Buckle up for Stupid Boys Club, a new podcast from three long-time friends, Alex Ryan, Jonesy (Steve) and Toby Lawrence, who haven’t quite figured out how to be adults.
Join these three ‘grown-ups’ as they discover the art of adulting and hark back to times when they really could have done a better job!
About Alex:
Alex is a marketer, DJ, pirate radio show host and all-round happy chap. Festivals, travelling and cooking are top of his ‘fun list’, but Fortnite, starting fires and playing in the forest are also key features of his existence.
About Jonesy:
Jonesy is a club promoter and lectures (higher education) on the subject of event management. He loves lists, spread sheets, drag queens and raving. Also, he’s a big fan of takeaways and a nice selection of dips.
About Toby:
Toby is a DJ, radio show host and occasional lecturer (DJ’ing, video editing). House music and clubbing are his go-to entertainment, but he also finds it hard to resist a Minecraft raid and a bag of crisps (on equal footing…)
Toby says: ‘So after talking about it for ages we’ve started a podcast! It’s about trying to navigate the difficult road of being an adult, with the first series all about Steve Jones’ military planning approach to puppy parenthood. Obvs not suitable for kids but have a listen if you fancy a laugh!’
New research published in the Journal of Sex Research has revealed men and women who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) tend to show different personality traits to those who identify as straight, particularly among younger adults.
Reviewing the data of 21 studies, encompassing the information of more than 375,000 men and women, lead authors Mark Allen and Davina Robson from the University of Wollongong in Australia, carried out their study to test a hypothesis (known as the ‘gender-shift hypothesis’) which predicts that LGB individuals display attributes more typical of the other sex – such that gay men express more feminine-type traits and lesbian women express more masculine-type traits.
Allen and Robson investigated whether five major personality traits – neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness – differ across sexual orientation categories and whether these differences are consistent across age groups.
In relation to the hypothesised model, the researchers found small to medium effect size differences in personality traits between the different sexual orientations, whilst there was also evidence that these differences tend to decline with age.
In particular, the team found that gay men tend to be more emotionally unstable, more agreeable and more conscientious than straight men, and that lesbian women tend to be more introverted, less agreeable and less conscientious than straight women. The study also showed that bisexual men and women lean towards being more open and more conscientious than both straight individuals and those who identify as exclusively gay or lesbian.
Mark Allen, said: ‘Important differences were found on all five personality traits, and effects were generally in line with predictions of the gender-shift hypothesis.
‘By middle adulthood, however, there was little difference in personality traits between people with different sexual identities.
‘These findings indicate that personality trajectories over the adult lifespan might differ for sexual minority individuals.’
The conclusions of this research, which builds on previous work that has focused on a single age group, could have implications for health care professionals working with LGB individuals and be used to support those who may most require programmes on sexual identity distress.
A limitation of this research is that included samples were largely from industrialised nations. How well the findings transfer to all world regions and different cultures remains unknown.
Sex differences in personality have consistently been observed across cultures such that women tend to score higher than men on emotional instability, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Therefore, the finding that gay men tend to be more emotionally unstable, more agreeable and more conscientious than straight men, and that lesbian women tend to be less agreeable and less conscientious than straight women, supports the gender-shift hypothesis.
The authors suggest that further research should focus on understudied cultural groups and less common sexual identities such as asexual persons, whilst more generally, personality tests could be useful in helping LGBQ individuals gain greater self-awareness of their own personality.
Le Village Brighton, the LGBTQ+ venue in the heart of Kemptown, is now taking bookings (full table service only) for its sunny scene-side garden terrace from Saturday, July 4.
Like all of our LGBTQ+ venues, Le Village has been closed from March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Le Village is one of the few venues in the city lucky enough to enjoy a sunny terrace with a delightful view along the main drag of St James St.
Le Village say: ‘We can’t wait to see all our lovely customers again. Lots of love Lee, Joe, Louie, Simon and the rest of the team.’
For more information and bookings, call 07517 199917 or 07711 984626.
Le Village can be found at 2-3 High St, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1RP.
