Category Archives: News

The Camden People’s Theatre (CPT), Come As You Are (CAYA) Trans & Non-Binary communities supportive Arts Festival at Poole Lighthouse has marked a positive sea-change for our Trans & Non-Binary communities in Bournemouth Dorset & Poole.

The Network led with CPT and the Lighthouse, on community and broader strategic and PR outreach for the festival, which comprised a three-day (29th November to 1st December) theatre, music and panel discussion (image below), programme at Poole Lighthouse, which was the final part of the CAYA national tour.

The Network wishes to thank Poole Lighthouse for its enthusiastic support to CAYA (and CPT) for the festival’s guiding purpose of highlighting Trans & Non-Binary community inclusion and counteracting transphobia at national and local levels. A core theme of the festival and featuring in its arts performances and in a focused way in its directly Network enabled and chaired Panel Discussion, was the negative mental health impacts on non-acceptance of Trans & Non-Binary community members by transphobic elements of society, and poor understanding and support provision in national & local NHS services, of Trans & Non-Binary community NHS service users.

In the NHS Trans & Non-Binary community services support and communications/engagement themed Panel Discussion it was particularly clear that so much work has to be done on the NHS side to develop trust & confidence from the experiences our Trans & Non-Binary communities representatives shared — but with some hope in the highlighting of the still, to  date, very small number of community engagement competent GPs and healthcare professionals, by some of the panellists. At strategic level on the NHS side, it was made clear that so much work remains to be done to establish substantial community-level credibility.

Unfortunately despite good wishes from the Dorset CCG CEO and Dorset Healthcare CEO, for the festival, both their organisations chose, despite the clear request made to them by the Network, to NOT provide any representatives in lieu of the two CEOs mentioned not being able to attend due to prior commitments.  The Panel Discussion achieved major results on experiences sharing, and on direct to the NHS, guidance of how and where its organisations and services can become more Trans & Non-Binary communities engagement and communications competent, and on where services could be valuably reviewed and improved at strategic general levels by working directly at substantial level with our commununity.

The Network, the Lighthouse, and Camden People’s Theatre wish to record great appreciation to Panellists, Jay and Anna of Communi-T, and Charity (a Space Youth Project, not Network volunteer) and to Kate, and also to special guests, Dan (Communi-T co-lead), Louise ((Bourne Free Chair, and Chair of AFC Bournemouth Proud Cherries LGBT supporters), and to Jonai (Chair of the Pan-Dorset NHS LGBT Staff Network — honourably representing NHS LGBT staff in lieu of any other NHS representation [please see above] which was requested but wonting on this very important occasion).

The Network has been leading on promotion of and outreach for the ‘Come As You Are’ Trans & Non-Binary community supportive arts festival – 29^th November to 1^st December — at Poole Lighthouse, doing so for the major legacy benefits for effecting T community inclusion and counteracting transphobia here locally in Poole Dorset and Bournemouth.  We encourage everyone who shares these values to come to this festival:   Here is a link to the programme https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/whats-on/2018/come-as-you-are-festival/  — includes booking and more info on each of the performances & events.

At 3pm on Saturday 1st December, a panel discussion on Trans community issues and NHS services and performance, will take place with key community leads as panellists and special guests (a particularly big thank you to Communi-T for their participation as well as support from Bourne Free lead Louise), and Network lead Alan chairing.  Link: https://www.lighthousepoole.co.uk/whats-on/2018/panel-discussion/  Through the guidance of broader community consultation and the panellists and special guests, the topics to be discussed focus on the NHS and its services, with emphasis on giving local (and we hope national) and national NHS organisations at service commissioning & oversight, and clinician and frontline staffing levels a better understanding of perceptions of existing services by out T communities.

The three questions considered at the panel discussion will be:

1. Is the NHS in the experience of Trans & Non-Binary community members in the Dorset area, and nationally, providing T community appropriate/supportive services at GP, hospital and broader NHS services levels? Discuss.
2. Do you feel NHS frontline service providing staff members (clinicians/consultants/GPs, admin & helpline operators), AND NHS services commissioners are ‘T engagement competent’ on understanding about T community members on mental health issues?
3. In panel members and special guests NHS services-access experience, what would be the three most important changes/improvements that could be made to give T community members faith in using or seeking to access NHS services? – staff (medical and admin) T & LGBT communication & engagement training, T-dedicated current but improved or new services, and T & LGBT community monitoring of performance, being areas to consider. Discuss.

Leading from the latter, for the first time ever, Parliament through the Women & Equalities Select Committee recently reached out to our UK LGB&T community on an historically important inquiry in to Health Social Care & LGBT: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/inquiry11/ The Network provided a submission to the inquiry that was regarded as particularly valuable by the Committee.

In this an important component of our submission included Trans & Non-Binary community members experiences, issues and needs that in the pan-Dorset area and nationally, are still not being listened to and addressed in the ways that our Trans & Non-Binary community locally are aware.  The Network is Proud to have contributed to this important initiative, to through it in Parliament represented our area of Dorset, and most of all given voice to many pan-Dorset LGBT community members, and a few in particular who took the care and time to contribute to the Network’s submission.

