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Local MP helps breast cancer campaign

Simon Kirby, the MP for Brighton Kemptown & Peacehaven, has given his backing to the Breast Cancer Campaign to support them with their ambition of overcoming breast cancer by 2050.

SImon Kirby MP

IN Brighton and Hove each year 191 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and just under fifty women die as a result of it annually. Whilst these figures are close to the national average, they are still far higher than anyone would like.

Following his meeting with the Breast Cancer Campaign Group, Mr Kirby has directly reached out to the local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to ensure that they are adhering to NICE Breast cancer quality standard in their work. Furthermore, he has also contacted the Chairs of the Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWB) for both East Sussex and Brighton and Hove to enquire how they recognise the importance of breast cancer in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessments.

Simon has long been a supporter of the Breast Cancer Campaign, and has regularly urged constituents to help spread the word, and raise awareness of breast cancer.

He said: “Breast cancer is an awful form of cancer that affects so many people across Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven and the rest of the UK. There is still so much that needs to be done in order for Breast Cancer Campaign’s ambition of seeing breast cancer overcome by 2050 to be made a reality, and this is why I am doing what I can to help.

“I am proud to have been a strong supporter of the work that this charity does for a long time, and I will continue to encourage the HWBs and the local CCGs to keep breast cancer high on the agenda to ensure that in Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven we can see the best possible treatment for breast cancer, the number of deaths reduced, and the screening coverage increased.”

Diversity Role Models carnival and auction raises £75,000

Money raised will fund the ongoing fight against bullying.

Clare Balding
Clare Balding

LEADING ORGANISATIONS and talent gathered in London at the Café de Paris on Wednesday, October 29 to support the third annual fundraising carnival and auction held by the anti-bullying charity, Diversity Role Models (DRM).

Special guests at the event included: Heather Small, who gave a special guest performance of her greatest hits; DRM Patron and broadcaster Clare Balding, who hosted the evening; former Coronation Street star, Charlie Condou; singer Dan Gillespie Sells; young adult author Patrick Ness; and paralympian Claire Harvey.

The auction, conducted by Roger Dakin, included specially donated lots including: dinner for four at Paramount, with special guest, Ben Cohen; a signed Salvador Dali lithograph; and three nights at SHA Wellness Clinic, a luxury spa in Alicante.

Guests were entertained by aerialist Will Davis and the evening also featured ‘Everyone is a Winner’ carnival stalls, including a Spin ‘n’ Win and DRM’s own Glambola.

By the end of the night over £75,000 had been raised to support the growth of Diversity Role Model’s work in schools across the UK.

Suran Dickson, Chief Executive of Diversity Role Models, said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone who attended Carnival for their generous support of Diversity Role Models and to all the performers and organisers who so kindly gave us their time. In addition, I would particularly like to thank the event sponsors – Accenture, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Norton Rose Fulbright and Grey Goose – without whom the Carnival would not possibly have happened.

“The money raised will aid us in our plans to expand around the UK and ensure that all young people have the opportunity for success and happiness, regardless of sexuality or gender.”

 

Green MP tops political awards poll

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion was named MP of the year in the PinkNews awards last night, (Wed, October 29).

Caroline Lucas receives her award from the Speaker, John Bercow MP
Caroline Lucas receives her award from the Speaker, John Bercow MP

THE CEREMONY took place at Westminster and presenters included Ed Miliband MP, Nicky Morgan MP, Vince Cable MP, Ed Ball MP, William Hague MP, David Laws MP and the Speaker of the House, John Bercow MP.

Caroline said: “I’m honoured to be named PinkNews MP of the year, and I’m proud to represent a diverse city that, for so many, is recognised for its fierce commitment to LGBTIQ rights, justice and equality. The LGBTIQ community is part of the lifeblood of our brilliant city, a wonderful contributing force – but there’s still much to do in the UK, and globally, to guarantee everyone’s rights are properly upheld, and I’ll continue to do all I can to address that head on.”

PinkNews website launched their awards last year to celebrate the contributions of politicians, businesses and community groups involved in improving the lives of the LGBT community in the UK and overseas.

