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NOV 2015
CONTENTS
GSCENE magazine
) www.gscene.com
CHARLES STREET
CHARLES STREET
t @gscene
f GScene.Brighton
PUBLISHED BY Peter Storrow
TEL 01273 749 947
EDITORIAL [email protected]
ADS+ARTWORK [email protected]
EDITORIAL TEAM
Graham Robson, Sarah Green, Gary
Hart, Gus Gustafson, Alice Blezard,
ARTS EDITOR Michael Hootman
SUB EDITOR Graham Robson
DESIGN Michèle Allardyce
FRONT COVER
MODEL Dustin Wood
PHOTOGRAPHY Dean Stockings
www.deanstockings.co.uk
CONTRIBUTORS
Jaq Bayles, Jo Bourne, Nick Boston,
Suchi Chatterjee, Craig Hanlon Smith,
Enzo Marra, Netty Wendt, Carl Oprey,
Eric Page, Del Sharp, Rory Smith, Gay
Socrates, Brian Stacey, Glen Stevens,
Craig Storrie, Duncan Stewart, Roger
Wheeler, Mike Wall, Morham White,
Kate Wildblood
PHOTOGRAPHERS
NEWS
6 News
BAR BROADWAY
Alice Blezard, Chris Jepson, Graham
Hobson, Michael Hootman, James
Ledward, Ian Andrew Mager-Playford,
Jack Lynn, Mark Nortcliffe
SCENE LISTINGS
30 Brighton & Hove
42 Solent listings
ARTS
44
46
48
50
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@ THE OLD SHIP HOTEL
© GSCENE 2015
All work appearing in Gscene Ltd is
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FEATURES
22
LIVING MY LIFE WITH HIV!
Take responsibility for your health and get tested says KD from Brighton
23
A FAIRER FUTURE?
World AIDS Day brings the lives of people with HIV into greater focus
within our community says Gary Pargeter
LEGENDS
47
PAM ANN
Eric Page chats to the Queen Of The Sky
49
KEEP ON TROCKIN’
Paul Gustafson takes a look behind the scenes of iconic ballet company
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo during rehearsals in London
Arts News
Art Matters
Classical Notes
Pages Pages
REGULARS
25 Come dine with James
28 Dance Music
28 DJ Profile:
Lewis Osborne
51 Geek Scene
52 Shopping
53 Sam Trans Man
54 Craig’s Thoughts
55 Hyde’s Hopes
55 Glen’s Homely Homily
56 Dad & Daddy
57 Netty’s World
57 Queenie’s Strip Service
58 Charlie Says
59 Suchi’s World
59 Duncan’s Domain
60 LGBT Police Liaison
INFORMATION
61 Classifieds
62 Service Directory
63 Advertisers’ Map
6
DAILY NEWS UPDATES ON
)
) Cath Senker, freelance writer and editor, has started a petition to encourage
Brighton & Hove Council to accept more Syrian refugees to the city. Brighton
Council are presently committed to receiving five Syrian families but considering the
scale of the international crisis unfolding across Europe, Cath believes the Council
should be doing more to help, especially as recently as June 2015 they were named
as A City of Sanctuary, a movement committed to building a culture of hospitality
and welcome, especially for refugees seeking sanctuary from war and persecution.
The petition to Cllr Warren Morgan, the Labour Leader of Brighton & Hove City
Council, reads: "We the undersigned are pleased to hear that 5 Syrian refugee families
will soon be arriving in Brighton and Hove. But given the scale of the current refugee
crisis, we could do much more. We have the experience of welcoming 79 Oroma
refugees in 2006 and an upsurge in offers of help from individuals and existing and
new organisations working with refugees. We urge Brighton and Hove Council to bring
in far greater numbers of Syrian refugees as soon as possible."
CATH SENKER
Cath says: “At the Sanctuary on Sea launch event in June 2015,
Brighton & Hove was named 'Sanctuary on Sea' in recognition of
the city-wide efforts to create a culture of welcome for people
fleeing conflict and persecution. At the event, Cllr Morgan
underlined the city's commitment to welcome refugees to our city.
Now is an important time to deliver on that commitment.”
To sign the petition, view: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/welcomemore-refugees-to-brighton-and-hove?bucket&source=facebook-sharebutton&time=1442836021
LGBT SMALL GROUPS NETWORK WINTER MEETING
) The LGBT Small Groups Network is a grouping of smaller local LGBT/HIV
organisations in Brighton & Hove. The network meets quarterly to build connections,
provide opportunities for collaboration and partnership, and support capacity building
in small LGBT/HIV groups and organisations. The next meeting on Saturday,
November 28 will welcome new member groups and sees the sign-off of a new
constitution for the network as it becomes more structured and develops its work. The
second half of the meeting will incorporate a short workshop on good governance for
smaller organisations, facilitated by Sally Polanksi, CEO of Community Works.
Member groups are invited to bring along as many of their management committee or
trustees as they’re able for what will be a participative, dynamic and informative event.
BRIGHTON & HOVE
LGBT Small Groups Network quarterly meeting: Somerset
Day Centre, 62 St James's St, Brighton BN2 1PR,
Saturday, November 28, 12 noon–4.30 pm. If you are a
smaller LGBT/HIV group and are interested in joining the
network, or have any questions about this next event, email: [email protected]
LGBT COMMUNITY
GROUPS NETWORK
NEW CHAIR FOR
BRIGHTON BEAR WEEKEND
) September was a busy month for Brighton Bear Weekend (BBW)
organisers. Original founder, Chris Murphy was appointed as Patron, a
new website was launched, new committee members appointed and
Graham Munday was appointed chair of the organising committee for
the 2016 event which will take place from Thursday June 16-Sunday
June 19.
Graham says: "It is exciting times here at
BBW and my appointment as chair is an
honour. However, BBW is much more than
one person. It is truly a team effort. It's
great to have David Harvie and Matt Brooks
back on the committee bringing all their
experience from organising previous BBW
weekends and events. We are pleased to
welcome new members Jon Goodacre, Lee
Miller and Mark Barbeary to the organising
team. They bring exciting new ideas and
experience in other fields that is important
to us all and soon we will be launching next years logo.”
GRAHAM MUNDAY
PETITION CALLS FOR BRIGHTON
COUNCIL TO ACCEPT MORE
SYRIAN REFUGEES
BRIGHTON BEAR WEEKEND COMMITTEE 2016
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For BBW information and updates view: www.brightonbearweekend.com
GSCENE 7
PANTO CAST BRING TRAFFIC TO
A STOP IN CENTRAL BRIGHTON
) Traffic in central Brighton was brought to a standstill last month as the cast of
the alternative panto, Sinderfella, revealed their costumes for the panto's run in
February 2016. The production features an all-star cast of local drag queens,
including the fabulous Miss Jason as Sinderfella, Lola Lasagne and Dave
Lynn as the very ugly sisters, Davina Sparkle as fairy godmother and Cassidy
Connors as the handsome prince. Jason Lee as Dandini and Allan Jay as
Buttocks provide the eye-candy with Christopher Howard as the very nasty
Baron.
QUINTON YOUNG
The show is written by the multi-talented Andrew Stark and staged by Quintin
Young whose company credits include Beyond Bollywood at the London
Palladium, Let's Do It, Jerry Springer the Opera and Sangre. His production
credits include Simply Ballroom and Spirit of the Dance.
Andrew said: “The Alternative Pantomime is an important community event,
pulling in a wonderfully diverse audience from all over the UK. Legendary
performers part of the 'alternative' history are countless and include the great
Dockyard Doris, George Logan, Miss Jason and the sensational Phil Starr to name
a few. I feel honoured to be following in their stiletto-clad footsteps.”
Through a chance meeting with Brian Ralfe in 2008, Andrew went on to provide
scripts and laughs for the Alternative Panto for the last eight consecutive years.
During those years the core team of Brian Ralfe, Andrew Stark, Paul Critchlow
and various directors, choreographers and crew worked hard to transform the
show into a major theatrical event.
Andrew continued: “This collaboration is something I am incredibly proud of and
this new team are keeping the values of the original Alternative Pantomime alive
through sponsorship and collaboration with local venues, the involvement of the
very best Brighton-based entertainers, who are experts in their field of comedy,
and amazing performers from the West End and world of dance music. Both Brian
and Paul would both approve.”
Sinderfella is at the Sallis Benney Theatre, Grand Parade from Feb 4-14,
2016. Tickets are £21.50. To book online, view: brightonticketshop.com or
call 01273 709 709. A pre-panto dinner deal is available from Cote
Restaurant in Church Street, Brighton. To book call: 01273 687 541.
8
)
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SUSSEX BEACON DEDICATE ROOM
TO PROFESSOR MARTIN FISHER
PRE-REGISTER FOR 2016
BRIGHTON PRIDE TICKETS
) The Day Room at the Sussex Beacon has been dedicated to the life and
work of leading HIV expert Professor Martin Fisher who died earlier this year. The
room, which is used for support services for people living with HIV, was officially
named The Martin Fisher Room at the charity’s Annual General Meeting on
the evening of September 30.
The dedication was attended by Martin’s parents, Chris and Rose Fisher, who
were touched to discover that the initial request for the naming of the room came
from Sussex Beacon service users. Guest speaker at the AGM was Dr David
Asboe, consultant in HIV Medicine and sexual health at Chelsea & Westminster
Hospital in London who spoke about Martin’s considerable contribution to the field
of HIV and about continuing developments.
LYNETTE LOWNDES & DR DAVID ASBOE
Simon Dowe, CEO at the Sussex Beacon, said: "It felt right that we dedicated the
room to Professor Martin Fisher at our Annual General Meeting. Martin was the
guest speaker at last year’s event and we wanted to celebrate the contribution he
made not only to the field of HIV but to the patients at the Sussex Beacon."
Around 40 people, comprising staff members, trustees and supporters attended
the meeting, which opened with the reading of company accounts, as well as other
formal AGM business including the appointment of a new trustee, Jayne
Phoenix, an independent health and social care consultant. Lynette
Lowndes, Chair of the Board of Trustees, spoke about the current direction of the
Sussex Beacon and CEO Simon Dowe highlighted recent changes to the charity,
such as their recent reception
refurbishment, paid for with funds
raised by LGBT networking and
fundraising group, Bear-Patrol. Simon
also announced the results of a recent
survey to choose a new look for the
charity and unveiled the winning logo.
local community groups through the
Pride Festival and Village Party
fundraising. Brighton Pride hopes to
build on this success and planning is
already underway for Pride 2016 with
pre-registration for the event now
open. Sign up and receive priority
notification when tickets go on sale
24 hours before the public launch.
) Brighton Pride in 2015 was
recognised as being one of the best
ever with over £100,000 raised for
To sign up, view: www.brightonpride.org/2016_Pride_Festival_PreRelease.php
BRIGHTON BEAR WEEKEND
ANNOUNCE NEW DATES FOR 2016
) Brighton Bear Weekend (BBW)
takes place Thursday 16–Sunday 19
June 2016. While the event attracted
record numbers of visitors to the city
in 2015, some people who attended
couldn’t find hotel rooms at the lastminute as everything was booked up,
so now’s the time to book your
accommodation and flights. BBW
organisers are striving hard to deliver
a weekend in 2016 of socialising,
partying, fundraising and of course
loads of hunky men. They’re putting
together an exciting programme of
events, some new, and some old with
a twist to make them more current.
grants to LGBT and HIV organisations
delivering effective front-line services
to LGBT people in Brighton & Hove.
The next BBW event is Hairy-oween in
October at Subline in St James’s
Street, which is a fundraiser for the
Rainbow Fund.
The first BBW was in 2009 and since
then has raised more than £15,000
for the Rainbow Fund, who make
Keep up to date with developments
and bookmark their new website at
www.brightonbearweekend.com
BRIGHTON DR MARTENS RAISE
£570 FOR RAINBOW FUND
A statement was read out from Simon Kirby, MP for Brighton Kemptown, in his
absence, in which he gave praise of the recent changes at the Sussex Beacon, as
well as talking of how proud he was to be a patron of the organisation at such an
exciting time. Afterwards Dr David Asboe spoke about the life and work of
Professor Martin Fisher and guests were lead into the newly-named Martin Fisher
room, before the meeting was closed.
The Sussex Beacon charity offers specialist care and support for people living with
HIV. Based in Brighton, which has the highest proportion of people living with HIV
outside of London, their centre is open 365 days a year. The charity helps people
manage the everyday realities of living with this life-long condition that has no
cure.
Inpatient and day services help people living with HIV-related illnesses, initiating
new drug therapies, or supporting those struggling with extreme side effects of HIV
medication. The Sussex Beacon supports people living with HIV to lead
independent and healthy lives.
For more information, view: www.sussexbeacon.org.uk
) Sonny and Nicole from Dr Martens, the iconic footwear brand and
retailer, handover £570 to Chris Gull, the Chair of the Rainbow Fund. The
money was raised during Pride when staff at the shop sold raffle tickets to
win various pairs of unique designed Dr Martens boots. You can find Dr
Martens at 15 Prince Albert St Brighton, tel: 01273 734147. Open Mon–Sat
9.30am–6pm and Sun 11am–5pm. More info: www.drmartens.com/uk/
WWW.GSCENE.COM
NEW RESEARCH SHOWS
BRIGHTON & HOVE IS
A TRANS-FRIENDLY CITY
) The first ever Trans Needs Assessment in Brighton & Hove finds the city is
‘trans-friendly’ but discrimination, abuse and isolation is still identified as a
problem. Three years ago the Trans Equality Scrutiny Panel set out to ask what
needed to be done to make things fairer for trans people in the city. This Needs
Assessment is one of the responses to that challenge. Trans community members
were at the heart of this work, alongside partners from statutory services, the
community and voluntary sector.
DR SAMUEL HALL
CLLR EMMA DANIEL
The Needs Assessment found that:
• At least 2,760 trans people live in the city, according to estimates, with many
more coming here to study, work or socialise.
• Only three in five trans people reported they were in good health (compared
with four in five overall).
• Four in five trans people had experienced depression and one in three had
self-harmed in the last five years.
• Improvements could be made to improve trans people’s experience of both
general health services, including GPs, and specialist services. Long waiting
times for gender identity services had detrimental impacts on the lives of
those affected.
• Experience of hate incidents by trans people is common and they feel less
safe than the overall population. 64% of trans people surveyed reported that
they had experienced verbal abuse; 39% harassment and 20% physical
violence in the last five years
• Family circumstances can sometimes be difficult and limits the support they
can offer. Over six in ten people surveyed as part of this research had
encountered domestic violence in the past.
• Trans people are vulnerable to homelessness. The needs assessment found
that improved practice by letting agents and homeless services would help.
• The trans community has strong social networks and community and voluntary
groups. However, resources limit the support they can provide.
Cllr Emma Daniel, Brighton & Hove City Council
Neighbourhoods, Communities & Equalities Committee Chair
and Equalities Champion, said: “This Needs Assessment is a
vital piece of work because we want to understand the needs of
our important trans community. The more we understand, the
better we can respond. Although the trans-friendly nature of our
city has been recognised there is still some way to go before all members of the
trans community are able to go about their lives in the city in a way in which most of
us take for granted. Many people in the city don’t appreciate the difficulties which
trans people can face and I hope this work will also help to raise awareness. The city
has already made some progress, including some improvements to sports facilities
and providing a toolkit for use in schools. I look forward to building on this work
together with the trans community and our partner organisations.”
Dr Samuel Hall, Chair of the Clare Project, said: “This report
takes a major leap forward. It highlights the level of
discrimination and prejudice that is ongoing in our city, but also
the strengths of the local trans community and, importantly,
provides practical recommendations on how inequality can be
tackled and local and national services can be improved.”
The Clare Project is a community group based in Brighton that provides a safe
and supportive environment for people to explore issues surrounding their gender
identity as well as a weekly drop-in and other services. The Clare Project was one
of a number of community and voluntary sector organisations involved in producing
the needs assessment. www.clareproject.org.uk
TRANS DAY OF REMEMBRANCE 2015
) International Trans Day of
Remembrance (TDoR) in Brighton,
will be marked with a community
memorial service on Sunday,
November 22 at Dorset Gardens
Methodist Church at 2pm. The day is
for trans people worldwide who have
been murdered or have suffered violence
due simply to hatred towards their
gender identity and gender expression.
Although not every person represented
during the TDoR self-identifies as trans,
each is a victim of violence based on
bias against transgender people. It is
poignant and relevant to the local trans
community as in 2009 Andrea
Waddell was murdered in her home in
Brighton. Andrea was a talented young
woman who was well liked, sociable and
loved life.
The International Transgender Day of
Remembrance is commemorated
annually on November 20. This date
was chosen in honour of American
woman, Rita Hester, who was
murdered on November 28, 1998. Her
death led to the Remembering Our
Dead web project and the first candlelit
vigil which was held in San Francisco
in 1999. Like many transphobic
murders, Rita’s remains unsolved.
Dorset Gardens Methodist Church
stages the event as it hosts the weekly
Clare Project drop-in. The memorial is
multi-faith and open and welcoming to
everyone, regardless of faith or nonbelief. The venue is wheelchair
accessible. The service is being
organised by the Trans Alliance, a
forum which brings together the trans
The vigil will include speakers from the organisations of Brighton & Hove for
community and singing by the Rainbow mutual support and partnership working.
Chorus. Attendees will be asked to
For more info about TDoR, view:
build a Wall of Remembrance by
http://tdor.info/
placing the names of the dead on the
wall at Dorset Gardens Church. The vigil For more info about local trans
community support groups, view:
will include a minute's applause to
www.clareproject.org.uk
acknowledge those who have died.
www.ftmbrighton.org.uk
Refreshments will be available
www.allsortsyouth.org.uk/groups/tra
afterwards followed by a relaxed social
ns-youth-network/
at the nearby Marlborough pub.
TRANS STORYLINE FOR EASTENDERS
Treadwell Collins, EastEnders’
Executive Producer, at Student Pride
this year to develop a trans storyline for
the soap and he promised the part
would be played by a trans actor.
RILEY CARTER MILLINGTON
)
) The BBC has announced a new trans
storyline for EastEnders and the part
will be played by a trans actor. Riley
Carter Millington, 21, will become the
first trans actor to play a trans role in a
UK soap. Riley told BBC Newsbeat: “I
can honestly say that I have now fulfilled
my two biggest dreams - to be living my
life as a man and to
be an actor."
DOMINIC TREADWELL COLLIN
10
The announcement
comes following a
commitment made
by Dominic
Ollie Parr, Student Pride Festival
Director, said: "We're so proud to have
had this announcement made during
Student Pride. Seeing trans characters
represented in the media is so
important, this news is particularly
special because a fantastic trans actor
is the best person to do this storyline
justice. We look forward to watching
Riley play Kyle in EastEnders!"
National Student Pride returns to
London in 2016 on February 5-7 at
the University of Westminster with
events at G-A-Y and Heaven. The UK's
largest LGBT Careers Fair and winner
of Best Event at the 2015 LGBT
Awards is back as part of the event.
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MINDOUT AWARDED
GRANT FROM LLOYDS
BANK FOUNDATION
HELEN JONES
) MindOut, the LGBTQ mental health project, has been awarded a three-year
grant of £55,944 from the Lloyds Bank Foundation under their Invest
Programme. The grant will cover costs for an LGBTQ mental health advocate to
support people who are insecurely housed.
Helen Jones, MindOut CEO, said: "Many of our clients are
hard hit by the current housing crisis. Some are LGBTQ people
moving to Brighton to seek better, safer lives, some are
Brighton residents who are in desperate housing need. We are
delighted that Lloyds Bank Foundation has awarded us a grant
to work directly to provide advice and information,
representation, casework and support to help people seek safe
solutions and secure affordable tenancies. Safe housing is essential for good
mental health".
Emma Tregear, Grant Manager for the South East & London, said: “We are
extremely pleased to be able to fund the work of MindOut as they advocate for
people in the LGBTQ community who need support in making the transition to
more secure housing and a more positive position in life.”
All MindOut services are provided by and for LGBTQ people with lived
experience of mental health issues and all services are confidential, impartial,
non-judgemental, free, person-centred and empowering.
For more information and support about any LGBTQ mental health related
issue, view: www.mindout.org.uk or call: 01273 234839
MAYOR VISITS LUNCH POSITIVE
) Councillor Lynda Hyde, the Mayor of Brighton & Hove, visited Lunch
Positive, the HIV Lunch Club, on October 9, to meet volunteers and members,
and to see the work the project delivers. Lunch Positive provides a healthy meal
for HIV positive people every Friday afternoon at Dorset Gardens Methodist
Church giving positive people the chance to make new friends, socialise and
enjoy peer support.
NEW TRUSTEE FOR LUNCH POSITIVE
) Heather Leake Date has joined
the Board of Trustees at Lunch
Positive, the HIV charity lunch club
who provide a healthy meal for people
who are HIV positive at Dorset
Gardens Methodist Church every
Friday lunchtime.
Heather is Consultant Pharmacist
(HIV/Sexual Health) at Brighton &
Sussex University Hospitals NHS
Trust, where she has been part of the
HIV team for nearly 25 years. She is
also a Methodist Minister, based at
Dorset Gardens Methodist Church,
and runs the Sussex HIV Chaplaincy.
In this capacity she is a member of the
Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day
Community Partnership and helps to
organise the annual candlelit vigil and
reading of the names of those lost to
HIV/AIDS in New Steine Gardens, as
well as the separate service of
remembrance. Heather has actively
supported Lunch Positive since it began
and is delighted to be joining the team
in a more formal role.
For more information about Lunch
Positive, view: www.lunchpositive.org
MINDOUT ANNUAL REPORT 2015
) MindOut, the LGBT mental health
project, celebrate another year
delivering LGBTQ mental health
services in
Brighton & Hove
in November.
They will present
their Annual
Report at Dorset
Gardens,
Methodist Church
on Wednesday, November 11 from
4.30-6pm, with music, short films,
entertainment and food provided by
Lunch Positive, the HIV lunch club.
Cllr Lynda Hyde, the Mayor of
Brighton & Hove, will be in attendance
and there will be an opportunity to hear
from MindOut service users and
volunteers. Go along and hear about
their plans for the next year!
SINGING WORKSHOP WITH ANEESA CHAUDHRY
Gary Pargeter, Volunteer Project Manager, said: "It was a privilege to host a visit
from the Mayor and to share lunch with her. It was a particularly busy session,
with around 55 people spending time together, new volunteer applicants and
outreach visitors joining us also. Our kitchen volunteers served up a fantastic
meal, as always; and our front of house volunteers did a great job spending time
with existing members, new, and those who we had not seen for a while.
"It was very useful to have the time to talk directly to the Mayor about the
challenges that still exist for many people living with HIV, and how a supportive
community space and peer-support make such a difference to people's lives. It
was especially rewarding to hear the Mayor thank everyone for their support of
the HIV community and their commitment to volunteering."
For more information about Lunch Positive, view: www.lunchpositive.org
) Rainbow Chorus live up to their
motto of 'strength in harmony!'
Following a recent grant from the
Rainbow Fund, the Rainbow Chorus
have established monthly singing
groups for those wishing to develop
their confidence and play a part in the
full chorus programme. The workshop
will be under the guidance of Aneesa
Chaudhry, musical director of the
Rainbow Chorus. It is open to everyone,
and will provide attendees with an
opportunity to learn the music for the
finale of Can you Hear the Rainbow
Chorus Sing, the Rainbow Chorus'
next concert on Saturday, December
5 at St Georges Church, Kemptown.
Aneesa Chaudhry, Musical Director,
says: "The sessions are aimed at
anyone who wants to join the chorus.
Not everyone can commit to a weekly
rehearsal, so it's a great way to keep in
touch. New singers, particularly
members from the trans community are
ANEESA CHAUDHRY
)
HEATHER LEAKE DATE
12
finding them a supportive space to find
their voice."
Participant Marina Llamas Barco,
added: "These sessions are great to
develop my confidence and raise my
game to play a full part in the chorus.
They are a great stepping stone."
Singing Workshop with Aneesa
Chaudhry, Brighton Youth Centre,
64 Edward St, Brighton, November
22, 10am–noon. Tickets: £30 from
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/
2403265 plus a chance to purchase
discounted Rainbow Chorus concert
tickets.
16
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ALICE PURNELL OBE
CLARE PROJECT
CELEBRATES
15TH BIRTHDAY
STEPH SCOTT
ALICE DENNY
)
Whilst the group is mainly attended
by transgender, transsexual and
gender dysphoric people, they aim to be all-inclusive as they recognise the
complexities surrounding the issue of gender identity. The project has no religious
affiliation.
Wendy Byrne baked a celebratory fruit cake to mark the special landmark occasion
and photographer Stella Michaels took pictures of the event some of which she
has allowed us use here, for a planned future exhibition.
For more information about the Clare Project: www.clareproject.org.uk
ROSEMARY ALLIX
The Clare Project is a selfsupporting group based in Brighton
& Hove open to anyone wishing to
explore issues around gender
identity. Their main activity is a
weekly drop-in every Tuesday,
which aims to provide a safe and
confidential place for people to
meet with others to share their life
experiences and find information,
support and companionship. A
facilitator and a psychotherapist are
at the drop-in each Tuesday.
KIM CURRAN
It was good to see Shadi at the anniversary, which was compared by Clare Project
secretary, Kim Curran, who stood in for the current Chair, Dr Sam Hall, who was
ill. Speeches were given by Clare Project facilitator, Rosemary Allix, who is the
backbone of the group’s weekly Tuesday drop-ins at the Dorset Gardens
Methodist Church; author and
founding member, Alice Purnell
OBE; former Chair, Steph Scott;
and poet extraordinaire, Alice
Denny.
