James Ledward, Graham Robson, Gary Hart, Alice Blezard, Ray A-J
SPORTS EDITOR Paul Gustafson
ARTS EDITOR Michael Hootman
SUB EDITOR Graham Robson
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR Marina Marzotto
DESIGN Michèle Allardyce
SALES MANAGER Liz Gold Tel 07534 388695
FRONT COVER
MODEL Carter Wilson
www.facebook.com/carter.wilson.148
PHOTOGRAPHER Kemuel Valdes www.valdesarthouse.com
CONTRIBUTORS
Simon Adams, Ray A-J, Jaq Bayles, Jo Bourne, Nick Boston, Brian Butler, Suchi Chatterjee, Bright Daffodil, Morgan Fabulous, Richard Jeneway, Craig Hanlon-Smith, Samuel Hall, Lee Henriques, Barry Hughes, Adam Mallaby, Enzo Marra, Tin Nguyen, Eric Page, Gary Pargeter, Del Sharp, Gay Socrates, Brian Stacey, Michael Steinhage, Sugar Swan, Glen Stevens, Duncan Stewart, Craig Storrie, Violet Valentine (Zoe Anslow-Gwilliam), Mike Wall, Netty Wendt, Roger Wheeler, Kate Wildblood
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Captain Cockroach, Tyrone Darling, James Ledward, Jack Lynn, Marina Marzotto, Stella Pix
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Derek Jarman:
Graham Robson
by Craig Hanlon-Smith
and more with the Queen of Flea
PRIDE WEEKEND PROVIDES £20.5
MILLION
WINDFALL TO LOCAL BUSINESSES
Independent research reveals Brighton & Hove benefitted by more than £20.5 million over Pride weekend.
) New independent research by TSE R esearch, the commercial research arm of Tourism South East, commissioned by Brighton Pride CIC, has shown that visitors to Brighton & Hove over Pride weekend boosted the local economy by more than £20 5 million
TSE Research evaluated the economic impact of the Brighton Pride Festival 2018 on the local visitor economy based on the expenditure of non-local visitors attending the event It also considers the economic spill-over into the wider regional economy as a result of the multiplier impact This is when businesses receive income from visitors through the purchase of their goods and services, in turn re-spend It is estimated that the Brighton Pride Festival generated a gross economic impact of £26 8 million for businesses in the city and that a fur ther £5 million was generated for businesses across the region through multiplier effects, providing a total gross impact of £31.7 million
The net impact is defined as the additional expenditure which arises in the local area and in the region as a direct result of the event The likely level of
additionality related to different types of events has been derived from studies of events carried out across the UK
These numbers are mirrored by Brighton & Hove Pride’s annual survey which this year showed 84% of ticket purchasers had been to a previous Brighton & Hove Pride, and 65% came from outside the Brighton & Hove city area Of those visiting the city, 57% arrived by train and 32% stayed overnight in a hotel or B&B
Paul Kemp, managing director of Brighton & Hove Pride, said: “Tourism and events are the lifeblood of our city’s economy and what makes Brighton & Hove stand out as a visitor destination Many small local businesses rely on the annual income from Pride and other events to stay in business all year round W ith the additional £250,000 in fundraising for local good causes announced, I’m pleased that Pride can have such a huge impact on the city’s economy and help support a wide range of community projects across our city”
CHRISTMAS EVENTS FOR BRIGHTON BEARS
) Brighton Bear Weekend and Bear-Patrol team up to give you a Ver y Bear y Christmas Weekend on Saturday, December 8 and Sunday, December 9
The ever-popular Bear-a-oke retur ns to Bar (Bear) Broadway on Saturday, December 8 from 7–10.30pm Your hosts Jon Bor thwick and Peter R eid will showcase Christmas hits and sing-alongs from the musicals to bring a little sparkle to your life
Af ter wards slip across the road to Subline for the Brighton Bear Christmas Par ty from 10pm till late, entr y £5 for members/£7 for non-members Enjoy the free Christmas shots and see what Santa will give you for being a bad boy!
On Sunday, December 9 join the brilliant BearPatrol at the Camelford Arms for their annual Christmas Dinner from 1pm
Enjoy a full Christmas lunch with enter tainment for £15 Contact Bear-Patrol on Facebook to book a place This event is always fully booked so don’t delay or you will miss the sleigh!
Brighton Bear Weekend 2019 r uns from June 13–16 Book your transpor t and accommodation now!
Brighton Bear Weekend and Bear-Patrol will be raising funds for the R ainbow Fund, who give grants to LGBT/HIV organisations providing effective frontline ser vices to LGBT+ people in the city
TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE - NOVEMBER 18
) Transgender Day of R emembrance (TDOR) is the annual observance that honours the memory of those whose lives have been lost in acts of antitransgender violence The Brighton & Hove memorial event will take place on Sunday, November 18 from 2.30pm at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church All communities are welcome to attend and pay respects at the vigil which will involve the reading of the names of those who have lost their lives from transgender violence in the last year The R ainbow Chorus, Brighton’s fully inclusive LGBT choir, will sing at the event
“TDoR seeks to highlight the losses we face due to anti-transgender bigotry and violence I am no stranger to the need to fight for our rights, and the right to simply exist is first and foremost W ith so many seeking to erase transgender people - sometimes in the most brutal ways possible - it is vitally important that those we lose are remembered, and that we continue to fight for justice ” - TDOR founder Gwendolyn Ann Smith
Dr Sam Hall, Chair of Clare Project, said: “As TDoR approaches this year, we are experiencing widespread transphobia in the mainstream media more than ever before As many more progressive countries take up the cause of equal rights for trans and non-binary people by changing their laws to accommodate gender self-identification, in the UK we are seeing a concerted effort to both oppress and negate trans people’s existence The rhetoric is fear mongering and specifically targeted towards trans women who remain some of the most vulnerable people in society
"A t TDoR we come together to express our solidarity with those less fortunate than ourselves who have had their lives taken forcibly solely on the grounds of their gender expression We remember the lives lost and the battles still to be won, we take solace in our shared pain and hopes for a better future by coming together and supporting one another, celebrating our right to life, and to equal rights in all societies Please join us to commemorate and inspire us to continue to work towards a more inclusive future "
DOCTOR BRIGHTON’S
- THE FINAL COUNTDOWN!
) Charles Child will be packing his bags and leaving Doctor Brightons, and Brighton, for the last time on Saturday, November 3 Charles and his staff were originally due to leave Doctor Brightons in July after his landlords, the brewery Enterprise Inns, decided they did not want to renew the lease for the building they had with Brighton & Hove City Council for the premises at 1617 Kings Rd
Even though Charles was a tenant in situ the council informed him that a new lease had to go out to competitive tender and even though he had been the tenant for the previous 12 years, Charles would have to bid along with other businesses including national corporate brands Charles thought the process was unfair and stacked against any small businessman, so he chose not to bid He announced a closing par ty for July 14 but, after his customers in no uncer tain terms made their feelings known to him, he decided to lodge a bid to win the new lease His bid was accepted, with the council promising him a 15-year lease Then followed a period of silence from both the council and Enterprise Inns, during which nothing happened, leaving Charles in no man’s land trying to run a business without having the terms of his lease agreed
In reality, the council and Enterprise Inns wanted him to pay for the repairs to the building, which were the responsibility of whoever held the main lease Charles, like many other business people in the city, decided he didn’t want to risk his future working with a local authority that made life difficult for small business people like him and withdrew his bid
His last night at Doctor Brightons will be on Saturday, November 3 Between 79pm he’s hosting a private VIP reception for a small group of long-standing regulars, friends, current and old employees, and people who he feels have made a difference and helped him during his years in Brighton Then from 9pm, he will throw open the doors of Doctor Brightons for the last time for everybody to have one big final par ty It will cost £3 to get in with which he will buy you a drink and donate the proceeds to the R ainbow Fund, an organisation who give grants to local LGBT/HIV organisations that deliver effective frontline services to LGBT+ people in the city
Charles says: “I want to thank all the customers who’ve supported me over the last 10 years in my own beloved Doctor Brightons and other venues, and also my brilliant staff team from bar staff to security to DJs I’d have loved to be the one taking Doctor Brightons forward over the next 15 years but the council have made that impossible
“I look forward to seeing and celebrating with everybody on November 3 for our final curtain call at the bar and raising some much- needed money for the Rainbow Fund, an organisation I believe in so much for one last time ”
DATES REVEALED FOR BRIGHTON BEAR WEEKEND 2019
) The organising team behind Brighton Bear Weekend (BBW) have revealed the 2019 event will take place from Thursday, June 13 to Sunday, June 16
Over recent years, BBW has gone from strength to strength and is now widely recognised as one of the biggest and best bear weekends in the UK, attracting men not just from across Europe, but from all around the world Once again in 2019 there will be a full programme of events which will be announced very shor tly, so now is the time to book your hotels, flights and trains - and, most impor tantly, book Monday, June 17 off work!
Graham Munday, Chair of BBW, said: “The whole team is looking forward to a great weekend in June next year with a whole host of events to keep you entertained A t the last one we raised £10,600 for good causes Don’t forget that we have more events throughout the year, and you can stay up to date with all BBW 2019 news on our website, brightonbearweekend com ”
As always, BBW will be suppor ting the R ainbow Fund, which gives grants to local LGBT+/HIV community groups and charities who deliver effective frontline services to LGBT+ people in Brighton & Hove In 2018 BBW raised £8.460 for the Rainbow Fund bringing their grand total raised to date to over £35,000
Chris Gull, Chair of Rainbow Fund, added: “The Bears are at it again! The Rainbow Fund appreciates the trust that BBW place in us to distribute the funds that they raise over the weekend to the many vital local LGBT+ and HIV projects that apply to us for grants These grants make a huge difference to the lives of many in our communities, and are only possible because of the funds raised by LGBT+ volunteers”
For more information about BBW, view: http://brightonbear weekend.com
SUBLINE T0 CELEBRATE EIGHT YEARS OF NAUGHTY NIGHTS ON ST JAMES’S STREET
) Subline will be celebrating eight years of shenanigans beneath St James’s Street at their eighth bir thday Par ty on Saturday, November 17 The biggest event of the month, however, comes one week later at Mr Subline 2018, Brighton's meatiest beauty competition, on Saturday 24
The annual contest, in association with Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), is always a riotous affair, as hopefuls vie for the coveted title; but only one can claim the crown
This year's hostess, Pat Clutcher, taking the helm for the first time, will be helping the contestants ease out of their comfor t zones, and helping you to decide who will triumph
Doors open at 9pm, and admission is £5 for Subline members, £8 for non-members; all of which will be donated to THT The show r uns from 10pm with the winner elected and adulated around midnight Champagne popped and prizes given, nor mal ser vice is then
resumed until the wee hours
If you think you're a bit of alright (come now, don't be embar rassed; you know you're HOT!) then get in touch with Steve at Subline and sign up to enter ASAP
All entrants will get a couple of drinks for Dutch courage, an annual admission pass to Subline, and the knowledge they're helping to raise hundreds for THT The chance of prizes and the love of an adoring crowd can't har m either!
LEGENDS CELEBRATES
25TH BIRTHDAY
) Legends will celebrate their 25th bir thday on Sunday, November 25 with a spectacular line-up of enter tainment and fundraising for the R ainbow Fund
Sally Vate will be taking to the stage at 4pm, followed by Dave Lynn with the legend that is Maisie Trollette at 5 30pm, then Miss Jason and Lola Lasagne, appearing together as J-LO, will perform the finale from 7pm
Tony Chapman opened Legends in 1993, just two years after launching his flagship nightclub Revenge, which revolutionised Brighton’s commercial gay scene and helped make it what it is today Legends in 1993 was a 30bedroom hotel with a horseshoe bar on the ground floor, which for years played host to some of the country's top cabaret performers, including Dame Edna Experience and Ceri Dupree who had regular mid-week residencies at the bar
The basement was home to the notorious Schwarz Leather Bar for gentlemen with attitude and, with its 24-hour residents licence, Legends became the place to go for a late night drink after a night dancing at Revenge
In 2006 Tony bought the Kempton Hotel next door to Legends and under took a £3 5 million pound redevelopment of the site to produce today’s spectacular enter tainment complex which boasts 40 bedrooms, the Basement Nightclub, a huge cabaret bar on the ground floor, and a stunning patio with breathtaking sea views
Twenty-five years on, multi-award winning Legends remains at the top of its game, is the scene’s biggest fundraiser for the city’s LGBT+ communities and the largest financial suppor ter of Brighton Pride
TAGS RAISE FUNDS FOR SUSSEX BEACON GARDEN
) On Friday, September 28 members from Arun Gay Society (TAGS) presented Sussex Beacon volunteer gardeners with a wood chipper and a £75 garden voucher they had raised money for at recent TAGS social events TAGS, a social group for
men and women offering suppor t for the LGBT+ communities in West Sussex, were welcomed at the Beacon with tea and cakes followed by a guided tour of the Sussex Beacon garden
For more details about TAGS, view: www.tagsonline.org.uk
CHARLES STREET TAP RAISE FUNDS FOR THT AND RAINBOW FUND
) Series four of Mrs Moore’s Bona Balls Up Bingo at Charles Street Tap came to an end after a 12-week run at the end of September
During the run, Charles Street Tap raised £500 in cash from the pool of balls round, which was match funded
by Global Corporate Ltd, bringing the running total raised by Bona Balls Up Bingo for THT South to £2,000
A fur ther £680 44 was raised for the R ainbow Fund at Chris and R uper t’s joint 10th bir thday Bash on September 2
RAISING MONEY FOR MINDOUT IS GOOD FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH!
) Throughout 2018, the Marine Tavern have suppor ted MindOut, the LGBTQ mental health service, as their local LGBT+ charity to suppor t with all yearround fundraising
Craig Har wood, chief charity fundraiser at the Marine Tavern, said: “Previously we have supported bigger charities like Rockinghorse but we are a real locals bar and wanted to support a small, local charity with an LGBTQ focus where our money would make a real difference We came up with our top three charities and then asked our customers to vote – they chose MindOut! Lots of them have used MindOut services or know someone who has We wanted to give mental health more attention as it is a hidden need Half the effort is about raising awareness as well as money!”
Craig said that although it was sometimes stressful, it was a lot of fun planning events and doing things together at the pub “It has been really beneficial for our own mental health – many of us have had our own experiences of mental health difficulties and we know how important it is in our communities My goal is to get local bars working together in unison to help make our community stronger ”
Whilst Craig has been leading the fundraising effor ts, he praised the bar staff and punters who have contributed and organised events themselves –par ticularly Scott AustinShaw and Jay Stacy
"It’s a real team effort" Craig said “ We did a boat race fundraiser three years ago and it all grew from there –we made friends and started thinking about other activities we could do as a way of coming together and doing some good for charity
“I suffer from anxiety and depression myself and it’s still quite taboo It affects work, social life and it’s important to break down the wall of silence People don’t take it as seriously as they should A t our event for Liam a few weeks ago some of the performers were amazing and spoke out about their own mental health issues – it helps create community connections ”
The team have organised a sponsored bike ride across the South Downs, had regular pub quizzes, collection tins at the bar and a memorial event for one of the locals So far this year they have raised £3,132 64 for MindOut and have set themselves a target of £7,000 to meet before the year is out
A spokesperson for MindOut said: "MindOut would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for all the wonderful efforts of the team at the Marine Tavern including Craig Harwood, Lee Cockshott, Matt Convery, Jay Stacy, Scott A ustin-Shaw and all our supporters at the Marine Tavern – you are truly making a difference!"
Coming fundraising events at the Marine Tavern include:
• One-day Brighton to Paris cycle ride in November 2018 To suppor t the team (Craig Harwood and Jay Stacy) and donate via their Paris cycle ride JustGiving page, view: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/btn2paris
• Januar y 2019 – End of year hurrah and final fundraising event for MindOutwatch this space for final details
To help the guys at the Marine Tavern hit their target by donating via their team JustGiving page, view: www.justgiving.com/teams/mt4mo
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR M.E. RESEARCH
) Do you have a firm diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M.E. or Fibromyalgia? Sussex researchers are looking for people aged 18 to 65 who have a firm diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/M E or Fibromyalgia to take par t in research which seeks to understand the biological and physical mechanisms of chronic pain and fatigue This will involve routine medical procedures, including brain scans, hear t rate and blood pressure measurement, questionnaires and blood tests The research project is a collaboration
between the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust and Brighton & Sussex Medical School (BSMS)
Colin Bar ton, chairman of Sussex M E Society, said: “ We’re very pleased to be assisting with the important research being carried out at the university into this potentially life ruining illness ”
For fur ther info, contact Dr Kristy Themelis: k themelis@bsms ac uk
SWITCHBOARD BAGS £2,000 FROM TESCO ’S COMMUNITY GRANT SCHEME
) Switchboard received £2,000 from Tesco’s Bags of Help community grant scheme, a par tnership with environmental charity Groundwork, which sees grants raised from the sale of carrier bags awarded to thousands of local community projects every year Since launching in 2015, its provided more than £60 million to over 18,000 local community projects
Switchboard will be putting the £2,000 towards their helpline service to train more volunteers so more LGBT+ people can be suppor ted through the helpline Switchboard’s helpline is operated entirely by LGBT+ volunteers who provide suppor t to communities by creating a space where you can talk confidentially and anonymously about anything, whether you’re looking for information and suppor t, or just need someone to talk to
Daniel Cheesman, Switchboard’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Thank you to all those who voted for us and to Tesco and Groundwork for supporting and shortlisting us to participate in this fantastic scheme The money will help us to support our LGBT+ communities further by enabling us to train more volunteers which will allow us to support more LGBT+ people who contact our
helpline, webchat and email service ”
Alec Brown, Tesco’s Head of Community, said: “Bags of Help has been a fantastic success and we’ve been overwhelmed by the response from customers It’s such a special scheme because it’s local people who decide how the money will be spent in their community We can’t wait to see the projects come to life ”
Voting ran in stores throughout July and August with customers choosing which local project they would like to get the top award using a token given to them at the checkout Three Brighton-based LGBT+ charities were chosen for the months July and August, to coincide with Pride, including Allsor ts Youth Project and Terrence Higgins Trust
Tesco customers can vote for three different groups each time they shop Every other month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions are awarded funding Funding is available to community groups and charities looking to fund local projects that bring benefits to their communities
Anyone can nominate a project or organisation - to apply online, view: www tesco com/bagsofhelp
NEW LGBT+ RUNNING GROUP FOR BRIGHTON & HOVE
) A keen group of local runners feel Brighton & Hove is in need of a brand new LGBT+ running group - the result is Brighton & Hove FrontR unners This new group is hoping to become affiliated to FrontRunners, an international organisation that promotes the spor ts of running, walking and related athletic activities for LGBT+ people and their allies In the UK, there are eight other FrontRunners groups
An impor tant par t of this new group is the social element of running This makes star ting out as a beginner less intimidating and the organisers hope, as the group grows, they will extend their activities to include post-run coffee, drinks and social events
They currently meet weekly on a Wednesday evening at 7pm at the back of King Alfred Leisure Centre, beach side, for a relaxed 3km run, or a second lap making it 6km for those who feel inclined
As their numbers grow they are hoping to extend this to run a number of groups from complete beginners to those wanting to get quicker and improve upon their race ‘personal best’ Their primary aim is inclusivity first and foremost, alongside offering the oppor tunity to get fit, move more and have fun
Organisers are also liaising with BLAGSS Running Group who have running sessions on other days of the week For information about BLAGSS Running Group, view: www.blagss.org
To join Brighton & Hove Front Runners, or to find out a bit more information, like their Facebook page and receive updates and event details for each weekly run
Alternatively you can email them, brightonandhovefrontrunners@gmail.com, or check their Instagram account, brightonandhovefrontrunners, and they will get back to you
This new group is very much in the early stages of getting set up and established so they would love new members to join them, see what they are all about, and help them grow They look forward to hearing from you!
OTTAWA TO HOST BINGHAM CUP IN 2020
) Bingham Cup 2020 will be hosted by the Ottawa Wolves in Ottawa, Canada This will be the first Bingham Cup to be staged in Canada and the Ottawa Wolves are preparing to host upwards of 70 teams from all five continents of the world in the nation’s capital Bingham Cup 2020 will be celebrating its 10th edition and is now one of the largest 15-a-side rugby tournaments in the world
Well-developed bids were received from two International Gay Rugby (IGR) clubs; Huarpes, Mendoza, Argentina and Ottawa Wolves, Canada Mendoza withdrew from the bidding process following issues associated with confirming the hosting facilities and following a vote amongst the 77 members of IGR, Ottawa Wolves were approved as the next hosts for IGR’s flagship tournament
Ben Owen, IGR Chair, said: “The IGR community is extremely excited that the Bingham Cup will be held in Canada for the first time - a country with a growing rugby community and a proud reputation of openness towards the LGBT+ communities The Ottawa Wolves are one of IGR’s most active and successful clubs, having competed in every Bingham Cup since their creation including the first women’s competition at the Bingham Cup Amsterdam 2018
“This vote reflects the excellence of their bid and our confidence that they will deliver an outstanding rugby tournament with a legacy that lasts long af ter the final whistle is blown, both in Canada and amongst the IGR community ” Jean-Francois Laberge, President of the Ottawa hosting committee, said:
“ We are overjoyed at the news! Af ter our first Bingham in Minneapolis, the Ottawa Wolves committed as a club to bid for the Bingham Cup in 2020 In the 10 years since, we have worked tirelessly to put the pieces in place to honour that commitment
"We spent countless hours with our partners over the last year developing a bid that would uniquely celebrate the legacy of the IGR movement and the Bingham Cup A t the same time, it was really important for us to ensure that we delivered the most affordable, inclusive and accessible Bingham Cup ever There was no compromising on this: we wanted all of the members of the IGR family, their friends, their fans and their loved ones to be able to experience a truly world-class and uniquely Canadian tournament experience in our nation’s capital See you all in Ottawa in 2020!”
The tournament is named after Mark Bingham, a member of the San Francisco Fog team who died on United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 Mark is credited as one of the passengers who tackled the terrorists on-board, preventing the aircraft from reaching the hijackers' intended target
The Bingham Cup is held in honour of Mark’s memory and challenges stereotypes and perceptions of the LGBT+ communities
Ian Chaplin, Chairman of Brighton based Sea Serpent RFC, said: “ We in Brighton & Hove are delighted that the Bingham Cup is moving forward, to another country, this time Canada I attended the first ever Cup tournament in San Francisco in 2002 and it thrills me to see how big and vibrant the tournament has become, not just because it is a real memorial to Mark Bingham, but also because it underlines the fact that gay, bisexual and transgender men can play team sports, for fun and at a high standard I look forward to a strong team from Brighton & Hove travelling to Ottawa and showing to ourselves, to our friends in rugby from around the world and to our friends and supporters at home how our Club fulfils the RFU principles of teamwork, discipline, enjoyment, sportsmanship and respect ”
WHAT’S UP AT THE RAINBOW HUB?
) The R ainbow Hub in St James’s Street is a local point of contact for LGBT+ people seeking up to date help, information or guidance, in a safe, nonjudgemental environment in the hear t of the gay village Volunteers are providing a welcoming drop-in space to help people and where necessary refer them on to one or more of the city's extensive network of par tner organisations for fur ther suppor t
The space is also open to par tner organisations wishing to reach out to their user base, and one such par tner, the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum, has a permanent home there
The Rainbow Hub has recently launched an early version of their website therainbowhubbrighton com which will grow and expand to reflect the needs of our LGBT+ communities as the organisation continues to develop
The Rainbow Hub is currently open with restricted hours: Monday to Saturday from 12–3pm These will steadily increase during November Keep an eye on the website and the message board in the window for updates
SO WHY ISN'T THE HUB FULLY OPEN YET?
There was a deceptively large amount of work to be done before the Rainbow Hub is fully open for business Much of this work derives from the fact that this is a physical space providing a service to a wide variety of people who might walk in off the street Managers are ensuring that the health, safety and wellbeing of their volunteers and service users are at the forefront of everything they do
At the moment they are busy recruiting volunteers; building and delivering training programmes; drafting their policies and procedures; installing an accessible toilet; setting up basic office systems and generally making this a great space for everyone
MEET THE TEAM – THIS MONTH: JOEL BOARDMAN
Recruiting and training a large number of new volunteers to an appropriate level is a huge task and this is being coordinated by Joel Boardman He is the new Volunteer Coordinator and is currently focused on building recruitment and training programmes for all volunteers Joel is experienced in people management and service delivery, currently working for the UK’s largest wig company managing the head office team
Joel has worked in advisory and management roles for financial companies, as well as volunteering in money advice and local community causes Being openly gay himself, he has faced personal instances of homophobia and prejudice, which he feels have made him wiser and strengthened his abilities to empathise with and inspire others
He is extremely passionate about the values of the project and is really excited to begin giving back to a community he is proud to be a par t of If you’d like to volunteer at the Rainbow Hub, email: joel@therainbowhubbrighton com
) Do you know your HIV status? Would you like to be in control and check it more often? Do you want an HIV test, but haven’t got the time to go to the clinic? Would you like a test to do at home, when YOU want to do it, with suppor t onhand if you need it?
You probably know that HIV self-tests were licensed for use in the UK in 2015, and the ones using a single drop of blood are 99 7% accurate (BioSure®) Well here’s the really exciting bit as par t of being a Fast Track City, Brighton & Hove is the first city in the world to have these tests available through touchscreen vending machines!
HIV self-tests are available through these award-winning machines in and around Kemptown on St James Street at the R ainbow Hub, opposite the Bulldog, Prowler Brighton and Subline, and the Marlborough Pub & Theatre (see map) And what’s even more exciting is they’re available for a third of the cost of online or tests which are available in your high-street pharmacy
The Mar tin Fisher Foundation recent won the 2018 British Medical Journal (BMJ) Innovations Award with the testing kit Testing at home isn’t for everyone, and for those who prefer to go to the Sexual Health & Contraception (SHAC) clinic, they are still happy to see you
To book appointments online, view: www.brightonsexualhealth.com/
NEW ANIMAL WELFARE RULES REQUIRE A LICENCE TO BREED AND SELL DOGS
) New animal welfare licensing regulations came into effect on Monday, October 1, 2018 Changes have been introduced nationally by the Depar tment for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to modernise the present licensing system, to maintain and improve animal welfare standards A single licensing scheme will now cover pet shops, dog breeders, dog and cat boarding (including day care for dogs), hiring of horses, and anyone exhibiting or displaying animals for money The scheme replaces a number of pieces of previous legislation
One of the main changes is that anyone breeding and selling dogs will now need a licence - previously a licence was only required for breeding five or more litters of puppies a year Anyone providing boarding for cats or dogs (including dog day care) will also need a licence Previously a licence was only required for overnight boarding
Councils will set fees for licences locally For details of Brighton & Hove, view: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/ environment/animal-warden-team
Cllr Jackie O’Quinn, Chair of the council’s Licensing Committee, said: “This is about protecting the welfare of animals and bringing the licensing system up to date For example, more people now provide day care in their homes for dogs, as an alternative to kennels, and more are breeding dogs at home for sale The new legislation will enable us to ensure animals in all businesses are well cared for, and provide reassurance for pet owners ”
Licence fees are based on the cost of running the licensing scheme, carrying out inspections, and will be kept under review A national ratings system will be introduced and licences will be issued for one, two or three years depending on the rating achieved Existing animal licences held by businesses are still valid until their current expiry date
For information about how to apply for a licence, view: www brightonhove gov uk/content/environment/ani mal-warden-team, email: ehl animalwelfare@brightonhove gov uk, or call 01273 292170
Licensing of council chambers, zoos and dangerous and wild animals will continue under existing legislation
TRANS GUIDANCE FOR SCHOOLS TACKLES STEREOTYPING AND KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE
Tackling outdated language and assumptions about behaviour based on gender is beneficial for all children - gender stereotypes are old-fashioned and create unnecessary barriers.
