I know that it is a bit lazy for me to be writing about the weather, but at the time of writing this the weather has improved vastly and when this happens peoples’ moods improve too. So with us feeling better about ourselves, we may seek new adventures (if you get my drift), so if that is the case then please act safely and protect both yourself and others.
There are a variety of stories in this issue ranging from gay superheroes to the effects of religion on a person’s sexual orientation and how they live their lives. On a slightly more positive note for those who have religious beliefs and would wish to have their civil partnerships in a church, has come one step closer to fruition.
How many of you have been tuning into Brooklands FM? If you have not yet, then why not tune in on Thursday evenings at 8pm for 1 hour and hear what is going on locally for the gay population.
I have printed an obituary for Kristian Digby who was found dead in his home in March, but an obituary that reflects his life rather than the cause of his death.
Lords back religious civil partnerships for gay couples
Escorts may be unable to advertise!
LGBT population in Surrey have their own Community radio show
Gay SuperheroesMeet the camp crusaders: Superheroes who are proud to be gay. Spandex is a new comic book series by artist Martin Eden and it's bringing a new slant to the superhero world. 'I felt that a gay super-team was something that hadn't been done before. It just felt very fresh and original,' said the London-based artist. Spandex follows the adventures of glamorous transvestite Liberty and her team as they battle such enemies as the Pink Ninjas and the 50ft Lesbian (oh yes, the baddies are gay too).
The first issue introduced the crime- fighters and their Brighton headquarters. 'It's been a lot of fun coming up with these characters,' said 35-year-old Mr Eden. 'Liberty is a lot of fun to write, as you don't get many transvestite superheroes and her powers are a lot of fun. 'He/she has a female power suit like Iron Man and she has her Gaydar - like Spider-sense but gayer. She's fun, but she can be a really manipulative bitch, too.' Spandex is aimed at 'mature readers only' and Mr Eden already has a mix of straight and gay readers, 'which is what I wanted', he said. 'These guys are just as cool as Spider-Man and Batman - they just happen to sleep with members of their own sex.' The first issue of Spandex is available at www.spandexcomic.com. Our gay heroes, are as described by Martin Eden
DIVA: The most beautiful superhero you'll ever see... But don't let those good looks deceive you - she is deadly in a fight, and has many, many, deep, dark secrets
GLITTER: With the ability to transform himself into light, Glitter can be very handy, either in a fight or in a disco
MR MUSCLES & BUTCH: One is super-strong, one is invulnerable, with rock hard skin - and they're twins
PROWLER: Has the power to absorb the skills and abilities of any gay person - so that could mean taking the powers of a team-mate or enemy - or just learning how to throw a fabulous dinner party
INDIGO: With her teleportation powers and energetic nature, Indigo brings new meaning to the word 'flighty'. She has her 'Indigo Room', which is full of weapons, gadgets and costume changes, that she can visit in the blink of an eyeLIBERTY: The leader of the team and the world's first transvestite superhero! Liberty has a (female) power suit which gives her strength and flight, and she also has her own Gaydar www.metro.co.uk
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Lords back religious civil partnerships for gay couplesThe House of Lords has approved an amendment to the Equality Bill giving gay couples the right to have civil partnerships in church. The measure, proposed by out gay peer Lord Waheed Alli, was passed 95 votes to 21, a majority of 74. A free vote was allowed. It gives churches the option of hosting civil partnership ceremonies if they wish and is not compulsory. Under current law, civil partnerships may not contain any religious references. The change means they can be held in churches and other religious buildings, and may contain religious language. Faiths such as Liberal Judaism, the Quakers and the Unitarians have all expressed their wishes to hold civil partnership ceremonies. Introducing the amendment recently, Lord Alli said: "Many gay and lesbian couples want to share their civil partnerships with the congregations with whom they worship, and a number of religious organisations want to allow gay and lesbian couples to do exactly that. I believe that people want religion in their lives and many gay and lesbian couples are no different. They want their civil partnership to be held in a place where they can celebrate it with the people with whom they worship. It is a simple act of religious freedom to allow the Quakers, the liberal Jews, the Unitarian Church and others to practice their religion in a way that meets their religious needs." Late last month, faith leaders including the Bishop of Salisbury, the Dean of Southwark and five retired bishops wrote to the Times to argue that it was inconsistent and discriminatory to ban gay couples having their ceremonies in churches willing to accommodate them. Those who voted against the measure last night included the Bishop of Bradford David James and former Conservative cabinet ministers Lord Tebbit and Lord Waddington. Supporters had argued that changing the law was an important move for religious freedom. It has yet to be approved by the House of Commons but MPs are unlikely to oppose it.The amendment was supported by Stonewall.
