28/02/2019 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

NAT raise concerns about new PrEP places for gay men in London clinics being rationed

Posted on 28/02/201902/03/2019 by Besi

Councils in London may block additional PrEP places proposed for gay and bisexual men.

NHS England announced today that whilst the PrEP Impact trial will double the number of places on the trial in clinics outside London, local authority commissioners in London are still considering what proportion of the proposed additional places they wish to accept. Fifty per cent of PrEP Impact Trial places are for London clinics.

AT least 11 of the 23 London clinics currently have no places available for gay and bisexual men. The result is men needing PrEP are being turned away. Some will go on to acquire HIV as a result.

Additional places agreed by London’s councils will mean clinics can re-open which would be very welcome. But should they turn down some of their full allocation they run the risk of yet again running out of places in the near future.

Deborah Gold, Chief Executive of NAT (National AIDS Trust), said: “We strongly welcome the doubling of places in England outside of London which we trust will mean sufficient PrEP places until the implementation of a national PrEP programme. We urge all those responsible to now redouble their efforts to agree such a programme as soon as possible.

“The delay from London’s sexual health commissioners and the possibility they may refuse some of the additional PrEP places proposed is immensely worrying. On past form they are simply rescheduling for a few months yet another crisis in PrEP access for gay and bisexual men in the capital, and men in need of PrEP will soon be being turned away once more. We urge London’s councils to accept all allocated PrEP places as a matter of urgency.

“We are acutely aware of the financial pressures faced by sexual health services – but the answer to that cannot be to pick on one group of people and deny them incredibly important and effective HIV prevention. Gay and bisexual men are being used as a bargaining chip in a stand-off between local councils and NHS England. It is a sad and shameful episode in the history of sexual health commissioning in London.”

A London Councils spokesperson said: “We welcome NHS England making more places available on the PrEP Impact Trial.

“HIV prevention is a priority public health issue for London boroughs and we work collaboratively through the London HIV Prevention Programme (LHPP), which has made a major contribution to the capital’s progress on reducing HIV rates.

“PrEP is an important part of our combination approach to HIV prevention. Commissioners are in advanced planning with the PrEP Programme Oversight Board to support the increase of clinic places so more people can access PrEP. We are now looking to commissioners to deliver these increases as quickly as possible, while also ensuring they are carefully planned and sustainable.”

Greens announce team of young candidates for local council elections

Posted on 28/02/2019 by Besi

Ahead of the Brighton & Hove City Council elections on May 2, Brighton & Hove Green Party have unveiled a team of five young people who are hoping to join the city council.

THEY are Hannah Clare (25) in Brunswick and Adelaide, Amy Heley (23) in Preston Park, Raphael Hill (22) in Goldsmid, Alice Bennett (22) and Martin Osborne (25) in Hollingdean and Stanmer.

The announcement follows the YouthStrike4Climate, march which took place on February 14.

Caroline Lucas, MP for Brighton Pavilion and Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty, Convenor of the Green Group on Brighton & Hove City Council addressed the march, which Caroline Lucas called “the most hopeful thing that’s happened in years”.

Martin Osborne, is an engineering doctoral student based at the University of Brighton. He is also Young Greens co-organiser on the Brighton & Hove Green Party Executive and is standing in Hollingdean and Stanmer ward.

Martin said: “Our climate crisis is big, but young people can provide a fresh, imaginative and positive view, and demonstrate the dynamism required to get stuck in and back up the talk with action. We’ve recently seen just how effective young people can be at the youth strikes for climate and we will continue to act to guarantee that our future is bright rather than gloomy.”

Alice Bennett, also standing in Hollingdean and Stanmer is the co-convenor of Brighton and Hove Young Greens and is completing an MA at the University of Sussex.

Alice added: “I hope to help ward members with any problems no matter how big or small, but I am particularly interested in strengthening the voice of those who have disabilities, both mental and physical. Hollingdean and Stanmer also has some beautiful green spaces which I would love to see flourish.”

Hannah Clare, candidate for Brunswick & Adelaide is the Young Greens co-organiser on the Brighton & Hove Green Party executive and works as Digital Communications Manager for a local charity. She was formerly Co-Chair of the Young Greens of England and Wales.