Simon Kirby MP, attended the awards ceremony. Since his election the Kemptown MP has gained a reputation as a champion of LGBT rights, through his involvement in securing the Marriage Equality Act, his work in promoting further LGBT equality across the UK and for his efforts in pressing for more to be done internationally to fight homophobic laws in places like Russia and Nigeria. He has also sought to improve LGBT rights in Commonwealth Countries.

SImon Kirby MP with PinkNews editor,  Joseph McCormick
SImon Kirby MP with PinkNews editor, Joseph McCormick

Simon said: “I was so pleased to have been invited to attend today’s awards ceremony, and to show my support for Pink News and the LGBT community.

I am proud to be a strong voice for the many LGBT people in Brighton, and I will continue to stand up for their rights, and continue to press for equality in the UK and across the world.”


Special Awards for Lifetime Achievement (supported by Allen & Overy)

• The Lord Cashman CBE

• Paul Cottingham (posthumous)

PinkNews Ally of the Year 

• The Rt Hon Lynne Featherstone MP

Community Group of the Year (supported by BNP Paribas)

• The Warwick Rowers**

• New Family Social

• Human Dignity Trust**

• Scottish Equality Network

• Kaleidoscope Trust

Peer of the Year

• The Lord Black of Brentwood

• The Rt Hon the Lord Fowler**

• The Rt Hon the Lord Deben

• The Baroness Barker

Member of the Year

• Crispin Blunt MP

• Gloria De Piero MP

• Mike Freer MP

• Caroline Lucas MP**

• Julian Huppert MP

Marketing Campaign of the Year

• Love is Great, Visit Britain

• Rainbow Laces, Stonewall, Paddy Power and Gay Football Supporters Network**

• Zeitgeist, Google

• Same-sex marriage celebrations, Stoli

Employee Network of the Year (supported by Epoq Legal)

• InterMedia

• ParliOUT**

• InterLaw

• NUT LGBT

** Indicates the winners

PREVIEW: The ARTIST ROOMS On Tour 2015 – a year of photography

A photographic exhibition of works by Robert Mapplethorpe will be appearing at exhibitions in Clydebank, County Durham and Aberystwyth as part of ARTIST ROOMS on Tour 2015.

Robert Mapleforth

THE 2015 ARTIST ROOMS programme of exhibitions and displays now in its seventh year on tour will be seen outside London and Edinburgh in Aberystwyth, Blackburn, Carlisle, Cheltenham, Clydebank, County Durham, Helmsdale, Kirkcaldy, Norwich, Orkney, Penzance, Peterborough, Plymouth, Sleaford, Southampton and St Ives.

New exhibitions will go on show at 17 venues across the UK in 2015 and a further seven exhibitions already open will continue to run into that year.

The Tour will include displays at 12 venues new to ARTIST ROOMS and a Damien Hirst ARTIST ROOMS exhibition will go to The Pier Arts Centre in Orkney, the most northerly part of Britain to host a display of the artist’s work.

2015 will be an outstanding year for photography. Don McCullin will be seen in Shetland, Diane Arbus in Kirkcaldy, Robert Mapplethorpe in Clydebank, County Durham and Aberystwyth and Francesca Woodman in Powys.

Mapplethorpe’s work will be shown at Aberystwyth Arts Centre, part of Aberystwyth University, the first University gallery to take part in the project and the first time Mapplethorpe will be shown as part of the tour inWales.

By the end of 2015, ARTIST ROOMS will have been shown in 78 museums and galleries nationwide and 149 displays and exhibitions will have opened since 2009. ARTIST ROOMS have been seen by over 31 million people to date. The tour is supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and through the continued support of the Art Fund and, in Scotland, intended support from the National Lottery through Creative Scotland.

The total number of artists now part of the ARTIST ROOMS collection is 39. This year an important group of works by Dan Flavin was added, joining recent acquisitions of the work of Alex Katz, Douglas Gordon and Louise Bourgeois and was recently shown in Dumfries.

Once again, there have been record numbers of visitors, notably to Gilbert & George, the first tour of these artists’ work as part of the scheme, where the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery in Exeter had 69,805 visits.