Chief executive Ben Summerskill said: "We’ve argued throughout that this is an important matter of religious freedom. Ministers have known for some months that we intended to table this measure and we regret that the government didn’t stand up to the bullying it faced from some churches on this issue.
We’ll now work closely with ministers to ensure that we secure implementation of this further step towards equality. This vote is hugely important to those gay people of faith (and, as Lady Neuberger pointed out, to their Jewish mothers too!) who wish to celebrate their civil partnerships in their own place of worship."
Peter Tatchell said: "The Quakers, Unitarians, Metropolitan Community Church and liberal synagogues wish to conduct civil partnership ceremonies and should be allowed to do so.
Following a change in the law, we expect civil partnerships will be conducted by gay-affirmative religions, including the Unitarians and Quakers, and some Anglican churches and liberal synagogues.
Our next goal is to secure marriage equality, to end the prohibition on lesbian and gay couples having a civil marriage in a registry office."
LGBT Labour's co-chair Katie Hanson, who backed the amendment on behalf of the group earlier, said: "We are proud that Labour's Lord Alli has been pushing for this change in the law, and this vote is a great result." www.pinknews.co.uk
GuernseyGuernsey is to debate equalising the age of consent for gays later this month. Currently, the age of consent for gay men is 18, compared to 16 for heterosexuals. In 1999, the age of consent for gays was lowered from 21 to 18. Homosexuality was illegal on the island until 18 years ago. The difference means that Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency, is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights. The ban on more than two gay men having sex at the same time will also be debated. www.pinknews.co.uk
Kristian Digby- obituaryThe daytime television presenter Kristian Digby, who has been found dead aged 32, will be remembered as one of that new generation of gay men whose sexuality was neither a hindrance to, nor the single trick of, their evident talent. Kristian appeared in a 2006 television documentary I made for the BBC called The Trouble With Gay Men. I had interviewed gay teenagers about gay men on television. They loved Graham Norton, but also reserved special admiration for Kristian. "He's not too camp, which is fantastic," said one. "You see someone like him and it's nice to see something new, rather than the screaming fairy." In response, Kristian said something which is anathema to some sections of the gay world. He said that in his life he wanted "a nice gay role model". I assumed that is what he hoped to be. He admitted he did a "light and fluffy" TV product, but explained: "I don't have to do innuendo and keep referring to my sexuality all the time and making it blatantly obvious that I am gay, because it's not that important." Ambitious, intelligent and articulate, he explained in our conversations that he was determined to present to the world the face of a gay man who was in some senses very ordinary. "I love gay culture," he said. "But we need to show that we're more diverse. We keep limiting ourselves."
He was born and grew up in Torquay, Devon, and his dyslexia proved a struggle for both himself and his family. Kristian credited Bramdean school, which he attended from the age of 14, and Exeter college, where he did his A-levels, for seeing his potential and changing his prospects, along with support from his parents. The art teacher at Exeter College suggested the possibilities of TV. He arrived in London in 1995 to study film, video and photographic arts at the University of Westminster, and soon started making short films. In 1997, his short Words of Deception made him the youngest ever winner of the Junior Bafta award and, the following year, Last Train to Demise won the Melbourne film festival's award for best student film. He began to pick up TV work for LWT and ITV, and directed shows including She's Gotta Have It, Big Strong Boys, Fantasy Rooms and Girls on Top. He moved in front of the camera to become one of four presenters on the lifestyle programme That Gay Show, commissioned for BBC Choice and screened in 2001.
Kristian came from a family of property developers, and began to specialise in programmes about real estate. In 2003, he directed The Million Pound Property Experiment and graduated to presenting BBC1's daytime show To Buy or Not to Buy, which offers potential house buyers the opportunity to try out a property. Last year, he presented To Build or Not to Build, which followed the construction of his own dream house in east London.
In 2006, Kristian drew on his experience with dyslexia to make a documentary, Hiding the Truth: I Can't Read, in which he brought the magic of reading to three people who never had. Liam Keelan, the controller of BBC Daytime, said: "Kristian was without doubt one of the most popular and talented presenters on BBC Daytime. He cared passionately about the programmes he presented and viewers loved the charm and warmth he brought to every one of his shows."