) These messages are central to the latest edition of the Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit, launched last month and soon to be shared with schools across the city The toolkit is par t of a wide programme of equality work in local schools The council works in par tnership with schools, charities and community groups to prevent and respond to all forms of bullying and discrimination - they aim to suppor t schools to create safe learning environments
Originally published in 2014, the toolkit offers practical advice about how to help vulnerable young people questioning their identity or who’ve identified as trans The guidance has been prepared in consultation with key par tner Allsor ts Youth Project, other LGBT+ organisations, and local schools
The toolkit covers guidance on topics such as gender stereotyping, language, clothing, name changes, safeguarding, confidentiality, toilet provision, special educational needs, pronoun use, and changing facilities for spor ts There is also an extensive glossary explaining many trans related definitions
The toolkit is used by schools, along with other policies such as safeguarding, in the best interests of all in the school community and recommends schools engage actively with parents, children and staff on these issues
Cllr Emma Daniel, lead councillor for neighbourhoods and inclusion, said: “I’m dedicated to creating an inclusive city where all children feel safe and secure Supporting vulnerable young people is a vital part of our work We are proud of the equality work which has already had great results but know there is more we can and will need to do in the future
“The aim of the toolkit is to keep all children safe, not only trans children All children benefit from an environment that challenges gender stereotypes and allows each child to be proud of who they are
“A small number of children struggle with gender identity and this can be from a very young age If trans children don’t get support and understanding they may hurt themselves and refuse school I believe children deserve to be safe and have access to education
“This isn’t new Schools across the city are welcoming and inclusive The updated toolkit is one element of a wide range of guidance used to ensure the welfare and safety of all pupils
“Our toolkit is useful and supports schools to be safe places for every child and where every child is able to access the full curriculum and extra curricula activities That has to be the right approach We can and will help those in need ”
There is also a legal reason to take responsibility in providing guidance for schools The Equality Act 2010 protects anyone undergoing or proposing to undergo gender reassignment from discrimination A
A PARENT’S EXPERIENCE
) A parent’s experience of the Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit by a mum to a trans child in Brighton & Hove explains her experience as a parent of the Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit:
“Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a Parents’ Handbook When we have children we take a leap of faith and rely on the suppor t of friends and family to guide us and suppor t us as they grow
“When my child told me he was trans everything changed Suddenly my friends and family had no relevant experience, instead they had questions and challenged us on our suppor tive approach We knew next to nothing about being trans and worked hard to educate ourselves on what it meant, how it can happen, and how we should be
“We often felt lonely, isolated and under intense scrutiny from our communities We were fiercely protective of our child, but didn’t really know how to protect them, what was the most loving approach, or what was legal
“Coming out to friends and family was a necessary step and although most people were suppor tive the challenging questions rocked our wavering confidence It was emotionally exhausting, but we had a child who was cer tain and excited about their future and showed no fear in pushing ahead
“When we approached school to let them know he was ready to socially transition at school they were suppor tive, but full of questions Our child was their first trans pupil and they wanted us to let them know how they could help us Quite honestly at this point we did not have the strength or cer tainty to know
pupil is legally protected from discrimination when they are taking steps to live as the opposite gender or proposing to do so
There is no national record of numbers of trans children and young people, however the Gender Identity Development Ser vice (GIDS), the only centre for children and adolescents in England, has seen referrals increase year on year In 2016, GIDS received 1,398 referrals Although there is no information on how many trans pupils are in schools in Brighton & Hove, the guidance is sent to all schools so they can consider the issues in the context of the whole school
what was best for our child We were lost at a time when we needed to be the ones with the answers
“Then along came the Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit It was such a relief to read some clearly thought out advice on how to handle situations such as changing for PE, using the toilet, and behaviour Our child has been in three different schools and each time the school has used the Toolkit extremely effectively to understand how they can suppor t not only our child, but other students
“In his most recent school the effect of this has been that he has felt fully included and safe in school and is now accessing education after many months of school refusal The whole process has been quicker and I cannot emphasise what a relief it is to feel like we are all in the hands of exper ts across many different organisations who have many years of experience in both education and in suppor ting young LGBT+ people
“The Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit has enabled parents and educators to quickly, simply and legally see how all children can be suppor ted in schools Without it I suspect our son would be unable to access mainstream education With it he is thriving, and accessing his lessons which is incredibly impor tant for vulnerable students
“His experiences of being trans combined with the gift of education means he is determined to use all of his talents as a working adult to make his community a better place We are very grateful to everyone at Allsor ts and Brighton & Hove City Council for their par t in writing and producing the Toolkit ”
ACTUALLY GAY MEN’S CHORUS - FULL STEAM AHEAD TOWARDS CHRISTMAS!
With summer still a fresh memory, Actually Gay Men’s Chorus march full steam ahead into a new season singing in Brighton & Hove.
) With summer still a fresh memory, Actually Gay Men’s Chorus (AGMC) march full steam ahead into a new season singing in Brighton & Hove Their recent concer t for Pride, True Colours, was met with rave reviews, especially for its explosive finale where the Chorus was joined by vocal powerhouse Kara Van Park singing Colour My World from Priscilla: Queen of the Desert
The Chorus is pleased to be welcoming back several alumni members, and following a successful recruitment campaign in September four new performers have been added to the Actually family Dennis, a Chorus regular for the past decade, returns after a break directing for Brighton Fringe and is delighted to be returning for Actually’s annual Christmas Show He said: “It's going to be a cracker ”
Members of the AGMC have been working with other musical groups in the wider Brighton & Hove communities over the summer months Gareth and Chris joined Simon Gray’s Music Theatre 2000 for Some Enchanted Evening, a celebration of favourite and lesser known musicals They were also cast in Southwick Opera’s production of Roger & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!, in which Gareth took the protagonist role, Curly McLain, to packed audiences at Southwick’s Barn Theatre
Samuel Cousins, Actually’s Musical Director, joins them in the cast of Southwick Opera in their next production, Tri-Opera, on November 7-10 at
Southwick’s Barn Theatre This taster concer t of three condensed operas, sung in English, is the perfect programme for the opera novice as well as the connoisseur f /events/305977410201831/
Sam says: “I think it’s a thrilling adventure to be supporting and taking part in something in the wider communities of Brighton and Hove The Tri- Opera is a wonderful way into the world of opera and led expertly by Simon Gray ”
Gareth has also been busy rehearsing with Brighton & Hove Operatic Society for their production of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert: The Musical at the Old Market from December 4 to 8 f /events/824212814428479/
Gareth said: "Actually gave me the confidence to perform on stage, and Simon gave me my break with Oklahoma! I’ll be painting the stage in Priscilla, and bringing out my inner diva!"
The Chorus itself is busy with its own projects as it approaches its busiest time of year, and Samuel yet again is pulling out all the stops for a challenging yet enter taining reper toire for the new term
Christmas comes early for AGMC this year, as they have been invited by Brilliant Brighton to perform at the switching on of Brighton’s Christmas Lights for the 2018 Festive Season Expect your Ding! and Dong! to be musical as well as illuminated above Western Road this year! f /events/344759669603731/
December 1 is World AIDS Day, and AGMC is proud once again to stand alongside many of the city’s other LGBT+ musical groups to remember those lost to HIV/AIDS, and reduce stigma for those living with HIV Timed to follow the AIDS Memorial Vigil and reading of names, St Mar y’s Church, Kemptown is the venue for Brighton & Hove’s World AIDS Day Charity Concer t
All this leads to the season finale of the AGMC Autumn/Winter term Its annual Christmas extravaganza, this year titled It’s A ctually Christmas, is designed to fill you with festive cheer and to usher in Christmastime to Hove as only AGMC can St Andrew’s Church will again be packed to the rafters as you are invited to join in with congregational carols and enjoy Actually’s Christmas favourites and new specialities
Tickets are now on pre-sale for December 22, star ting at 8pm, and the performance will again be fundraising for the members’ charity for 2018, the Sussex Beacon f /events/295525904374925/
New member Nick, said: “I first attended an AGMC concert because my friend Steph joined and was clearly having a fantastic time Each concert since then has surpassed the one before I am looking forward to entertaining my friends and family and launching Christmas with some musical magic!”
AGMC will be raising money or Sussex Beacon their nominated charity for 2018-19.
For more info about AGMC, visit: f /events/295525904374925/
‘ ONE DAY THAT CHANGED MY LIFE’: MY DREAM JOB - FROM NURSE TO TRAIN DRIVER
) In September, a former NHS nurse was featured in the BBC programme One Day that Changed My L ife as she trained to become a train driver Recently-qualified train driver, Laura McDonald, was featured in a new BBC series - about her journey to become a train driver for Southern Trains
Determined to break into a male-dominated industry, Laura quit her job as an NHS nurse to begin her rigorous training to become a London train driver for Southern Trains Women make up just 5 4% of the 19,000 train drivers in Britain, and it had always been Laura’s dream to join them
She spent 12 years of her professional life as a nurse in the NHS, and although she loved her work, earlier this year she decided to quit her job and pursue her dream career One Day that Changed My Life joined Laura on her assessment day, following months of learning, training and preparing for a career on the railways
Viewers received a unique insight into what it takes to become a train driver, the breadth of knowledge they needed to retain, their training on how to deal with a crisis, and the strict assessments they had to pass
Laura said: “I love my job as a train driver and I worked really hard to achieve my dream You need to focus and concentrate all the time and the safety of passengers and colleagues is of utmost importance There's support for women's development at Govia Thameslink Railway Only 5 4% of Britain’s 19,000 train drivers are women - having more would be amazing and I’d hugely encourage more to apply ”
Will Laura have what it takes? One Day that Changed My Life told the story of a single day that changed the course of people’s lives - dramatic moments that can send lives in one of any two directions With four stories per episode, the programme showed the run up to real life moments, culminating on one day that delivered intimate decisions that reflect the audience’s lives back to them Narrated by Jo Joyner, the programme gave the audience intimate access to life changing events as they happened
Southern Trains are pushing hard to make the industry more attractive to female applicants - this year they're on track for 30% of trainees being female, up from 18% last year
Laura is pictured in the driver’s cabin with fellow Southern Trains employee Polly McGillivray, a champion weightlifter and trainee driver trainer whose marriage to her par tner Skylar Smith was featured in Gscene last year
• Dermapen (skin repair) Come in for a free consultation
wasn’t expecting the attention but also the backlash from some ”
His great initial strength, which makes him an outstanding act today too, was his strong dramatic voice and theatrical background “For me, it’s totally about pleasing the audience," he admits He says he’s eternally grateful to drag act Baga Chipz who gave him his first break at London’s Admiral Duncan “He pushed me into it The other big influence was Son of a Tutu - one of the most incredible people and the most giving soul I know "
He’s currently working on two productions - first playing the trans Bernadette in Priscilla: Queen of the Desert in Brighton for a week in December at the Old Market And crucially he’s also working on what he calls a “secret project" which will mean drag takes a bit of a back seat. He will say nothing more at the moment.
Wain has strong views about gay politics and prejudice which he sees within the wider LGBT+ communities, particularly about trans people and older gay men. “If we can’t accept each other, how can we expect anyone else to accept us?" he wisely says.
MISTRESS OF THE HOUSE
For Brighton’s Wain Douglas - drag queen Kara Van Park - it all started in Hollywood films. Here she talks to Brian Butler about school bullying, Les Misérables and a secret future project.
) As an overweight child, Wain Douglas was subject to constant bullying at school His means of escape was to immerse himself in the song and dance musicals of Hollywood at its height “I went to an old style grammar school which was very academic There was no tradition of school plays and music,” he says But at 15 years old he was asked to play Pharaoh in a school production of Joseph. Suddenly the bullies wanted to be his friend. But he rebelled. “I’ve never suffered fools so I saw through it. Cross me once it’s a mistake, cross me twice it’s all hell," he reveals.
At that teenage stage he knew he wanted to be an actor. “It’s not about adulation, it’s about being someone else - stepping out of me for a short while.” His mother supported his wish to go to drama school, but insisted he had a trade to fall back on. It was a far-sighted move. “My cousin had her own hairdressing salon so I did an apprenticeship with her ” A job he was to return to in the theatre world years later
Aged 18, Wain went to the Italia Conti Stage School He supported himself with the help of a 100% grant and by Front of House jobs in West
End theatres at night By the time he left Italia he was set on a dancing career and pursued it successfully for a while Tours of Joseph, Hair and Fame followed, and he found his career moving more towards singing and acting
While in Singing in the Rain, he stood in for a principal and by chance was seen by someone from the Cameron Macintosh organisation An offer immediately followed to audition for Les Misérables in the West End
He walked on to play the criminal innkeeper Thenadier whose great show stopper is Master of The House, and found himself playing opposite the wonderful Rosemary Ashe, and later was involved in both the 25th anniversary concert and the more recent film of the musical
Becoming disenchanted with the cost-cutting in production values, he returned to his first job but this time advising, creating and maintaining hair and make up for some of the West End’s biggest shows. But Wain was to take another road and friends suggested that he develop his regular panto dame act into a drag performance. And so Kara was born! “It all took off very quickly. I
Asked what advice he would give to a 15-year-old Wain, he says very quickly, “Keep your eyes and ears open and your mouth shut. I’ve had to stand my ground because I’ve fought for what I’ve gotI won’t be taken for granted,” he says firmly.
Our conversation goes back to Priscilla. “I can’t tell you how excited I am. It’s a dream role, back to my musical theatre roots and those of my drag act. It will show Brighton more of what I really do, and should make a few people sit up and take note. Bernadette isn’t a drag queen - she’s a trans woman The show is very camp and theatrical but because of the trans element, you have to avoid sending it up - that would be disrespectful to trans people,” he says
Asked what up and coming drag performer he rates, he immediately says (as did Davina Sparkle last month in October’s Gscene) Pat Clutcher “A total professional with a fantastic voice," is Wain’s verdict Brighton is a tough scene to crack and be accepted but there are some outstanding performers and Wain rates Miss Jason as one of the best “She has the audience in the palm of her hand - she’s got them from the moment she walks on stage.” he says.
It’s a typically generous view of his colleagues and one that many of his fellow performers would say was also true of Kara.
)
Queen of the Desert is at the Old Market, Brighton from December 4–8
Priscilla:
BRINGING A TOUCH OF RAZZLE
DAZZLE TO WESTERN ROAD, HOVE
What ’s the best way to make a splash when opening new premises on Western Road, Hove?
NEW KHALIL PROPERTIES OFFICE
Ahmed Khalil and his wife Anna have opened the latest branch of their property company Khalil Properties in what used to be the Post Office at 22 Western Road, Hove BN3 1AF
Centre stage and drawing gasps from passers-by were local Drag Queens Pat Clutcher and Stephanie Von Clitz who entertained the guests at the opening while DJ Skillz played some lovely mood music.
Anna baked a spectacular cake to mark the occasion and plenty of bubbles were consumed by everyone who came to view the new the smart new office.
RENT GUARANTEE SCHEME
Ahmed was eager to chat about his Rent Guarantee Scheme for landlords: "Rent without risk is not only possible in Hove, it can be guaranteed! What’s more I can guarantee that you won’t need to lift a finger to achieve this.”
Kahlil has been making lives easier for local landlords for many years - but has saved his best deal for now
) Imagine your Hove property continuing to pay you rent even when it’s empty.
) Imagine enjoying the rental returns without the run-around of the rental process.
) Imagine making money from your property
every day without the hassle of everyday property maintenance.
Kahlil's guarantee scheme makes renting easy. He continues: "I offer a very simple way to take the insecurity, hassle and commitments out of renting." Ahmed will lease your property for a few years at a very attractive rate, during which time he guarantees your rent which he pays whether your property is occupied or not. There are no management fees, no hidden costs, he handles all day-to-day maintenance and he will find and manage your tenants for you
At the end of the lease he will return your property to you in the same condition as it was when you started the relationship. It’s a simple and effective scheme and it’s been delighting landlords in Brighton & Hove for nearly three years now Pop in for a cup of coffee, a chat with Ahmed and find out how it can work for you
MORE INFORMATION
) For more information about rental returns without the risk call Ahmed on 07984 015669 or drop by for a chat at Khalil Properties, 22 Western Road, Hove BN3 1AF.
LOCAL ENTERTAINERS HONOURED AT THE RAINBOW FUND AWARDS
) Brighton enter tainers were honoured at the R ainbow Fund Awards for their suppor t of the city’s LGBT+ organisations over the last 30 years
The Rainbow Fund distributed grants totalling over £146,481 to LGBT+/HIV organisations who deliver effective front line services to LGBT+ people in the city at the Hilton Brighton Metropole on October 15 following a post Pride grants round conducted by their independent grants panel
The awards were hosted by Rainbow Fund Patron the comedian, Zoe Lyons, and Lola Lasagne while Miguel Santiago thrilled the audience on his electric violin
This years awards included a trail blazing investment of £25,324 in dedicated services provided to trans and non binary people in Brighton & Hove by the Clare Project, Allsor ts Youth Project and My Genderation
Chris Gull chair of the Rainbow Fund told the audience: “I came to Brighton in 1976 convinced that I lived in a Utopia because it was at last legal for me to have sex with another man (as long as it was in private, and no more than two of us in the room) My cosy view of the world was shattered within a few years by the arrival of AIDS, and Section 28
“As a community we worked to fight both the epidemic, and the Government Grass roots organisations sprung up, resulting in the early incarnations of Pride, the commissioning of The Sussex Beacon and much more
“I personally became involved with an organisation called Brighton Cares, and ended up Chairing the charity for seven years Brighton Cares was a hardship fund for individuals affected by HIV and AIDS We raised funds by putting on entertainment events, including one huge show each year at The Dome Absolutely central to our fundraising then, and still nearly thirty years later, are our Drag Queens and entertainers
“Between them they have given their time and talent absolutely free to fundraise not only for Brighton Cares, but charities in Thailand and Gran Canaria - not only for The Rainbow Fund, but for individual organisation such as Mindout, The Community Safety Forum, the Sussex Beacon and every year they donate their services free of charge to appear in the cabaret tent during Brighton Pride ”
Stephen Richards aka Lola Lasagne added: “Nights like this remind us all of how diverse our LGBT+ scene is We become very aware of how many different issues we face, as a community, and how many people we can help by continously fundraising And, given that all these groups rely on our donations and efforts it's more important than ever to carry on ”
In the room to receive the award on behalf of all local enter tainers were Wain Douglas aka Kara Van Park, David Pollikett aka Davina Sparkle, Jason Sutton aka Miss Jason, David R aven aka Maisie Trollette, Aaron Lawrence aka Spice, Jon Hughes aka Sally Vate, Miguel Santiago, Jason Thorpe, Jennie Castell, and Gabriella Parrish
SEA SERPENTS RUGBY FOOTBALL CLUB: GRANT UP TO £1,000 TO ESTABLISH A BURSARY FUND TO ENCOURAGE LGBTQ+ PARTICIPATION IN SPORT AND ADDRESS SOCIAL ISOLATION PRESENTERS: CAROLE TODD & SOPHIE COOK
: GRANT UP TO £1,700 FOR CORE COSTS; UP TO £3,000 FOR PRODUCTION OF 12 PODCASTS ADDRESSING MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES WITHIN THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITIES TOTAL £4,700 PRESENTERS: CLLR ADRIAN MORRIS AND
MIGUEL
FA ST-TRACK CITIES
Accelerating and scaling up local HIV/AIDS responses
) So what is Fast Track Cities?
At last a new high speed rail link between London and Brighton I hear you cry; well no, unfortunately not However it is an exciting new international initiative which Brighton & Hove City Council signed up to just over one year ago to look with fresh eyes at HIV prevention and HIV treatment as well as a real commitment to tackling HIV stigma in our communities
The initiative was launched on World AIDS Day 2014 in Paris, where mayors from 27 cities in over 50 countries met to sign the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities committing to accelerate and scale-up their local HIV/AIDS responses.
Brighton & Hove was the first city in the UK to sign up, joining many other cities across the world; recently London and Manchester have also signed up.
But I thought HIV wasn’t a problem any more? Wrong! An estimated 12% of people living with HIV don’t know that they are HIV positive Things have improved hugely in many ways but we still have a long way to go to stop new cases of HIV and ensure that people already living with HIV can live freely without fear of discrimination.
However, you may already be aware, or have heard in the news or from friends, that things
ARE changing in the world of HIV and AIDS. The efforts of healthcare professionals, health promoters and advances in medicine, mean that fewer people are being diagnosed with HIV New figures, published in September by Public Health England (PHE), show a 17% decrease in HIV diagnoses in the UK in 2017 and a drop of more than a quarter in the last two years (28%) HIV treatments are also highly effective and when taken daily mean that those of us living with HIV can expect to live as long as someone without HIV.
So what’s happening?
HIV treatment has undoubtedly played a significant role in this decline Now, when someone is diagnosed, they are encouraged to start treatment as soon as possible. This enables them to more quickly achieve an undetectable viral load, which means HIV can’t be passed on.
The other game changer is PrEP (Pre exposure prophylaxis), which is basically a pill of HIV medicine which is almost 100% effective at preventing someone contracting HIV when taken as prescribed. The community response to PrEP
has been enormous with high demand for NHS trials as well as people buying PrEP online via online pharmacies advertised on sites such as ‘PrEPster’ and ‘I Want PrEP Now’
So what’s Fast-Track Cities all about and where does it fit in?
In a nutshell; the aim is to attain the UNAIDS global target of 90-90-90 and zero stigma and discrimination by 2020. The 90-90-90 targets are:
• Ensure that at least 90% of people living with HIV know their status;
• That 90% of people diagnosed with HIV are receiving treatment;
• That 90% of those on treatment have undetectable HIV virus in their bloodstream.
We know that Brighton is already doing well in meeting these targets with:
• 88% of people living with HIV know their status (based on national data);
• 98% of people living with HIV are on treatment;
• 98% of those on treatment have undetectable virus in their blood stream
Well were doing great aren’t we?
Well certainly the two targets relating to HIV treatment are looking good but we know that there are still hundreds of people out there who don’t realise that they have HIV; we have to do something about this There’s also so much more to do to meet the Martin Fisher Foundation’s ambitious targets of ZERO HIV stigma, ZERO new HIV infections and ZERO deaths from HIV in Brighton & Hove.
So over the next few years we have some urgent challenges that will require the whole city to come together to ensure that we can effectively meet the targets; stop new HIV infections, get everyone living with HIV on treatment, and really start to tackle HIV stigma comprehensively across all our communities
OK I get it, so how can I help?
There are a number of different ways to get involved; if you want to find out more, the FastTrack Cities Task Force are holding a community engagement event on Friday, December 7 at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church from 2.304.30pm We would love you to come along and share your ideas of how we can stop HIV in its tracks and wipe out HIV stigma If you can’t make the event then there are loads of other ways you can help, big and small; we are particularly interesting in hearing about any of your own ideas; things which you think would work for you, your friends, your partners, your community. We invite you to get involved where possible by contacting us and sharing this journey.
Please contact us for more details at marc.tweed@tht.org.uk or Gillian.dean@bsuh.nhs.uk and let us know if you’d like to attend on the December 7!
HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU KNOW WHO ARE HIV+?
Lee Henriques, an 18-year-old first year student studying English at Sussex University is Gscene’s newest and youngest columnist.
) They’re just like you and me, they walk and talk like you and me, eat and breathe like you and me, have families and friends and, yes, even partners, like you and me
To some people, the fact that someone has something called human immunodeficiency virus immediately marks them as a pariah Arguably, the stigma that used to plague people with HIV has somewhat lessened There’s less of a taboo surrounding the topic However, I believe there’s still a lot of misinformation about HIV – especially within the youth of the LGBT+ communities
“I don’t want to risk being with someone who has it,” a friend of mine once said, and I agreed with them at the time I disregarded PrEP, the fact that the virus cannot spread through the latex of a condom, and all the other precautions that can be taken to ensure safer sex with someone who is HIV+.
As a gay man who grew up in London, and came out to moderately accepting parents
when I was 15, I’ve always been encompassed by a very safe, privileged bubble Three years later, now living in Brighton, the same still applies
I’ve never knowingly met anyone who has tested positive to HIV I’ve never experienced the homophobic abuse that tragically still occurs so often and I’ve never received any kind of official sexual health education Previously, I’ve written about the internet being my main source of information for gay sex, expressing my frustration with education not tackling the plethora of new problems arising with modern-day culture.
HIV isn’t necessarily a new phenomenon, unlike the unrealistic body expectations and
standards set through the glossy apps of Instagram and Snapchat, but it’s still not really being taught in schools Almost every queer person I’ve ever met who has actually had some form of sex education has only been taught the most basic heteronormative definitions of sex and contraception. Penis, vagina, pregnancy. That’s it.
Gay history is multifaceted; more recent years have spurred some very celebratory occasions, such as the legalisation of same-sex marriage which marked a huge moment for the LGBT+ civil rights movement, but the darker side of gay history, such as the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, tends to not be acknowledged by the younger gay generation as much as it should This could stem from a lack of education about LGBT+ history in general It didn’t happen that long ago and so some people may feel it’s insensitive to talk about it when there are people alive, to this day, who lost their friends, their lovers, during it The point is schools barely teach straight kids about sex, how are the gay youth supposed to know about HIV, safer sex, the history of the LGBT+ movement?
Being raised in Roman Catholic education, I had to use the internet and spiralled down the web many times using my own prerogative to learn what I wanted to learn. If I hadn’t taken that initiative, I would have had to learn through experience, a way more dangerous practice.
Some would say that used to be the case, before easy-access internet, when there weren’t really other options being a gay man in a society that practically condemned you. While that may be the case, hook-up culture (changed in recent years with the explosion of gay dating apps) seems to have made us less cautious
Shouldn’t it be the opposite since we have the means and the information now, to be more careful? A no-strings-attached one-time Grindr fling could have lifelong consequences, which is why I can’t stress enough the importance of educating yourself and getting tested
As already mentioned, the stigma around HIV has, thankfully, declined but that doesn’t mean that our attitudes towards unsafe sex and contracting STDs and STIs should be nonchalant HIV is more manageable than it’s ever been before but it’s important to recognise that your choices have consequences By all means, have fun and explore your sexuality, but always be aware of the risks and know what you ’ re possibly getting into. You can live your life normally as someone who is HIV+, of course, but it’s something you have to live with for the rest of your life.
Knowledge is power. Know how to practice safer sex and know how to get help if you need to.
“Schools barely teach straight kids about sex, how are the gay youth supposed to know about HIV, safer sex, the history of the LGBT+ movement?”
IF YOU ARE HAVING SEX - GET TESTED FOR HIV!
When was your last HIV test? It's National HIV Testing Week this month, which means there’s no better time to get tested and know your status.
) It’s recommended that gay and bi men test at least once a year and more if you ’ ve had unprotected sex or slept with more than one partner. You can live a long, healthy life with HIV – but first you ’ ve got to get tested and know your status.
Head to startswithme.org.uk to find out where to test locally or to order your free selfsampling test, where you test at home and get a result within a few days.
With around one in eight people living with HIV still unaware they have the virus, Gscene spoke to Paul, Isaiah and James about why they test regularly and decided to get involved in National HIV Testing Week this year
) PAUL
“ We all have sex, we should all get tested”
“The first time I had sex was when I was 18 and I immediately went and got tested for HIV in a panic,” says Paul who’s now 33 “I was scared, even though we used a condom As a gay man, I’ve always been aware of HIV and it’s why I was keen to be part of this campaign
“It took over a week to get your result back then, which seems crazy Now you get peace of mind quickly and easily – which is amazing
“People seem to see testing as something to be ashamed of, but it shouldn’t be We all have sex There are some great sexual health clinics
and now you can test at home and get a quick result. Testing is something to be proud of!"
“Testing for HIV can be a nerve-wracking experience, but if you ’ re living with HIV you need to know about it so you can access support and treatment to live well.
“I’ve got three friends who have HIV and I’ve always tried to be very supportive of them," says Paul.
“They’re absolutely fine and living well, but it seems there are other people who are really scared. Which is ridiculous because it’s 2018 and it’s not the same as it was 30 years ago –there’s no need to panic, you can live with it for the rest of your life.
“I think it’s important that more people know that those on effective HIV treatment can’t pass it on – with or without a condom –because it shows that the best thing to do is get tested and know your status."
Paul’s a model, actor and now a personal trainer too. He knows first-hand that many gay men now take a big interest in their physical health but doesn’t understand why everyone ’ s not prioritising their sexual health too.
“A lot of my friends who have HIV go to the gym all the time and work out and take amazing care of themselves. They see it as ‘ a scare ’ and then make a change to be as healthy as possible.
“I’m a personal trainer, I spend time in the gym and I eat well. We need to all see sexual health as being as important as physical health.
“My advice? Just go and get tested."