At this time as we all remember those members of our Trans community who have been viciously murdered and often tortured, and in the spirit of Trans Awareness week, just concluded, the Network is pleased to share these two items of effective pro-active action as the unacceptable – prejudice and hate – can only be dealt with by educational work of effective kinds (and the arts, as with this ground-breaking festival at Poole Lighthouse, are one of the main ways to achieve this), and major improvements in health and wellbeing services, that can only be effected through parliament. On this the major input that was provided by many leading members of our local Trans community figures, in content the Network submitted to the select committee inquiry, certainly does this!

The Network has contributed a submission to the Women & Equalities Select Committee, health social care & LGBT inquiry.  The origins of the Network are closely connected with work to enable the NHS locally and nationally to become fully LGBT competent/appropriate, addressing confidence deficits in NHS services that many community members still experience through their various experiences.

Inquiry information link: https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-committee/inquiries/parliament-2017/inquiry11/  and (background) https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/women-and-equalities-committee/news-parliament-2017/lgbt-health-inquiry-launch-17-19/

As such we were able to call on extensive direct and research experience in providing our substantial submission, including on the theme of NHS to direct LGBT community communications challenges (there are parallels with other statutory sector/public services, such as some local authorities, the Police, etc.).

The secretary of the Committee has provided her appreciation to the Network (and through it the voice and experience of many of our community members) for the quality and great value of our submission (running to more than 100 pages).  As a result, we were asked to provide introductions to Dorset area NHS organisations and other entities with special interest in health and social care: we have done so, including substantial related contexts supportive evidence to the Committee.

The Network is delighted to announce a Lush grant to support its work for genuine LGBT users of UK immigration and asylum services.  As one of its three national level areas of work and expertise (the others being in sport and NHS engagement), the experiences of genuine [clear/substantial evidence-based] applicants & asylum seekers from sexual & gender minorities, we realised from cases that have come to us, which have enabled important national-level organisations to work with us to support those affected, through information provision.

Our work in this area has gained national respect with many organisations that have GENUINE interest in improving the quality of life of this micro-LGBT community (including same-sex UK Citizen partners), with exceptional vulnerability to mental health distress, minimal effective support, and suffering to in our experience and those at Gay Star News (with whom we partner closely on this issue) frequent abuses of process by the immigration services.

The Network has also received a helpful policy-statement clarifying letter (11^th October 2018) from the Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP, Immigration Minister on the UK immigration services obligations to support LGBT human rights – this clarification from a government minister is greatly appreciated, for government ministers are democratically elected politicians, not civil servants. For it is the latter, and their sub-contracted commercial partners that find themselves the centre of perceived anti-LGBT human rights controversies, which including putting knowingly or unknowingly genuine LGBT asylum seekers lives and their British same-sex partners lives at very real risk.

The Network is working with Weymouth & Portland LGBT community groups and members, and the private sector (Weymouth BID, the Closet LGBT bar & club, etc.) to develop a Weymouth Pride festival for 2019.

We are very excited about this much needed development, that will encourage across Weymouth & Portland greater prominence for LGBT inclusion and help combat discrimination and prejudice as unacceptable, but also put Weymouth on the national map as an LGBT-friendly a Pride festival providing destination.

We have been asked by the local community in conjunction with Weymouth BID to support on coordination and planning for the initiative.

Watch this space for more news …

The Network has been asked to provide input to a Parliamentary select committee (health) that is holding an inquiry in to Health & Social Care and LGBT. We are delighted to share this news, as health/NHS and social care are areas of activity and interest the Network has at national and local levels, especially around mental health and the eradication of non-inclusive attitudes and practices that still exist in many areas of NHS & social care provision.  We are delighted to be collaborating on aspects of our input, with the NHS Dorset staff Network.

Please feel free to contact us on contact.lgbtdorsetequality@gmail.com with any experiences you may wish to share to go into the Network’s report to the Select Committee inquiry.

The Network is proud to support and be working with the Camden Peoples Theatre (CPT) on its Come As You Are Festival. More about the festival:

Come As You Are, CPT and Lighthouse Poole welcomes a host of gender-anarchists with more questions than answers, as we confront (and solve?) all the world’s issues regarding male, female, between and beyond. It’s not going to be pretty – but it might just be beautiful.

In the last few years, progressive thinking about gender has gone mainstream, and understanding has developed of gender as infinite variety. More and more individuals are reclaiming the right to define their genders, their bodies, themselves. Some have called this “the ultimate forum for self-expression”, some “the next civil rights frontier”. Either way, it’s a destabilising and liberating cultural change.

Come As You Are will feature work by the UK’s most exciting theatre artists. The festival is headlined by Milk Presents’ critically acclaimed show BULLISH, and features performances by Ray Filar, Tom Marshman and Liz Clarke alongside a panel discussions and our scratch night.

