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Day: June 11, 2018

Pride in the sky from Thomas Cook Airlines

Posted on by Besi

Holiday company celebrates Manchester Pride Festival this year with specially branded plane.

THOMAS Cook Airlines shows support for Manchester Pride from 35,000 feet in the air by emblazoning one of its long-haul aircraft with a special rainbow edition of the airline’s heart logo.

The A330 carrier embarked on its first journey with the colourful logo on June 7, taking Thomas Cook customers to destinations such as San Francisco and New York from Manchester Airport.

The airline first adorned one of its carriers with this symbol of its commitment to and support for LGBT+ people in 2017 in celebration of its sponsorship of the charity’s The Big Weekend event.

This year the airline has gone further by including the heart on one of their largest long-haul planes to honour their continued status as headline sponsor for The Big Weekend, which forms part of the Manchester Pride Festival which takes place on August bank holiday weekend, for the fourth year in a row.

Mark Fletcher
Mark Fletcher

Mark Fletcher, CEO of Manchester Pride, said: “Once again, we’re thrilled to see the LGBT+ logo take to the skies in such a unique fashion. We’ve been so lucky to be able to work with Thomas Cook Airlines on this exciting project for the second time and it’s just one of the many ways we can all help spread the message and show support for LGBT+ people across the world.”

Paul Hutchings, Managing Director for Thomas Cook Airlines, added: “Having received such a positive response from our customers to the rainbow version of our sunny heart logo last year, we couldn’t wait to top it in 2018 by featuring it once again – this time on an even larger aircraft. By branding one of our long-haul planes means our flying ambassadors and our support for the LGBT+ community will be seen internationally.”

Thomas Cook Airlines is official sponsor of Manchester Pride’s The Big Weekend which takes place from Friday August 24 to Monday, August 27. They are also official sponsor of The Thomas Cook Airlines Stage which will see headline performances this year from Rita Ora, Jake Shears and Alexandra Burke.

Every year tens of thousands of people from across the UK and Europe flock to Manchester’s world-renowned Gay Village for the event and to watch the parade.

Timelapse video of the new logo being attached to the aircraft:

Thomas Cook Airlines is also supporting Manchester Pride’s upcoming international outreach campaign as the charity works with Marketing Manchester to partner with Boston and San Francisco Pride.  The activity, which wouldn’t be possible without the donation of flights from Thomas Cook Airlines, is designed to promote Manchester at these key pride events as a thriving hub of LGBT+ culture. The rainbow heart plane is likely to appear on the schedule to these two cities this summer.

Manchester Pride campaigns for the advancement of LGBT+ equality; celebrating LGBT+ lives and creating opportunities that engage LGBT+ people so that they can thrive. Since 2003, Manchester Pride has raised and distributed over £1.5million to local LGBT organisations.

Manchester Pride Festival takes place over August bank holiday weekend (August 24-27). With its roots in the heart of Manchester’s world famous Gay Village, the festival is made up of The Big Weekend, The Manchester Pride Parade on the afternoon of Saturday August 25, the alcohol free space that is The Superbia Weekend and the culmination of the festival, The Candlelit Vigil in Sackville Gardens on August 27, when The Gay Village is turned into a sea of flickering candles as visitors take a minute to remember those lost to the HIV virus and join together to fight the epidemic worldwide and the stigma that still exists.

For more information and to purchase tickets online, click here:

Psychic poet gets message from Oscar Wilde shocker!

Posted on by Contributor
A Very Queer Nazi Faust participant holding a giant eyeball with the words ’The Future is Accessible’ on her shirt. Photo by Ann Nicholls.
A Very Queer Nazi Faust participant holding a giant eyeball with the words ’The Future is Accessible’ on her shirt. Photo by Ann Nicholls.

Stop & Scrap Universal Crap! demands Oscar Wilde!

POET John Faust is suicidal. His benefits have been stopped without warning, the bailiffs are due to evict him, his dog is in the vets dying, his car needs a new clutch, and he can’t finish his poetic masterpiece while the voices inside his head torment him.

In despair, John throws himself off Beeston Bump, Norfolk’s highest peak, clutching The Tragic True Life & Deserved Death of a Benefit Scrounger by Himself, but Lucifer won’t let him drown because she loves his book and wants a bigger part.

A Very Queer Nazi Faust by poet, artist and disability rights campaigner, Vince Laws, highlights the plight of disabled people under the current government, described as ‘economic murder’ in the British Medical Journal, and as ‘a human catastrophe’ by the United Nations.

The performance contains adult themes and language, suicidal thoughts, DWP Deaths, Lucifer, The Naked Abseilers and poetry, but no Nazis.