Hannah said: “It’s not going far enough to have policies that are aimed at young people alone. If we are to protect the future of young people in the city, then young people must be involved in those decisions. For too long, politicians have failed to represent the views and needs of young people – and it’s time for a change.”

Amy Heley, candidate in Preston Park ward is a final year student. She currently sits on the executive of the Young Greens of England and Wales and works for Our Future Our Choice, a campaigns organisation seeking to involve the voices of young people on Brexit.

Amy said: “I put myself forward for election because I’m passionate about getting more young people engaged and involved in politics. If I become a councillor, I hope to be a voice for the students and young people in the city who have been let down by cuts to youth services, the housing crisis, the lack of mental health support and the uncertainty about the future that austerity and Brexit have brought.”

Raphael Hill, candidate in Goldsmid ward is the co-convenor of Brighton and Hove Young Greens and a trained teacher of English as a Foreign Language.

Raphael said: “I want to give people hope that their voices will be listened to. I want to support residents over their concerns on major building developments, including Lyon Close – issues like excessive height and density. We must fight to use the precious land we have to build housing with social rents and council housing, not barren tower blocks nobody can afford. I love and cherish our community and I will fight to protect it for all residents.”

INTERVIEW: Just One Bullet

Posted on 28/02/201916/02/2019 by Eric Page

Eric Page, our Welsh firebrand, chats with Irish writer, Peter Paul Hartnett, to gain some personal insight to his fiercely provocative poetry.

Your books are exquisitely crafted. What’s the reasoning behind this understated stylish presentation?

“A signed limited edition hardback has a personal touch. So many books are spat out at the press of a button, they feel disposable, tiresomely generic, invariably way too corporate, lacking heart. Readers want something tangible, the feel of print in their hands, a book with a spine, that smell. An artisan approach is suited to the writing, poetry that skids into prose – something to keep, deserving a space in the physical world.”

Poetry? Why?
“I left mainstream publishing to develop writing that is not deemed to have commercial potential. This focus is a way of developing material without worrying about the confines of plot, structure or the dictates of a prissy editor. My interest is upon taboo areas that some view as unpublishable. I’m drawn to ideas that many writers run from.”

Who do you read for the pure joy of it?
“I learned much from court transcripts, psychological case studies and the early fiction of writers such as Dennis Cooper. Cooper’s blog is an amazing online resource for those seeking all things ‘alt’. I loved the High Risk anthologies of the early 1990s, ‘forbidden writing’ edited by Ira Silverberg and Amy Scholder in the US. I’m currently enjoying Crush by Richard Siken and profiles within recon, grindr, scruff and fabswingers.com contain many a candid disclosure that I swoop upon.”

Which song stirs you to sing along?
“So High and Dear Jim by Zerocrop are two tracks I play to death, releasing albums for almost 20 years their music is a hypnotic mix of complex melodies and spoken word on unsettling themes, set against a rich backwash of dulcimer, pedal steel, guitars and electronics. He has such a seductive voice, I’m a fan. His tone of voice is phenomenal. Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner also hits the spot.”

What words of advice would you share with younger LGBT+ wordsmiths?
“Morrissey’s Sing Your Life could act as a motivational starting point. It encourages everybody to walk to the microphone and name the things they love, they loathe, not wishing to go through life with a tale untold. There’s a life lesson in its lyrics. So many queer themes are rarely explored. The stretched-to-f**k AYOR boundaries of chem sex, actively seeking to become pozzed up and the dynamics of intergenerational relationships are three areas of interest.”

Do you have a muse?
“I’m drawn to anonymous objects of desire, random moments that quicken the heart, snapshot sightings which raise the blood pressure, jigsaw moments. I see so many ‘characters’ on the commercialised scene, from rainbow-flagged bar to dank cellar f**k club. The reality of compulsive urban sex is often edited out, dumbed down in PC publishing.

“England is a country which suffered censorship that was absurd, crippling and pernicious.

“I’m an unremitting defender of artistic freedom and the next generation of LGBT+ writers need to go at it raw, refusing to work within confined establishment standards.