) ISAIAH
“I
first tested for HIV at 17”
"I was having unprotected sex with my partner at the time,’ says Isaiah ‘He tested regularly and was my first sexual partner, but I still decided I should start going to the clinic. "The first time I tested, I was 17 and I’d gone after researching about HIV As a gay man, I thought I should be more aware of HIV Both for my own health and so I can educate friends. It wasn’t that I thought I had HIV, I
just thought I should go and do it and get into the habit of it.
"We didn’t have a discussion about condoms, it was very heat of the moment. It was dangerous in this day and age when there’s lots available to you to protect yourself. I look back on it as something bad in terms of HIV and STIs. But luckily that’s not what happened.
"I’m very different now to then and learned a lot about sexual health. It’s something that is always in my mind and I make sure my partner and I get check-ups. Before we did anything, we went for a check-up. Three months in, we went for a check-up."
) JAMES
“I understand dealing with stigma”
“I’m trans and it’s very different to having HIV, but there’s a lot of stigma about being trans due to people not educating themselves about that and I think it’s probably quite similar for people living with HIV," says James who’s 26.
“You read those dating profiles and it’s like “I don’t want this, this and this” and if we can just be a little bit kinder to each other and start a dialogue that’s really important."
James wanted to be a part of National HIV Testing Week to promote testing within trans communities.
“I’ve done home tests before and it’s useful," says James. “Sometimes at clinics you end up waiting around a lot, and so it’s the
convenience of testing at home that I like I think it’s always better to know and have peace of mind
“Sexual health is a little bit more difficult for trans people, although London and Brighton both have trans-specific clinics But at standard places, it’s fine but there’s always that element of being confident enough to be open about being trans I’ve had medical appoints where people haven’t reacted well to me being trans and used the wrong pronouns “But going to the clinic is never as bad as you think it’s going to be I’ve had good interactions and even people who aren’t very clued up have been respectful People see testing as embarrassing or shameful but it’s something to be proud of."
NATIONAL HIV TESTING WEEK
National HIV Testing Week starts on Saturday, November 17 with loads of opportunities to get tested and know your status. Testing for HIV is quick, easy and confidential. For more information about where, when and why to test, visit startswithme.org.uk.
National HIV Testing Week is part of It Starts With Me, the HIV prevention campaign run by Terrence Higgins Trust on behalf of Public Health England.
HOW TO STOP HIV
We’ve got all the tools we need to prevent HIV, it’s just about using them:
• Condoms
• HIV testing
• PrEP
• HIV treatment
HIV is more prevalent among gay and bi men so it’s important to know about HIV and the different ways to prevent it. Testing regularly is a big part of that because you can live a long, healthy life with HIV – you just need to know you have it.
HIV treatment is also playing a significant role in bringing down new HIV transmissions as we now know that someone living with HIV who’s on effective treatment can’t pass it on – with or without a condom.
MORE INFO
For more information about HIV and where to test, view: startswithme.org.uk
WORLD AIDS DAY
The Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day (WAD) Partnership are organising a series of events to mark World AIDS Day on Saturday December 1. The partnership includes: BHCC Partnership Community Safety Team, Gscene, Lunch Positive, Martin Fisher Foundation, Sussex Beacon, Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy and THT South.
WAD EVENTS - SATURDAY DECEMBER 1
COMMUNITY EVENTS
) WORLD AIDS DAY LUNCH POSITIVE COMMUNITY DROP-IN, Community Room (1st floor) Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens, Brighton. Drop in Saturday, December 1 anytime from 1–4pm This is a free and informal community event to bring people together on this special day Everyone is invited to drop by and share some delicious food from the buffet, prepared by Lunch Positive volunteers No booking is required, just drop by at any time during the afternoon
) MEMORIAL SPACE, New Steine Gardens, Brighton Lunch Positive Refreshment Stall from 4–7pm Lunch Positive will be offering hot drinks to everyone attending the World AIDS Day Vigil & Reading of Names. Volunteers will be on hand to answer questions about the evening’s events, and to take additional names of those we have lost to be read at the vigil.
CANDLELIT VIGIL
) BRIGHTON AIDS MEMORIAL CANDLELIT
VIGIL, New Steine Gardens, Brighton, from 6–7pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the remembrance event for those lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove with a Reading of Names and Candlelit Vigil. Space will be available for anyone seeking quiet moments of reflection New names to be read (in addition to those read in previous years) can be emailed to susshivchap@gmail.com by November 27, or can be added to the list during the day at the Memorial Space in New Steine Gardens
CHOIRS CONCERT
) WORLD AIDS DAY CHARITY CONCERT, St Mary’s Church, St James Street, Brighton. Actually Gay Men's Chorus, Brighton Gay Men's Chorus and Rainbow Chorus are jointly producing this year ’ s 12th annual fund-raising concert to mark World AIDS Day To allow people to attend after the Candlelit Vigil at the AIDS Memorial in New Steine Gardens, doors open 7pm, concert starts at 7.30pm
Performances by the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus, Brighton Belles Women’s Chorus, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, Rainbow Chorus, Rebelles Female Voices, Resound Male Voices, Qukelele and Sweet Chilli Singers.
Mince pies and mulled wine will be served during the interval by Lunch Positive. Tickets £10, available online from www.brightonwasconcert.info and from Prowler on St James Street. Last year ’ s concert sold out in advance so there are unlikely to be tickets on the door.
All profits will be donated to local Brighton charity, Lunch Positive, the weekly lunch club for people who are HIV positive Follow the Partnership on f/worldAIDSdayBH
EXHIBITION
) WORLD AIDS DAY EXHIBITION, Rainbow Hub, 73 St James St, Brighton, ‘Re-framing Stigma’ - Experiences of living with HIV in Brighton & Hove from Nov 24 - Dec 2. Open Mon-Fri from noon-3pm.
FUNDRAISERS
) MR SUBLINE 2018 at SUBLINE on Sat, Nov 24 from 10pm A fundraiser for THT.
) CHARLES STREET TAP’S ANNUAL WORLD AIDS DAY CABARET FUNDRAISER for THT South on Sat Dec 1 Hosted by Drag With No Name, with Sally Vate, Jason Thorpe, Pat Clutcher and many more to be announced Doors at 7.30pm (following the Candle Lit Vigil at the AIDS Memorial) Entry £2 minimum donation, all going to THT South.
10 YEARS SINCE OPEN DOOR CLOSED
Gar y Pargeter, the Ser vice Manager at Lunch Positive, marks the 10-year anniversar y of Open Door closing.
) Exactly 10 years ago I was in the last throes of volunteering to remove the final remnants of furniture, equipment and paraphernalia out of the home of the Open Door HIV project in Camelford Street, Brighton.
It was closing for good, and we felt a distressed and powerless group of service users. Open Door had then run for over 20 years, being a sanctuary, a place of safety, love, friendship and support. It was a model of peer support locally, formed at a time when an HIV diagnosis was widely understood to mean death, and when barely a week passed without seeing someone ’ s health deteriorate, find themselves marginalised or rejected, or frequently, after a painful and distressing struggle with their health, lose someone we knew or loved to AIDS
I’m so proud of all that everyone achieved at Open Door, all the wonderful people involved I remember, miss, and value all those I knew that died, what they brought for others and who they were for themselves Proud not just for the difference we made to each other, but how we did it, based on acceptance, respect, selflessness, service to others, compassion, and kindness. Having experienced all these things at Open Door, it feels even more important to hold on to such values, strongly and firmly.
When Open Door closed, through a complexity of funding and other reasons probably too
distant to dwell on now, we were left without any continuance of the peer support we had developed for ourselves, a place to gather, meet, find and develop friendships, and pertinent to my involvement where I had volunteered to cook – to share a healthy meal
So, early the following year in 2009 we formed something new of our own and the Lunch Positive lunch club was born Lunch Positive continues to provide a unique HIV peer-led community space, delivered by volunteers It differs from Open Door and isn’t a like for like replacement, but embraces the values we shared there. It has grown to reflect the needs and changes of our local HIV communities.
Like many others, being someone who has lost practically all my friends, loved ones, and partners over the years, and has known and cared for so many people with progression to AIDS, there isn’t a week passes where I don’t reflect on our needs today, how things have changed, what should we be doing now? It’s an undeniable fact that we have seen vast improvements in clinical care, prognosis, prevention, how HIV affects people
But hold those thoughts, and consider some of the enduring challenges, and hear about some of those that have emerged Since Lunch Positive formed, knowing the several hundreds of people who have come along, we have continued to see people whose health has deteriorated, with symptomatic HIV, finding managing their health a challenge People have become involved in volunteering, learned new skills and grown in confidence This has helped in everyday lives, and some have gone on to find employment. However, we still
“It was a model of peer support locally, formed at a time when an HIV diagnosis was widely understood to mean death”
encounter many whose employment is highly insecure, very low paid, where fear of disclosing an HIV status is the reality
In a city where housing and living costs are so often unaffordably high, people on low or constrained incomes struggle to make ends meet, financial disadvantage and poverty hit hard Add to this an increase we have seen in people sleeping rough, and those at risk of exploitation. Being able to afford to eat healthily regularly, and pay the bills, is not always easy – often impossible.
Ageing with HIV is now a reality. Social and economic inequalities so often associated with ageing affect many of us, often exacerbated by HIV and chronic illness. Numbers of people with HIV who are 50 years and over is already high, and growing rapidly. Many of us who are now ageing have health issues additional to HIV, sometimes making health more complex and challenging to manage
Many feel burdened by what are often years of already taking medications, their tolerance and impact on us Very sadly, but a reality – we ’ re now more frequently experiencing the loss of our friends and acquaintances, often especially poignant for a community already so exposed to bereavement over almost 40 years
Loneliness and social isolation, caused for any reason, has been a constant theme Please never underestimate how isolating HIV can be when we are not sure of how we will be accepted or understood should we tell people our HIV status
Sadly, experience tells us the reaction from some people can still be very negative and hurtful Stigma can be painful and disempowering Whilst HIV isn’t the only thing we talk about at Lunch Positive, it’s something that we can be assured won’t be difficult or have a negative reaction. It’s a safe space and is wonderful every Friday to see a room full of 50 to 60 people talking, sharing, or simply deriving emotional strength from being present within our own community space with our peers.
So, as we approach our tenth anniversary and think about where we have come from and where we go, the important message we have is thiscommunity still matters, is still needed, and makes a difference! Thank you everyone who shares and supports this!
We know that HIV has changed for some, but not for everyone, and new issues emerge. We know this not just from the ‘facts and figures’ or reports and surveys, we know this because we ’ re peers - people with HIV. We deeply believe, through experience, that a peer-led service, where there’s acceptance and sportiveness bringing people together, is an exceptionally good thing!
There’s no ‘typical’ person with HIV that comes to Lunch Positive, nor any specific reason or need Together with the things we do, just valuing and wanting to be supportive, with or around other people with HIV can make immeasurable differences to our own lives, and those of people around us
HIV AFFECTS US ALL
Richard Jeneway talks about his appointment as a trustee at Lunch Positive, the weekly lunch club for people with HIV, offering food, friendship, community and peer support.
) HIV affects us all in differing ways, for many of us closely, others less so For me it feels that World AIDS Day remains highly important because of the contributions and impact made by those who have passed, and whose loss we still feel They, together with the contributions of those still living with HIV, and those volunteering and working in the field, make our lives possible today by better understanding HIV and ensuring research into improved treatments, including: better tolerated medications, the emergence and development of highly effective prevention, enabling longer lives and the possibility of improved health. This is something I am strongly passionate about.
In 2011, I co-founded a small peer-led community project with local and national funding from Rainbow Fund and the Lottery, with the focus on wellbeing, yoga and therapies for people with or affected by HIV. Since then I have trained as a mentor on the Project 100 course and now work with people with HIV in a mentoring capacity as a volunteer
Way back in time I went to the local HIV project Open Door, where I met Gary Pargeter Since then, with a group of volunteers, Gary has gone on to found and establish Lunch Positive as a weekly lunch club for people with HIV
In January this year I became a trustee with Lunch Positive The charity has gone on to make accessible technical training available for my needs - I was diagnosed HIV positive in 1994 when I became ill at work with pneumonia and the CMV virus, and in 2006 I totally lost my sight, which is a legacy of cytomegalovirus. This supports me to fully engage with the work of the charity now and in the future.
Lunch Positive is a peer-led safe and friendly space where acceptance, empathy, supportiveness are the ethos of this community organisation The service is provided by a brilliant team of volunteers, all caring passionately about what they do. This is a welcoming social space for everyone affected by HIV, with over 50 people attending weekly of all ages, genders and cultures. Some are recently diagnosed, others long term diagnosed; the most important things is that everyone is welcome.
Volunteering is not just about giving. Hopefully like me, in return you gain a sense of being valued, heard, visible, useful and befriended. Your voice is genuinely valued. Some of us long-term HIV survivors are now entering older age and with Brighton statistics showing that almost 50% of patients at the Lawson Unit are aged 50 or over, we are a group that will inevitably continue to grow.
Some older people feel alone and isolated so it is important to consider everyone in any strategy as we age, Lunch Positive is a place that can break that isolation. If you would like to hear more, please get in touch with Gary, the service manager, or one of the volunteers or trustees at Lunch Positive.
Thank you for reading this piece and I truly hope it gives you food for thought. For more information about Lunch Positive: www.lunchpositive.org
a s t y l u n c h
a n d s h a r e a s u p p o r t i v e s p a c e t o s o c i a l i s e
P e e r v o l u n t e e r s t o h e l p y o u g e t t o k n o w
a n d u s e t h e l u n c h c l u b
A d v i c e a n d i n f o r m a t i o n o n o t h e r s u p p o r t
a n d l o c a l s e r v i c e s a v a i l a b l e
O P E N O N F R I D A Y S
F R O M 12 M I D D A Y U N T I L 3 P M
L u n c h i s f r o m 1 p m a n d c o s t s £ 1 5 0 o r f r e e i f
n e e d e d . C o m e a l o n g a t a n y t i m e t h a t s u i t s y o u .
W e ’ r e a t : T h e C o m m u n i t y R o o m s ( 1 s t F l o o r )
D o r s e t G a r d e n s M e t h o d i s t C h u r c h
D o r s e t G a r d e n s , B r i g h t o n B N 2 1 R L
( o f f l o w e r e n d o f S t J a m e s ’ S t r e e t )
J u s t d r o p i n t o L u n c h P o s i t i v e o n F r i d a y s f o r a
s e l f - r e f e r r a l , o r g e t i n t o u c h t o f i n d o u t m o r e .
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Following his diagnosis, Jarman bought a small house on the beach in Dungeness - a wild pocket of coastline in the shadow of a nuclear power station Here he set upon growing an exquisite garden in amongst the deep shingle and bitter salt air where little would have been thought to survive. He nourished the earth with rich composts he had brought in and tended to each plant daily, teasing and encouraging life and colour in equal measure. The project, which he in turn wrote and spoke of regularly, became a symbol of his HIV positive and then AIDS life An outlook that is bleak and without warmth but that buried deep within the battered shingle is everything needed to live and create if only someone could care It’s a garden and visitors’ centre that survives today, a symbolic legacy for an HIV positive community that now survives but is forever vulnerable if abandoned
DEAD FRIENDS IN ROARING WATERS
Life After
) Anniversaries can be peculiar events Is it ever clear what exactly we ’ re remembering or commemorating? In the case of a death are we reminding ourselves of the loss we feel? In which case is the anniversary very much about the self? Or do we genuinely commemorate the life, although gone, once magnificently lived? I’ve railed a little recently at the new social media phenomenon of celebrating a birthday as though the individual were still living. The most recent example being the flurry of Freddie Mercury related tweets and posts along the lines of ‘ on this his 72nd birthday’. He’s not 72. He is dead and his life stopped when he was 45, one year younger than I am today. This may seem a churlish reaction to what’s essentially a celebratory remembrance, but to my mind it’s far more of an accolade to consider that achieved in a life cut short and their impact on the world when we ’ re still talking about them all this time later
Derek Jarman, artist, film-maker, writer, cinematographer, gardener, and all round creative visionary, died from a range of AIDS related illnesses almost 25 years ago He was publicly open about his HIV positive diagnosis in December 1986 and regularly spoke of the challenges he faced with HIV/AIDS in the print, radio and television media. He outed himself at every opportunity and took charge of how his illnesses would be reported through candid and lengthy interviews perhaps seeing how the press treated those suffering in secret. Take for example the aforementioned Mercury whose imminent biopic is now celebrated by the very tabloid media that in 1991 hunted then hounded him in his dying weeks Jarman would have seen this, and other examples besides, and perhaps therefore owned how his own story would be told and when In an interview given to The Independent on the eve of the release of his final film, Blue in summer 1993, he laughed off the
idea of living with AIDS stating, “I am not living with AIDS, I am dying”, describing himself as an AIDS ruin He spoke of the challenges of repeated hospital stays, of battles with pneumonia and imminent blindness Of spending every morning and evening on a drip and of the toxicity absorbed from the medication prolonging his life, the rashes, the bleeding, sickness, anorexia to name a handful. The truth was brutal, but this brutality of life in Britain, and then of a life lived whilst knowing death was imminent, was central to all of his creative work. A body of work soaked in his experiences as a homosexual man in 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s Britain.
Blue isn’t an easy film to watch. Broadcast on a Channel 4 that then mattered, some six months before his death, the constant blue screen, the only visual, suggests the eternal void and the block of colour seen only by the blind. It encourages or forces the viewer to engage as a listener and its narrative delivered by his most regular and perhaps favoured collaborators Its heart is text that is as beautiful as it is bleak and challenging, moving from descriptions of hospital procedures for a child to fantastical journeys through “mirrors that reflect each of your betrayals” Perhaps most arresting is the seemingly more pedestrian walk “along the beach in a howling gale,” whereupon “in the roaring waters I hear the voices of dead friends”, echoed in one of his final interviews describing his loneliness aged 51 feeling as though he were 80 because he was missing all of his dead friends.
As a film-maker, Jarman’s most prolific period mirrored the decline in his physiological health From The Angelic Conversation, voiced by Judi Dench in 1985, through to Blue in 1993, his work is often now described as a commentary on a Conservative led Britain in the late 1980s most notably The Last of England with Tilda Swinton in 1987, a film which embodies despair and hopelessness. By the time of his adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan play Edward II, Jarman was seriously unwell and both the historical story and homosexual undertones of the original play are made explicit and painful in his film There is both beauty and sorrow in the two men locked in a slow dance embrace to Annie Lennox singing the Cole Porter standard Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye, a song she had recorded for the HIV/AIDS fundraising collection Red Hot & Blue Jarman, not allowing life to imitate art but to become it at every opportunity
Jarman is a member of our broadening communities to which we owe a great deal His challenge to the status quo as an artist meant that he was not a commercial juggernaut and labelled throughout his life as avant-garde which kept his work under the radar for the majority of the cinema going public. But it’s often the work on the fringes that ultimately stretches the brackets of the mainstream. Although at an initial glance they seem unrelated, without Jarman’s Edward II there cannot by a Tom Hanks led Philadelphia two years later and, if this seems a flighty comparison, there is no This Is England without Jarman’s embryonic film some 20 years before One informs the other
As an individual who publicly lived and died as a result of HIV/AIDS, he began a one-man demystification and almost normalisation of the syndrome and he repeatedly demonstrated what it truly meant to not be afraid In the Morrissey penned lyrics to the two-song soundtrack for a 13minute film he created with The Smiths, The Queen is Dead, Jarman, the queen, may indeed be dead but there is a light that never goes out.
He outed himself at ever y oppor tunity and took charge of how his illnesses would be repor ted through candid and lengthy inter views perhaps seeing how the press treated those suffering in secret
Derek Jarman:
Death by Craig Hanlon-Smith
AMSTERDAM BAR & KITCHEN
l 11-12 Marine Parade, BN2 1TL, T: 01273 670976, www.amsterdambrighton.com
l OPEN daily from 11am–late
l FOOD Mon–Fri 11am–8pm; Sat 10.30am–8pm; Sunday roasts from 12pm till they run out, booking recommended: 01273 670 976 Full tea & coffee menu
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday ENTERTAINMENT with some of Brighton’s best singers serenading you after lunch from 5pm: Dave the Bear (4), Jamie Watson (11), Paul Middleton (18) and Gabriella Parrish (25)
l REGUL ARS Cabaret FRIDAYS with top enter tainers at 9.30pm: Mrs Moore (2), Sally Vate (9 & 23), Dave Lynn (16) and Kara Van Park (30) l Sat KARAOKE with Jason Thorpe at 9 30pm
Information is correct at the time of going to press Gscene cannot be held responsible for any changes or alterations to the listings
THURSDAY 1
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Total Request Thursdays: DJ FRESH Princess 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Big Quiz: host Ross Cameron & prizes 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Now That’s What I Call Legends: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash Quiz 9pm
l CHARLES ST TAP 10 Days of Halloween: Throwback Thursday 9pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Abel Mabel’s Bingo 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR The Clinic: music, games & more 8pm
l JAMIE HP EVENTS@BRIGHTON SAUNA fetish night for men 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thursday 80s Jukebox 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE World Music: Pollito Boogaloo 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Miss Jason 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Karaoke/Open Mic with Jason Thorpe 8pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Mitch’s Quiz & Chilli 7 30pm
l VELVET JACKS Mosaic Pop Up Kitchen 12pm
FRIDAY 2
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Mrs Moore 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 5pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: DJ David Noakes 11pm
l BOUTIQUE T G I F: DJ Thierre, competitions & CD giveaways 8pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP 10 Days of Halloween: Fabulous Friday the 13th: DJ Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Funky Friday: 80s/disco classics 7pm
l DR BRIGHTONS Rediscovered: DJ Tony B 9 30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Miss Terry Tour 9.30pm
l INFINITY BAR karaoke 12pm; Friday Funhouse 6pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-Glitter 9 30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Jukebox Disco 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS cabaret: Pat Cutcher 9.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Allan Jay 9 30pm
l ZONE cabaret: Davina Sparkle 10pm
SATURDAY 3
l AMSTERDAM Karaoke with Jason Thorpe 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm;
BAR BROADWAY
l 10 Steine Street, BN2 1TE, Tel: 01273 609777, www.barbroadway.co.uk
l OPEN Mon–Thur 6pm–1am, Fri 5pm–3am, Sat 4pm–3am, Sun 4pm–1am
l DRINK PROMOS Download the Bar Broadway app for exclusive drink deals
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday (25) is the Men Talk Health Charity Night with top acts including Spice, Miss Disney, Jason Thorpe and many more from 6pm
l REGUL ARS Ease yourself into the week at MONDAY CLASSIC S with all your favourite Broadway songs 6pm l Monday (12) is EUROVISION JUKEBOX marking six months since Liston and reflecting on 63 years of the contest from 6pm! l Tue is PIANO SING-ALONG, for all ages to gather and sing or enjoy live music, from 9pm l Wed is Tabitha Wild’s PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT from 9pm Guess Higher or Lower to win great prizes! l Thur is the BIG QUIZ with host R oss Cameron, great prizes (including cash!) from 8.30pm l BROADWAY JUKEBOX every Fri & Sat: download the app, pick, click, and the bar will play! Bar Broadway say: “Don’t miss Broadway Jukebox where you choose the soundtrack to your evening We’re adding new music all the time and there are now almost 4,000 musical songs to choose from Keep your choices upbeat and we’ll party through till 3am!” l Sat (3) is BROADWAY REMIXED in the Broadway Lounge with R oss Cameron playing up-tempo Broadway numbers 10pm l Sun the FIREPLACE SESSIONS with top acts at 8 30pm: Paul Middleton (4), R emembrance Sunday with Royal British Legion LGBT and vocalist Jennie Castell (11) and Nikki R ed (18) The fabulous Nikki Red (18) is an extraordinary vocalist who has been performing for many years in various theatre shows, has recorded with several dance labels, and for the last 10 years has performed as a solo ar tist working at a host of venues in the south east Diverse and stylish, Nikki has created a show that dazzles and is bolstered with exquisite vocals and a varied reper toire including beautiful power ballads, songs from the 1960s/70s and beyond, char t-topping hits, Motown classics and big showcase musical numbers
Broadway Remixed @Broadway Lounge: Ross Cameron 10pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Fusion: DJ Peter Castle 11pm
l BOUTIQUE DJ Oli & shot drops 8pm
l CHARLES ST TAP 10 Days of Halloween: Fierce Fright Night: DJ Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Spanish Saturday: Spanish music 7pm
l DR BRIGHTONS Saturday Session: DJ Nick Hirst 9 30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Stephanie Von Clitz 9.30pm
l INFINITY BAR Camp Cabaret: Pat Clutcher 6pm; Pat Clutcher’s karaoke 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-club DJ 7pm
l MARINE TAVERN Saturday Club 4pm
l PARIS HOUSE live jazz 4pm; TC’s Joyful Noise: DJ Kenny 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Poppy Cock 6pm; Dave Lynn 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN cabaret: Miss Disney 9pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB Michael Buble
Experience with Mike Appleton 8pm
l THE STABLE@LONDON WC2 Total Fekkin Nude: naked pool par ty with bar, cabins & cruising 9pm
l DRINK PROMOS Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun drink deals all night
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday: Sing your hear t out for hard cash at the KARAOKE COMPETITION with £100 prize from 7pm Don’t miss the Grand Final on Saturday, Dec 1!
