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Trans Pride Brighton Online seek acts for their live-stream Main Stage

Would you like to perform on the live-stream main stage at Trans Pride Brighton 2020?

Since Covid-19 is preventing Trans Pride Brighton from having a gathering this year, Trans Pride Brighton Online on Saturday, July 18 from 1pm will be a day dedicated to the empowerment of all trans, intersex and gender variant people.

The organisers are very open minded about performances, so whether you want to sing a song from your bedroom or share a pre-recorded video you have made, get in touch!

Requirements for Main Stage:

1. You can either live-stream your performance using your preferred streaming platform or send a pre-recording.

2. For poetry and spoken word, your work should be a celebration of trans and gender identity.

3. The main stage live-stream has to be family friendly and therefore adaptations will be required. (i.e. no swearing, discussion of adult themes and nudity.)

4. Local and international trans/non-binary/intersex people will be given an opportunity to participate with trans, non-binary/intersex BAME people (black, Asian, and minority ethnic) along with disabled people will be given a higher preference.

5. Cisgender (i.e. non-trans) artists are welcome to participate but only in partnership with trans, non-binary and intersex members.

6. You will be required to send all lyrics and poems in a word or PDF format, so Trans Pride can give it to their British Sign Language Interpreters.

If you would like to apply, please send the following to info@transpridebrighton.org by midnight on Tuesday, June 30:

1. A brief description of your act.

2. How many people are in your act and their pronouns.

3. Whether you are live-streaming your performance of sending in a pre-recorded video.

4. Conformation that you identify as trans, non-binary or gender variant.

Stage Rules: 

In order to make the event a safe space, for everyone to feel included and for the day to run smoothly, please note the following rules:

Please respect everyone’s pronouns and identities. If unsure check with the person first or use gender neutral pronouns (they/them).

Please respect people from minority groups, any racism and bigotry will be severely dealt with.

No cultural appropriation will be tolerated, this includes white people with dreadlocks, yellow face, blackface, wearing of other cultures’ traditional dress etc.

Please make sure that you are aware of your time slot. If you aren’t sure, contact a stage manager who will be able to confirm your slot.

No playing over your allocated time limit, your sound will be cut at the end time. This is to ensure that the next performers are not jeopardised by late running.

Please make sure that you are not intoxicated. Anyone who is deemed intoxicated will be removed from the livestream.

And lastly, enjoy yourselves!

For more info on Trans Pride Brighton, visit their website here. or follow them on Facebook @TransPrideBrighton

Galop responds to government plans on trans legislation

Galop, the UK’s LGBTQ+ anti-violence charity, has responded to Government plans to scrap reforms of the Gender Recognition Act (GRA), which would have enabled trans people to change their birth certificate without a medical diagnosis. The response is:

‘The Government’s alleged plans outlined in a recent Sunday Times article to abandon planned reform of laws protecting trans people and to actively legislate against trans women are deeply concerning to us.

‘All women deserve safety and dignity, whether they are trans or cisgender and whatever their sexuality. Women-only services are specialist spaces for and by women, with an increasing number having a positive history of working with trans women. Galop supports safe and inclusive services for all women.

‘Galop’s daily experience of supporting LGBTQ+ people facing violence and abuse leads us to be deeply apprehensive about the impact of these plans on our clients.

‘Trans women, and particularly black trans women, can face extremely high levels of violence and we are keen that government action should not excuse or legitimise the climate of hostility growing toward trans people in the UK.

‘Trans people are at particularly high risk of experiencing domestic abuse and sexual violence; with access to specialist services being essential to their safety and recovery.

‘Transphobic hate crime has also been rising year on year, with reports showing trans women to be at particular risk. The most recent set of Government data showed a concerning 25% increase in hate crime towards trans people, which was disproportionate to the overall 10% rise in hate crime. We foresee that these plans will lead to a greater increase in hate toward trans people by further legitimising the false belief that trans women pose a threat.

‘That these plans have been reported during Pride month and the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement shows disregard for the fact that black, Asian, minority ethnic and refugee trans people, particularly black trans women, already experience shockingly high levels of violence.

