THEGAYUK

Tag: Isle Of Wight News

Get the latest LGBT+ Isle Of Wight from THEGAYUK. Breaking news, features and interviews from the gay community in Isle Of Wight.

  • Six prides are bidding to host UK Pride 2018

    As the LGBT+ Pride season draws to a close in the UK, six Pride organisations have thrown their hat into the ring to host UK Pride in 2018.

    The first UK Pride took place at Pride in Hull in July. The event saw a huge increase in attendee numbers, and visitors from across the UK. Licensed by the UK Pride Organisers Network (UKPON), UK Pride is the national equivalent of EuroPride and WorldPride.

    Exeter Pride, Folkestone Pride, Isle of Wight Pride, Liverpool Pride, Preston Pride, and Pride Cymru have all announced that they will bid for UK Pride 2018 at UKPON’s annual conference in Blackpool later this month.

    Co-Chair of UKPON, Andy Train, who is also Vice-Chair of Pride in Hull, said:

    “At Pride in Hull we were delighted to have the honour of hosting the first UK Pride earlier this year, and it’s a tribute to the impact it had on our Pride to see six Prides bidding for next year’s event. The Pride movement is growing across the UK and we had more than 20 brand new Prides this year. UK Pride helps to create a focal point for one Pride each year, to help increase visibility and awareness.”

    “UK Pride status is a unique opportunity and uplift for any Pride. I wish all six Prides all the very best of luck, and I can’t wait to see their bids,” said Mr Train, who is also the Regional Director for the UK for InterPride, the international Pride organisers association.

    All organisers of Pride events in the UK are entitled to be members of UKPON, and each Pride organisation has one vote at the Conference.

    Adam Rank, Chair of Exeter Pride said:

    “Exeter Pride hopes that winning UK Pride will help us to increase LGBTQ+ visibility not just on one day but all year. 2018 is our tenth anniversary year and the perfect time to consider how far we have come both as a movement and a city. We work closely with cultural partners and local businesses, and hope that becoming UK Pride will help us not only to celebrate diversity but also to honour the city that we are so proud of!”

    Chani Sanger, Organiser of Folkestone Pride said:

    “After being warned to not expect attendance of more than 100 people, over 800 came to support Folkestone’s first Pride.  Folkestone has one of the highest pro-rata LGBT+ populations in South East England, yet no real LGBT+ community.  Folkestone Pride has started to change that. UK Pride status would give us the platform to evoke real change in our diverse, creative and historic community. We are the only town applying but we have just as much to offer as a city!”

    Shayne Jackson, Youth Pride Committee Chair at Isle of Wight Pride said:

    “A year in which the MP called gay people ‘dangerous to society’, prominent homophobic columns appeared in the local press and a Councillor suggested banning homosexuals from public toilets, 2017 saw the inaugural Isle of Wight Pride, uniquely taking place on a beach with thousands turning out in support. UK Pride status will enable the Island to build on this success and create a major celebration of diversity and inclusivity, showing the rest of the UK what an amazing place it is.”

    Lucy Day, Chair of Liverpool Pride said:

    “2018 is a big year: ten years since Liverpool was European Capital of Culture and also ten years since local lad, Michael Causer was murdered in a homophobic attack, resulting in what is now Liverpool Pride. Whilst we have much to celebrate as a vibrant and diverse city, we still have to fight to tackle hate crime, ensuring attacks like the one on Michael, and so many others, never happen again in Liverpool, across the UK or around the world.”

    Lu Thomas, Chair of Pride Cymru said:

    “Pride Cymru is bidding to host UK Pride because we believe that we are best placed to highlight how the regions outside of London, Manchester, Brighton and Birmingham are able to unite the LGBT+ communities, whilst forging and strengthening the bonds that tie society together.  We firmly believe that we are stronger when reach out to those that are least represented and believe the great work done by regional Prides are overlooked and would benefit from wider UK recognition.”

    Each Pride will have just fifteen minutes to present their bid, and all are being invited to publish their bids online so that people can view them in advance.

    The winning Pride will be announced at approx 1500 on Sunday 22nd October, and will be livestreamed on Facebook.

    Last weekend, Thessaloniki Pride beat bids from Bergen Pride, The Belgian Pride and Hamburg Pride to host EuroPride 2020.