CAKE BAKED BY WENDY BYRNE
CLARE PROJECT DROP-IN AT DORSET GARDENS METHODIST CHURCH
) Clare Project celebrated its 15th anniversary last month with a reception at the
Marlborough Theatre. The Clare Project started in 2000 and the first meetings
took place at the Shadi Danin Clinic on New Church Road, Hove. Shadi, a
specialist in treatments for skin and hair, had a number of trans people attending her
clinic for treatments and so she encouraged them to meet up, get to know, and offer
support to each other. She offered a room at her salon in Hove for the first meetings
of the new group and so the Clare Project was born.
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BEAR PATROL HIBERNATION
COMMUNITY LUNCH
) The Hibernation Community Lunch at The Old Ship Hotel on Sunday,
October 25 organised by Danny Dwyer and Bear Patrol raised over £12,500
for the Sussex Beacon on the day. Money is still to come in from photo
sales, collecting tin donations, facebook donation pledges and 5% of alcohol
sales donated by the Old Ship Hotel.
Hibernation was hosted by Mysterry Drag-queen and featured entertainment
from David Raven, Jason Lee, Krissie Ducann, Jennie Castell and David
Hill who also conducted the record breaking auction with the star lot of
dinner for 28 people with a champagne reception in the cellars of the Old
Ship Hotel being bought by Gscene magazine in an exciting bidding race.
17
)
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MY COSTUME DRAMA A YEAR LONG FUNDRAISER
FOR MINDOUT
) Aaron Lawrence, aka the entertainer Spice, is
currently studying for a BSc in physics with
astrophysics at Sussex University and has chosen
a brilliant and unorthodox way to raise funds and
awareness for MindOut, the LGBTQ mental health
service. For the next 12 months, Aaron will
wear fancy dress at work, when he goes shopping,
on holiday, attending a wedding or job interview, in
fact every single day! Don't be surprised to see him
dressed as a superhero, a rock-star, furry crocodile
or Hollywood icon when you’re out shopping at
Waitrose - you will find him behind the mushy peas!
You can follow Aaron's progress on his blog:
www.mycostumedrama.com and Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/mycostumedrama.
Aaron says: “I've always loved a little fancy dress. One day I joked that I liked it so much
I should do it full-time. As I was also trying to think of a way to raise money for MindOut
and support their tremendous services for LGBTQ people affected by mental health
issues, My Costume Drama was born. And I have only just realised that 2016 is a leap
year... as if 365 days are not enough. I will have to think of something special for
February 29,” he said smirking.
KIRSTY LOGAN WINS
POLARI FIRST BOOK
PRIZE 2015
KIRSTY LOGAN
)
) Glasgow-based author Kirsty
Logan is the recipient of the 2015
Polari First Book Prize for her
critically-acclaimed debut short
story collection, The Rental Heart
& Other Fairytales. Now in its fifth
year, the Polari First Book Prize
celebrates the best debut books
that explore the LGBT experience,
whether through poetry, prose,
fiction or non-fiction.
The collection prevailed over a
shortlist of books traditionally
comprising five titles, but this year stretched to six due to the
strength of submissions, including Straight Expectations by Julie
Bindel; The Gift Of Looking Closely by Al Brookes; Everything Must
Go by LaJohn Joseph; Self-Portrait With The Happiness by David
Tait; and The Informant by Susan Wilkins.
Already the winner of the Scott Prize,
The Herald: Book of the Year 2014,
Saboteur Award for Best Short Story
Collection, and shortlisted for the
2014 Green Carnation Prize, The
Rental Heart & Other Fairytales is a
lyrical collection of 20 short stories
on lust and loss, compiled of radical
retellings of classic tales and modernday fables.
Judges included author, journalist and
host of Polari literary salon, chair Paul
Burston; author and former Head of
Literature & Spoken Word at the
Southbank, Rachel Holmes; literary
critic, Suzi Feay; writer, critic and broadcaster, Bidisha; author and
comedian, VG Lee; and writer and editor, Alex Hopkins.
“I’m raising money for MindOut, which is a mental health service run by and for LGBTQ
people. They provide advice, information, advocacy, a peer support group programme,
well-being activities and events, a peer mentoring service, out of hours chat service and
a food and allotment project. They are based in Brighton and work all over the country.”
My Costume Drama launched at the Bedford Tavern on October 2 and Aaron
followed his fundraising effort up by running in the 5k Colour Run on Brighton
seafront, on Saturday, October 10. Aaron's fundraising target for the next year is
£15,000. To support him with donations directly at any event or online via his donation
page, view: www.justgiving.com/mycostumedrama
For more info about MindOut services or to get involved, view: www.mindout.org.uk
Paul Burston, Chair of the judges,
said: “The shortlist for this year’s Prize
was one of the strongest we’ve ever
seen, a great reflection of the breadth and
depth of LGBT literature today. However,
the judges were enormously impressed
with Logan’s command of language and
skillful storytelling. She writes from a
variety of queer perspectives, showing us
a range of outsider’s viewpoints. Her characters are compelling,
alienated, and trying to find a place themselves in a world with which
they are at odds. For a first book The Rental Heart and Other
Fairytales is remarkably assured. Each tale feels like a work of art in
miniature, a controlled experiment in transformative storytelling."
PAUL BURSTON
18
Kirsty Logan has been published in literary magazines and
anthologies all over the world, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, displayed
in galleries, and translated into French, Japanese and Spanish. She
has received fellowships from Hawthornden Castle and Brownsbank
Cottage, and was the first writer-in-residence at West Dean College.
Polari First Book Prize is sponsored by Societe Generale. Partners
include WH Smiths Travel and Square Peg Media, publishers of g3
and Out In The City.
GSCENE 19 19
WWW.GSCENE.COM
)
NEW RUGBY CLUB FOR GAY AND
BISEXUAL MEN IN BRIGHTON & HOVE
intention is that the club will be in a
position to play in the Sussex III
league in the 2016-17 season, and,
hopefully before this, to have friendly
matches both locally and against other
member clubs of IGR.
COADY & CHRISTOPHER
ACTUALLY GAY MEN’S CHORUS
PIANISTS ON TOP OF THE WORLD
) Coady Green, Artistic Director for Actually
Gay Men’s Chorus, and his partner,
Christopher Wayne Smith, both internationally
award-winning classical pianists, have made
the record books by performing two
symphonies for piano duet, 3,600 metres
above sea level at the Thikse Monastery, the
biggest monastery in the Himalayas. It’s on
record as the highest ever publicly attended
classical music concert in history.
This most unusual concert came about to honour the 100th year
anniversary of the death of great Russian composer, Alexander Scriabin.
Coady and Christopher were asked to help realise the composer’s dream
of having his music performed in the Himalayas. Scriabin had grandiose
plans for a seven-day spectacle of his music in this exotic location,
combining piano, orchestral and choral music with light, colour, dance and
scent. They performed together at the event accompanied by a massive
light-show according to Scriabin’s own colour-tonal scheme, scent
infusions from renowned French perfumer Michel Roudnitska, and dance
movements from the monks of the Thikse Monastery.
As a result of this unusual performance, Coady and Christopher have been
offered a major recording contract with Toccata Classics to record the
complete works of Scriabin for two pianos and piano duet, including the
arrangements of all the symphonic works, and the complete works for two
pianos and piano duet of Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky.
Christopher said: “It’s an epic project, several years in the making but it’s a
job we love doing and though it takes a lot of very dedicated work, it does
mean that we get to see some wonderfully unusual places around the
world.”
The couple are next performing together at the Brighton Dome on January
10 with the London Gay Symphony Orchestra and Actually Gay Men’s
Chorus, in a fun and diverse programme which includes Carnival of the
Animals, narrated by Miss Jason, highlights from HMS Pinafore and the
show-stopping Poulenc Concerto for two pianos and orchestra.
To book tickets, view: www.brightondome.org
More info about Actually Gay Men's Chorus: www.actuallygmc.org
) Plans are afoot to form a new
rugby club in Brighton & Hove to give
gay and bisexual men the opportunity
to play the sport in a more friendly and
relaxed atmosphere. A meeting has
been organised at the Camelford
Arms on November 4 at 7.30pm
by Ian Chaplin, Byron Todd
and Alan Ferry, who have been
committee members, and players for
rugby clubs elsewhere.
They already have indications from 15
men with experience of the sport of a
willingness to get involved and are
being supported in this by
International Gay Rugby (IGR),
the UK-based charity and by other UKbased inclusive rugby clubs. The
This year is the 20th anniversary of the
formation of the Kings Cross Steelers
RFC, the world’s first inclusive rugby
club. Now there are over 60 clubs
worldwide, including the two newest
clubs formed during the 2015 Rugby
World Cup, in Belfast and Glasgow.
A spokesperson for the group said:
“Though public opinion has changed
dramatically since 1996, gay and
bisexual men sometimes need a gay
social arena, for example, rugby clubs
are unlikely to go to gay bars or
nightclubs, which gives a gay player the
option of socialising with their rugby or
their gay friends, but not both. An
inclusive rugby club allows both.”
For more info call Ian Chaplin on:
07890 949325 or email Byron Todd at:
[email protected]
)
WWW.GSCENE.COM
CELEBRATE! WITH BRIGHTON
GAY MEN’S CHORUS
) Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus return to the Theatre Royal, Brighton, once
again this year with their winter show, Celebrate!, to mark the culmination of their
10th anniversary celebrations, which will see the Chorus reflecting, reminiscing and
rejoicing in their ten years together. In the edited highlights of their sparkly decade
of singing ‘out’, they will cover their
'best bits', introduce some surprises
and give a glimpse of what is to come
in the future. Marc Yarrow is the
musical director and West End
director, Quintin Young is joining the
team as creative director for the
evening. The show will also be raising
funds for local LGBTQ charity
MindOut, which provides support to
people with mental health issues.
Chairman Paul Charlton says: “In many ways it’s hard to believe that it is 10 years
since Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus was first conceived – when a group of friends
decided to get together in someone’s living room to sing and have fun. We’ve come
a long way since that time, with highlights including appearing on BBC’s Last Choir
Standing in 2008, becoming a registered charity in 2010, performing our first fullhouse show at Brighton Dome Concert Hall in 2011 alongside our patron June
Brown, winning the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition in 2013, and cohosting the national Hand-in-Hand LGBTQ Choir Festival this summer. We hope and
look forward to continue singing together, supporting each other and entertaining
our fans and supporters long into the future!”
Celebrate! with Brighton Gay Men's Chorus, Theatre Royal, New Road,
Brighton, Sunday, November 22 at 7.30pm. Tickets £10-£24 available online:
www.bit.ly/10celebrate, from Theatre Royal Box Office in person (no booking fee)
or call 0844 8717650 (booking fees apply).
FIKA COMES TO BRIGHTON!
) Enjoy an afternoon with Brighton-based
musicians Stefan Holmström and Tim Nail and
take part in the great Swedish tradition! FIKA, a
Swedish term that means “to have coffee and
pastries” is a deep-rooted tradition from the 19th
century when coffee was just as important to the
Swedes as tea is in the UK.
Stefan, who hails from the north of Sweden, is bringing FIKA to Brighton along with
some fantastic songs, including: Vaughan Williams' Songs of Travel, Faure's
Mirages and selected songs by Sibelius. Trained as an opera singer at Guildhall
School Of Music & Drama, Stefan performs in the UK and internationally, conducts
local ensembles Resound Male Voices and Rebelles and coaches voices throughout
Sussex. Tim, pianist and composer, grew up in Scotland where he studied at
Glasgow University. He works extensively in the South East and is much in demand
as an accompanist and répétiteur. Tim will be playing piano music
by Arensky and Peter Maxwell Davies.
STEFAN HOLMSTROM
Coffee and Swedish cake will be served in the
interval. Stefan Holmström says: “It’s exciting to bring
some cakes here that people might not have tried
before. I love the old-style Swedish baking, especially
since we tend to get a very streamlined selection at
the coffeeshops.”
FIKA is at Friends’ Meeting House, Ship Street,
Brighton, Saturday, November 21, 3pm. Tickets
£10 on the door and coffee and pastry is included in
the ticket price. For more info, view
www.facebook.com/events/423777091166316/
CAN YOU HEAR THE RAINBOWS SING?
) The Rainbow Chorus continues
to celebrate 18 glorious years of
harmony with a concert on
December 5, as they throw open
the doors of St George's Church
Kemptown for a show-stopping
festive Christmas concert, Can you
Hear the Rainbows Sing?,
featuring much-loved songs from
their Christmas repertoire over the
last 18 years and a new tribute
medley from one of the most
successful musicals of all
time, Les Miserables.
The Chorus is the only LGBT-mixed
choir in the South outside London.
The choir aims to provide an
enjoyable and supportive
environment for LGBT members to
sing together, make new friends,
develop their community spirit,
individual talents and confidence.
Through performance, the Chorus
also raises the profile of the LGBT
community in Brighton & Hove as
well as providing top-quality
entertainment.
The Rainbow Chorus is supported
by the Big Lottery and the Rainbow
Fund.
Can you Hear the Rainbows Sing?,
St George’s Church, St Georges
Road, Kemptown, Saturday
December 5 at 7.30pm. Tickets
£14/£10 concs / £7 children under
12 available online from:
www.brownpapertickets.com/event
/2386279 or contact choir
members. They're aiming for a sellout so book early to avoid
disappointment!
ANEESA CHAUDHRY PRESENTS...
) Aneesa Chaudhry Presents… an
evening of high quality entertainment
on December 15 with Mojca Monte
on piano, Andres Ticino on
percussion, Charlotte Glasson on
woodwind and strings, plus special
guest Jan Allain.
“Aneesa Chaudhry is a force of
nature and a force to be reckoned
with. Her voice is extraordinary in so
many senses. Weapon Quality!” Andrew Kay, Latest TV
Aneesa is the ambitious musical
director of both the Rainbow Chorus
and Martlets Hospice’s Good
Vibrations choir. She also works
with individuals and organisations
from the trans community to help
people build vocal confidence as
singers and public speakers.
ANEESA CHAUDHRY
20
their grief at that time. For some it’s
a time to contemplate and for others
a time to cry or come to terms with
whatever is present for them.
“Whilst I love performing to large
audiences, there’s something very
satisfying about providing a personal
Last year she was voted one the four service at a very significant moment
Brighton Pride Ambassadors and
in someone’s life or for loved ones. I
set up a new project called Music
want people to have a choice with
For Special Occasions to sing at
the music they choose for their own
funerals, wakes and memorials. She funeral, wake or memorial for a loved
says: “It’s an honour to be trusted
one and for those within the LGBT
with people’s emotions at such a
community to know that they can
significant moment in their lives. So talk in confidence about one of the
often I see people trying to hold back hardest days of their lives.”
their emotions for the loss they
suffer and a funeral is often their last Aneesa Chaudhry Presents... Latest
chance to say goodbye to someone Music Bar, Manchester St, Brighton
on Tuesday, December 15 at 8pm.
who touched their lives. I see my
Tickets £15, available from:
role as being a channel through
which friends and family can express http://aneesachaudhrypresents.bpt.me/
21
WWW.GSCENE.COM
DRAG WITH NO NAME
CHARLES STREET WAD FUNDRAISER
) Charles Street will be marking World AIDS Day on Tues, December 1 from
7.30pm at 8 Marine Parade, Brighton, with a benefit for the Terrence Higgins
Trust (THT) hosted by Drag With No Name. The fundraiser will
take place after the Candlelit Vigil at the AIDS Memorial in
New Steine Gardens starting at 6pm. Artists appearing and
donating their services will include Sally Vate, Mrs Moore,
Rose Garden, Kara Van Park, Gabriella Parish, Lucinda
Lashes. Suggested £2 donation on the door donated to THT.
)
WORLD AIDS DAY EVENTS
The Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day (WAD) Partnership
are organising a series of events to mark World AIDS Day on
December 1. The partnership includes: Lunch Positive, the
Sussex Beacon, Gscene, Sussex Ecumenical HIV Chaplaincy,
Peer Action, BHCC Partnership Community Safety Team, THT
and Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum.
LGBTQ CHOIRS WAD CHARITY CONCERT CANDLELIT VIGIL
) Actually Gay Men’s Chorus, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus and Rainbow
Chorus are organising this years fundraising concert for World AIDS Day. Funds
raised from the concert will benefit local Brighton charity, Lunch Positive. The
concert will take place at St Mary’s Church in Kemptown on Tuesday,
December 1 at 7.30pm (allowing time for those attending the
Candelight Vigil close by from 6-7pm at the AIDS Memorial
Statue on New Steine). The concert will feature performances
by Actually Gay Men’s Chorus, Brighton Belles Women’s
Chorus, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, Rainbow Chorus,
female vocal group Rebelles, Resound Male Voices and
Qukulele. Mince pies and mulled wine will be served during the interval.
Tickets cost £8 and will be available to buy online or in person from Prowler on St
James’s Street. It’s highly recommended to buy tickets in advance. A small number
will be retained to buy on the door on the night. www.BrightonWADconcert.info
PHOTO EXHIBITION RAISES
FUNDS FOR SUSSEX BEACON
) Photographs of a dramatic ACT UP demonstration in Paris from 1992 are
being exhibited by Alf Le Flohic for World AIDS Day 2015. The AIDS Coalition
To Unleash Power (ACT UP) was a direct action group founded in New York in
1987 to highlight the situation of people with HIV/AIDS. ACT UP New York staged a
series of public protests called the Day of Desperation in 1991. With just a
single drug treatment of limited benefit available (AZT), ACT UP Paris was inspired
to stage its own event La Journee Du Desespoir in 1992. Didier Lestrade, ACT
UP PARIS founder, at the time said: “We will fill the streets to show our anger and
despair. That’s all. Because today Paris is the AIDS capital of Europe. Because our
friends are dying…”
As winner of a Valentine’s Day competition organised by The Argus newspaper, Alf
Le Flohic, a young gay man from Brighton found himself in Paris on that very day;
“After going up the Eiffel Tower, I recognised the word SIDA (AIDS) on poster and
realised a demo was about to take place. It read: ‘We are desperate because
330,000 people are living with HIV in this country. Show your despair. Demonstrate
your anger before it is too late’.”
Alf recalls: “Holding banners and chanting, the crowd suddenly started running. We
stormed the Louvre. Within minutes the decorative fountains were running bloodred from food colouring. The gendarmes caught up with us and we were moved on.
As we passed the Seine, fake coffins
being held aloft by protestors were
launched into the water.”
Alf rediscovered his photos this year
whilst preparing for the Brighton
Pride 25 exhibition at Jubilee
Library. The exhibition Because Our
Friends Are Dying... is being
staged to raise funds for The Sussex
Beacon, kindly sponsored by Colourstream and Nick Ford Photography. View
at Oxford Street Studio in Brighton, on November 30–December 1, 10am–
8pm with a drinks reception on the Monday from 5pm featuring a tombola, limited
edition prints and red ribbons available for sale.
For more information, www.nickfordphotography.co.uk/exhibitions
) BRIGHTON AIDS MEMORIAL CANDLELIT VIGIL, New Steine Gdns: TUE,
DEC 1, 6-7pm. Everyone is welcome to attend the remembrance event for those
lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove. There will be a reading of the names and a
candlelit vigil. New names to be read (in addition to those in previous years) can
be added during the day at World AIDS Day Café marquee in New Steine Gardens.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
) Dorset Gardens Methodist Church: SAT, NOV 28, 10am-12 noon. Sussex
HIV Chaplaincy and Lunch Positive will provide an informal time of remembrance
and community with brunch. For those with some faith or none.
) LUNCH POSITIVE: FRI, NOV 27, FRI DEC 4 Lunch Positive extend an invite
to all other HIV peer support groups and services to join them for lunch. No
charge, no need to book ahead. Arrive between 11am-noon, meet the volunteers
and see how the lunch club can help you before eating a hearty meal.
CONCERT
) WORLD AIDS DAY CONCERT: St Mary’s Church, St James St: TUE, DEC
1, doors open 7pm, concert at 7.30pm with performances by the Actually Gay
Men’s Chorus, Brighton Belles, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus, Rainbow
Chorus, Rebelles, Resound Male Voices and Qukelele.
EXHIBITIONS
) MATERIAL WITNESSES: Jubilee Library, Jubilee St: FRI, NOV 27-FRI,
DEC 4, 10am-5pm daily. Entry free. Jubilee Library host the Hankie Quilt, The
Star Quilt and other embroidered and hand crafted responses to the early days of
the HIV/Aids crisis. “The Quilt has redefined the tradition of quilt-making in
response to contemporary circumstances. A memorial, a tool for education and a
work of art. The Quilt is a unique creation, an uncommon and uplifting response to
the tragic loss of human life”. Exhibition will be illuminated at night.
) BECAUSE OUR FRIENDS ARE DYING: Oxford Street Studios, 19 Oxford
St. Brighton. NOV 30-DEC 1: 10am-8pm. Exhibition of photos by Alf Le Flohic
of ACT UP demonstration in Paris in 1992
BUCKET COLLECTIONS
) NOV 26: MORRISONS THT RIBBON SALES: 11am-7pm
) NOV 27: BTN TRAIN STATION THT RIBBON SALES: 6-10am & 4-8pm
) NOV 30: ASDA MARINA THT RED RIBBON SALES: 11am-7pm
) DEC 1: SUSSEX BEACON BUCKET COLLECTIONS: Collections will be
made at Brighton Railway Station: St James’s Street, ASDA at Brighton Marina and
Lipstick & Gunpowder Salon, 7 Kings Road opposite Pitcher & Piano, a few doors
along from Dr Brightons who will have a bucket in the reception area.
FUNDRAISERS
) NOV.14: SUBLINE: Mr Subline 2015 fundraiser and WAD launch from 9pm
) DEC.1: CHARLES STREET: World Aids Day Fundraiser for THT from 7pm
FUNDRAISING OFFERS
) Book into New Steine Hotel (01273 681546) on DEC 1 and 25% of your
room rate will be donated to the Rainbow Fund. Book into Gullivers Hotel
(01273 695415) on DEC 1 and 25% of your room rate will be donated to the
Sussex Beacon. Eat dinner at New Steine Bistro on DEC 1 (01273 695415),
quote Gscene when booking and 25% of your total bill will be donated to Lunch
Positive, the HIV Charity and food club.
22 GSCENE
“Assuming someone
is negative because
you haven't spoken
about it, isn't knowing
someone's status”
Equally, having an out of date test result isn't
reliable and doctors recommend regular HIV
tests. The sooner you get tested and should
you be diagnosed as HIV positive, the better
your chances of staying healthy and living a
normal life span.
Sure, it's daunting but I’m glad I got diagnosed
early so I could treat my HIV and quickly bring
it to an undetectable level (still present but
less than 50 copies of the virus in each
millilitre of my blood). This means that I’m not
infectious with an undetectable level of HIV.
HIV is still present in my system but in such
low levels that it is ‘undetectable’.
In fact, my HIV has helped me to re-evaluate
my life and while I accept I made a mistake
and had unprotected sex with a guy, I would
say life does go on and I’m living with my
status and work full-time in the public sector.
I’M LIVING MY
LIFE WITH HIV!
HIV: Take responsibility for your health and
get tested says KD Brighton
) It's more than 30 years since the first
diagnosis of HIV (1984) and in 2015 we really
are in a better place!
I am a gay man living with HIV since 2012 and
would urge you to find out your status.
I had a serious health episode in January 2012
(when I was sero-converting) and had a health
screening 3 months later, in April with a
positive result for HIV.
This is no longer the 1980s and in the UK, at
least, we have free access to antiretroviral
drugs which suppress the HIV viral load (level
of virus present in the blood) and boost the
immune system (CD4 count). The fact is that
medication manages the virus and with time
you do change your way of thinking about
HIV... and most importantly life goes on!
HIV is no longer a death sentence but it is
something you can live with and can manage.
Stigma still exists three decades later about
HIV and stigma creates fear and stops people
going and getting tested!
More people should get informed and educated
about HIV as many remain unaware of the
methods of HIV infection. Sure, you know
about unsafe sex but can you think of six
bodily fluids that can be exchanged between
two people and spread infection?
1) Blood
2) Semen (cum)
3) Pre-seminal fluid (pre-cum)
4) Rectal fluids
5) Vaginal fluids
6) Breast milk)
In 2014, the government (Public Health
England) released figures showing that
110,000 people are living with HIV and that
approximately a quarter of those, 26,000, are
yet to be diagnosed in the UK.
The real message in this piece is that getting
diagnosed is taking power back and all about
taking sexual responsibility. Assuming
someone is negative because you haven't
spoken about it, isn't knowing someone's
status.
I took control, found out my status and now
make informed choices when I sleep with
someone.
I’m on meds and know my status and a lot
about my health and take a very active interest
in it. Thanks to medical advancements, I can
expect to live a normal, healthy and long life.
People who know they are HIV positive and are
successfully getting treated really are in a
great place and I believe in reducing stigma
and getting a test and finding out the facts take control, get informed and get on with life!
“HIV is no longer a
death sentence but
it is something you
can live with and
can manage”
GSCENE 23
WORLD AIDS DAY:
A FAIRER FUTURE?
GARY PARGETER
This all helps us cope, improve our own
situation and build community, but the root
causes of so much social and health inequality
still remain. We need to tell people who make
the big decisions in our City that affect our
lives what the important issues are, and how
they affect us.
) We’re given a valuable opportunity to
reflect on where we’ve come from, what the
struggles have been, loss, the inequalities, our
achievements and our hopes for the future.
Often I’m grateful to use this space to remind
people, especially those who are fortunate to
not have experienced the fearful, highly
stigmatised and often seemingly hopeless days
of HIV, of how hard our community was hit,
and how it changed things forever. But this
year has been an exceptional one, with our
service seeing more people than ever who tell
us of social and financial struggles, living
below the poverty line, difficulty accessing
statutory support services, inequalities, and
fears for the future that surpass anything
we’ve heard for years.
We’ve seen vivid examples of people living in
real poverty, both those working and not,
unable to afford to eat regularly or meet their
bills and rent. We’ve seen others coming to
our City, sleeping rough and struggling to find
safe shelter.