‘We are concerned that these plans, if true, will not only negatively impact on trans women who experience violence or abuse, but also gender non-conforming cisgender women’s access to services and public toilets. There is no safe and dignified way to police the anatomy of someone accessing a service.

‘Galop welcomes the reported plan to ban gay ‘cures’, however the absence of an equivalent ban on trans ‘cures’ is unacceptable.  There is robust evidence that so-called ‘conversion therapy’ is actively harmful, whether it is targeted at sexuality or gender identity. There is no reason trans people should be left out of protections against this abusive practice.’

More info on Galop.

Brighton’s rough sleepers offered HIV and hepatitis screening

Some 200 people sleeping rough in three hotels in Brighton due to the coronavirus pandemic are being offered hepatitis and HIV tests.

Brighton charity the Martin Fisher Foundation set up the screening programme, which started on Monday, June 22, in partnership with the not-for-profit organisation EmERGE M-Health, saying it had created a “once-in-a-lifetime chance to reach out to this hard-to-find group”.

Finger-prick tests are being offered to homeless people living in the Britannia, the King’s and the Brighton hotels and participants are being given a £5 food voucher for their time.

Outreach workers from Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and the Terrence Higgins Trust are working with support workers from homeless charity St Mungo’s to provide the tests.

The MFF said dried blood spot sampling (DBS) was the “preferred testing method” and gave “highly accurate” results, adding that the HIV virus could now be controlled and not passed on with the help of just one tablet a day.

It added that hepatitis C was now “completely curable” with one tablet a day for up to 12 weeks.

Dr Jaime Vera, consultant HIV physician at Brighton and Sussex University Hospital, called the screening programme a “unique opportunity to engage with a group that struggle to access testing for infections in traditional healthcare facilities”.

Reading Terrorist Attack: LGBTQ+ Community Mourns

The third victim of the Reading knife attacks has been named locally as David Wails, a scientist and LGBTQ+ community supporter. Michael Main, a friend, described David as person who “always made people smile. We had a lot of banter, it’s sad to know he’s gone so early.”

James Furlong, a local teacher of history and his friend Joe Ritchie-Bennett, who worked for a Dutch pharmaceutical company, have also died. Messages on an online condolence book said that David “was an incredibly accepting man. He was open about his sexuality as a gay man and made it ok for more of us to be as well. He will be dearly missed.” Joe, am American who had lived in the UK for 15 years was a widower whose husband had died previously from cancer. “I`m happy for them that they`re back together “ a friend told the Philadelphia Inquirer. 

The Reading Chronicle has online books of condolences opened for each of the men:

Tributes to Joe Ritchie-Bennett

Tributes to David Wails

Tributes to James Furlong

A statement from Reading Pride CEO Martin Copper said “It is with deep sadness that I write this. Friends of Reading Pride have been taken too soon due to the actions of an individual. The individuals taken were personal friends of mine. They were supporters of Reading as a community and of Reading Pride. James, Joe, and David were true gentlemen. Each with their own unique personality. They were regulars of the Blagrave, a community pub, whose regulars will be in mourning.They were a support network for individuals, and I know they will be sorely missed by many.We will come together as a community. We will work with local authorities as well as with the families and friends of the victims. We will work to make things better and assist if there is any shortfall in any aspect of this atrocity. Love Unites, and we must rally together as a community. We must be there for each other.”

A minutes silence was held outside the Blagrave Arms. Ahead of the silence a friend of the victims, Jamie Wake, told reporters “The LGBT+ community and our allies, here in Reading, are close family, and we’re stood here outside the Blagrave, a place we call home, and a safe space for so many members of our community. A place that today we have all been drawn to as we unite together, to mourn as one.”

 

Stonewall said “Our thoughts are with those affected by the attack in Reading on Saturday. It’s heartbreaking to hear two of the victims were LGBT. But we can’t let Islamophobic, racist and xenophobic rhetoric be used to divide us. We must stand together to make progress.”

The brutal, unprovoked stabbings which left three people dead and a further three wounded took place in the town`s Forbury Gardens on Saturday evening. A man was apprehended  on Saturday and initially arrested on suspicion of murder. He was later detained under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The Police have stated that they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident.