The Robert Mappleforth exhibition dates are:

Clydebank Museum and Art Gallery
Robert Mapplethorpe
28 February – 23 May 2015

Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Robert Mapplethorpe
8 August – 7 November 2015

The Bowes Museum, County Durham
Robert Mapplethorpe
28 November 2015 – 26 April 2016


 

The full 2015 ARTIST ROOMS On Tour programme is as follows:

Spring

Southampton City Art Gallery
Louise Bourgeois
January 16 – April 18, 2015

Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust, Carlisle
Anselm Kiefer
February 7 – June 7, 2015

Kirkcaldy Galleries
Diane Arbus
February 14 – May 31, 2015

Clydebank Museum and Art Gallery 
Robert Mapplethorpe
February 28 –  May 23, 2015

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh
Roy Lichtenstein
March 14, 2015 – January 10, 2016

National Centre for Craft and Design, Sleaford
Vija Celmins
March 21 – June 28, 2015

Summer

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery
Jeff Koons

May 9 ­- September 6, 2015

Tate St Ives
Dan Flavin
May 23 – September 27, 2015

Timespan, Helmsdale
Joseph Beuys
June 5 – September 6 2015

The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney
Damien Hirst
June 20 – September 12, 2015

The Exchange, Penzance
Robert Therrien
July 18 – October 10 2015

Aberystwyth Arts Centre
Robert Mapplethorpe
August 8 – November 7, 2015

Autumn

Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
Ed Ruscha
September 11 – December 5 2015

Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery
Gerhard Richter
September 26 – January 16, 2016

The Wilson, Cheltenham
Bill Viola
October 3 2015 – February 7, 2016

Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery
Andy Warhol
October 16 2015 – January 31, 2016

The Bowes Museum, County Durham
Robert Mapplethorpe
November 28, 2015 – April 26, 2016

Exhibitions which opened in 2014 and will continue into 2015:

Tate Modern  
Joseph Beuys
Until December 31, 2015

Tate Modern
Laurence Weiner
Until December 31, 2015

New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, Leicester   
Georg Baselitz
September 20, 2014 – January 15, 2015

Burton Art Gallery and Museum, North Devon         
Richard Long
October 4 2014 – January 10, 2015

Woodhorn Museum, Northumberland 
Lawrence Weiner
October 25, 2014 – April 12, 2015

Oriel Davies, Powys 
Francesca Woodman
November 15, 2014 – February 25, 2015

Bonhoga Gallery, Shetland
Shetland Museum & Archives
Don McCullin
November 29, 2014 – February 22, 2015

ARTIST ROOMS is owned jointly by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland and was established through The d’Offay Donation in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments.

For more information about ARTIST ROOMS On Tour 2015, click here:

BOOK REVIEW: Out There

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Out There

Edited by Zoë Strachan

An anthology of new LGBT Scotish writings

This is a bold and challenging anthology of LGBT writing featuring some of the UK’s leading writers; the majority of them Scottish by birth or having chosen to make their homes and lives there.

In the year that Scotland voted to not choose independence from the rest of the UK and kicked off a greater debate about the Union and what it is, and what it means to the rest of us in the UK, Freight Books brings a new and definitive anthology of poetry and prose writing from Scotland’s leading and emerging LGBT writers, including the likes of Ali Smith, Louise Welsh, Jackie Kay, Ronald Frame, Toni Davidson, Kerry Hudson, Val McDermid, Damian Barr and many others.

The writing is provocative, thoughtful, moving and as fully-charged with energy as one would expect from Scotland’s celebrated community of LGBT artists. Edited by novelist Zoe Strachan this book is a broad cross section of story and poetry from a myriad of viewpoints, some fondly looking back, some fiercely forward but all threaded through with a true voice.

As a Welsh gay man myself, living in the bubble of Brighton, but who’s sisters left for the Shetlands and gave birth to a huge clan of Scottish people who are now my family I’m as complex and British as most of the rest of us.  It’s a fun book to read, plenty of divergent and diversity woven into the warm tapestry of Scottish life.

Living in huge Hetro England this mass of Sassenach’s can often overlook and take for granted this authentic gabble of voices that make up the communities of the United Kingdom. The LGBT community is more diverse than most and the English Horde take for granted their own dominant viewpoint. It’s refreshing and welcome to read such punchy, vibrant stuff from North of the Border, and most of it not anti-English in the slightest but firstly Scottish.

