition. Not only will the winning restaurant receive local recognition of its excellence, it will also have the opportunity to compete in the national state of the competition in the House of Commons with the country’s top curry-creators for the coveted Tiffin Cup itself.

Last year, Hove Tandoori on Church Road made it through to this stage and was highly commended by competition judges.

The Tiffin Cup is awarded every year by the Tiffin Club, which was formed in 2006 by a group of curry-loving Members of Parliament, including Michael Fabricant and Keith Vaz. The aim of the competition is not only to applaud the quality of South Asian food in Britain, but also to raise money for charity.

Mike said: “This is the fifth year that I have been involved and I was extremely impressed with the standard of the entrants last year and the years before. Nominations can come from both residents and the restaurants themselves, so please get in touch. Hove and Portslade have some great restaurants and I hope that in 2014 we can bring the Tiffin Cup home.”

Nominations have to be in by March 24.

Please email details of your nomination to: mike.weatherley.mp@parliament.uk

Traveller site planning decision ‘called in’

Posted on 18/02/2014 by Sarah Green

Conservatives in Brighton & Hove have welcomed the decision to ‘call in’ planning permission for a travellers camp at Horsdean.

Patcham Conservatives have welcomed the decision by the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, Eric Pickles, to ‘call-in’ the recent decision of the South Downs National Park Authority (SDNPA) to grant planning permission for a large new traveller camp at Horsdean.

The proposal submitted by Brighton & Hove City’ Council’s Green Administration, with support from the Labour Group, is for a 12 pitch extension to the current transit site, making a total of 33 pitches, housing up to 150 travellers, and all their vehicles, at any one time. The proposed site is in the South Downs National Park.

Councillor Geoffrey Theobald spoke against the application at last week’s SDNPA Planning Committee meeting. He argued that the proposed new site would contravene national planning guidance issued just last month that traveller sites should only be built in areas such as Horsdean under ‘exceptional circumstances’.

Two local experts in hydrology (one a former Managing Director of Southern Water) also spoke against the application, raising serious concerns about the effects a new site would have on both the quality of the drinking water in the aquifer and extraction adit that sits directly below Horsdean and also on the amount of waste water carried from the site through the already overrun sewerage system that serves Patcham.

Cllr. Theobald said: “I am very pleased that the Secretary of State has listened to the people of Patcham and beyond and decided that these ill-thought through plans need further consideration. I campaigned long and hard for the National Park to be established in order to protect the South Downs from inappropriate development. I feel that last week’s decision by their Planning Committee was a betrayal of all that I, and many others, fought for. If this is going to be allowed then what is to stop other downland sites being developed for conventional housing, particularly with the Planning Inspector recently telling the City Council that their housing target is far too low?”

Fellow Patcham Ward Councillor, Carol Theobald, added: “Given the regular flooding we see at Patcham, it would be absolute madness to tag another large settlement onto a sewerage system that is clearly struggling to cope with the current levels of water entering it. The Horsdean site itself is also prone to flooding and concreting over large parts of it will further exacerbate ground water runoff. We don’t feel that these concerns, and the concerns our experts have about pollution of the water supply which serves the whole of Brighton & Hove, have been taken seriously by the SDNPA Committee. Horsdean simply isn’t a viable location for such a large traveller camp.”

Conservative candidate for Patcham Ward, Karen Miles, said: “I always thought the A27 bypass was supposed to act as a corset around the city beyond which no further significant development would take place. Therefore, I very much hope, for the sake of local residents and all those who value the unique South Downs landscape, that Eric Pickles overturns this decision.”

Sebastiane screening in Brighton

Posted on 18/02/2014 by Besi

Jarman’s classic to be screened at Duke of York’s Picturehouse.

One+One Filmmakers Journal and Eyes Wide Open Cinema are screening Derek Jarman’s Sebastiane on Wednesday February 26 at 8.30pm, at Duke of York’s Picturehouse, Brighton.

There will be a post-screening discussion with Derek Jarman collaborator James Mackay and hopefully Sussex academic and author Niall Richardson (The Queer Cinema of Derek Jarman) who has agreed to attend.

To book tickets, CLICK HERE:

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Day: February 18, 2014

REVIEW: Ooh Yes I Do!: The Ultimate Gay & Lesbian Lesbian Wedding Planner

Couple chosen for historic “I do” at Royal Pavilion

The first same sex marriage ceremony in Brighton & Hove will take place just after midnight on Saturday, March 29, as soon as the law allows.

Community Works LGBT Group Meeting

Community Works is the local community and voluntary sector influencing organisation offering advice and support to all voluntary sector groups.

‘Train the change’

New Anti HIV stigma campaign to be launched in Ramsgate.

Speaking Volumes Project – ‘Let the books do the talking’

New project gives HIV positive people the chance to share their stories and experiences of living with HIV without needing to publicly disclose their status.

LGBT Safety Forum to organise ‘Access Tent’ at Pride 2014

The Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum (LGBT CSF) will be organising and facilitating the Access Tent at this years Brighton Pride.

Proud2Be nominated for the UK’s Largest Diversity Awards

Proud2Be have been nominated for the LGBT Community Organisation Award at The 2014 National Diversity Awards.

Hove MP Weatherley to choose best local curry house

Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, is holding a competition to find the best South Asian restaurant in his Hove constituency.

Traveller site planning decision ‘called in’

Conservatives in Brighton & Hove have welcomed the decision to ‘call in’ planning permission for a travellers camp at Horsdean.

Sebastiane screening in Brighton

Jarman’s classic to be screened at Duke of York’s Picturehouse.

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The first same sex marriage ceremony in Brighton & Hove will take place just after midnight on Saturday, March 29, as soon as the law allows.

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Community Works is the local community and voluntary sector influencing organisation offering advice and support to all voluntary sector groups.

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New Anti HIV stigma campaign to be launched in Ramsgate.

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New project gives HIV positive people the chance to share their stories and experiences of living with HIV without needing to publicly disclose their status.

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The Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum (LGBT CSF) will be organising and facilitating the Access Tent at this years Brighton Pride.

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Proud2Be have been nominated for the LGBT Community Organisation Award at The 2014 National Diversity Awards.

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Mike Weatherley, the Conservative MP for Hove and Portslade, is holding a competition to find the best South Asian restaurant in his Hove constituency.

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Conservatives in Brighton & Hove have welcomed the decision to ‘call in’ planning permission for a travellers camp at Horsdean.

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Jarman’s classic to be screened at Duke of York’s Picturehouse.

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