More to Me Than HIV

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More to Me Than HIV

First published in Gscene July 2020 For last years World AIDS Day I put together a public project of work joining other people living with an HIV+ diagnoses at Jubilee library.For last years World AIDS Day I put together a public project of work joining other people living with an HIV+ diagnoses at Jubilee library. For the project I spoke openly about my journey having being           Read more

More to Me Than HIV: GScene post Aug 2020

More to Me Than HIV is a project that aims to breakdown the stigma that has historically been attached to this virus.  When I saw my piece in last months Gscene to promote the More to Me Than HIV project, I was extremely proud, but a small part of me was filled with anxiety; but why should I feel this way? I have been on effective antiretroviral therapy since the Read more

More to Me Than HIV: first published in GScene July 2020

For last years World AIDS Day I put together a public project of work joining other people living with an HIV+ diagnoses at Jubilee library. For the project I spoke openly about my journey having being             diagnosed HIV+ 32 years previous. Back then there was no treatment and a lot of fear and misinformation concerning how HIV was transmitted. As such stigma was rife, Read more

LGBT

Brighton Gay Pride & Money

Pride & Money

For the last few years Brighton Pride seems to be remembered for all the wrong reasons; the most worrying being the huge debt that it has acuminated, preventing any of the LGBT charities receiving a single penny after the event.

As fond as my memories are of the first Brighton Pride, which consisted of us all meeting in the park and sharing a few cans of beer and a sandwich, I much preferred the later Gay Prides in Preston Park, along with all the entertainment that was provided. I’d join in with the other line-dancing bears, grrr, amble around the collective stalls that sold everything from strap-on dilldos to “no one knows I’m gay” t-shirts; then I’d sit myself down by the main stage. Okay, from midday till 2 pm, the acts would be people or groups I’d never heard of and most likely never hear of again; but from thereon in things would get fabulously queer. Read more

Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Brighton & Hove, Gscene, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Leisure, LGBT, THT Leave a comment

Moscow Gay Pride Attacked Again.

With all the in-fighting and back biting we have seen over the last few years in the name of Brighton Gay Pride, it is all too easy to forget that there are people living in countries that crack down on the very idea that there is a LGBT community out there. Last Saturday Pride Marchers where once again attacked by a bunch of bullies, mainly neo-Nazis and right wing extremists. The Mayor of Moscow, (Mr. Sergey Sobyanin) stood by and witnessed the police arrest the peaceful pride participants. Read more

Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Human Rights, LGBT, Zhoosh Leave a comment

National Condom Week

Tomorrow, 18thMay is National Condom Week. Okay, so there may not be a parade through the streets with a 12 foot condom being held aloft the revellers waving condoms on sticks to celebrate the day, but it’s still very important to flag up the safe sex message.

If you are sexually active, particularly if you have multiple sexual partners, then condoms should be included in your play. Read more

Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Brighton & Hove, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Leisure, LGBT, THT, Zhoosh 1 Comment

Your Right to Happiness.

In his recent appearance on Channel Fours, 4thought, Human Rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell put it best when he said; “To deny Christians the right to discriminate against others is not persecution, its protection.”

His comment came after the well publicised views of a couple refused to give a bed and breakfast to a two men because they felt it went against their religion to allow unmarried couples to share a double bed. Even when it was revealed the couple   were in fact married (they had entered into a civil partnership) they were still refused. Of course this had nothing to do about marriage and everything to do with discrimination on the ground of sexuality.

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Gay Games

When I left School my first job was at the seaside resort of Felixstowe where I worked as second chef and chief bottle washer at a burger bar called Big Daddies. One of the perks… the only perk of working there was the video arcade next door. Back then the choice of games where limited to pill popping Pacman, the testosterone fueled Donkey Kong and then there was the gallant blonde prince, with a high pitched scream in Dragon’s lair. All these characters I would later find on the gay scene.

As the gaming technology came on in leaps and bounds, such 2-D characterizations got left behind, and so did any hint that there may be gay gamers wanting to see themselves represented in worlds where everything and anything can happen. Read more

Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Leisure, LGBT, Zhoosh 3 Comments

Happy New Year…

New Year resolutions? I stopped making those a long time ago. Don’t get me wrong, I love all the other traditions that lead up to this time of year. From October the 1st, the shops start stocking up on Christmas cards and wrapping paper and my mate Martin sends me texts messages on how many days are left before the big day. Read more

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Diana Rowe: Senior Counsellor at Terrence Higgins Trust, Brighton.

Senior councillor THT Brighton

Following a successful career in TV production at the BBC, Diana Rowe moved to Brighton in 2004 seeking a new challenge. She had trained as a Person-Centred counsellor in London and in Brighton. Her counselling experience includes working for the Brighton Women’s Centre, Mankind UK as well as managing Age Concern’s counselling service. Read more

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Tim Procter, Welfare Rights Advisor. Terrence Higgins Trust (Brighton)

Welfare Rights Advisor, Terrence Higgins Trust, Brighton

Tim first became involved in welfare rights for people with HIV back in 1985. He volunteered for THT (London), providing voluntary support and advice once a fortnight to people who where struck down with HIV; a condition that at the time was deeply misunderstood.

You have to remember in the early 1980’s, if you disclosed your HIV positive status to a member of the benefit agency, it was quite likely that you would be evicted from the building; such was the fear of the condition at the time. Tim Procter.

Tim continued to volunteer for THT, while working full time as an interior designer. By 1988, the increasing demand for welfare advice, allowed Tim to take on the role as a fulltime, paid worker. Read more

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Mandy South, HIV Health Trainer, Terrence Higgins Trust, Brighton

Mandy South, HIV Health Trainer. HIV Heath Advisor, Terrence Higgins Trust

Mandy moved down to Brighton two years ago from Essex, where her work background varied from hairdressing, to working with young people with learning difficulties, and later as a trainee midwife. However, a change in personal circumstances, led Mandy to leave her home town and start afresh in Brighton, where she volunteered for THT as a community support volunteer.

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Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Brighton & Hove, Health, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, LGBT, THT, Zhoosh Leave a comment

Brighton Pride

Is Pride still relevant?

The first time I heard there was such a thing as ‘Gay Pride’ was way back in 1984, when I lived in Norwich. The only gay bar was hidden away above a straight pub, and the gay club, The Caribbean, was discretely situated round the back alley, above a chip shop and only open three nights a week.

This was when it was illegal to have gay sex unless you were over 21 and then there was a new disease that was affecting the gay community, but no one really wanted to talk about that. So the idea that there was a Gay Pride March through London, with a mass gathering in the park, sounded like paradise.

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Posted on by Glenn Stevens in Brighton & Hove, Gscene, Human Rights, Leisure, LGBT, THT, Zhoosh Leave a comment