Kristian is survived by his parents, Paula and David.
• Kristian Scott Edwin Digby, television presenter and film-maker, born 24 June 1977; died 1 March 2010 Simon Fanshawe www.guardian.co.uk
Escorts may be unable to advertise!Legislative change headed by Harriet Harman could see an out-right ban on escort adverts in magazines. The proposal comes as changes to the Policing and Crime Act would increase police powers to crack down on brothels and people who use their homes to sell sex.
Equalities Minister Harriet Harman has promised to introduce a proposal to fine publications up to £10,000 for printing escorting adverts, although prostitution itself would not be illegal. Although the proposal is intended to protect trafficked female sex workers, it is thought the change in law could also equally affect gay male prostitutes and so-called 'high class' escorts such as the author of Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
But the Terrence Higgins Trust and the International Union of Sex Workers fear it might push sex workers into street work and to work for pimps. Lisa Power of Terrence Higgins Trust told London gay magazine Boyz: 'All of the work that's done on this is done from the sexist view that these things happen to women. We know the male escort industry is very different to the female industry and no one in political power has thought that through.' Catherine Stephens from the International Union of Sex Workers said: 'I don't know of any gay escorts that have been trafficked. I'm sure there are illegal immigrant gay escorts but they're not being trafficked. There's a big difference between being an illegal immigrant and being trafficked.'
The IUSW opposes the proposal on the basis that it could endanger sex workers of all genders and backgrounds. 'If you stop people going into the office of a magazine to advertise then they're going to be driven into the hands of third parties and intermediaries as a way of getting work and they're much more likely to be exploited then,' Stephens continued. Since many gay sex workers are self-employed, without working for agencies or brothels like many female sex workers, this could be a backwards step, pushing gay escorts into the situations that deprive them of power, Stephens argued.
There is also an increased chance of STI’s being passed on if such proposals reduced the income and client base of male escorts. 'I think the sex work scene is pretty quiet at the moment and one of the things that happens when there's a crackdown is that there's even less punters and so less ability to negotiate price. We see a decrease in safe sex because people are more likely to do things they don't want to do,' said Stephens.
One escort we spoke to, who asked to be referred to as Saul, said: 'I find this proposal deeply disturbing. It's like they actually want us to turn to streetwalking. It's much safer to advertise in the back of a magazine than to wander street corners in the dark or work for a pimp.'
Ireland has had a similar law for 15 years, which saw In Dublin magazine fined 63,000 Euros in 2002 for knowingly printing escort adverts. However, the law has had little impact on preventing prostitution; as figures suggest more people are engaged in sex work than ten years ago and trafficking is still a problem, say organisations like Ruhama, which represent sex workers.
http://news.pinkpaper.com
LGBT population in Surrey have their own Community radio show.There is a new weekly programme on North Surrey’s community radio station Brooklands FM, which started on Thursday 25th February. Outlook is aimed at the local lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender community and will feature news, information, what’s on, interviews and music to compliment other gay-related organisations in the area. The programme is hosted by John Cull, former contributor to the BBC Airport programme, and runs for an hour starting after the news at 8pm. www.brooklandsfm.co.uk The live programme will be broadcast on the internet from Brooklands FM’s studios in Church Street, Weybridge. Contributions for the programme are welcomed – even if you just want your name mentioned
email john@brooklandsfm.co.uk
New research conducted by ManCentral.com reveals that men of Islamic and Christian faith are most likely to struggle with their sexuality.Despite wider acceptance and understanding of homosexuality in the UK over the past 50 years, ‘coming out’ still remains as one of the biggest hurdles that gay and bisexual men face. Whilst friends and family are commonly cited as the source of fear, recent statistics reveal that religious beliefs are proving problematic for many gay men.
More than 5,000 members of the free gay dating website ManCentral.com were asked what they felt was the most problematic for them when coming to terms with their sexual orientation. 12% of openly gay men cited religion as their biggest obstacle, whilst a further 15% of closeted men struggled with their religious beliefs.
Of all the religious denominations, Islam and Christianity were found to be the most troublesome for gay an bisexual men. 39% of gay Muslim men said that their religion was their biggest worry, whilst 22% of gay Catholics agreed. Intriguingly, 75% of gay Hindus feared their family rather than their religion; however, this may be a result of the importance of family within Hinduism.