“A small number of major publishing houses dominate, with writers being uni-educated workshopped bores who produce proposal after proposal meeting all the tedious tick box requirements. Playing along with the media in-crowd has always been of zero interest. I’m drawn to agitate fine nerve endings, a mission I will not compromise. I believe in the hard punch, not the light touch. Forgive me if I rant, but I’m not the happy homosexual, spouting upbeat soundbites. I’m not the frothy scene queen, spewing on-trend gibberish.”

Tell us something about your grandmother?
“You’re kidding? Oh, you’re not. My father’s side of the family were a farming community from the Beara Peninsula, Cork. My mother’s side of the family were stage-directed by my somewhat OCD grandmother. My father came from a family of 12; my mother was one of five, a relatively small family, all in a two-roomed house. Both women had backbone and were incredibly liberal; believing that in terms of queer there’s invariably one in every family.”

What is courage in this age?
“A certain patience, perseverance and bravery is needed to confront the angst of an uncertain future. As a mentor, I encourage students to avoid a university education, the lure of digital is too much of a distraction and eyes need to look away from telephonic toys to process this overwhelming world we live in. Everything is a choice, from what we eat to a smoke of some synthetic shit, to the deep and meaningful scribble of an impulse tatt. It takes courage not to blend in with the herd.

“In an age when freedom of expression is under grave threat, if not from the State then from fear-engendered by social media pressure groups and religious intolerance, I will not dick around in the way that the so many long-serving bores do, homosexual heavyweights whose work feels better suited to the markets of another century. I relate more to American, European and the new wave of Japanese writers, who have an air of subversion. When I look at the Twitter accounts of award-winning writers, I’m repulsed by the selfies and self-promotional branding and blatant networking. Urgh upon urghs.”

Do you have a favourite word?

“Possibly.”

What’s your safe word?

“Exit.”

Where do you come from?
“I’m from turbulent decades, which so many of my peers did not survive. The scenes were fuelled by amphetamines, alcohol and self-absorbed narcissism. Fast-lane moths, straight to the flames. Then came capital letters E, G, hitting hard. The late 1970s were a time of exhibitionism, voyeurism… fetishists, on parade. Towards the end of the 1980s, Ecstasy created monsters of suburbanites at raves. Messed-up, loved-up smilers, heading for Casualty. I was there, documenting ever-evolving cycles of youth in transition as a photographer and writer. Dry-eyed, sober, drug-free.

“As both a writer and photographer, I’ve specialised in social trawling, with an eye upon innovative style tribes within non-conforming ‘alt’ scenes, especially those identifying as LGBTI. Since the age of 18, I’ve detected and tracked changes in the way brave souls both race and rage from the closet, motivated to express themselves. I document the ‘braille’, the bumps that protrude within an urban setting and clubland, style-fixated landscapes. From punks in bondage trousers to pups in rubber.

“Right now, so many within the fast f**k lane are entrusting their wellbeing to PrEP. Sexual compulsives tick the RATHER NOT SAY / NEVER option list on recon.com re safer sex. It’s that area of risk taking that interests me. I find profiles on sex-based sites to be of more interest than the latest hyped products from Alan Hollinghurst. Barebacking profiles rather than over-priced hardbacks There is a social backbone within my creative work that should be interpreted as a form of constructive activism. It is my hope that forthcoming published work will challenge, motivate and inspire.”

You’ve a new book out this month, what can excited followers of your work expect?

“A piece at the end – The User Experience – goes as far as I can on the mind-set and detrimental development of a Catholic priest named Yuuto. I use retractions as a stylistic device, self-censoring my own work. In my writing that so often has a focus upon the immoral and highly illegal, I work within the law.

“To use a tabloid term, SEX MONSTERS are rarely considered beyond the sensational storm that journalists descend upon after a string of victims. In many respects, that has been my mission since the publication of my first novel, Call Me, back in 1996, exposing uncomfortable truths.”

I Shouldn’t, Must Stop by PP Hartnett, is published by Autopsy costing £10.

University of Brighton takes partnership approach to tackling loneliness

Posted on 28/02/201928/02/2019 by Besi

Finding ways to tackle loneliness and the affordable housing crisis are two of seven new research projects being supported this year by the University of Brighton in partnership with community organisations.

Tackling loneliness, photo by Bruno Martins on Unsplash

THE University’s incubator initiative is designed to foster new community-university partnerships, as well as to help them “sustain themselves into the future for the benefit of the local area”. As part of the Ignite programme the partnerships will be given £4,000 seed funding to undertake new activities together for the benefit of the community.