The are workshops every Sunday at Silver Road Community Centre, Norwich, until the performance at Norwich Arts Centre on Wednesday September 12. The workshops and performance may be photographed, filmed and live-streamed.

Commissioned and supported by Unlimited, celebrating the work of disabled artists, with funding from Spirit of 2012. If you need help to take part, let Vince know, he’ll do his best to make it happen.

An artist with something to say, and fearless in saying it….. Marcus Dickey Horley, Curator, Tate Modern

…at turns well-written, beautifully choreographed and utterly hilarious…. Colin Hambrook, Disability Arts Online, Editor

Anarchic….. The Norwich Radical

Event: A Very Queer Nazi Faust by Vince Laws

Where: Norwich Arts Centre, St. Benedict’s Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG

When: Wednesday, September 12

Time: 7.30pm

Cost: £6.66

To book tickets online, click here:

Charity event in support of Samaritans

Posted on by Besi

To help Brighton, Hove & District Samaritans celebrate its fiftieth year, Cameron Contemporary Art Gallery is hosting a fundraising evening on Friday, June 15 which will include a raffle and private view.

TWO beautiful framed prints and a bottle of single malt whisky are being offered as raffle prizes and will be drawn during the evening.

Big Patch of Sun by Kirsty Wither, 65 x 80cm framed print (value £495)
Big Patch of Sun by Kirsty Wither, 65 x 80cm framed print (value £495)

 

April Showers by Luella Martin, 22 x 27cm framed solar etching (value £140)
April Showers by Luella Martin, 22 x 27cm framed solar etching (value £140)

Raffle tickets priced at £3 each are available now from the gallery and during the evening. All proceeds will go directly to Samaritans.

The gallery will also be previewing their latest show, Between Land and Sea, an exhibition inspired by the changing moods of the land, sea and sky.

Included in the exhibition are works by Brighton based artists Mark Johnston, Richard Whadcock, Luella Martin, Kirsty Wither and Victoria Graimes.

A percentage of sales made on the night will be donated to Samaritans and the show will continue through the summer.

Since being launched, the local branch of Brighton, Hove & District Samaritans has had over 1.3 million contacts with people who are either in distress, or despair, or feeling lonely.

Volunteers have seen these numbers rise from an average 800 to 67,000 contacts per year, indicating that people value the service today more than ever.

The branch is entirely staffed by volunteers, is funded by charitable donations and it costs £180 per day to keep the centre open -ˇ 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Event: Charity Evening supporting Samaritans

Where: Cameron Contemporary Art, 1 Victoria Grove, 2nd Avenue, Hove, BN3 2LJ

When: Friday, June 15, 2018

Time: 6-8pm

Greens launch Crowdfunder for 2019 local elections

Posted on by Besi

A Green Crowdfunder appeal reaches almost eight thousand five hundred pounds and still rising.

THE CAMPAIGN, launched by Caroline Lucas MP which aims to build the city’s strongest ever Green team and lay the foundations for more Green MPs to join Caroline Lucas in Parliament is rapidly approaching its target.

The crowdfunding target is £10,000 and in just three weeks almost £8.500 has been raised.

The fundraising campaign coincides with the Greens first announcement of council candidates for local elections in 2019, with Pete West, Lizzie Deane and Sue Shanks selected as candidates for St Peter’s and North Laine ward and with Caroline Lucas’ decision not to restand as co-leader of the party in England and Wales, and rather to focus more time on her constituency, her parliamentary work and building a strong Green team here in the city.

Pointing to the uncertainty around Brexit and the possibility of another early election, the Brighton Pavilion MP said: “We stand at a crossroads, and down one route is the tribal politics of the past, dirty energy and Brexit but down the other is a chance to work together for a fairer and better world.

“With Theresa May’s Government wobbling, that chance could come at any time, so please, help us stand up for our precious home, help us stand up for our democracy and help us to stand for a greener future”.

The local Green Party will use the donations to reach voters in communities across the city with leaflets, billboards, public events and social media as well as for training a team of organisers to lead its election campaigns.

Paul Steedman, Party Manager of the Greens in Brighton and Hove said: “We have been blown away by the initial response to this campaign and we really want to close in on that £10,000  target so we’re asking anyone who values the tireless work of Caroline and our councillors to chip in what they can by going to bit.ly/green-fundraiser. The early success of this crowdfunder shows that Brighton and Hove’s faith in Caroline and the Greens is a strong as ever.”

https://chuffed.org/project/election-fighting-fund

Music PREVIEW: Medicine – Roald Hughes

Posted on by Contributor

Roald Hughes returns with a new single Medicine – written about our addiction to something; alcohol, drugs, love, whatever your thing is.

THE TRACK is taken from his new album Headspace released May 18, 2018, which explores the characteristics and misdemeanours of human nature.

