40 Scene
WALL'S WORDS
STUFF & THINGS
Summer holiday? Perhaps next year
Pride and Protest
) The entire country is screaming to be let out and allowed to go on holiday, but the headmaster and the other prefects have said NO, not this year. Only if you're especially good can you go to the Isle of Wight for a weekend.
) Pride. Pride... So much has been written about Pride. What can you say that hasn't been said before? What would be a new and dynamic thing to say? 'The need for Pride'? Others, I'm sure, will cover that. 'What Pride means to me?' Done that already. 'The Politics of Pride'? Not really my thing.
BY ROGER WHEELER
As and when the world opens up to us there are many new gayowned places that welcome all the LGBTQ+ etc community. You will invariably need a vaccination certificate but don't rely on the NHS App, it's not acceptable in most countries, some don't even have the technology. You need a hard copy, which is easy to get. Healthwatch has set up a new telephone number – 119 – initially designed for track and trace. Once you get through there is quite a lengthy menu, eventually you will hear a number to choose a hard copy passport. Then of course they will ask you all the usual security and personal questions but within a very few days you will get a hard copy of all your vaccination details. When it comes to destinations everyone knows about Mykonos, Ibiza, and Sitges etc, nice though they are there must be other places, and there are.
“As and when the world opens up to us there are many new gay-owned places that welcome all the LGBTQ+ etc community” Ever thought about Bulgaria? A few years ago, two guys from Hove, Paul and his partner, having worked extensively in the voluntary sector decided on a complete change of life and bought the Little River Guest House. On the edge of Boynovtsi, Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in a beautiful river valley, surrounded by nature and ancient forests. This looks like the ultimate peaceful getaway. The prices – and this is Eastern Europe – start at around £30 per night. It's 103 miles from Sofia Airport, there is a bus. The reviews are ecstatic. A little closer to home is the Domaine de Monteils about an hour from Montpelier in the Languedoc. Two lovely French guys, Richard and Frédéric, bought the place about ten years ago, did most of the renovations themselves and have produced one of the most stunning collection of gites imaginable. We spent one of the best holidays ever in this beautiful 17C converted monastery. All seven apartments are totally private; we had one with its own private pool. It was the last holiday that we had together before Mike died, but I cannot recommend it highly enough. Still in the Languedoc, which is fast becoming the gayest region of France, is Cinq & Sept, another very gay resort, more designed for groups but if fun is your thing this is the place to go. Montpelier is the closest airport and is very easy to get to from Gatwick. Reykjavik, which comes highly rated on the gay holiday list, is a lovely city in an amazingly gay-friendly country. The gay scene is livelier than you would imagine for a country that is situated so far away from everything. This is all very well, but right now we are strongly advised against all foreign travel until next year. We’ve been patient for so long, a few months won’t hurt.
BY JON TAYLOR
So let's look at the event itself. What have the themes been of Pride over the years... perhaps there's something in that? ‘Over The Rainbow’. ‘Fabuloso’. ‘Generations Of Love’. ‘Colour My World’. ‘Summer Of Love’. Hmmmm... all those tell me is that we could do with some more interesting and less generic themes. How's about ‘Nature’, ‘Food’, or ‘That Feeling At A Bar When You Realise That You're A Bit Older Than Everyone Else There’. That'd make things interesting.
“My gay friends are just normal blokes, doing their normal jobs, living their normal lives who may go down the pub with their mates at the weekend. They don’t wear feathers, they don’t do cocaine, they don’t say ‘Yaaaaas Queen’. They're just blokes” Struggling for an idea, I inquire of my Facebook friends as to what they’d write about. “Why don't you write about what doesn’t make you proud as a gay man?” suggests one of them. Not a bad idea but not sure if a little column about body shaming, ageism, wealth shaming and the drink and drugs-based culture of parts of the gay world is particular coffee-break reading material. How’s about taking another bastion of gay entertainment, Eurovision, and putting it together with Pride and see if there’s a link somewhere? So, let’s see what won the contest in the year that 1944 won for the Ukraine, a song concerning the deportation of the Crimean Taters at the hands of Joseph Stalin. The Brighton & Hove Pride theme that year was ‘Uniting Nations’. Hmmm. Perhaps not.
“[Pride] could do with some more interesting and less generic themes. How's about ‘Nature’, ‘Food’, or ‘That Feeling At A Bar When You Realise That You're A Bit Older Than Everyone Else There’. That’d make things interesting” Another friend might have hit upon an excellent theme for a Pride one year. ‘Normal Men’. He's made the point that Pride tends to cater for a typical expression of what being gay is. Namely being full of sparkles and neon and crop tops and thumping dance music. How many guys do you know who are like this and live their lives like this? I don't know any. My gay friends are just normal blokes, doing their normal jobs, living their normal lives, who may go down the pub with their mates at the weekend. They don’t wear feathers, they don’t do cocaine, they don’t say ‘Yaaaaas Queen’. They're just blokes. We do all kind of fall into this trap at Pride – the floats I’ve been on are always over-the-top affairs full of glitter. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. It’s fun to dress up and show off a bit. But how’s about one year we take things down a notch or two? How’s about a pared down Pride? A ‘Come As You Are’ Pride? For some, simply rocking up to walk in the Pride parade is a huge statement. How much easier might it be for some to take part if they didn’t feel they had to wear angel wings on their back in order to do so?