Jakub and David, the Polish gay couple who you may remember handing out rainbow face masks in some of Poland‘s ‘LGBTQ+ free zones’, have made history by becoming the first ever gay couple to appear in a Polish TV advert.
The advert, which is part of a new DUREX campaign called Loud in Bed, airs on all major TV channels in Poland, and also in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania.
Follow Jakub and David’s channel on Youtube by clicking here and follow them on Facebook @jakubidawid
Since spending more time at home, people are enjoying the benefits of exercising, be it squats and sit ups indoors, or running and cycling outside.
With exercise having such a positive impact on people’s mental health, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), the HIV & sexual health charity, is asking you to take on the 2020 Challenge – a 20-day active challenge to help them continue to provide their crucial services at this difficult time.
According to THT, depression is twice as common for people living with HIV as a result of the stigma and prejudice that they experience, and the charity want to be there for everyone. That’s why they need you to take on the 2020 Challenge!
Sign up for free today here then choose your challenge, set up your fundraising page and get training.
How it works
Choose your 20 Day Challenge! Whether you’re going to run a certain distance in the 20 days or challenge yourself to a number of reps of an exercise a day, it’s totally up to you!
Register your place here. THT will then send you an email with everything you need to get started.
Set up your online fundraising page. Using JustGiving, create your personalised page and set your target for £100 (or more if you’re feeling ambitious!).
Shout about your challenge! Let your friends, family and colleagues know what you’re up to and why. Share photos and videos of you taking on your challenge and tag @THTorguk.
Why you should take on the 2020 Challenge
Right now, THT is needed more than ever. Many people across the UK who use their services are facing particularly challenging times due to the coronavirus pandemic. For people living with HIV and in acute financial crisis, the situation is even more devastating. This is guaranteed to have a huge impact on their mental health.
THT’s Hardship Fund gives out small grants to people living with HIV in financial difficulty and can be a vital lifeline for those most vulnerable. These grants normally total £2,000 a month, but during the pandemic, THT will be increasing this to £20,000 each month. Your fundraising can help THT maintain this increase, and support those who need it most.
If you have any questions, email fundraising@tht.org.uk and someone will be happy to help.
Dine with the Stars, a fabulous online event presented by the Brighton Rainbow Fund and the Brighton & Hove LGBT+ Community Safety Forum, is set to bring glitz and the glamour to living rooms on Tuesday, June 23 from 7.30pm.
Hosted by Davina Sparkle, the glittering event features a line-up of some of the scene’s brightest cabaret stars, including: Miss Jason, Kara Van Park, Gabriella Parrish, Jason Lee, Dave Lynn, Stephanie Von Clitz, Suspiciously Elvis, Mrs Moore, Alfie Ordinary, Jamie Heward, Jennie Castell and Sandra.
Tickets are £10, to buy visit www.rainbow-fund.organd click on Donate, then Donate £10 per person (or more if you want). Once you’ve done that, you’ll receive an email asking if it is for Dine with the Stars, say yes and you will sent an email to download Zoom on your PC or from Apps on your phone or tablet so you can join on the evening.
What’s more, you can even choose which star you would like to sit with, message everyone on that table, and chat separately to the main room on the night.
Davina Sparkle says: ‘Obviously due to lots of events being cancelled, the Brighton Rainbow Fund and the LGBT+ Community Safety Forum really need your help! So why not get together, albeit virtually and have a great night of cabaret!’
One-hundred per-cent of funds raised will be donated to the Brighton Rainbow Fund who give grants to local LGBTQ+/HIV groups who deliver effective frontline services to LGBTQ+ people in the city. More info: www.rainbow-fund.org
The Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum is an established independent LGBTQ+ forum of eight elected unpaid volunteers working with the LGBTQ+ community to address and improve safety and access issues throughout Brighton & Hove.
Schools OUT UK, the education charity working towards equality in education for LGBTQ+ people, has announced #PrideInEducation, the first-ever global equality inclusion conference aimed at educators, teachers, publishers and anyone looking to make education more inclusive, will take place on Zoom on Saturday, June 27.
