Call us now

Day: July 16, 2015

SheilaFest: A celebration of the life of a community activist

Posted on by Gary Hart

An evening of live music and laughs to celebrate the life of Sheila McWattie.

Sheila McWattie
Sheila McWattie

The former organisers of the Women’s Performance Tent at Brighton Pride are organising a Pride Eve night of live music and laughs to celebrate the life of Sheila McWattie.

Sheila, the much-loved Brighton based journalist, community activist and passionate supporter of the Brighton Women’s Centre, died in February this year.

Organiser Al Start, said: “For so many years, Sheila was a huge driving force behind staging excellent live music on the park, so it seems natural to get together and reminisce, chuckle and shed a tear or two as we remember happy times with a wonderful friend at this time of year.”

SheilaFest will feature performances from some of Sheila’s favourite performers and friends including:

♦ Greymatter – all-girl British pop rock band delivering beautiful vocal harmonies and rich melodies

♦ Heads Hearts – electronic soul like you’ve never heard before, with sassy vocals and a headstrong attitude

♦ Al Start Band – uppy, quirky queer folk

♦ Nicky Mitchell – jazz, blues, and cheeky banter…  “warm, funny and immensely talented!” The Guardian

♦ Qukulele – loud women, little guitars… “the ukulele band who bring a smile to everyone’s face”

♦ Ronnie Rialto – croon-a-licious swingin’ sensation

♦ DJ Lonesome – Frockabilly’s own retro revival DJ, spinning ‘til closing time
plus tributes to Sheila from friends and loved ones

Georgey Payne
Georgey Payne

Georgey Payne from Greymatter said: “Sheila loved our band and we loved how Sheila took a chance on us playing our very first Pride 10 years ago without even hearing us play… We continued to play Brighton Pride every year after that. She was simply adorable and always had the biggest warmest smile.”

Sheila’s presence will also be very much felt at Brighton Pride in the Park, with organisers naming the Sheila McWattie Women’s Performance Stage in her honour.

This popular feature of Brighton Pride provides women with a unique and welcoming space to meet up, chill out and enjoy their Pride day with an eclectic and diverse selection of acoustic women’s performances.

Event: SheilaFest 

Where: Otherplace @ The Basement,  24 Kensington St, Brighton BN1 4AJ

When: Friday, July 31, 2015

Time: Doors open 7.30pm, show 8-11pm, bar til 12

Tickets: £10/£8.50 concessions

To book online, click here:

Or telephone: 01273 987516

 

Pride artists’ networking event at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery

Posted on by Gary Hart

Brighton Pride and Royal Pavilion & Museums will be holding an artists’ networking event the day before Pride Weekend.

WEB.600

This is a great opportunity to meet artists who took part in the Pride Arts Festival as well as staff from Pride and the Museum and join together to chat, take part in activities and enjoy the refreshments provided.

This event is open to everyone and will take place in Brighton Museum & Art Gallery’s education rooms.

Admission is free but due to room capacity it is necessary to RSVP. Please book in advance by emailing: artsandfilm@brighton-pride.org

Event: Pride artists’ networking event

Where: Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.

When: July 31

Time: 1pm-3.30pm

 

 

Argentinian minister receives LGBT travel accolade

Posted on by Paul Gustafson

Minister of Tourism for Argentina receives special LGBT travel honour.

WEB.600

The International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA) has honoured Argentina’s Minister of Tourism, Carlos Enrique Meyer, for his commitment to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) travel.

The special award was presented on June 18 by IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella at the 8th Annual GNetwork360 LGBT business and tourism meeting. Minister Meyer is the first recipient of an IGLTA Honour presented outside of the association’s main yearly conference.

IGLTA is the leading member-based global organisation dedicated to expanding LGBT tourism worldwide. Each year, during its Annual Global Convention, the association awards individuals and businesses that have improved the landscape of LGBT travel.

John Tanzella
John Tanzella

IGLTA President/CEO John Tanzella, said: “We wanted to create this special honour in recognition of Minster Meyer’s years of support for LGBT tourism.

While many political leaders shy away from our community, Minister Meyer is a pioneer in Latin America. He has long championed Argentina as an LGBT-welcoming destination and has supported a number of LGBT events and organizations locally and internationally.”  

For more information on IGLTA, click here:

 

Council Greens call for reinstatement of fund for disabled people

Posted on by Gary Hart

Green councillors call on Brighton & Hove City Council to explain the recent closure of a fund set up to provide support for disabled people to live independently.

Cllr Phelim Mac Cafférty
Cllr Phelim Mac Cafférty

In a motion being presented to Full Council at Brighton Town Hall, today, Thursday, July 16, the Green Group are proposing that the acting chief executive should “write to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions appealing for the reinstatement of the Independent Living Fund (ILF)” and, failing that, to “ring-fence funding to individual ILF users in Brighton and Hove up until the end of financial year 2019.”

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) was a national fund which enabled disabled people with the highest support needs to live independently in the community. The government ended the ILF on June 30, as part of £4.6bn cuts to social care services, devolving responsibility and equivalent funds to cash-strapped local authorities.

The disability charity, Scope, has described the fund’s closure as: “likely to lead to fewer disabled people being able to live independently”. 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has warned it will: “result in loss of dignity and independence for many ILF recipients”.

Disabled People Against Cuts say it will have a “devastating impact” on disabled people.

In December 2014 High Court Judge, Mrs Justice Andrews, found that as a consequence of the closure of the Fund “independent living might well be put seriously in peril for… most ILF users”.

Green Group Convenor, Cllr Phelim Mac Cafférty, is proposing the motion.

He said: “The effect of these decisions will be to undermine the autonomy of disabled people who should be entitled to live independently. There is currently no indication of whether funding for ILF recipients will continue to be transferred from national to local government beyond 2015/16. The consequences are that some disabled people previously in receipt of ILF funding will no longer receive any support at all, while others may find their support package reduced. Our motion to council aims to highlight this unacceptable situation so that it can be challenged and resolved.”

 

Latest News

International News Foreign Office issues travel warning for LGBTQ+ tourists travelling to Greece
Pride Feels so good: Leeds Pride reveals big name acts for 2024 Pride event
Transgender News Sandyford Young People’s Gender Service announces they will no longer be referring under 18s for endocrine treatments
Music Will Young returns with new single, ‘Falling Deep’
X