l REGUL ARS Friday is 7-UPSTAIRS with all-star DJs playing pop/dance/guilty pleasures at 8pm, free b4 11pm
l Saturday is 7-SINS with DJ Jazzy Jane spinning tunes at 8pm, free b4 11pm Tuesday is CREWSDAY with DJ Lewis Osborne from 7pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Rugby Union: England v South Africa 3pm
l ZONE cabaret: Kara Van Park 10pm
SUNDAY 4
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Dave the Bear 5pm; roasts 12pm-till gone
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Karaoke Competition: £100 prize 7pm
l BAR BROADWAY Fireplace Sessions present: Paul Middleton 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS
Pop!Candy: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 12pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Bear Bash: free food/raffle 5pm; Out to Swim Charity Quiz 7pm; roasts/select menu 12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST TAP 10 Days of Halloween Final Night & Ruby Roo’s 20 Years in the Business Retirement Par ty with Myra Dubois 7 30pm; Sally’s Rock & Roll Bingo 8 30pm; roasts 12pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Music Request
Sunday: you choose the tracks 2pm
l FIRE & LIGHTBOX@LONDON SW8
Stark Bollock Naked: naked party 2pm; gay adult movie stars: Jeff Cannuck & Yoshi Kawasaki 5pm; Near Bollock Naked: underwear/jockstrap par ty 6pm; both clubs combine 10pm
l INFINITY BAR cabaret: Voice of Broadway, Jason Thorpe 3pm
l LEGENDS BAR cabaret: Drag With No Name 3.30pm; roasts 12.30–4pm
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 125pm; Drag Open Mic with Stephanie Von Clitz 9pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Fleur de Paris 6pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Vinyl Day: bring your records to play 12pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Afternoon Spot: Tom Kohler 4pm; live music: Miguel Santiago
7 30pm; cabaret: Gabriella Parrish 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN roasts 12-5pm
l SUBLINE Guilty Pleasures: DJ Screwpulous 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Spor ts football: Wolves v Spurs 1.30pm, Chelsea v Crystal Palace 4pm
MONDAY 5
l BAR BROADWAY Monday Classics 6pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Bears’ Night 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Gaymers Night: consoles, board/card games 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR All Day Karaoke 12pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Miss Jason’s Mad Mondays 9.30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live jazz: Hot Club Trio 2pm; Simon Spillet & band 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Monday Club with Spice 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Spor ts football: Huddersfield v Fulham 8pm
TUESDAY 6
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Crewsday: DJ Lewis Osborne 9pm
BOUTIQUE
l 2 Boyces St, West St, BN11AN, 01273 327607 www boutiqueclubbrighton com
l OPEN 8pm–late Fri, Sat and Wed,
CAMELFORD ARMS
l 30-31 Camelford St, BN2 1TQ, Tel: 01273 622386, www.camelfordarms.com
l OPEN daily from 12pm The Camelford is dog friendly
l DRINK PROMOS various deals all night & bottles of Moet £50 on Fri, 2 vodka mixers & 2 shots for £5, 3 J Bombs for £5, 2-4-1 cocktails till 10pm on Sat, 2 vodka mixers £5, 3 J Bombs £5, 2 cocktails £10, 4 Tequilas £10, 4 Sambucas £10, 4 Tuacas £10 and a free shot for students on arrival on Wed
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Friday is T G I F with superstar DJs Thierre (2 & 23) and Franco (9, 16 & 30), plus competitions and giveaways! Fri (9): Quote Gscene on the door for free entry Boutique say: “Friday is let your hair down night, work has finished and the weekend has begun! Expect amazing drink deals all night and our DJs kicking the weekend antics off in style! Listen out all night for competitions and amazing prizes! We have the best drink deals in town and take the party home with a free CD of the night’s tunes ”
l REGUL ARS SATURDAY SESSIONS: hit the dancefloor with renowned DJs Oli (3 & 17) and Saul (10 & 24) bringing the tunes to get you moving, plus free shot drops on the hour/giveaways, including Kripsy Kreme donuts (24), from 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY Piano Singalong 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA free entry for 25s & under (proof required) 10am
l INFINITY BAR Free Jukebox 12pm
l MARINE TAVERN Curry & Quiz 7 30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live blues: Dr Mike Blues 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Pub Quiz 8 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cruse Bereavement
Care Charity Gala: host Allan Jay + Miss Jason, Dave Lynn, Jason Prince, Sally Vate, Christopher Howard, Jason Lee, Davina Sparkle, Lola Lasagne, Kara Van Park & Stephanie Von Clitz 7pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Quiz Night 8pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB Quiz 8pm
WEDNESDAY 7
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Fresh!: DJ Jazzy Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha Wild’s Play Your Cards Right 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 10am
l CAMELFORD ARMS Seniors’ lunch 2-
3 30pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Drag With No Name’s Silly Willy Wednesday 8.30pm
l INFINITY BAR Quiz: Jason Thorpe 7pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Andy Panayi & band 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Open Mic 8.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Sally Vate 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Floss: candy floss/electro music/pop-up performance/visual ar t 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Open Mic in conjunction with Waterbear Education 7pm
THURSDAY 8
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Total Request Thursdays: DJ FRESH Princess 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Big Quiz: Ross
Cameron & prizes 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Now That’s What I Call Legends: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash Quiz for Guide Dogs Charity 9pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Throwback Thursday 9pm
l FOOD Mon–Sat 12–9pm; Sunday roasts and select menu served 12pm–till gone; seniors’ lunch Wed 2–3 30pm, two courses £9 50
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday CHARITY QUIZ nights raising money for local causes from 7pm: Out to Swim (4) and BLAGSS (25)
l REGUL ARS Thur is the BIG CASH QUIZ with £300 cash prize, free sarnies and great atmosphere at 9pm l Thur (8) is £300 BIG CASH Guide Dogs Charity QUIZ night from 9pm Sunday is the BEAR BASH with free food and a raffle at 5pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Abel Mabel’s Balmy Bingo 8 30pm
l H-PARTYBOYS@BRIGHTON SAUNA: invite only pool par ty with new steam room, dry sauna, 15 man-jacuzzi, cinema room & gay movies 9pm
l INFINITY BAR The Clinic: music, games & more 8pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thursday 80s Night 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE World Music: Tres Amigos 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Davina Sparkle 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Karaoke/Open Mic with Jason Thorpe 8pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Mitch’s Quiz & Chilli 7 30pm
FRIDAY 9
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Sally Vate 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 5pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: DJ David Noakes 11pm
l BOUTIQUE T G I F: DJ Franco, competitions & CD giveaways 8pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fabulous Friday: DJ Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Funky Friday: 80s/disco classics 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Marsha Mallow 9 30pm
CHARLES STREET TAP
l 8 Marine Parade, BN2 1TA, Tel: 01273 624091, www.charles-street.com
l OPEN daily from 10am
l FOOD daily from 10am–10pm, inc: breakfasts from 10am; 2-4-1 burgers on Tue till 10pm: choose any burger and get cheapest for free; fresh homemade Sunday roasts from 12pm: hand carved roast beef or turkey £8 75, roast lamb shank £10 75 Check out the new Food & Drinks Menu: delicious new cocktails and tasty new tapas, mains and desser ts, inc fresh vegan and vegetarian selection
l DRINK PROMOS Mon–Thur all cocktails £4.95 from 5–8pm, all draught beer & cask ale £4 all night on Mon, half price drinks on Fri 5–9pm, Sunday Craft Club: any two craft cans or bottles £6 from 5pm
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (1) Dec is Charles Street Tap’s Annual WORLD AIDS DAY CABARET FUNDRAISER for THT South with host Drag With No Name and top acts: Kara Van Park, Sally Vate, Jason Thorpe, Pat Clutcher and many more to be announced! Doors at 7.30pm (following Candle Lit Vigil at the AIDS Memorial), entry £2 minimum donation, all to THT South, Charles Street Tap say: “The event makes its return to its home af ter our friends at Bar Broadway took over the reigns during our refurbishment last year Expect a star studded night of cabaret stars bringing song and laughter through to the wee hours!”
l HALLOWEEN TEN DAYS OF HALLOWEEN till Sunday (4) l Fri (2) is FABULOUS FRIDAYS the 13th with DJ Morgan Fabulous from 9pm l Sat (3) FIERCE FRIGHT NIGHT with DJ Morgan Fabulous at 9pm
l REGUL ARS SILLY WILLY WEDNESDAYS is a crazy night of enter tainment with Drag With No Name, silly antics and cash prizes at 8 30pm l THROWBACK THURSDAYS with 00s guilty pleasures/ 90s retro anthems at 9pm l Sun CABARET at 7 30pm: R uby R oo’s R etirement Par ty with Myra Dubois (4), Mar tha D’Ar thur (11), Lucinda Lashes (18) and Hear t & Soul (25) l FABULOUS FRIDAYS with DJ Morgan Fabulous spinning house anthems to kick-star t your weekend! l Sat is FIERCE with DJs on rotation playing dance/house anthems 9pm: Grant Knowles (10 & 24) and Claire Fuller (17)
l INFINITY BAR karaoke 12pm; Friday Funhouse 6pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-Glitter 9 30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Friday Club 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Poppy Cock 9 30pm
l SUBLINE Dir ty Tackle spor tskit par ty 10pm
l ZONE cabaret: Dave Lynn 10pm
SATURDAY 10
l AMSTERDAM Karaoke with Jason Thorpe 9 30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Fusion: DJ Peter Castle 11pm
l BOUTIQUE DJ Saul & giveaways 8pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fierce: DJ Grant Knowles 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Spanish Saturday: Spanish music 7pm
l OPEN Tue–Fri 4pm, Sat & Sun 2pm The Crown Kemptown is a dog friendly pub Available to hire for private par ties – ask inside or call for more details
l DRINK PROMOS daily specials, pop in for more info
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday is MUSIC REQUEST day where you get to choose the tunes from 2pm
l REGUL ARS FUNKY FRIDAY: 80s tunes/disco classics from 7pm l SPANISH SATURDAYS with Spanish pop music from 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Maisie Trollette 9 30pm
l INFINITY BAR Camp Cabaret: Pat Clutcher 6pm; Pat Clutcher’s karaoke 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-club DJ 7pm
l MARINE TAVERN Saturday Club 4pm
l PARIS HOUSE Live jazz 4pm; TC’s Joyful Noise: DJ Kenny 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Minnie Bar 6pm; Miss Jason 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN cabaret: Electric Blue 9pm
l THE STABLE@LONDON WC2 Total Fekkin Nude: naked pool par ty with bar, cabins & cruising 9pm
l SUBLINE Leathermen Meet 10pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Super Saturday Spor ts Day: Premiership football: Cardiff City v Brighton 12 30pm; Rugby International: England v New Zealand 3pm; Boxing - Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship of the World: Oleksandr Usyk v Tony Bellew 6pm
l ZONE cabaret: Sally Vate 10pm
SUNDAY 11
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Jamie Watson 5pm; roasts 12pm-till gone
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Karaoke Competition: £100 prize 7pm
l BAR BROADWAY Remembrance Day:
Royal British Legion LGBT + vocalist Jennie Castell 8 30pm
l BRUNSWICK PUB El GeeBee TeaQueue:
Paul Diello hosts LGBT+ talent: Christine
Hepwor th James, Rose Randles, Hayley
Chilcott, Dick Stubble, Annabelszki &
Kristofer & Miss Disney 7 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Pop!Candy DJ Claire Fuller 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 12pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Bear Bash: free food & raffle 5pm; roasts & select menu 12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST TAP cabaret: Mar tha D’Ar thur 7 30pm; Sally’s Rock & Roll Bingo 8.30pm; roasts 12pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Music Request Sunday: you choose the tracks 2pm
l FIRE & LIGHTBOX@LONDON SW8
Stark Bollock Naked: naked party 2pm; gay adult movie stars: Drew Dixon & Amadeus 5pm; Near Bollock Naked: underwear/ jock strap par ty 6pm; both clubs combine 10pm
l INFINITY BAR cabaret: Marsha Mallow 3pm
l LEGENDS BAR cabaret: Lola Lasagne
3 30pm; roasts 12 30–4pm
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 125pm; Drag Open Mic with Stephanie Von Clitz 9pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Marilyn du Sax & band 6pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Vinyl Day: bring your records to play 12pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Afternoon Spot: Tom Kohler 4pm; live music: Miguel Santiago 7 30pm; cabaret: Miss Penny 6 30pm & 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN roasts 12-5pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB Remembrance Sunday Roasts with vocalist Debbie Cobbett 12pm
l SUBLINE Guilty Pleasures: DJ Screwpulous 9pm
DOCTOR BRIGHTONS
l 16-17 Kings Rd, BN1 1NE, Tel: 01273 208113 www.doctorbrightons.co.uk
l OPEN Thur (1) 3pm–midnight, Fri (2) 1pm–2am, Sat (3) 1pm–2am, closed from Sun (4)
l DRINK PROMOS 2-4-1 cocktails & drink promos all day Thur (1) & Fri (2); selected drinks £3 Sat (3)
l HALLOWEEN Friday (2) is THE DOCTOR’S PARTY: Halloween Fancy Dress Special with DJ Tony B spinning tunes from the 70s–00s from 9.30pm
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Saturday (3) is Doctor Brighton’s: THE FINAL CURTAIN CALL with one free drink on the house from Charles and DJ Tony B on the decks from 9pm, £3 per person donation to the R ainbow Fund in the evening Doctor Brighton’s say: “Come and join us on our last day and say your farewells to the team!”
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Spor ts football: Chelsea v Ever ton 2 15pm, Man City v Man Utd 4pm; Formula One: Brazilian Grand Prix 3 30pm
l VELVET JACKS Caribbean roasts 1pm
MONDAY 12
l BAR BROADWAY Eurovision Jukebox 6pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Fetish Night: leather, rubber, underwear, spor ts 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Gaymers Night: consoles, board/card games 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR All Day Karaoke 12pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Miss Jason’s Mad Mondays 9.30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live jazz: Nils SolbergMick Hamer Trio 2pm; Geoff Simkins & band 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Monday Club with Spice 9pm
TUESDAY 13
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Crewsday: DJ Lewis Osborne 9pm
GROSVENOR
G R O S V E N O R
l 16 Western Street, Hove, BN1 2PG, www.thegrosvenorbar.com
l OPEN daily from 12pm–late
l DRINK PROMOS all pints £3 30 Mon–Fri 1–5pm
INFINITY BAR
l 129 St James’s Street, Brighton, BN2 1TH, www.InfinityGayBar.com Facebook: Infinity Bar Brighton Text Aler ts: text ‘Infinity’ to 88802
l OPEN daily 12pm–12am l DRINK PROMOS Thur 12pm–12am
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Saturday is top CABARET at 9 30pm: Stephanie Von Clitz (3), Maisie Trollette (10), Dave Lynn (17) and Spice (24) Spice says: “My performance style is relaxed and eclectic, performing music from across the spectrum I think it’s important to listen to the audience and see where they want to go during a show –showtunes, disco, big band, whatever Sometimes we end up in some unusual places, but that keeps things fresh and keeps me on my toes ”
l REGUL ARS Thursday is Abel Mabel’s BINGO at 8 30pm Friday CABARET onstage at 9 30pm: Miss Terr y Tour (2), Marsha Mallow (9), Jason Thorpe (16), Pooh La May (23) and Sally Vate (30)
l BAR BROADWAY Piano Singalong 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA free entry for 25s & under (proof required) 10am
l INFINITY BAR Free Jukebox 12pm
l MARINE TAVERN Curry & Quiz 7 30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live blues: Smokestack 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Pub Quiz
8.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cosmic’s Bitchy Bingo 9pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Quiz Night 8pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB Quiz 8pm
WEDNESDAY 14
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Fresh!: DJ Jazzy Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha Wild’s Play Your Cards Right 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 10am
l CAMELFORD ARMS Seniors’ lunch 23 30pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Drag With No Name’s Silly Willy Wednesday 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR Quiz: Jason Thorpe 7pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Saturday is CAMP CABARET with Pat Clutcher at 6pm; then Pat Clutcher ’s Karaoke at 7pm Infinity Bar say: “She's back - the Angel of the North, Pat Clutcher! Do not miss out on the epic return of this Retro Queen, who will make you laugh, cry and feel full of joy Af ter her fabulous show, she will be hosting Karaoke and playing the campest tunes in between! See you there!”
l REGUL ARS Mon ALL DAY KARAOKE from 12pm; karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 7pm Infinity Bar say: “Most of us love a bit of Karaoke Most of us don't like Mondays TADAAA - Tommy Tanker has made Monday Karaoke night, where you can moan about everything through song!” l Tue All Day Free Jukebox, you pick the tracks 12pm l Wed QUIZ with Jason Thorpe at 7pm; karaoke with Tommy Tanker at 8pm l Thur is THE CLINIC music & games at 8pm l Fri karaoke from 12pm; FRIDAY FUNHOUSE at 6pm l Sun CABARET at 3pm: VOICE OF BROADWAY, Jason Thorpe (4), Marsha Mallow (11), TBA –see Facebook/Instagram (18) and Cosmic (25) Marsha Mallow (11) 2017 Drag Idol semi finalist has since performed in Gran Canaria and all over the UK Marsha says: “I’m a voluptuous, quick witted queen with a big set of lungs to match!”
Clutcher) 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Abi Flynn & band 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Open Mic Night 8 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Sally Vate 9 30pm
l SUBLINE Floss: candy floss/electro music/pop-up performance/visual ar t 9pm
THURSDAY 15
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Total Request Thursdays: DJ FRESH Princess 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Big Quiz: Ross Cameron & prizes 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Now That’s What I Call Legends with DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash Quiz 9pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Throwback Thursday 9pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Abel Mabel’s Bingo 8.30pm
l INFINITY BAR The Clinic: music, games & more 8pm
l H-PARTYBOYS@BRIGHTON SAUNA
Spor ts themed Private Pool Par ty: new steam room, dry sauna, 15 man-jacuzzi, cinema room & gay movies 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thursday 80s Night 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE Beaujolais Nouveau Day
Celebrations: Fleur De Paris & band 7 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Gabriella Parrish 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Karaoke/Open Mic with Jason Thorpe 8pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Mitch’s Quiz & Chilli 7 30pm
FRIDAY 16
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Dave Lynn 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 5pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: DJ David Noakes 11pm
l BOUTIQUE T G I F: DJ Franco, competitions & CD giveaways 8pm
JAMIE HP EVENTS BRIGHTON & LONDON
l INFO Brighton-based club promoters Jamie HP and H-Par tyboys are bringing their special brand of par ties to the Brighton Sauna with the star t of a new series of seriously hot fetish events previously more closely associated with Vauxhall and London’s West-End than Brighton As with all Jamie HP and H-Par tyboys events, the Brighton Sauna will be closed to the public for a private hire and Jamie HP has been granted the full run of the venue for the duration of the evening Be sure to take a towel – you may get wet, in fact you might get very wet! On their new events at the Brighton Sauna, Jamie HP says: “I’m a Brighton lad first and foremost and with such a wide gay population here in Brighton & Hove it is bizarre that only London offers events like this For me, this is like bringing fetish home, especially for the younger audiences You can expect a lot of fun at Jamie HP events! We exist to bring people together in an environment where we know you’ll feel confident and relax We promise parties that push the boundaries and excite, as well as others than appeal especially for younger fetish followers ” These Brighton events are in addition to Jamie HP’s London events; none of those events will be affected! www jamiehp co uk
THE BRIGHTON SAUNA
275 Grand Parade, Brighton BN2 9JA l ONE FOR THE DIARY Thur (1): Is Brighton brave enough for the HORSE FAIR - a night for fetish fans to remember from 9pm? In case you didn’t know, the Horse Fair is a role play and adventure night out for all gay and bisexual men, where willing mares are par tnered with dominant stallions without ever seeing their faces Those brave enough to enter should expect a carnal atmosphere full of lust and desire, as observing stable lads lead their mares, already bound and gagged, out to auction where the stallions will bid openly for a mare as his prize The stallion then takes the mare to use as he sees fit Once the stallion is done, he’ll release his mare back to a stable lad, who will return his mares back to the auction area once more for more stallions to compete with new bids Entry £15, includes locker hire To register for this month’s private event, visit www jamiehp co uk l TWO FOR THE DIARY Thur (8): H-PARTYBOYS take the reins with the first of their Private Pool Par ties in Brighton from 9pm, especially requested by their younger members If you’re not yet a member of Jamie HP Events then it’s easy to get yourself at the hear t of in the action, so long as you’re fit, good-looking, and aged between 18-40 If you’d like an invitation sent via email or SMS, together with a password that you’ll need on the night, visit: www jamiehp co uk You can even bring along 2 friends on the night, so long as they meet the strict admission criteria There is no membership fee l Thur (15) is H-PARTYBOYS SPORTS PARTY, which will be teaming with fit, good looking lads aged 40 or under from 9pm Whether it’s trackies, neoprene, trainers or spor ts socks that float your boat, it’s your par ty so dress as you please - so long as you stick to the overall theme Spor t shor ts, swimming gear and jock straps are equally fine and usually prove popular overall, whilst a simple towel will often suffice! Visit www.jamiehp.co.uk to register your interest and you’ll be contacted with your invite and password by email or SMS As with the H-Par tyboys Private Pool par ty, you’re entitled to bring 2 friends to the event l REGUL ARS Thur (22 & 29): expect a line-up of more fetish nights from Jamie HP and his team (of boys) from 9pm!
More events for Brighton are currently being scheduled, so watch this space or follow them on social media for fresh announcements
L E G E N D S B A R
l 31-34 Marine Parade, BN2 1TR, T: 01273 624462, www legendsbrighton com
l OPEN daily from 11am–5am
l FOOD Mon–Sat 11am–5pm, Sunday lunch 12 30–4pm: choose beef, belly pork, chicken supreme or nut roast with roast potatoes, seasonal veg, homemade Yorkshire pudding and real stock gravy Leave room for one of their moreish desser ts!
Book now for Christmas Day Dinner - five courses £65
l DRINK PROMOS Buy one bottle of wine and get the 2nd half price, Mon–Fri 12–11pm; £2 50 drinks on Sun (25)
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday (25) is LEGENDS’ 25TH BIRTHDAY & WORLD AIDS DAY BENEFIT in aid of R ainbow Fund with Lola Lasagne hosting all day cabaret from 3 30pm: Sally Vate 4pm, Dave Lynn & Maisie Trollette 5 30pm, Miss Jason & Lola Lasagne appearing together as J-LO 7pm - free bubbly and cocktails with Smirnoff Soda Smash all night
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Mondays: (26) is the launch of the DRAG WITH NO NAME SHOW with one of scene’s best acts blowing away those Monday blues (and maybe more!) from 9.30pm Expect live vocals, impressions, visual comedy, and to be in more stitches than you’ll see in his tights! Drag With No Name says: “I’m going to be doing my regular show, but with a little angle on ‘an audience with style’ type thingy Expect questions and songs I don’t get the chance to always sing!”
l REGUL ARS Fri is PRE- GLIT TER at 9.30pm with hosts heating you up before the big one downstairs l Sat with PRE- CLUB sounds from 7pm l Sun is CABARET at 3.30pm: Drag With No Name (4), Lola Lasagne (11) and Mar y Mac (18) l Miss Jason’s MAD MONDAYS (till 12) from 9.30pm Monday (19) is CABARET with a special guest from 9 30pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fabulous Friday: DJ Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Funky Friday: 80s/disco classics 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Jason Thorpe 9 30pm
l INFINITY BAR karaoke 12pm; Friday Funhouse 6pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-Glitter 9.30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Friday Club 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Mar tha D’Ar thur 9 30pm
l SUBLINE Filth: mixed full fetish 9pm
l ZONE cabaret: Topsie Redfern 10pm
SATURDAY 17
l AMSTERDAM Karaoke with Jason Thorpe 9 30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Fusion: DJ Peter Castle 11pm
l BOUTIQUE DJ Oli & giveaways 8pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fierce: DJ Claire Fuller 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Spanish Saturday: Spanish music 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Dave Lynn 9 30pm
L E G E N D S B A S E M E N T C L U B
l 31-34 Marine Parade, BN2 1TR, T: 01273 624462, www legendsbrighton com
l OPEN Wed–Sun 11pm
l DRINK PROMOS various deals on Sun, selected bottles £2 50 and house spirit & mixer £2 50 on Wed, £2 50 selected drinks on Thur
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Friday is GLIT TER with DJ David Noakes sparkling up the dance floor Basement Club say: “Tonight we have DJ and producer David Noakes who will be playing the biggest tunes and exclusive remixes!
l REGUL ARS Saturday is FUSION with DJ Peter Castle spinning char t /club remixes Sunday is POP!CANDY with DJ Claire Fuller’s pick & mix of new and retro pop tunes Wednesday is ICE with DJ Claire Fuller melting the dancefloor with char t/house/r&b Thursday is NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL LEGENDS with DJ Claire Fuller taking you on a journey through the 70s/80s/90s!
l INFINITY BAR Camp Cabaret: Pat Clutcher 6pm; Pat Clutcher’s karaoke 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-club DJ 7pm
l MARINE TAVERN Saturday Club 4pm
l PARIS HOUSE Live jazz 4pm; TC’s Joyful Noise: DJ Kenny 9pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB live music: Gabriella Parrish 8pm
l THE STABLE@LONDON WC2 Horse Fair: underground fetish club for mares/ stallions/muscle 9pm
l SUBLINE Subline is Eight: balloons, bubbly & buffet 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Rugby Union: England v Japan 3pm
l ZONE cabaret: Tabitha Wild 10pm
SUNDAY 18
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Paul Middleton 5pm; roasts 12pm-till gone
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Karaoke Competition: £100 prize 7pm
l BAR BROADWAY Fireplace Sessions present: Nikki Red 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS
Pop!Candy DJ Claire Fuller 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 12pm
l BRUNSWICK PUB live music: Siren and the Cheer Up Mollys 7pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Bear Bash, free food & raffle 5pm; roasts & select menu 12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST TAP cabaret: Lucinda Lashes 7 30pm; Sally’s Rock & Roll Bingo
8 30pm; roasts 12pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Music Request Sunday: you choose the tracks 2pm
l FIRE & LIGHTBOX@LONDON SW8 Stark Bollock Naked: naked party 2pm; gay adult movie stars: James Bennett & Korar Darver 5pm; Near Bollock Naked: underwear/jockstrap par ty 6pm; both clubs combine 10pm
l INFINITY BAR cabaret: TBA - see Facebook/Instagram 3pm
l LEGENDS BAR cabaret: Mary Mac
3 30pm; roasts 12 30–4pm
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 125pm; Drag Open Mic: Stephanie Von Clitz 9pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Sam Chara & band 6pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Vinyl Day: bring your records to play 12pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Afternoon Spot: Tom Kohler 4pm; live music: Miguel Santiago 7 30pm; cabaret: Fanny Burns 6 30pm & 9 30pm
M A R I N E T A V E R N
l 13 Broad St, BN2 1TJ, Tel: 01273 905578, www.marinetavern.co.uk
l OPEN daily from 12pm
l FOOD daily from 12–9pm: CURRY & QUIZ on Tue from 7.30pm (quiz star ts 9pm); roasts £7 each every Sunday 12–5pm, booking advised
l DRINK PROMOS Gin Club offers every Wed from 6pm
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Fri (30) is the MindOut Charity Fundraiser COUNTRY & WESTERN themed par ty with vocalist Ernie at 9pm
l REGUL ARS THROWBACK THURSDAY with 80s tunes 8pm Sunday is Brighton’s DRAG OPEN MIC with host Stephanie Von Clitz at 9pm Stephanie says: “It's a chance for artistes, professional or amateur, to try out new material and a platform for newer artistes to perform Sunday is always a good day for cabaret, so if you want a fun and enjoyable night out and would like to see a variety of talent then come see us!”
l REGENCY TAVERN roasts 12-5pm
l SUBLINE Guilty Pleasures: DJ Screwpulous 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Sports football: England v Croatia 2pm
MONDAY 19
l BAR BROADWAY Classics Jukebox 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Transgender Night 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Gaymers Night: consoles, board/card games 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR All Day Karaoke 12pm;
P A R I S H O U S E
Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Miss Jason’s Mad Mondays 9.30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live jazz: Nils SolbergMick Hamer Trio 2pm; Sam Carlese 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Monday Club with Spice 9pm
TUESDAY 20
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Crewsday: DJ Lewis Osborne 9pm l BAR BROADWAY Piano Singalong 9pm
l 21 Western Rd, BN3 1AF, T: 01273 724195, www parishousebrighton com
l OPEN daily from 12pm l FOOD served daily from 12pm–close
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Thur (15): BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU DAY
Celebrations with Fleur de Paris and band from 7.30pm
l REGUL ARS Free live music all week: Sun at 6pm: Fleur de Paris (4), Marilyn du Sax (11), Sam Chara (18) and Dave Williams (25) l Mon jazz at 2pm: Hot Club Trio with Mick Piggott & Nils Solberg (5), Nils-Solberg & Mick Hamer Trio (12, 19 & 26); at 8pm: Simon Spillet (5), Geoff Simkins (12), Sam Carlese (19) and Gabriel Garrick Trio (26) l Tue at 8pm: Dr Mike Blues (6), Smokestack (13), Scott Booth (20) and Harry Hornsey & Alfie Bernardi (27) l Wed at 8pm: Andy Panayi (7), Abi Flynn (14), Paul Richards (21) and Sara Oschlag (28) l Thur world music 8pm: Pollito Boogaloo (1), Tres Amigos (8), Son Guaranchando (22) and Babou with Abraham de Vega (29) l Fri PARTY TIME with DJ Havoxx at 9pm l Sat AND ALL THAT JAZZ live at 4pm; TC'S JOYFUL NOISE with DJ Kenny at 9pm, free
Open: Tue–Thur 4pm–12am, Fri & Sat 12pm–1am, Sun 12–11pm
Real Ales, Wines, Delicious Food, Cocktails & Live Entertainment
Weekly Events @ 8.30pm Tuesday: Pub Quiz Wednesday: Open Mic Night
November Cabaret @ 9.30pm
Friday 2nd: Pat Clutcher
Saturday 17th: Sally Vate Saturday 24th: Kara Van Park Food Stonebaked Pizzas 4–8pm
Tarra's Tiffin Sri Lankan Kitchen Thursday 6.30–10pm
Pop Up Kitchen Friday 6.30–10pm Different Cuisine Each Week
THE PRESTONVILLE ARMS
l 64 Hamilton Road, Brighton, BN1 5DN Tel: 01273 945040
)l OPEN Tue–Thur from 4pm–12am, Fri & Sat 12pm–1am, Sun 12–11pm, closed Mon The Prestonville Arms is a gay-friendly hidden gem up from Brighton station offering real ales, wines, delicious food, cocktails and live enter tainment
Have a bite, relax in the cour tyard garden or snug, and join in the fun!
l FOOD Stonebaked pizzas Tue & Wed 4–8pm and Sun 12–8pm; Tarra’s Tiffin Sri Lankan Kitchen on Thur from 6.30–10pm; Fri from 6.30–10pm the Prestonville Arms presents Pop-Up Kitchen with a different cuisine each week
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Saturday CABARET at 9.30pm with: Sally Vate (17) and Kara Van Park (24) Kara Van Park is a theatre loving glamour puss, disco diva and songstress known for bringing her sparkling showtunes and camp ditties to the stage! Kara says: “Come and have a great time and see me belting out some tunes! You can expect a camp night of showtunes, big ballads and standards, as well as high camp and glamour A great night for all!”