This free, one-day event will draw together 25 international speakers across six webinars that will examine various aspects of best practice across education, from primary to university level, as well as published resources. It will offer panel discussions and live Q&As and include contributions from actor Sir Derek Jacobi, author Juno Roche, Bonnie Greer and LGBTQ+ Poet Laureate Trudy Howson. The conference is supported by a range of community and media partners and powered by Zoom.
Laila El-Metoui, conference organiser, said: ‘This unprecedented pandemic has had detrimental effect on the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people. School closures and lockdown have negatively impacted on everyone but even more so on LGBTQ+ people trapped in homophobic and transphobic households.
‘It is of the utmost importance that teachers and educators continue to provide an inclusive and compassionate education. This conference was put together really quickly to ensure LGBTQ+ people continue to be visible and celebrated.’
#PrideInEducation is taking place at a difficult time for LGBTQ+ people across the world. The Trevor Project 2020reports that LGBTQ+ helplines are currently experiencing double the amount of calls. LGBTQ+ people are being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Those who were already facing unbelievable challenges – living under anti-LGBTQ+ laws or facing violence, discrimination or eviction from their homes or countries because of their sexuality or gender identity – are now struggling to survive. In addition to raising awareness of these issues and their impact on the lives of LGBTQ+ people, #PrideInEducation will offer practical tips and send out a strong message of compassion and inclusion.
Professor Emeritus Sue Sanders, Chair of Schools Out UK, added: ‘In this time of lockdown, we are seeing a rise in hate crimes perpetrated against LGBTQ+ people yet minimal response from the UK government. I wish everyone would recognise their responsibility to educate out prejudice; at this time, to leave it to just teachers is not acceptable or practical.
‘We at Schools OUT UK have worked tirelessly to produce free resources to usualise and make visible LGBTQ+ people in all their diversity. These resources are available not just in February – LGBT History Month – but all year round, for libraries, archives, museums, local authorities, galleries, museums, unions etc as well as educators. The aim is to enable all of us to play our part in making our society a place where we can all be safe, and to celebrate the many achievements and contributions that LGBTQ+ people have made to our society.’
#PrideInEducation will run on Saturday, June 27 from 10.30am–6pm. All events are free of charge. For more info click here
For more info on Schools Out UK, visit their website
Two British LGBTQ+ bloggers will be encouraging the country to celebrate Pride this summer, despite the lockdown, with #PrideatHomeUK on Saturday, August 29.
A non-profit, just-for-fun event, #PrideatHomeUK sees blogger Jamie Beaglehole from Daddy & Dad, and Brighton-based Kate Everall, author of leading LGBTQ mum-blog Lesbemums, team up to get the UK’s rainbow community and their families and friends proudly flying their LGBTQ+ flags.
Those taking part are encouraged to enjoy a picnic, barbecue or party at home on the August bank holiday, and share a picture or video on social media on the day with the hashtag #PrideAtHomeUK.
Kate Everall, the event’s co-host, said: ‘Pride events are so important to the LGBTQ+ community. For many, Pride might be their only opportunity to be themselves in a safe public space among like-minded, friendly people. Pride also ensures our community is seen and heard – LGBTQ+ rights are under threat and if we’re invisible, we’re vulnerable.’
#PrideatHomeUK will be promoted across social media and LGBTQ+ media channels leading up to the event on, with the help of some of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ influencers.
Jamie Beaglehole, the event’s co-host, added: ‘It’s crucial we are as visible as we possibly can be on the 29th August, so Kate and I will be reaching out to the UK’s bloggers, influencers and celebrities to help share the message. We’re hoping, on the 29th August, social media is flooded with colourful photos and videos of our LGBTQ+ community enjoying a lovely party with their rainbow flags flying.’
Kate and Jamie are looking for LGBTQ+ businesses and pop acts to support the #PrideatHomeUK event. To enquire, contact jamie@daddyanddad.co.uk.
Local GScene writer Craig Hanlon-Smith is taking on a Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) 20-day active challenge to raise awareness & money for people living with HIV affected by depression and other mental health challenges.
From Monday June 8th until Friday June 27th he will run a total of 144.4 miles which is the distance from his house in Brighton to London Bridge and back again.
Craig said of the challenge: “I have travelled to London from Brighton and back every working day for thirteen years and I miss it.
