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Circus ringmaster to stand as candidate in Brighton Kemptown

Circus of Horrors ringmaster to stand as an Alternative candidate for the constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven at the coming General Election.

Doktor Haze
Doktor Haze

Doktor Haze, creator and ringmaster in the outrageous Circus of Horrors has thrown his top hat into the ring, standing as an Alternative as opposed to an Independent candidate in the constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven at the forthcoming General Election on June 8.

The good Doktor decided to stand once he realised that the snap election coincided with the The Circus of Horrors performances in the WOW Big Top at Preston Park as part of the Brighton Festival.

He says: “I travel all over the World with the Circus of Horrors but when the snap election was announced I realised I would be in Brighton during the election run in.

Brighton has a lot of fond memories for me, it was the first City The Circus of Horrors performed commercially back in 1995. We have been to the city many times since and aside from London The Circus of Horrors have performed more in Brighton than anywhere else. I also love the diversity of the city and the tolerance and understanding of other cultures and communities within Brighton & Hove, this is one of the issues that I will be campaigning for. It shouldn’t matter what you look like, you should be accepted for what you are.”

Coming from very humble beginnings, Haze was born in a circus, abandoned by his dad and left with his mum and dog in a van in Wick, Scotland when he was 6 months old.

Reunited with his Dad and taught to fire eat in a circus ring at the age of 12 he left the circus to try to earn a living in a rock band before combining his theatrical upbringing with rock music and his other passion Horror to create the Circus of Horrors.

Doktor Haze who claims to be 668 (Vampire years) was a good friend of Screaming Lord Sutch a regular attender of The Circus of Horrors, and was encouraged by him to join the Monster Raving Loony party but always declined a potential political career – until now.

To view his manifesto, click here:

The manifesto contains an eclectic mix of the serious and quirky including his views on Brexit to scraping ‘Whips’ in the House of Commons to let politicians make their own decisions and standing by what they believe in.

“Whips need to be used in the bedroom and in fetish clubs – not The House of Commons” says the Doktor.

Ladbrokes are offering odds of 500 to 1 for Doktor Haze to win the seat.

If you don’t get to vote for Doktor Haze you can see him performing at The Circus of Horrors in the WOW Big Top on Preston Park, Brighton, on May 27 and June 3 with shows at 8.30pm.

Other candidates are:
Simon Kirby: The Conservative Party Candidate
Lloyd Russell-Moyle: Labour and Co-operative Party
Emily Louise Tester: Liberal Democrats

Brighton & Hove Council leader condems Chechen Government

Cllr Warren Morgan, the Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council condemned the Chechen Government and its leader Ramzan Khadyrov at the IDAHOBIT event at the Dorset Gardens Methodist Church yesterday, (May 17)

Cllr Morgan, said: I am here today on this International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia to send a message to Ramzan Khadyrov. It’s a name unknown to most, but he is the person leading the Chechen state and conducting a systematic and brutal campaign of repression and imprisonment against the LGBT+ communities in that country.

This cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed, unremarked, and unchallenged.

When originally confronted with the allegations, Mr Kadyrov’s spokesman Alvi Karimov said it was not possible that gays had suffered abuse because homosexuals “don’t exist” in Chechnya.

“You cannot arrest or repress people who just don’t exist in the republic”. “If such people existed in Chechnya, law enforcement would not have to worry about them since their own relatives would have sent them to where they could never return.”

They do exist, Mr Karimov, they exist everywhere. You cannot deny the existence of your own people. And you cannot deny them their basic human rights.

In response to this barely disguised brutality, Human Rights Watch issued a call to action for the international community. We must answer that call, we must put pressure on our own Government to answer that call.

If anything could be worse than the state-sponsored homophobia of the Russian Federation, it is the active repression and imprisonment of the Chechen part of that nation state.

Let me put on the record here today, as Leader of Brighton and Hove City Council, that we condemn without reservation the actions of the Chechen Government. Our voice alone will make no difference to a ruthless dictator who does not think twice about having his enemies killed.

But our voice together with other cities, other countries, other organisations will become a chorus he and his cronies in Grozny cannot ignore. Together we must say, this must not pass, this action cannot stand.

We in Brighton and Hove stand shoulder to shoulder with the Chechen LGBT+ communities today, tomorrow and every day until this brutal oppression ends.”

IDAHOBIT demonstration brings St James Street to a standstill

The public vigil marking International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT) was moved indoors to the Dorset Gardens Methodist Church yesterday due to the pouring rain.

IDAHOBIT marks the day in 1990 when the World Health Organisation removed homosexuality from its International Classification of Diseases.

The purpose of IDAHOBIT is to raise awareness of LGBT+ rights and stimulate interest in the work of LGBT+ activists worldwide. Events this year were taking place in more than 120 countries on every continent in every region of the world.

Following a warm welcome by the Mayor of Brighton & Hove Pete West on his final day in office, speakers including, Peter Kyle MP for Hove & Portslade, Cllr Warren Morgan Leader of the Brighton & Hove City Council, Rev Michael Hydes, Cllr Phelim MacCafferty Convenor of the Greens, Sgt Peter Allan from Sussex Police and Ruth Hughes from the Rainbow Chorus all highlighted the plight of LGBT+ people in Chechna and called on our national politicians to speak out and demand the killings stop.

Alice Denny performed some of her wonderful poems including Street Cleaning 2017, Normal and the thought-provoking The Universal Ugly Tranny. AJ Paterson sang with guitar and the Rainbow Chorus performed You are my sister, Hand in Hand, and A Million Voices before leading everyone out of the church singing Siyahumba, to bring St James Street to a standstill as everyone made a minutes protest noise.

The Vigil was organised by volunteers from the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum.

 

BRIGHTON FRINGE REVIEW: The Lady Boys of Bangkok @Sabai Pavilion

A magnificent night of campness!

This is a show where boys can be boys and girls can be… well… boys too…

Every single performer was stunning in their own way and all dance brilliantly.

Yes, The Lady Boys of Bangkok are back at the Brighton Fringe, and in my opinion this production is bigger and better than ever.

The new show is called Who Runs The World … Well I would say the Lady Boys do!

The sets are simple but well designed, the costumes are obviously outrageously glitzy with no end of sequins and colour, the music is current and memorable and there are many comical moments that had the audience at times in stitches.

The routines are brilliant with two great musicals Grease and Chicago among those featured. They even have the car from Grease on stage.

There is a wonderful tribute to all the Asian cultures, featuring magnificent costumes.

It’s worth going if only to see the Tina Turner impersonator, absolutely brilliant with all the facial expressions and movements. The same performer is hilarious during the comedy routines and works so well with the clown of the show, a dwarf who amongst many routines becomes ‘Bridget the Midget!

Audience participation is unique with the comedy duo making the most of unsuspecting members of the audience.

The cast numbers just 16 performers. At times you would think there were 66 of them as they make the most of the stage and auditorium, dancing anywhere and everywhere there are spaces in the Sabai Pavilion.

Looking for a downside? Don’t expect perfect lip-syncing, apart from that what is there not to like?

If you are looking for a memorable night out with a lot of laughs you can’t go wrong with The Lady Boy’s of Bangkok at the Sabai Pavilion, Victoria Gardens, Brighton until the end of the Fringe on June 3.


Lady Boys of Bangkok – WHO RUNS THE WORLD TOUR?
Presented by: Exchange Events Ltd
Venue: Sabai Pavilion, Victoria Gardens, Brighton
Reviewer: Mike Mendoza
Photographs by: Hugo Michiels
Runs till June 3

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