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Month: February 2016

PREVIEW: Sauna the dead: A Fairy Tale

Posted on by Eric Page

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We’ve had Jane Austin and Zombies, and now, just as camp and twice as funny, comes a new short film about gay men and the way they treat each other, set in a sauna during the Zombie apocalypse.

Writer/Director – Tom Frederic

A fable in the vein of A Christmas Carol, set in a gay sauna, with zombies.

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Jacob (TomFrederic) is a jaded narcissist who stalks the bathhouse halls looking for his next hookup. When he finds himself trapped in a gay sauna in the midst of a zombie outbreak, his survival may depend on the one thing he didn’t come there for: a human connection.

SAUNA THE DEAD – A FAIRY TALE is inspired by mean guys on Grindr and the idea of the sauna as its own little world. Director Frederic fuses a love of 80s fantasy adventure movies, Disney and zombies to  present a genre-hopping modern day fairy tale exploring how the way we treat each other and how that changes online, in saunas and where sex is concerned and how that creates the worlds we live in.

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The world premiere  is being shows as part of the BFI Flare London LGBT Film Festival 2016 Short Film Programme: Hearts: Deeper Understanding  and will be on March 25 and 26.

The BFI are showing all the best new and classic LGBT films from around the world as part of the Flare 2016 LGBT film festival.

For full info about the BFI Flare LGBT film festival and program of events, click here:

Community activist dies in flat fire

Posted on by Contributor

Community activist Chris Cooke has died following a fire at Essex Place in Kemptown last night, February 21.

Chris Cooke
Chris Cooke

Chris, a proud community activist was a very decent man. He was also gentle, sensitive, and genuine. He loved nothing better than seeing a practical and positive improvement to St James’ Street and Kemptown especially if he had fought long and hard on behalf of others who had decided something was needed.

Chris trusted everybody, he listened to people’s concerns from wherever they came and, for someone who stood for election as a local councillor, was one of the most apolitical figures you would encounter in public life locally.

Up until a couple of years ago he was most involved with the St James’ Community Action Group as probably the leading founder member and its first Chairperson. He was proud of what SJCAG achieved during its first year and was devastated when a small section of the members organised his replacement.

He was responsible for Kemptown in Bloom for quite a while and the present efforts to revitalise this group will be a fitting tribute to his activities.

Chris chaired the Eastern Road Partnership when it was a vibrant and active association, was a keen supporter of the Gay Business Forum, worked tirelessly on neighbourhood and community policing, and was involved with the Friends of Queen’s Park. He was also the chair of the Brighton and Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum up until 2012, stood for the Labour Party in Queens Park Ward in 2011 and for a period was financial director at the Sussex Beacon.

Chris was a lovely person and far too young to be lost to his community.

Volunteers help Exeter City FC says “no to homophobia”

Posted on by Gary Hart

Volunteers from Exeter Pride, the Football v Homophobia campaign in the South West, and members of Devon Lions, the local gay-friendly football club, helped Exeter City Football Club once again take a stand against homophobia at its home game with Newport County on Saturday, February 20.

Exeter City FC

The match was the club’s annual Football v Homophobia fixture and a number of initiatives to mark the day were organised by the Exeter City Supporters’ Trust and its One Game One Community (OGOC) Group and the Club’s Football in the Community charity.

It was the seventh year Exeter City have held a Football v Homophobia initiative.

Before the game volunteers from Exeter Pride and Devon Lions handed out thousands of leaflets to spectators attending the match.

Players from both teams warmed up in Football v Homophobia T-shirts and the shirts were thrown to the crowd before the start of the game.

The players then walked out for the pre match line-up behind a Football v Homophobia banner.

Articles about the campaign were also be featured in the match programme and anti-discrimination announcements were made before kick-off and at half-time.

Exeter City’s OGOC Ambassador Ollie Watkins supporting the initiative said: “Homophobia like all discrimination has no place in football”.

Alan Quick, a member of the OGOC group, who is also the South West Co-ordinator for Football v Homophobia and a founding trustee of Exeter Pride, said he is pleased that Exeter City has been a long-standing supporter of the Football v Homophobia campaign.