I miss my friends in London and beyond. I miss their hugs, kisses and frequent conversations in close physical quarters. I miss my work colleagues past and present, daily interactions. I miss looking into the real eyes of all these people and being able to feel a reassuring hand on all our shoulders. I miss sitting opposite the same people on the train every day and never speaking to them. I miss every mundane detail of the trite I have forever taken for granted and despite being a ‘lucky one’ (not furloughed and with outside space – rolls eyes) on some days my own levels of anxiety are off the scale and I don’t always know what to do about it.
I do know how to run and I do know that exercise outside is a great healer.”
THT supports causes close to his heart and the wider LGBTQ community and many people across the UK who use THT’s services are facing particularly challenging times due to the current pandemic. For people living with HIV and in acute financial crisis, the situation is even more devastating, guaranteed to impact their mental health.
The THT Hardship Fund gives out small grants to people living with HIV in financial difficulty and can be a vital lifeline for those most vulnerable. These grants normally total £2,000 a month, but during the pandemic, THT have pledged to increase this to £20,000 each month.
The past couple of early morning waking dreamtime sessions have been blighted by my seeming inability to shake off the violence and anger of the content of the dreams. No matter what I tried I could not move my mind away from this disturbance boiling up within me. Within my conscious mind.
I fought as best I knew how too but although it eased up during the day it all returned as soon as I relaxed and tried to sleep or was in the process of waking up. They were there, my current demons. I could see no reason for them other than the bland excuse that I am under lockdown. I knew it wasn’t that. What was driving it I could not identify. Then on Thursday last I was trawling through some of the posts on my FB home page. I came across one of the innumerable posts about how Twisted Boris is handling the crisis. I read one of the comments and it all exploded in my mind. SPLAT!!
I took to the keyboard and from the top of my head wrote the following. It just poured out onto the page. This was at the root of all my anger and violence. I was unable, until that moment, to put it into words I could understand. Here within the space of three minutes unconscious typing I nailed it. The violence, anger and my impotence in being unable to control them have vanished. For the time being at least. I know there will be other times when it all erupts again within my mind. The next time however I will have enough self confidence in myself to allow it to work it’s way out, with my conscious help, to the stage where I can sit at the computer and allow the mind to direct the fingers to release the tensions building up within me. I’m happy with what I wrote so I have copied and pasted it here and on my FB timeline.
Michael James. I think it is time now, as we have more than enough evidence, to initiate a Class Action against the government for Ageist Extermination. The poor, the aged, the disabled, the homeless and so many others, have been cynically used in an experiment of mass extermination under the guise of saving the NHS. This is the very service they have over ten years of misrule run into the ground in order to eventually sell it off to private companies. Enough. This has to stop right now. They are playing with the fire of ‘Civil Disobedience’ in order to further tighten their stranglehold on the reins of power. Where are you Michael Mansfield QC when this country desperately needs the likes of you, your chambers and other like minded, to call out this murderous bunch of criminal thugs. To take them through the courts. If you need a name to jump start a Class Action against them then mine is Michael James. We could all contribute, including your selves who have more money than the most of us, to a Crowd Funded Prosecution. I’m crossing my fingers but not holding my breath.
That was it in one paragraph. I have breathed such a long sigh of relief. I have been able to get rid of it from my mind. I have slept and woken with much nicer sexy dreams. Oh! Drew Pritchard, give me any one of your three beautiful craftsmen for a couple of hours and I will die a very happy queen. I’ve taken a fancy to the skinny gaunt looking electrician and Gavin, the metal worker. Your woodsman is beautiful. I would not knock him back despite him being a bit too young for me. Dream on Michael. These three sexy men make up for all the negativity on TV and online these past few months. I doubt if I’m the only gay man to have looked with longing at their very brief appearances on Telly.
Art came over with a bottle of bathtub gin and 2 tonic waters. We had a nice walk on the prom and sat for a while watching all the knobs, balls, bollocks and unencumbered appendages go swinging past us at eye level. That is such a treat at my age. Thank goodness for my very dark glasses.
The approaching walkers and joggers cannot see what I am looking at. I can Varda in peace without being confronted by an angry man.