The statement from Reading Pride:

 

Ponyboi: Award winning film starring out intersex artist

Not to be missed short films by Forbes

‘Ponyboi’ is the world’s first narrative film to be created by and starring out intersex artist in cinema history. The film was run at 40 film festivals, including Tribeca Film Festival and won Grand Jury Prize of Best Short Film.

Directed by GLAAD award winning filmmaker, actor and intersex activist River Gallo & Caribean-American filmmaker Sadé Clacken Joseph.

It was executive produced by British actors Stephen Fry, Academy Award-winning actress Emma Thompson and intersex executive producer Seven Graham.

Ponyboi is streaming live now here:  on Omeleto TV  a youtube channel where you can watch the best short films live. You can check out the award winning Omeleto’s other offerings here:

“As an intersex activist, I made Ponyboi out of a desire to empower people. I wanted to empower. I wanted portray a beautiful intersex character, so that for the first time audiences would see themselves in our struggles and triumphs. I now believe more than ever stories from artists of colour and the LGBTQIA+ community are vital to our culture.”

In 2019 Gallo received the ‘Rising Star Award’ at the GLAAD Media Awards. They were named one of the “Most Exciting Queer People to Follow” by Out Magazine, and made PAPER Magazine’s list of “100 People Taking Over 2019.” They were also the cover star of 2019 Fall/Winter issue UK ​HUNGER Magazine ​shot by RANKIN. Gallo, along with Joseph, are both CEOs and co-founders of ​Gaptoof Entertainment​, a multi-media production house in Los Angeles, which focuses on intersectionality and creating inclusive spaces for POC, LGBTQIA+, and womnxn narratives.

Later this month, Gallo will co-star in “Love, Victor” on Hulu, a spinoff of the film “Love, Simon”

Instagram @rivergallo

Brighton & Hove Libraries awarded Library of Sanctuary status

Brighton & Hove Libraries have become only the second service in the country to be awarded Library of Sanctuary status, the announcement coinciding with this year’s Refugee Week.

To mark the week the libraries are holding online events for all ages, including a flash fiction writing competition, national reading group day book discussion, recommended reads, themed storytime sessions and family crafts.

The Libraries of Sanctuary initiative was set up to recognise good practice of libraries which welcome people seeking sanctuary and other new arrivals into their community and seek to foster a culture of welcome and inclusivity.

It’s overseen by City of Sanctuary UK, which supports a nationwide network to build a culture of welcome for people seeking sanctuary and to promote understanding, recognition and celebration of the ways in which people seeking sanctuary enrich society.

The review panel was unanimous in deciding Brighton & Hove’s library service fully met the conditions for the sanctuary award following the application made in December.

The work at Jubilee Library features in City of Sanctuary’s new resource pack for Libraries of Sanctuary and will be shared with other library services across the country.

In working towards becoming a Library of Sanctuary, all library staff completed Refugee, Asylum Seekers and Migrant Awareness training to ensure sanctuary seekers feel welcome in the libraries and staff have a greater understanding of their needs.

Jubilee Library greets visitors with a ‘welcome window’ in different languages and the collection of books about and by sanctuary seekers has been expanded for all to enjoy, alongside new services such as the conversation café for women wanting to improve their English.

The Network of International Women has made a Library of Sanctuary banner for the library. Women from the group also volunteer to deliver multilingual story times and put together displays and supporting material.

This has proved invaluable to both them and the library service. There has been a significant cultural exchange with staff and volunteers through the scheme with volunteers bringing in traditional dishes from Iraq, Yemen, Morocco and Egypt to share with staff.

The library team work in close partnership with organisations in the city supporting sanctuary seekers and staff have donated toiletries for new arrivals in the city.

Councillor Carmen Appich, chair of the Tourism, Equalities, Communities & Culture Committee, said: “It’s great news that we’ve achieved Library of Sanctuary status. The award further demonstrates our commitment to offering sanctuary to refugees and asylum seekers in the city.

“Everything being done gives a very important message that we are a diverse, welcoming community and all have valuable skills to offer.

“It’s a timely achievement. As well as Refugee Week, it chimes with the Black Lives Matter movement and our new commitment to amplify our actions to become an anti-racist council.

