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Progress for pilots living with HIV – NAT welcome CAA decision  

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announce changes to their hitherto outdated rules on HIV.

They are issuing initial Class 1 Medical certificates (with a restriction to multi-pilot operations) to applicants living with HIV wishing to become commercial pilots.

The CAA have also appealed to EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) so that further progressive rule-making activity can occur and a permanent change to the regulations will mean there are no barriers for those living with HIV to work as commercial pilots.

Deborah Gold
Deborah Gold

Deborah Gold, chief executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: “We welcome the temporary measures the CAA have put in place to allow pilots living with HIV to fly, and we look forward to a full update to regulations from EASA at European level, meaning no outdated and unfair barriers remain. Of course there ought to be nothing standing in the way of someone living with HIV who wants a career as a pilot. We congratulate the pilot who has brought this issue to the foreground and demanded change.” 

Rose Tremain’s ‘Sacred Country’ selected as City Reads 2018

Rose Tremain’s Sacred Country has been chosen as this year’s City Read across Brighton & Hove and beyond.

The concept of City Reads is simple: one book, by one author, is selected for the whole city to read, explore, discuss and creatively engage with.

Standing in a cold Suffolk field with her family, in 1952, six-year-old Mary Ward has a revelation: I am not Mary. That is a mistake. I am not a girl. I’m a boy…

So begins Mary’s heroic struggle to change gender. Moving from the claustrophobic rural community of the 1950s to London in the swinging Sixties and beyond to the glitter of America in the Seventies, Sacred Country is the story of a journey to find a place of safety and fulfilment in a savage and confusing world.

“Rose Tremain is one of the very finest British novelists”…… Salman Rushdie

Rose Tremain was one of only five women writers to be included in Granta’s original list of 20 Best of Young British Novelists in 1983, and was made a CBE in 2007. Her award-winning novels and short stories have been published worldwide in 27 countries.

Sacred Country won both the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and Prix Femina Etranger. It has oft been compared to Virginia Woolf’s iconic novel Orlando through its reconsideration of the essence of gender. Apart from its undoubted literary merits, Sacred Country is a non-sensationalist reflection of the tribulations faced by trans individuals.

Written a quarter of a century ago it still feels fresh and important which is why it was the perfect choice for 2018.  Beginning in a Suffolk village in the early 1950s and moving through three decades, we come to know not only our central character Mary/Martin born as a girl into the wrong body, but also the family and characters within that small community; those who find happiness and their place in the world and those who struggle to do so.

Rose said: “I’m delighted that Sacred Country has been chosen for Brighton City Reads.  It seems to me that this city, with its long tradition of tolerance and its talent for celebration is a place where Mary/Martin could have found happiness.  To make this book live again for Brighton readers will be an honour.”  

Fox Fisher
Fox Fisher

Fox Fisher, film maker, trans campaigner and artist, said: “As a trans person myself, I never saw trans characters in books (or in ‘real life’, for that matter) growing up. Although Sacred Country is written by an author that isn’t trans, I was utterly gripped with the storyline and characters. The audiobook is read by a trans man which adds to the authenticity and is an example of the level of care and consideration when creating this book. As a film-maker, I could really visualise how well this would translate to a feature-length fiction. And when the time comes, I hope the person to make the film is me!”  

The full City Reads programme will be announced on Thursday, February 15, 2018

B RIGHT ON LGBT Community Festival: Lunch Positive Community Lunch

Lunch Positive, the weekly HIV lunch club will provide and host a Community Lunch at noon on Saturday, February 17 as part of the B RIGHT ON LGBT Community Festival.

Absolutely everyone is invited to go along to share good food and good company together.

The lunch will be raising funds for the Rainbow Fund who make grants to LGBT/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton and Hove.

Lunch-goers, where able, will be invited to make a suggested donation of £3 for lunch.

The Community Lunch is being delivered by volunteers from Lunch Positive, helped by other local LGBT+ community groups. They’ll be serving a range of tasty home cooked food within the Phil Starr Pavilion, located in Victoria Gardens, Brighton from 12 noon – 3pm.

There’s no need to book ahead, just turn up on the day and bring along your friends!

For more information and menu for the day, click here:

To check out the Lunch Positive website, click here:


Event: B RIGHT ON LGBT Community Festival – Lunch Positive Community Lunch

Where: Phil Starr Pavilion, Victoria Gardens – BN1 1WN Brighton

When: Saturday, February 17

Time: Noon – 3pm

Cost: £3 suggested donation

Vote on the facts – Lib Dems call monthly Brexit demos in centre of Brighton

Brighton and Hove Liberal Democrats will hold a demonstration on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 from 6 – 7 pm in New Road, Brighton and on the fourth Tuesday of every month thereafter.

They will be calling for an EU referendum in December 2018 on the final Brexit deal and urge people to vote on the facts.

“I grew up in Northern Ireland,” said Carrie Hynds, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Hove in June 2017, “and saw first-hand the excellent peace and reconciliation work undertaken by the EU.  With peace comes stability, prosperity and the ability to plan for the future.”

“Identity has layers.  I’m Northern Irish, British and European, and will always identify with those three things.  I don’t see them as being in opposition to each other.”

“Brighton & Hove voted overwhelmingly to ‘Remain’, as did 48% of those who cast their ballot in the 2016 referendum.  Yet the government has set a course for extreme Brexit, seeking to leave not just the EU but also the single market, customs union and vital programmes such as Euratom.  We now know that leaving the EU will not create more money for the NHS and there are no bespoke trade deals lined up ready for the UK to sign on day one.  The government is pursuing its own Brexit deal, and it is only right in a democracy to go back and check with the British people that this is the outcome they wanted.”

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