15.10pm
Oh by the way the Gimpy Gulls have at least one chick. I saw the pale shape of a chick, under whichever gull was doing the incubation at the time. I look forward to the next week when no doubt it or they will be on show more clearly. Welcome to this hard starving world my lovelies. Your parents have not seen a sign of a chip buttie or ice cream cone, let alone a piece of rock cake, all summer.
15.51pm Wednesday 3 June 2020
PHEW! I’m glad I’ve finally done that. I have just introduced the ‘Mother Of All Creation’ into book three. She has been there in the background since the first book but only now am I able to introduce her to myself, in print, on my computer. She now has a date and time to show she is my Big Bang aka The Mother of all Creation. Now she is here to stay I can take a little time off to deal with what is happening in my world and the greater world around me in my incarcerated state.
18.31pm
Trump? In my humble opinion is the greatest failed alpha male in modern history. Greater even than Hitler, Stalin and Pol Pot put together. His monumental egoism overshadows everything he touches, not unlike Midas of old or the King who has no clothes in myth and fable. He is an ever unfolding planetary disaster, not simply waiting to happen but happening here in front of our very eyes. On the world stage as never before seen nor previously recorded. He is recorded of course. His every twitch and wince is recorded second by minute second. He is blinded by the self generated public image of ancient TV shows. He is the left hand of the fairground huckster. A Shadow puppeteer is fist fucking his every move. To be cast off like the poisoned rag that he has become, when the time is judged to be right. He fronts a huge bevy of rich, powerful and mainly unknown far right wing men. Those who have waited generations for their death star to rise and glower over our beautiful planet. He is not alone in his rancid beliefs. Far from it. To get as far as he has done, just shows how his deeply held beliefs of white supremacy is entangled within the American psyche.
He is supported by the gun lobby, evangelical churches, Wall Street CEO’s and corporate lawyers across the spectrum. He has to be supported by a large invisible contingent of the American forces hierarchy and the security services. All working clandestinely against the very Presidential system they pretend to uphold. I suspect there are similar situations ranging across the world. The sad predictable pendulum of left/right, church/state, rich/poor. Swings on a very threadbare strand. I feel I will see the start of the third world war but mercifully not its ferocity nor its outcomes. The outcomes which might well take centuries to clean up and eventually heal.
Incarceration has been good for me. It has enabled me to view and prospect the depths of my mind, my imaginations.
All of my life I have been plagued with thoughts many people would have found unacceptable to the point of driving themselves to suicide. Suicide has drifted aimlessly and unacknowledged as a route to personal salvation. A route with no road or positive destination in my case. I have fought alone most of the time. The times I fought together with my brothers and sisters were times of upheaval like but very unlike these. In the early 70’s with GLF and the 80’s/90’s during the HIV/AIDS crisis. These now are potentially terminal times. Whatever happened to the Age of Aquarius?
During this period of incarceration I seem to have found my voice. I have blossomed from being the pessimistic Casandra type seer, into this self confident lumpy dumpling who is not afraid to say what is going through his mind. Come What May. I feel I have the absolute right to call people out if I feel they are doing the wrong thing. Therefore I have no fear in publicly calling out Trump, Johnson and others. I am not the person doing the wrong things here. I am not righteous or self righteous. I am a fearful soul. One of many millions of fearful souls who can see our beautiful world being trashed and raped before our eyes. I can stand alone now confident that I know the difference between right and wrong. Your deeds are done with the whole dark panoply of the far right mindset behind you. Backing your every move. NOT IN MY NAME THOUGH.
I can now see through the murky mirrors you hide behind. Your one Trump card, that of being the ‘Nameless Fear,’ has been spotlit on the world stage. Hopefully you and others like you will be rendered useless like the Vampires in scary ghost stories. Like Shakespeare’s ‘Damed Spot’ you will be ousted.
I live confidently in hope.
These are the personal views of the writer Micheal James and not Gscene
Buckle up for Stupid Boys Club, a new podcast from three long-time friends, Alex Ryan, Jonesy (Steve) and Toby Lawrence, who haven’t quite figured out how to be adults.
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