Pride: the same, but different!

Ok, we are going to have to pay for the main event in the park , but as you’ll see from what the organisers have got in store, there will be few complaints.

Last year was great but it was lacking something of the feel of the old Pride – and I guess the writing was already on the wall. What we have here looks like a fitter, leaner, better organised show – still only time will tell.

So to find out for yourself, have a look at what’s on. And if you like what you see and want to keep in touch with the Brighton LGBT community check out ZhooshBrighton – dedicated community run by some excellent people.

Here’s our full piece on this year’s Pride, enjoy

Brighton Fashion Week

That is unless you are down for Brighton Fashion Week. Because running this week there’s plenty of chic, freak and unique – and it’s all pulled together over the next 5 days into one long fashion celebration.

And we’ve one of the designers, Masato, talking to us about all things Brighton… read on

32 Palmeira Sq.

Now, with the last weekend of the event upon us, we’ve a top tip for a gem of a property that truly ticks both boxes: 32 Palmeira Sq.

From the grand entrance and warm welcome, it’s a building full of delights  – look immediately left for an incredible caged lift that rises up through this period terrace.

But immediately after entering the first floor space, the flaws in your integrity will be tested to the full: Are you looking at the art or the space? Has anyone spotted you making secret notes as to where you’d put your sofa?

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Headed up by Blue Badge guide Ric Morris, it’s a fascinating, interactive look at Brighton. Telling us more about it – and revealing his own place in it all, here’s Ric! And the Everest fact – love it!

When you first came to Brighton, what did you expect?

I first came to Brighton as a small child, and I expected ice-cream. When I came here to live, it took a while to find the things I liked, and avoid the things I didn’t like, but now I’ve got that sorted, it exceeds expectations on a regular basis.

Which fact about Brighton surprises you most?

If you count Hove, then you can see the grave of Sir George Everest, who gave his name to the mountain, in the graveyard next to Tescos.

LGBT Brighton - making history

What part does Brighton play in UK’s LGBT history?

Since it became a resort in the 1780s and especially after the opening of the railway in the 1840s, Brighton has been a place of escape and relaxation for a broad spectrum of Londoners. It has been a playground where people can escape the rules and responsibilities of the centres of production.

In the 1870s several members of the Boulton and Park (two men who were arrested for going out in women’s clothes) circle, fled prosecution by coming to Brighton.

In the 1920s Valerie Arkell-Smith came to Brighton to re-invent herself as Colonel Sir Victor Barker. Brighton was known in the 1930s as having many gay and (unusually) lesbian clubs and bars, more so than possibly any city outside London.

In 1835, the last man to be hanged in Britain for same-sex offences came from Brighton. In 2005, the first same-sex couple to legally tie the knot came from Brighton, and Brighton hosted the first Civil Partnerships in England.

Tell us a little about more about the ‘Piers and Queers’ tour.

It looks at nine people connected with Brighton from an LGBT perspective. Most of them made amazing contributions to our society – medicine, literature, music, philanthropy, acting – and looking at their lives helps us understand how people with unconventional sexual and gender identities created their own place within challenging environments. All in an hour and a bit.

Is Brighton’s LGBT community making history right now?

Time will tell. Having such a large LGBT population in a relatively small city means that there’s less ghettoisation, and LGBT people are closely woven within the fabric of the city as a whole. Everybody knows, works with, or encounters an out LGBT person on a daily basis, and I don’t think that happens anywhere else. So perhaps Brighton is leading the way with the normalisation of LGBT people in everyday life, and is a model for other places.

Every week there’s a Brighton Bed and Breakfast with people visiting for the first time. In a sentence, what should they expect?

Expect to walk the streets and be entertained by daily life in Brighton. You can party when you like, but if you want something else you can find it here too.

Inspired? Find us on Facebook and like us, we’ve accommodation offers for visitors and live LGBT entertainment listings.

This weekend!

There’s nothing more positive than young people visiting Brighton and embracing their sexuality. And when they get together and create a national event, and make it successful, they really make an impact on the wider LGBT community.

This weekend it’s National Student Pride, and you know there’s only one place they could really host it: Brighton. So, to explain more about what this upbeat group are up to, we got in touch and interviewed the organisers.

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Image credit - Stuart Isett - isett.com

We know discrimination still goes on. And there are still prejudice to be found, even around Brighton’s corners. But few people have ever faced the kind of battles that Aung San Suu Kyi still fights to this day.

This is a lady that stood toe-to-toe with one of the harshest regimes in the world, and won the world’s greatest humanitarian prize – and she’s inspiring this year’s Brighton Festival.

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Winter Pride 2011

You’ve all spent a weekend in Brighton when it’s been Pride weekend, but have you seen the line-up of events for Winter Pride?

Tonight’s fantastic Sophie Ellis Bextor and Richard Jones DJ set at Club Revenge is a kind of un-official pre-Pride event, with the main gig beginning on Saturday – and lasting for nine days.

Brighton’s top LGBT venues are putting on events for everyone, and we mean everyone.  Karaoke kings and queens will be welcome at The Bulldog and Dr Brighton’s is setting off its 2nd Birthday celebrations in style with some £1 shots.

Sunday may be a day of rest for the party crew, but for Brighton Lesbian and Gay Sports Society (BLAGGS) it’s a perfect day for a seven-mile walk along the downs, or  a free tennis session in Hove park.

Footy fans drag yourselves to Worthing for a glam football match organised by The Jack Horner (you’ll need to bring a frock) and there’s special offers on roasts all around town.

Once the day-trippers and London crowd have had their weekend in Brighton, the local LGBT community carries on its Winter Pride events well into next week – well if there’s a party for the Lesbian Gay Bi and Transgender community going on anywhere in the UK, you’ll find it this weekend in Brighton and all week in Brighton!

And if you want to hook up with the local LGBT community or are new to the scene, we’d recommend you join ZhooshBrightonour local social network.

Enjoy – as if we need to remind you!

We’ve still deals on for people after rooms in Brighton, but be quick! Discounted rooms in Brighton

And for more details on Winter Pride, look here. And for live listings for LGBT events in Brighton

As straight as a butcher's hook

Morten Harket, 80s hunk and lead singer of a-ha will be visiting Brighton this week. Although it’s unlikely he’ll be rubbing shoulders with Brighton’s bears or camping it up – sadly the 40-something pop pinup is married and will be too busy performing at the Brighton Centre.

He’s just one of several star turns turning up this month. Have a look below at who’s on, or just check out this promo pic if you still have a place in your heart for Morten – he’s liking you…

Pre-Xmas music madness

Next Saturday and Sunday Lionel Shriver, Bonnie Greer and Ali Smith are leading Storyville Brighton’s first ever literature festival.

The intellectual heavyweights are joined by a tribe of other writers in a lit fest running at the Brighton Dome.

First up its New Voices, chaired by Lisa Holloway.  Midday on Saturday aclaimed writers Emma Henderson, Justine Kilkerr and Emily Mackie will be reading and discussing their work.

After an afternoon of talks and readings Bonnie Greer will be reading from her new book Obama Music.

On Sunday there’s another New Voices session. Later in the day Polly Tonybee is hosting Love, Loss and Tragedy across Continents and to finish it off there’s a ‘meet the author’ session with Ali Smith.

There’s a lot more on than I have time for here, for more information, bookworms and lit lovers look here.