Previously: Universal, Pulse, Cosmic Dancer, Moment of Glory, Beautiful, Thank Your Stars and the most recent track signed to Paul Oakenfold’s label Perfecto ‘Precious’ with Zed White.

Manhattan Clique have done fantastic remixes here including a dub. One of the most enduring and well-respected remix teams of the last decade, Manhattan Clique have worked with some of the biggest names in pop and dance music, delivering over 200 dance/crossover remixes to date for all the world’s major labels and many independents. Highlights include Kylie, Katy Perry, Charli XCX, Emeli Sandé, Lady Gaga, DJ Fresh, Ellie Goulding, Erasure, Nicole Scherzinger, Britney Spears, Carly Rae Jepsen, Example, Wretch 32, Alison Moyet and many more.

Researcher nets top award for gender identity studies

Posted on by Besi

De Montfort University PhD student beats hundreds of candidates to win an award to help him investigate the experiences of people who do not identify within the gender binary – neither male nor female.

Sebastian(right) with Rebecca Fielding of Gradconsult
Sebastian(right) with Rebecca Fielding of Gradconsult

SEBASTIAN Cordoba received an award of £440 from Gradconsult, which will help study the experiences of people who identify as non-binary in the UK.

Sebastian, 28  currently a PhD candidate in psychology, originates from Colombia, and is celebrating after becoming one of the six winners of a grant from Gradconsult, a Sheffield-based specialist in graduate recruitment, learning and development.

The grants, chosen from over 300 entries, are to help new researchers and early career academics get a ‘head start’ with funding bids, thereby giving them a track record to go on and secure larger funding bids to conduct research in their chosen field.

Sebastian had studied in the United States for many years, but with his PhD, wanted to focus on the linguistic and social experiences of non-binary people. It is something he could empathise with, being a gay person himself, although he is aware of the additional challenges trans and non-binary people face due to the lack of awareness regarding gender diversity in society.

He said: “I am interested in understanding the relationship between language usage and identity development among non-binary people, and the difficulties they face due to their identity,” adding. “Some of my early findings indicate that non-binary people face a great deal of discrimination and mis-gendering, which in fact affects their access to health care, employment opportunities, education and overall well-being.”

Rebecca Fielding, Managing Director of Gradconsult said of Sebastian’s achievement:  “It is a worthy project, which gives great help to people who have great difficulties due to a lack of understanding of their lives.”

Adding that the grants were much-needed for some of the UK’s best young brains. “We see in great detail the value of research in higher education, and know how hard it can be as a new researcher or early career academic to get projects funded when you don’t necessarily have a track record.” 

“We invited those individuals who have the drive to make a difference, to tell us how they can boost lives positively and were overwhelmed with an avalanche of responses, which showed drive and ingenuity.” 

The applications were open to PhD students, post-doctoral researchers with less than three years’ experience, as well as academic/lecturers with less than three years’ experience. It was also open to work in any field.

Sebastian and the other applicants met each other when they visited Sheffield, the headquarters of the Gradconsult team during May to receive their grants.

Rebecca added: “It’s been an honour to meet these individuals  and we hope that the Gradconsult Microgrant programme will be the launch pad for life-changing projects for generations to come.” 

Film Festival for older women receives lottery funding

Posted on by Besi

Women Over 50 Film Festival (WOFFF), an international film festival which aims to tackle the inequality older women in the film industry face, has been awarded a National Lottery Awards for All grant.

WOFFF has been awarded £10,000 from the Big lottery fund to deliver its exciting programme of films which celebrate women over 50, in front of and behind the camera. National Lottery Awards for All offers funding from £300 to £10,000 to projects and organisations that bring people together and ‘build strong relationships in and across communities’.

WOFFF looks at what it means to be an older woman today and aims to start conversations between generations about ageing, helping to end the isolation of older women. The key criterion for a WOFFF short film is that it features a woman over 50 in the starring role or has a woman over 50 in the core creative team (writer, director or producer).

Nuala O'Sullivan
Nuala O’Sullivan

Nuala O’Sullivan, Director of Women Over 50 Film Festival, said of the award: “We’re really excited to have been awarded our first National Lottery Awards for All grant. It’s great to have been given such a public seal of approval for the work we do at WOFFF. 

“The majority of this grant will be spent subtitling our films. We know that as people get older a lot of us become hard of hearing and that often D/deaf community feel excluded from participating in the arts. We want to make WOFFF as inclusive as possible, and subtitling our films is one way to welcome D/deaf and hard of hearing can enjoy the Women Over 50 Film Festival.”  

WOFFF will take place at Depot in Lewes, an accessible, independent community cinema, on September 22 and 23, 2018.