There are something’s that only a Scottish eye can see, and Scottish heart can feel and it’s great to have that translated into words that the rest of us can read, but there are also some universal Scottish, Welsh or Irish LGBT/Queer experiences in this Island Nation of ours that are the same.

Whether you come from Glasgow, Swansea, St Helier, Derry, Galway, Lerwick or Porn Erin you will recognise and sense this poetry and prose as part of your own familiarity. The hesitancy and fear marked in many of the stories is universal to us as LGBT people.  English ironically enough is the language that binds us closer than our often lumpen politics and imbalanced history and this collection of new LGBT Scottish writing is as fun, frothy and fantastic as it is sombre, sober and sonorous, it speaks directly to us, as LGBT folk, but not pre-independent Scottish queers as is stated in the preface, but from an authentic, important Queer British perspective.

To read more from the wonderful editor of this anthology Zoë Strachan, click here:

This is (rather unbelievably) the first anthology of its kind in over twelve years (since Joseph Mills’s Borderline in 2001) so full marks to Strachan for bringing it to fruition  and it’s well worth waiting for. Let’s hope our LGBT creative friends north of the Border don’t take quite so long to churn out the next collection.

Recommended!

Out now £8.99

From all good bookshops.

To purchase from the publisher’s website, click here: 

OLDER & OUT visit Bluebell Railway

Members from OLDER & OUT took a trip on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex last month.

Older and Out members at Bluebell Railway: Photo by Jay
Older and Out members at Bluebell Railway: Photo by Jay

OLDER & OUT provides an informal, warm and friendly gathering space for older LGBT people at the Somerset Day Centre in Kemptown on the second Friday of each month.

Their next social meeting is on Friday, November 14, from 1pm-3pm.

Go along and meet new friends, have some lunch and listen to Rachel Whitbread from Brighton and Hove City  Libraries department who will be leading a discussion of the positioning of LGBT literature in the city libraries.


Event: OLDER and OUT

Where: Somerset Day Centre, 62 St James’s St, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 1PR

When: Friday, November 14

Time: 1-3pm

For more information about Older and Out, click here:

Older and Out

 

 

BOOK REVIEW: Dear Infidel: Tamim Sadikali

dear infidel

Dear Infidel (Paperback). By Tamim Sadikali

Dear Infidel is evocative of the frustrations and challenges faced by British Muslims as the gravity of world politics has a domino effect on their own lives. With the news full of young British men going off to fight in a war and for a reason that many find unfathomable this is a well-timed book on a delicate subject.

With some very interesting viewpoints and some jarring opinions this is book shows that all minorities have one thing in common; the difficulty in being accepted by the majority as ‘normal’, but when faith and politics entwine then the stresses on the individual become intolerable. If you won’t compromise, then how do you preserve your identity, constructed or not?

The book carefully explores this from the perspective of a young British Muslim who’s attracted as much by his faith and its demands on him as a man, but also by the lure of something more; outside of the safe life in a Britain.  It’s the end of Ramadan and his family are gathering for the traditional celebration and the book is mostly successful when it deals with the interactions of the various members of the family and the wonderfully precise characters who we can all recognise, the mother who never adjusted to life without a full home, the cankerous grandfather as harsh as he is generous, the confused withdrawn cousins, socially awkward but bright. This is where the book is at its best; its falls down on being too eager to please, to cover everything, to shine a light into every controversy. I wanted more on the feelings of integration, of how this family had adjusted, on how the relationship between the protagonist and the only female of note in the book had started and deepened to become so serious.

Some questions were dodged that would have been dealt with very well in the setting of this book, Sadikali would benefit from a tighter understanding of intersectionality, families have all sorts of people in them, this one is completely straight. Possibly the only one I know of, and I know many lesbians and gay men who have a Pakistani heritage who have grown up British and clashing in so many ways but who have found a way through the many levels of hate, both public and private to embrace and develop themselves into whole, loving beings, one or two even retaining their faith. This book is about the same struggle, not an LGBT struggle, but a struggle for a voice, a normal, loving voice to be heard in a world twisted by bigotry, hate and politically sanctioned demonising, aggression and violence.

