25/03/2019 – Scene Magazine – From the heart of LGBTQ+ Life

The QA’s Got Talent Grand Final

Posted on 25/03/201926/03/2019 by Besi

The QA’s Got Talent comes to a grand climax tomorrow evening (Tuesday, March 26) after six weeks of heats and a semifinal.

THE final will be hosted by the talented Poppycock and each of the evenings three drag judges, Sally Vate, Pat Clutcher and Kara Van Park will perform live with each of the finalists. Jon Fletcher owner of the Queens Arms is the fourth judge on the panel.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £500, a spot on the Queens Arms stage during the Pride Village Party and a booking at the Queens Arms.

Event: The QA’s Got Talent Grand Final

Where: Queens Arms, George Street, 7-8 Brighton

When: Tuesday March 26

Time: 8.30pm-midnight

Cost: Free entry

Bear-Patrol raise £399.32 for The Rainbow Fund.

Posted on 25/03/201925/03/2019 by Besi

Bear-Patrol, the social networking group, raised £399.32 for The Rainbow Fund on Sunday.

THE Money was raised at a Charity Car Boot Sale held at Brighton Marina on Sunday, March 24.

Over the last year, Danny Dwyer asked Supporters of the group to donate their unwanted items towards the sale, where a beautifully dry and sunny day brought the crowds out in force helping the stall to near enough sell out by Midday.

Volunteers offering their time on the day were Zoe Peach, Colin Blake, Chris Sarson, Danny Dwyer and John Cook, with many supporters of Bear-Patrol visiting the stall during the day in order to take a rummage through the stall and make a donation to the sale.

The cost of the pitch was kindly donated by Cllr Dee Simson (The Mayor of Brighton & Hove) and the vehicle transport was kindly donated by Lancing Driver Training which both helped immensely to save expenses and increase profits for The Rainbow Fund who give grants to local LGBT+/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in Brighton & Hove.

Danny Dwyer organiser of Bear-Patrol said; “All in all the sale was an incredible success and nature was most certainly on our side with the glorious weather. I can’t thank our volunteers and donors enough for their support with the sale, especially on the day and we look forward to doing it all again next year.”

If you would like to make a donation of items towards next years sale and/or enquire about future Bear-Patrol events email: info@bearpatrol.org.uk

In 2020 Bear-Patrol will be celebrating their 10^th Anniversary of Fundraising and they have an exciting year of community events currently being planned and put into place.

For more information about Bear-Patrol, click here:

LGBT+ Charity announces Futuristic Theme for bank holiday parade

Posted on 25/03/2019 by Besi

Manchester Pride choose Deep Space Pride – A Future World of Equality as the theme for the 2019 Manchester Pride Parade, as the LGBT+ charity invites Manchester to look forward and envisage what the world could look like in the distant future.

THE Manchester Pride Parade, which forms an integral part of the bank holiday weekend Manchester Pride Festival, will take place on Saturday August 23, as the charity invites LGBT+ people and allies to come together and march through the city centre.

This year the theme for The Parade will be Deep Space Pride: A Future World of Equality, and those marching are asked to think about what LGBT+ communities and the attitudes towards them could look like in the future. Colours are expected to be as diverse as the communities that march, as the charity looks to a world where all people are free to love without prejudice.

The theme of the Parade acknowledges the fiftieth anniversary of The Stonewall Riots, an event that is widely considered to constitute the most important event leading to the creation of the gay liberation movement and the modern fight for LGBT+ rights in the United States. While LGBT+ charity Manchester Pride encourages people look to the future, they also look to how far Manchester has come already.

The Parade, which was bigger than ever before in 2018, with just over 10,000 participants in floats and walking entries from businesses and community groups across the region. It is one of the festival’s most highly anticipated events, with thousands of people marching together through the streets of Manchester in front of and tens of thousands of cheering supporters.

With organisations taking part last year including Greater Manchester Police, the fire service, local businesses, charities and the stars of Coronation Street, there will be lots to see.

