Big prizes, pop tunes and a special guest performance will all feature at the opening night of one of the UK’s biggest free LGBT+ festivals.
ORGANISERS of the Northern Pride Festival have teamed up with club night favourite, Bongo’s Bingo, to host a one-off event at the launch night of this year’s festival on Friday 19 July.
And the evening will also feature a live show from MOBO award-winning group Big Brovaz and R&B group Booty Luv, best known for hit songs Baby Boy and Boogie 2nite.
The popular bingo club night – where singing along to favourite pop classics and dancing on the table mid-game is encouraged – first started in Liverpool and has now toured all over the UK and abroad.
Players will also be able to make the most of the fun fair and a range of food stalls and bars at the Pride event, which takes place at the Festival Arena at Newcastle’s Town Moor.
Ste Dunn
Ste Dunn, chair of Northern Pride, believes it is the perfect way to launch this year’s festival.
He said:“We’re so excited to be hosting the team at Bongo’s Bingo for the opening night of Pride and performances from Big Brovaz and Booty Luv are sure to make the evening something really special.”
“Bongo’s Bingo injects new life into bingo and it’s not difficult to see why it has become so popular with adults of all ages.”
“I can’t think of a better way to launch the festival this year and it’s sure to be a fantastic night to remember.”
Jonny Bongo
Bongo’s Bingo co-founder and host of the evening, Jonny Bongo, said: “We can’t wait to bring the ultimate Bongo’s Bingo to this year’s Northern Pride.
“We know for a fact that Newcastle is home to one of the wildest crowds in the UK and I can’t wait to see them in action.
“We’ll be bringing more confetti, more guilty-pleasure tunes and more amazing prizes than Newcastle will know what to do with.”
All proceeds from ticket sales for the event will go towards helping the Northern Pride Festival weekend stay free.
Big Brovaz and Booty Luv
The festival returns to Newcastle’s Town Moor and Exhibition Park from July 19 to 21, with a star-studded line-up including headliners Fleur East and Liberty X taking to the stage over the weekend.
This year’s event is spread across two locations, with the main stage, fun fair and bars at the Town Moor’s Festival Arena, while Exhibition Park will host the Community Village, with the Curious Arts Stage, Rainbow Village, Health and Wellbeing Zone and more.
The festival is free to attend but Platinum Passes are available to purchase for those who would like to secure a prime viewing position and access to a dedicated bar area and posh toilets.
A man from Surbiton who defied the odds to recover from a late diagnosis of HIV and go on to fight for disability rights has been nominated for a national award.
ROLAND Chesters, who was given just two weeks to live at the time of his diagnosis, has suffered long term effects on his brain and motor skills because the virus was picked up and treated at a late stage.
He has overcome post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic ill health and discrimination to bring greater disability rights to the workplace and tackle the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS.
Now Roland’s work has been recognised by The National Diversity Awards (NDA), whose supporters include Graham Norton, Katie Piper and Adam Hills.
Roland, who works as a disability development consultant at Luminate, said:“I am delighted to be nominated for such a prestigious award and hope it will raise awareness of the hidden disability that is HIV and AIDs.
“There is still a fear and ignorance about HIV, which puts people off getting tested. I want to spread the message that those on medication are undetectable and cannot pass it on.”
The NDA are the UK’s largest diversity awards, which recognises inspirational people in fields of diversity including age, disability, gender, race, faith, religion and sexual orientation.
Sir Lenny Henry CBE, a previously shortlisted nominee for the Celebrity of the Year gong said:“Diversity to me means involving everybody without any discrimination; its means having integrated groups in society, it means fairness and total inclusion and that’s what the National Diversity Awards are about. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated, you’re all doing a fantastic job, rock on!”
Roland, 59, became a chair for the disabled staff network at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where he previously worked as a language-testing specialist. He introduced a change of policy – enabling disabled staff to no longer have to regularly change jobs.