Additional events will take place on September 20, 2018 at Duke of York’s Picturehouse, Brighton.

To submit an entry to WOFFF click here:

ECJ ruling a “momentous day” for Europe’s LGBT+ communities

Posted on by Besi

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that a same-sex marriage concluded in one EU member state must be recognised by all the others, even where same sex marriage is not recognised.

Aimee Challenor
Aimee Challenor

THE ruling will now allow same-sex couples from Northern Ireland who marry in other parts of the EU to have the same rights as their fellow Northern Irish citizens.

LGBT+ Spokesperson for the Green Party Aimee Challenor argues that this ruling strengthens the case for a People’s Vote on the final Brexit deal.

Chanellor said: “This is a momentous day for people all across Europe. From a UK perspective this is especially a momentous day for marriage equality in Northern Ireland, as LGBT+ people can now get married in Ireland or the rest of the UK and be recognised as equals in their own home.

“However, the sad reality is that this is not to last. Just as the ECJ delivers marriage equality to Northern Ireland, Brexit will take it away. It is vitally important that we get a People’s Vote on the final deal to give people a chance to protect the newfound equality.”

Protesters to ‘March for a People’s Vote’ on the final Brexit deal – June 23

Posted on by Besi

On Saturday, June 23, Brighton & Hove Liberal Democrats will join Brighton & Hove for EU, the Green Party and pro-EU Sussex groups in front of Brighton railway station at 9.20 am for a photo opportunity before joining the biggest demonstration there has been for years.

The March for a People’s Vote will start at 12 noon in Pall Mall, London when opponents to Brexit can march to demand a final say on the Brexit deal.

Brighton and Hove a city with a well-deserved reputation for exclusivity, tolerance and creativity, voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. People in the city are angry and anxious about the damage that Brexit will inflict on generations to come.

75% of under-25s voted to stay in the EU, and that figure rises to 80% of women aged between 18 and 24. They and their children are the ones who will suffer and miss out on the opportunities that we have all had.

Whether you belong to a political party or no party at all, you are welcome to join the protestors to demand a vote on the final Brexit deal.

For more information, click here:

_________________________________________________________________

Event: March for a People’s Vote on the Final Brexit deal

Where: Meet in front of Brighton Train Station

When: Saturday, June 23

Time: 9.20am

REVIEW: San Domino @Tristan Bates Theatre, London

Posted on by Besi

Complex and highly emotionally charged, San Domino is a truly poetic piece of theatre!

BASED on a true story about the incarceration of gay men in Mussolini’s pre-war Italy, this is a stunning new musical that deserves a much bigger venue and an international audience.

It has many elements that are dark and tragic – including two suicides, a murder and an execution but ultimately it shows that love, devotion and honesty can overcome oppression.

The evening opens with patriotic and propagandist music and singing in the bar, as the cast lead us to the auditorium.

A group of gay men, including a slightly older prominent lawyer, played sympathetically by Matthew Hendrickson, a guilt-ridden trainee priest (Roger Parkins) an outrageous drag queen, conveyed lovingly and sarcastically by Andrew Pepper all meet with others in what purports to be a musicians’ club but is really a gay underground venue.

When they are joined by a drunken straight man Franco, (David Gibbons) the stage is set for fun and games.

Enter the Chief of Police, a nasty piece of work played menacingly by Andrew Jardine, who decides that although homosexuality is not against the law he will commit them through a tribunal to what he calls “civil death” – internment on the Adriatic island of San Domino.

In a way he does them a huge favour – and here is the first ironic twist in Tim Anfilogoff and Alan Whittaker’s fast-moving script. For the first time in their lives – apart from Franco – they can truly be themselves – liberated by their imprisonment together.

But their reconciliation to their lot is shattered by the arrival of the thuggish, but darkly handsome Mario, played with delightful menace by Grant Neal.

The plot twists this way and that, including a doomed hetero encounter by Franco with the island’s only girl (Hannah Genesius).

Interwoven in the at times poetic dialogue, are songs by James Cleeve, which reveal the characters inner thoughts and cleverly carry the story forward – I particularly like the anthem of self-doubt “Why Like This” which they sing on the open seas on the way to their prison camp.

In another twist, the gay English tourist, caught up in the arrests, played with Gilbert and Sullivan relish by Mark Stewart, is given a cod-Italian accent, while the Italians speak in perfect English – as if to isolate the hapless Andrew.

In the end, as war looms, the survivors all go forward with their lives in their different ways. The actor/ musicians supplemented with a small cabaret style band, are all exceptionally good and it’s a feel-good show despite the bleakness of some of its storyline.

See it if you possible can – it’s a great night in the theatre.

San Domino runs at the Tristan Bates theatre in Covent Garden until June 30

Review by Brian Butler.

 

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