The Manchester Pride Parade starts on Liverpool Road, passing by the Town Hall and the Gay Village before finishing on Whitworth Street. In recent years it has been led by some of the most prominent faces in the LGBT+ world including Orange Is The New Black actress Lea DeLaria, national treasure Sir Ian McKellen and Manchester’s first out Lord Mayor, Carl Austin-Behan.

Applications are now open for those who wish to take part. Businesses that have taken part in previous events have included Autotrader, Barclays, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Thomas Cook Airlines.

Mark Fletcher, chief executive for Manchester Pride, said: “As we acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, an event which kick started the modern LGBT+ pride movement, we are taking a clear moment to stop, reflect on the changes in society, acknowledge the progress that has been charted and consider the future of LGBT+ equality. What will this look like?

“At Manchester Pride, our vision is a world in which LGBT+ people are free to live and love without prejudice. We’re inviting people to fast forward 50, 100 or even 200 years and envisage what the world could be like at this time, as we march for LGBT+ equality.”

Earlier this year Manchester Pride announced the brand new format for the 2019 Manchester Pride Festival and a new home for the August Bank Holiday event’s live music experience, but the Manchester Pride Parade will remain the same as it welcomes hundreds of thousands of revellers to witness the spectacle of LGBT+ people marching across the city centre on Saturday afternoon.

For more information click here:

Are you interested in Brighton’s rich LGBT+ Heritage?

Posted on 25/03/2019 by Besi

Queer in Brighton, the heritage learning project are looking for people who want to be involved in a new and exciting Heritage project in the city.

THE 12 month Heritage Lottery funded project is aimed at developing heritage skills within the LGBT+ communities and creating a strategy for promoting and reclaiming our rich and diverse heritage.

They are looking for people who are interested in developing their heritage skills, sharing their interest, learning about museum practice, and being a part of a new organisation.

If you’d like to know more about the project and would like to get involved, email: info@queerinbrighton.co.uk

The next monthly LGBT+ History Club ‘Extraordinary Women of Sussex’ A celebration of the work of Val Brown will take place at Brighton Museum on Sunday march 31 from 3.20-4.30.

Val Brown was born in Oxford, lived for much of her life in London and moved to Brighton in 2001. Although she is now a well-established and well-known member of the local LGBT communities, her work as a historical researcher and writer is perhaps less well-known. This history club session will celebrate two of her achievements in that field:

The first is Val’s recently re-issue book about the Brighton and Hove Women’s Hospitals, and the extraordinary women – Helen Boyle, Mabel Jones, Louisa Martindale – who founded and ran them.

The second is her Life of Toupie Lowther – champion fencer and tennis player, lover of fast cars, WWI ambulance driver and friend of Radclyffe Hall.

Local history, women’s history and LGBT history meet and mingle in Val’s work. Go along and hear the stories, see the pictures and, perhaps, buy a book.

The presentation will be compered by Jane Traies, a historian and writer of lesbian history who, like Val, has lived in many places but has now found her place in the LGBT+ communities of Brighton & Hove.

#CensorshipSucks Campaign allows people to have their voices heard

Posted on 25/03/2019 by Graham Robson

Tougher community guidelines on social media result in deleted accounts for many and ever increasing censorship is now impacting dating apps.

DIGITAL safe space is being eroded and censorship seems to be the go to option for governments and companies around the world with anything that’s a bit queer or a bit sexual at the top of the hit list.

Squirt.Org, where men meet other men for sex, fun, and friendship, have launched the #CensorshipSucks campaign to allow people to have their voices heard and tackle what the site sees as the threat of censorship of adult websites.

A spokesperson from Squirt.org said: “Here at Squirt.org, we love sex. We think that sex is a good thing, and that our bodies – whatever the shape, size, colour, or age – are beautiful and should be celebrated. We believe that there’s nothing wrong with getting your clothes off – that there’s no shame attached to nakedness.

“Obviously, not everyone feels the same way. Differences of opinion about sexual expression aren’t a new thing, but there appears to be a growing shift to a more socially conservative outlook on the world. Obviously, if you own the platform – if you’re someone like Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, or YouTube – then you get to decide what content you’re going to allow your users to publish. We might not like the decisions they make, or the way they go about it, but they get to make the rules.