There have been others whose self-esteem has
been lowered through rejection from people
close as a result of disclosing their status.
And, when talking to people in our community
and wider, we’ve heard: “but everything’s
alright now with HIV – what’s the problem?”
For those who are interested in listening,
learning about the realities and helping –
thank you!
For those who do not - individualism, lack of
empathy and belief in community are several
things missing, I’d say. For those that doubt
there remains a need for support there
sometimes seems an insidious belief that
many of us with HIV are doing little to help
ourselves, but my experience is completely
different. I see people reaching out, offering
support to each other and deeply caring about
their lives and those of others.
Whatever our political persuasion, or none,
I’ve come to believe that unless we start
doing this now, the boat will have sailed, our
voices lost and that the important
considerations and decisions that affect our
futures will have been made without us. Don’t
let inevitable good news stories or momentary
sense of improved security cloud what will
still very likely be an uncertain future.
For those of us that remember the early days
of HIV and fought to have our voices heard,
equality and rights upheld, let’s do this again,
even if the issues have probably changed.
For those who are fortunate not to have
experienced those days, join in now,
improving the future for yourself and all of us
depends on it.
In the early part of next year, Lunch Positive
will be hosting some informal visits from the
City Fairness Commission to talk to people
with HIV. We’ll make it a space where you feel
comfortable and confident to say what you
think is important.
The Commission has been set up by the City's
Labour administration to hear views and ideas
in residents own words on the challenges and
inequalities you experience living in the City.
You will be able to talk anonymously and
safely. The commission will use what they hear
to recommend practical ways of making
Brighton & Hove a fairer and more equal place
to live. The Commission reports its findings in
the summer. Be part of it, before it’s too
late…
) Gary Pargeter, is the Volunteer Project
Manager at Lunch Positive and the
Community Works LGBT Community
Representative (Small Groups).
) For more info about Lunch Positive, view:
www.lunchpositive.org
) For more info about The Fairness
Commission, (Brighton & Hove City Council),
view: www.brightonhove.gov.uk/content/council-anddemocracy/fairness-commission/aboutfairness-commission
WHO
GUIDELINES
New guidelines for
starting HIV treatment
from WHO
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has
published revised HIV guidelines
recommending that anyone who tests
positive for the virus that causes AIDS
should be treated immediately.
The UN health agency had previously advised
that doctors should wait to treat people with
HIV until their immune systems suggested
they were getting sick.
This comes in the wake of new British HIV
Association (BHIVA) treatment guidelines
which now recommend that everyone with
HIV who is prepared to take antiretroviral
treatment should receive it, regardless of
CD4 cell count.
DR MICHAEL BRADY
World Aids Day approaches and the lives of
people with HIV have possibly a greater focus
within our community. By Gary Pargeter
Dr Michael Brady, Terrence Higgins Trust
Medical Director, said: “There is now clear
evidence of the benefits of starting HIV
therapy as early as possible. Effective
treatment not only maximises the individual’s
health but also prevents transmission to
others.
“The new BHIVA guidelines are a reminder of
the importance of improving our HIV testing
rates. One in four people living with HIV
remain undiagnosed and therefore not able to
access the benefits of treatment. Our new
treatment guidelines mean that every case of
undiagnosed HIV is already a late diagnosis”
“There is now clear
evidence of the
benefits of starting
HIV therapy as early
as possible”
Dr Michael Brady
JOANNA ROWLAND-STUART
LEADER OF COUNCIL, CLLR MORGAN JOINS
CLLRS HILL & MORRIS AND REPRESENTATIVES
FROM PCC’S OFFICE AT VIGIL
REV MICHAEL
HYDES
24 GSCENE
BT C O M M U
N
I
SA
REPORT IT!
IG
BR
lg
b t-
help.co
M
[email protected]
01273 855620
FETY FORU
H TO N & H
O
E
LG
TY
V
REPORT IT!
!
BRIGHTON & HOVE
Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum is
is a member of The LGBT Community Groups Network
and funded by the Rainbow Fund and Safer in
Sussex. This advert was paid for by a grant from
the Safer In Sussex Community Foundation.
RORY SMITH
Musical interludes were provided by Son Son, who sang three selfpenned numbers: Dreaming in Brighton, Outta Here and Mother Theresa;
and Christoffer James Baker brought the Vigil to a close singing the
hauntingly beautiful Mad World and the uplifting Something Inside So
Strong.
m
If you would like to report a Hate Crime or Incident with us via
our Anonymous Third Party reporting service ‘Report It’
please email [email protected] or call 01273 855620
REMEMBER always dial 999 in an emergency
LGBT COMMUNITY
GROUPS NETWORK
affected her at school. Sara Jones, business manager of the victim and
witness services at the office of the Sussex Police Crime Commissioner,
explained about the new Hate Crime app, Self Evident, how to download
it and how to use it to report Hate Crime. Rory Smith, the civilian LGBT
Liaison and Hate Crime Co-ordinator at Sussex Police, explained how to
report Hate Crimes to the police and why it is important to do so, no
matter how insignificant you might consider the offence to be.
SON SON
The LGBT Community Safety Forum
is an independent group of
lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* (LGBT)
volunteers in Brighton & Hove.
For more info visit: lgbt-help.com
SARA JONES
) Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, Cllr Warren Morgan, Cllr
for Queens Park, Adrian Morris, and Cllr for Hollingdean & Stanmer,
Tracy Hill, attended the Hate Crime Vigil organised by the Brighton &
Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum on Saturday October 17 on the
Old Steine in central Brighton. The Vigil was one of many taking place
simultaneously in cities all over the country to mark the three nail
bomb attacks that shook London on April 17, 24 and 30 in 1999.
MARIA BAKER
Local Labour politicians remember the
victims of the three nail bomb attacks in
London in 1999 at the Brighton Hate
Crime Vigil 2015
CHRISTOFFER JAMES BAKER
POLITICIANS SUPPORT
HATE CRIME VIGIL
The vigil was compared by Billie Lewis, the elected volunteer Chair of
the Brighton & Hove LGBT Community Safety Forum. Rev Michael Hydes
welcomed everyone to the Vigil and speakers included Joanna RowlandStuart who spoke about bullying and how her life had been impacted by
disability hate crime. Maria Baker, the black and ethnic minorities rep
on the LGBT Safety Forum, spoke about racist bullying and how it
REPORT IT!
) If you are the victim of a Hate Crime and want to make a
third-party report, which can remain anonymous if you wish,
call 01273 855 620 pressing option 2.
) The new Hate Crime App, Self Evident, can be downloaded on
all iPhones and Android handsets.
https://witnessconfident.org/self-evident-app
) In an emergency, report a Hate Crime to the police on: 999.
) To report a Hate Crime that is NOT an emergency, dial 101.
GSCENE 25
SEÑOR BUDDHAS
Available for private parties on
Mon & Tue. The restaurant is small
and booking is advised so you are
not disappointed.
) I look for three things when I go out for a meal: great flavours, fine
wine and a laid back ambiance. Señor Buddha has all three in
abundance plus an owner, Lee Shipley who clearly loves what he does
and is able to communicate that passion to his customers. The
restaurant is very cosy, seating no more than 25 people around an open
kitchen. On our visit we sat at the bar which added to the theatre of it
all as we watched our food being prepared in front of us.
Lee describes his food as: “Spanish tapas presented with an east Asian
twist”. There are just 12 tapas dishes to choose from on the menu. We
tried them all and apart from the Sherry Pig Cheek Croquettes (£4)
which is very much an acquired taste, I can heartily recommend every
single dish on offer. Make sure you check out the specials.
The highlight of my evening feasting was the Confit Duck Leg (£6)
served with a sherry and hoisin poached plums puree. Quite simply
the best duck ever to pass these tenter lips. The meat, slightly pink and
very tender, flaked off the bone with ease and was accompanied by the
finest accompanying puree of the evening.
The Aromatic Soy Lamb Cutlets (£6.50) were cooked perfectly to our
request, rare, and served on apple, radish and rocket salad. The lamb
was tender, full of flavour and cooked on the griddle in its own juices.
There were also a few imaginative choices for vegetarians: Vegetable
Croquettes (£3.50) containing sesame roasted vegetables and potato
served deep-fried with a beetroot and apple sauce. A meal in itself.
Full of favour and very filling. Lemongrass Halloumi (£4) served on
puy lentils with a lemon and ginger air. The tender lentils
complemented the halloumi perfectly and the lemongrass gave the dish
a serious kick. Finally Green Mango Salad (£3.50) made up of mango,
kohlrabi, chicory and onion dressed with a hot and tangy sauce.
To finish the evening off we tried the
Asian Cocktail Ice Cream great value at
just (£3).
ASIAN COCKTAIL ICECREAM
We kicked off with the fishy choices: King Scallops & Morcilla de
Burgos (£6.50) served on coconut and cauliflower puree: the large
succulent scallops were cooked to perfection, the Morcilla which is
basically black pudding with added paprika and rice was lovely and
moist with a crispy surface. The subtle puree flavour perfectly
complemented both the scallops and the morcilla.
CONFIT DUCK LEG
9 Preston Road, Brighton BN1 4QE
Tel: 01273 567 832,
www.senorbuddha.co.uk
Open: Wed & Thur 6-10pm ish:
Fri & Sat 5ish-11pmish
OCTOPUS TENTACLE
The food experience was just part of our
evening. Lee, who owns the restaurant
with his wife Zoe, have assembled a fine
selection of great wines which are very
reasonably priced. On our visit we tried a
different wine with each dish. I suggest
you take Lee's recommendation on the
wines to drink as you go along. Memorable white moments included the
Fernlands Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough New Zealand (£21) the
Montagney, Gran Vin De Bourgogne Buxy Burgundy (£23.50) and the
Camino Real Blanco Spanish Rioja only served by the glass
(£4.50/£6). Reds well worth trying included a magnificent San Millan
Reserve Spanish Rioja (£21).
Octopus Tentacle (£6.50), slow cooked in red wine with Thai spices
and served with coriander aioli and squid ink caviar. The octopus was
soooo tender and the use of the coriander aioli a touch of genius. This
dish was seriously good.
Asian Tuna Tartare & Iberian Ham (£5) made very comfortable
bedfellows served together. The texture of the raw tuna and ham was
lovely and the avocado and wasabi puree set the dish alight.
Saffron & Coconut Mussels
(£5) served in an aromatic
broth had a spicy kick and the
mussels were huge and juicy.
SAFFRON & COCNUT MUSSLES
Moving quickly on to the meat
and poultry options: Mountain
Mutton Stew (£6.50) basted
for 24 hours in a 'secret' dry
spiced rub and soy sauce and
cooked on the bone in coconut
milk. The flavours were still
dancing in my mouth the next
morning. In my youth mutton was seen as peasant food. This dish was
fit for a Queen and I can't recommend it highly enough.
Too often when I go out to eat I am left nonplussed by the experience.
Lee talked us through the menu and the wines and I came away
thinking "what a great restaurant". That hasn't happened too often in
the last year so I am very happy to recommend you put a visit to Senor
Buddha high on your list. James Ledward
QUEENS ARMS
LEGENDS
LEGENDS
QUEENS ARMS
BAR BROADWAY
LEGENDS
BAR BROADWAY
LEGENDS
BAR BROADWAY
LEGENDS
26 GSCENE
GSCENE OUT & ABOUT
BOUTIQUE
REVENGE
QUEENS ARMS
SUBLINE
CAMELFORD ARMS
CHARLES STREET
CHARLES STREET
CAMELFORD ARMS
CAMELFORD ARMS
CHARLES STREET
GSCENE 27
28 GSCENE
GSCENE 28
DANCE MUSIC
BY QUEEN JOSEPHINE & KATE WILDBLOOD
ALBUMS
‘Tis the month to hunker down,
revel in the wonders of a cosy
session and relax into a season of
winter warmth with tunes to make
you go ahhh.
First up are the Canadian wonder
Blond:ish and their cocklewarming
electronica,
Welcome To the
Present, on
Kompakt. Beats
to revitalise,
this will warm you right through
winter. As will the excellent Abby
Lee Tee’s By Accident on Shash
Records with the impish track
Drunken Boats, featuring the
Bjork-like Mimu, worth the
purchase price alone and the
kooky kool sounds of Wbeeza’s
Expression Of Love on Third Ear.
If you require
sunshine
through the rain
(and sleet and
snow) then
Andy Compton’s
love-fuelled Bristol Boogie on
Peng will see you through to fair
weather whilst the lullaby
qualities of Len Leise’s Balearic
mini-album Lingua Franca on
International Feel or the
enchanting Lazare Hoche’s
compilation Access on Lazare
Hoche Records will have your
rocking to a truly blissful state.
For our favoured
few this month
we can’t
recommend
enough the
brilliant Hot
Creations presents Summer Jams
2 on, you guessed it, Hot
Creations. Nothing will beckon the
brighter months back sooner than
this. As will the exquisite beats of
Berlin’s KRTS
and his superb
longplayer Close
Eyes to Exit on
Mooncircle. Our
must-hear
compilation of the month has to
be the divine Watergate 19 – Soul
Clap on Watergate Records. One of
the world’s finest labels delivers a
magical live vinyl-only set filled
with Berlin love ensuring we are
all happy to climb aboard the Soul
Clap train. Enjoy.
Catch Wildblood & Queenie Home
Service on RadioReverb 97.FM
radioreverb.com, 5pm Sun Nov 8.
perfectdistractions.com
DJ PROFILE: LEWIS OSBORNE
As autumn gets into full swing with fireworks lighting up the starry sky
and piles of leaves begging to be run through, it’s time to plan some
sparkling nights out on the dance floor to keep the night time chills at
bay. Queenie catches up again with the lovely Lewis Osborne to hear
about the rockets he’s setting off in Brighton and Crawley!
Where do you DJ? Every Tuesday for Trollied Dollies and 7-Sins at Bar7
in Crawley, and alternate Saturdays at FunFair in Brighton.
DJ style? A complete and utter mish-mash of pop, house, urban that
goes down a treat and just a tad of cheese for good measure!
Favourite tune ever? Too many to choose! I guess either Freaks’ The
Creeps (Get On The Dancefloor) or Bodyrox ft Luciana Yeah Yeah.
Tune that always fills your dancefloor? Depends on the night!
Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams (Steve Angello & Sebastien Ingrosso mix) or
Christina Aguilera ft Redman, Dirrty.
WILDBLOOD & QUEENIE’S NOV NUGGETS
) LA FLEUR Make A Move EP Watergate Records
Complete and utter brilliance from our top girl. Get acquainted.
) AKASE Murmur (Ewan Pearson remix) !K7
Harry Agius, aka Midland, and Robbie Redway combine to charm.
) JOHN GRANT ft Tracey Thorn Disappointing Bella Union
Not jealous of those with tickets for Brighton show. Not. One. Bit.
) RONNIE SPITERI Don’t Hold Back (Waif & Strays remix) Kenja
Nobody does it better than our Ronnie. Class tune from class act.
) WILL DAWSON Love Supreme Big Lucky Music
Dawson does disco and we love it. But then what girl wouldn’t?
) APOLLO 84 Snookies (DeMarzo remix) MadTech
A stand out track from MadTech 2015 EP, demanding of love.
) JEM HAYNES & SOAME Change Colour Series
Fall for this gentle electronica and your winter is sorted.
) DOC DANEEKA What's It Gonna Be? (original) Ten Thousand Yen
Dancefloor killer than demands you unleash the queen.
) CHEMICAL SURF & P.A.C.O Walking Back (rework) Kittball
Filled with attitude, this 7am wonder is all you need.
) JORI HULKKONEN Waiting Is All We Have My Favourite Robot
A slice of beauty from Jori’s Oh But I Am Remixed EP
Ultimate dream gig? This year I had the pleasure of DJing on the Bar7
float in the Brighton Pride Parade. Next year’s goal is to make it onto
one of the stages in the park for Brighton Pride, or maybe another Pride
in this country. Or around the world!
Tune you wish you’d never played? Oh god, it’s happened a few times!
I think every DJ has played a track that’s killed the vibe or maybe a CD
that’s skipped. These things happen – it’s how you recover that matters.
Guilty pleasure? Definitely Christina Milian AM to PM. Not such a guilty
pleasure really, seeing the crowds reaction is always amazing!
Best ever gig? I actually can’t name one! I just have to say EVERY
Tuesday at Trollied Dollies at Bar7 is fabulous. It’s my own night, it’s my
baby and it’s been amazing to watch it grow as Crawley’s top crew night.
Tell us a secret? I have three kidneys… well, sort of haha!
LEWIS OSBORNE CURRENT TOP FIVE
) DESTINY’S CHILD Jumpin’ Jumpin’ Columbia
) CITY HIGH What Would You Do Interscope
) PIA MIA ft Chris Brown, Tyga Do It Again Interscope
) TINIE TEMPAH ft Jess Glynne Not Letting Go (Sammy Porter remix) DL
) CALVIN HARRIS and Disciples How Deep Is Your Love Fly Eye
30 GSCENE OUT & ABOUT
PICS FROM A BAR + BAR BROADWAY
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
A-BAR
BAR BROADWAY
) 11-12 Marine Parade, BN2 1TL, 01273 696691, www.abarbrighton.co.uk
) OPEN Sun–Thur 12pm–12am; Fri & Sat 12pm–2am.
) FOOD Mon–Sat & Sunday roasts 12–8pm (last orders 7.30pm). The A-Bar is
) 10 Steine Street, BN2 1TE, Tel: 01273 609777, www.barbroadway.co.uk
) OPEN Sun-Thur 4pm-1am; Fri 4pm-3am, Sat 2pm–3am
now taking bookings for Christmas Day lunch - £60 per person. Expect lots of festive
cheer, delicious food and a welcoming atmosphere on the big day itself!
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (21) is ANGELICA’S 81ST BIRTHDAY BASH from
8pm, all welcome.
Fuller spinning soul, funk and disco alongside the best of
house from 9pm. KARAOKE is every Sun, Mon, Thur and
Fri with the A-Bar bar staff running the show and the chance
for you to belt out a classic or two from 8pm.
l CHARLES ST Halloween cabaret: Bitch
N’Sync 7.30pm; Tranny Rock & Roll Bingo:
Sally Vate 8.30pm; roasts 12–7pm
l LEGENDS BAR Cabaret: Lola Lasagne
3.30pm; roasts 12–3pm
SUNDAY 1
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 12l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm; roasts 12-8pm
6pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Karaoke 8pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Double cabaret: Davina
l BAR BROADWAY Fireplace Sessions:
Sparkle 6pm & 9.30pm
Darren Hamlin 8.30pm
l SETTING SUN Live music: Natalie
l BAR REVENGE Sunday Funday: Micklos
Roberts 4pm
hosts giant board games & karaoke 8.30pm
l SUBLINE Guilty Pleasures: DJ
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS
Screwpulous 9pm
Pop!Candy: DJ Claire Fuller 11pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS The Jazz
l CAMELFORD ARMS Bear Bash, Free
Roast 3pm; Sunday roasts 1-6pm
Food & Raffle 5pm; roasts & select menu
l ZONE Cabaret: Stone & Street 6pm
12pm–till gone
DUNCAN JAMES
) REGULARS Sat is SANFRANDISCO with DJ Mick
MONDAY 2
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha Wild’s After
Work Showbiz Quiz 6.30pm
l BAR REVENGE Student & Scene Staff
Night 5pm
l CHARLES STREET Studio 150 10pm
l LEGENDS BAR Miss Jason’s Monday
Madness 9.30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Mon Madness 8pm
TUESDAY 3
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Trollied Dollies: DJ
Lewis Osborne 9pm
l BAR REVENGE Karaoke with Liz 8pm
l MARINE TAVERN Nat’s Retro Quiz 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Davina Sparkle’s Big
Fat Quiz 8.30pm
LORRAINE BOWEN
Information is correct at the time of going to
press. Gscene cannot be held responsible for
any changes or alterations to the listings
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (7) is an extra special live PA with Blue star and allround hotty DUNCAN JAMES from 11pm. Duncan, who is touring the UK as part of
Priscilla Queen of the Desert, will be joined by his cast mates for a few numbers
and a peppering of hits! Entry is free so you should get there early as there’s limited
capacity. A born entertainer, Duncan exploded onto the scene
and amassed huge commercial success, racking up forty
number one singles worldwide, three number one UK albums
and sales of over 13 million records with the boyband Blue.
In 2005 the guys decided to take a break from the band to
pursue other interests, and Duncan saw this as the perfect
opportunity to broaden his experience within the
entertainment industry. He starred as Billy Flynn in the hit musical Chicago and also
competed in ITV's Dancing On Ice in 2007 where he became a finalist, and participated
in the subsequent sell-out tour in arenas across the UK.
) WORLD AIDS DAY Tue (1) Dec is the WAD Fundraising MASS KARAOKE with
Britain’s Got Talent star Lorraine Bowen from 8.30pm. As well as winning David
Walliams' Golden Buzzer on Britain's Got Talent this year,
Lorraine is a singing teacher who puts on big community
singing events at Brighton's Dome and Bexhill-On-Sea's De La
Warr Pavilion. Lorraine will get the whole of Bar Broadway
singing and swinging and will guide you through some fun
singing exercises and sing through some classics, including
the songs you love from the musicals.
Alasdair Jarvie, Bar Broadway’s Owner, says: “It's more a Mass Karaoke session so
check those inhibitions at the door, be prepared to get breathing, don your arpeggios
and put some oomph into your boomph! We’ll also be raising some money for WAD
and Lorraine will be giving tips and tricks on getting the best from your voices and
making sure you don't ‘Crumble’.
l REVENGE £2UESDAY: DJ Trick 11pm
l SANTA LAND Launch party of Christmasthemed bar in Santa’s log cabin decked with
fairylights, snow photo capsule and elf bar
staff 9pm
l SETTING SUN Cabaret: Dave Lynn 4pm
Claire Fuller 11pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Seniors’ lunch 23.30pm
l CHARLES STREET Myra’s Bingo Balls
Up 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Boudoir: trans night
9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS An Audience with Sally
WEDNESDAY 4
Vate 9.30pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Fresh!: DJ Jazzy
l SANTA LAND Karaoke 7pm
Jane 9pm
l SETTING SUN Piano Bar 8.30pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha & friends 9pm l SUBLINE Happy Hump Day 9pm
l BAR REVENGE Lipsync Night: Crystal
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Open mic
Lubrikunt 9pm
with hosts The Purple Shoes 8.30pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ
PICS FROM BOUTIQUE + CAMELFORD ARMS
GSCENE OUT & ABOUT 31
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
BOUTIQUE
CAMELFORD ARMS
) 2 Boyces St @ West St, BN11AN, 01273 327607 www.boutiqueclubbrighton.com
) OPEN daily from 1pm–very late ) FOOD all day, every day till midnight
) DRINK PROMOS Fri & Sat: J-Bombs for £5, 2-4-1 selected cocktails and 4
shots for £10 on the smoking terrace. ) Boutique launch their winter warmer
) 30-31 Camelford St, BN2 1TQ, Tel: 01273 622386, www.camelfordarms.com
) OPEN daily from 12pm. The most dog-friendly pub in town.
) FOOD Mon–Sat 12–9pm; Sunday roast & select menu 12pm–till gone;
Wed seniors' lunch 2–3.30pm, two courses £7.50.
cocktail menu and are giving away free bottles of Grey Goose for groups of 15 or
more! ) Ask about the fabulous Xmas packages designed to start your festive
season with sparkle, starting from £15pp for a tailor-made package!
new cocktail menu and loads of sparklers from 8pm.
) WORLD AIDS DAY Tue (1) Dec red shots on arrival and free canapés at 8pm.
) REGULARS Fri: i-CANDY with DJ Thierrie, cheap drinks & giveaways: Winter
Shake Up free candy floss & popcorn all night (13); free Rainbow Shots (20);
Xmas Warm Up tasters from Xmas cocktail menu (27). Free b4 10pm, £3 guest
list till 11pm, £5 after. ) Sat live bands on roof terrace from 1pm; from 10pm
expect luxury and elegance at CLUB se-XXY with different themes, superstar DJ
Klipz, giveaways: Roof Terrace Winter Party with canapés (7); Photo Booth
Party, free cocktail master class for the best snap (14); 80s Disco & Cheese night
(21); Xmas Warm Up festive cocktails (28). Free till 10pm, £3 guest list till
11pm, £5 after.
l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash
Guy Fawkes Quiz 9pm
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l CHARLES ST Mad Cow’s Tea Party: Ms
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Disco Bomb 9pm
Joan Bond, DJs Lee Jeffery & Ruby Roo 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Beyond the Footlights l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thur 8pm
@The Gods: Tanya Hyde, Kara Van Park &
l QUEEN’S ARMS Miss Jason 9.30pm
Mrs Moore 8.30pm; All Fun & Games: Sally l REVENGE FOMO: DJs 10.30pm
Vate: Urban Family MisFortunes 8.30pm
l BAR REVENGE Throwback Thur 9pm
l SETTING SUN Bonfire Night BBQ 5pm
l BOUTIQUE Guy Fawkes Special 9pm
l SUBLINE Brace Yourself 9pm
THURSDAY 5
BAR 7 CRAWLEY
DJ LEWIS OSBORNE
) 7 Pegler Way, Crawley, RH11 7AG, Tel: 01293 511177, www.7crawley.co.uk
) OPEN Sun, Tue & Wed 6pm–12.30am, Thur–Sat 6pm–2.30am
) REGULARS Tue: TROLLIED DOLLIES crew night, DJ Lewis Osborne plays
pop/deep-house/urban/club bangers/anthems/requests at 9pm, free entry and drink
deals all night! ) Wed: FRESH with DJ Jazzy Jane spins
tunes from the last 30 years/requests at 9pm, free entry and
drink deals all night. ) Fri: 7-UPSTAIRS, resident DJs get
your weekend started with a bang at 9pm; free entry b4
11pm, drink deals all night. ) Sat: 7-SINS with resident
DJ at 9pm, free entry b4 11pm and drink deals all night.