For more information and background about the author, click here:

Overall the book was interesting although a bit uncomfortable around it’s depictions of women and the young men’s attitudes towards sex and porn, but then that’s possibly because it’s another level of truth we fail to acknowledge, the corrosive power of porn. It’s a curious clash of a book and one that I enjoyed reading, as much for putting me inside the mind of a young Muslim male mind in Britain as for its narrative momentum.

Sadikali writes well, it as his best when he’s caught the subtle interaction of inter-generational family bemusement and observing the secret small things honest people do to save their sanity in a world seemingly determined to ignore the whole unvarnished truth of their lives.

£10:99

Out now from all good bookshops and online here:

BOOK REVIEW: The Queen of Clubs: Tobias International

 

The Queen of Clubs

The Queen of Clubs

by Tobias International

 At the far end of town is Divas cabaret bar, filled with beautiful men, drag queens, desperation and lost hope.

Step into a world beyond your wildest dreams. What price are you prepared to pay for the success you crave so much? What price are you prepared to pay for love? Watch your back, reset your mind, leave your paranoia at the door. How safe will you be when the warning bells begin to sound? Welcome to the darkness. Your secrest are safe….for now. 

Switching from waspy tongued drag queen to knife edged suspense the book is a peep inside the kaleidoscopic world of performers and wanna be Glitter Diva’s and ‘look at me’ drag queens in particular.  Underneath the feathers, glitter, glam and trowel thick make-up we have a series of men, some strong, some odd, some damaged, some full of love but one or two seriously deranged and willing to do anything to get what they want.

Viewing these drag queens up close is not a pleasant experience and although there are some small moments of human care there’s a lot of whip tounged lashing going on in this book and more than a fair amount of backstabbing of every variety. This a book about the unpleasent truth behind the mask and the way some folk just can’t get over an imagined or very real insult.

To read a sample chapter, click here:

But, even though these characters are unlovable in most senses they can still charm and this is the strength of the author, that underneath every performers face, especially one who’s stage presence is fierce, harsh and aggressive lies a more insecure person, one who can only function under the lights, with a microphone and the shattered reflection of their delusions in the glitter ball. This is not just about the narrative story of the book, the who does what, but it’s also a careful study of the inter dynamics of performance and gay male performance in particular. I wonder if the author actually meant to do that though, as the read comes across as a standard thriller gathering momentum as secrets are revelled, motives uncovered and a shocking event changes everything.

This is at heart a book balanced on suspense and if you’ve always wondered quote how much of that makeup, attitude and viciousness is left behind in the dressing rooms of Drag Queens then you will enjoy the rising tensions as these Drag Queens clash, wrestle and worse, and be taken up with the neat paceing as the story unfolds.

Great fun for a first book from a  promising local author who might just benefit from a stricter editor and this seems to be the first book in a suggested series with some of the same characters being used again.

Out now £6.99 

The books is availabe in various formats

For more information or to buy the book, click here:    

 

 

Sitges Tales

Martin Lewton takes in The Sitges Film Festival.

Sitges FIlm Festival

A TRIP TO Sitges always yields surprises. None more so than during the Festival International de Film Fantastic de Catalunya, now in its 47th year. Hollywood Film Directors pop up for photo opportunities overlooking the gay naturist beach, horror film geeks pack the bars and souvenir stands and hundreds take part in a Zombie Walk throughout the narrow streets of the old town made up by professional make up artists. In my other persona as Naked Homo I queued for my ticket and was rewarded with a faceful of peeling skin.

But the gay beaches and the dark rooms are not quite as busy as usual. Is this in the main a straight event? Among the more than 300 films being shown I could track down less than ten with an explicitly LGBT content. Three of these films were shown at an all night session

Pierrot Lunaire, an unexpected find, kicked off. A haunting and rather beautiful tale of a trans man in search of a cock, told through the eyes of Schoenberg’s hero, by Canadian ‘queercore’ director Bruce La Bruce.(L.A. Zombie). Bruce told me that the film came about by a “weird accident” – a pairing of his interest in the true story of the Toronto trans man and being asked to direct Pierrot in Berlin.

The Samurai a German film by new director Till Kleinert about wolves, a wolf man and a young German policeman confused about his sexuality was watchable if itself a bit confused.