“However, censorship impacts us all, and it can often be in quite unexpected ways. Hook-up apps are being forced to introduce new guidelines for user profile photos. The new guidelines specify that, “photos in underwear, jockstraps or bikini style bathing suits are no longer permitted in profile photos.” Given that these are gay hook-up apps, on the face of it that seems like an odd move. But, they have been backed into a corner. They rely on app stores to distribute their service to users, and app stores are becoming increasingly cautious and conservative when it comes to anything that might be considered adult-oriented.

“From a Squirt.org perspective, we don’t rely on app stores to connect with our members, so we’ve been fortunate to dodge that particular bullet. However, we’re acutely aware that censorship of adult and sex-positive content is only increasing. We can’t be complacent. The rising tide of censorship and online regulation could soon put us all out of business, making it no longer feasible for us to provide the types of services and content that our members value – services and content that also play an important role in our community.

“So, we want to take a stand. We want to send a message. We can’t stay silent in the face of increasing censorship.”

Support for the #CensorshipSucks campaign from Squirt.org users:
“A society that is comfortable with every detail of violence being broadcast on every channel but not comfortable with the broadcasting of examples of the love, lust, compassion, caring, and sexual freedom the porn industry portrays, is a society that seriously needs to reconsider their viewing priorities.” – Jack Andy (@jackandyxxx)

“The whole point about the internet is the freedom to post or create media without censorship. A world with online censorship brings us back to the 1980s. Being a Model and Director in Gay Porn, I think it’s crazy since many men like to and do express themselves in a sexual and more natural manner.

“People shouldn’t be censored on what they want to express sexually. Even censoring nude photography is a big shame as that’s art, art of the male form. We are now in 2019, censoring things online is quite ridiculous and a step backwards as it’s nothing new and nothing to be ashamed of – people and companies have been doing this a long time.” – DICE (@DiceInPDXXX)

For more information and to get involved, view: www.Squirt.org

United Airlines now offer non-binary gender booking options

Posted on 25/03/201925/03/2019 by Besi

United Airlines implements industry-leading LGBT+ inclusive booking capabilities and employee training.

UNITED Airlines has become the first U.S. airline to offer non-binary gender options throughout all booking channels in addition to providing the option to select the title “Mx.” during booking and in a MileagePlus customer profile.

Customers now have the ability to identify themselves as M(male), F(female), U(undisclosed) or X(unspecified), corresponding with what is indicated on their passports or identification.

United’s Chief Customer Officer Toby Enqvist, said; “United is determined to lead the industry in LGBT inclusivity, and we are so proud to be the first U.S. airline to offer these inclusive booking options for our customers.

“United is excited to share with our customers, whether they identify along the binary of male or female or not, that we are taking the steps to exhibit our care for them while also providing additional employee training to make us even more welcoming for all customers and employees.”

As part of implementing these new changes, United has worked with the Human Rights Campaign and The Trevor Project on employee training initiatives.

These initiatives include teaching employees about preferred pronouns and the persistence of gender norms, LGBT competency in the workplace and other steps to make United an inclusive space for both customers and employees.

“At the Human Rights Campaign, we believe being acknowledged as the gender you identify with is part of treating everyone with dignity and respect,” said Beck Bailey, acting director of the Workplace Equality Program. “By providing non-binary gender selection for ticketing and the gender-inclusive honorific ‘Mx’ in user profiles, United Airlines is taking an important step forward for non-binary inclusion.”

Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project added; “The Trevor Project is grateful for United Airlines’ support of our life-saving work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.

“We are thrilled to bring Trevor’s expertise on the mental health of LGBTQ people to United to ensure its employees maintain safe and inclusive spaces for LGBTQ employees and guests.”

United remain committed to building the world’s most inclusive airline. The changes to the booking process are currently available.

PCC attends Ministerial Roundtable to discuss serious violence and knife crime

Posted on 25/03/2019 by Besi

Last week the Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne attended a PCC-led Ministerial Roundtable Discussion on serious violence.

NATIONALLY and locally there have been increases in serious violence and organised crime groups with vulnerable young people being targeted and exploited to carry out their criminal biddings, including carrying knives.