The seven partnerships were chosen by an Advisory Group made up of members from local community organisations and the University.

Chair of the Group, Professor Tara Dean, the University’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, said: “We had a lot of interest in the Ignite programme, both from our University researchers and community organisations, and it was significantly oversubscribed.

“However, this enabled us to choose seven outstanding new partnerships. These draw on the considerable experience of the community and the University to help identify and address important local issues – many of which will also offer insights that can be of benefit nationally and internationally.

“The Ignite programme also draws on the University’s 15 years’ experience of supporting partnerships via our Community University Partnership Programme (CUPP) which creates sustainable partnerships that benefit the local community and the University.

“The aim now is to develop a new generation of partnerships focused on some of the most significant issues facing our local communities whilst enhancing our teaching and research.”

One Ignite partnership is with the Hangleton and Knoll Project which supports community groups and works with local residents to set up new groups.

Joanna Martindale, its CEO, said: “We know that people living on our estates, older people, and people whose activities are limited by health or disability are less likely than the rest of the city to engage in creative arts or events.

“The partnership with Dr Helen Johnson (Senior Lecturer in the University’s School of Applied Social Sciences) and the University will enable us to train local people to become arts researchers and help understand what needs to be done to encourage broader arts access.

“This research, and the opportunity to take part in the Ignite programme, will be pivotal to informing the development of a neighbourhood arts steering group and a new city-wide community of practice aimed at increasing arts inclusivity and diversity and, crucially, directly impacting future commissioning of the arts.”

Another project ‘Microplastics in the Marine Environment’ is a partnership with Chichester Harbour Conservancy. Others: Moulsecoomb Community Research Project – Trust for Developing Communities; Housing Brighton – Brighton and Hove Community Land Trust; Health as a Social Movement – West Sussex Parent Carer Forum; Tackling Loneliness through co-creation in a Living Lab – The Bevy Community Pub; The clothes on our backs – Diversity Lewes.

The Ignite initiative will be delivered by CUPP and includes a series of shared learning event and mentoring support. It will also involve producing an online guide to community-university partnerships in collaboration with the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement. The initiative has attracted funding from the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Dr Jenni Chambers, Head of UKRI’s Public Engagement Programmes, said: “We are delighted to have been able to support CUPP and the University of Brighton through our recent Strategic Support to Embedding Public Engagement with Research (SEEPER) funding programme. The innovative and inclusive approach to sustaining genuinely impactful collaborations between local communities, recognising their knowledge and experiences, and University researchers for mutual benefit is commended. We anticipate that the Ignite programme will provide much useful learning for the HE sector as these seven exciting partnerships progress.”

For more information on Ignite, click here:

Or email: Dr Nicolette Fox, CUPP’s Development Manager at n.c.fox@brighton.ac.uk

Bristol Pride Festival is on the move

Posted on 28/02/201902/03/2019 by Besi

Following last year’s record numbers attending Bristol Pride, organisers announce their expansion and development plans that will see the annual LGBT+ festival move to Durdham Downs.

THE move will see the festival double its capacity after welcoming 36,000 people to the event last year.

With the increased venue size, Pride will introduce new areas and activities, including a new stage in partnership with national lesbian publication DIVA Magazine, as well as expanding current festival areas. Other new additions this year will include a giant circus tent in partnership with Bassline Circus with performances throughout the day, a wellbeing and mindfulness area, and a silent disco.

The team at Bristol Pride will be celebrating their 10th Anniversary in 2019 during which time Bristol Pride have become one of the largest LGBT Pride events in the UK and one of only four Pride’s in the UK to be named in the Global Top50 of Pride festivals worldwide.

As part of the celebrations, the team are inviting previous acts to perform again at the festival including Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Sonique, NINA, Saara Aalto, and Bristol’s own Dr Meaker.

Whilst many more acts are yet to be announced others set to perform on Pride Day include Boney M, X Factor finalists Four of Diamonds, Hazell Dean and Ru Paul’s Drag Race’s Peppermint with fellow star Manilla Luzon performing at a special Friday event at clubnight ESDR.

The festival will again run for two weeks with events taking place across the city from June 29 until July 14.