Sun: KARAOKE with prizes at 8pm.
QUIZ MASTER MARK
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Thur (5) GUY FAWKES SPECIAL with the launch of a
) WORLD AIDS DAY Tue (1) Dec free hot drinks for those attending the
Memorial Service from 5.30pm.
) REGULARS Thur: £300 BIG CASH QUIZ with Quiz
Master Mark at 9pm, with nibbles, fun rounds and many
prizes. ) Thur (5) is GUY FAWKES SPECIAL at 9pm.
) Fri: FRIDAY CLUB at 6pm. ) Sun: BEAR BASH at
5pm with free food and raffle.
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Guy Fawkes
Big Cash Quiz: £150 jackpot 7.30pm
FRIDAY 6
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Upstairs 11pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm
l BAR REVENGE Pop Tartz warm-up 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter:
DJ Peter Castle 11pm
l BOUTIQUE i-Candy: DJ Thierrie 10pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Friday Club 6pm
l CHARLES ST Fruity Friday Fix: DJ Leeroy
9pm
l DR BRIGHTONS Funky Friday: DJ Nick
Hirst 9.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Mysterry’s karaoke
9.30pm
l MARINE TAVERN Jukebox Disco 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJs Funk Food 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Sophie the
Goofy Old Tart 9.30pm
l REVENGE Pop Tartz on level 1 10.30pm
l SETTING SUN Live PA: Just Kylie 9pm
l SUBLINE Steam 9pm
l ZONE Cabaret: Brian & Dawn 10pm
SATURDAY 7
l A-BAR SanFranDisco: Mick Fuller 9pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins: DJ 11pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox Goes Priscilla
4pm; Liva PA: Duncan James from Blue &
the cast of ‘Priscilla’ 11pm
PICS FROM CHARLES STREET + DOCTOR BRIGHTONS
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
CHARLES STREET BAR
DOCTOR BRIGHTONS
) 8 Marine Parade, BN2 1TA, Tel: 01273 624091, www.charles-street.com
) OPEN daily from 12pm
) FOOD Mon–Sat 12–8pm; Sunday roasts served 12–7pm, £6.95. New food
) 16-17 Kings Rd, BN1 1NE, Tel: 01273 208113 www.doctorbrightons.co.uk
) OPEN Mon–Thur 3pm–midnight; Fri & Sat 1pm–2am; Sun 1pm–midnight.
and cocktail menu launched this month!
LUCINDA LASHES
) WORLD AIDS DAY Tue (1) Dec is the WORLD AIDS DAY CHARITY CABARET
Fundraiser for THT South with host Drag With No Name and a plethora of cabaret
stars, including: Sally Vate, Mrs Moore, Rose Garden, Kara Van Park, Gabriella
Parish, Lucinda Lashes and surprise guests from 7.30pm; entry is a £2 suggested
donation with all money going to THT South to be used for health prevention locally.
With Lucinda Lashes you can expect the unexpected! She is not politically correct
in any shape or form and her repertoire, which is very eclectic, is designed to show
off her impressive vocal range – so much so people think she mimes, which she
doesn’t – or at least that’s what she says!
Lucinda says: “It's my first time at Charles Street for WAD
and I got involved because it’s a great cause and because
Rupert adores me – he wishes he was me or inside me, I'm
not sure which - but I'm expecting it to be both lol!
“I feel as if I slot in very well amongst the other talented
frock-wearing entertainers who are all really looked after by
Rupert and Chris – and the bar bitches are fabulous! They
certainly know how to make us feel great, ply us with drink and make us feel like we're
at a Wembley gig lol... On the night I will be singing my lungs out and getting involved
with the crowd, hopefully making sure they have a great time whilst remembering what
a great cause we’re all there to support!
l BAR REVENGE Club warm-up 9pm
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Fusion:
DJ Steve Lush 11pm
l BOUTIQUE Live bands on the roof
terrace 1pm; se-XXY Winter Roof Terrace
Party: DJ Klipz 10pm
l CHARLES ST The Boys In The Bar: DJs
Lil Alex, Grant Knowles, Leeroy 9pm
l DR BRIGHTONS Sexy Saturday: DJ Tony
B 9.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Cabaret: Krissie Du
Cann 9.30pm
l LEGENDS BAR Pre-club DJs 7pm
l MARINE TAVERN Disco 8pm
l PARIS HOUSE Live jazz 4pm; TC’s
Joyful Noise: DJ Kenny 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Diane James
9.30pm
l REVENGE Sweet Revenge: DJs Missy B
& Patch on level 1; R-Haus on level 2
10.30pm
l SUBLINE Men’s Room: DJ Screwpulous
9pm
l ZONE Cabaret: Sally Vate 10.30pm
SUNDAY 8
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm; roasts 12-8pm
Wet & Wild 8.30pm
l BOUTIQUE Remembrance Sunday
Special 1pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS Remembrance
Sunday Bear Bash, Free Food & Raffle 5pm;
roasts & select menu 12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST Cabaret: Titti La Camp
7.30pm; Tranny Rock & Roll Bingo: Sally
Vate 8.30pm; roasts 12–7pm
Areas available for reservation mid week and weekends.
) HAPPY HOURS all day Sun–Thu; 1pm till close Fri;
1–7pm on Sat. Cocktails BOGOF all day Sun–Fri and till
7pm on Sat. Free pool with every round of drinks every day.
) REGULARS Fri: FUNKY FRIDAY with DJ Nick Hirst
spinning all your favourite tunes from 9.30pm. Sat: SEXY
SATURDAY with DJ Tony B spinning tunes from 9.30pm.
l GROSVENOR BAR Grosvenor’s Got
Talent: Heat 1 8.30pm
l LEGENDS BAR Cabaret: Martha D’Arthur
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 126pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Double cabaret: Kara
Van Park 6pm & 9.30pm
Screwpulous 9pm
MONDAY 9
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
Night 5pm
l CHARLES STREET Studio 150 7.30pm
Madness 9.30pm
WEDNESDAY 11
Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha & friends 9pm
Lubrikunt 9pm
Claire Fuller 11pm
Up 9pm
9pm
Vate 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Happy Hump Day 9pm
THURSDAY 12
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY It Is What It Is@The
Gods: comedy night 8.30pm; It’s All Fun &
Games: Sally Vate’s Lipsync Battles 8.30pm
TUESDAY 10
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY Trollied Dollies: DJ l CAMELFORD ARMS £300 Big Cash
Quiz 9pm
Lewis Osborne 9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Nat’s Retro Quiz 9pm Joan Bond, DJs Lee Jeffery & Ruby Roo
9pm
l MARINE TAVERN Throwback Thur 8pm
Fat Quiz 8.30pm
l REVENGE FOMO: DJs 11pm
l SETTING SUN Cabaret: Dave Lynn 4pm l SANTA LAND Karaoke 7pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Big Cash
Quiz: £150 jackpot 7.30pm
PICS FROM GROSVENOR + LEGENDS BAR
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
GROSVENOR
LEGENDS BAR
) 16 Western Street, Hove, BN1 2PG, www.thegrosvenorbar.com
) OPEN daily from noon–late.
) 31-34 Marine Parade, BN2 1TR Tel: 01273 624462, www.legendsbrighton.com
) OPEN daily from 11am–5am
) FOOD Mon–Sat 12–4pm; Sunday lunch served 12–3pm
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Sun (8) is the launch of the
GROSVENOR’S GOT TALENT weekly talent show
designed to find the best of Brighton talent at 8.30pm.
Whether you’re a singer, a comedian, a drag act or a
magician this is your chance to shine so register now to
guarantee your place! Sun (6) Dec is the glittering finale
with the winner receiving a £500 cash prize!
) WORLD AIDS DAY Mon (30) is a WAD Benefit from 9pm.
) ONE FOR THE DIARY CABARET on Sunday (22) at 3.30pm is with American
‘Hootchie Momma’ Laquisha Jonz, whose act has been making huge waves at the
Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London. ‘Younger, bitchier and twice as quick as Joan Rivers’
London Times. The Primark-wearing ‘asylum seeker’ is famous for her ‘unbeweavable’
hair and outrageous routines about her children, the sexual health clinic and getting
banned from the One Pound Megabus! Laquisha, a tribute to the trailer park trash of the
USA and lovers of Bling, has to be experienced live, if only for the weave! Laquisha is a
creation of the incredibly talented Charlie Hides, an award-winning cabaret artist,
YouTube sensation and man of 1,000 faces. Charlie is known for his comic creations
Kandi Kane-Baxter and Laquisha Jonz, as well as for his viral videos in which he plays
dozens of celebrities like Cher, Madonna, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey, to name a few.
) REGULARS Fri: KARAOKE with Mysterry at 9.30pm. ) Sat: CABARET at
9.30pm: with Krissie DuCann (7), Pooh La May (14), Jason Lee (21) and Kitty
Monroe (28).
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Lady Imelda
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
9.30pm
l BAR REVENGE Pop Tartz warm-up 9pm l SETTING SUN Cabaret: Laura Nixon
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Glitter: 9pm
DJs Claire Fuller & Peter Castle 11pm
l SUBLINE Steam 9pm
l BOUTIQUE i-Candy Winter Shake Up: DJ l ZONE Live music: Ricky Zalez 10pm
Thierrie 10pm
l CHARLES ST Fruity Friday Fix: DJ
SATURDAY 14
Leeroy 9pm
l DR BRIGHTONS Funky Friday: DJ Nick l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins: DJ 11pm
Hirst 9.30pm
9.30pm
FRIDAY 13
LAQUISHA JONZ
Charlie says: “I’ve got a very dark sense of humour. It’s all very
politically incorrect. Laquisha is a type audiences are familiar
with because of people like Jerry Springer!”
Laquisha says: “I’m the UK's favourite asylum seeker and the
original Primark Princess! My two-year ban on the One Pound
Megabus has ended so I've started gigging outside of London
again. I love the brilliant, gorgeous, attentive audiences in
Brighton who buy me drinks and share their drugs! I'll put a
smile on your face and make enough politically incorrect jokes to keep you giggling for a
week - one randomly chosen lucky punter also gets a hand job in the toilet after the
show! See you soon Brighton!”
) REGULARS CABARET on Sunday is at 3.30pm with: Lola Lasagne (1), Martha
D’Arthur (8), Mrs Moore (15) and La Voix (29).
terrace 1pm; se-XXY Photo Booth Special:
DJ Klipz 10pm
B 9.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Cabaret: Pooh La
May 9.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Drag With No
Name 9.30pm
& Patch on level 1; R-Haus DJs welcome DJ
producer Freejak on level 2 10.30pm
l SUBLINE Mr Subline 2015 THT
Fundraiser: Wilma Fingadoo & prizes 9pm
l ZONE Cabaret: Sally Vate 10pm
SUNDAY 15
Laura Nixon 8.30pm
PICS FROM LEGENDS BASEMENT CLUB + MARINE TAVERN
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
LEGENDS BASEMENT CLUB
MARINE TAVERN
) 31-34 Marine Parade, BN2 1TR Tel: 01273 624462, www.legendsbrighton.com
) OPEN Wed & Fri–Sun from 11pm. Free entry to the club every day.
) 13 Broad St, BN2 1TJ, Tel: 01273 905578, www.marinetavern.co.uk
) OPEN daily from 12pm–1am.
) FOOD Daily from 12-9pm; Sunday roasts served 12–6pm
DJ STEVE LUSH
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Head downstairs every Friday and brighten up your
winter weekends with GLITTER featuring superstar DJs Peter Castle (6) and new
resident DJ Steve Lush (13, 20 & 27) spinning the best dance and chart tracks till
4am. The stylish Basement Club beneath the tranquil settings of the bar is full to the
brim of gorgeous guys and ladies of all ages and scenes. Soak up the hedonistic
atmosphere without breaking the bank, as it’s free entry and there are many fantastic
drink deals to wrap your lips around including £1.50 shots.
Golden Handbag Award-Winning Steve Lush, who has
travelled the world playing the most uplifting tunes and
knows how to read a crowd and get that ‘hands in the air’
party vibe going! Steve says: “I had planned to only have a
once a month residency at the Basement Club, so was really
chuffed when offered the weekly Friday night residency at
Glitter. I’m looking to bring a happy and uplifting Friday
feeling to the night by playing the latest releases, current chart tunes and some
classic remixes.”
l BAR REVENGE Sunday Funday: Micklos Vate 8.30pm: roasts 12–7pm
hosts giant board games & karaoke 8.30pm l GROSVENOR BAR Grosvenor’s Got
l LEGENDS BAR Cabaret: Mrs Moore
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 12Food & Raffle 5pm; roasts & select menu
6pm
12pm–till gone
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: TBA 6pm &
l CHARLES ST Cabaret: Miss Penny
9.30pm
7.30pm; Tranny Rock & Roll Bingo: Sally
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Banish those winter blues with
one of the Marine Tavern's delicious Sunday Lunches
served 12–6pm. All food is fresh and cooked to order with a
choice of lamb, beef, chicken or nut roast for the main
(£5.95 or £10 for two people) and if you're feeling indulgent
then starters and desserts start from only £2.95.
James Ledward, Gscene Editor, said: “I had thick slices of roast beef, tender and tasty,
with carrots, broccoli, leeks, mashed potatoes, wonderful crisp roast potatoes and
Yorkshire pudding. Everything was cooked to perfectiont! Well recommended!”
l SETTING SUN Live music: Rebecca
Wheatley 4pm
Screwpulous 9pm
MONDAY 16
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
Night 5pm
l CHARLES STREET Studio 150 7.30pm
Madness 9.30pm
TUESDAY 17
Lewis Osborne 9pm
Fat Quiz 8.30pm
PICS FROM QUEENS ARMS
NOVEMBER
FLEUR DE PARIS THURSDAY 19
LISTINGS
PARIS HOUSE
QUEENS ARMS
) 21 Western Rd, BN3 1AF, Tel: 01273 724195, www.parishousebrighton.com
) OPEN daily from 12pm
) FOOD daily from 12pm–close.
) 7 George St, BN2 1RH, T: 01273 696873, www.thequeensarms.wix.com/thequeensarms
) OPEN 4pm Tue–Fri; 2pm Sat & Sun.
with music from Fleur de Paris and dancer Cherri Bella from 6pm.
) REGULARS Fri: PARTY TIME with DJ duo Funk Food spinning funk/soul (6 &
20) and DJ Havoxx spinning r&b/Motown/soul/funk (27) from 9pm. ) Sat: LIVE
JAZZ at 4pm; TC'S JOYFUL NOISE with DJ KENNY at 9PM, FREE entry. ) SUN
(29) is free live music with Area Code 273 at 6.30pm.
Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha & friends 9pm
Lubrikunt 9pm
Claire Fuller 11pm
Up 9pm
9pm
Vate 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Happy Hump Day 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Open mic
with hosts The Purple Shoes 8.30pm
THURSDAY 19
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY It’s All Fun & Games:
Sally Vate’s Showtune Bingo 8.30pm
Quiz 9pm
Joan Bond, DJs Lee Jeffery & Ruby Roo
9pm
l PARIS HOUSE Beaujolais Nouveau
Celebrations: Fleur de Paris & Cherri Bella
6pm
Quiz: £150 jackpot 7.30pm
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm;
DJ Steve Lush 11pm
l BOUTIQUE i-Candy: DJ Thierrie 10pm
Leeroy 9pm
Hirst 9.30pm
9.30pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJs Funk Food 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Cassidy
Connors 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Steam 9pm
l ZONE Live music: Miss Jason 10pm
SATURDAY 21
l A-BAR Angelica’s 81st Birthday 8pm
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 11pm
terrace 1pm; se-XXY 80s Disco: DJ Klipz
10pm
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Lola Lasagne remains the Queen of the Pride cabaret tent,
the Golden Handbag Awards and now you can catch her before she shoots off to Panto
land at the QA on Sat (21) from 9.30pm. Lola, aka Stephen
Richards, was created in 1989 after working as a barman at
the Two Brewers, Clapham where he admired many of the
cabaret stars such as Lily Savage, Her Imperial Highness
Regina Fong, Phil Starr, The Trollettes to name but a few.
During her time treading the boards in worn-out heels, Lola
has worked every major venue across the gay scene, has
performed in Dublin, Ibiza, Gran Canaria, and, in 1999,
enjoyed a very successful month-long engagement in Cape Town, South Africa! Like a
Lasagne, Lola has many layers and is one you really don’t want to miss!
) REGULARS Every Wed is AN AUDIENCE WITH the salacious Sally Vate, your
FRIDAY 20
SALLY VATE
WEDNESDAY 18
LOLA LASAGNE
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Thurs (19) is BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU CELEBRATIONS
chance to ask the self-proclaimed drag queen, social butterfly and good all-rounder
with the liver of a house brick anything you like from 9.30pm. Expect songs, laughter
and daring questions answered by Sally, who is something a bit different with her chat,
audience involvement and musical ‘talents’ - both serious and comic.
Sally says: “Sally Vate is a good all rounder (fat) Northern Girl
with the liver of a house brick! Every show is a unique
experience! It has to be as I'd get bored before the audience
would! If you love having a laugh then come and join me,
sometimes you need to take a step back and not take life
seriously and escape! What better way than spending an
evening with me!”
B 9.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Cabaret: Jason Lee
9.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Lola Lasagne’s
Final Show Before Panto 9.30pm
& Patch on level 1; R-Haus DJs on level 2
10.30pm
l SUBLINE Subline’s 5th Birthday 10pm
l ZONE Live music: Tabitha & Jason 10pm
SUNDAY 22
Lascel Wood 8.30pm
12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST Cabaret: Sandra 7.30pm;
Tranny Rock & Roll Bingo: Sally Vate
l LEGENDS BAR Cabaret: Laquisha Jonz
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roasts 126pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Double cabaret: Jason
Lee 6pm & 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Cum in Your Pants 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Jazz Roast
3pm; Sunday roasts 1-6pm
PICS FROM REVENGE BAR & CLUB
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
BAR REVENGE
REVENGE
) 5-7 Marine Parade, BN2 1TA, Tel: 01273 606064, www.revenge.co.uk
) OPEN Sun-Wed 12pm-1am, Thur 12pm-2am, Fri & Sat 12pm-6am.
) 32-34 Old Steine, BN1 1EL, Tel: 01273 606064, www.revenge.co.uk
) OPEN Tue from 11pm, Thur, Fri & Sat from 10.30pm
CRYSTAL LUBRIKUNT
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Every Wed at 9pm slip-sync
assassin and all-round bad egg Crystal Lubrikunt puts you
through your paces as you sashay on stage and lip-sync to
your favourite songs for a £50 cash prize! The winner each
week goes to the Grand Final for a prize of a paid performance
at The Powder Room, alongside a RuPaul’s Drag Race
superstar! Crystal says: “It’s time to lip-sync for your life! Not
only can you win a cash prize, but you could also win a spot in
the final and the chance to perform alongside RuPaul’s Drag Race royalty!”
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Expect a fast-moving high-energy set of vocal house on Sat
(14) when R-HAUS welcome future star and prolific DJ producer Freejak to level 2. In
a short time, Freejak has gained notoriety throughout the industry for his on-point
chunky remixes of current house and classics. His track Somebody to Love with Mr
Belt & Wezol is one of the biggest tracks of the summer and a Revenge level 2 staple!
If you fancy a bit of chart music, then head to SWEET REVENGE on level 1 to catch
DJs Missy B and Patch on the decks. Entry £2 b4 12am with a pass or £5/£4 NUS.
All main line drinks £2.50 before 12am, Jagerbombs £2.50 all night and double up for
£1 on all main line spirits.
PICS FROM SANTA LAND + SETTING SUN
NOVEMBER
LISTINGS
SANTA LAND
SETTING SUN
) 129 St James' St, Brighton, BN2 1TH
) OPEN daily from 12pm–12am including Christmas Day!
) 1 Windmill Street, Brighton, BN2 0GN, Tel: 01273 626192
www.settingsunbrighton.com
) OPEN Mon–Thur 4–11pm, Fri & Sat 12pm–12am, Sun 12pm–10.30pm.
) FOOD Mon–Sat till 9pm, Sunday roasts till they run out (usually 7pm).
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Tue (3) is the launch of SANTA LAND, a pop-up Winter
Wonderland in the heart of St James’ Street, getting you in the Christmas spirit right
through November, December (including Christmas Day!), eventually closing on
January (3). Immerse yourself in the festive season with log cabin frontage, over-thetop Christmas-themed décor, 50,000 fairy lights, an enchanted tree forest and a snow
photo capsule to capture all your festive snaps, making this a Christmas to remember!
To top it all off there will be cute elf bar staff serving your favourite tipples, the best of
Christmas tunes and a snow machine setting that festive scene!
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Step back in time and squeeze into those gold hot pants on
Fri (6) for a glittering night with one of the best Kylie tribute acts around, Just Kylie,
featuring a live band and troupe of dancers from 9pm. Just Kylie came about after the
show’s creator Mel Farmery, who can sing, dance and is the same build as Kylie,
wanted to ditch the jeans and so was inspired by Aussie’s flamboyant productions, glam
costumes and fabulous songs!
MONDAY 23
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
Night 5pm
Madness 9.30pm
TUESDAY 24
Up 9pm
9pm
Vate 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Fag Machine: alt night 9pm
THURSDAY 26
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
l BAR BROADWAY It’s All Fun & Games:
Sally Vate’s Blankety Blank 8.30pm
Quiz 9pm
Joan Bond, DJs Lee Jeffery & Ruby Roo
9pm
WEDNESDAY 25
l A-BAR Regency Singers’ Piano Bar
8.30pm
Jane 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Tabitha & friends 9pm Quiz: £150 jackpot 7.30pm
Lubrikunt 9pm
FRIDAY 27
l BASEMENT CLUB@LEGENDS Ice: DJ l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
Claire Fuller 11pm
Lewis Osborne 9pm
Fat Quiz 8.30pm
JUST KYLIE
James, Bar Manager, says: “This will be the ultimate Christmas bar experience!”
Santa Land is also open on Christmas Day and as you have until Jan (3) there’s no
excuse to miss it!
Mel, who loves life, friends & family and (of course!) glitter,
says: “Music has been a way of life ever since I can remember!
I idolised Kylie from the start, but it was from around the mid1990s onwards that I started to really appreciate her as a
performer. The full line up of the Just Kylie Show is myself
portraying Kylie, a live band and a troupe of dancers. It
incorporates all the glitz and glamour you expect from Kylie
herself with staged routines and many iconic costumes. It’s
colourful, lively, elegant, dramatic and camp.
“I perform the best of Kylie’s hits and songs like Your Disco Needs You, which is a
massive anthem but only reached 152 in the UK charts! My favourite one to sing is
Confide In Me and I love performing Better The Devil, which we usually perform as the
opening number in the show when I’m wearing the stunning blue feathered showgirl
costume. It’s quite an entrance!”
The new owners/managers say “It’s a great venue with a superb view over Brighton and
we serve fabulous food. Everyone is so friendly and there is a huge appreciation for
music. Be prepared to have a good time and feel free to wear your gold hot pants!”
www.facebook.com/justkylietribute
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm;
Flamenco Dancing@The Gods: Álvaro
Guarnido, live guitar & singer 9pm
DJ Steve Lush 11pm
l BOUTIQUE i-Candy Xmas Warm-Up: D
Thierre 10pm
Leeroy 9pm
Hirst 9.30pm
9.30pm
l PARIS HOUSE DJ Havoxx 9pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Baga Chipz
9.30pm
l SETTING SUN Live music: Kelly G 9pm
l SUBLINE Big Scrum sportskit night
9pm
l ZONE Cabaret: Collusion 10pm
SATURDAY 28
l BAR 7@CRAWLEY 7 Sins 9pm
l BAR BROADWAY Jukebox 4pm; Giggle
@The Gods 9pm
terrace 1pm; se-XXY Xmas Warm-up: DJ
Klipz 10pm
7 GEORGE STREET BRIGHTON
01273 696873
http://thequeensarms.wix.com/thequeensarms
TUESDAY 9.00PM
DAVINA SPARKLE’S
BIG FAT QUIZ
WEDNESDAY 9.30PM
AN AUDIENCE WITH
SALLY VATE
THURSDAY 9.30PM
MISS JASON
FRIDAY
CABARET 9.30
PM
6 NOV SOPHIE GOOFY OLD TART
13 NOV LADY IMELDA
20 NOV CASSIDY CONNORS
27 NOV BAGA CHIPZ
SATURDAY
CABARET 9.30PM
7 NOV DIANE JAMES
14 NOV DRAG NO NAME
21 NOV LOLA LASAGNE
LAST BRIGHTON SHOW BEFORE
SHE’S WHISKED OFF TO PANTOLAND!
28NOV MYRA DUBOIS
SUNDAY
DOUBLE CABARET
PM
PM
2 SHOWS: 6 & 9.30
1 NOV DAVINA SPARKLE
8 NOV KARA VAN PARK
15 NOV TBC
22NOV JASON LEE
29NOV MARTHA D’ARTHUR
PICS FROM SUBLINE + ZONE BAR
NOVEMBER
SUBLINE
ZONE BAR
) 129 St James' St, BN2 1TH, Tel: 01273 624100, www.sublinebrighton.co.uk
) OPEN Wed–Sun from 9pm.
) 33 St James’ St, BN2 1RF, Tel: 01273 682249, www.zonebar.co.uk
) OPEN daily from 10am .
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Sat (14) is MR SUBLINE 2015 in association with THT,
an annual search for the finest fitties of Brighton! Wilma Fingadoo returns as hostess,
putting the men through their paces, before the audience decides who should clinch
the title! There will be a prizes for every entrant, not to mention the satisfaction of
knowing you could likely have any man in the room! Entry on the night is £5, which
will go straight to fund the fantastic work of THT in the local community.