Katy Bourne and her PCC colleagues across the UK recognise the significant challenges around knife crime and serious violence and are determined to work with government and partners to tackle it.

As well as looking at how PCCs could access some of the £100m Government funding set aside to tackle knife crime, the discussions also gave the opportunity to set out the action being taken in Sussex to combat serious violence. This included the implementation of a focused strategy and feedback on what more could be done.

In November 2018 Mrs Bourne secured £891,000 from the Government’s Early Intervention Youth Fund to implement her REBOOT programme. This will tackle serious violence by bolstering diversionary activities for young people across Sussex and strengthening community safety partnerships.

This extra funding will help the VCSE (voluntary, community and social enterprise) sector, schools, health, statutory partners and the police engage positively with under 18s at risk of committing serious violence and those who have already come to the attention of the police.

Commenting on the roundtable discussions The Commissioner said: “This meeting with Crime Minister Victoria Atkins and Policing Minister Nick Hurd proved very useful to take a deeper look at the prevention work being undertaken by police forces across the country to galvanise their response to serious violence. We all recognised that there is a need for closer partnership working to tackle knife crime and in Sussex work has already started to provide a robust response to serious violence.

“Too often young people, many from challenging backgrounds, fall into the ‘wrong crowd’ and focus too heavily on the negatives in their life with no positive distractions. They then become prime vulnerable targets for involvement in this type of criminality. Early intervention which includes building trust with young people is key to preventing this negative outcome and will form the basis of my REBOOT model over this next year of funding from the Home Office.”

Assistant Chief Constable Nick May added: “Tackling serious violence and knife crime in our county remains, as always, a priority for us. For us this means proactively combating county lines and drugs in our community, key to this is engagement and education with our young people to address their fear in crimes and working with our partners across different sectors. It is not a policing issue alone and we work with all agencies to work together to tackle not only the crime but also the root cause.”

Local schools achieve award for outstanding LGBT+ work

Posted on 25/03/201918/03/2019 by Besi

Four schools in Brighton and Hove were recently presented The Rainbow Flag Award for outstanding inclusion of LGBT+ and unsure young people and for tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Georgina Clarke-Green (Assistant Director of BHCC), Anna Spragg (Equalities Manager of BHCC) presents Adam Smith (Senior Student Manager at BACA) with the school’s Rainbow Flag Award

THE evidence-based quality assurance award, funded by the Government Equality Office via the Department for Education, was described by the DfE as “the best framework for LGBT+ inclusion in the country” and supports schools to meet Ofsted and Government requirements around safeguarding, equality and diversity.

BACA, Blatchington Mill and Patcham High all achieved top marks for their efforts and Hertford Infant and Nursery School became the first primary school to receive the award in the South-East.

The Rainbow Flag Award has been delivered by Allsorts Youth Project with support from Brighton and Hove City Council as part of a consortium with The Proud Trust in Manchester, The Kite Trust in Cambridgeshire and Humankind in County Durham.

Development Worker and Training and Education Worker at Allsorts, Reuben Davidson, who has been working closely with the schools says: “It has been an absolute privilege to work with the Brighton and Hove schools – they should be very proud of what they have achieved. All young people deserve to feel safe at school and to see positive representations of people like them and learn about our diverse communities in an age-appropriate and sensitive way. The Rainbow Flag Award aims to create a legacy so that school children in the future are free to thrive and these four are setting an example for others to follow”.

For more information about the Rainbow Flag Award, training opportunities and how Allsorts Youth Project supports LGBT+ and unsure young people in Sussex, click here:

Raunch and Mince!

Posted on 25/03/201921/03/2019 by Besi

Brighton Bear Weekend reveal a full programme of events for this year’s big weekend, from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16, with 12 events scheduled over 4 days.

HIGHLIGHTS this year includes the first ever visit to Brighton of London’s BeefMince! Expect a welcoming crowd full of hotties, beards, cubs, bears and lovers of a good raunchy party on Saturday evening (June 15) at the Rialto Theatre by the Clock Tower.

Another highlight is the upgraded Saturday afternoon party in Dorset Gardens on June 15 – drink, eat, watch and laugh at this fast-growing mainstay of the bear’s weekend.