l REGUL ARS Tue is the PUB QUIZ at 8.30pm l Wed is OPEN MIC from 8.30pm; get up and show what you’ve got! The Prestonville Arms say: “Our weekly Open Mic night is open to singers, bands, comedians, drag acts or any other talent you wish to show off!” l Fri (2) is CABARET with Pat Clutcher at 9 30pm l Sun is VINYL DAY, bring your records along and the Prestonville will play them from 12pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA free entry for 25s & under (proof required) 10am
l INFINITY BAR Free Jukebox 12pm
l MARINE TAVERN Curry & Quiz 7 30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Scott Booth 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Pub Quiz
8 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cosmic’s Bitchy Bingo 9pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Quiz Night 8pm
WEDNESDAY 21
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Fresh!: DJ Jazzy Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha Wild’s Play Your Cards Right 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 10am
l CAMELFORD ARMS Seniors’ lunch 23.30pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Drag With No Name’s Silly Willy Wednesday 8 30pm
Q U E E N S A R M S
l 7 George St, BN2 1RH, T: 01273 696873, www theqabrighton com
l OPEN Mon–Thur from 5pm, Fri–Sun from 2pm
l DRINK PROMOS Mon–Fri from 5–9pm, Sat & Sun 2–6pm
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sunday: enjoy four lots of live enter tainment with Tom Kohler at 4pm; Miguel Santiago and his exciting electric violin at 7 30pm; and different acts every week at 6 30pm & 9 30pm: Gabriella Parrish (4), Miss Penny (11), Fanny Burns (18) and Topsie R edfern (25)
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Tue (6) is CHARITY GALA raising money for Cruse Bereavement Care at 7pm with host Allan Jay and top stars: Miss Jason, Dave Lynn, Jason Prince, Sally Vate, Christopher Howard, Jason Lee, Davina Sparkle, Lola Lasagne, Kara Van Park and Stephanie Von Clitz Allan Jay says: “ We’re raising money for Cruse Bereavement Care, a UK-wide charity that helps anyone dealing with the death of a loved one I lost my mum in November 2015 and was approached to record a single originally written for Cilla Black - a song about loss We decided to use it to raise funds for Cruse and had a charity night that raised some good money Now every November I do a night to raise money for them This year at the Queens Arms there will be entertainment, raffle, and hopefully a small auction to raise as much as we can!”
l INFINITY BAR Quiz: Jason Thorpe 7pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Paul Richards & band 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Open Mic Night 8 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Sally Vate 9 30pm
l SUBLINE Floss: candy floss/electro music/pop-up performance/visual ar t 9pm
THURSDAY 22
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Total Request Thursdays: DJ FRESH Princess 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Big Quiz: Ross Cameron & prizes 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Now That’s What I Call Legends: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash Quiz 9pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Throwback Thursday 9pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Abel Mabel’s Bingo
8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR The Clinic: music, games
l REGUL ARS MONDAY CLUB with Kara Van Park at 9pm l Tue is Cosmic’s BITCHY BINGO with cash roll over jackpot at 9pm, £2 per game l Wed is the SALLY VATE SHOW at 9 30pm l Thur CABARET at 9 30pm: Miss Jason (1), Davina Sparkle (8), Gabriella Parrish (15), Dave Lynn (22) and R ose Garden (29) l Fri CABARET at 9 30pm: Allan Jay (2), Poppy Cock (9), Mar tha D’Ar thur (16), KY Kelly (23) and double cabaret with Jennie Castell at 6pm & Drag With No Name (30) l Sat with Poppy Cock, Minnie Bar (10), at 6pm; then CABARET at 9 30pm: Dave Lynn (3), Miss Jason (10), Lola Lasagne (17) and Cosmic (24)
& more 8pm
l JAMIE HP EVENTS@BRIGHTON SAUNA fetish event for men 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thursday 80s Night 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE World Music: Son Guaranchando 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Dave Lynn
9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Karaoke/Open Mic with Jason Thorpe 8pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Mitch’s Quiz & Chilli 7.30pm
FRIDAY 23
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Sally Vate
9 30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 5pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: DJ David Noakes 11pm
l BOUTIQUE T G I F: DJ Thierre, competitions & CD giveaways 8pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fabulous Friday: DJ
Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Funky Friday: 80s/disco classics 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Pooh La May
9 30pm
l INFINITY BAR karaoke 12pm; Friday Funhouse 6pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-Glitter 9 30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Friday Club 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: KY Kelly 9.30pm
MONDAY AT 8.30PM
MONDAY CLUB WITH SPICE
TUESDAY AT 9PM
BITCHY BINGO WITH COSMIC CASH ROLL OVER • £2 PER GAME
TUESDAY 6NOV AT 7PM
ALAN JAY’S
CHARITY GALA
IN AID OF CRUISE BEREAVEMENT CARE WITH MISS JASON • DAVE LYNN • JASON PRINCE LOLA LASAGNE • SALLY VATE • JASON LEE DAVINA SPARKLE • CHRISTOPHER HOWARD KARA VAN PARK • STEPHANIE VON KLITZ
WEDNESDAY AT 9.30PM
SALLY VATE SHOW
FRIDAY AT 9.30PM
2NOV ALAN JAY
9NOV POPPY COCK 16NOV MARTHA D’ARTHUR 23NOV K Y KELLY 30NOV JENNIE CASTELL 6.30PM DRAG NO NAME 9.30PM
THURSDAY AT 9.30PM 1 NOV MISS JASON 8 NOV DAVINA SPARKLE
1 5 NOV GABRIELLA PARISH
22NOV DAVE LYNN
29NOV ROSE GARDEN
SATURDAY CABARET
POPPY COCK 6PM CABARET 9.30PM 3 NOV DAVE LYNN
10 NOV MINNIE BAR 6.30PM MISS JASON 9.30PM 17NOV LOLA LASAGNE 24NOV COSMIC
SUNDAY CABARET
TOM KOHLER 4PM MIGUEL SANTIAGO 7.30PM
DOUBLE CABARET 6.30PM & 9.30PM
4NOV GABRIELLA PARISH 11NOV MISS PENNY
18NOV FANNY BURNS 25NOV TOPSIE REDFERN
R E G E N C Y T A V E R N
l 32-34 Russell Sq, Brighton BN1 2EF T: 01273 325 652, www.regencytavern.co.uk
l OPEN Sun–Wed 12–11pm, Thur 12pm–12am, Fri & Sat 12pm–1am The Regency is dog friendly has great enter tainment, friendly staff and delicious food
l FOOD Tue–Sat 12–8pm, Sunday roasts 12–5pm, two for £19 95, booking recommended on 01273 325 652
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat top ENTERTAINMENT at 9pm, free entry all night This month’s line-up: Miss Disney (3), Electric Blue (10), Drag With No Name (17) and Gabriella Parrish (24)
l REGUL ARS Tue is QUIZ NIGHT at 8pm, £1pp and free food! l Thur is KARAOKE/OPEN MIC with host Jason Thorpe at 8pm l Fri (30) is CABA-REGENCY with Brighton students performing from 9pm
l ROT TINGDEAN CLUB A Night of Motown with Nicole 8pm
l SUBLINE Steam 10pm
l ZONE cabaret: Stone & Street 10pm
SATURDAY 24
l AMSTERDAM Karaoke with Jason Thorpe 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Fusion: DJ Peter Castle 11pm
l BOUTIQUE DJ Saul & giveaways 8pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fierce: DJ Grant Knowles 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Spanish Saturday:
Spanish music 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Spice 9 30pm
l INFINITY BAR Camp Cabaret: Pat
Clutcher 6pm; Pat Clutcher’s karaoke 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-club DJ 7pm
l MARINE TAVERN Saturday Club 4pm
l PARIS HOUSE Live jazz 4pm; TC’s
Joyful Noise: DJ Kenny 9pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS cabaret: Kara
Van Park 9 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Poppy Cock 6pm; Cosmic 9.30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN cabaret: Gabriella Parrish 9pm
l THE STABLE@LONDON WC2 Total Fekkin Nude: naked pool par ty with bar,
T H R E E J O L L Y B U T C H E R S
l 59 Nor th Rd, BN1 1YD, Tel: 01273 608571, www 3jollybutchers com
l OPEN daily from 12pm
l FOOD Thurs is Mitch’s QUIZ & CHILLI at 7 30pm, vegan options available
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Wed (7) is OPEN MIC in conjunction with Waterbear Education at 7pm
l REGUL ARS Sky Spor ts live on the big screens in November - see listings or Three Jolly Butchers FB page for fixtures Sat (10) is SUPER SATURDAY Spor ts Day with Premiership Football at 12 30pm; R ugby International at 3pm; Cruiserweight Championship Boxing at 6pm l FOOTBALL: Sundays: (4) &
(25) at 1 30pm & 4pm; (11) at 2 15pm & 4pm; (18) at 2pm; Mondays (5) &
(26) at 8pm l RUGBY UNION: Sat (3), (17) and (24) at 3pm l FORMULA
ONE: Sun (11) Brazilian Grand Prix live 3 30pm
R O T T I N G D E A N C L U B
l 89 High St, Rottingdean, BN2 7HE, Tel: 01273 309529 f therottingdeanclub
l FOOD served daily; ask at the bar for full menu Sun (11): R emembrance Sunday R oasts with vocalist Debbie Cobbett singing war time and 1940s ditties l MEMBERSHIP The Rottingdean Club, a members’ bar in the hear t of the village, is perfect for meeting friends and clients, working remotely with a coffee or meeting likeminded members With regular enter tainment, a large sunny garden, lager and cider on draught and free Wi-Fi, it’s a unique venue so pop in and ask at the bar for membership details or email bar@therottingdeanclub co uk The Rottingdean Club says: “ We’re a private members’ bar where there’s always a warm welcome We offer the comforts of a traditional pub with modern standards of service and superb food!”
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Friday (23) is a Night of Motown with sensational vocalist Nicole at 8pm Rottingdean Club say: “Setting the perfect atmosphere of class and sophistication, but most of all making sure her audience are dancing and having fun, is something Nicole does extremely well! Picture yourself drinking, eating and listening to the soulful Motown songs we all love Make the most of your Friday evening, this is one not one to be missed!
l REGUL ARS Tue is QUIZ at 8pm, £1 per person l Sat live ENTERTAINMENT at 8pm: the Michael Buble Experience with Mike Appleton (3) and Gabriella Parrish (17)
cabins & cruising 9pm
l SUBLINE Mr Subline 2018 THT
Fundraiser: host Pat Clutcher 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Rugby
Union: England v Australia 3pm
l ZONE cabaret: Sally Vate 10pm
SUNDAY 25
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Gabriella Parrish 5pm; roasts 12pm-till gone
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Karaoke
Competition: £100 prize 7pm
l BAR BROADWAY Men Talk Health
Charity Night: Spice, Miss Disney, Jason Thorpe & many more 6pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS
Pop!Candy DJ Claire Fuller 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 12pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Bear Bash: free food/raffle 5pm; BLAGSS Charity Quiz 7pm; roasts/select menu 12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST TAP cabaret: Hear t & Soul
7 30pm; Sally’s Rock & Roll Bingo 8 30pm; roasts 12pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Music Request
Sunday: you choose the tracks 2pm
l FIRE & LIGHTBOX@LONDON SW8 Stark Bollock Naked: naked party 2pm; gay adult movie stars: Ronnie English & Alon Kemey 5pm; Near Bollock Naked: underwear/jockstrap par ty 6pm; both clubs combine 10pm
l INFINITY BAR cabaret: Cosmic 3pm
l LEGENDS BAR Legends’ 25th Bir thday & World AIDS Day Benefit for Rainbow Fund: host Lola Lasagne + Sally Vate 4pm, Dave Lynn & Maisie Trollette 5 30pm, Miss Jason & Lola Lasagne as J -LO 7pm; roasts
12 30–4pm
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts
12-5pm; Drag Open Mic: Stephanie Von Clitz 9pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Dave Williams & band 6pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Vinyl Day: bring your records to play 12pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Afternoon Spot: Tom Kohler 4pm; live music: Miguel Santiago
7 30pm; cabaret: Topsie Redfern 6 30pm & 9.30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN roasts 12-5pm
S U B L I N E
l 129 St James' St, BN2 1TH, T: 01273 624100, www sublinebrighton co uk
l OPEN Sun, Wed & Thur from 9pm, 10pm Fri & Sat, closed Fri (2) for private par ty
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Saturday (17) is the SUBLINE IS EIGHT celebration, entry £5 members or £8 Subline say: “Our birthday rolls around again; balloons, bubbly, buffet, and the usual bollocks !”
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (24) is MR SUBLINE 2018, in suppor t of Terrence Higgins Trust, with hostess Pat Clutcher guiding the hopefuls seeking fame, for tune and adoration! Entry £5 members or £8, donated to THT
Subline say: “Reckon you're GORGEOUS? This is our annual contest to find Brighton's HOTTEST! Mr Subline is a friendly competition, annually raising money for Terrence Higgins Trust There'll be a few nice freebies for all entrants, and some small-but-satisf ying prizes for the guy voted Mr Subline 2018 ”
l REGUL ARS Wed is FLOSS, the queer, progressive, open and alternative experience with free candy floss, electronic music, pop-up performance and visual ar t; experience joy and rapture from 9pm, £5 on the door with proof of event share l Thur BRACE YOURSELF for those on the hunt for something a bit darker and more testosterone filled l Fri ease yourself into the weekend at STEAM Fri (9) is DIRTY TACKLE spor tswear night, entry £3 in kit/£5 otherwise Fri (16) FILTH full fetish event, advance tickets, or £25 on door (subject to availability) l Sat is THE MEN’S ROOM with DJ Screwpulous from 10pm Sat (10) LEATHERMEN MEET, free in leather/rubber gear or £5 l Sun is GUILTY PLEASURES with DJ Screwpulous throwing out frothy tunes! Sun (25) is CUM IN YOUR PANTS underwear par ty, entry £3/£5
l SUBLINE Cum in Your Pants: underwear par ty 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Spor ts football: Bournemouth v Arsenal 1 30pm, Wolves v Huddersfield 4pm
MONDAY 26
l BAR BROADWAY Classics Jukebox 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Gaymers Night: consoles, board/card games 8.30pm
l INFINITY BAR All Day Karaoke 12pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Miss Jason’s Mad Mondays 9 30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live jazz: Nils SolbergMick Hamer Trio 2pm; Gabriel Garrick Trio 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Monday Club with Spice 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Sky Spor ts football: Burnley v Newcastle Utd 8pm
TUESDAY 27
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Crewsday: DJ Lewis Osborne 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Piano Singalong 9pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA free entry for 25s & under (proof required) 10am
l INFINITY BAR Free Jukebox 12pm
l MARINE TAVERN Quiz & Curry 7 30pm
l PARIS HOUSE live blues: Harry Hornsey & Alfie Bernardi 8pm
l OPEN Tue–Thur 4–11 30pm, Fri & Sat 12–11 30pm, Sun 1–11pm
l FOOD Every Fri Indian/Sri Lankan Street specials
l DRINK PROMOS 4–7pm daily excl Sat
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sun (4) is live music with Greymatter, free entry
WEDNESDAY 28
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Fresh!: DJ Jazzy Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha Wild’s Play Your Cards Right 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l BRIGHTON SAUNA Naked Day 10am
l CAMELFORD ARMS Seniors’ lunch 23 30pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Drag With No Name’s Silly Willy Wednesday 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR Quiz: Jason Thorpe 7pm; Karaoke with Tommy Tanker (aka Pat Clutcher) 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE live music: Sara Oschlag & band 8pm
l PRESTONVILLE ARMS Open Mic Night 8 30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Sally Vate 9 30pm
l SUBLINE Floss: candy floss/electro music/pop-up performance/visual ar t 9pm
THURSDAY 29
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Total Request Thursdays: DJ FRESH Princess 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Big Quiz: Ross Cameron & prizes 8 30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Now That’s What I Call Legends: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash Quiz 9pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Throwback Thursday 9pm
l THE STABLE@LONDON WC2 HPar tyboys Private Pool Par ty 7.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Abel Mabel’s Bingo 8 30pm
l INFINITY BAR The Clinic: games, music & more 8pm
l JAMIE HP EVENTS@BRIGHTON SAUNA fetish event for men 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thursday 80s Night 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE World Music: Babou &
T H E Z O N E
l 33 St James’ St, BN2 1RF, Tel: 01273 682249, www zonebrighton co uk
l OPEN 11am Sun–Thur, 10am Fri & Sat
l DRINK PROMOS all day, every day
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Friday with CABARET at 10pm: Davina Sparkle (2), Dave Lynn (9), Topsie R edfern (16), Stone & Street (23) and Spice (30) Expect live vocals and humour with dexterous guitar playing from Stone & Street (23), who create a fun par ty atmosphere with swing standards, soul/Motown classics, disco, and current char t hits There’is something for everyone! S&S say: “Get your weekend off to a good start by visiting this great venue with one of the south coast’s most popular acts and staff that will make sure you leave with a smile on your face!”
l REGUL ARS Sat CABARET with sensational acts at 10pm: Kara Van Park (3), Sally Vate (10 & 24) and Tabitha Wild (17) Tabitha says: “I usually sing cheesy pop, heavy on the 80s – stuff that drunk people will sing and dance along to!”
Abraham de Vega 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Rose Garden 9.30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Karaoke/Open Mic with Jason Thorpe 8pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Mitch’s Quiz & Chilli 7 30pm
FRIDAY 30
l AMSTERDAM cabaret: Kara Van Park
9 30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 5pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: DJ David Noakes 11pm
l BOUTIQUE T G I F: DJ Franco, competitions & CD giveaways 8pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST TAP Fabulous Fridays: DJ Morgan Fabulous 9pm
l CROWN KEMPTOWN Funky Friday: 80s/disco classics 7pm
l GROSVENOR BAR cabaret: Sally Vate
9 30pm
l INFINITY BAR karaoke 12pm; Friday Funhouse 6pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-Glitter 9.30pm
l MARINE TAVERN MindOut Charity Fundraiser: Country & Western themed par ty with live vocalist Ernie 9pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS cabaret: Jennie Castell
6 30pm; Drag With No Name 9 30pm
l REGENCY TAVERN Caba Regency: Brighton students perform live 9pm
l SUBLINE Steam 10pm
l ZONE cabaret: Spice 10pm
SATURDAY 1 DEC
l CHARLES ST TAP Annual World AIDS Day Cabaret Fundraiser for THT South: host Drag With No Name + Kara Van Park, Sally Vate, Jason Thorpe, Pat Clutcher & many more TBA 7 30pm
THE EDGE & BOX BAR SOUTHAMPTON
l Compton Walk, SO14 0BH, Tel: 023 8036 6163, www.theedgesouthampton.com
l OPEN The Edge: daily from 10pm, The Box Bar: Tue–Sat from 7pm
l FOOD The Box Bar: 7–10pm
l HAPPY HOURS The Box Bar: 2-4-1 cocktails 7–late Tue, Thur & Fri (till 8pm on Wed & Sat); The Edge: Mates R ates on Mon wit hall shots £1 50, any 2 bottles £4 & house doubles £2; £1 50 drinks on Wed; £1 50 singles/£3 doubles on Sun
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat is THE BIG ONE from 10pm with three bars, two dancefloors & DJs: Claire Fuller & Neil Sackley (3), Patrick Crawley & Claire Fuller (10), Craig Law & KT (17) and Phil Marriott & Darcy Buckland (24)
l REGUL ARS Sunday is CABARET v KARAOKE with Aura Jay l Monday is REBOOT RELOADED with DJ Darcy Buckland l Tue is TIME OUT with DJ KT spinning pop/r&b l Wed is BEAUTY & THE BALLS
BINGO with host Miss Disney and prizes every round from 8pm Stick around for BAR 150 with DJs Missy B, Lee Harris & Audio K9, plus KARAOKE upstairs from 10.30pm l Thur is WINNER TAKES IT ALL QUIZ with drag host Thorn Hill at 8pm; then it’s SMART, a night dedicated to you being you, with DJ Liam Searle l Fri is GLOW with UV lights and guest DJs every week!
THURSDAY 1
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD A Night on the Lashes: Lucinda Lashes, karaoke/DJ 7pm SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Winner Takes It All: quiz with drag host Thorn Hill 7pm
l EDGE Smart: DJ Liam Searle 10pm
FRIDAY 2
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Halloween: Ghost Ship theme par ty 7pm-6am
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR GLOW: DJs 7pm
l EDGE GLOW: guest DJs & UVs 11pm
SATURDAY 3
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Halloween: Ghost Ship theme par ty 7pm-6am
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR The Big One: DJs 7pm
l EDGE The Big One: DJs Claire Fuller & Neil Sackley 10pm
SUNDAY 4
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD ReWind 80s/90s night 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Cabaret v Karaoke with drag host Aura Jay 10pm
MONDAY 5
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD 20something: DJs Lee Harris & Luke Ennor 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Reboot Reloaded: DJ Darcy Buckland 10pm
TUESDAY 6
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD cabaret: Miss Penny 7pm; Bingo with Cherry Liquor 8 30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Time Out: DJ KT 11pm
WEDNESDAY 7
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Big Navy Night: karaoke with host Aura Jay 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Beauty & The Balls Bingo: host Miss Disney & prizes 7pm; Bar 150 karaoke 10.30pm
l EDGE Bar 150: DJs Missy B, Lee Harris & Audio K9 10pm
THURSDAY 8
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD A Night on the Lashes: Lucinda Lashes, karaoke/DJ 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Winner Takes It All: quiz
HAMPSHIRE BOULEVARD
PORTSMOUTH
l Hampshire Terrace, Southsea, PO1 2QN, Tel: 02392 297509
l OPEN Sun & Mon from 9pm, Tue–Sat from 7pm
l HAPPY HOURS selected drinks £1 50 on Mon, 2-4-1 selected drinks on Tue, till midnight on Wed (incl selected doubles £3), 7–10pm on Fri, all night on Sun
l HALLOWEEN Fri (2) & Sat (3): HUGE GHOST SHIP HALLOWEEN PARTIES from 9pm–6am, entry £5 before midnight/£7 after after both nights!
l ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (10) is HB’s SWEET 16 BIRTHDAY PARTY with DJs Missy B, Toby Lawrence and R ob Davis till 6am
l REGUL ARS Tue is CABARET with top acts from 7pm: Miss Penny (6), Son of a Tutu (13), Stephanie Von Clitz (20) and Adam (27) Stick around for BINGO with Cherr y Liquor from 8.30pm l Thur is A NIGHT ON THE LASHES with the legendary Lucinda Lashes tearing up the stage with banter, karaoke & tunes! l Fri is with DJ Toby Lawrence spinning tunes to get you moving, entry free till 10pm, £3 till 11pm, £5 after l Sat is with a DJ spinning char t/par ty anthems, entry free b4 10pm/£3 b4 11pm/£5 after Hampshire Boulevard say: “Hip Hip Hurray, it’s Saturgay! Expect DJ Rupert Ellick bringing you all those chart and party anthems!” l Sun is REWIND with 1980s/90s dance classics brightening up those end-ofweekend blues l Mon is 20SOMETHING with DJ Lee Harris & Luke Ennor bringing the tunes, free b4 10pm/£3 till midnight/£5 after l Wed is BIG NAVY NIGHT OUT with host Aura- Jay’s KARAOKE
with drag host Thorn Hill 7pm
l EDGE Smart: DJ Liam Searle 10pm
FRIDAY 9
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ Toby Lawrence 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR GLOW: DJs 7pm
l EDGE GLOW: guest DJs & UVs 11pm
SATURDAY 10
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD HB’s Sweet 16
Bir thday Par ty: DJs Missy B, Toby Lawrence & Rob Davis 7pm-6am
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR The Big One: DJs 7pm
l EDGE The Big One: DJs Patrick Crawley & Claire Fuller 10pm
SUNDAY 11
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD ReWind 80s/90s night 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Cabaret v Karaoke with drag host Aura Jay 10pm
MONDAY 12
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD 20something: DJs Lee Harris & Luke Ennor 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Reboot Reloaded: DJ Darcy Buckland 10pm
TUESDAY 13
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD cabaret: Son of a Tutu 7pm; Bingo with Cherry Liquor 8 30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Time Out: DJ KT 11pm
WEDNESDAY 14
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Big Navy Night: karaoke with host Aura Jay 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Beauty & The Balls Bingo: host Miss Disney 7pm; Bar 150 karaoke 10.30pm
l EDGE Bar 150: DJs Lee Harris & Audio K9 10pm
THURSDAY 15
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD A Night on the Lashes: Lucinda Lashes, karaoke/DJ 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Winner Takes It All: quiz with drag host Thorn Hill 7pm
l EDGE Smart: DJ Liam Searle 10pm
FRIDAY 16
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ Toby Lawrence 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR GLOW: DJs 7pm
l EDGE GLOW: guest DJs & UVs 11pm
SATURDAY 17
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR The Big One: DJs 7pm
l EDGE The Big One: DJs Craig Law & KT 10pm
SUNDAY 18
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD ReWind 80s/90s night 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Cabaret v Karaoke with drag host Aura Jay 10pm
MONDAY 19
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD 20something: DJs Lee Harris & Luke Ennor 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Reboot Reloaded: DJ Darcy Buckland 10pm
TUESDAY 20
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD cabaret: Stephanie Von Clitz 7pm; Bingo with Cherry Liquor 8 30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Time Out: DJ KT 11pm
WEDNESDAY 21
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Big Navy Night: karaoke with host Aura Jay 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Beauty & The Balls Bingo: host Miss Disney 7pm; Bar 150 karaoke 10.30pm
l EDGE Bar 150: DJs Missy B, Lee Harris & Audio K9 10pm
THURSDAY 22
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD A Night on the Lashes: Lucinda Lashes, karaoke/DJ 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Winner Takes It All: quiz with drag host Thorn Hill 7pm
l EDGE Smart: DJ Liam Searle 10pm
FRIDAY 23
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ Toby Lawrence 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR GLOW: DJs 7pm
l EDGE GLOW: guest DJs & UVs 11pm
SATURDAY 24
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR The Big One: DJs 7pm
l EDGE The Big One: DJs Phil Marriott & Darcy Buckland 10pm
SUNDAY 25
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD ReWind 80s/90s night 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Cabaret v Karaoke with drag host Aura Jay 10pm
MONDAY 26
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD 20something: DJs Lee Harris & Luke Ennor 9pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Reboot Reloaded: DJ Darcy Buckland 10pm
TUESDAY 27
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD cabaret: Adam 7pm; Bingo with Cherry Liquor 8 30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Time Out: DJ KT 11pm
WEDNESDAY 28
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD Big Navy Night: karaoke with host Aura Jay 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Beauty & The Balls Bingo: host Miss Disney 7pm; Bar 150 karaoke 10.30pm
l EDGE Bar 150: DJs Missy B, Lee Harris & Audio K9 10pm
THURSDAY 29
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD A Night on the Lashes: Lucinda Lashes, karaoke/DJ 7pm SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR Winner Takes It All: quiz with drag host Thorn Hill 7pm
l EDGE Smart: DJ Liam Searle 10pm
FRIDAY 30
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ Toby Lawrence 7pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l BOX BAR GLOW: DJs 7pm
l EDGE GLOW: guest DJs & UVs 11pm
DANCE MUSIC
BY QUEEN JOSEPHINE & KATE WILDBLOOD
ALBUMS
) As we head into the most sparkling of months, it’s time to let off a few sound bangers with Brazilian underground electronica of Manni’ s Take 6 on Society 3 0 Music, the hot Parisian house of DJ Steaw’ s Rise on Rutilance (oh those drums!), the jacking Chicago flavours of Chrissy’ s Resilience on Chiwax, or the organic, leftfield electronica of legendary Kittin and her Cosmos longplayer on Nobody’s Bizzness, you’ll be rock(et)ing this November
And with compilation sparklers from Craig Richards, Terry Francis and Keith Reilly delivering the final in Fabric’s mix series, fabric 100, the elegant beats of Moxie Presents Volume Four via On Loop, or the epic In The Heat Of The Night Vol II: Ibiza from local wonders Nightshift Records, you’ll be kept toasty as marshmallows this bonfire season.