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Step back in time with vocalist Ricky Zalez bringing Rat
Pack style and songs, with a peppering of contemporary hits, to the Zone stage on Fri
(13) from 10pm. Born in Los Angeles, Ricky found his voice from a very young age
and was brought up with vocalists like Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, and Big Band
sounds – inspiring his sound today! Now based in
Hampshire, Ricky will bring to you a top class show that will
have everyone singing and dancing the whole night through.
Steven Lee, Manager, says: “This is the most prestigious
pageant of male beauty! Contact the club ASAP if you are
interested in entering, or come down on the night and vote for
your favourite. All entrants will receive some nice freebies for
their participation, and the winner will scoop an armful of
goodies, including a professional photoshoot from Manel
Ortega, champers and choccies, slutty knickers, and probably
more phone numbers than you could ever want! It's a really fun event, nothing too
heavy, with only a teensy bit of humiliation involved, and it's all for charity!”
) Also don’t miss SUBLINE’S 5TH BIRTHDAY PARTY on Sat (21) from 10pm!
l CHARLES ST Winter Wonderland Party
9pm
B 9.30pm
l GROSVENOR BAR Cabaret: Kitty Monroe
9.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Cabaret: Myra Dubois
9.30pm
l REVENGE CO2 Party: Sweet Revenge:
DJs Missy B & Patch on level 1; R-Haus DJs
on level 2 10.30pm
l SUBLINE Men’s Room: DJ Screwpulous
9pm
l ZONE Cabaret: Sally Vate 10pm
SUNDAY 29
Jason Lee 8.30pm
12pm–till gone
l CHARLES ST Cabaret: Drag With No
Name 7.30pm; Tranny Rock & Roll Bingo:
Sally Vate 8.30pm; roasts 12–7pm
Talent: Final Heat 8.30pm
l LEGENDS BAR Cabaret: La Voix
THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS
) 59 North Rd, Brighton, BN1 1YD, Tel: 01273 608571, www.3jollybutchers.com
) OPEN Mon–Sat from 12pm, Sun from 1pm. Private function room available.
) FOOD Mon–Fri 12–9pm; Sat 12–8pm; Sunday roasts 1–6pm.
) ONE FOR THE DIARY Thur is LET'S GET QUIZZY with £150 cash prize at
7.30pm.
) REGULARS Wed (4 & 18) is OPEN MIC with The Purple Shoes at 8.30pm.
) Sun is the JAZZ ROAST at 3pm, free entry.
RICKY ZALEZ
STEVEN LEE
LISTINGS
Ricky Zalez says: “I’ll be doing songs from swing, Rat Pack,
Rock & Roll, Broadway, to today’s hits so it’ll be fun for all
ages and I’m looking forward to working my American Charm
with everyone so have a drink and enjoy the ride!”
l MARINE TAVERN Sunday roast 126pm
l PARIS HOUSE Area Code 273 6.30pm
l QUEEN’S ARMS Double cabaret: Martha
D’Arthur 6pm & 9.30pm
l SUBLINE Cum in Your Pants 9pm
l THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS Jazz Roast
3pm; Sunday roasts 1-6pm
MONDAY 30
l A-BAR Karaoke 8pm
Night 5pm
l LEGENDS BAR WAD Benefit 9pm
TUESDAY 1 DEC
l BAR BROADWAY World AIDS Day
Karaoke with BGT’s Lorraine Bowen 8.30pm
l BOUTIQUE World AIDS Day Special
8pm
l CAMELFORD ARMS World AIDS Day:
free hot drinks for those attending the
Memorial Service 5.30pm
l CHARLES ST Annual World AIDS Day
Cabaret Fundraiser for THT: host Drag With
No Name + Sally Vate, Mrs Moore, Rose
Garden, Kara Van Park, Gabriella Parish,
Lucinda Lashes & surprise guests 7.30pm
PICS FROM LONDON HOTEL SOUTHAMPTON
SOLENT
SUNDAY 8
l HAMPSHIRE BOULEVARD
1 Hampshire Terrace, Southsea
TEL: 2392 297509
l OLD VIC 104 St Paul’s Rd, Southsea
TEL: 02392 297013, www.oldvicportsmouth.co.uk
l TROPICS SAUNA 2 Market Way, PO1 4BX
TEL: 02380 296100, www.tropics-sauna.com
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD karaoke till 2am
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Pounded: DJ 11pm
l LONDON HOTEL The London Podium: Mary
Mac’s Birthday 8pm; Lola Lasagne 9pm; roasts
12-3.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
MONDAY 9
l ISOBAR 100c St Mary’s St
TEL: 02380 222028
l LONDON HOTEL
2 Terminus Terr, SO14 3DT
TEL: 02380 710652, www.the-london.co.uk
Friendly bar with regular cabaret, DJs & food
OPEN: Mon-Wed 12-11pm, Thur 12-12.30am,
Fri & Sat 12-1.30am, Sun 12-11.30pm
FOOD: Mon–Sat 12–3pm; Sunday lunch,
12–3.30pm.
DRINK PROMOS: Mon-Wed all day
l TITANIC Simnel St, SO14 2BE
TEL: 023 8021 1879, www.thetitanicpub.co.uk
l EDGE Compton Walk, SO14 0BH
TEL: 02380 366163, www.theedgesouthampton.com
l PINK BROADWAY SAUNA 797/80 East St
TEL: 02380 238804, www.pink-broadway.com
SUNDAY 1
PORTSMOUTH
l HAMPSHIRE BLVD DJ till 2am
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Pop!: DJ 11pm
TUESDAY 10
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC Quiz 8pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE video jukebox 11pm
WEDNESDAY 11
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE Bar 150: DJs & karaoke 10pm
THURSDAY 12
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC karaoke 8pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL Karaoke Cruising: Kara Van
Park + Mark Rowell’s 50th B’day 8.30pm
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL The London Podium: Tanya
FRIDAY 13
Hyde 8pm; Drag Idol’s Linda Matthews 9pm;
PORTSMOUTH
roasts 12-3.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
MONDAY 2
l EDGE Get Some: DJs 10pm
PORTSMOUTH
l LONDON HOTEL Fairylea: DJ Ruby Roo
8.30pm; cabaret: Miss Penny 10pm
SOUTHAMPTON
SATURDAY 14
TUESDAY 3
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC Quiz 8pm
SOUTHAMPTON
WEDNESDAY 4
SOUTHAMPTON
THURSDAY 5
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL Karaoke Cruising: Martha
D’Arthur 8.30pm
FRIDAY 6
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
8.30pm; cabaret: Dave Lynn 10pm
SATURDAY 7
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC DJs all night
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE The Big One: DJs 10pm
l LONDON HOTEL Guilty Pleasures: DJ Neil
Sackley 8.30pm
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL Guilty Pleasures: DJ Tiny
8.30pm
SUNDAY 15
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
Mac 8pm; Miss Jason 9pm; roasts 12-3.30pm
MONDAY 16
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
TUESDAY 17
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC Quiz 8pm
SOUTHAMPTON
WEDNESDAY 18
SOUTHAMPTON
THURSDAY 19
PORTSMOUTH
MARY MAC
PORTSMOUTH
DAVE LYNN FRI 6
LISTINGS
LONDON HOTEL
SOUTHAMPTON
) 2 Terminus Terr, SO14 3DT, Tel: 02380 710652, www.the-london.co.uk
) OPEN daily from 12pm. ) FOOD Mon–Sat 12–3pm; Sunday lunch 12–3pm.
) WORLD AIDS DAY Tue (1) Dec chilled atmosphere, ideal to meet up with friends.
) REGULARS Thur: KARAOKE CRUISE with hosts Martha D’Arthur (5) and Kara
Van Park (12, 19 & 26) at 8.30pm. Thur (12) is also Mark Rowell’s 50th Birthday
Party! Fri: FAIRYLEA with DJ Ruby Roo, high camp/pure cheese, at 8.30pm; then it’s
CABARET at 10pm: Dave Lynn (6), Miss Penny (13), Sandra (20) and Tiara
Thunderpussy (27). Sat: GUILTY PLEASURES with DJs and entertainment from
8.30pm: Neil Sackley (7), Tiny (14), Dazza (21) and Lucinda with special guest
Karen Dalton (28). SUNDAY NIGHT ON THE LONDON PODIUM features Mary Mac guest host Tanya Hyde (1) - at 8pm and cabaret at 9pm: Drag Idol contestant Linda
Matthews (1), Lola Lasagne for Mary Mac’s Birthday (8), Miss Jason (15), Tanya
Hyde (22) and a double helping of Mary Mac before she shoots off to Panto (29).
SOUTHAMPTON
THURSDAY 26
l LONDON HOTEL Karaoke Cruising: Kara Van PORTSMOUTH
Park 8.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
FRIDAY 20
PORTSMOUTH
l LONDON HOTEL Karaoke Cruising: Kara Van
Park 8.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
FRIDAY 27
PORTSMOUTH
8.30pm; cabaret: Sandra 10pm
SOUTHAMPTON
SATURDAY 21
PORTSMOUTH
8.30pm; cabaret: Tiara Thunderpussy 10pm
SOUTHAMPTON
SATURDAY 28
l LONDON HOTEL Guilty Pleasures: DJ Dazza PORTSMOUTH
8.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
SUNDAY 22
PORTSMOUTH
l LONDON HOTEL Guilty Pleasures: DJ
Lucinda + cabaret from Karen Dalton 8.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL The London Podium: Mary SUNDAY 29
Mac 8pm; Tanya Hyde 9pm; roasts 12-3.30pm PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
MONDAY 23
PORTSMOUTH
Mac double helping 8pm; roasts 12-3.30pm
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE DJs 11pm
MONDAY 30
TUESDAY 24
PORTSMOUTH
l OLD VIC Quiz 8pm
SOUTHAMPTON
WEDNESDAY 25
SOUTHAMPTON
PORTSMOUTH
SOUTHAMPTON
l EDGE DJs 11pm
TUESDAY 1 DEC
SOUTHAMPTON
l LONDON HOTEL World AIDS Day 12pm
GSCENE 43
THE LONDON
HOTEL PINK PARTY
) Customers of the London Hotel dressed to impress again this year
raising money for two great causes. The Countess Mountbatten
Hospice Charity and Ben Cohen's STANDUP Foundation will share the
£3,500 raised in ticket sales, and from the raffle and auction. Everyone
enjoyed an evening of laughter and song with the Sunday resident
performer, Mary Mac, who duetted with Kara Van Park, Sam Solace,
Martha D'arthur, Rose Garden and Karen Dalton, who all joined
together for this year’s Pink Party.
This annual event was started six years ago by landlords of the London
Hotel, David & Raymond Riley-Cole, as The Pink Ball, designed to
raise money with the LGBT community and their friends.
Over the 12 years that David & Ray have run The
London, they have raised over £150,000 for around 20
different charities, resulting in them recently winning
an award from Enterprise Inns as Community Heroes
which they are very proud of, and would like to thank
all their great team of staff, friends and customers for
all their support over the years. The Pink Ball returns next year with
black-tie dinner and lots of entertainment. www.the-london.co.uk
44 GSCENE
B Y MIC HA E L HO O TMA N
BRIGHTON CENTRE
Kings Rd, Brighton
Box office: 0844 847 1515
WILL YOUNG
) DIVERSITY (Sun 1) present the
Up Close & Personal exclusive tour
for 2015 created by Ashley Banjo.
) WILL YOUNG (Mon 2) The Love
Revolution Tour sees Young play
his hits and material from his new
album, 85% Proof.
) HARRY ENFIELD & PAUL WHITEHOUSE (Sun 8) appear live for the
first time in a UK tour reviving classic comedy characters such as
Loadsamoney, the Old Gits, Smashie & Nicey, Kevin the Teenager, Julio
Geordio, the Writer & the Landlady to name a few…
) WWE LIVE (Wed 11). See your favourite WWE Superstars and Divas
live in action, all under one roof.
) BRIT FLOYD (Tue 17) celebrate five decades of Pink Floyd; from 965
through to their brand new album, The Endless River. This new show
includes performances from Pink Floyd's biggest selling albums. ‘The
perfect rock show’ LA Times.
) THE VACCINES (Thu 19) play hits from Come of Age and English
Graffiti, support from Palma Violets & Sunflower Bean.
) PAUL WELLER (Fri 20) releases his eagerly awaited 12th studio
album, Saturn's Pattern, on May 11, support from Young Fathers.
) SIMPLY RED (Sat 28–Sun 29). Holding Back The Years… Simply
Red: Reformed! Celebrating their 30th Anniversary.
) JOHN GRANT (Fri 13). It’s been
the most spectacular of journeys:
from a time when John Grant
feared he’d never make music
again, to the success of Pale Green
Ghosts – an album many
considered one of the best of 2013,
and which earned Grant a BRIT
nomination for Best International
Male. Now comes his third album,
Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, a
veritable selection that continues
to entwine his two principal
strands of musical DNA: the
sumptuous tempered ballad and the
fizzing pop song. 'Positively spinetingling' The Guardian.
CHOREOGRAPHY OF AN ARGUMENT
ARTS
money and now plans to murder her
for the same reason. He arranges
the perfect murder: he blackmails a
scoundrel he used to know into
strangling her for a fee, and
arranges a brilliant alibi for
himself. 'Original and remarkably
good theatre - quiet in style but
tingling with excitement
underneath' NY Times.
) CHOREOGRAPHY OF AN
ARGUMENT ROUND A TABLE (Mon
23–Tue 24). Dog Kennel Hill
Project and South East
Dance. Five performers and a piano
LES BALLETS TROCKADERO
ALAN CARR
create an unpredictable and riotous
performance that unpicks what it is
to be in an argument, and how we
win and lose while our trousers are
down.
) MAKING MANKIND (Thu 26).
A night exploring what it means to
be a 'man' in 2015. Through spoken
word, local artists will illuminate
the challenges they face in
confronting their own identity
that men can, indeed, dance en
BAR BROADWAY
as men or relating to other men in
pointe without falling flat on their
10 Steine St, Brighton
their communities. How far do
faces!
Hurtling
through
the
) GIGGLE @ THE GODS (9.30pm,
social constructs and media
classical
ballet
repertoire
with
their
Sat 28). Head upstairs for hilarious
stereotypes constrict how men
inimitable blend of skill, grace and
late night stand-up comedy, £3.
wit as sharp as scissors en pointe, ) ALAN CARR (Fri 20–Sat 21). No choose to live their lives?
The Trocks have been a global
BENT DOUBLE
stranger to yap, Alan Carr will be
phenomenon since forming in New yapping his way around the UK &
Komedia, Gardner St, Brighton
York in 1974. Dancers, including
) BENT DOUBLE (Sun 1) is an
Ireland with his brand new stand
Ida Nevasyneva and Olga
irreverent night of fun and frolics
up show ‘Yap, Yap, Yap!’ The BAFTA
Supphozova, present two
hosted by Zoe Lyons (Mock The
and British Comedy Award-winning
programmes which effortlessly
Week and Michael McIntyre's
comedian, author and chat show
display their startling technical
Comedy Roadshow).
supremo returns to his stand-up
prowess and extraordinary make-up roots. 'A comedian who owns the
skills. Enjoy show-stopping Swan
BRIGHTON DOME
space he is working in so much, he
Lake (Act II), Merce Cunningham- could put a flag up' The
New Rd, Brighton
FIKA CONCERT
inspired Patterns in Space, Go For Independent.
Box office: 01273 709709
Friends Meeting House, Ship St,
) LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE Barocco, a satire on Balanchine’s
Brighton
choreography, and the UK premiere DIABLO
MONTE CARLO 2015 (Tue 3–Wed
of
Don
Quixote.
4). The Trocks return… in size 12
Bee's Mouth, 10 Western Rd, Hove ) FIKA “to have coffee and
“The Trocks deliver a kick from a
pointe shoes. This company of
) FROCKABILLY presents DIABLO pastries” is a great Swedish
tradition and Brighton-based
professional male dancers presents steel toe-cap in a silky pointe shoe” (9pm-2am, Sat 7). Join DJ
musicians, baritone Stefan
Daily Telegraph; “The funniest night Lonesome M (Frockabilly/Honey
an inspired blend of their loving
you'll
ever
have
at
the
ballet”
knowledge of dance, brilliant comic
Hush) for a night of devilishly good Holmstrom and pianist Tim Nail,
invite you to FIKA (3pm, Sat 21)
approach, and the astounding fact Sunday Times..
rockabilly played at a pleasantly
for an afternoon of cakes and music
loud volume... Free entry, wear
what you like, dance how you like, including Vaughan Williams' Songs
of Travel, Faure's Mirages, selected
kiss who you like.
songs by Sibelius and piano music
by Arensky and Peter Maxwell
EMPORIUM
Davies. Coffee and Swedish cake
88 London Rd, Brighton
thelittleboxoffice.com/emporium will be served in the interval.
Tickets: £10 on the door include
) DIAL 'M' FOR MURDER (Oct
coffee and pastry. For more
28–Nov 21). Tony Wendice has
information visit FIKA’s Facebook
married his wife, Margot, for her
group.
PAM ANN
GSCENE 45
THEATRE ROYAL
Theatre Royal, New Rd, Brighton
Box office: 08448 717650
) PAM ANN: QUEEN OF THE SKY
(Sun 15). Hilarious, often shocking
and totally politically incorrect, the
world’s favourite International Air
Hostess, Pam Ann, keeps things
lively and nail bitingly
unpredictable as she takes off her
pristine white gloves and delivers
an unrelenting barrage of 'shootfrom-the-lip' observations.
) CELEBRATE - 10 YEARS WITH
BRIGHTON GAY MEN’S CHORUS
(Sun 22). IDon your glad-rags and
polish off your pearl necklaces for
another end-of-year extravaganza!
Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus return
to the Theatre Royal for its 10th
Anniversary concert. They’ll be
reflecting, reminiscing and
rejoicing their ten years together.
In the edited highlights of their
sparkly decade of singing out,
they’ll cover their best bits,
introduce some surprises and give
a glimpse of what is to come in the
future. West End director Marc
Yarrow is the musical director and
Quintin Young joins the creative
team as artist director for the
evening. The show will be raising
funds for local LGBTQ charity
MindOut, which provides support
to people with mental health
issues. Tickets (£10– £24) from:
www.bit.ly/10celebrate or from
Theatre Royal Box Office in person
(no booking fee) or call 0844
8717650 (booking fees apply).
) HAIRSPRAY THE MUSICAL (Nov
30–Dec 12). It’s Baltimore, 1962,
where Tracy Turnblad, a big girl
with big hair and an even bigger
heart, is on a mission to follow her
dreams and dance her way onto
national TV. Tracy’s audition makes
her a local star and soon she is
using her new-found fame to fight
for equality, bagging local heart
throb Link Larkin along the way!
COMING SOON...
WORLD AIDS DAY
St Mary’s Church, Kemptown
www.BrightonWADconcert.info
) WORLD AIDS DAY CHARITY
CONCERT (7.30pm, Tue Dec)
features Actually Gay Men’s
Chorus, Brighton Belles Women’s
Chorus, Brighton Gay Men’s
Chorus, Rainbow Chorus,
Rebelles, Resound Male Voices
and Qukulele. Mince pies and
mulled wine will be served during
the interval. Tickets £8 available
online or from Prowler on St
James’s Street. It’s recommended
to buy tickets in advance, but a
small number will be retained to
buy on the door on the night.
www.BrightonWADconcert.info
RAINBOWS CHORUS
St George’s Church, St Georges
Road, Kemptown
) CAN YOU HEAR THE RAINBOWS
SING? (7.30pm, Sat Dec 5) The
Rainbow Chorus continues to
celebrate 18 glorious years of
harmony with a show-stopping
festive Christmas concert featuring
much-loved songs from their
Christmas repertoire over the last
18 years and a new tribute medley
from one of the most successful
musicals of all time, Les Miserables.
Tickets £14/£10 concs/£7 under
12 available from:
www.brownpapertickets.com/even
t/2386279 or contact choir
members. It will be a sell-out so
book your tickets early to avoid
disappointment!
ANEESA CHAUDHRY
Latest Music Bar, Manchester St,
Brighton
) ANEESA CHAUDHRY PRESENTS…
an evening of high quality
entertainment (8pm, Tue Dec 15)
with Mojca Monte (piano), Andres
Ticino (percussion), Charlotte
Glasson (woodwind and strings),
plus special guest Jan Allain.
“Aneesa Chaudhry is a force of
nature and a force to be reckoned
with. Her voice is extraordinary in so
many senses. Weapon Quality!”
Andrew Kay, Latest TV
Tickets £15, available from:
http://aneesachaudhrypresents.b
pt.me/
46 GSCENE
ART MATTERS
ARTS
B Y E NZO MA RRA
For November I’ve sourced a number of local exhibitions, some of
which I am included in.
Radio Reverb 97.2fm
) Join Paul Thorn every week for HIV HAPPY HOUR
(7pm, Thur) for a mix of serious health-related
discussions with lifestyle features, music, expert
guests, and phone-ins for HIV-positive people. It’s
Britain’s first radio show devoted entirely to the
virus!
) Kathy Caton presents OUT IN BRIGHTON (5-6pm, every Thur). The
city's only dedicated LGBTQ radio show covers all aspects of LGBT life,
from community events and groups to profiling key LGBT figures and
highlights emerging LGBT musicians and artists. Got an LGBT community
event you want to talk about? Are you a queer musician looking to get
your tracks heard? Is there someone you'd really like to hear Kathy
interview or get on air? Then get in touch!
OSKA BRIGHT FILM FESTIVAL 2015
The three-day festival, which takes place every other year in Brighton,
celebrates its seventh edition with a new range of activities including a
live link-up with Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff, who will be watching
the festival in real-time, and its first ever screening of a feature-length
film Sons & Mothers, an Australian-made film of an intimate portrait of
the Men’s Ensemble Theatre Troupe, tracing their process to create a
theatrical love letter to their mothers. There is a wide-range of
screenings and talks, music videos, comedy shorts, animations plus films
from Canada’s Picture This… Film Festival. A series of horror films will
be screened in the festival’s ‘den’ for those who dare! Get hands-on in
the Spotlight area by exploring an online world in virtual-reality headset
Oculus Rift, learn about YouTube publishing or have a go at VJing.
Workshops include: Learn to Plan, Shoot and Edit A Super Short Film
(12.30pm, Tues 10) with Beacon Hill Arts who will help you kick start
your film-making career; and How To Direct A Film (12.30pm, Wed 11)
with 104 Films, responsible for films Sex, Drugs And Rock & Roll and
Special People. The festival culminates in an awards ceremony with
surprise presenters and music from Hamburg’s electro new-wave sextet
Kundedkoenig.
A three-day pass is £15, day tickets from £4, workshop tickets £5 (carers
free). Book tickets and read the full programme at www.carousel.org.uk
Brighton-based charity Carousel helps learning disabled artists develop
and manage their creative lives, true to their voice and vision,
challenging expectations of what great art is and who can create it.
Devonshire Park, College Road, Eastbourne, BN21 4JJ
www.townereastbourne.org.uk
) THE FILM LONDON JARMAN AWARD TOURING PROGRAMME 2015
(Thur 5–Mon 9) has a diverse and thought-provoking programme of
artists’ moving image. This year’s shortlist of artists were chosen for
bodies of work representing uncompromising power, beauty and
humour. The programme shows the breadth of practice within
contemporary filmmaking, from extraordinary documentaries and lyrical
storytelling to mesmerising works that interweave glimpses of the past
with digital technologies. Inspired by visionary filmmaker Derek
Jarman, the Jarman Award recognises and supports artists working
with moving image and celebrates the
spirit of experimentation, imagination
and innovation in the work of artist
filmmakers. The shortlisted films
include Adam Chodzko with Great
Expectations, 2015; Seamus Harahan
with Cold Open, 2014; Gail Pickering
with Near Real Time, 2015; Alia Syed
with Points of Departure, 2014; Bedwyr Williams with Echt, 2015;
Hotel 70°, 2015; and finally Andrea Luka Zimmerman with Towards
Estate, 2012, and Estate: A Reverie, 2015.
) Also at the Towner (from Sun 29) is JOHN NAPIER: STAGES,
BEYOND THE FOURTH WALL, where the multi-award-winning set and
costume designer John Napier will bring theatre and art together.
Napier’s innovative
and distinctive style is
responsible for some
of the most iconic
designs in theatre: the
horses in Equus, the
barricades in Les Misérables, the helicopter in Miss Saigon, the outsized
junkyard in Cats, and Starlight Express. Stages encompasses these
theatre achievements alongside Napier’s art works. The collection
includes costume designs, three-dimensional pieces based on his
theatre work, and sculptures that have been created in parallel with
his career.
SARAH GORDY
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange, Church St,
Brighton, www.carousel.org.uk
) OSKA BRIGHT FILM FESTIVAL (Mon
9–Wed 11 Nov). Programmed, managed and
presented by a learning disabled team, Oska
Bright showcases the best international
films made by and starring people with
learning disabilities alongside debates
designed to challenge the status quo. When
did you last see a learning disabled actor in
a mainstream movie? Whilst actors such as
Paula Sage and Sarah Gordy are now getting
parts, in the film industry only 0.1% of
people have a disability of any sort. This is
one of the issues that the 2015 Oska Bright Film Festival explores. In a
keynote address at the festival, Sarah Gordy (Pamela in
BBC’s Upstairs Downstairs and Sally in Call The Midwife)
will describe her experiences in the film industry. Sarah
says: “I’ve made short films, including an Oska Bright
award-winner, and I now have an agent in LA. Festivals
like Oska Bright, with all their development work, really
help learning disabled people to make their mark in film.”
ALIA SYED POINTS OF DEPARTURE
TOWNER
LONDON GROUP OPEN 2015
ENZO MARRA
PAUL THORN
RADIO GAY GAY...
www.thelondongroup.com
) I’ve been selected by the UK’s longestrunning and most prestigious artist cooperative, as one of 71 non-member artists
for the LONDON GROUP OPEN 2015 and I’m
in Part Two of the exhibition (until Fri 6)
at the Cello Gallery in Waterloo, London.