The Royal Holloway University of London graduate helps employers in various industries to create an inclusive workforce and for their employees to develop confidence in their role.
Roland supports a number of charities and community projects, such as the Terrence Higgins’ Trust Positive Voices, where he speaks about HIV at schools, colleges and workplaces in order to tackle existing stereotypes.
He has volunteered as a mentor with Positively UK, a charity which offers peer-led support. During this time, he has supported people who have been ostracised and attacked after they ‘came out’ with their diagnosis
One man, who was sexually assaulted and cannot be named for legal reasons, was afraid to leave his home until he worked with Roland.
The man has nominated Roland for the award, saying:“Roland took me under his wing and helped me to conquer my fears as I use to lock myself indoors. Roland helps me say ‘I have HIV.”
Roland, who was diagnosed in 2006, has also sat on a number of boards, including the National Long Term Survivors Group (NLTSG), which supports HIV Positive people, and the London AIDS Memorial Campaign and Disability Rights UK – where at the time he was the only gay, disabled person on the board.
Roland has widely shared his own story in order to break-down barriers. In 2018 he published Ripples from the Edge of Life, which is both a memoir and self-help book.
Roland, who continues to speak out at events and in the press, said:“I will not live in fear. I want to stand up for other people who may be more vulnerable or with less of a support network”.
“Until there are enough people living with the condition saying ‘this is who I am and I cannot pass on the infection the stigma will not go away.”
Roland lives with his partner, Richard, in Surbiton, Surrey. He enjoys opera, classical music, theatre and fashion.
The NDA receives over 25,000 nominations and votes each year. Founder and CEO Paul Sesay said: “We look to those who represent progress, spirit and resilience and I cannot wait to learn about the wonderful work being carried out this year.”
Community and voluntary organisations throughout the city can apply for a share of a £363,000 council funding scheme.
THE Communities Fund aims to help the wide variety of voluntary organisations who make a big impact on the life of the city.
Groups can apply for money to help with running costs, the cost of organising a specific activity or event, or to buy small items of equipment.
Last year (2018/19) a total of 99 groups, who between them work with thousands of people across the city, benefited from the fund.
Organisations which received a share of the funds included, for example, Moulsecoomb Amateur Boxing Club, the Crew Club in Whitehawk, Sussex Bears Wheelchair Basketball Team, Benfield Wildlife and Conservation Group, and Brighton & Hove LGBT Switchboard.
How to apply This year’s funding scheme is now open and the deadline for the first round of applications is May 24, 2019. There are also other opportunities to apply for money from the scheme throughout the year.
The main aims of the fund are: ♦ improving wellbeing
♦ building cohesion
♦ promoting fairness
These aims are supported through three funding streams. ♦ The Engagement Fund with awards up to £2,000;
♦ The Resilience Fund up to £10,000 and
♦ The Collaboration Fund up to £20,000 for partnership projects.
The fund is supported by the Phillip Hedgcock Bequest – a charitable trust fund administered by the Communities, Equality & Third Sector Team – with investment from the council’s Textile Recycling Fund.
For more information about the Communities Fund and how to apply on the council’s website, click here:
King Sammy Silver returns to Brighton Fringe with his award-winning (Pebble Trust Bursary 2018), delightfully queer comedy cabaret, ‘Sass, Sex and Surrealness’.
GO along and join the drag king bear cub as he navigates the highs and lows of the trans, queer experience through song, dance, comedy and much more!
Also his annoying sibling, Sally, may make an appearance or two, as they are never too keen on Sammy in the spotlight.
Event: Sass, Sex and Surrealness with King Sammy Silver
HOAX return to Brighton Fringe, following their award-winning show Hysterical in 2016’s Fringe, staging Bright Raven at ONCA Gallery on Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15, Friday 16 and Saturday 18 May 2019.
“IF we can’t imagine a positive future, how on earth could we possibly create one?” – Lucy Neal
That’s the question posed by Bright Raven. And she’s here to stir things up. Part interactive TED Talk, part televangelist and part self-help guru, Bright Raven is a playful interactive theatre show which challenges us to think outside the familiar doomsday scenario to create new narratives for the future of the planet.