Next up, Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings, from the Philippines started from the difficult premise that a small boy had been cursed to grow up gay after calling a gay man a ‘homo.’ It developed as a surprisingly witty and perceptive comedy but finally blotted its copy book when the father of the young gay man offered to become gay himself instead of his son. I staggered out of the Prado Cinema at five in the morning shocked by the implicit homophobia.

During the following week I performed Mirando in the open air: a naked man’s queering of Shakespeare’s Tempest. With all this creativity in the air that seemed just right. And people of all nationalities came and they seemed to like it. On more than one occasion the moon came out from behind the clouds as Ariel was set free.

Among our audience was one gay horror film buff, a Mancunian who rose every day at the crack of dawn and lapped up every film he could get in to, writing notes on them all and awarding them points. Beneath the geeky exterior was a man of mystery and glamour – he had recently returned from Monaco where he’d dined with his friends Gilbert and George and Princess Caroline. (Name dropping is allowed – this was a film festival)

Then more films and the beach and the rest that Sitges has to offer. Ten days of perfect weather with occasional thunder on the horizon in honour of a festival that was fantastic – but oh so very straight!

The Sitges Film Festival took place from October 3-12.

For more information, click here:

£2 million fund to tackle homophobic bullying in schools

The Department of Education are making available a £2 million package to schools to help them tackle homophobic bullying.

Department of EducationFOR MANY PEOPLE, memories of being bullied in the playground, in the corridors and in classrooms stay with them all of their lives. It can deter children from being themselves, achieving their full potential and developing the important skills they need to succeed.

The money will be offered to charitable and not-for-profit organisations that come forward with creative ideas to stamp out homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in our schools, those projects that will make the biggest difference to the lives of all young people growing up in modern Britain.

Nicky Morgan MP
Nicky Morgan MP

Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, said: “Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying affects everyone, not just young people who may identify as LGBT.

“Any young person who is different can find themselves subjected to distressing and intimidating homophobic abuse.

“This funding will help schools take on the challenge of making sure bullies do not stand in the way our young people achieving their full potential.”

Jo Swinson MP
Jo Swinson MP

Jo Swinson, Minister for Women and Equalities, added: “Young people should grow up feeling safe expressing who they are, and we know that homophobic bullying stands in the way of this.

“We know the damage bullies can cause to young people’s self-esteem and educational attainment. There should be absolutely no excuse for this taking place in our schools.

“I am excited to see the creative proposals that this fund will bring about, to make sure we can bring homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying to an end.”

The funding comes as new research – carried out by NatCen Social Research – found that some schools already have initiatives in place that work well, such as:

• Taking a ‘whole school’ approach to homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, with clear anti-bullying policies that are applied consistently
• Training for teachers and other school staff to improve their confidence in dealing with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues
• Teaching relevant LGBT issues in lessons in a way that young people can understand
• Making sure that victims are supported and perpetrators understand the consequences of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying

While the Government say reports of homophobic bullying are in decline, there is still much work to do. A recent report from Metro, the leading equality and diversity charity, found that the vast majority of LGBT young people experience name calling or abuse.

The government has been clear that schools should take tough action on all forms of bullying and all schools must have a behaviour policy that challenges all forms of bullying.

The law was changed in 2012 to strengthen the powers teachers have to enforce discipline and good behaviour. Schools have been given advice on their legal duties and powers, and other resources to help them put an end to bullying.

Dr Greg Ussher
Dr Greg Ussher

Dr Greg Ussher, METRO Chief Executive said: We welcome the announcement from the Department for Education of the Homophobic, Biphobic & Transphobic Challenge Fund to tackle bullying in schools.

“As highlighted by the Government, METRO Youth Chances research shows that 60% of young people have experienced name calling because they were LGBTQ or people thought they were, and nearly half of young LGBTQ people feel that their time at school is affected by hostility or fear of discrimination. Trans young people experience even higher levels of bullying and abuse and the consequences include feeling left out, achieving lower grades and having to move schools. As a charity we see the impact in our direct work with young people everyday.

“Schools have a duty to tackle bullying and discrimination in schools and to promote equality and inclusion. Some schools do a great job but the message is clear that there is work to do.

“This funding is another step toward tackling the problem to enable more working with children, young people, teachers and schools to ensure that our schools are safe spaces and that all our young people can enjoy and achieve.”

For more information abour Metro, click here:

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