For our big finale we ’ re going to spoil you with four exquisite selections Check the authentic grooves and heartfelt lyrics of Planningtorock Powerhouse on Human Level / DFA, the absolute masterpiece of Crooked Man’ s Crooked House on DFA, the life-affirming must-hear Art Of Tones’ Unbalanced on Local Talk, or Waajeed’ s sublime adventure, the sensational From The Dirt on Dirt Tech Rock, and we guaranteed you will ride high on life this winter
Keeping warm this autumn without mittens and woolly hats. Just how we like it. Enjoy.
Catch Wildblood and Queenie at B.Please! at Green Door Store on Nov 16, 1BTN Sound System at Patterns on Nov 30, and every 2nd & 4th Wed 8-10pm and 2nd Fri 1-4pm on 1BTN radio. perfectdistractions.com
WILDBLOOD & QUEENIE’S WONDERS
) JONATHAN LEE Try Me No.19 Music
Monster disco track we just know is going to (B) Please
) RALPH SESSION New York Vibrations Half Assed Records
“Such a good vibration”. Repeat till in a state of bliss.
) THE OFF KEY HAT Shot At Dawn Hobbes Music
Michelle Manetti delivers a slice of exquisite house you need to hear
) AMY DOUGLAS Never Saw It Coming (Crooked Man remix) DFA
A 1BTN favourite so deserving of its many nu-disco loving disciples.
) BLUTCH Un Amour Inconditionnel Barbeque
One for us butch lesbians See what we did there?!
) GIRLS OF THE INTERNET What Is A Man Drab Queen
One of our acts of the year delivers another Girl winner.
) THE JUAN MACLEAN What Do You Feel Free About? DFA Records
Electro disco club magic anyone? Told you we were spoiling you
) RUFF STUFF Ain't No Buddy Ruff Stuff Music
Right proper house made for right proper people, Chaka style.
) GROOVE ARMADA House! Viva Music
The boys return and take no prisoners, but they may take houseguests
) SHAUN J. WRIGHT & ALINKa Journey Into The Deep Twirl
The label that can do no wrong returns with a future acid classic.
DJ PROFILE: DJ JAZZY JANE
This month Queenie heads up to Crawley and catches up with the glorious and gorgeous DJ Jazzy Jane…
Hello – how are you? I’m good thanks, busy as ever
Where do you DJ? I’m Friday resident at the Old Punch Bowl in Crawley High Street and on Tuesday and Saturday rotation at Bar7 Crawley. What are you playing these days? I like to mix up different genres to make a varied night depending on the venue I don’t use a playlist so I go on the vibe of the crowd and what the dancefloor responds to I play recent/current chart & remixes, 90s dance & garage, a bit of R&B, urban or Latin and a bit of cheese if the crowd calls for it I love so many differing types of music but my key is to put in a lot of songs everyone will know and love. My real passion is for house music or jazz funk! Any other projects going on? Musically nothing at the moment just purely because I never seem to have the time! My other passion of obstacle racing takes over my life when I’m not DJ’ing!
Fave song ever? That’s a tough one! It comes down to three tunesPrayer in the Key of C by Lily Wood, Walking With Elephants by Ten Walls and September by Earth, Wind & Fire all inspired me to want to get out and play music to people…
Best ever gig and dream gig? I’ve done some cracking 80s nights in the last few years and it always surprises me how many people still love these tunes and know all the words – and the dances! Puts a smile on my face when I see people having a great time and enjoying the music I do a lot of small venues which I love but would like to do something on a bigger scale like Brighton Pride The atmosphere in the dance tent is always so good!
Tune you wish you’d never played? I once accidentally played the theme tune from Murder, She Wrote instead of the Chaka Demus & Pliers classic I was expecting! Serves me right for not leaving enough time to rush back from the loo or check what was on the deck before hitting play!
Guilty pleasure? Singing along (badly) in the car to old rat pack songs or 70s rock!
Describe yourself in three words! Energetic, Motivated and Fun
) CAMILA CABELLO Havana (David Noakes House remix) White
) DRAKE One Dance (Tuner S remix) White
) THE COMFORT OF STRANGERS (BFI blu-ray)
Paul Schrader’ s film of Ian McEwan’ s novel is a weird erotic psychological horror with a number of comic moments, some of them even intentional Rupert Everett is on holiday with his girlfriend Natasha Richardson in Venice where they meet the sinister Christopher Walken who lives with Helen Mirren in an impressively louche apartment. The characters’ psychology is rather mysterious. At least after being assaulted by his host, Everett voices the audience’s puzzlement by wondering why he then stayed for dinner. Harold Pinter’ s script makes it pretty clear that the movie’s driver is repressed gaiety, a theme that would later cause him to fall flat on his face with his disastrous rewrite of Sleuth There’s more violence at the end, and then a very funny coda which gives the impression, at least to me, that Walken commits a terrible crime simply so he can tell his setpiece story about his father to perhaps the last person in Venice who hasn’t heard it Still, it’s incredibly watchable and, in its own camply serious way, rather fun
) Exclusive Welcome to Brighton by Mentalembellisher Christmas cards £3.50, or five-pack £12.99; new range of Uber Bling/Drag jewellery necklace, £65; clip-on earrings, £26 (Barbary Lane, 95 St George’s Road, Brighton, barbarylane.co.uk and Facebook)
The Brunswick, Holland Road, Hove Box office: www.wegottickets.com
) EL GEEBEE TEA QUEUE (Sun 11). Curator and host Paul Diello presents LGBTQ+ talent in comedy, cabaret and live music
including: Christine Hepworth James is a member of award winning Short&Girlie
Show improv group since 2002 She recites rib tickling rhymes based on true stories, recounts daft poems about her life, bras, trains and teenage mags all feature in her funny fables Bristol-bred singer-songwriter Rose Randles likes to muck around with synthetic sounds and vocal layers Hayley Chillcott is a 23-year-old singer-songwriter who has just released her debut EP, Finally Home Dick Stubble became the first ever winner of Brighton's King of the Fringe in 2014 and has since performed at the Best of King of the Fringe & Kingdom. Annabelszki delivers a fusion of stand-up, audience interaction, improv and comedic poetry. Brighton singersongwriter Kristofer uses cutting edge pop music to spread his message of diversity loud and clear. Miss Disney is all about bringing your inner child to the surface and being surrounded by nostalgia through different Disney era hits from Pinocchio to Moana.
ATTENBOROUGH CENTRE
University of Sussex, Falmer Box office: attenboroughcentre.com
) THINKING QUEER: AUDRE LORD (Wed 7) A night of reflection, resistance, poetics and power to celebrate the work of trailblazing writer, thinker and activist Audre Lorde. Expect live performances from some of the UK’s boldest and brightest artists sharing brand new work.
) NIGHTCLUBBING (Thu 8)
Rachael Young and her badass band of super-humans embrace Afrofuturism and the cult of Grace Jones in an explosive new performance bringing visceral live music and intergalactic visions to start a revolution. Grace Jones; a dark skinned, androgynous, Jamaican woman, transcending societal norms to become an international superstar Then later, three young black women, discriminated against and excluded, their bodies branded ‘undesirable’
) BUDDIES (Fri 30) Released in the early years of the AIDS epidemic, Buddies was the first
A young Lebanese filmmaker, who shares a Beirut apartment with his mother and pet dog, sets about reconstructing his identity by renovating his bedroom. But as the Syrian construction workers come and go in the freshly embattled household, new questions, old arguments and unexpected passions get stirred. A woman ’ s voice speaks the words the man cannot and what emerges is a heartbreaking portrait of an abused life, marked by a desire to flee but with nowhere to go
) BJORN AGAIN (Fri 30) The group performs ABBA’s greatest hits including Mamma Mia, The Winner Takes It All and Dancing Queen GRAYSON PERRY
The Dome, New Road,, Brighton Box office: 01273 709709
) GRAYSON PERRY (Sun 4) Award-winning artist, BAFTAwinning TV presenter, Reith Lecturer, and bestselling author with traditional masculine traits,
feature film to address a crisis that many were reluctant to discuss. Directed by Arthur J Bressan Jr, an audacious filmmaker whose work included gay pornography, documentary and fiction, the drama tells the story of a young man named David who becomes a voluntary ‘buddy’ for an AIDS patient named Robert As the two men spend more time together, a profound friendship develops and the pair soon grow to depend on each other more than they would ever have anticipated
) BENT DOUBLE (Sun 4) A gayfriendly, irreverent night of fun and frolics hosted by Zoe Lyons (Mock The Week and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow). Featuring headliner Lucy Porter with Josh Jones and Catherine Bohart.
EYES WIDE OPEN
eyeswideopencinema.co.uk
As part of their Queer Arab Lives season, the queer cinema collective Eyes Wide Open presents: ) ROOM FOR A MAN (Thu 1–Fri 2).
) Showing with ANYA KNEEZ: A QUEEN IN BEIRUT In 2012 drag queen Anya Kneez left Brooklyn, where she had called home for 14 years, to return to her home of Beirut, Lebanon. In this frank and nuanced portrait, Anya discusses the decision to move from the US to the Middle East. While challenging assumptions of an ‘easier life’ in the US, Anya also explores the difficulties of working as a drag queen in conservative Lebanon Showing at Fabrica Gallery (Thu) and Towner Gallery, Eastbourne (Fri)
BRIGHTON CENTRE
Kings Road, Brighton, Box office: 0844 847 1515
) RICK ASTLEY (Sat 3) The Beautiful Life Tour: Rick sings hits such as Never Gonna Give You Up With support from Gabrielle
) CULTURE CLUB (Tue 13). The Life Tour with support from Belinda Carlisle and Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey ‘We put together an amazing show that is going to be filled with hits and fabulous memories, we know it will be hands down this summer ’ s best night out'
Boy George.
) JESS GLYNNE (Wed 21). The Always In Between Tour finds Jess on a journey of self-acceptance as she comes to terms with fame, heartbreak and the pressure of writing a second album.
) THE HUMAN LEAGUE (Fri 23). Red Live Tour sees the group play their hits with support from Midge Ure’s Electronica
) FLORENCE + THE MACHINE (Sun 25) High as Hope ties in with the group ’ s new album and hit single Hunger ‘One of the most thrilling shows of the year' The Times
including having the desire to ‘always be right and to overtake all other cyclists when going up big hills’ An intelligent evening of laughs, discussion, insight and costume changes.
) RENU – THEY DANCE IN THE DARK (Sat 3). Berlin and Londonbased artist, producer and percussionist Renu launches her album with a live multi-media performance An electronic queer dance odyssey with live percussion and live electronics A plasmic journey which undulates and ebbs its way through a cosmos of mixed media with body performances by supernatural-queer characters, that fall into a perfect composition of cultivated weirdness.
) THE QUEER
HEROES
CELEBRATION-GALA-EXORCISMSING-ALONG-CUM-DANCE-PARTY (Fri 9). A special Marlborough commission celebrating the Queer Heroes season, Lucy McCormick guides you through a self-help selflove self-seeking performance bash Expect candy for all/party games/life skills/dancing girls/absolute tunes/crying
CL ASSICAL NOTES
REVIEWS
) CHERYL FRANCES-HOAD Magic Lantern Tales Champs Hill CHRCD146 Composer Cheryl Frances-Hoad’ s (b 1980) strength in imaginatively setting words to music shows no sign of slowing Magic Lantern Tales, which gives her new disc its title, is a setting of poems by Ian McMillan. These were in turn responses to interviews and documentary photography with elderly people in a psychiatric hospital, by Ian Beesley, documenting stories of love, loss and in particular, the impact of WW1 McMillan’s poetry, and Frances-Hoad’s expressive settings, capture the poignancy and intimacy of these tales, as well as their humour and human drama Tenor Nicky Spence, who premiered the cycle, sings with full-toned immediacy of communication, from the folk-like idiom, almost troubadour style of the opening Marching through Time, to the romantically poignant narrative of Lily Maynard, and the loss of her love in the Somme Frances-Hoad cranks up the tension here, with ever-richer harmonies, and even gunfire from the piano (played here by Sholto Kynoch) as events take a tragic turn Even the bouncy Ballad of Harry Holmes, with elements of music hall and even drinking song, has moments of pause for bird song effects, but here again, the story telling is key, and Spence is captivating throughout. The sadness of Mabel Walsh, with its insistent, pecking piano part under a long, lugubrious lyrical vocal line is followed by the opening song ’ s return
The Thought Machine sets ten children’s poems by Kate Wakeling, and the contrast of tone could not be more different, yet story-telling remains central Soprano Sophie Daneman and baritone Mark Stone, with Kynoch again on piano, share the task of portraying the silvery, ethereal atmosphere of the New Moon, the motoring rhythm of a mysterious Machine (with added egg shakers played by the singers!), and the strange, leaping extremes
of voice and piano in the Telescope. Humour and rollicking fairytales are here too, with great comic timing in Skig The Warrior and Thief, and some fabulously fun word-painting in Rita The Pirate Contrasting yet again, in Scenes From Autistic Bedtime, both parent and autistic child are given voice, with Edward Nieland (treble) as the boy and Natalie Raybould (soprano) as the mother, with cello, vibraphone and piano accompaniment. The text (by Stuart Murray, himself a parent of two autistic boys) and FrancesHoad’s music capture wonderfully the conflict of intimate and at times playful experiences of boy and mother, with moments of clear distress for both, particularly in the last of the three scenes Space doesn’t allow me to do justice to the other material here, including two sensuously jazzy and dreamy solo piano miniatures played expressively by Kynoch, the wonderfully sombre Lament sung by Anna Huntley (mezzo-soprano), with low bell tolling on piano from Alisdair Hogarth, and the Brittenesque intoning in the trio for soprano, mezzo-soprano and countertenor (Verity Wingate, Sinéad O’Kelley and Collin Shay, with Hogarth again on piano), Invoke Now the Angels The same three singers, this time unaccompanied, deliver a beautiful close blend for A Song Incomplete, Frances-Hoad’s short Aristotle setting, written for her own wedding. Finally, Love Bytes, for soprano (Wingate), baritone (Philip Smith), vibraphone (Beth HighamEdwards), cello (Anna Menzies), conducted by George Jackson – a modern tale of a virtual romance that is perhaps doomed before it starts Frances-Hoad combines elements of almost musical theatre style with imaginative instrumentation, once again showing her knack for authentic communication of contemporary situations and emotions. A highly impressive collection, striking in its sheer variety, emotional impact and communicative expression.
Reviews, comments and events: v nicks-classicalnotes.blogspot.co.uk t @nickb86uk ) nbclassical@hotmail.co.uk
CINEMA
) Nico Muhly’ s Marnie live from the MET Opera (Sat 10), Isobel Leonard and Christopher Maltman lead in the opera ’ s US premiere.
) The Royal Ballet performs La Bayadère, Marius Petipa’ s ballet, using music by Minkus, live from the Royal Opera House (Tue 13)
) Catch Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier from Glyndebourne (various dates) with Kate Royal and Tara Erraught In a range of local cinemas, including: Dukes at the Komedia/Duke of York’s, Brighton, Cineworld Eastbourne, and the Connaught Cinema, Worthing Check for times
CONCERTS
VOTE 100: CELEBRATING WOMEN COMPOSERS
St George’s Church, Brighton, 01273 234044, www.musicofourtime.co.uk
) Vote 100: Celebrating Women Composers (7 30pm, Sat 17) The concert will include a specially commissioned new work, Lead On, by Lucy Pankhurst, a relative of leading suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, as well as music by a diverse range of women composers, with Caroline Lucas MP as a key speaker. Artists include soprano Polina Shepherd, vocal/instrumental group HEARD, choir Women of Note, guitarist Brian Ashworth, clarinettist Steve Dummer, flautist Rebecca Griffiths and pianists Evgenia Startseva and Yuri Paterson-Olenich plus multi-pianist ensemble the Zongora Piano Group and the Appel Trio Featured composers include Norah Blaney, Rebecca Clarke, Avril Coleridge-Taylor, Lilian Elkington, Shena Fraser, Augusta Holmès, Clara Schumann, Ethel Smyth plus present-day composers Stephanie Cant, Litha Efthymiou, Cecilia McDowall and Judith Weir
BREMF
01273 709709, www.bremf.org.uk
) Brighton Early Music Festival (until Sun 11). Check out last month (or my blog) for highlights, but don’t miss the opera double-bill, Monteverdi’ s Il Ballo delle Ingrate & Blow’ s Venus & Adonis (Tue 6, Wed 7 & Thu 8), and the final weekend’s concerts: Reformation Remoaners (Sat 10), including music by Taverner, Tallis and Byrd, performed by BREMF Consort of Voices, and finally, Peace in Europe, with music by Handel, Delalande, Charpentier, Zelenka and Purcell, performed by the BREMF Singers and Players
BRIGHTON DOME
01273 709709, www.brightondome.org
) The Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra, directed by Freddy Kempf (2 45pm, Sun 11), will perform Rossini and Dvořák, with Kempf also playing Beethoven’ s Piano Concerto No 3
) The London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Graham Ross, (7 30pm, Sat 24) perform Vaughan Williams and Beethoven, and are joined by violinist Carolin Widmann for Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Mendelssohn’ s Violin Concerto
ACCA , UNIVERSITY OF SUSSEX
01273 678822, www.attenboroughcentre.com
) The Jacquin Trio (11am, Sun 18) performs Schumann, Mozart, Stravinsky and Bartók, as well as new works by Colin Matthews and Charlotte Bray
A SSEMBLY HALL, WORTHING 01903 206206, www.worthingtheatres.co.uk
) The Worthing Symphony Orchestra (2.45pm, Sun 4) performs Verdi, Butterworth, Harty and Tchaikovsky, with soprano Helen Dix.
ART MATTERS
This November I am presenting you with an exhibition close enough by bus or train, and two updates on events I am involved in.
APT GALLERY
Deptford, London, www.aptstudios.org)
HEART PROJECT
) Beginning with the tail end of a group show, SPACE SHIFT (until the Nov 4) which is curated by Sarah Kogan, and is where I’ll be showing alongside Wendy Anderson, Neel Bakhle, Jeremy Bubb, Maria Chevska, Richard Dyer, Adam Grey, Sarah Kogan, Jane Millar, Galen Riley, Susan Sluglett and Rachel Warriner I’ll be exhibiting a portable mural, using acrylic on loose canvas for an over human sized piece, where I have accentuated the scale of the subject whilst retaining the immediacy of execution of my usual inks and oils on panel.
//heartresearch.org.uk/fundraising/anonymous
ALL THAT JAZZ
) I am also taking part in the anonymous heART Project, a project featuring hundreds of A5-sized pieces of artwork which have been created and donated by famous artists, celebrities, influential figures and creative supporters of Heart Research UK. All the contributors were provided with blank A5 postcards, and will be sold on eBay over a 10-day period (Nov 2–11) The creator of each piece will only be revealed when the auction closes All money raised from the sale of the art will be spent on the prevention, treatment and cure of heart disease Their contributors have ranged from established artists to many famous faces, including Hollywood actor Tom Hardy, comedian Vic Reeves and presenter Chris Evans, as well as lots of high profile artists whose pieces sell for thousands of pounds A full list of contributors will be available to view in the lead up to and throughout the live auction.
TOWNER ART GALLERY
Eastbourne, www.townereastbourne.org.uk
HANNAH PERRY: GUSH features large-scale dynamic sound sculpture, film and wall-based works (Nov 10–Jan 27 2019). GUSH is a candid and personal exploration of mental and emotional health in our contemporary, hyper-networked society by British artist Hannah Perry in her first major solo exhibition in the UK outside London.
Central to the exhibition is an immersive 360° film that surrounds viewers with the contorted, continuously shifting movement of bodies The film’s voice-over reflects on the altered states of the self, including the impact trauma and grief can have on our physical and mental state
Extending out from this film is an audio sculpture incorporating stretched car body wrap and subwoofer speakers, enabling sound frequencies to create distorted patterns upon the mirrored surface of the sculpture, altering the viewer’s reflected self and surroundings.
Further new works include a hydraulic sculpture that suggests moments of violence, tenderness and intimacy through mechanised interaction, while in new wall-based works, Perry combines her silk screen printing technique with digital photographs, car lacquer and painting Hannah Perry GUSH is conceived by Somerset House, in partnership with Towner Art Gallery
) BARB JUNGR & JOHN McDANIEL Float Like A Butterfly: The Songs of Sting (Kristalyn Records). Chanteuse Barb Jung has delivered a fine series of songbooks over the years, one of the most recent a collaboration with pianist John McDaniel celebrating the Beatles. Again with McDaniel, she now turns her attention to the prolific Sting, both with The Police and as a solo artist. For once I’m not totally convinced by her interpretations, since the strong melodic lines often resist her intentions But she is evocative on Fields Of Gold and Until and successfully transforms such wellknown warhorses as Roxanne and Don’t Stand So Close To Me by radically slowing both down. Inevitably, one ’ s approach to this set will be coloured by what one thinks of Sting, but Jungr manages to transform enough of the songs to score another fine success.
) MARC SINAN/OGUZ
BUYUKBERBER White (ECM). Marc Sinan and Oguz Buyukberber are both Turks, Sinan a classically taught guitarist drawn in recent years to Turkish folk music and improvisation, Buyukberber a clarinettist making the opposite journey from Turkish music towards contemporary composition Half the set is by Buyukberber, a fivepart composition There in which the two musicians improvise around predetermined pitches The other half is the astounding and powerful Upon Nothingness, which samples the voices of Armenian prisoners from WWI Given that these prisoners probably survived while more than a million of their countrymen was killed by the Ottoman Turks in the Armenian genocide, this gives this piece considerable heft. The liberal use of electronics further sets the real life of the voices against the imagination of the music. Powerful stuff indeed.
) ARVE HENRIKEN The Height of Reeds (Rune Cuneiform) The Height Of Reeds was commissioned by the city of Hull, as Britain’s cultural capital in 2017, to celebrate the longstanding maritime relationship between Hull and Scandinavia. It provided the music for a sound walk during which participants donned headphones as they crossed the Humber Bridge. Apparently, 15,000 hardy souls braved the Humber’s bracing winds last spring Local sound artist Jez Riley French supplied field recordings from the bridge itself, including the creaking of its steel wires and the noise of the river below Opera North’s Choir and Orchestra provided the setting for the three main soloists, while three actors read translations of poems by the Norwegian Nils Christian Moe-Repstad. It would be glib to say that you had to be there to appreciate all this fully, but the use of strings and words do turn this set into more of a formal performance piece than a jazz outing. Arve Henriksen’ s evocative trumpet set against the ethereal electronics and sampling of Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang more than holds its own, while Riley French’s field recordings provide a surprising resonance to some of the pieces
) UNUSUAL PLACES by Louise Tondeur. This collection of short stories is a perfectly crafted autumnal indulgence; Tondeur’s prose is a treat. Rich in picked-out, wonderfully observed, precise details which highlight the slow turn of action These are slippery stories but in the way that soap on skin slips, sensual, delightful, inevitably and with some wry and breathtakingly charming slides we end up in all sorts of places, deftly hidden in the folded fabric of the city The familiar becomes a place of discovery in Tondeur’s hands, the wellknown a jungle of sensual provocations, the everyday and its ordinary simplicity a place where subtle but fantastic transformations take place, changing the characters, the narrative, and us in the reading of them. Each story left me with a smile, wanting to (re)visit these Unusual Places, just right for the turning of the seasons www.culturedllama.co.uk
) YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE by Jess Vallance. Jess Vallance’s new series opens with a life-affirming journey of protagonist Grace as she swiftly recovers from a life-threatening illness, self-diagnosed on the web, which turns out to be a misapplication of fake tan - this daft experience jolts her mind away from the stress of exams and along with some guidance from a pair of wise characters purses her overwhelming desire ‘to live fully’ Not everything goes to plan and, as Grace hunts her ‘bucket list’ and also works out her sexuality, there’s engaging, fun adventures on the way. Much lighter in tone than Vallances' previous books, but with the heft of fleshed out lovable characters, Grace struggles to do the things she wants while experiencing her embarrassments, miscalculations and setbacks with a
quite what it seems Madison confidently takes us on a culinary tour of the kitchen and of Danika’s heart as it learns to love again and faces the lack of certainty in her new life. The narrative is handled with a deft grace giving us a tangible sense of the protagonist’s experiences while whipping up a storm in the kitchen. It’s a superbly well-crafted recipe of love in later life, changing expectation and the discovery of transformative reserves deep inside oneself and, rather charmingly, Madison has included a cookbook section featuring all the recipes mentioned in the book, what’s not to love about that? www.lucyjmadison.com
cisgender, heterosexual community and these Butch Heroes celebrate people who were strong or brave in their lives and challenged their societies’ strict gender roles. www.waterstones.com
charming, can-do optimism. This is a comical and encouraging start to the Grace Dart books and great for any younger LGBTQ folk. www.jessvallance.com
) A RECIPE FOR LOVE by Lucy Madison. In her mid-50s, Danika Russo is stuck, caring for her dying partner and an uncaring father, holed up in an inherited childhood home, unchanging in its dusty claustrophobic 1970s brown Formica and linoleum trap A friend suggests a shift of focus and Danika starts to experiment, doing new things, facing discomfort and watching her life unravel and reweave itself in unexpected ways. She joins a cooking course, but also cooks up a bitter sweet romance with a younger woman she meets there. Together they create a new recipe for love, but not all is
These delightful portraits of queer history feature the lives of 28 people who didn't conform to gender norms, from the 15th century onwards. Brodell's detailed paintings, modelled on Catholic holy cards often handed out at funerals to help honour deceased family members, inspired the artist in their youth Using this format to honour these people, persecuted by the Church while they lived is a slyly queer subversion The portraits and texts offer titillating hints of lost lives: cats lounge in domestic settings; people are described as ‘ a prophet’, ‘ a soldier’, or ‘textile worker’; folk casually hold cigarettes. Brodell did extensive research for each portrait, piecing together a life from historical accounts, journals, drawings, and photographs, finding the heroic in the forgotten They are individuals who were assigned female at birth but whose gender presentation was more masculine, and who were punished simply for being ‘Butch’, slung as an insult and used as a congratulatory recognition of strength It’s familiar to the
) JACK OF HEARTS (AND OTHER PARTS) by LC Rosen Seventeenyear-old Jack Rothman writes an ‘ agony aunt’ column for a friend’s blog and is a fully adjusted fabulous gay, his sexual exploits and experience shared with glorious glee and he sits in the centre of the school’s maelstrom of attention and gossip He doesn’t care; he seeks no one ’ s approval He’s well-adjusted and his sex is filthy, wholesome experiential fun Then he gets a stalker, whose weird invasive letters make it clear they want him ashamed, neutered and silenced The narrative follows Jack’s attempts to find out the identity of his threatening, deeply unpleasant stalker before more harm is perpetrated. It’s also a candid and beautiful sensually graphic depiction of furious bouts of sex, erotic explorations and finding out
what (and what doesn’t) get Jack off It’s the queer sex education you don’t get in class, but really, really need and want It examines the emotional impacts of modern queer sex as much as the physical entanglements and enjoyments of Jack’s adventure with his lovers, tricks and sexual exploits. It’s done with humour, warmth and Jack is an utterly engaging sex-positive character. How bracing, no angst! This is a fun, blunt and saucy gavotte though the gender inclusive adventures of this Queer Lothario, determined to enjoy all the pleasures of life and confront and face down judgy bigoted people who poke their noses into his business It’s joyful, embracing and rollicking fun! www.penguin.co.uk
) BUTCH HEROES by Ria Brodell
ITCH TO SCRATCH
If the world ever ended, there’d always be Lydia L’Scabies –scuttler of West Street pavements and recipient of many unfortunate sounding diseases. Graham Robson caught up with the self-styled mite-ridden slag and Queen of Flea to chat drag politics, skin complaints and the queer scene…
) Where did the idea of Lydia crawl from?
She was initially inspired by the wonderful squawking and yacking gals of West Street, Brighton I’ve always considered drag to be a critical reflection on the current culture (depending when the act started) and I wanted to represent that I’ve always been motivated to parody the expectations of women in today’s culture, so making a female character that is unapologetically ‘slaggy’ (reclaiming that gorgeous slur), who literally has bugs crawling all over her face and sparkling weeping rashes behind her knees, in her hairline and in-between her fingers, was the perfect satirical response to that.