Bright Raven is starting a revolution. Shaking up these turbulent times. A storm in a teacup. A collective washing of the brain. A comedic induction into a New World Order. And she wants YOU to join.
Inspired by questions about the stories we’re always told and seeking new visions of the future unencumbered by what we ‘know’, Bright Raven is an interactive theatre-rite performed by award-winning HOAX’s Flavia Bertram in collaboration with the audience, accompanied by an electronic soundscape played on a Launchpad Mini device worn on her body.
“Young people are asking questions about their futures and the prospects for the earth which generations of politicians have failed to address,”says Bright Raven performer and creator Flavia.“This comedic piece seeks to open imaginative pathways – for the creators and audience alike – to new future narratives and possibilities.”
ONCA was specially chosen as the venue for the show for its commitment to social and ecological change and creative arts and learning projects which ask questions about the big issues for our times.
“There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns”…..Octavia Butler
Event: BRIGHT RAVEN
Where: The Courtyard, ONCA Gallery, 14 St George’s Place, Brighton, BN1 4GB
The most important appointment any chorus makes is that of the person who trains and conducts the singers.
FOR the last nine years, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus has been brilliantly served by Marc Yarrow who honed them into a professional, musical, at times clinical performing machine.
His are tough boots to fill, but no one need worry about the choice of his replacement, Joe Paxton who steps up from his role as assistant chorus director to take centre stage.
He brings a fresh, approach to music making with the chorus, and has quickly resolved the historic balance problems between the first and second tenors. From a personal observation listening and watching from out front, the chorus clearly love singing for him, with row on row of smiling faces and a more relaxed approach to the delivery of their performance. When conducting he shapes the sound rather than the music which produces a wider range of dynamics in the chorus.
For me, this show was all about one number in the second half Run by Leona Lewis which demonstrated just how good this chorus will become under his leadership. The balance of the ensemble singing was immaculate, as was the managed crescendo he engineered going from sotto voce to climaxing a magnificent full-blown male voice wall of sound, which in my humble view was world-class in its execution and I have no doubt will become the trademark of the chorus going forward. Tim Nail’s subtle arrangement was the cherry on the cake illustrating just how strong the musical partnership driving this chorus has been and will now continue to be for many years to come.
As always, featured soloists revealed the depth of talent this chorus has. Andrew Farr’s recreation of If You Go Away sent shivers down my spine morphing Jacques Brei’s words and Rod McKuen’s music together to create a performance of the very highest standard. (Go see his Piaf show at the Rialto Theatre during the Fringe Festival on May 19, 27 and 28)
In his rendition of Evermore from Beauty and the Beast,Nick Ford captured both vulnerability and hope in his performance. When he opened up each time to sing “Now I know she’ll never leave me” I believed his every word. His voice is glorious and gets better as it matures.
Graeme Clark’s interpretation of I’ll Never Love Again from A Star is Born illustrated what an accomplished artist he is. His control of the lyric was impressive, I believed he would never love again. Like Andrew Farr he brought together the music, lyric and stagecraft beautifully.
Other soloists on the night included Von Uy singing Selena’s Dreaming of You, and Rod Edmunds with a lovely controlled performance of Hello Young Lovers from The King and I. James McGoldrick and Sadoe Ueda duetted on Love is an Open Door from Frozen and Colin Eeles gave us a beautfully judged “lyrical” rendition of Soft CellsSay Hello Wave Goodbye, not an easy song to deliver while Andrew Williams and his backing dancers (James Long, John Kennedy, Peter Bird, Von Uy) bought a smile to my face with a spirited performance of Otis Redding’sHard to Handle. Collectively this was the strongest combined group of soloists I can remember hearing at a Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus concert
Small sketches between numbers charting the dynamics of a developing relationship were penned by the writing team of Jon Taylor, Mike Tietz, Kevin Westgate, Andy Williams, Stephen Tucker and illustrated how the talents of the writers were not restricted just to their singing.