“We’ve done a lot to make our library service welcoming to all seeking sanctuary, but we know there is still lot of work to do.

“Across all council services, we are committed to ensuring opportunities are open to all and everyone gets to live a full life free from discrimination and harm.”

Dungeons & Dragons promises greater diversity and inclusivity

The diversity of Dungeons & Dragons makes it a popular game within LGBTQ+ and other minority communities but its creators have acknowledged that some of its ‘legacy’ content has included characters that echo insensitive stereotypes. They are assuring players that this content doesn’t represent where they are today and that they are taking steps to address the issue.

In a recently released statement they said: “Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is strength, for only a diverse group of adventurers can overcome the many challenges a D&D story presents. In that spirit, making D&D as welcoming and inclusive as possible has moved to the forefront of our priorities over the last six years.”

With an aim to make everyone feel “at home around the game table and to see positive reflections of themselves within our products” their goal with 5th edition D&D is to cover the “ beautiful diversity” of humanity “by depicting characters who represent an array of ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, and beliefs”.

“Throughout the 50-year history of D&D, some of the peoples in the game – orcs and drow being two of the prime examples – have been characterised as monstrous and evil, using descriptions that are painfully reminiscent of how real-world ethnic groups have been and continue to be denigrated.

“That’s just not right, and it’s not something we believe in. Despite our conscious efforts to the contrary, we have allowed some of those old descriptions to reappear in the game. We recognise that to live our values, we have to do an even better job in handling these issues. If we make mistakes, our priority is to make things right.”

And they went on to outline how they are working to improve:

“We present orcs and drow in a new light in two of our most recent books, Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. In those books, orcs and drow are just as morally and culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach in future books, portraying all the peoples of D&D in relatable ways and making it clear that they are as free as humans to decide who they are and what they do.

“When every D&D book is reprinted, we have an opportunity to correct errors that we or the broader D&D community discovered in that book. Each year, we use those opportunities to fix a variety of things, including errors in judgement. In recent reprintings of Tomb of Annihilation and Curse of Strahd, for example, we changed text that was racially insensitive. Those reprints have already been printed and will be available in the months ahead. We will continue this process, reviewing each book as it comes up for a reprint and fixing such errors where they are present.”

A product is planned for release later this year that will allow players to customise their character’s origin. This will include an option “to change the ability score increases that come from being an elf, a dwarf, or one of D&D’s many other playable folk. This option emphasises that each person in the game is an individual with capabilities all their own”.

The creators continued: “Curse of Strahd included a people known as the Vistani and featured the Vistani heroine Ezmerelda. Regrettably, their depiction echoes some stereotypes associated with the Romani people in the real world. To rectify that, we’ve not only made changes to Curse of Strahd, but in two upcoming books, we will also show – working with a Romani consultant – the Vistani in a way that doesn’t rely on reductive tropes.

“We’ve received valuable insights from sensitivity readers on two of our recent books. We are incorporating sensitivity readers into our creative process, and we will continue to reach out to experts in various fields to help us identify our blind spots.”

As part of the improvement process D&D is looking to boost its staff and freelance contributors with new and diverse talent, saying: “We’ve brought in contributors who reflect the beautiful diversity of the D&D community to work on books coming out in 2021. We’re going to invest even more in this approach and add a broad range of new voices to join the chorus of D&D storytelling.

“And we will continue to listen to you all. We created 5th edition in conversation with the D&D community. It’s a conversation that continues to this day. That’s at the heart of our work – listening to the community, learning what brings you joy, and doing everything we can to provide it in every one of our books.

“This part of our work will never end. We know that every day someone finds the courage to voice their truth, and we’re here to listen. We are eternally grateful for the ongoing dialog with the D&D community, and we look forward to continuing to improve D&D for generations to come.”

Winner of Mr Brighton Bear 2020 announced!

Great fun was had by all in the Mr Brighton Bear 2020 Live Final on Saturday, June 20.

The evening came to a resounding climax, with the announcement that Shoreham-based publican Gavin Bennett-Mason won the cherished title and snatched the sash, £100 cash and a self-portrait courtesy of Fraser Dickson from Little Big Men Drawings.