This year’s awards include a three-person
exhibition at The Cello Factory, and the
Ingram Collection of Modern British &
Contemporary Art purchase prize. Included
within the £5,000 prize fund is the Chelsea Arts Club Trust Stan Smith
Award for an artist under 35 (£1,500), a sculpture prize awarded by
Jeff Lowe (£500), the GX Gallery Annual prize (£300), and the
Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers Prize for Drawing (£300).
ST ANNE’S GALLERIES
111 High St, Lewes, BN7 1XY, www.stannesgalleries.com
) I’ve also got paintings in THE LITTLE WONDER exhibition in St
Anne's Galleries, which is housed in a landmark building in the vibrant
town of Lewes (Sats & Suns, Nov 28–Dec 20). Curator Sarah O'Kane
has specialised in Sussex contemporary art since 1999.
PAM ANN 2015 BY JAMES & JAMES
GSCENE 47
thing lol. The combination of misogynistic men
+ sport + corporate + Pam Ann = FAIL.
What’s the oddest heckle you’ve had?
This one came out randomly, ‘I like your shoes’!
What’s your best putdown?
‘I'll give you three chances (to shut the f*ck
up): 1,2,3’ said all at once and I kick them out
on the first warning. They usually leave crying.
You’re looking super svelte and sexy - what’s
the secret of your tiny waist?
Greggs Steak Bake and Pizza Express.
What were you doing ten years ago?
Living in London, touring with Cher.
What will you be doing in ten years time?
Living in LA touring with Nicki Minaj.
What’s the best thing about your home town
Melbourne that you miss?
Chiko Rolls.
Who is your favourite drag queen ever?
Mama Yvette from The Fridge (she resides in
Brighton) 'Daaaaancinnng tillllll threeeeeeee'.
Tell us about your grandmother?
She was born in Liverpool.
Do you have a secret shame?
Masturbating to Great British Bake Off.
Can comedy change the world?
No, but it can make it lighten the f*ck up.
QUEEN OF THE SKY
Eric Page asked Caroline Reid, writer and comedian
behind Pam Ann, a few deep and meaningful questions he was lucky to get away with his life!
) Pam Ann, the world’s favourite international
air hostess and queen of the sky, is back in the
UK with a new show. Jet-setting in from sellout tours in Europe, the USA, Australia, and
following a six-week run at London’s Leicester
Square Theatre, Pam Ann will touchdown in
Brighton on Sunday, November 15.
Pam Ann is the comic creation of writer and
comedian Caroline Reid and together they sell
out every stage they hit, from New York’s
Public Theatre to San Francisco’s Castro,
Sydney’s State Theatre to Melbourne’s Princess
Theatre, Paris’s Alhambra Theatre to London’s
Hammersmith Apollo, to name a few. Caroline’s
caustic wit knows no bounds and she is
fearless about engaging in controversy, deftly
navigating the flying taboos, stereotypes, and
cultural differences that the boldest of other
comedians rarely broach. Easily offended flyers
please be warned - her new show, Queen of the
Sky, will take no hostages.
The Queen of the Sky can’t promise that this
plane won’t go missing over the Indian Ocean
or shut down the internet in North Korea but
she can guarantee a turbulent flight, so fasten
your seatbelt. Ever wondered what it would
feel like to be hijacked and verbally abused by
an international air hostess? Well this show is
for you! Pam Ann is back and she means
business (class). Funny, shocking and totally
politically incorrect, Pam Ann keeps things
lively and nail-bitingly unpredictable as she
takes off her pristine white gloves and delivers
an unrelenting barrage of ‘shoot-from-the-lip’
observations.
Modest, even about her name-dropping, and
adored by cabin crew and frequent flyers
around the world, Pam Ann’s ability to rile,
offend and charm her audiences has helped her
keep flying high. She’s like bare-backing - you
either love or hate her. She’s developed a cultlike international following and counts Elton
John, Cher and Madonna (who describes Pam
Ann as “cruelly funny”) among her fans.
When was the last time you cried?
Yesterday, no reason (pre-menstrual). I want
someone to kick me in the c*nt so I can bleed.
What gives you joy in America?
The sexy black men.
What was your worst gig ever?
I was at an Australian Football League
corporate event in Melbourne. The audience
thought I was a stripper, which isn't a bad
What’s the best advice you were ever given?
Silence is golden... I obviously didn't listen.
What’s your fantasy threesome?
The Game, Angelina Jolie, Common.
Can you bake? What do you bake?
Yes I do. Meth.
Best queer comedy night in Brighton?
No f*cking idea, but I love Revenge and
anywhere with drag queens, cocktails and gays.
What Caroline meant to answer to that last
question (but was obviously bored out of her
mind by the inanity of my questions) was that
her new Pam Ann tour, Queen of the Sky, is the
best comedy night in Brighton. Pam Ann is at
the glamourous Theatre Royal on Sunday,
November 15, 2015 for a quick stop over and
refuelling before jetting off to sunny Wales.
COMPETITION
) We have a pair of tickets to give away for the
Pam Ann show Queen Of The Sky at the Theatre
Royal, Brighton, on Sunday, November 15. One
lucky reader and their friend can enjoy the sharp
lashing of her ruthless tongue by answering the
following question: At which London theatre
did Pam Ann just finish a six-week run?
To win the pair of tickets please email your
answer to: [email protected] before 5pm,
Thursday November 12 with ‘UPGRADE TO PAM
ANN’ in the subject bar.
) See Pam Ann videos, tour info and camp
collectable merchandise at http://pamann.com/
48 GSCENE
B Y NIC K B O STO N
his life, and details about his
compositions and musical
appointments really only account
for less than ten years of his life
from 1524 to about 1530. Yet
eight masses and a number of
motets and antiphons remain, and
the importance of this composer
in the development of English
music cannot be overstated. His
command of texture and form,
combined with the ability to
create a sense of serenity and
clarity in his melodic lines is
amply demonstrated in the Missa
Corona Spinea. Unlike in his other
great work Missa Gloria tibi
Trinitas, where the virtuosity
required across the six parts is
more or less equal, in the Missa
Corona Spinea, it is the trebles
(the top soprano line) who are the
stars. Right from the opening bars
they are soaring on top B flats,
and stay up there pretty much
throughout. Not only that, but
there are two significant ‘gimell’
sections – this is where one part
splits into two separate lines. So
here, the two trebles (Janet
Coxwell and Amy Haworth on
amazing form) have incredibly
intricate solo lines which weave in
and out of each other,
underpinned by a bass line. For
the second gimell, Taverner
complicates matters even more by
splitting the mean voice (the next
voice down) too, making this a
double gimell. The resulting
instrument’s natural lyricism
suiting Brahms’ beautifully smooth
lines well – although again here
when taken to the higher reaches
of the instrument, the tone
becomes a little dry. The early
Schubert Sonata works well, and
Wispelwey and Giacometti bring
out its light, engaging spirit well.
Wispelwey separates the three duos
with two movements from Solo
Cello Suites by Max Reger (18731916) – highly Romantic works,
despite their obvious nod to Bach,
and convincingly performed here.
Evil Penguin Records Classic
EPRC0018
Reviews, comments and events:
v nicks-classicalnotes.blogspot.co.uk
t @nickb86uk
) [email protected]
CINEMA
) Live from the Royal Opera House, the
Royal Ballet perform four short ballets,
including Carlos Acosta in his own new
production of Carmen, together with works
by Liam Scarlett, Jerome Robbins and
George Balanchine, to music by
Liebermann, Debussy and Tchaikovsky (Thur 12).
) You can also see William Kentridge’s production of Berg’s Lulu live
from the Met (Sat 21), with Marlis Petersen, Susan Graham and
Daniel Brenna. If you miss the live broadcast, many cinemas also have
repeat showings of this and also last month’s Tannhäuser by Wagner –
check for dates.
In a range of local cinemas, including: Duke’s at the Komedia and
Odeon in Brighton, Cineworld Eastbourne, and the Connaught Cinema,
Worthing. Check for times and dates.
CONCERTS
BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL
) Cellist Pieter Wispelwey has
been joined by pianist Paolo
Giacometti for the first disc in a
projected six disc cycle in which
he plans to record all of Schubert
and Brahms’ chamber duos –
predominantly composed for other
instruments than the cello. Why,
you might ask? Well, as he argues,
some works, such as Brahms’
Clarinet Sonatas, are regularly
performed on other instruments –
Brahms himself published versions
of these for viola. And the
‘Arpeggione’ Sonata, usually
performed on the cello, was
composed for a now defunct
ANNA DEVIN
) The Tallis Scholars, directed by
Peter Phillips, have followed up
their acclaimed 2013 release of
music by John Taverner (c14901545) with a recording of his
massive Missa Corona Spinea.
Taverner was a huge influence on
English composers who followed,
including Tallis and Byrd, yet
remarkably little is known about
virtuosic intricacy is amazing, and
as ever, The Tallis Scholars relish
this challenge, with the trebles in
particular producing effortless,
crystal clear lines above the rich
sonorities of the lower voices.
Taverner further accentuates the
soaring top line by scoring two
bass parts at the bottom, adding
to the richness of the fuller choral
sections. The scale of this single
work, at nearly 48 minutes long, is
immense, but it rewards
concentrated listening. You can’t
help being transported by those
ringing top notes and the
intensity of Taverner’s complex
writing. The Tallis Scholars
complete the disc with Taverner’s
two settings of the Easter
responsory Dum transisset
Sabbatum. The first of these is
better known, but it is great to
hear them side-by-side. Despite
using the same tenor chant line,
they demonstrate the composer’s
skill at producing strikingly
different settings within the same
construct. The text describes the
women arriving at Jesus’ tomb on
Easter Sunday morning, and
Taverner creates a sense of awe
and wonder in both settings. A
worthy end to another top-notch
recording from The Tallis Scholars.
Gimell CDGIM046
) You can still catch the last week of the
BRIGHTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL with
Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione Di Ruggiero
Dall’isola Di Alcina has four performances, produced by Susannah
Waters and directed by co-artistic director Deborah Roberts, with a
great cast including Anna Devin, Denis Lakey and Nick Pritchard (Thu
5, Sat 7 & Sun 8). Emma Kirkby performs lute songs by Dowland, Byrd,
Blow and Purcell, with lutenist Jakob Lindberg (Wed 4), and you can
also see a performance of Handel’s Acis and Galatea by the BREMF
Singers and Players, conducted by John Hancorn (Sat 7). Details at
www.bremf.org.uk or 01273 709709.
NICHOLAS YONGE SOCIETY
ARCADIA QUARTET
REVIEWS
guitar/cello hybrid. So why now
explore these works with the
different sonorities of the cello?
Well on the basis of this opening
disc, I would tentatively agree –
although I think this works better
with some works than others. The
Fantasie that opens the disc, a late
work composed by Schubert for
violin and piano, combines
virtuosity with some incredibly
touching moments. The cello is not
quite lithe enough for the most
virtuosic moments here, and
Wispelwey’s tone in the higher
registers is more brittle than a
violin produces. However,
Wispelwey and Giacometti have
great fun with the piece, and they
bring a fresh angle to the work as
a result. The second of the
aforementioned Clarinet Sonatas by
Brahms fares better, with the
CARMEN
CLASSICAL NOTES
Sussex Downs College, Lewes
http://www.nyslewes.org.uk
) The Arcadia Quartet (7.45pm, Fri
27) perform Haydn, Beethoven and
Bartók.
GSCENE 49
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo was
founded in 1974 by a group of ballet enthusiasts
who wanted to present a playful, entertaining
view of traditional, classical ballet, danced by
men en travesty (in drag to you and me) and
parodying the choreography, characterisation
and narrative of classics like Swan Lake and Don
Quixote. The dancers performed en pointe (in
pointe shoes) and part of the fun was that they
attempted to execute the demanding technical
elements of the choreography as well as play for
laughs.
Those early performances were in a loft space in
the meat-packing district of New York City. In
the 40 years since, the Trocks have grown into a
first class, internationally-renowned ballet
company, regularly touring the world and playing
to packed houses. Their repertoire has developed
to include elaborate and faithful, parody
productions of classical and modern ballet pieces
and contemporary dance works.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo are back in
Brighton this month, so Paul Gustafson went to London to
preview their latest show and take a look behind the
scenes at this iconic ballet company
) It’s 6pm and I’m sitting in a dressing room
in the depths of London’s Peacock Theatre with
Trocks’ dancer, Raffaele Morra. Raffa, as he
prefers to be called, is dressed smartly, and is
relaxed and composed. But just a couple of
hours earlier I watched him and the rest of the
company as they were taken through a rigorous
ballet class which lasted well over an hour. It
began gently enough at the barre with light
and subtle stretching exercises, but soon
escalated into what seemed like a gruelling
work out, the dancers given testing and
repetitive routines full of jumps, pirouettes and
extensions. Just watching was exhausting and
you could see that they were being asked to
work extremely hard. Yet in just a couple of
hours’ time the company was due on stage to
perform a full three-act programme at the
Peacock. It struck me that these dancers were
elite athletes as well as true artists.
Raffa has been with the company since 2001.
He is now one of the Trocks’ two ballet masters
and also dances leading roles in the company’s
repertoire. But unlike many ballet companies
the Trocks don’t have an artists’ hierarchy that is, there are no principals, soloists, or
corps de ballet members as such. They’re all
simply described as dancers, part of a company
whose philosophy is both democratic and
inclusive. “Everyone plays an important part
and has their time on stage, their moment in
the spotlight.”, says Raffa.
I next visit another dressing room where four
dancers are carefully and ritually applying their
own stage make-up, transforming themselves
into their drag ballerina alter egos for tonight’s
performance. Joshua Thake, AKA Eugenia
Repelskii, tells me more about the company:
“This current group of dancers has been
together for about two years. We’re a very close
group”. Joshua adds that the current company
is made up entirely of gay men. I can see this
creates a unique and very powerful dynamic.
So how does the company recruit its dancers?
Tory Dobrin, Artistic Director, sheds some
light: “The dancers tend to find us, usually
through the internet now. We don’t hold
auditions. A dancer who’s interested is invited
to company class. Seeing the dancer involved
with the group, and the dynamic between
them, is how I understand if they have a sense
of humour, and if they’re team players, and if
they respect the protocol of the class. These
elements are so important. Nice dance
technique is, of course, needed, and is easy to
spot right away.”
That night at the Peacock, the Trocks put on a
spectacular show full of laughter, technical skill
and bravura. In lovingly parodying the geniuses
and tradition of dance, they are showcasing and
preserving its legacy while at the same time
keeping their audiences thoroughly entertained.
They may be called a comedy ballet company,
but there’s so much more to them than that.
GO FOR BAROCCO
KEEP ON TROCKIN’
The 1970s saw a drag explosion in downtown
New York following on from Stonewall. It was
mirrored on the West Coast and can be seen, for
example, in the first performances of San
Francisco’s highly satirical and topical drag
review show, Beach Blanket Babylon, also
established in 1974. The founding of Les Ballet
Trockadero de Monte Carlo needs to be seen in
the context of this political activism and as part
of the fight for LGBT rights. Today, this heritage
and history remains an essential part of the
company’s make up. The Trocks continue to be
out, loud and proud, in their profile, in their
performance, and in their ongoing benefit
appearances supporting LGBT and wider
humanitarian causes.
THE TROCKS
) LES BALLETS TROCKADERO DE MONTE
CARLO 2015 are at The Dome, Brighton, Tue 3
& Wed 4 Nov. Box office: 01273 709709
) For more info: http://trockadero.org
) Read a review of the evening at:
http://gscene.com/arts/dance-review-lesballets-trockadero-de-monte-carlo-peacocktheatre/
50 GSCENE
PAGE’S PAGES
B O O KS B Y E RIC PAG E
) THE GIFT OF LOOKING CLOSELY by Al Brookes. Local LGBT writer Al
Brookes’ book is quite the accomplishment. Brookes gives us the task of
emotionally untangling and dealing with the apparent assisted suicide
of the main character’s mother. In the first chapter we’re directed, or
more often told, ordered and clearly instructed as reader, to become the
narrator – ‘You be Claire, then, and I’ll watch’ which is initially a little
grating but give in and the rewards are immense. The subject matter
certainly isn’t easy, Claire has a dreadful life and it’s this second person
writing which gives us a real insight
into the characters and what actually
happened. By becoming the often
coerced bullied, nagged and harassed
Claire, we feel her agony and
wretchedness in ways that in a firstperson narrator might sound whiney.
It’s very clever indeed. Claire (or we)
deal with the suicide of her mother
and the subsequent withdrawal from
life, petty theft, depression, misery
and the shiny bright things that
forcefully catch her eye, that make
her look closely. Until she meets Evie,
an older women of brutal carefree
manners who recognises and releases
Claire from her grief-locked guiltridden world. I wanted to put the book away but it called me back. I
was Claire, who I knew had suffered and had done those things. I
needed to end the book, to find some kind of resolution to my feelings
and someone to understand. Brookes is a magician of prose, it appears
to do one thing, but subtly, relentlessly does another, until you’re
bound into this book, part of its fabric. Self-published books are often
pooh-poohed, but this is exactly what very good publication is about.
With the legal and social wrangling and discussions about assisted
suicide, it takes us, or rather makes us think about what we often shy
away from. Brookes should be congratulated for getting this almighty
peculiar but fascinating book into print.
force and violence into your
imagination. She’s like a queer
cross between Angela Carter and
Jorge Luis Borges. Read her now.
) SELF-PORTRAIT WITH THE
HAPPINESS by David Tait. Part
self-portrait, part love affair, his
poems are obsessed with small
moments which pull our attention
from elsewhere. Rural England
contends with immense Chinese
cities via Thailand and Japan. The
effect is a collection which craves
the exotic in the everyday:
puppeteers communicating through
their puppets, sonnets sketched on
the snowy rooftops of cars and
Chinese dragons flying above the
Lakeland fells. Tait is one of the
most exciting new gay voices in
contemporary poetry, and this
eagerly-awaited collection confirms
the promise of his pamphlet, Love’s
polished men is a treat. These are
men who take their bodies
seriously captured by a
photographer who excels in
stripping away the egos and polish
and showing us the power, strength
and carefully crafted beauty that
these men live with every day.
) THE ART OF BEING NORMAL by
Lisa Williamson. This debut young
adult novel is a powerful tale of a
transgender teenager's struggle
with identity. It follows the story
of David Piper as he realises he’s a
girl stuck in a boy’s body. The
looming onset of puberty threatens
to turn him further into an image
of his father and not reflect the
reality of the her inside. There’s
bullying, meanness, confusion and
just plain nastiness around David in
Loose Ends, and shows us what a
spare, pure scalpel edge this young
man wields. His poems, all
unassuming magnitude hidden
) THE RENTAL HEART AND OTHER resist their unique connection? In
behind softly marked out spaces,
an alternative 19th-century Paris, a
FAIRYTALES by Kirsty Logan
shatter with surprise, twisting
Twenty tales of lust and loss. These love triangle emerges between a
meaning and perspective on a
man, a woman and a coin-operated
stories feature clockwork hearts,
word, a phrase and continue
boy. A teenager deals with his
lascivious queens, paper men,
beating though the mind for days
island circuses and a flooded world. sister's death by escaping from
afterwards. Part Ted Hughes’
On the island of Skye, an antlered their tiny Scottish island – but will
grumpy realism and part Elizabeth
she let him leave? In 1920s New
girl and a tiger-tailed boy resolve
Bishop’s dancing spectral joy. Tait
never to be friends – but can they Orleans, a young girl comes of age
is a silent explosion of words, you
in her mother's brothel. Some of
see it before you hear or feel it and
the narrative, but also a beacon of
these stories are radical retellings
I loved this book.
hope in the guise of Leo, a friend
of classic tales, some are modern) EXHIBITION by Michael Stokes. who enables a transformation of
day fables, but all explore
attitude to take place. The story is
The successful crowd-funding of
substitutions for love in Logan’s
gripping, gritty and emotionally
carefully weighted and transporting this book (along with another of
resonant and slowly some of his
prose. They twist and shiver in the astonishing images of erotic
mind when you read them, leaving American war veterans) showcases family begin to understand what’s
happening. The ending is a little
his stimulating images and figure
you changed, if they leave you at
on the sweet side but who’s to say
all. Her characters are fully formed studies of fitness icons and
we can’t have happy endings in our
from their first word, her narrative bodybuilders from around the
stories? This is particularly
world. Stokes has developed his
blood pumps with an astonishing
important to younger readers. A
urgency. I was seriously impressed particular high quality and oddly
tender images of men in his books lovely honest book which takes an
by this debut collection of short
Masculinity and Bare Strength. This unflinching look at a young
stories. Her words coil, bounce,
person’s struggle to accept
large hardcover book with 136
shimmy, change shape and
stunning full colour images of some themselves and learn to love and
meaning and writhe off the page
of the world’s most sculptured and be loved in return.
and push themselves, often with
GSCENE 51
GEEK SCENE
COMICS
COMICS & GAMES BY CRAIG STORRIE
) This year is the landmark
anniversary for another DC
Comics character, the Green
Lantern. Just like the Joker and
the Flash, 2015 is the 75th
anniversary of the very first
Green Lantern, Alan Scott, as
well coincidently being the 56th
anniversary of the first
appearance of the more famous
Silver Age-version of the
character: Mr Hal Jordan himself.
GAMES
) Since the character has been around, Green Lantern hasn’t featured
in many video games until the turn of the century. Before that he was
omitted from the 16-bit fighting game Justice League Task Force for
the Mega Drive and SNES probably because the developers didn’t
understand how to adapt the character for a 2D beat ‘em up. Even more
disappointing was that he would have featured in his own SNES game
based on the 1990s Emerald Twilight storyline but this was cancelled
before release and would have revolved around the newest Green
Lantern, Kyle Rayner, facing down his predecessor, Hal Jordan, who was
transformed into the villainous and supremely powerful Parallax.
The first game to feature a
fully playable Green
Lantern was 2006’s Justice
League Heroes for PS2,
Xbox, Nintendo DS and
Sony PSP. Written by
veteran comic book and
JLA writer Dwayne
McDuffie the game played
like Marvel’s Ultimate Alliance series with focus on two superheroes per
level instead of Ultimate Alliances’ four. Sadly you couldn’t change the
characters you were tasked to play as on each level but had to make do
with what you were given and some of the pairings of characters were
odd at best (Martian Manhunter and Zatanna anyone?).
Whilst you could unlock skins of Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner to play as,
the default Green Lantern was John Stewart, Earth’s third Green Lantern
after Hal Jordan and his back up Guy Gardner. Stewart was chosen as
Hal’s new backup after Gardner was injured in a bus crash; he was also
DC’s first black superhero who debuted back in 1971. He was no doubt
the default Lantern in Justice League Heroes due to the popularity of
the Justice League animated show which aired from 2001 to 2006.
Thanks to the huge success of the show, John Stewart was the only
Green Lantern a lot of viewers knew which probably made sense to
have him as the default lantern in the video game.
Apart from a cameo appearance in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, a
multitude of Lanterns in the Lego DC games and the dreadful video
game based on the dire film, Green Lantern has been fleshed out in two
fighting games. First appearing in Midway’s Mortal Kombat vs DC
Universe, this game lets you take control of Hal Jordan and use your
ring to create various constructs with which to fight with like buzzsaws
and machine guns. After Midway closed and its assets were purchased
by Warner Bros, many of the same developers founded NetherRealm
Studios that in turn created the insanely popular Injustice fighting
game. Featuring tons of DC characters and using the new Mortal
Kombat game as a base, Injustice was a deep and rewarding fighting
game with a fantastic story. Once again Hal Jordan is the default
Lantern but free DLC lets you control John Stewart instead, cleverly
using the same voice actor from the JALA animated series.
Green Lantern has become one of
DC’s greatest series’ and rightly
so - more recently this is thanks to the genius of writer Geoff Johns.
The original version of the character, Alan Scott, was created by Martin
Nodell (under the name Mart Dellon) during the Golden Age of comics
in 1940 and first appeared in All American Comics #16. All American
Comics is one of three comic book publishers that later merged
together to form the DC Comics we know and sometimes love today.
Alan Scott was a railroad engineer who after finding a magic lantern
uses it to craft a magical ring with which to fight crime in New York
City. Scott uses his new ring to create constructs and objects to battle
evil with the only drawback being the ring is weak against wood. The
original Green Lantern’s adventures would also introduce us to villains
that are still going strong today, like the super strong zombie Solomon
Grundy and the immortal Vandal Savage (who will be the main villain
in the new Legends Of Tomorrow series airing in 2016). Scott was also
a member of the very first superhero team, the Justice Society Of
America, a membership he would hold right up until the character was
rebranded and rebooted for the New 52 in 2011. After the cancellation
of his own series in 1949, Alan Scott made fewer and fewer
appearances until his
final appearance in
1951 led to the
character disappearing
until 1959 when the
series was rebooted for
the Silver Age with the
coming of Hal Jordan
and the Green Lantern
Corps.
DC editor Julius
Schwartz tasked writer
John Broome to
rebrand Green Lantern as
a science fiction super
hero who was now a
member of the space
faring law enforcement
called the Green Lantern
Corps. Led by the
Guardians of the
Universe, members of
the Corps have a green
ring that is powered by
its user’s willpower: the greater the person’s will, the more powerful
the user. The new lanterns have similar powers to the original Green
Lantern, apart from the ring’s weakness now being the colour yellow as
opposed to wood. Everything else was dramatically changed, such as
the costume and character’s origin, as well as the back story of the
Green Lantern universe. This new series would introduce many things
that are now staples of the DC Universe, such as the villains Sinestro
and Black Hand; Hal’s on and off love interest and the future Star
Sapphire, Carol Ferris; and Guy Gardner, the first of many other Earth
Green Lanterns that would replace Hal in the role over the years.