  • Tory MP quits after saying being gay was “dangerous” to society

    The Isle Of Wight’s MP, Andrew Turner, has quit it is alleged he told a Sixth Form class that he thought that being gay was wrong and “dangerous” for society.

    http://gty.im/154738378

    MP Andrew Turner who has represented the Isle of Wight for 16 years has resigned after reports emerged that he said he thought it was “wrong” to be gay, and that he thought that it was “dangerous for society”. He allegedly made the comments to sixth form students at the Christ The King College in Newport.

    The outburst happened after Mr Turner was asked if he’d be involved with the annual Isle of Wight pride festival. Turner allegedly revealed that he had been invited but would not attend.

    A student at the Sixth Form, Esther Poucher wrote on on Facebook,

    “He told us that he’d been invited, but wasn’t intending to go. This is because (and this is a direct quote) he thinks that homosexuality is ‘wrong’ and ‘dangerous to society.

    “It’s terrifying that in this age and point in our development as a society, there are still people that can’t care enough about a person’s wellbeing to just accept who they are.

    “And the most terrifying thing is that we as an island consistently vote him in to represent us. Well f*ck that. HE DOES NOT REPRESENT ME.”

    She added,

    “If there is anything I can give to you from this, it is that we need change.

    “We can’t wait, and we can’t just nod politely and respect and opinion like that.

    “Yes, we all believe different things, and that’s wonderful. But when that belief treats a group as sub-human, and attempts to take away their fundamental rights, we can’t respect it.”

    The candidate was due to attend a meeting on Friday morning to re-select him to stand as the Tory candidate in the forthcoming election. The meeting was postponed. Shortly after it was announced that he was stepping down and his decision to do so had nothing to do with the allegations.

    The MP, according to TheyWorkForYou.com has almost consistently voted against gay and LGBT+ rights. In 2003 he voted to keep Section 28, in 2004 he voted no on Civil Partnerships and voted against same-sex marriage in 2013.

    The MP said it had been his “privilege to serve the people of the Isle of Wight” but said that it was time for a “new generation” to take the mantle and represent the constituents of the Isle Of Wight.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • OPINION | Pride is Still Needed and this Journalist Just Proved Why

    On 9th December 2016, the Isle of Wight County Press (IWCP) published an article on their website about the island’s first Pride rally, which is due to take place in 2017. This is fantastic news and something that should be celebrated, but sadly the IWCP’s writer Charlotte Hofton took a different and damaging view.

    In a piece littered with sarcasm and passive aggressive tones, Hofton begins by mocking people who self-identify as queer and ends by saying she has a headache coming on, which presumably is due to the shocking news that we are now living in 2016.

    Talking of headaches, it’s opinion pieces life Hofton’s that give me ‘one of my heads’ and her sickening piece of writing shows a clear reason why Pride is still needed in 2016. The general tone of the article appears to be based around the writer not minding what people get up to in private; the poor thing just doesn’t want queerness thrust in her face.

    I don’t particularly want opinions like hers being thrust in my face, yet they persist.

    It’s in this opinion that Hofton completely misses the point of Pride and what the movement stands for. It is not about a gaggle of gays (that’s the collective term for us, right?) coming together for a “deafening bells and whistles show-off”, as Hofton puts it. Pride is about so much more than that. It is about the LGBT+ community being visible, protesting against atrocities that are still being committed against us around the world, and showing solidarity with LGBT+ people everywhere.

    Here are some hard facts that demonstrate why we still need Pride. LGBT+ people remain subject to horrific acts of violence and discrimination. The Pulse shooting earlier this year will tell you that, as will the stories of people who are suspected of being gay been murdered by ISIS. Closer to home, the Independent have reported that homophobic hate crimes have risen by 147% since the Brexit vote, compared to the same period last year.

    Hatred towards LGBT+ people is real, even if this modern world, and that is why Pride events continue to have their place. We need to be visible. We need to stand together as one united community against homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. We need Pride.

    As Hofton rightly points out, it’s coming up to fifty years since homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales. However, with attitudes such as hers still causing genuine damage to LGBT+ people, it’s clear that there needs to be much more progress before we are truly free. Asking us to “shut up” will only result in us becoming louder, my dear.

    I wish the Isle of Wight Pride rally the very best of luck with their first event. It’s a huge step forward and an event I may even attend. With bells and whistles, of course.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, it’s management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.