Scratch that! What’s her story?
Lydia can be anything from hilarious to horrifying! I have a few signature acts that are quintessentially Lydia: What The Word Crabs Means To Me, Never Been A Bad Girl, You Ruin Me
Outside of that I do many character acts (Hermione Granger, Britney Spears, Theresa May, Marge Simpson to name a few), all carefully considered as they inform Lydia’s existence one way or another, particularly my Austin Powers Fembot homage which is as ‘sexually threatening’ as Lydia, I’d say
And what’s your favourite?
Theresa was a lot of fun to make, matching her with a Roald Dahl The Witches narrative was such a joy to do - it’s a beloved film of mine and still chills me to this day. But my favourite is probably Hermione Granger from Harry Potter - it’s always nice picking on people using her preadolescent sass.
How do you get into character?
Totally depends on the character! Most of the time I just have fun with it, but sometimes it can be intense Me and Alfie Ordinary were booked in Bristol to do a ’Silver Factory’ Andy Warhol themed night, in which we’d both appear as Andy and Edie Sedgwick As it was a walkabout performance, I did a lot of homework on Edie and went a bit mad trying to replicate her and her more tragic elementsI think I barely ate on the day so I was already a bit lightheaded and not all there, I was desperately smiling around the club asking everyone if “they’d seen Andy anywhere”, when I’d find him he wouldn’t say a word to me and walk off. IT WAS A JOURNEY TO SAY THE LEAST!
What can we expect in your company?
This completely depends on where you catch me! At The Powder Room we usually make new material all the time, which will anything upbeat fun and always a bit dense
Other shows I could be doing anything from being a ‘dumb slag’, your worst nightmare, or something utterly revolting to a song you know and love
Do you get up as Lydia or Alex in the morning?
I think I’d have a complete nervous collapse if I woke up and saw Lydia in the mirror! I’m Alex by day, and the Mr (Miss) Hyde that is Lydia by night
What inspires you?
I love female characters with a bit of malice I’m really inspired by blonde villains and
vixens, anything from Jennifer Tilly in Bride of Chucky, Anjelica Pickles, Regina George, Velma Von Tussle (sans casual racism), Cathy Moriarty in Casper, and Bernadette Peters in Annie Dream party guests - alive or dead?
Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe, and Boris Karloff - definitely Amy and Marilyn would bring the party, and Boris I owe everything for my initial love of horror - the flat-headed daddy that is Frankenstein’s Monster Should drag be political?
For me, drag is political from the get go, challenging what is perceived of gender norms through anyone ’ s chosen way of expression is already socially engaged and political, I’d say I’ve done some acts that present a critique on something, may it be today’s internet culture, the expectations of women, slut shame to name a few, but first an foremost it has to be accessible and entertaining.
Is the scene in good health?
Absolutely, I’d say it’s changed and developed a lot and there’s a lot going on now, which is lovely to see. Everyone has their places to be and everyone ’ s welcome to visit. I’ve a new love for the trad scene having played Charles Street Tap and visited many a night with my darling Alfie - working on contemporary stuff is great but reminding ourselves of the local roots is always lovely
Anywhere exciting you can recommend? I’ve heard there’s a new sexy night going on at Pop Vault on November 4 It’s called POLYGLAMOROUS I may or may not be involved with some other local creative titans I call my near and dear
Tell us a bit about your act Cinebra… Like cinema, but with a bra - making it movie themed drag, started out with mine and Rococo Chanel’s first character duo, Sophie and Megan, two socially unfortunate college students with a mutual love of movies The first full length show Ro and I wrote together (music by her, script by me) is called A History of Horror which is an original horror comedy musical following the format of a Powerpoint presentation with a terrifying twist. For our second show, under the Cinebra name, we moved on to (ex) movie stars Glenda and Rita - two golden era actresses who don’t get work anymore because they are physically black and white in a technicolour world The show premiered at this year ’ s Fringe, and we can’t wait to do it again! (@wereallylikemovies on Instagram)
Where next for Lydia?
I’m content with what I’ve achieved so far, and I’m enjoying every new adventure. I would love to write a solo show for the new year though, and maybe build some material to translate into live sets as a solo, we shall see!
MORE INFO :
Instagram: lydialscabies
Facebook: Lydia L’Scabies
Twitter: LydiaLScabies
READY OR NOT - QUEER I COME
Violet Valentine (Zoe Anslow-Gwilliam) - I guess it is time to introduce myself to Gscene readers.
) I’m also Violet Valentine, an AFAB queen. For those wondering what AFAB means; AFAB means ‘assigned female at birth’, however, it can mean a fab(ulous) queen if you want it to! I’m here to represent and showcase the new era of all things queer and creative on behalf of Gscene
I work across many creative fields, from photography, graphic design, make-up art and add drag to the list. Despite being quite new to the scene, I’ve made a name and a base for myself in a little over a year, spanning cabaret shows, bars and clubs from London to Brighton I’ve even hosted my own cabaret night called Battle! With Violet Valentine, a tournament style drag show, a few times too
With a little over a year ’ s drag experience, I’m relatively new to the gig, let’s be honest My first encounter with drag was probably in some random pub many years ago on karaoke night where a Dame Edna like older lady offered up offensive jokes and free drinks tickets per rendition of musical theatre classics. That was my preconception and misconception of drag. I, like many people, assumed drag was old men dressing up in a frock and singing mediocrity for the entertainment of drunken punters on gay night for cheap laughs. Apart from these assumptions, drag had never really been on my radar
I moved to Brighton in 2014 to study Textiles at the University of Brighton. Cut to the copious nights out and newfound freedom in Brighton, I became inexcusably gay and proud in ‘the gay capital of the UK’ My first true encounter with
drag was that year in Club Revenge on a Thursday night for the infamous FOMO club night where I happened to be greeted on the dancefloor by a mysterious but brash blonde wielding a bottle of tequila and clear expression of what can only be described of loving disgust Lydia L’Scabies, indeed I became surrounded by drag inadvertently
My first time in drag wasn’t as a drag queen but as a drag king in 2016 when I attended the yearly King of Fringe show at the Marlborough Theatre I had no drag name, no drag back story, but I wanted to exude that confidence, dress up as a lad and cause mischief I won best dressed, I might add The confidence that those kings, such as Louis Cyfer, displayed truly made me fall in love with drag for the first time The drag king scene is a magical place where the rules are flipped and toxic masculinity is banished.
I then realised that situation probably wasn’t my first time in drag, it was in fact in Wolverhampton, around 2010, when I played Ferdinand in The Tempest and I pretended to be uncomfortable with having to kiss a girl. It really was a tragic comedy. The heteronormative ‘single sex ’ selective grammar school had unknowingly created the space for a very gay story line to occur.
I was realising more that I’d always been surrounded by drag, in some way or another. Soon after my first appearance in drag, I wanted to explore drag more. For Halloween, the same year, I attended work at Club Revenge (shocking, I realise) in drag as The Joker Fastforward a few months and various performances later, I had a drag king persona, Zack The Lad I thought I’d truly discovered drag by this point I was definitely wrong I found about queens such as Victoria Sin and Tete Bang, fellow AFAB queens I discovered more about the true gender bending nature of drag. I didn’t need to be a drag king; I could be a drag queen too.
Like many baby queens, I blocked my brows questionably, shoved on an unstyled wig, constructed a camp and feisty ego, made a terrible mix featuring Charli XCX and the Cash Me Ousside girl and off I popped to the local gay bar to perform.
Violet Valentine was created. I performed more and with each performance I became more
confident and comfortable, in and out of drag I still adored drag kings, but I discovered that I, personally, could be more creative with presenting as Violet than Zack
With relentless research into drag, also known as ‘partying’, I started exploring new scenes I went to club nights such as Wut? Club and Dollar Baby I found extraordinary spaces where people were like me; very queer. I made friends with people such as Prince Jay Jay, who was the first person to introduce me to the club scene of London, full of unique club kids, the eccentric party attendees of infamous club nights. Gluing paper to my face and dancing to Sophie? Sign me up.
The attraction of drag and queer performance for me is the outlet to be artistic. Anything I do, I like it to be creative; I’m an Aquarius if you hadn’t guessed by now. I like creating new concepts to use for looks and characterful performances and if this can have a political importance to all the better
Being an AFAB artist, I’ve been surprised by the welcoming responses I receive from an audience. However, sometimes short-lived because of comments such as: “You look good in drag but I don’t really agree with women doing drag in general”, or “I can so tell you ’ re a woman though” are made Whilst I might receive passing comments of adoration for looks, there is a negative undertone attached to countless remarks There’s also an overall negative response to the art form; reaffirming the concept that the stereotypical style of feminine polished cis male drag was the only valid form of drag.
Drag has become a way for me to utilise gender in art but more importantly discover the importance of queer culture and the political significance this has. I’m fascinated by the dynamics of the queer scene. Queer nightlife may pass as frivolous and fun but the fact is that queer nightlife is extensively important in the ways in which queer culture functions. Without the Stonewall Inn, an underground gay bar in NYC, we wouldn’t enjoy the same rights today Without Sundays at Legends Okay, you get the idea
I’ve grown to be more unapologetic with how I navigate as a queer AFAB person helped by the decision to design my looks and art to be how I want, not how they’re expected to be and with this actually comes better and truer art
For those who read Gscene regularly, I aim to provide entertainment with exciting stories of new work being produced within the queer scene I want to expand the knowledge of gender and sexuality and how this impacts the work created by minority groups and the spaces in which they exist I aim to showcase the shocking complexity and creativity that the new era of the LGBTQ+ scene has to offer. I hope you ’ re excited as I am.
Here and Queer, Violet Valentine
“Drag has become a way for me to utilise gender in ar t but more impor tantly discover the impor tance of queer culture and the political significance this has”
CRAIG’S THOUGHTS
Ever ything’s Fine. Or Nothing To See Here. By
Craig Hanlon-Smith @craigscontinuum
) I’m a huge fan of Ru Paul’s Drag Race. I began with season five, which is still my favourite, and have been a loyal avid follower of everything since. I have of course Netflixed my way back though previous seasons and regularly parade around town, and even New York Drag Bars don’t you know, in my ‘Shangela Was Robbed’ T-shirt following All Stars 3 I’m ‘ super excited’ for All Stars 4 and love love love the Michelle Visage and Ru Paul podcast I’m a fan
Former contestants and winners are now touring the world and pulling in audiences by the thousand but, despite in some cases West End theatre ticket prices, are we getting what we pay for? Two friends, whose opinions I trust, both and independently of one another went to see one of the most famous winners at her UK shows in 2017. They came away disappointed, not that the show was terrible, but that it wasn’t as good as expected. Material only engaged when referring to the TV show and the remainder seeming a little squeezed out over twice as long as it needed to be
However, perhaps I can no longer trust the reviews of my nearest and dearest as said drag queen has since made two films, toured the world again and has just announced a show at Wembley Arena Wembley Where Madonna and Kylie and other such megastars play - so she must be good right?
Imagine the anticipation when one of my personal favourites, who didn’t win but came a close runner-up, announced a four-night run at the Spiegeltent as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival The place was rammed, all four shows a sell out and a UK tour to follow As we excitedly took our seats another friend joined us and announced this as his second viewing having loved the show so much two nights previous.
It wasn’t a terrible show She looked amazing throughout, as she had on Drag Race, and a recently triumphant appearance on a well
known reality TV show, but in all it was a dull experience The jokes heavily scripted and falling a little flat, the singing was competent but thin for the Whitney-style power ballads, and the overall structure needed to be explained throughout It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t very good, in short, it wasn’t good enough
It should be noted, however, that like my friends I clearly don’t now what I’m talking about As the performance came to a close the entire place erupted onto its feet, an ovation that the stewards had to end for fear of overrunning into the next scheduled performance. They loved it. An unstoppable standing ovation in celebration of a mediocrity that has secured this particular queen a number of television contracts. Bland beige realness beamed into your living room, I can’t wait.
My fandom doesn’t stop at the Ru Paul graduates. As a 1970s four-piece obsessive, I dragged myself to see the summer sequel blockbuster to their decade old original and stage musical runaway success Taking two small children with me ensured me that the role of responsible uncle would prevent my hurling that day’s haul of rocks from Brighton beach at the big screen In loco parentis I have to say I was genuinely concerned for the niece and nephew The worst fate that awaits a guardian is bored children and for the entire two hours I was certainly bored.
It isn’t a terrible film because it lacks plot, enthusiasm, joy and style as I’ve seen worse It is, however, exceptional in its dull quality If you ’ ve ever wondered what a beige cardigan would look like masquerading as the back
catalogue of a multi-million selling pop music phenomenon, then enjoy this movie The only interesting and possibly lively section is when two scenes and songs are reenacted in their entirety from the first film.
The kids, however, loved it, the cinema audience applauded, and every gay man I’ve spoken to since has appeared genuinely shocked at my assessment and spent the remainder of our encounter lavishing praise and love upon the ‘film of the year ’ . Trust me, it’s boring.
On the back of said film, an internationally renowned global superstar, whom I adore and admire, has recorded an entire collection of similar material. I’ve thought long and hard about these next comments as I fear I may be publicly stoned and flogged by the gay twitterati. To read online reviews of these recordings from (mainly) gay men on a variety of social media platforms, you can expect this internationally renowned global superstar to sweep the board at the Oscars, Grammys, Brits and to trounce Adele in the sales figures charts Some highlights: Gay album of the year! This version of ‘One of Us’ is all you will ever need This album is giving me life!
Wow I can’t argue with that, if the dude says it’s giving him life then it is I do promise you, though, if you have yet to hear it, this collection of cover versions is ‘internationally renowned global superstar does karaoke'. It lacks depth, innovation, thought and it’s really quite boring. What a missed opportunity.
I’ve tried to keep the names of specific artists out of this commentary although I’m certain you might guess them. My grandmother taught me that if you can’t think of anything nice to say then you possibly shouldn’t say it, and this analysis of these ventures isn’t intended to be mean to any individual or collection of performers. I am, though, astonished at our ability, we the audience, to expect, welcome and then celebrate this level of mediocrity across the entertainment spectrum
It doesn’t of course stop there, take a gander through our politicians. Where are the new ideas? The progressive approaches to social change? Why do we rest upon the safety of what we know in place of looking to learn from an excited possibility? We do, of course, hold the cards, we ’ re just choosing not to play them An artist will return to the rehearsal studio and try a different approach if they’re not selling tickets and we don’t need to take to social media and witch hunt a poor performer but we can remove the spectacles of delusion and state ‘What clothes? The Emperor is naked’. If it’s not good enough, then say so. If you think it is, then raise your game.
“I’m astonished at our ability, we the audience, to expect, welcome and then celebrate this level of mediocrity across the entertainment spectrum”
CHARLIE SAYS
Toxic shock.
By Charlie Bauer Phd.
http://charliebauerphd
blogspot
co uk
) Gleefully off-subject I go again, but I don’t think we can safely turn away from the preponderance of women ’ s issues that keeps raining down upon us. Women’s ‘issues’ only ever raise up following some insecure battle with men ’ s ‘issues’, which, let’s face it, has been a constant for millennia. You’d think modernism may lay some of the old charges to rest, but as ‘ man ’ has progressed he’s seldom even looked sideways at those being carried along Well, enough
Women are again revolting but never have we seen or heard the venom, we already knew, spewing from those grey, straight, old white men We knew this was the consensus but now they aren’t even trying to suppress it
Because everything in America is free, except the majority of the people and Twinkie bars, the right wing and Nazis also have their say Because its all free, and your Coca-Cola isn’t ever going to be different from the President’s, and that we ’ re all equal in the sauna, apparently These men are scratching what hair they have left, wondering what’s upset the women all of a sudden. And the blacks. And the gays. What’s getting them all fired up right now? Well, perhaps there is no ‘all of a sudden.. ‘ anymore. Perhaps there is degenerative continua at play in that same pain felt from Orlando to Selma, all the way back to the Epsom Downs racetrack.
Maybe white male privilege and the inability to take a sidestep into otherness for a brief moment is the new order.
Toxic masculinity doesn’t just affect women, everyone is a victim. Nowhere is it more evident than around sports games where the beer bellied ‘ once were warriors’ congregate. All that sulking, the thousands of quid to get
all over the world to see a newer bunch of millionaires dressed in shorts, kick a ball around a damp pitch. They’re happy when they win and sad when they loose but we ’ re all subject to the moods that follow. And they refuse to see any harm in that but it’s really what it’s about
I have to be careful because I’m lower working class and I grew up through all my schooling with these assholes. I was forced into their puerile games and offered nothing else No volleyball, rounders, netball, cookery, needlework, domestic science No, I had to lean against a goalpost cleaning my nails and glancing as the ball glided slowly past me and into the net At least the footy boys’ fury meant they actually noticed me The arse slapping in the changing rooms aside, I had no connection to what I saw was an aimless waste of public time. At the weekend, the Saturdays taken up with Dickhead Davis’s half smile on World of Sport. Screaming for Doctor Who to finally begin, Morecambe and Wise. Yet, it was the total dominance of this male culture that dominated and screwed up my childhood and adolescence. I, and the women around me, all had to jump to the same drum when it comes to this particular badge of masculinity. In fact, women could go bake a cake and get out of participation; but, since I was male, I had no choice This is why, aged 12, I put on my first dress and went out with a Bowie stripe across my face
This toxicity is there as a constant to women in the subtle form of political address – something men fail to see The ‘And a sherry for the lady’ appeasement syndrome that still persists and they think goes unnoticed. The toxicity for everyone who isn’t a straight white male seeps through every country, every administration and every government. Okay, Margaret Thatcher was perfectly placed to have more women in her cabinet but, in the rarest moment of there being a female Prime Minister, she felt she had to grow a pair in order to carry on the historically male Tory work Displaced by a father fixation, she never found his equivalent but kept looking nonetheless Her belief was that men were naturally stronger - this lady’s not for turning Yet that lady morphed into a bigger social disaster to the working class than rickets or polio ever did
She left us then with the compassionate male socialist types Not the educated neo communism of Tony Benn but, as aforementioned, the flat-cap, misogynist, racist, queer hating football crowd who believed they were worth more than a three day week and Vesta Curry. This machismo is what I suffered under in my adult life as the ne ’er-dowells I shared a school culture with became disgruntled ill–informed politicos. Derek Hatton has just resurfaced from the death throws of local radio Here was a die in the mud socialist, feeding his Il Duce fascination with rallies for the miners’ strike Another straight man denied themselves any form of emotional expression, save the football terraces when they can have a good cry together It manifests as strong arm politics with little space for anything aside Including women These militant and fascist tendencies received more column inches from the Murdoch presses than the women of Greenham who camped until every nuclear missile was taken away. I remember them being called a group of feminist lesbians amongst other things. I mean, let’s face it, that many women ‘living together’ – every straight man ’ s dream? Perhaps. With all this in mind it’s hardly surprising that the Labour Party’s latest mandate is anti-semitism As they say, the more left you go, the more right you become Alas, I had half a brain and because of my acquired family and culture, it meant I could leave the pretence of that mass gender identity behind me But they’re back again, as Trump and Putin and Bannon, and so many others But this time they don’t care because women have wronged them by speaking their minds and resisting Since everyone who isn’t that straight, white, grey-haired, fist puppet male is therefore part of a queer mass (and that includes you reading this), we move on, we support, we resist. Together.
“The toxicity for ever yone who isn’t a straight white male seeps through ever y countr y, ever y administration and ever y government”
HOMELY HOMILY
BY GLENN STEVENS
POSITIVELY HEALTHY
) Thinking about the AIDS epidermic, many people who made a difference come to mind; from Graham Wilkinson (Sussex AIDS Centre), Father Marcus Riggs (Open Door), and London-based AIDS activist extraordinaire, Cass Mann.
Cass Mann was seen by some as a controversial in his views, particularly at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, where he believed there were Kübler-Ross counsellors telling their HIV+/AIDS patients to prepare for their own imminent death. All of us who lived through this time can vouch for the fact that every week we heard that someone we knew had died. It was a scary time.
In response, Cass set up the organisation Positively Healthy, a title that would become a beaming light for many of those infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. What you have to understand is that in the mid-1980s the only drug being offered to those living with HIV/AIDS was AZT which, for the majority of people, was too toxic and only hastened their demise Again, Cass was vilified for saying as much about AZT It was hard to hear as everyone was desperate for a cure to the nightmare
Through Positively Healthy, Cass promoted an alternative to the acceptance that AIDS = Death Mantra and advocated a vegetarian diet, holistic therapy and most importantly for those diagnosed with HIV to change their mindset and say, ‘let’s live’ Of course, people still died from AIDS, but others began to realise that their doctor’s advice to ‘make the next six months count’ may have been premature, AIDS didn’t always equal death
“Others began to realise that their doctor ’s advice to ‘make the next six months count’ may have been premature, AIDS didn’t always equal death”
Through his workshops in London, and the amazing week of discovery at Laurieston Hall, a setting that was perfect to spend a week away from the pubs and clubs and television In Scotland, Cass provided a safe space for HIV+/- gay men to explore, discuss, scream and dance, perform, and be silly Many gay men who where part of Positively Healthy will remember just how positively healthy those sessions with Cass were. On the last night, the group would be led into the Scottish woods, where an amazing spiritual ritual allowed us all to let go of bad practices holding us back.
Not everyone agreed with Cass’s philosophy around HIV/AIDS, but It was his commitment to get the Positively Healthy ethos out to as many people as possible and, in turn, help save lives. Sadly, Cass died in April 2009 from Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but his message to live long and live well with an HIV+ diagnosis continues.
In his essay Deadly Counsels: The Necrophiliacs of AIDS, Cass says; “Only have in your life that which supports and celebrates your aims and purposes, and detach immediately from everything that doesn’t.” Wise words that we should all take notice of.
For me, Cass Mann is a much missed voice campaigning for all those touched by HIV and AIDS, so I’ll finish with one of my favourite quotes from Cass: “For all those who have condemned us to die, the following message: LIVING IS THE BEST REVENGE!”
DUNCAN’S DOMAIN
BY D U N C A N S T E WA R T
SPEAK UP
) Among the people sharing the tapas was a couple I hadn’t met before, one half of which was a bleach-blonde northerner who wouldn’t have appreciated the irony of her being deeply, and probably expensively, tanned as she dropped a few mildly derogatory remarks about the Asian population in her city. This ‘casual racism’ is of course anything but casual, it’s like deliberately dropping a baited verbal hook into a conversational pool in the hope that the lure will attract equally prejudiced pond life to declare their approval.
My problem was whether to express my disapproval or ignore the remarks, and risk appearing complicit, on the inadequate grounds that I might ruin an otherwise very enjoyable gathering.
“‘Casual racism’ is of course anything but casual, it’s like deliberately dropping a baited verbal hook into a conversational pool in the hope that the lure will attract equally prejudiced pond life to declare their approval”
The magazine sections of many weekend newspapers have a page on which a celebrity, of whom I’ve rarely heard, answers a series of questions like: What trait do you deplore in others? What do you dislike most about your appearance?, and Your most embarrassing moment? Their answers usually make the interviewee sound pompous, childish or simply cranky. The item I look for first is: What trait do you most deplore in yourself? My answer would be my spineless retreat into non-confrontation when witnessing racial, sexual or religious bigotry similar to that displayed between the delivery of the patatas bravas and gambas pil-pil. I was made to feel more than usually inadequate by a fellow diner who casually and effectively remarked that he knew Bradford and thought the Pakistani population had done a lot to cheer it up!
I decided I must toughen up.
Failure to register one ’ s disapproval is a bit like the act of a parent who decided not to immunise their child, preferring to depend on other parents who accepted the extremely small risk of their child developing side effects to provide the so called ‘herd immunity’ which will probably protect the vulnerable child. This ignorant selfishness attracted other parents to be equally foolish and their legacy is the current outbreak of potentially lethal childhood infections which was entirely avoidable, just as allowing bigots to go unchallenged risks an epidemic of intolerance that could have been stifled
My new approach is to ask if their dislike extends to all members of the group they have disparaged This invariable provokes a gushing affirmation of their affection for their gay hairdresser, black zumba teacher, Asian dentist or Jewish accountant My question is then, ”Why, if you ’ re so fond of these people you know, do you choose to dislike the ones you don’t?” This may not be entirely logical but it does appear to inject a modicum of guilt into the intolerant psyche
Many of the profile pages end with the request for a favourite joke My contribution, since black humour is appropriate, would be the story in which the doctor tells his patient that he has good and bad news and asks in which order he would like the information The patient chooses to hear the bad news first and is told that he is terminally ill and should immediately put his affairs in order. Stunned, he asks what possible good news there could be. “Ah,” says the doctor, “The good news is that you are not a hypochondriac.”
MINDOUT
This month one of our service users shares her stor y: it highlights some of the challenges for black, bi, homeless, HIV positive women in the UK today. www mindout org uk
) I’m 34 years old. I was born in Zimbabwe and came to England in June 2001. I had a very traumatic experience when I was diagnosed HIV positive in 2004. It’s a moment I’ll never forget as I was at the darkest moment of my life as I had just left my trafficking situation and to receive news like this was devastating to me
I didn’t know what the future had in store for me or what challenges I was going to face along the way being black, bisexual, homeless, and experiencing immigration problems I had the whole package, and all of these thoughts in my head kept going around and around
Being HIV positive and a woman isn’t easy as you get stigmatised by people who assume all sorts about you and are very judgemental I’ve had all sorts of things said to me: I’m a prostitute, damaged goods, a moving coffin, disgusting There have been occasions where I’ve had to stand up for myself, risking my life.
Being black as well made things worse as I faced discrimination from my own people I suffered a lot of abuse and there is a lot of stigma around HIV and AIDS. Millions and millions of people are still dying today for fear of being HIV positive and the stigma of getting diagnosed as HIV positive. Even going to the clinic for medication causes fear.
Being bisexual also made things harder as I suffered a lot of homophobic attacks.
Growing up in Africa it was taboo to talk about being gay, although there are gay people. The subject is brushed under the carpet.
Moving to Brighton helped me to find myself I just loved the diversity, my eyes were open, and I began to understand there was nothing wrong with me. There were people like me but
“I’d never heard of depression or mental health. In my culture that doesn’t exist. They think that black people don’t suffer from these conditions as they are Western diseases”
this didn’t mean I was safe. I suffered a lot of abuse and homophobic attacks while living in Brighton, I had to be careful who I met, where I went, the way I dressed and presented myself
Thanks to MindOut I really started to understand my transition and what I was experiencing Brighton helped me find myself
I was sofa surfing and very unwell. I used to cry a lot. I didn’t really understand what was going on with my body and mind I had lost a lot of weight which made a lot of people talk
One of my mates went through my belongings and found my medication. They Googled the tablets and then I was confronted about my status I was kicked out of the home as they were scared they would catch something from me They told everyone in the community Don’t get me wrong I am proud to be black and love my people but there is no confidentiality in my community
I spent some nights sleeping in a pay phone I could not get housed or claim benefits as I
was a failed asylum seeker with no citizenship
In early 2008 my mental health started to deteriorate I was really bad with low mood and felt suicidal I started having bad panic attacks I’d never heard of depression or mental health In my culture that doesn’t exist They think that black people don’t suffer from these conditions as they are Western diseases. They consider these conditions as a sign or weakness and you must be strong. There is still a lot of stigma about mental health in my culture.
Thankfully, I got referred to MindOut. I was a mess, confused, bisexual, HIV positive with mental health problems. I was nervous as I had just stepped into another world. I needed to open up and trust them with my life and personal issues. They really helped me. They were really patient with me and did not judge me They gave me an understanding of who I was, why I felt like that and what I was going through and what had happened to me It was not an easy road though
In early 2012 I met a lovely guy through Facebook, who was also bi, and we started to talk He helped me gain my confidence back, love myself and follow my dreams I had never dreamt of being a mother when I fell pregnant In 2014 I had a very beautiful baby girl and a good pregnancy Taking medication did not cause any difficulties. I had regular blood tests and made sure we were both healthy. The doctors were really helpful informing me about the risks of pregnancy and HIV. They made sure I had a safe delivery.
MINDOUT INFO
If you’d like to talk to someone about any aspect of your mental health, please do get in touch. MindOut services are run by and for LGBTQ people with lived experience of mental health issues. All our services are confidential, independent and non-judgemental.