As well as the ever ‘pup’ular dog show, events include theatre performances at the Wardrobe Theatre, with Riot Act on Thursday, July 10 marking the 50^th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

The Pride Comedy Night returns on Tuesday, July 9, which this year features their biggest ever line-up including Mawaan Rizwan, Tom Allen, Suzi Ruffell, Jayde Adams, and Zoe Lyons.

The fortnight of events also will showcase the return of the Pride Circus Night at Circomedia, Milk Poetry and the Pride film festival Queer Vision at the Watershed. Alongside some of the best LGBT+ films, Queer Vision will host a special evening partnered with IRIS Prize, where Bristol Pride (and the audience) select a winner for their Best of British short film competition.

Unite Students have been confirmed as the headline sponsor for the festival for a third year in a row.

Daryn Carter CEO of Bristol Pride said: “I’m really excited for Pride 2019, we’re celebrating our success but also securing our future. It’s been an incredible 10 years and we’ve rapidly grown to a Pride that consistently named as one of the biggest and best in the country, as well as being named in the Global Top50.

“Moving to The Downs not only means that we can deliver a bigger festival for everyone wanting to attend but allows us to develop new festival area and present our biggest and most diverse line-up to date.”

Richard Smith, Chief Executive of Unite Students added: “Understanding and valuing diversity amongst our employees and students alike has been instrumental in creating homes and workplaces where there is room for everyone. That’s what makes us particularly excited to be the headline sponsors of Bristol Pride for the third year running. By helping support the expansion of the festivities to the new site, we are securing the opportunity for even more people to get involved and join this important event. We can’t wait to make the 10th birthday the biggest celebration of inclusion yet!”

Pride Day will start with the Parade march in the city centre, which last year saw 12,000 people take to the streets in a colourful, display to showcase visibility for the communities and to declare loudly and proudly that hate and prejudice doesn’t belong in Bristol. A message more important than ever this year following a 23% increase in LGBT+ hate crime in the region.

£7 Supporter Wristbands for Pride Day are available now from the Bristol Ticket Shop.

As well as helping keep the festival going they offer dedicated entry lanes on Pride Day and great money saving rewards such as money off the onsite bars all day, discounts or freebies with festival food traders, £1 journeys with Bristol Ferrys and other offers including 20% off G&Ts at the Watershed Café Bar, 10% off spirit and mixer at Christmas Steps. Super Supporter, Day+Night, 10th Anniversary commemorative fast track Fabric wristbands and donation entry options will all also be available.

For more information on artists, events and supporter wristbands, click here:

Call us now

Day: February 28, 2019

NAT raise concerns about new PrEP places for gay men in London clinics being rationed

Councils in London may block additional PrEP places proposed for gay and bisexual men.

Greens announce team of young candidates for local council elections

Ahead of the Brighton & Hove City Council elections on May 2, Brighton & Hove Green Party have unveiled a team of five young people who are hoping to join the city council.

INTERVIEW: Just One Bullet

Eric Page, our Welsh firebrand, chats with Irish writer, Peter Paul Hartnett, to gain some personal insight to his fiercely provocative poetry.

University of Brighton takes partnership approach to tackling loneliness

Finding ways to tackle loneliness and the affordable housing crisis are two of seven new research projects being supported this year by the University of Brighton in partnership with community organisations.

Bristol Pride Festival is on the move

Following last year’s record numbers attending Bristol Pride, organisers announce their expansion and development plans that will see the annual LGBT+ festival move to Durdham Downs.

Latest News

Call us now

Councils in London may block additional PrEP places proposed for gay and bisexual men.

Share this:

Ahead of the Brighton & Hove City Council elections on May 2, Brighton & Hove Green Party have unveiled a team of five young people who are hoping to join the city council.

Share this:

Eric Page, our Welsh firebrand, chats with Irish writer, Peter Paul Hartnett, to gain some personal insight to his fiercely provocative poetry.

Share this:

Finding ways to tackle loneliness and the affordable housing crisis are two of seven new research projects being supported this year by the University of Brighton in partnership with community organisations.

Share this:

Following last year’s record numbers attending Bristol Pride, organisers announce their expansion and development plans that will see the annual LGBT+ festival move to Durdham Downs.

Share this:

Latest News