Alan said: “Homophobia, prejudice and discrimination against Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) people in football is unacceptable and I am really pleased that Exeter City is committed to creating safe and inclusive football environments for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. Prejudice and discrimination in football affects us all, not just LGBT people.” 

Exeter City’s One Game One Community Group works with the national Kick it Out campaign to address all types of discrimination in football including race, disability, gender, age and sexual orientation.

Exeter Pride is currently organising its eighth annual pride event for the various LGBT communities of Exeter and the South West.

The event will take place on Saturday, May 7 and include a parade down Exeter High Street from the St Sidwell’s Centre to Exeter Phoenix where there will be a programme of events, including workshops, stalls, a panel discussion and entertainment.

For more information about Exeter Pride, click here:

Football v Homophobia
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Drag Queen receives special award from Sussex Police

Posted on by Besi

Entertainer Jason Sutton aka Miss Jason has been presented with a special community award by Chief Superintendent Nev Kemp from Sussex Police acknowledging the help he gave police officers during a bomb scare at the start of the Brighton Pride Parade in 2015.

Miss Jason

The start of the Pride Parade was delayed by two hours while police investigated a suspicious package strapped to a lamppost outside the Brighton Hotel, opposite the Bandstand on Brighton seafront.

Jason who had been hosting a Pride breakfast at the Brighton Hotel, kept the crowds outside calm and entertained while police investigated the package and then evacuated the crowd while bomb squad officers carried out a controlled explosion.

The package turned out to be a pinhole camera intended to take photographs over an extended period of time.

The citation on the award, reads: “Miss Jason is thanked by Sussex Police for assisting in the evacuation of a large number of people during Brighton & Hove’s Pride 2015 celebrations following the discovery of a suspicious package. Miss Jason displayed great professionalism and helped to ensure a calm and organised evacuation putting the safety of the local community first.”

Chief Super Nev Kemp, said: “My officers reported that Miss Jason was a considerable help in keeping people calm and in a good mood during the long wait to establish if the package was dangerous. We did not want to let his contribution in keeping the crowd good-tempered and safe go unrecognised.”

Miss Jason added: “It was so camp my dears! I had a wonderful time keeping everyone entertained in the long wait to establish how serious the situation was. Everyone played their part and the most important thing is that no one was hurt, everyone had a great day and I am very happy to have played my part.”

PREVIEW: Jane Postlethwaite appears in Hove Grown Festival

Posted on by Contributor

Jane Postlethwaite is a Funny Women Awards Finalist 2015 and a Brighton Comedy Festival Squawker Award Finalist 2015.

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She is bringing her character comedy show, Made in Cumbria back for the local Hove Grown Festival. The show will be a special edition for this first time festival before it is adapted with extra characters for Brighton Fringe in May and Edinburgh Festival in August.

The show, first premiered at Brighton Fringe in 2015 to sell out audiences includes several comedy characters who welcome you into their unique and often dark world.

 

The characters of, Made in Cumbria include Kirsty Bird a falconry expert, Karroll Karabiner Kavannagh a survival expert, Stella Nova the first northern female astronaut, Joy Hope a childrens author and illustrator and Bri Frommage founder of Yoga-Fu which is Yoga and Kung Fu combined.

The show has been described as:

“Bloody brilliant. Loneliness and breakdown has never been funnier!” – Julian Caddy, ‎Managing Director at Brighton Fringe about Made in Cumbria 2015

“Fascinating & compelling. A wonderfully entertaining experience”  – Fringe Review  2015

The Hove Grown festival takes place from March 18-27, 2016 and promotes local writers and performers.

Event: Made in Cumbria with Jane Postlethwaite

Where: Dukebox Theatre, 3 Waterloo Street, Hove Bn3 1AQ

When: Wednesday March 23 and Friday March 25

Time: 8pm

Entry: £5

To buy tickets online: click here:

For more information about Jane Postlethwaite and her live shows, click here:

Tatchell defends NUS officer who tried to ‘no-platform’ him

Posted on by Gary Hart

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell defends NUS LGBT Officer Fran Cowling’s “right not to share a platform” with him and warns she should not be “bullied”.

