44 Scene
Turn Back the Pages
Gscene has been published every month for over 27 years, and is a rich chronicle of the history of our LGBTQ+ communities, in and around Brighton & Hove. Chris Gull raids the archives… bodies in a chilled, nonthreatening atmosphere,” says Cathi Stone, co-organiser. “It’s cruising for women but doing it our way. It’s sexy without being sleazy.”
February 2006 We start our look back to 15 years ago with news of a women-only sauna night, and follow with a familiar story of the time, the sacking of a transgender employee, meanwhile Wild Fruit looked forward to March and an event for ‘gender-bending fruits’. GET STEAMY! ) The UK’s only regular all-night women’s sauna event is back and this time they’ve added massage and mystery to the winning formula of sexy fun, frolics, pampering and entertainment to bring you the greatest Steamy! ever. Besides their usual midnight icebreaking activity, a qualified masseuse will be available for short sessions from around 11pm, and they will be giving away 12 FREE massages – first come, first served! If you like to retain an air of mystery while shedding your inhibitions, you’ll love this event’s theme: Masks!. Plus Steamy! is now open until 6am, at no extra charge. “Our aim is that Steamy! should be a safe, welcoming, non-judgmental space for women to find pleasure in their own and each other’s
TRANSGENDER EMPLOYEE SACKED ) Michelle-Louise Lewis, a post-operative transsexual living in Hove, alleges discrimination after being dismissed from her position as a VDU operator with American Express, a position obtained through recruitment agency Adecco. She intends to take her grievances to an industrial tribunal. Allegations include improper grievance processes being followed, being called “mate”, “sir” and “fucking tranny” by work colleagues. On reporting incidents to her line manager, she was allegedly told not to “rock the boat” and she further alleges that she was threatened if she went to the press she would never work in Brighton again by an Adecco employee. A spokesperson for Adecco said: “Adecco has a robust policy of equal opportunities and diversity and all associates are placed in assignments based on skills and ability alone. We work closely with American Express at all times to ensure that job roles are assessed based on job-related criteria.” A spokesperson for American Express said: “We cannot comment on an individual case however American Express operates a nondiscriminatory policy. All applicants are assessed objectively on job-related criteria. If an applicant does not meet the criteria, they would be unsuccessful.”
February 2011 ) Two Gscene stalwarts chatted, and one lifted
their kilt, the Lesbian Lives conference moved to Brighton, and most importantly the saga of Pride (old old Pride as we call it here) dragged on. When the founder, David Harvey, left the charity started descending into disarray. He reflected sadly that it was time to change as the charity no longer carried out charitable purposes. PRIDE SHOULD CLOSE DOWN SAYS FORMER CHAIR ) In a passionate open letter to the press,
David Harvey, former Chair of Pride in Brighton & Hove calls for the charity he helped create, to close down. Saying that ethically the charity should stop its activities, adding that running a party as a charity is morally wrong and an affront to the tens of thousands of charitable efforts across the land. Something has gone wrong. Pride should be an organisation to unite all people from the LGBT community and beyond. However, in recent times it has bred discontent, caused divisions and hurt some of the people who helped to make it great. “With my fellow trustees, we turned Brighton Pride into a charitable trust in 2004 to run the high-profile festival promoting equality whilst giving grants to voluntary groups to participate. However, in October 2009 Pride
announced that no more grants would be given out at all. As a charitable trust this is its primary function, and it isn’t doing this anymore. Ethically the charity should stop. The Pride trustees should wind up the charity and allow a commercial operation with gay standing to take over the pitch. Charging for the event will end the ‘free for all’ and help return the festival’s gay mix. “There is a community/business bid on the table backed by three key LGBT community organisations and supported by two of the main LGBT voluntary organisations with a promise to create grants for local groups. The business partners in this bid come from the production company Wilde Ones and club brand Wild Fruit – they the very people who, in 20036, helped me, my fellow trustees and workers make Brighton Pride the best gay event in the country. Perhaps they can return the jewel to the gay community’s crown?”