52 GSCENE
SHOPPING
WITH MICHAEL HOOTMAN
) Desk Tidy, £19.95 (in-house space, 28
Gloucester Rd, Brighton, 01273 682845)
) Flexi-Radio, £30 (Edited,
3 Gardner St, Brighton, 01273 604006,
editedbrighton.com)
) 2016 Calendars from
£14.99 (Prowler, 112-113
St James's St, Brighton, 01273 683680)
) Stringy Mouse, £9 (Workshop 13a Prince Albert St,
Brighton, 01273 731340, workshopliving.co.uk)
) HARD TO BE A GOD (Arrow blu-ray). If there
was an Oscar for Most Difficult Foreign Film
this would be a shoo-in. Fifteen years in the
making the movie is technically science
fiction - it’s set on another planet which
hasn’t progressed past its own dark ages. It
gets its beard-scratching credentials from
making very little sense in terms of narrative
or even basic dialogue. From what I gather a
visitor sets himself up as some kind of god amongst a civilisation
having its own cultural revolution in which intellectuals are subject
to summary execution; for example by having their head buried in
the contents of a latrine. For all its many faults its realisation of
medieval conditions is astounding. As a film it may be almost
unwatchable, but treated as a conceptual work on filth, cruelty and
suffering it’s something of a masterpiece.
) PASOLINI – SIX FILMS 1968-1975
(BFI blu-ray). Brutal and uncompromising,
the films of controversial director Pier
Paolo Pasolini have shocked and outraged
audiences for decades, and their power
remains undiminished to this day. The six
films are Theorem, Medea, The Decameron,
The Canterbury Tales, Arabian Nights
and Salò, or The 120 Days of Sodom.
This set includes a whole raft of special
features including deleted scenes, alternative versions,
documentaries about the director and comes with an illustrated
booklet. The ideal Christmas present for cinephiles.
) Huge 36cm
Rocket Pepper
Grinder, £54.99
(England at Home,
22b Ship St, Brighton,
01273 205544)
) Cork Net - instant table
tennis, includes 2 bats and
ball, £35 (Junkfunk,
27 Gloucester Rd, Brighton,
01273 680555)
) Brighton Wash Bag, £28 (Little Beach Boutique,
74 North Rd, Brighton, 01273 697275
www.littlebeachboutique.com)
) Mini Moderns Enamel Butter Dish, £20 (Pussy,
3a Kensington Gardens, Brighton, 01273 604861)
GSCENE 53
SAM TRANS MAN
My lived experience of HIV/AIDS is
limited, but we have some similarities of
experience says Dr Samuel James Hall
) I’ve just spent a week in hospital unexpectedly. I had to have my gall bladder
removed as an emergency. It had become
blocked and infected and was making me really
sick. Whilst in hospital I had a chance to
reflect on the theme of this month’s Gscene:
HIV and AIDS. I realise that my lived
experience is limited - I have some close
friends who are HIV positive and have been
living with the stigma for decades, and as a
young doctor I had patients and colleagues
who sadly succumbed to AIDS or other HIVrelated illnesses, but I am lucky that this has
never really had an impact on me in my
personal life.
What struck me when I was in hospital,
however, were some similarities of experience.
I too have ‘condition’ that I would prefer that
people didn’t know about. I too know what it’s
like to feel ashamed of myself and my history.
I too wish I could be open all the time about
what sets me apart, and yet yearn to be
perceived as ‘normal’ for the best part. I have
places and spaces where I’m not ‘in the closet’
about my trans history and increasingly places
and spaces where I very much am.
As a patient in hospital, I was universally
regarded as male, given a bed in a male-only
bay, and treated by everyone who saw me as
the person I am. But I know that anyone
reading my notes closely enough would find
reference to my trans history, and that if they
did they might not mention it, so I wouldn’t
know if they knew - and that drove me crazy.
I also knew that if certain procedures needed
to happen, or tests and scans were done,
people might work it out for themselves and
this terrified me. And what about when I was
asleep under the anaesthetic? How would I be
treated then? Would people be respectful
about how they referred to me? I feel like a
marked man and that is especially true when
circumstances are beyond my control.
All of these fears and more are universally
experienced by patients in hospital I’m sure.
And yet when there’s a secret to hide, or an
unspoken taboo subject at stake, the tension
and anxiety around being ‘outed’ are
heightened, intensified to a degree that is
almost unbearable. I don’t know what it feels
like to live with HIV, nor will I pretend to, but
I can well imagine that some of my recent
fears are not dissimilar to those felt by HIV
positive folk, especially when encountering
healthcare professionals for a reason other
than management of their HIV.
I feel safest in the hands of the professionals
who treat my gender dysphoria, and I imagine
it’s the same for HIV/AIDS patients - that they
feel safest being seen and cared for by HIV
specialists. Other medical interactions become
fraught with danger; a lack of understanding or
ignorance about my circumstances could mean
the wrong thing being said at the wrong time
to the wrong person and, hey presto, I’m being
judged, ignored, treated differently. I wonder
how many HIV/AIDS sufferers carried this pain
and fear, especially in the early days, when
ignorance was rife and judgement the norm.
“Even in Brighton, where we
experience a huge degree
of acceptance and
understanding, there are
still pockets and incidences
of prejudice, judgement
and discrimination”
We’ve come a long, long way since the early
1980s, and as a healthcare professional I can
safely and confidently say that a patient who
is known to be HIV positive does not receive
CLARE PROJECT
meets every
TUESDAY 2.30–5.30PM
at
Based in central Brighton, the
CLARE PROJECT
WEEKLY DROP-IN
is 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.
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 from 5–7.30PM
special or isolating treatment at the hands of
medical staff unless it’s specifically indicated.
Attitudes have changed and moved on over the
years, and fear has definitely abated. I’m sure
this is in no small part due to the fierce political
activism that accompanied the onslaught of
HIV/AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses that we saw
in the 1990s. Individuals who campaigned
tirelessly to prevent stigmatisation and overreaction to those diagnosed with HIV, as well as
those who have always walked alongside.
I know that beyond the walls of medicine,
however, there are still many areas of ignorance
and prejudice, and an awful lot of work to be
done breaking down barriers, both real and
perceived. As with the trans community, for
people living with HIV there are factors which
we sometimes don’t believe are real, the sense of
isolation, the lack of self-esteem, the
perpetuation of barriers both emotional and
physical between ‘me’ and the rest of the world.
Sometimes these barriers are entirely artificial,
or self-imposed, and yet at other times they are
enforced. Whatever the reason, a sense of
‘separateness’ is the starting point from which a
lot of negative self-perception begins to stem. If
I’m not in ‘communion’ with others then I have
nowhere to express myself and after a while, my
sense of meaning and purpose begins to suffer. I
can’t find a reason to live, and suicide begins to
look like an easy option. These factors come into
play with people who identify as trans too, and
not for dissimilar reasons.
This is why it’s so important that we keep
talking, that the discourse around stigmatised
groups continues. Some would say that in this
day and age there is no need for continued
political pressure or campaign activity, but we
all know that that simply isn’t true. Even in
Brighton, where we experience a huge degree of
acceptance and understanding, there are still
pockets and incidences of prejudice, judgement
and discrimination. And this is also why it’s so
important to ensure continued funding is in
place for the voluntary sector groups who
support people with HIV, as well as those who
support trans people, those with mental health
issues, folk who are homeless or living with
learning disabilities - the list is potentially
endless. We are a long way from true equality which starts in the heart with ‘We are the same you and I’.
WEEKLY MENTAL
HEALTH & WELLBEING
SUPPORT GROUP
For transwomen
and female-identified
people
Please see website for further details
www.clareproject.org.uk
f Clare Project
[email protected]
problem until his former friend and Hollywood
legend Rock Hudson died from AIDS-related
illnesses towards the end of 1985. By then
15,000 US citizens had been infected, more
than half already dead - a considerably higher
proportion of the US population than had struck
in the UK within the same timeframe.
Because the disease had reared its head in a
heterosexual female patient in London, the
authorities responded more quickly and in 1985
the Department of Health published its first
advice on HIV/AIDS whilst the US Government
were yet to acknowledge its existence.
CRAIG’S THOUGHTS
Let’s hear it for the girls... Or they’re
not sick dear, they’re just hungry says
Craig Hanlon-Smith @craigscontinuum
) As a 13-year-old hiding from myself in a
small town in Lancashire during the mid1980s, AIDS sounded pretty scary but also
incredibly distant. Even Government television
campaigns warning us all that death was
imminent seemed remote and otherworldly. It
wasn’t until my school bag went missing and
turned up later that day only for me to find
that all my exercise books had been amended,
my name crossed out and replaced with ‘Rock
Hudson’, that I began to pay attention. Even
though in every case the idiots had daubed
‘Rick Hudson’, as a committed Dynasty fan, I
knew who and what they meant. He had AIDS,
I would get it, and they all by implication
knew. Any attempts to navigate my way
quietly through a teenage minefield cloaked in
Lancashire grey unnoticed, were a failure.
Whatever had given me away soon became an
irrelevance. Perhaps it was never being picked
for the football team, which, for the record, I
was fine with. Who can blame William Webb
Ellis for inventing rugby with such
flamboyance and flair? I regularly had the urge
on a Wednesday afternoon’s game to pick up
the bloody ball and run off with it. Or perhaps
it was rocking up to ‘Bring your own record
day’ in double music with Material Girl neatly
tucked under my arm? ‘Jokes’ came thick and
fast – “Smithy, got that Arse Injected Death
Sentence yet?” rang daily in my ears as a
social tinnitus, never to be forgotten.
In the 1980s AIDS became synonymous with
anything gay, and advances in social
acceptance (and these were limited) were now
kicked into the long grass as gay and bisexual
men were no longer confirmed nor interesting
bachelors to be tolerated with a degree of
suspicion, but a ticking time-bomb and threat
to civilisation. AIDS has often been referred to
as a gay problem and although some of us
might not be comfortable with that, in many
ways, certainly in the West, it predominantly
was. Its gay association in the US is now
considered responsible for such a slow reaction
from both the US Government and the Centre
for Disease Control (CDC) in America.
The CDC, more than capable of responding to
any epidemic both before the outbreak of AIDS
and indeed since, had its hands tied by then
director Dr James Mason with his close ties to
the White House. Although a practising and
career respected physician, Mason was
considered to be in the pocket of senior
members of the Reagan administration and
much of his leadership decisions reflected this.
It didn’t help the cause that initially all
reported cases of AIDS in the US were in gay
men, and neither a solution nor speedy
response was considered a priority.
“It didn’t help the cause
that initially all reported
cases of AIDS in the US
were in gay men, and
neither a solution nor
speedy response was
considered a priority”
In the UK we fared much better, the first UK
diagnosis at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington
in late 1981 and by the end of 1984 there had
been 108 confirmed cases across the UK and
46 deaths. As an infected percentage of the
population, both our medical and national
response to AIDS in the UK was considerably
more successful than that in the US. Although
she didn’t survive to tell the tale, one of the
key factors in the UK was that one of the first
patients to be diagnosed with the disease by
Dr Tony Pinching at St Mary’s Paddington was
a heterosexual woman. In the US all early
reported cases being gay men enabled an open
homophobic response to the developing crisis
at the highest authority. Ronald Reagan was
sworn into the White House in January 1981
and the first case of AIDS was reported six
months later in the summer. However, Reagan
infamously didn’t acknowledge AIDS as a
As early as 1987, Princess Diana, arguably the
most popular and internationally high-profile
member of the Royal Family, was visiting AIDS
patients in London, and in 1989 opened the
Landmark Centre in Tulse Hill, which later
became the London Lighthouse. It was here that
she famously shook hands with HIV positive
clinic director Jonathan Grimshaw, hitting
headlines around the world. In the midst of
tabloid and social hysteria, an internationallyrenowned heterosexual woman made a
considerable difference. HIV/AIDS causes
remained a staple part of Diana’s charity work
until her untimely death in 1997 and her
involvement should not be underestimated.
The US relied upon its celebrity royalty to step
up to the plate. Again in 1987, Madonna stood
on stage at Madison Square Garden in New York
as part of her Who’s That Girl tour and dedicated
not only her performance but her ticket receipts
to AIDS research. In 1989 she personally
convinced her record company that a leaflet on
HIV/AIDS and Safe Sex be included in every
copy of her album Like A Prayer, which to date
has shifted 15 million copies. Elizabeth Taylor
set up her own AIDS charity foundation
speaking out a star-studded awards evenings,
which were televised across the world. Both
heterosexual women with a huge platform and
opportunity to make a difference.
By getting sick, that one straight woman in
London, whoever she was, saved lives. As did
Diana, Madonna, Taylor and many more besides.
All those dying gay men in the US could not get
one politician to take note. The lack of response
in the US not only had implications for America,
but for the world. The open homophobia coming
out of the US and Europe in the 1980s was
incredibly powerful. Whilst we were busy airdropping bags of grain across Sub-Saharan
Africa to the strains of Do They Know It’s
Christmas and We Are The World, ironically by
super-groups ineptly called Band Aid and USA
for Africa, HIV and AIDS were spreading like
wildfire and no one sang a tune for those
people. To date 70% of the world’s deaths from
HIV/AIDS related illnesses have been in SubSaharan Africa. And 88% of the world’s HIV
positive children live there.
Diseases are at their most vulnerable in their
early days and an expedient response is
essential in any battle to gain ground. Don’t let
anyone tell you that homophobia doesn’t kill, it
is responsible for an international pandemic.
GSCENE 55
HYDES’ HOPES
HOMELY HOMILY
BY REV MICHAEL HYDES
BY GLENN STEVENS
ON THE STREET
A BRIGHTER FUTURE
) It's almost 35 years since I was homeless but I remember it clearly.
It was almost Christmas, there was snow on the ground, and I was
sleeping in my car. I’d run out of money and the realisation that I was
in serious trouble punched me through to a reality that I had not
known existed. I was alone, rejected by friends and family, with
nowhere to turn. I used my last coin to call the Samaritans. I've no
doubt they saved my life.
) For many who were first diagnosed HIV+ when the AIDS epidemic
was ripping the very heart out of gay communities across the world,
none of us could have dreamed of a time when an HIV+ diagnoses did
not automatically translate into a death sentence. It was only in the
early 1990s when drug trials for a new set of antiretrovirals became
widely available did the 1980s HIV+ generation begin to believe there
was hope.
Many years later I ran the first
emergency queer youth shelter
in the basement of Manhattan's
MCC New York. I used to talk
about homelessness being rare
in the UK because we have a
socialist system that looks after
people. But then I came home to a country that was very different to
the one I had left some 15 years earlier.
At first the only drug available was AZT, which was given at such a
high does that for many the side effects where too severe. AZT was
followed by a combination of antiretrovirals, with the breakthrough in
1995 of protease inhibitors; a drug that helped disrupt the
reproduction of HIV in the blood. This was hugely effective in
prolonging the lives of those living with HIV. The arrival of such an
effective drug saw a surge of people being tested, dramatically
reducing the number of new HIV infections.
Just last night I spent an hour talking with a homeless 27-year-old
man that I met on Marine Parade. It quickly became evident that he
was autistic and that he had slipped through the net. And last week I
talked to a bright and intelligent young man who had been 'sofa
surfing' for two years. It's so easy for one night to become a week,
then a month, then a year. He was 21 years old with no immediate
hope for a change in his circumstances.
“I was alone, rejected by friends and
family, with nowhere to turn. I used
my last coin to call the Samaritans.
I’ve no doubt they saved my life”
I'm in Brighton, a prosperous seaside town, often called 'London by
the Sea'. It's ironic that the very same prosperity that has made life
relatively comfortable for some has created the circumstances in which
extreme poverty is growing for others. The net minimum wage is just
under £1,050 per month. A one-bedroom flat starts at around £700
per month; Band A council tax is £87; gas and electricity around £60;
water rates around £40. You're almost at £900 and we haven't even
talked yet about travel expenses, food, clothing, telephone... you get
the picture. How do you save for a deposit? One unexpected expense
or a job loss and you're on the street.
Very soon it will be Christmas which is a dreadful time to be homeless.
You lose the sofa you sleep on because your host's family are visiting,
or they're going away and unwilling to leave you a key. The person
you were caring for passes away and suddenly you find that you've
lost your job and your home. You gave up your flat to live with the
partner of your dreams who turns out to be a nightmare. The choice is
sleep rough or live in fear. There are so many situations that can turn
us upside down: job loss, illness, abuse. It happens so easily. So
quickly. Nice people. Ordinary people. You and me.
There are people that care and programmes that can help, although
navigating them isn't easy and the resources are very limited. It's easy
to fall through the net.
If you, or someone you know, is homeless you can call:
• Streetlink on 03005 000 914, or visit www.streetlink.org.uk
• Brighton SOS for advice and support on 08081 680 414.
If you simply want someone to talk to then please feel free to call me
at The Village MCC on 07476 667 353. I pray you sleep safe.
Fast forward to 2015 and there are still many challengers ahead; in
particular for the older generation who have been taking
antiretroviral medication from the early 1990s and are once again
entering unknown territories.
Health professionals and the older HIV+ generation alike continue to
develop an understanding just what the long term effects of
antiretrovirals are doing, both physically and mentally, and what
challengers they all face.
Second to medical research, the next most powerful things we have
to hand to combat the uncertainty and fears is the continuing
support from Brighton’s HIV+ organisations, staff and volunteers. I
don’t think it can be said strongly enough about just how lucky we
are to have these services to turn to as we all learn and develop with
the ever-changing challenges people living with HIV face. Amazing
services like The Lawson Unit (HIV specialist clinic) and HIV+ charity
organisations like the Sussex Beacon, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT),
Lunch Positive and Peer Action all continue to provide much needed
support and information to everyone affected by HIV.
“Second to medical research, the next
most powerful things we have to hand
to combat the uncertainty and fears is
the continuing support from Brighton’s
HIV+ organisations, staff and volunteers”
One of the main subjects people living with an HIV+ diagnoses flag
up as a concern is fear of rejection and isolation.
Each of these HIV organisations have been providing their own hub
of expertise to help combat this very subject.
Lunch Positive has been a welcoming place for people of all ages
living with HIV, providing an inexpensive three-course lunch and peer
support. Likewise, Peer Action offer the same peer interaction
through their affordable social events, plus a wide range of healthrelated projects to promote wellbeing. Equally, THT and the Sussex
Beacon continue to explore the issues raised by the older HIV+
generation through their workshops, counselling services, money
advice and (Sussex Beacon) respite facilities.
All of these organisations are dedicated to helping everyone living
with HIV to face the unknown challenges. What we can all be
thankful for is that none of us, particularly the older generation
living with an HIV+ diagnoses, need to look to the future alone.
56 GSCENE
I left the subject alone for a couple of weeks
to see if she would mention the mysterious
disappearance but nothing happened. Then
one afternoon I asked her who Josh was.
“I knew it,” she glared at me, “I knew you had
something to do with the letter going
missing.”
Holding back my amusement, I asked again
who Josh was.
“It doesn’t matter Dad, I’ve dumped him now
as I found out that he was also dating my BFF
Emily. She didn’t know he was dating me too
so we both got rid of him, we don’t need
boys!”
Again Girl Power!
DAD & DADDY
Kids can say the funniest things and it
makes for some memorable moments
says Syd Spencer
) Recently I was talking to a friend of ours
about the funny things that our kids have said
over the years. Their innocence or lack of
knowledge about something has made for
some very memorable moments.
robber.” Which was a worry, but a few weeks
later I was much more relieved to hear that he
had changed his mind and that he now wanted
to be a Spice Girl! Girl Power! We can live with
that.
Like most kids ours have talked occasionally
about what they are going to do as adults.
The subjects of jobs, family life and travelling
have all been explored by them and some have
been very amusing indeed.
Bradley falls in love at school weekly and
often comes home with tales of unrequited
love in the playground. At the beginning of
this term he came home after the first day and
proudly shared, “I dumped my girlfriend from
last term today Dad and I sat next to a really
lovely new boy.”
Katy is obsessed with Choccywoccy Doo Dah
and three of our kids’ fairy godparents work
for the company. She is fascinated by the
amazing cakes and records all of the TV
episodes, watching it over and over again.
A couple of years ago, when we went to the
café to celebrate the completion of her
adoption she had helped take orders from a
couple of other customers and as a result had
been left a £1 tip by them. She excitably ran
over to our table to show off her wealth and
in her loudest voice told us that when she
grows up she is going to be a ‘chocolate ear’. I
think she meant chocolatier!
Another dream was to be Prime Minister, with
Katy telling us, “I would be great at this Dad,
I’m responsible, I usually work hard, I care
about the planet and I’m not nasty to
people... well, only you Dad but that’s
because I know you will always forgive me.”
Bradley once told us half way through dinner,
“Dad when I grow up, I’m going to be a
A couple of terms back, Katy had been secretly
‘dating’ a boy called Josh, I found this out by
finding a pink love letter she had written to
him in her school bag. The letter told him that
she did really like him but he would have to
ask me for my permission before holding her
hand at school! Needless to say the letter
didn’t make it to Josh, just to the kitchen bin.
“The letter told him that
she did really like him
but he would have to
ask for my permission
before holding her
hand at school!”
Katy is a very strong-willed, stubborn girl and
at times it backfires and she quickly regrets it.
Like the time I had to keep hurrying her up in
the morning so we could get to school on
time. After endlessly saying, “Katy hurry up!
Katy have you got this? Katy I said hurry up
we need to go,” etc, she appeared at the top
of stairs and informed me, “Dad you had
better hope I don’t lose my temper! Stop
having a go at me or you will regret it.”
I ignored the comment until she returned
home from school that afternoon and told her
she would be going to bed early and that she
would be the only person regretting anything
today.
On a different day she came down on a
Saturday morning, hair all over the place,
bleary eyed and told both me and Kevin, “I
can’t be bothered to be nice to you both
today.”
I quickly responded by saying, “Then we can’t
be bothered to parent you today or take you
into town, go back to bed.”
As she stomped upstairs and slammed her
bedroom door I am pretty sure I heard her say,
“This is so unfair.”
At our home we always try to sit around the
table as a family for dinner time so we can all
talk about our days and share our stories. One
time Bradley told us, “I did drawing today at
school.”
“That’s great,” Kevin replied.
“Yes it was, I drew in the nude!” Bradley
finished. After a few more questions we
worked out, much to our relief, that Bradley
had meant that he had drawn in the afternoon
rather than nude!
As funny and amusing all these comments are,
sometimes, if you are in the right place you
will hear a real gem that is priceless and
reminds you that all is good.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, I was
walking them home through the park from
school. Katy was with two of her friends and I
heard them say to her, “So you have two
Dads?”
“Yeap,” she replied.
“You are soooo lucky,” they said.
“I know,” Katy said as the three girls skipped
off down the path.
GSCENE 57
NETTY’S WORLD
STRIP SERVICE
BY NETTY WENDT
BY QUEEN JOSEPHINE
SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS
) Earlier this year I was asked by local author Paul Thorn to help subedit his new book, HIV Happy. As usual when dealing with the subject
of HIV, I felt woefully under qualified and unable to fully appreciate
the content of a book directed at people affected by this lifethreatening disease.
For years I’ve pussy-footed around the subject of HIV, worried about
offending or further stigmatizing a group of people who already have
enough on their plates. Several times in this magazine I’ve bemoaned
what I see as irresponsible actions by some which may put them more
at risk of contracting or spreading HIV, and have been duly shot down
for sounding all Judge Judy.
With this in mind I found the book to be a surprisingly liberating read
for myself, an HIV negative gay woman. How good then must it be to
be for an HIV positive person to read that they no longer have to
accept a half-life of sickness and despair. How good is it to read that
provided someone is diagnosed early enough, takes and gets on well
with their meds, they can look forward to a long, rich and fulfilling
life.
We Brits are culturally dissuaded from discussing Death and its related
issues, as that’s exactly how HIV has traditionally been framed. It’s
been tricky to have helpful dialogue around this emotive disease, it’s
claimed the lives of so many from our gay community. But the good
news is it needn’t be like that anymore. HIV Happy challenges many of
the unhelpful misconceptions that HIV positive people and those
around them may still feel bound by.
Paul ‘owns’ his HIV status, meaning he blames no one for choices he
made freely as a young man. In owning his condition he has become
empowered. He refuses to accept the out-dated notion that he is hamstringed by the virus. He has learned to look after himself rather than
self-destruct. He learned that playing the victim in life is a selffulfilling prophecy. Of course there are days when HIV affected people
may struggle, but this book is a guide to looking after yourself when
times are rough.
Paul now has his own radio show and guests from around the world
are scrabbling to be a part of the unfolding story that there is life
after diagnosis. Ian Lovejoy’s beautiful picture Tree of Life is being
auctioned by Paul Thorn in the Grosvenor Bar on World AIDS Day and
throughout this month you’re invited to offer sealed bids for it. All
proceeds go to the Beacon. Our wonderful Sussex Beacon originally
opened as a hospice and dealt with many deaths per week, but now
only sees a few deaths per year.
In the 1980s, the era of doom-laden AIDS adverts, I remember a
particularly common T-shirt slogan that never made any sense to me
at the time. It said ‘Choose Life’. The good news is, positive or
negative, now at long last you really can.
You can find out more about Paul at www.thornwrites.co.uk
58 GSCENE
knowledge or shock or disbelief - we know this
sleeping demon well - but from an assurance
that it can now be corrected by expensive
pharmaceuticals and the taking of comfort in
that - where it once was abhorrent. The meds
for life culture that HIV flagged up first and
then became the paradigm for an increasingly
unhealthy populace. ‘We have a tablet for that’
– and a life-long tablet for bogus diseases
brought about by modern existence.
And then the urgency of the cure which is only
really a race to the patent. Then selling the
cure in tablet form to the highest bidder.