Peter Tatchell

LGBT rights campaigner Peter Tatchell today defended the right of NUS LGBT Officer, Fran Cowling – who earlier this week branded him “transphobic” and racist and boycotted an event at which he was due to speak – to refuse to share a debate platform with him and warned that she should not be “harassed” “hounded” or “bullied” for her actions.

Cowling had come in for fierce criticism from all quarters, for her refusal to attend an event at which Tatchell was also due to appear unless he was removed from the running order, widely regarded as an attempt to ‘No-Platform’ him.

Tatchell used an appearance on Sam Delaney’s News Thing on RTUK to clarify his stance on free speech, boycotts and ‘No Platforming’, stating that while he opposed the practice of denying someone’s right to free speech on the basis of a difference of opinion, he supported Ms Cowling’s right not to debate him.

Thatchell said: “I defend Fran’s right not to share a platform with me. She has a right to say no, and I entirely respect that…I think it would have been much better for her to join me in a debate, so her point of view could be heard. And whether people agree with her or not, it’s good she has a right and an opportunity to make her view knowns”

Tatchell did, however, defend the practice of ‘No Platforming’ when it comes to people who incite hatred and violence, adding: “I make a distinction between people who are bigoted and those who incite…encourage or endorse violence. So, it’s true that I sought to cancel the concerts of eight Jamaican reggae and dance hall singers (with the support of Jamaican LGBT campaigners) because they were encouraging the killing of gay and lesbian people. I also, yes, did seek to ban, or get stopped from speaking, various Islamist preachers who’ve also endorsed Sharia executions of Muslims who have turned away from their faith, of people who have blasphemed Islam, of adulterers and of gay people.”

Tatchell underlined his commitment to free speech by revealing that he would share a debate platform with the boxer Manny Pacquiao – who has received widespread criticism this week after saying that homosexuals were “worse than animals”, saying: “I’d be prepared to share a platform with any bigot in order to challenge and expose them. Not just Manny, but Vladimir Putin, Robert Mugabe. I would and have, shared platforms with lots of bigoted people in the past and I think successfully have exposed their prejudice.”

 

You can watch the full interview with Peter Tatchell, as well as guests Susie Boniface (AKA Fleet Street Fox), Des Clarke and Iain Lee, on tonight’s episode of Sam Delaney’s News Thing, 22:25, RTUK, repeated at 01:00 tomorrow

Sam Delaney’s News Thing is on RTUK every Friday at 22:25 and Saturday at 01:00

To view the interview, click here:

 

Rumour has it…. raises £205.17 for Rainbow Fund

Posted on by Graham Robson

Rumour has it….., the new club night for the LGBT clubbers was a huge success at Funfair on January 29, raising £205.17 for the Rainbow Fund in the process.

Rumour has it

Organisers were taken aback by the numbers attending on the opening night which resulted in some people having to queue outside in the cold and rain to gain entry.

This has been remedied and you can now get fast track entry by going to Facebook.com/rumourhasitbrighton and following the links…., while the foyer of the club has also been altered to make entry quicker and more efficient.

The promoters would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who supported their conscience clubbing concept and donated so generously to the Rainbow Fund. Sexy door hostess’s Britney Fierce and Gia Massacre were relentless in keeping everyone reminded of the charitable nature of the evening, shaking their buckets while encouraging everyone to have fun.

The next soiree is back at Funfair on Friday, February 26 where, brace yourselves, DJ Lady Lola is in the house, and she is on a mission to play her music in the outrageous, in your face style that only Lola can. DJ King K returns with Michelle Griffen plus all the way from Dublin for the evening, is special boy guest DJ Citizen Black.

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Doors open at 10pm and the party goes right through until 4am. Remember the warm up party is in Dr Brightons who are offering 2 for 1 cocktails and a free shot with each queue jump ticket. When they say a free shot this is an appropriate time to put money in the charity bucket.

Entry to the club is still free between 10 and 11…this is another appropriate time to put your money in the charity bucket!!

Once again the organisers will be collecting on behalf of The Rainbow Fund who through their grants programme give grants to LGBT/HIV organisations in Brighton and Hove who provide effective front line services to LGBT people in the city. In other words the money goes to those organisations most in need.