Accompanist and Music Director Tim Nail is the glue that holds the performances from this chorus together. The show was beautifully produced and presented by Creative Director Quintin Young.
Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus next show is In Time For Pride on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 at St George’s Church, Brighton
A surge in support across the city saw the Greens take votes from both Labour and Conservatives as they came close to taking back control of the City Council to become the official opposition.
Image: Hugo Michiels
THE final result was 20 seats for Labour, 19 Greens, 14 for Conservatives and 1 Independent in the rock solid Tory Ward of Rottingdean Coastal.
Cllr Phélim Mac Cafferty
Convenor of the Green Group, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty said: “Greens are absolutely thrilled at the result this evening. It’s a vote for more Green voices on how the city is run. Residents have sent a resounding message that more Greens are needed to deliver real action on climate change, housing and homelessness.
“We are now focused on doing what is best for the city and in the coming days, we will be reaching out in order to deliver the positive change that is needed in Brighton and Hove.”
Highest profile casualty on a day of high drama was Cllr Emma Daniel the Labour candidate for Hanover & Elm Grove and Chair of the Neighbourhoods, Communities & Equalities Committee who lost her seat to a Green.
Four recounts were needed in Hangleton & Knoll ward where Conservative Group leader Tony Janio was just 27 votes ahead of the first placed Labour candidate John Patrick. His running mate Nick Lewry scraped back in by just 2 votes.
Cllr Tony Janio
Following the disappointing performance of the Conservatives across the city, Cllr Janio has stood down as leader of the Conservative Group, blaming Brexit for his decision.
He said:“This was a massive Brexit kicking for us. I couldn’t stand again as leader of the Conservative group while Theresa May remains Prime Minister.”
Labour in Brighton & Hove, bucked the national trend where Labour was punished for their confused policy on Brexit. They lost 82 councillors and control of 6 councils across the Country, while Lib Dems locally did not match the Party’s national successes where they gained 703 new Councillors and took control of 10 new Councils. Greens nationally gained 194 new councillors, but failed to take a single Council.
Cllr Daniel Yates
Labour leader of the city council, Daniel Yates said:“We are the first administration in 20 years given this responsibility again.
“This council switched and switched. We have kept the confidence of the city, given the national protest vote.
“This is a progressive city. We have seen across the city the two progressive political parties returned at the expense of the regressive Conservatives.”
STARE, the debut mixed media exhibition from Ripple Art Collective exploring body hair and society’s relationship with it, shows at ONCA Gallery in Brighton as part of Brighton Fringe from May 14–19.
THIS show includes illustration, photography and film from artists Hazel McCoubrey, Lucy Le Brocq, Veronika Teo and Amy Anam Cara, who each let their body hair grow, some for the first time since adolescence. This exhibition documents their journeys, questions that were raised, and what was experienced.
New research finds that people receiving effective treatment for HIV can’t pass on the virus to their sexual partners.
THE study published in the Lancet looked at 1,000 gay males who had sex without using condoms – where one partner was HIV positive and on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART) and the other HIV negative – reporting no cases of within-couple HIV transmission over 8 years.
A study of 972 gay male serodifferent couples, in which one partner was on suppressive antiretroviral therapy (ART), has found no cases of HIV transmission within couples over 8 years of follow-up.
The observational study, which is the largest of its kind and published in The Lancet today, provides conclusive evidence that having an undetectable viral load (less than 200 copies/mL) on ART means that the virus is NOT transmittable.
Over 8 years of follow-up in the study, 15 HIV-negative men became infected with HIV, but none of the viruses screened in the newly infected partner were genetically linked to the HIV virus that had infected their main partners—ruling out any within-couple HIV transmissions.
Importantly, the researchers estimate that effective ART prevented around 472 HIV transmissions during the 8 years of the study.