In general, 49% of respondents believed that their family was the biggest obstacle when coming to terms with their sexuality. This was strongly true for 61% of men aged 18-24 however this fell gradually to 30% of men aged 51-60. Arguably, with age men become independent of their families and in turn are less likely to fear the repercussions. Conversely, fear of religion remained relatively constant across the age groups ranging between seven and twelve percent.
Furthermore, 4% of Atheist members, and 9% of Agnostic members claimed that their religion was problematic when coming to terms with their sexuality. Sadly, it would seem that for a portion of the gay and bisexual community, the only resolution to their turmoil is to abandon religion altogether.
http://www.gayuknews.com/
As always Gay Surrey has all the latest updates on their website, so why not take a visit www.gaysurrey.org
IDAHO 2010 just a heads up for next years day:
17th May 2010
6.30pm onwards
Event held at the Talbot Inn Ripley Surrey
A lot of articles this month have come courtesy of www.pinknews.co.uk although some of the articles have a local reflection a lot do not. Please contact me with local news and information that the LGBT population of Surrey would be interested to know. You may run a business that you wish to advertise (free of charge) please send me a copy electronically.
ListingsSurrey Domestic Abuse Helpline
Are you being frightened, hurt or
abused by a partner or family member
24 hour confidential service
01483 776822East Surrey Domestic Abuse Outreach Service
01737 771350
(Serving Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley and Tandridge)North West Surrey Domestic
Abuse Outreach Service
01483 776822
(serving Woking, Runnymede and Surrey Heath)North Surrey Domestic
Abuse Outreach Service
01932 260690
(serving Epsom, Ewell, Elmbridge and Spelthorne)South West Surrey Domestic
Abuse Outreach Service
01483 577392 or 01932 260690
(Serving the Waverley area)Relate, West Surrey
Provincial House
26 Commercial Way
Woking, Surrey GU21 6EN
01483 715285 www.relatewestsurrey.org.uk
Naz Project
HIV and sexual health support service for
South Asian, Middle Eastern, North African, Latin American and other excluded communities
e-mail naz@naz.org.uk
Website: naz.org.uk
0208 7411879 9.30-5.30 Mon-Fri.Guildford Area Gay Society (GAGS)
Meets every Wednesday, phone Simon on 01252 370809
www.gags.org.ukThe Cellar
Disco runs last Saturday of
each month 9.00 pm - 2.00 am and social meeting Friday evenings 8.30 pm midnight
Farnham, Surrey (phone for details)
01252 715844Homophobic Incidents
Call Surrey Police on:
0845 1252222 or www.stophatecrime.co.uk
WSLAGLO@surrey.pnn.police.uk or 01483 630474
GUM Clinics
Genito-Urinary MedicineFarnham Road Hospital, Guildford
01483 537007Blanche Heriot Unit, St Peter’s Hospital, Chertsey
01932 722669Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley
01276 604105K2 Clinic, Wolverton Centre, Kingston Hospital
For Gay and Bisexual Men
Wednesday 6.00 - 8.00 pm - walk in only
0208 934 2843TWISTER Youth Club!
LGBTQ Young People, Surrey Ages 13-19
Various Nights 7.30pm - 9.30pm
www.surreycc.gov.uk/twister
Local Voluntary Organisations
Outline
Lesbian and Gay Helpline
open Sunday and Tuesday between 7.30 and 10.00 pm
01483 727667www.gaysurrey.org
offering help, support and advice locally
to those who need it
Tel : 0700 5982 429 anytime
Young Gay Surrey
Website dedicated to 13 to 19 year olds for help and support www.ygsspeakout.org
The following Charities offer advice, support and
information to people infected and affected by
HIV/AIDSPositive Action
0800 9801990 (freephone)
01252 345019
THT Surrey Region
01483 263160
St Peters House Project
01737 763000Married Men’s Group
A group for men who are married or in
relationships with women and are attracted to
or having sex with other men.
07801 629972RASASC
Rape and sexual abuse support centre
01483 546400 female staffed (7.30-9.30) closed Saturdays and Bank Holidays
Contact Ian Cole
on Mobile - 07801 629972
e-mail ian.cole@surreypct.nhs.uk
This newsletter is produced by the Harm Reduction Outreach Team part of Surrey PCT