Rumour has it....

Hove Grown festival steps into the spotlight

Posted on by Alice Blezard

Hove Grown, a new performing arts festival for writers and performers within the City of Brighton & Hove, is set to reshape the live performance landscape of the city when it launches on Friday, March 18, 2016.

Hove Grown LogoA new addition to the Brighton and Hove calendar, Hove Grown aims to be an affordable precursor for local talent, in the lead up to the Brighton Festival and Brighton Fringe in May. The festival is a joint venture between ZLS Theatre, Brighton’s only social enterprise theatre company, and Sweet Venues who manage the award winning Dukebox Theatre.

Hove Grown will feature around 30 shows in its first year, with some truly unique writing and performances being showcased. The festival will cover theatre, comedy, improv, spoken word and a variety of workshops, with a tailored section catering for fun and educational family-friendly shows. Every show in the programme will be £10 or under, with some shows just £3.

Guy Wah
Guy Wah

Guy Wah, the founder of ZLS Theatre and Hove Grown, explains: “We wanted an affordable festival that draws attention to the huge variety of fantastic new writing and performance in Brighton & Hove and more importantly we wanted to give these new works an opportunity to be performed. We’re thrilled to have so much support in our first year, particularly from Brighton Fringe, as we always set out to be a forerunner for local writing and performance leading up to the fantastic line-ups at The Fringe and other festivals.”

Behind the Lines
Behind the Lines

The Hove Grown festival has a huge selection of shows this year, including local LGBT theatrical duo Behind the Lines performing an acclaimed cabaret show, the award-winning Sussex performance group Bard & Troubadour previewing new material before their anticipated run at this year’s Brighton Fringe, Hove comedian Aidan Goatley debuting his new show with a special evening in his hometown and many, many more.

One of the key aims of the festival is to showcase the numerous venues in Hove situated outside the city centre of Brighton, ranging from large spaces like The Brunswick to smaller, more intimate spaces such as The Dukebox Theatre or Artista Studios.

Sarah Johnson, Assistant Venue Manager for Sweet Venues, said: “Sweet Venues is very keen to shine a spotlight on some of the brilliant venues across Hove ahead of their participation in Brighton Fringe in May. We hope by being loud and proud about our love for Hove, we will raise awareness of the hub of creative activity that has developed in the Western Road area and in time we believe this will drive new footfall and spending to the venues and surrounding local businesses.”

The Hove Grown festival will be hosting a launch party at The Dukebox in Hove on March 17 to celebrate its first year and also establish their plans for the future.

For more information on all the events and to buy tickets, click here:

MindOut recuiting for a Trans Advocacy Worker

Posted on by Contributor

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Trans Advocacy Worker

21 hours per week

£22,500 pro rata (£13,500 per annum)

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Join our busy LGBTQ Advocacy Service.

You will help us set up this pioneering service for Brighton & Hove’s Trans communities in partnership with the Trans Alliance.

You will be providing advice, information and advocacy case work for all issues affecting trans lives.

You will need good experience of trans care pathways, mental health and community development.

This post is funded until March 2017.

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For an application pack: click here:   

Or send a large SAE to: MindOut, Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG
Closing date: Thursday, March 24

Interviews will be held: Monday, April 4

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PREVIEW: Real Eyes : Realise

Posted on by Contributor

In March pop artist, Lez Ingham will be showcasing her new collection of paintings at Taylor-West & Sloan, the new optometrists in Hove.

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Real Eyes : Realise will be on display to the public from March 8 for 5 weeks. For this exhibition Lez has referenced vintage 60’s comic and movie poster images featuring multi-layered, tongue-in cheek humour with a twist of irony in bright kaleidoscope colour.

Taylor-West & Sloan have an amazing collection of stylish frames from around the world along with state of the art optometrist equipment.

Event: Real Eyes : Realise an exhibition by Lez Ingham

Where: Taylor-West & Sloan Optometrists, 80 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2EB

When: From Tuesday March 8

Times: Daily 9.30am – 6pm. Closed Sunday and Monday

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