The authors emphasise the importance of regular monitoring and supporting people with long-term adherence to therapy and caution that the effectiveness of ART in preventing HIV transmission is dependent on ensuring that the virus remains undetectable in the blood.
The results support the international U=U (undetectable equals untransmittable) campaign, that has been endorsed by more than 780 HIV organisations in 96 countries, to raise awareness of how scientific evidence shows that effective ART means people living with HIV can have sex without fear of transmitting the HIV virus to others.
Professor Alison Rodger from UCL, UK, who co-led the research said:“Our findings provide conclusive evidence for gay men that the risk of HIV transmission with suppressive ART is zero.
Prof Alison Rodger
“Our findings support the message of the international U=U campaign, that an undetectable viral load makes HIV untransmittable. This powerful message can help end the HIV pandemic by preventing HIV transmission, and tackling the stigma and discrimination that many people with HIV face.
“Increased efforts must now focus on wider dissemination of this powerful message and ensuring that all HIV-positive people have access to testing, effective treatment, adherence support and linkage to care to help maintain an undetectable viral load.”
The new study, PARTNER2, assessed the risk of HIV transmission between serodifferent (one partner is HIV-positive, one is HIV-negative) gay male couples not using condoms. The results add to an earlier phase of the PARTNER study, which found that HIV transmission risk for serodifferent heterosexual couples was zero.
The first phase of the PARTNER study, which took place between September 2010 and May 2014 and was published in 2016, recruited and followed up 1,116 serodifferent couples who were not using condoms.
Of these, 888 couples, both heterosexual (548 couples) and gay men (340 couples), provided 1,238 eligible years of follow-up from 14 European countries. The second phase of the study (PARTNER2) included gay male couples only.
Between September, 2010 and July, 2017, 972 gay couples were recruited, of which 782 provided 1,593 eligible years of follow up—the main reasons couples weren’t included in the analysis were because no condomless sex was reported, they had used pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP or PEP), or HIV viral load or HIV test results were not available.
Couples had frequent follow-up (every 6-12 months) to complete confidential questionnaires on their sexual behaviour, to test HIV-negative partners for HIV, and to measure plasma HIV-1 viral load in the HIV-positive partner. If HIV-negative partners became infected with HIV, genetic testing was done to see whether the virus was genetically similar to their study partner’s virus, or was acquired from another sexual partner.
At the start of the study, the couples had already been having sex without condoms for a median of 1 year, and the HIV-positive partners had been on ART for a median of 4 years, with high adherence (98% participants reported 90% adherence).
During an average of 2 years follow-up (per couple), couples had anal sex without condoms a total of 76,088 times (equivalent to about once a week).
During the study, over a third (37%; 288/777) of HIV-negative men reported having sex without a condom with other partners. Around a quarter of HIV-positive (214/779) and HIV-negative (185/779) men reported at least one STI such as syphilis and gonorrhoea since their last visit. Only 5% (37/779) of HIV-positive men reported missing ART for more than 4 consecutive days.
The authors note several limitations, including that most HIV-negative gay men were white with an average age of 38 years—yet most HIV transmission occurs in young people aged 25 years or younger. Additionally, the majority of HIV-positive partners had been on suppressive ART for several years, so the authors had limited data on transmission risk during the initial months of ART.
Dr Myron Cohen
Commenting on the implications of the findings in a linked comment, Dr Myron Cohen from the UNC Institute for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, USA writes:“These important results serve to inspire and challenge us. Timely identification of HIV-infected people and provision of effective treatment leads to near normal health and lifespan and virtual elimination of the risk of HIV transmission. Yet maximising the benefits of ART has proven daunting, especially for men who have sex with men It is not always easy for people to get tested for HIV or find access to care; in addition, fear, stigma, homophobia, and other adverse social forces continue to compromise HIV treatment. Furthermore, diagnosis of HIV infection is difficult in the early stages of infection when transmission is very efficient, and this limitation also compromises the treatment as prevention strategy…The results of the PARTNER2 study provide yet one more catalyst for a universal test-and-treat strategy to provide the full benefits of antiretroviral drugs. This and other strategies continue to push us toward the end of AIDS.”