Rhykar Bauer, a charming BBW fan from Maryland, USA, was declared runner up.

A packed online presentation featured dazzling performances by Candi Rell, Drag With No Name and Dave the Bear. We also heard from the winner of the 2019 inaugural crown Taylor Leigh, who was delighted to hear he retains his title in perpetuity.

Special appearances were made by Chris Gull, Chair of the Brighton Rainbow Fund, which benefits from funds raised by BBW activities, in addition to Tom Bald, who once again designed and produced the classic Mr Brighton Bear crown and sash.

Graham Munday, Chair of BBW, said ‘Congratulations to Gavin for winning and Rhykar for being named runner-up, but also congratulations to the other two finalists, Gavin (S) and Jon. Everyone was a worthy contestant.

‘A huge thanks again to our entertainers Candi Rell, Drag With No Name and Dave the Bear for supporting the evening. Last but not least, the BBW team is incredibly grateful to everyone who voted and supported the competition.’ 

BBW have said donations are still being received, benefiting the Brighton Rainbow Fund here or visit Gofundme page

Oh, one more thing – the BBW guys have said hang on to your face masks. There’ll be some Halloween and Christmas fun on the way and they’ll also be back in 2021 with a massive list of events to make up for lost time.

For more information, contact Graham Munday: graham@brightonbearweekend.com

The Brighton Rainbow Fund give grants to local LGBTQ+/HIV groups who deliver effective frontline services to LGBTQ+ people in the city. More info.  

For more info on BBW.

For more info on Little Big Men Drawings, click here. 

Lesflicks brings more lesbian and bisexual titles to a global audience

Lesflicks, the VOD platform that works with independent filmmakers of lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) films, has secured the rights to several additional lesbian and bisexual titles for release throughout June and July

Since its launch in 2019, Lesflicks, which is entirely volunteer-led, has hosted in-cinema and online film clubs, talks and Q&As, has curated the world’s first LBQ-dedicated film database, and has set-up a growing video-on-demand platform.

In its first nine months, Lesflicks supported 74 LBQ shorts and features, participated in 34 events and filled 830 seats in screenings across the country.

Naomi Bennett, CEO and Founder, said: ‘We’ve been working hard on diverse content that reflects the true diversity of our community.

‘We’ve spent a number of months trying to seek out the less represented representations of the LGBTQ+ women’s community.

‘We’re delighted that we are adding titles that cover race, religion and disability as well as a wide range of genres. We know there is still more to do – and we will continue to seek out a wide range of content.’

For more info, visit: www.lesflicks.com

New project to help create portrait of our times

Fabrica, Brighton’s centre for contemporary art, is asking the public to share their insights for a new online platform, Quiet Revelations, which is an opportunity to share what we are learning about ourselves, our loved ones and wider society through these months of pandemic-induced isolation. 

With Quiet Revelations, organisers hope that what they gather will become a portrait of our current times. For many, daily life has either become more complicated or much simpler. In self-isolation, what we do know is that billions of people across the globe are experiencing something similar to us physically, emotionally and psychologically. By asking ‘what are we learning from this experience’, Quiet Revelations seeks to unveil a more nuanced human portrait, including the deeper insights that might actually shape our lives into the future. 

Contributions can be made in the form of a text of up to 100 words, a one-minute film or a digital photo that summarises how a person is feeling right now and what they are thinking about most. These will be uploaded to a website under one of three categories: Me, You or Us.  

Liz Whitehead, Fabrica’s Director said: ‘We hope to tease out a survey of responses to what is undoubtedly a public health crisis but is also a unique social, political and cultural event.

‘Historically in the UK there is very little information about the measures taken to protect life, nor about what people experienced during the three previous pandemics in 1919-1920, in 1958 and in 1968-69.

‘For this pandemic we have social media and 24-hour news to capture everything as it unfolds. For Quiet Revelations we’re asking people to take a few minutes to reflect on what they’ve learnt from this experience and to share their insights with others.’

People can make contributions via social media platforms @fabricagallery, or by visiting quiet.fabrica.org.uk

Contributions so far, which include thoughts on life in lockdown from a wide range of Sussex residents, can be seen here 

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