Miss Jason and Lola Lasagne as J-Lo will greet friends old and new at the Welcome Party (The Amsterdam Bar and Kitchen on Friday June 14), and the all new Mr Brighton Bear competition taking place at Subline (129 St James Street) later the same evening.

Start thinking about your outfits and look out for details about the competition, the prizes and how to register next month!

You can now buy this year’s T-shirt designed by Richard Denne and wristbands that give you discounts on drinks in most BBW venues over the weekend, along with reductions on the Brighton Bear website and at Prowler (112-113 St James’s Street) Brighton.

Tickets for the Saturday night BeefMince will be on sale from midday on March 30. Make sure you get in by getting your ticket early as these will sell out quickly – visit: brightonbearweekend.com.

BBW Chair Graham Munday says; “We have another full programme of events this year with something for everyone. We’re pleased to add two walking tours to our 2019 programme to show off the hidden delights of Brighton that even some locals don’t know about! One is a guided tour of the fabulous Royal Pavilion, and the second an LGBT+ tour of this gayest of cities! Do come and join us for a fun filled weekend by the sea.”

For more details of the full events programme along with the online shop to buy T-shirts and tickets click here:

Call us now

Day: March 25, 2019

The QA’s Got Talent Grand Final

The QA’s Got Talent comes to a grand climax tomorrow evening (Tuesday, March 26) after six weeks of heats and a semifinal.

Bear-Patrol raise £399.32 for The Rainbow Fund.

Bear-Patrol, the social networking group, raised £399.32 for The Rainbow Fund on Sunday.

LGBT+ Charity announces Futuristic Theme for bank holiday parade

Manchester Pride choose Deep Space Pride – A Future World of Equality as the theme for the 2019 Manchester Pride Parade, as the LGBT+ charity invites Manchester to look forward and envisage what the world could look like in the distant future.

Are you interested in Brighton’s rich LGBT+ Heritage?

Queer in Brighton, the heritage learning project are looking for people who want to be involved in a new and exciting Heritage project in the city.

#CensorshipSucks Campaign allows people to have their voices heard

Tougher community guidelines on social media result in deleted accounts for many and ever increasing censorship is now impacting dating apps.

United Airlines now offer non-binary gender booking options

United Airlines implements industry-leading LGBT+ inclusive booking capabilities and employee training.

PCC attends Ministerial Roundtable to discuss serious violence and knife crime

Last week the Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne attended a PCC-led Ministerial Roundtable Discussion on serious violence.

Local schools achieve award for outstanding LGBT+ work

Four schools in Brighton and Hove were recently presented The Rainbow Flag Award for outstanding inclusion of LGBT+ and unsure young people and for tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Raunch and Mince!

Brighton Bear Weekend reveal a full programme of events for this year’s big weekend, from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16, with 12 events scheduled over 4 days.

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Call us now

The QA’s Got Talent comes to a grand climax tomorrow evening (Tuesday, March 26) after six weeks of heats and a semifinal.

Share this:

Bear-Patrol, the social networking group, raised £399.32 for The Rainbow Fund on Sunday.

Share this:

Manchester Pride choose Deep Space Pride – A Future World of Equality as the theme for the 2019 Manchester Pride Parade, as the LGBT+ charity invites Manchester to look forward and envisage what the world could look like in the distant future.

Share this:

Queer in Brighton, the heritage learning project are looking for people who want to be involved in a new and exciting Heritage project in the city.

Share this:

Tougher community guidelines on social media result in deleted accounts for many and ever increasing censorship is now impacting dating apps.

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United Airlines implements industry-leading LGBT+ inclusive booking capabilities and employee training.

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Last week the Police Crime Commissioner (PCC) Katy Bourne attended a PCC-led Ministerial Roundtable Discussion on serious violence.

Share this:

Four schools in Brighton and Hove were recently presented The Rainbow Flag Award for outstanding inclusion of LGBT+ and unsure young people and for tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying.

Share this:

Brighton Bear Weekend reveal a full programme of events for this year’s big weekend, from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16, with 12 events scheduled over 4 days.

Share this:

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