For more information, please:
) Call us: 01273 234839
) Email us: info@mindout.org.uk
) See our website: www.mindout.org.uk
MINDOUT ANNUAL CELEBRATION EVENT
) Do join us for our annual Celebration Event on Tuesday, November 13 from 4.30–7pm at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church, Dorset Gardens off St James’s Street
Find out what we have been up to and what we might do next! Lovely buffet provided by Lunch Positive
All welcome
L A ST ORDERS
) The bathroom in my grandmother Ivy’s house was filled with her trophies, sentimental object d’art collected during her life, marking accomplishments and adventures. As my sisters and I sat in the log enamel bath on a Sunday afternoon being scrubbed clean after being out in the garden all day long, she would tell us about one of them. The smell of coal tar soap filling the room and the heat of a small coal fireplace warming our backs and softening the thick towels hanging on the back of a chair, and she would share the stories of her life, with funny voices and whispering tensions we rode along in the side-car of her reminisces They were long stories, lateral quests and digressions tangled us up in the narrative, fact and polish mingling to a sheen, although she could curse the skin off a drunken docker she swore everything was the truth ‘The only thing sharper than that hatchet is my tongue and may it cut my own throat if I’m caught telling a lie’ she would say.
Ivy had once spent a glorious summer (with at least a full week’s sunshine) in Blaenau Ffestiniog sharpening the hatchets for North Wales Women's Temperance Union. They would train over a long weekend, honing their temperance extremism techniques and chopping up bars Practicing on the hewn trucks of Welsh Oaks which were then taken down to Dai the Carpenter and turned into lovely Welsh Dressers for the kitchen, my aunt has one still in her back kitchen, prudently bearing the hatchet marks, left in the finish as a scar of honour The Women, fearsome activists who had long ago made the link between men, violence and alcohol, and had decided to take vengeance on the infrastructure of the (mainly English) alcohol Barons who owned the strings of pubs laid out like glittering pools of decadence along the valley’s floors. They would storm in, tambourines rattling, hatchets held high and then with a fury reduce the bar to kindling. Known as the Maesteg Maenads they were justly feared.
Ivy was an uncompromising woman, enemy of bigotry and class, and understanding that true feminism wasn’t biologically determined but a struggle against oppressions, patriarchal or not. She had the name Cranogwen tattooed along the back of her knees, the bardic name of her heroine Sarah Rees who had died the day Ivy was born and had been an inspiration for her early radicalism. Cranogwen had learned to sail when 17, and Ivy also gained her licence as a ship’s master intending to sail for Australia, for New South Wales, to export the growing radicalism of her inclusive Welsh Feminism, she won the captaincy of a steam ship, SS Pwyll, in time for the Great Depression
Her dreams of navigating around the seven oceans dashed by dastardly capitalism, she turned her wrath on the scourge of the working classes, drinking and bad hats Ivy cleansed the valley of the Pub, closed one after another, it became Dry Grown men cried as the Temperance Union marched on Newport, the last bastion of the dipsomaniac The monstrous regiment of women were on the march with Ivy at the front, marching on for Jesus and sobriety and shouting for Churchill’s head, that loathsome anti-Welsh misogynist
Ivy told me once, with a smug laugh interspersed with a rattling bingo cough, that she’d spent a summer cleaning the Cabinet war rooms under Whitehall during the Blitz and would delight in chewing turnips and pumping out heavy rancid farts left hanging in Churchill’s bedroom Revenge was never sweet, she said, but the stench was satisfying, I noticed the engraving on her pipe: ‘always be exquisite and never explain.’
I HAVE A PHOBIA
Ray A- J asks: Fear; a friend or foe? Is fear something we really should avoid at all cost?
) “Ahhhh,” the audience gasps, as a loud bang erupts from the giant screen in front of us The car carries on for a moment, speeding down the highway, unaware of what it has left behind
Almost as if the driver has heard the terrified screams from us, his head turns to inspect the back seat of the car Behind him sits a frail body, hauntingly upright
“Phew,” he murmurs; his little sister is still there in the car, unharmed Or so he thinks A sudden overture of sinister strings tells us otherwise
Still shaking with the charge of the bottle of alcohol he had chugged just minutes before, the young driver turns back once more, as if he didn't trust what his eyes had told him The shrieking strings only get louder and louder, drumming up to the climax
“Ahhhhhhh ”
The car swerves, draws to a sudden holt. What has he seen? Slowly the camera pans to the roadside where a severed head lay
“Ahhhhhh,” scream the audience, in gleeful disgust. Then laughter follows as they delight in the horrific gore splattered across the screen
A young girl, only aged 12 or so, sticking her head out of the window, desperately seeking relief from her clogged throat, had just lost it to a passing lamp post, as her drunk brother sped down the highway to a hospital And the
audience were beside themselves with an eerie concoction of thrill and terror
Hours later, as we departed from the cinema and we discussed the events of the film, we pondered our favourite scene And out of all of the other tense scenes we could have chosen, what was the one that was the best, the one we loved the most? The one with decapitation
Gross
Isn't it funny how we love to be scared? How a film so intense and gory as the one we had just been subjected to for two hours, would entertain us so much? It seems, with all of these graphic horror films, and extreme rollercoaster rides, we love to be scared Even I, outside my phobia, enjoy a little fright here and there
But how is that, when I know the power fear can have over me and the dangers it can cause?
I suppose, we all love the thrill of danger
The idea of getting so close to something that can hurt us and yet come out completely unscathed These films put us straight into dangerous situations, secondary danger I suppose, without ever actually causing us any harm. We live the terror through the characters, we experience their fear from behind the safety of our screens, pretending for a moment that we are them. Through films, we can get so close to things that could kill us, and yet are fine It reminds us that we're alive, makes us feel as though we have cheated death We feel brave We like fear
As we walked out of the cinema, I even heard the boasting from those who were undeterred by the film: “Were you scared, cos' I wasn't? Oh what, seriously, that part scared you?!“ They seemed so confident, so empowered, by the fact that they weren't scared
So perhaps fear itself isn't the enemy - fear is healthy It keeps us alive, and helps boast our egos now and then
As the master of terror himself, Alfred Hitchcock, said: “We all enjoy putting our toe into the cold water of fear ”
And even he, the very director of fear, had a phobia The man that created such terrifying, suspenseful things, and revelled in the idea of someone else's fear, was terrified of eggs And yet he was quite comfortable with orchestrating his own horror masterpieces onto a screen Even further, he positively loved the fear of others, going so far as to play tricks on his actors and daughter.
Despite the fact that I have a phobia, I too was undeterred by the events in the film I was able to leave that gory scene behind at the door of the cinema, never to be haunted by it again. I had full control over what I saw, and how I let it affect me.
Years before, at age nine or so, I would never had thought I’d be able to do that. I thought because I had a phobia, anything that scared me could result in a new lot of phobias. But that's not true at all.
Learn the difference between controlling your fear, and it controlling you. And don't be afraid to experience these so-called scary films, or rides, or even a ghost train, just because you have something like a phobia.
Your phobia doesn't mean you're immediately at risk of being scared by everything.
“Through films, we can get close to things that could kill us, and yet we’re fine. It reminds us that we’re alive, makes us feel as though we’ve cheated death. We feel brave. We like fear”
SAM TRANS MAN
A reason to live! Dr Samuel Hall on HIV/AIDS hitting home, and working not only to save lives, but souls.
) I’ve been putting off writing this column for a while Partly, I think, because I always feel like a bit of a fraud when it comes to writing about HIV, which this month’s issue is dedicated to I feel like a fraud because in the 1980s and 90s I was a bystander, an outsider to the LGBT community I wasn’t out, I hadn’t transitioned, I saw the rise of HIV infection and deaths from HIV related diseases from the sidelines, as a young doctor working in intensive care, this wasn’t having an impact on my life in any way.
I wasn’t really affected by it, until one day one of my colleagues lay dying in an intensive care bed in front of me during a long hard night shift Then it hit home Felt a bit closer It was a uniquely personal experience of the power of disease, pathology, overcoming medicine We couldn’t help him, the world hadn’t caught up yet, there was no cure, no holding this at bay. So now, rather than a capable and resilient colleague with whom we had all shared tough shifts, we found ourselves crowded around another patient we couldn’t save, and felt helpless.
Yesterday I worked an out-of-hours GP shift. This is a very different way of working to my usual everyday GP clinic. The out-of-hours is telephone-based, and we try to sort things out over the phone if we can. If that’s not possible, we arrange for people to visit one of the bases that are open in the evenings and on weekends And if that doesn’t work, we arrange a visit by a roving doctor in a car
PROJECT WEEKLY DROP-IN is based in central Brighton in a safe and confidential space to explore issues around gender identity Facilitated peer support is an important element, as well as providing access to low-cost psychotherapy and speech therapy
Being a GP is hard, but working in the out-ofhours service is even worse You don’t know the patients; NHS IT means you can’t see their history; you ’ re geographically miles apart and aren’t able to use facial expression and body language to aid your assessment on the phone. You have to rely on your knowledge, experience and intuition.
Many doctors don’t like working out-of-hours because it’s more risky from a medicolegal standpoint. And it’s the backstop for other healthcare practitioners out there. Nursing home staff, district nurses, carers, pharmacists and paramedics all use the GP service to refer the patients they can’t deal with. We mop up all the difficult and lonely, the forgetful and anxious, the hypochondriacs, the chancers, and the overtly suicidal
Years ago I wouldn’t have coped with this kind of work. I hid behind the snazzy bling of intensive care and hi-tech anaesthetic equipment I saved lives no doubt, but doing the kind of work I do now, as a GP, saves souls There’s a connection to be made, and a doctor is in a privileged position Patients will trust us and tell us things they can’t say to anyone else This is never more evident than during an out-of-hours session when you have an interaction with a patient you ’ ve never met and probably never will. You’re so aware of the potential to say or do something detrimental, you learn to tread carefully and assess the risk of making a mistake, and spend a lot of time ensuring that both you and the patient are safe. Them, from further harm, and yourself from the torture of having got it wrong
It was in this context then, that I picked up the phone and dialled the number of a young (well, younger than me) man who had earlier called an ambulance On arrival the crew had assessed him, decided he didn’t need to go to hospital, and passed him on to us for a call
later in the day I woke him up He wasn’t sober, and he didn’t want to live This guy had run out of steam for life As his story unfolded on the phone, I began to feel helpless He was HIV positive, he’d been assaulted by an intimate partner, and he was addicted to several illegal drugs. He had tried his best to pull himself together, had done some detox, and sought appropriate help. But none of this was enough. Not in the face of such low self-worth. I wondered how much of his poor mental state was due to his HIV status And what is the connection between this and intimate partner violence, depression, suicide and addictive substance misuse? I felt the pull of the darkness he was living in
I just wanted this guy to have one thing he could live for One little speck of hope, of light to focus on so that he could walk away from the temptation to end his life It wasn’t the first time he’d felt like this, there has been a previous serious suicide attempt in the recent past He hadn’t succeeded and in some way didn’t want to this time either. That’s why he’d dialled 999. He needed to be saved from himself. He couldn’t trust himself not to take his own life. Anyone who has ever felt this will know just how terrifying it is.
“I just wanted this guy to have one thing he could live for. One little speck of hope, of light to focus on”
Many of us do know what it feels like to want to leave the planet. To go to sleep and never wake up. Mercifully these feelings do pass, if we can only find a reason to hang on, we can ride the wave of emotional pain and move on with our lives. All I could hope to achieve on the phone yesterday morning was to give this patient enough hope to get though another day I felt helpless and I was helpless, because nothing changes unless we want it to Not a single word of mine was going to be enough if he couldn’t find a reason But he did We spoke for 20 minutes I gave him numbers to call for help, he said he wanted to live For today, anyway, that is enough CLARE PROJECT meets every TUES 2.30– 5.30PM at DORSET GARDENS METHODIST CHURCH
Dorset Gardens (off St James Street) Brighton BN2 1RL Except 1st Tues when there’s an optional meal out preceded by the drop-in 5–7 30PM www.clareproject.org.uk f Clare Project clareprojectinfo@gmail.com
PLEASE
CLARE PROJECT WEBSITE FOR
TRANSITIONING WITH SUGAR
Trans Positive healthcare
By Ms Sugar Swan
) First, before I get on my pedestal for the month, I have to convey my sincere apologies to my regular readers for my recent hiatus You may well remember that this time last year I spent a month in India having some surgeries; well, with nine months to allow myself to heal, I have just spent the last two months away having some more work done Due to the nature of the surgery, I was unable to honour my work commitments with Gscene and I thank the Editor and you, my regular readership, for understanding I am not really well enough to be writing again, but this month’s topic is a far too important one for me to miss.
In last year ’ s HIV issue I wrote of my personal experience of living with HIV as a trans woman and the difficulties and heightened stigma that I have faced post-transition rather than pre when read as an MSM I also spoke of the lack of sexual health awareness for trans people in general and the lack of support from nationwide clinics unless within reach of ClinicT or ClinicQ. I ended with an open invitation for any trans positive people to feel free to contact me should they want some signposting, support, or just a chat.
This opened up the floodgates and got the ball rolling for trans people to come out to me who have been harbouring their status as a secret for many reasons, including stigmatisation from friends and family, being scared that their status would affect their hormone regimes and
any gender related surgeries they may wish to have They could see me living trans positive and proud, and my status not affecting my sex life, my relationships, my HRT and my fast-paced surgeries
Over the last year I have spoken to many a trans positive person for one reason or another, many of them coming to me as a referral from my surgical team in India who wanted some reassurance that their trip to India for surgery would not be hampered by their status
I would like to share with you one particular call for help which I received in India in August whilst in the middle of five surgeries in four weeks so I was unable to offer immediate support It has probably been the hardest and most difficult for me to deal with both practically and emotionally She wrote
"Hey there Sugar,
Hope you don’t mind me messaging you out of the blue but I follow you on social media and really just need someone to talk to Obviously I’m trans, that’s all great and I have no problems there and I’m a non-sexual partner to my adopted son's mother. I have an amazing family but I found out six years ago that I’m HIV positive. God, my head is spinning just typing that out to you, Sugar.
“Seriously I just haven’t accepted it and still can’t even think about it I’m not on any meds and never have been and I’ve only ever seen a doctor anonymously when I got my diagnosis at a sexual health check up. I used a false name and address so there is no record of it and the secret is hard to deal with. The truth is I don’t deal with it, I ignore it. I just don’t know what to do. I can’t tell my family but I also know I can't ignore this forever. Can you help me Sugar?"
Now, what am I to do with this? This is a woman who received a diagnosis six years ago and is so scared of the social stigma that she has run from her diagnosis, buried it and only even thought about unpacking it when she read my work and realised that just maybe, she could live as I do. This woman needed so much help and support.
I first had to get her to trust me, which wasn't particularly hard as she had been following me for some years and had already reached out to me and told me something she had never told another soul before. I then had to get her to trust the medical system for trans positive healthcare and that was somewhat harder
Eventually, after many weeks of dialogue, she agreed to make the fourhour drive to Brighton to visit ClinicT. She was adamant that she was not going to go anywhere within a 100 mile radius of her home and that she would only see a clinician if I accompanied her. This is how scared this woman is This is happening right now, as I type I am arranging clinic appointments for her
This is the reality of trans positive healthcare in 2018. It is so easy to think that we have everything wrapped up and we are doing just great with HIV care for all LGBTQIA patients because we fall under the same umbrella as cis gay men, who, by comparison, and from my own lived experience, have got this shit nailed As I said in my last HIV edition of this magazine the stigma is in no way comparable and the level of care and understanding from medical practitioners is excellent I am not knocking this service provided by clinics, such as Lawson Unit and Dean Street, locally and centres across cities in the rest of the country, the care for MSM is exemplary and is something to be commended.
However, I am sad to say that the same cannot be said for trans positive healthcare - it is almost like our practitioners don't know how to deal with us, like we are a curiosity, something to question and often asked inappropriate questions and make statements that wouldn't be
“This is a woman who received a diagnosis six years ago and is so scared of the social stigma she has run from her diagnosis, buried it...”
“I am sad to say that the same can’t be said for trans positive health care - it is almost like our practitioners don't know how to deal with us, like we are a curiosity”
tolerated anywhere else if we didn't really need our meds It’s like we have to hand hold our doctors through our appointments and be the doctor, not the patient
In my six-monthly appointment with my HIV doctor last week I was asked directly: “I’ve been your doctor for 15 years now, why did you only tell me you were trans three years ago?”, and: “I don't know if you need a smear test now, leave that one with me ” The first of those statements is just pure idiocy, the second is lack of knowledge These are just two examples of many a stupid question I have been asked by HIV service providers since transitioning
In December of last year my public husband and bed partner '#nohetto', Jak, a trans MSM, was diagnosed positive Obviously, I accompanied him on his appointments and at his first meetings with HIV consultants, pharmacists etc, as is the nature of our close relationship, he was dealt with by a petrified consultant who was clearly out of his depth.
He tried to hand Jak a booklet on HIV and Women, which I quickly snatched out of the doctor’s hand and scolded him, telling him Jak was a man after he had tried to tell Jak that he could use the women ’ s only clinic. I scorned the doctor and told him the women ’ s clinic is somewhere that I would use, not a man. Jak and I didn't see that consultant again.
I am used to being asked stupid questions, I have been positive since my early 20s and I am almost 40. Jak, however, and any newly diagnosed trans person who walks through the doors of an HIV clinic, has to put up with this kind of nonsense that can make people like the woman who wrote to me whilst in India, run away from the healthcare services altogether.
Jak and I started to read the material produced by sexual health clinics and it has always been part of my freelance work to consult with providers and make sure they are representing us right. Jak is now doing the same thing and is working closely with THT to make sure their sexual health booklet for non-binary people is correct and uses the right terminologies.
Although I have been very busy working as an advocate, mentor and liaison for many trans positive people since I came out publically as a trans positive woman, Jak raised the fact there is actually no peer support for trans people other than the ones that reach out to me for 1-2-1 peer support
We searched Facebook and there is not one single support/peer group for trans positive people, so, if it doesn't exist but it is obvious there is a need from the number of requests for help I receive, we must build it Jak made a peer support group for us It is simply called Trans Positive and it is a closed group on Facebook
It exists for us to create a community of trans positive people where the intersection of being both trans and positive come together and for us to discuss and support each other around the very specific issues we face We welcome all trans positive people to join our peer support group regardless of where you fall under the trans umbrella and we look forward to welcoming you soon
I wish all my positive siblings, both trans and cis, a very safe World AIDS Day - I encourage you all to be kind to yourselves and I will see you at the vigil on Dec 1st
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37 PROWLER 112 St James’ St, 01273 683680
38 SUSSEX BEACON Charity Shop
130 St James’ St, 01273 682992 www sussexbeacon org uk
39 SUSSEX BEACON Home Store 72-73 London Rd 01273 680264 www sussexbeacon org uk ) LEGAL SERVICES
42 ENGLEHARTS
49 Vallance Hall, Hove St, 01273 204411
43 MW SOLICITORS BRIGHTON
178 Edward St, 01273 447884 www mwsolicitors co uk
44 MW SOLICITORS HOVE 73 Church Rd, Hove, 01273 830030 www mwsolicitors co uk
45 ODT SOLICITORS 19 New Road, 01273 710712
SERVICES DIRECTORY
LGBT SERVICES
● ALLSORTS YOUTH PROJECT
Drop-in for LGBT or unsure young people under 26 Tues 5 30–8 30pm 01273 721211 or email info@allsor tsyouth org uk, www allsor tsyouth org uk
● BRIGHTON GEMS
Social group for gay men over 50 with several events every month inc meeting at Dorset Gardens 2nd Monday of month 2 30pm last Fri of month 7-9pm For info email info@brightongems.com www.brightongems.com
● BRIGHTON & HOVE POLICE
Repor t all homophobic, biphobic or transphobic incidents to: 24/7 assistance call Police on 101 (for emergencies
999) Repor t online at: www sussex police uk LGBT team (not 24/7) email: LGBT@sussex pnn police uk
• LGBT Officer PC James Breeds: Tel: 101 ext 558168 James breeds@sussex pnn police uk
● BRIGHTON & HOVE LGBT SAFETY FORUM
Independent LGBT forum working within the communities to address and improve safety and access issues in Brighton & Hove 01273 855620 or info@lgbt-help.com
www lgbt-help com
● BRIGHTON & HOVE LGBT SWITCHBOARD
Help-line with email & webchat facility (opening times on the website) 01273 204 050
• LGBT Older Peoples' Project
• LGBT Health Improvement and Engagement Project
• LGBTQ Disabilities Project
• Rainbow Cafe: suppor t for LGBT+ people with Dementia
Formerly The Gay Christian Movement Contact: Nigel Nash nigelnash@me com www onebodyonefaith org uk
● BRIGHTON WOMEN’S CENTRE
Info, counselling, drop-in space, suppor t groups 01273 698036 or visit www womenscentre org uk
● LESBIAN & GAY A A
12-step self-help programme for alcohol addictions: Sun, 7 30pm, Chapel Royal, Nor th St, Btn (side entrance) 01273 203 343 (general AA line)
● LGBT NA GROUP
Brighton-based LGBT (welcomes others) Narcotics Anonymous group every Tue 6 30–8pm, Millwood Centre, Nelson Row, Kingswood St 0300 999 1212
● LGBT+ MEDITATION GROUP
Meditation & discussion, every 2nd & 4th Thur, 5 30–7pm, Anahata Clinic, 119 Edward St, Brighton 07789 861 367 or www bodhitreebrighton org uk
● LUNCH POSITIVE
Lunch club for people with HIV Meet/make friends, find peer suppor t in safe space Every Fri, noon–2 30pm, Community Room, Dorset Gdns Methodist Church, Dorset Gdns, Brighton Lunch £1 50 07846 464 384 or www lunchpositive org
● MCC BRIGHTON
Inclusive, affirming space where all are invited to come as they are to explore their spirituality without judgement 01273 515572 or info@mccbrighton org uk
www mccbrighton org uk
● MINDOUT
Independent, impar tial services run by and for LGBTQ people with experience of mental health issues 24 hr confidential answerphone: 01273 234839 or
info@mindout.org.uk and out of hours online chat www mindout org uk
● NAVIGATE
Social/peer suppor t group for FTM, transmasculine & gender queer people, every 1st Wed 7-9pm & 3rd Sat of month 13pm at Space for Change, Windlesham Venue, BN1 3AH For info see https://navigatebrighton wordpress com/
● PEER ACTION
Regular low cost yoga, therapies, swimming, meditation & social groups for people with HIV contact@peeraction.net or www.peeraction.net
● RAINBOW FAMILIES
Suppor t group for lesbian and/or gay parents 07951 082013 or info@rainbowfamilies org uk www rainbowfamilies org uk
● SOME PEOPLE
Social/suppor t group for LGB or questioning aged 14-19, Tue 5 30-7 30pm, Hastings Call/text Cathrine Connelly 0797 3255076 or email somepeople@eastsussex.gov.uk
● TAGS – THE ARUN GAY SOCIETY
Social Group welcome all inEast & West Sussex Areas Call/Text 07539 513171 www tagsonline org uk
● VICTIM SUPPORT
Practical, emotional suppor t for victims of crime 08453 899 528
● THE VILLAGE MCC
Christian church serving the LGBTQ community Sundays 6pm, Somerset Day Centre, Kemptown 07476 667353 www thevillagemcc org
HIV PREVENTION, CARE & TREATMENT SERVICES
● AVERT
Sussex HIV & AIDS info service 01403 210202 or email confidential@aver t org
● BRIGHTON & HOVE CAB HIV PROJECT
Money, benefits, employment, housing, info, advocacy Appointments: Tue-Thur 9am-4pm, Wed 9am-12 30pm Brighton & Hove Citizens Advice Bureau, Brighton Town Hall 01273 733390 ext 520 or www.brightonhovecab.org.uk
● CLINIC M
Free confidential testing & treatment for STIs including HIV, plus Hep A & B vaccinations Claude Nicol Centre, Sussex County Hospital, on Weds from 5-8pm 01273 664 721 or www.brightonsexualhealth.com
● LAWSON UNIT
Medical advice, treatment for HIV+, specialist clinics, diet & welfare advice, drug trials 01273 664 722
● SUBSTANCE MISUSE SERVICE
Pavillions Par tnership Info, advice, appointments & referrals 01273 731 900 Drop-in: Richmond House, Richmond Rd, Brighton, Mon-Wed & Fri 10am-4pm, Thur 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-1pm; 9 The Drive, Hove 01273 680714 Mon & Wed 10am-12pm & 1pm-3pm, Tue & Thu 10am-4pm, info & advice only (no assessments), Fri 10am-12pm & 1pm-3pm
• Gary Smith (LGBT* Suppor t) 07884 476634 or email gsmith@pavilions.org.uk
For more info visit weblink: pavilions.org.uk/ser vices/treatment-recover y-options/
● SUSSEX BEACON
24 hour nursing & medical care, day care 01273 694222 or www sussexbeacon org uk
● TERRENCE HIGGINS TRUST SERVICES
For more info about these free services go to the THT office, 61 Ship St, Brighton, Mon–Fri, 10am–5pm 01273 764200 or info brighton@tht org uk
• Venue Outreach: info on HIV, sexual health, personal safety, safer drug/alcohol use, free condoms/lubricant for men who have sex with men
• The Bushes Outreach Ser vice @ Dukes Mound: advice, suppor t, info on HIV & sexual health, and free condoms & lube
• Netreach (online/mobile app outreach in Brighton & Hove): info/advice on HIV/sexual health/local services THT Brighton Outreach workers online on Grindr, Scruff, & Squir t
• Condom Male: discreet, confidential service posts free condoms/lube/sexual health info to men who have sex with men without access to East Sussex commercial gay scene
• Positive Voices: volunteers who go to organisations to talk about personal experiences of living with HIV
• Fastest (HIV testing): walk-in, (no appointment) rapid HIV testing service open to MSM (Men who have sex with Men) Anyone from the African communities, male and female sex workers and anyone who identifies as Trans or non-binary We now offer rapid 15 minutes results for HIV/Syphilis: Mon 10am-8pm, Tues-Fri 10am-5pm, Thurs 10am-8pm (STI testing available)
• Sauna Fastest at The Brighton Sauna (HIV testing): walk-in, (no appointment) rapid HIV testing service for men who have sex with men, results in 20 minutes: Wed: 6–8pm (STI testing available)
• Face2Face: confidential info & advice on sexual health & HIV for men who have sex with men, up to 6 one hour appointments
• Specialist Training: wide range of courses for groups/ individuals, specific courses to suit needs
• Counselling: from qualified counsellors for up to 12 sessions for people living with/affected by HIV
• What Next? Thurs eve, 6 week peer suppor t group work programme for newly diagnosed HIV+ gay men
• HIV Suppor t Ser vices: info, suppor t & practical advice for people living with/affected by HIV
• HIV Welfare Rights Advice: Find out about benefits or benefit changes Advice line: Tue–Thur 1:30-2:30pm 1-2-1 appts for advice & workshops on key benefits
● TERRENCE HIGGINS EA STBOURNE
Dyke House, 110 South St, Eastbourne, BN21 4LZ, 01323 649927 or info eastbourne@tht org uk
• HIV Ser vices suppor t for HIV diagnosis, managing side effects, sex & relationships, understanding medication, talking to your doctor, finding healthier lifestyle Assessment of suppor t needs and signposting on to relevant services Suppor t in person, by phone or email
• Suppor t for people at risk of HIV confidential info and advice on sexual health & HIV for men who have sex with men Up to 3 one hour appointments depending on need Sessions in person or on phone
• Web suppor t & info on HIV, sexual health & local services via netreach and myhiv org uk
• Positive Voices: volunteers who go to organisations to talk about personal experiences of living with HIV
● SEXUAL HEALTH WORTHING
Free confidential tests & treatment for STIs inc HIV; Hep A & B vaccinations Wor thing based 0845 111345645
NATIONAL HELPLINES
● NATIONAL LGBT DOMESTIC ABUSE HELPLINE at galop org uk and 0800 999 5428
● SWITCHBOARD 0300 330 0630
● POSITIVELINE (EDDIE SURMAN TRUST) Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat & Sun 4-10pm 0800 1696806