Mixing a combination into a newer patent and
starting the billing cycle all over again.
So where are we with AIDS?
CHARLIE SAYS
AIDS and HIV - where are we now?
Let me tell you says Charlie Bauer Phd
http://charliebauerphd.blogspot.co.uk
) Not that I’ve never written about where we
were with AIDS or anything. It’s been a major
bleat of mine. Or covered the AIDS conferences
or Big Pharma exposés about creaming the
community of all their financials. Now that it’s
been handed over to the medics and financiers
completely, we enter a newer tender in the so
called war on AIDS.
The war on AIDS still being available through
medication for all concerned. We enter the age
where no medical institution or corporation
takes control, but a lowly hedge-funder who
publically buys the medication for pennies and
sells it for dollars before our eyes. All with
more of a mark-up than a kilo of Tina.
Nothing is wrong with this because this is
exactly what drug companies have been doing
forever. I’m just glad that greed of this nature
is out in the open.
But AIDS... I’m told it’s better to have than
diabetes these days. Easier to treat and easier
to monitor. So what’s a disease of the
degenerate arse-bandit next to one of the
ever-consuming obese? Consuming with their
pay cheques the booze and pop-tarts, then
consuming themselves, consuming the free
health service who opens the door to the
consumption of cheap medication. Ultimately,
only holding themselves hostage. Consuming
only the recently defecated.
And so we get to the hedge-funders
controlling the lives of the once dying. Now
controlling the monetary value of staying
alive, hoping that the rich white western gays
can still cough up enough profit - without a
second thought about anyone else, Africa
perhaps. Then posturing themselves in the
media and the media then celebrating their
gains.
An AIDS now without a history. Gone are the
legions and their lesions slipping away under
clean white western sheets. The old deaths,
now forgotten as merely a debt to the
impoverished still-living. A crisis dissolved
into a spreadsheet. A vector chart representing
a few standing soldiers on the horizon, once
limping and badly bruised. Of fervent
shouting, reminding us they are still here as
we shunter along. All now for a health service
to now pay a hedge-funder a fixed price of his
own choosing. Unwarranted, unstable and still
holding a linage - from the drug companies to
the bullied NHS and its shallow-panting outpatients - to ransom.
All justified by the second term of the
democratically elected band of fools and sons
of bust stockbrokers from days gone by. Gently
pressing on the forehead of every degenerate,
drowning in designer cesspools of their own
making.
“When the patent is
up on these drugs, they
will be recombined,
re-patented and
revaluated all over
again. It’s the oldest trick
in the book to sell the
same thing twice”
Where are we with AIDS again? Back to the
days of ignorance where the dying are now
farther away. A disbelief about the perils of
contraction of a disease. The ability to look
the other way, again. Not through lack of
AIDS has become the unspoken again, although
not for any reasons of shame. AIDS is unspoken
because people now live. AIDS is off the
checklist, replaced by alcohol-induced hyper
market multi-morbidities such as diabetes. Then
multiple drugs for possible side-effects of one
ailment, unnecessary, yet keeping the druglords in jets and their own private health care.
And when the patent is up on these drugs, just
like HIV, they will be recombined, re-patented
and revaluated all over again. It’s the oldest
trick in the book to sell the same thing twice.
Where are we again?
We’re now at place where there are no more
battles to be fought and won by people like us.
A place where the LGB community has ceased
to exist. And we wanted this. We wanted no
more than that. What we have left are the
screaming desperados wailing for anther party
drug. Bars and organisations flying the flag for
us all. The ship upon which we were Shanghai’d
has sailed and reached a different port. Good
lord - there’ll still be instances of homophobia
and the like, but nobody has a monopoly on
assault and battery anymore.
We’ve got what we wanted and we find that
we’ve arrived at a place where equality doesn’t
exist. But we didn’t want equality, we all
wanted to be special. Because here, faux
freedom exists for nobody. The best we could
hope for is visibility and assimilation and if you
look at every chat show on network telly on a
Friday night - that’s what we have. That, they
are our representations of emancipation. Game
shows with gay men and celebrity lesbian
couples.
So, that’s where we are. Homeowners all. Media
whores all. Camp and visible. Hand-holding in
public without a right to fight for anymore. A
time where KS is forgotten along with the
swollen glands and the loosening bowels. All
gone. Because now someone is paying a fortune
to keep us alive. A tax on the just about living.
But this time without the kicking.
So, with all this in mind, I’m a bit shamed that
I enter the hospital this week for the second
tonsillectomy this year (who knew you had
two) and I thank my once gay stars that we’ve
arrived where we all wanted. Pat yourselves on
the back.
GSCENE 59
THOMAS HIGHFLYER BY LUDOVIC FOSTER
SUCHI’S WORLD
DUNCAN’S DOMAIN
BY SUCHI CHATTERJEE
BY DUNCAN STEWART
PRETTY GIRLS
CHOICE CUTS
) I do a bit of volunteer work for the amazing Brighton & Hove
Black History, headed by Bert Williams, whose brilliant work on
Brighton & Hove's hidden BME history earned him an MBE in 2011.
Recently we’ve been doing some research into a grave in Woodvale,
that of a 13-year-old African boy called Thomas Highflyer. Thomas
came to Brighton around 1868-69 and died in 1870 of dropsy and a
tubercular liver - ailments that today could be successfully
treated. With AIDS/HIV there are plenty of drugs that help to prolong
life and give relief but there is no cure, at least not right now.
) In the 1890s a small coastal town in the north of Chile called
Iquique had the highest per capita consumption of champagne in
the world. Much of the Saltpetre (Nitrate) mined just inland in the
Atacama Desert was taken out in sacks by lighters to large oceangoing clippers moored in deep water, a process partly organised by
shipping clerks like my grandfather, an economic migrant from
Edinburgh. My great-grandfather, who had emigrated from Scotland
in the 1870s, ran a ships’ chandlery. He and his formidable wife
produced four daughters, of whom the most beautiful was my lovely
grandmother. I doubt my thrifty ancestors drank copious amounts of
fizz but they made a good living and could afford a servant or two.
Young Thomas lived in a time when
research into certain common
illnesses/diseases was just starting
out. Gone were the days of leeches
and bleeding a person to help ‘cure
them’, there was the blossoming of a
more holistic approach to medicine
and the health of patients but it was
early days. How you were looked
after if you were sick depended on
the size of your purse. Thomas was
lucky because he had a wealthy benefactor who did their best to
provide good medical care for him. But his illnesses had no known
cure at the time so all that could be done was for him was what we
now term ‘palliative care’.
And cared for he was. He died peacefully in the Brighton home of a
couple who treated him like their son and made sure, along with the
help of his benefactor, that he had every little luxury in the way of
food and medication that was available. Something that many people
in England were denied because of their finances.
Since those days, medicine has come a long way. In the UK we have
the NHS as well as worldwide research into ongoing illnesses/diseases
that have yet to find a cure such as HIV/AIDS and of course the likes
of Ebola. But we’re not living in a medical Utopia that’s for sure.
Recently an ex-Hedge Funder in America, now the founder and CEO of
Turing Pharmaceuticals, a one Martin Shkreli, bought the rights to an
AIDS drug called Daraprim and promptly jacked up the price from
$13.50 to $750.00 per pill. His reasoning was that his company
‘needed to turn a profit on the drug’.
“Ex-Hedge Funder Martin Shkreli, bought
the rights to an AIDS drug called
Daraprim and promptly jacked up the
price from $13.50 to $750 per pill”
Shkreli has taken his desire for profit to breathtaking levels. So
breathtaking that people will probably die because of his meanspirited and avaricious actions. No one is saying he should give the
drug away for free (actually I am but I have socialist tendencies) but
what he’s done is take medicine back to the time when only the rich
could afford the luxury of medication.
Thomas Highflyer died because there was no cure for his ailments but
at least he had access to money via his benefactor. If there had been
a cure or medication that could have suppressed his illnesses, I
suspect that benefactor would have purchased it for him and he could
have possibly lived a long and productive life.
But others wouldn’t have been so lucky. Just like the case of Shkreli
today, it looks like we haven’t actually come out of the medical dark
ages and that is as tragic as it is terrifying.
Today Iquique is a city with a huge modern duty free port; but in the
old town, which I have just visited, you can still see plenty of fine
Victorian houses and civic buildings many of which were paid for by
the British settlers.
During WWI our navy blockaded German ports. One effect of this was
to drastically reduce the amount of imported saltpetre available to
their manufacturers of explosives (in more peaceful times it had been
used mainly as a fertiliser). Wily German chemists managed to
synthesise ammonia and were then able to make all the nitrate they
required. This was the death knell for the Chilean nitrate businesses
and by the end of the 1920s most of the mines, called oficinas, had
closed and many, like my grandparents, reluctantly returned to a much
lower standard of living in the UK, and then all the misery of WWII.
“Surely no one could criticise
anyone whose territory was about
to fall into the hands of ISIS for
seeking asylum abroad?”
This family history should and does make me feel some empathy for
today’s economic migrants, but war refugees must be granted a much
higher status in our hierarchy of concern. Surely no one could criticise
anyone whose territory was about to fall into the hands of ISIS for
seeking asylum abroad?
Vague fears about
overcrowding our already
overcrowded island, and
more specifically
overloading our health
and educational systems,
have some validity but
in the end we must
accept that we should
help these people. There
will be permanent changes to our society as there have been with all
previous waves of immigration, but these have been largely positive
and as a nation we seemed to have coped reasonably well with
migrant influxes. If the UK was to accept, or preferably welcome,
100,000 refugees and Brighton took its share, then our population
would be increased by less than 300. Surely we can cope with that?
It’s unrealistic to think that we will not experience periods of
upheaval during our lifetimes. My grandparents had to cope with much
bigger problems than I have had to face and they were remarkably
uncomplaining. Are we now so accustomed to stability and security
that we can no longer imagine the fear felt by those whose lives are
out of control and in danger, through no fault of their own?
60 GSCENE
POLICE LGBT
LIAISON TEAM
BY PC SARAH LAKER & RORY SMITH
SEX ED
) I’m always surprised when I hear how much schools have changed
since my school days in the 1980s/90s. The removal of Section 28 of
the Local Government Act has opened up the classroom to discussions
about sex and sexuality which just wouldn’t have been able to take
place for the entirety of my education. I was too young to experience
the tragedy of the epidemic in the 1980s but I do recall the doomfilled government adverts warning people not to die of ignorance,
which ironically many people did (not necessarily of AIDS) because
they weren’t given a proper education.
Responsive Web Design
that’s user friendly
and works great on all devices
Obviously sex education is more than just procreation and how to avoid
disease. It’s about understanding and accepting of one’s own and other
people’s sexual orientation. And sex education shouldn’t be limited to
teenagers. We all have things to learn regardless of our age and
experience.
Perceptions of HIV, and distinguishing fact from fiction, are aided by
classroom sessions these days. I had a chat with PC Jones about the
work Schools Liaison Officers do in schools in Sussex. In Brighton &
Hove all pupils will have received sex education during year 10 and 11.
They will have learnt about sexually transmitted infections (STIs); how
they commute, their effects and how infections don’t discriminate
between gender or sexuality. They’ll also have learnt about prevention,
where to go for help and where to get impartial information on all
matters about sex and sexuality. In addition, our School’s Liaison
officers will have given an input into consent, sex and the law; what
constitutes consent, what is rape as well as issues around the age of
consent and indecent images. Even children of primary age will have
talked about different and alternative family arrangements at school.
Yet despite all this, research recently published by the GMFA shows
that there is still a lot of prejudice and misinformation about HIV,
which sadly when put beside figures released in June from Public
Health England that show STIs are soaring among men who have sex
with men, whilst otherwise coming down for the rest of the
population, something is clearly going wrong. Matthew Hodson, GMFA
Chief Executive, said, “Our community remains plagued by low selfesteem, leaving many vulnerable to harmful drug taking and alcohol
use. For many gay men expressing intimacy is a major challenge and all
of these factors play a role in the poor sexual health that still besets
our community. We’ve come a long way but so long as these health
inequalities persist, we’re not equal.”
One way we can combat low self-esteem is to stand up to
discrimination when it occurs. Whether that is to challenge
homophobic attitudes in private or public life, or to report hate crime
to the police. Keeping our community safe has far reaching
consequences.
THIS MONTH’S FIGURES
) In September we had 13 reported LGBT hate-related crimes and
incidents. Many of crimes were verbal abuse/ comments that were
homophobic/ transphobic in nature. Incidents included harassment,
common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. We
recorded several incidents of anti-social behaviour which were dealt
with in partnership with the city council.
CONTACT INFORMATION
We both have Facebook profiles and a page – our usernames are:
f PC Sarah Laker and f LGBT Caseworker Rory Smith,
and f Brighton and Hove LGBT Police Team.
t We tweet @PoliceLGBT. Social media should not be used for
reporting incidents – call us on 101, or if it’s an emergency, 999.
Brand New Responsive
Website starting from:
[email protected]
£399
www.bessi.co.uk
GSCENE 61
CLASSIFIEDS
NOV 2015
BUILDERS, CARPENTERS, DECORATORS,
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LOFT CONVERSIONS • EXTENSIONS
• BRICKWORK • PAINTWORK
DECORATING • INSURANCE REPAIRS
FREE ESTIMATES
CHAT LINES
07939 581 791
Skilled and professional electrians that have
the ability to complete any electrical jobs,
large or small, to the high standards that we
pride ourselves on. All works certified
with NIC EIC certification.
01273 301 287 / 07944 693 243
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Domestic
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Need some help with your project?
Experienced project managers in refurbishment,
new build and home adaptations works.
Get the results you want without having to
shoulder the stress and hassle of sourcing, dealing
with and managing multiple contractors and
suppliers. From a small kitchen or bathroom
through to complete refurbs and home adaptations.
Registered installers of Impey wetroom systems.
www.primelivinguk.com 0800 690 6282
SEXUAL HEALTH
62 GSCENE
SERVICES
DIRECTORY
LGBT SERVICES
) ACCESS 4 ALL
LGBT disabled people’s forum. Safe, welcoming, support,
activities, awareness. Tel: 07981 170071 or email
[email protected]
) ALLSORTS YOUTH PROJECT
Drop-in for LGBT or unsure young people under 26, Tues
5.30-8.30pm. Tel: 01273 721211 or email
[email protected], www.allsortsyouth.org.uk
) BRIGHTON & HOVE POLICE
Report all homophobic and transphobic incidents to:
• The Sussex Police 101 (for emergencies 999)
email: [email protected]
tweet: @policeLGBT and @pclaker
• LGBT Officer PC Sarah Laker on 101 ext 550727
• LGBT Caseworker Rory Smith on 101 ext 550217
or 07775 546548
• Facebook: Brighton LGBT Police
) BRIGHTON & HOVE LGBT SAFETY FORUM
Independent LGBT forum working with the community to
address and improve safety issues in Brighton & Hove.
[email protected]
www.lgbt-safety-forum-brighton.com
) BRIGHTON & HOVE LGBT SWITCHBOARD
Phone helpline, hate crime reporting, counselling service,
Proud2connect (relationship counselling in partnership with
Brighton Relate). www.switchboard.org.uk/brighton
• Helpline from 5pm daily: 01273 204050
• Services info: 01273 234009
• email: [email protected]
• or [email protected]
noon–2.30pm, Community Room, Dorset Gdns Methodist
Church, Dorset Gardens, Brighton. Lunch £1.50.
Tel: 07846 464384 or www.lunchpositive.org
) MINDOUT
Independent, impartial info, guidance for LGBT people with
mental health problems. 24 hr confidential answerphone:
01273 234839 or [email protected]
www.mindout.org.uk
) PEER ACTION
Regular low cost yoga, therapies, swimming, meditation
& social groups for people with HIV.
[email protected] or www.peeraction.co.uk
) RAINBOW FAMILIES
Support group for lesbian and/or gay parents.
Tel: 07951 082013 or [email protected]
www.rainbowfamilies.org.uk
) SOME PEOPLE
Social/support group for LGB or questioning aged 14-19,
Tue, 6-8pm, Hastings. Call/text Nicola Tel: 07974 579865
or email Neil or Nicola: [email protected]
) VICTIM SUPPORT
Practical, emotional support for victims of crime.
Tel: 08453 899 528
) THE VILLAGE MCC
Christian church serving the LGBTQ community. Sundays
6pm, Somerset Day Centre, Kemptown
Tel: 07476 667353, www.thevillagemcc.org
HIV PREVENTION, CARE
& TREATMENT SERVICES
) AVERT
Sussex HIV & AIDS info service, available by phone
Tel: 01403 210202 or email [email protected]
) BRIGHTON & HOVE CAB HIV PROJECT
Info, counselling, drop-in space, support groups.
Tel: 01273 698036 or visit www.womenscentre.org.uk
Money, benefits, employment, housing, info, advocacy.
Appointments: Tue-Thur 9am-4pm, Wed 9am-12.30pm
Brighton & Hove Citizens Advice Bureau, Brighton Town Hall.
Tel: 01273 733390 ext 520 or www.brightonhovecab.org.uk
) FTM BRIGHTON
) CLINIC M
Social/peer support group for FTM, transmasculine &
gender-queer people. Every 3rd Fri of month, 7-9pm at
Space for Change, Windlesham Venue, BN1 3AH.
For info email [email protected] or visit
www.ftmbrighton.org.uk
Free confidential testing & treatment for STIs including HIV,
plus Hep A & B vaccinations. Claude Nicol Centre, Sussex
County Hospital, on Weds from 5-8pm.
Tel: 01273 664721 or www.brightonsexualhealth.com
) BRIGHTON GEMS (GAY ELDERLY MEN’S
SOCIETY)
Medical advice, treatment for HIV+, specialist clinics, diet
& welfare advice, drug trials. Tel: 01273 664722
) BRIGHTON WOMEN’S CENTRE
Social group for mature gay men, meet 7–10pm every last
Fri of month at Dorset Gardens Methodist Church Hall.
www.brightongems.com
) LESBIAN LINK BRIGHTON
Local social group offers friendship, social events, meets 1st
Thurs at Regency Tavern, 7.30pm. Tel: 07594 578035
www.lesbianlinkbrighton.co.uk
) LESBIAN & GAY AA
12-step self-help programme for alcohol addictions. Sun
7.30pm, Chapel Royal, North St, Btn (side entrance).
Tel: 01273 203343 (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. Tel: 0300 999 1212
) LGBT MEDITATION GROUP
Meditation & discussion, every 2nd & 4th Thur, 5.30–7pm,
Anahata Clinic, 119 Edward St, Brighton.
Tel: 07789 861367 or www.bodhitreebrighton.org.uk
) LUNCH POSITIVE
Lunch club for people with HIV to meet/make friends, find
peer support in a safe environment. Every Fri,
) LAWSON UNIT
) SUBSTANCE MISUSE SERVICE
CRI / Sussex Partnership Foundation Trust. Open access
drop-in, assessment, support, advice, info on drug & alcohol
issues. Tel 01273 607575. LGB&T worker provides
confidential, non-judgemental outreach service. Support for
people over 18 wishing to address substance misuse.
Tel 07717 774 658
) SUSSEX BEACON
24 hour nursing & medical care, day care.
Tel: 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, 9.30am–5.30pm.
• 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 Service @ Dukes Mound:
advice, support, info on HIV, sexual health, personal
safety. Free condoms, lube, tea/coffee from Outreach van
parked next to ‘The Patio’ at the Bushes.
• Netreach (online Outreach in Brighton & Hove):
info/advice on HIV/sexual health/local services.
THT Brighton Outreach workers online @ Gaydar:
Thur 7–10pm, Sat 6pm-12am, chatroom HEALTH INFO THT.
• Condom Male: discreet, confidential service posts free
condoms/lube/sexual health info to men who have sex
with men without access to commercial gay scene in
East Sussex.
• 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 for men who have sex with men. Pre &
post test discussion with clinical staff. Results in an hour.
10 men max tested per session. Mon: 6–8pm.
(Full sexual health screen available)
• Sauna Fastest at The Brighton Sauna (HIV Testing):
walk-in, (no appointment) rapid HIV testing service for
men who have sex with men. Pre & post test discussion
with clinical staff. Results in 30 minutes.
Wed: 6–8pm. (STI Testing available).
• Face2Face: confidential info & advice on sexual health
& HIV for men who have sex with men. Face-2-face or
phone. Up to 3 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.
• Informed Passions: Expert Volunteers project to identify
& support sexual health needs of local men who have sex
with men and carry out field research in B&H on issues
affecting men’s sexual health. Extensive training provided.
• Lounge (Group for Gay Men Living with HIV):
fortnightly peer support group for gay men.
• What Next? Thurs eve, 6 week peer support group work
programme for newly diagnosed HIV+ gay men.
• HIV Support Services: info, support & practical advice
for people living with/affected by HIV.
• Volunteer Support Services: 1-2-1 community support
for people living with or affected by HIV.
• HIV Welfare Rights Advice: Find out about benefits or
benefit changes. Advice line: Mon–Thur 1:30-2:30pm.
1-2-1 appts for advice & workshops on key benefits.
) TERRENCE HIGGINS EASTBOURNE
Dyke House, 110 South St, Eastbourne, BN21 4LZ,
• HIV Services support for HIV diagnosis, managing side
effects, sex and relationships, understanding medication,
talking to your doctor, finding healthier lifestyle.
Assessment of support needs and signposting on to
relevant services. Support in person, by phone or email.
• Support for people at risk of HIV confidential info and
advice on sexual health and HIV for men who have sex
with men. Up to 3 one hour appointments depending on
need. Sessions in person or on phone.
• Web support & 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.
• Positively Social Informal peer support groups for people
living with HIV, monthly meets in Eastbourne & Hastings.
) WARREN BROWNE UNIT
Free confidential tests & treatment for STIs inc HIV. Hep A &
B vaccinations. Shoreham based. Tel: 01273 461453
NATIONAL HELPLINES
) BROKEN RAINBOW
LGBT Domestic Violence Helpline, Mon 2-8pm,
Wed 10-1pm, Thur 2-8pm Tel: 08452 604460
) LONDON LESBIAN & GAY SWITCHBOARD
Tel: 02078 377324
) POSITIVELINE (EDDIE SURMAN TRUST)
Mon-Fri 11am-10pm, Sat & Sun 4-10pm Tel: 0800 1696806
) MAINLINERS Tel: 02075 825226
) NATIONAL AIDS HELPLINE 08005 67123
) NATIONAL DRUGS HELPLINE 08007 76600
) THT AIDS TREATMENT PHONELINE
Tel: 08459 470047
) THT DIRECT Tel: 0845 1221200
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13 PARIS HOUSE
21 Western Rod, 724195
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14 QUEEN’S ARMS
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15 REGENCY TAVERN
32-34 Russell Sq, 325652
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17 SUBLINE
129 St James St, 624100
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18 THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS
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28 St George’s Rd, 698873
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11 LEGENDS BAR
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12 MARINE TAVERN
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26 NEW STEINE BISTRO
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13 PARIS HOUSE
21 Western Rod, 724195
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15 REGENCY TAVERN
32-34 Russell Sq, 325652
Stupid mistakewww.regencytavern.co.uk
16 SETTING SUN
18 THREE JOLLY BUTCHERS
59 North Rd, 608571
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19 VELVET JACKS
50 Norfolk Sq, 07720 661290
) SAUNAS
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112 St James’ St, 683680
33 SUSSEX BEACON Charity Shop
130 St James’ St, 682992
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72-73 London Rd, 680264
32
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14–15 Queens Rd, 710831
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30 THT BRIGHTON
61 Ship St, 764200
31 VELVET TATTOO
48 Norfolk Sq, 973746
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22 AVALON HOTEL
7 Upper Rock Gardens, 692344
23 GULLIVERS HOTEL
12a New Steine, 695415
www.gullivershotel.com
24 HOTEL PELIROCCO
10 Regency Sq, 327055
25 HUDSONS
22 Devonshire Place, 683642
11 LEGENDS HOTEL
26 NEW STEINE HOTEL
10/11 New Steine, 681546
www.newsteinehotel.com
27 QUEENS HOTEL
1/3 Kings Rd, 321222
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EDWARD
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3 BAR BROADWAY
10 Steine Street, 609777
www.barbroadway.co.uk
4 BEDFORD TAVERN
30 Western Street, 739495
5 BOUTIQUE BAR
2 Boyces St @ West St, 327607
www.boutiqueclubbrighton.com
6 BULLDOG TAVERN
31 St James’ St, 696996
www.bulldogbrighton.com
7 CAMELFORD ARMS
30-31Camelford St, 622386
www.camelford-arms.co.uk
8 CHARLES STREET BAR
9 DR BRIGHTON’S
16 Kings Rd, 208113
www.doctorbrightons.co.uk
10 GROSVENOR
16 Western Street, 770712
11 LEGENDS BAR
12 MARINE TAVERN
13 Broad St, 681284
www.marinetavern.co.uk
NORTH
GRAND P
ARADE
CHU
WESTER
WEST
ST
13
10 4
OVER
18
IER R
D
19 31
TPEL
36
NGW
SOUTH
29
MON
1ST AVE
PALME
R
SQUAR IA
E
HOLLA
D
ISLI
OLD STEIN
E
ND RD
E RD
CHURCH
R
40
TRAFALGAR ST
QUEE
NS RD
THE DRIV
I E
DYK
GEOR
GE ST
BRIGHTON
STATION
SEVEN
S
EN
N
DIALS
ALS
D
NR
DO
RD
LON
GOLDSMID
NEW CHURCH RD
HOVE ST
ELM GROVE
RD
SACKVVILLLE RD
D
PORTLAND RD
) COMMUNITY
41 BRIGHTON WOMEN’S CENTRE
72 High St, 698036
www.womenscentre.org.uk
42 LUNCH POSITIVE
Dorset Gardens Methodist Church,
07846 464384 www.lunchpositive.org

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