Dr Michael Brady
Dr Michael Brady, Medical Director at Terrence Higgins Trust and National NHS Adviser for LGBT Health, said:“It is impossible to overstate the importance of the findings about this crucial treatment, which the NHS provides to all patients as soon as they are diagnosed with HIV.
The PARTNER study has given us the confidence to say, without doubt, that people living with HIV who are on effective treatment cannot pass the virus on to their sexual partners. This has incredible impact on the lives of people living with HIV and is a powerful message to address HIV-related stigma.”
New film shines a light on the impact of PrEP on transgender people.
A new short film has been launched to increase awareness of the HIV prevention pill pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among trans people.
The video follows the journeys of Sami and Dani who currently take PrEP for HIV prevention. It’s a collaboration between iwantPrEPnow, PrEPster, My Genderation and Terrence Higgins Trust with funding from Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Trans people continue to be at increased risk of HIV, which is why it’s important that information about PrEP reaches these communities. Trans women are 49 times more likely to contract HIV than the general population.
When taken as prescribed, PrEP is almost 100% effective at preventing HIV. PrEP, alongside condoms, regular HIV testing and effective treatment which means people living with HIV can’t pass the virus on, are key tools to end future transmissions of the HIV virus.
Dani, who shares their story in the film, describes PrEP as “a revelation”.
They said:“I’ve found PrEP a real lifeline. It’s definitely helped me feel more confident and more in control of the sex I’m having. It’s discrete, I can take it on my own – it’s not something you have to take with your sexual partner. It’s been a revelation for me.
“A lot of people worry than when they start taking PrEP they become less responsible in other areas, but I’ve actually become much more clued up and because I’m having to go to the clinic to get new PrEP and get my bloods done anyway, I’m getting tested more regularly and I’m generally looking after my sexual health better.”
Sami, who shares her experience of transitioning and taking PrEP in the film, says:“It is something I can use to keep myself safe. PrEP arrived as I was transitioning and now I have a healthier sex life. When you are going through a process of transitioning, there’s a lot to future figure out. To have tools to keep us safe is a really positive thing.”
The film also features insights from sexual health and gender identity medic, Dr Kate Nambiar, who describes PrEP as one of the reasons why new HIV diagnoses have fallen over the last two years.
They add:“Trans people are coming and asking about PrEP and that’s a fantastic thing. Trans people are just like everyone else in being at risk of HIV through having sex with other people, but for many it’s about being able to express themselves sexually without having to worry about HIV in the background.”
PrEP is currently available via the England wide PrEP Impact Trial that is running until late 2020, with places open for trans people to enrol. It is available via the NHS in Scotland and through an uncapped study in both Wales and Northern Ireland.
Fox
Fox from My Genderation says:“PrEP is one of the best tools we have in our efforts to end new HIV transmissions in the UK and it’s therefore essential that everyone who could benefit from it knows about it and has access to it.
“This film gives a unique insight into the journeys trans people have and how PrEP can play an important part in making people feel empowered and confident about their sex and sexual health.
‘Trans communities continue to be at increased risk of HIV, so I would recommend anyone who thinks PrEP might be for them to speak to their sexual health clinic and find out more.”
Sir Lenny Henry CBE, a previously shortlisted nominee for the Celebrity of the Year gong said: “Diversity to me means involving everybody without any discrimination; its means having integrated groups in society, it means fairness and total inclusion and that’s what the National Diversity Awards are about. Congratulations to everyone who has been nominated, you’re all doing a fantastic job, rock on!”
Roland supports a number of charities and community projects, such as the Terrence Higgins’ Trust Positive Voices, where he speaks about HIV at schools, colleges and workplaces in order to tackle existing stereotypes.
New research finds that people receiving effective treatment for HIV can’t pass on the virus to their sexual partners.
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