From 29 November – 1 December, Lighthouse Poole and Camden People’s Theatre are programming COME AS YOU ARE, a festival of adventurous performance addressing attitudes towards and understanding of gender. We’re on the look out for local artists to feature in our scratch event where you can show 20 minute extracts of new work-in-progress performances. Your performance should fit with the themes of the festival – interrogating and celebrating gender from cis to trans, from binary to beyond.

The Network supported Camden Peoples Theatre ‘Come as You Are’ project particularly encourage applications from Poole, Dorset and Bournemouth Trans, non-binary and gender-queer artists, Camden Peoples Theatre is interested in hearing from anyone whose work explores gender. You can make contact at 07811 269 454 and contact.lgbtdorsetequality@gmail.com

The Network is delighted to share news of the establishment of H2O Adventures in Swanage, and to be working with its lead, Steven Malone. H2O Adventures are developing an exciting range of outdoor, camping and exploring Purbeck, Jurassic Coast and neighbouring areas dedicated LGBT group activities to share the stunning local environment in a friendly environment.  The Network commends this and believes it will help Purbeck in particular develop more of an LGBT profile and provide for many community members that love the outdoors, valuable opportunities for social and outdoor activity. You can read more about H2O on their website, and we also provide an information sheet with details of the LGBT orientated 2-day courses.

H2O Adventures weekend adventure camps bring all the elements of adventure together, and of course camaraderie, especially with their LGBT two-day courses in Purbeck that are starting this month. Camping, Bushcraft skills, Walking and navigation training, Kayaking and canoeing trips/weekends away and Rockclimbing sessions – all in the fantastic Purbeck & Jurassic Coast location.

I have a camp pre-booked event in Swanage on September the 21st-23rd for a gay men group and looking to make it a bigger event by offering places to other groups they are guys aged 20-40. The cost of the event is £125pp and here is the weekend’s practical details Overview Plan.

Steven believes passionately that there is much value in LGBT community members having alternatives to traditional LGBT environments such as bars and clubs, and that many fellow LGBT community members particularly value the outdoors, especially in the fun and welcome dedicated LGBT environment.  More general level information about H2O Adventures can be found at: https://www.h2oadventures.co.uk/

The Network salutes Gay Star News on its exclusive that highlighted Jet Airways thwarting a particularly unpleasant deportation attempt of a genuine LGBT asylum seeker — the Network being Proud to play a direct role in conjunction with GSN in support of the victim:

UK: Pilot ‘saves life’ of gay asylum seeker by refusing to fly him to Nepal

LGB&T Dorset Equality Network has provided vital information to our friends in Gay Star News on the attempted forcible deportation of a legitimate LGBT asylum seeker who had been allowed to reapply for asylum, of an LGBT community member by the current UK immigration services.

As supporters of the Network are aware from our news updates (below), the Network was one of the key supporters of Gay Star News initiative, Rainbow Rush Scandal (detailing the perceived, de-facto persecution of LGBT community members who are genuine asylum seekers / refugees / visa applicants, by the UK immigration authorities. The Network was one of the key signatories to the GSN Open Letter to the Home Secretary (still unanswered, just as our own supportive representation has also remained unanswered):  https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/read-this-open-letter-demanding-uk-to-stop-sending-lgbti-asylum-seekers-to-their-deaths/

On Sunday 5th August, the Network was contacted by Jagat (a gay Nepali man and well-evidenced genuine asylum-seeker in fear of his life) on his horrific experience at the hands of four UK immigration services employees. We promptly contacted Gay Star News, who today (6th August 2018) issued the following Exclusive: UK: Pilot ‘saves life’ of gay asylum seeker by refusing to fly him to Nepal.

The Network is concerned that there seems to be indifference to LGBT safety & human rights abuses, or even the courtesy of acknowledgement of representations such as the GSN open letter (this is rightly commented on in the article) and is mirrored in much of the mainstream news media, as rightly commented on in the GSN exclusive. This treatment contrasts starkly with swift action by our Home Secretary on for example the disgraceful scandal of the Forced Marriages visas granted by UK immigration officials https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/sajid-javid-acts-after-times-investigation-into-forced-marriage-nskl7hsfl

Joining with Gay Star News, the LGB&T Dorset Equality Network salutes the courage and humanity of the Jet Airways Pilot and his crew, that refused to condone the brutal conduct of the immigration officials involved: we wish to associate with GSN in sending our appreciation & congratulations to Jet Airways, that through this action joins with the principled stand against de-facto bullying and injustice that Virgin Airlines has recently also taken. We hope that British Airways may follow suit, especially as BA publicly state their LGBT human rights supportive position through funding, for example Brighton Pride, something All Out has recently drawn to the LGBT public’s attention.

The Network commenting on the Home Office immigration authorities statement at the end of the GSN exclusive, notes:

‘If it looks like homophobia, tastes like homophobia, and smells like homophobia, it is a 1000 to 1 that it is actual homophobia. … clearly the nameless spokesperson using this [Home Office] oft repeated position statement, has no awareness of the Indirect Discrimination particulars of the Equality Act 2010.  These were included in the Act precisely to combat such perceived [homophobic/racist, etc.] indirect discrimnation malpractices and abuses of processes as the GSN Rainbow Rush Scandal has graphically illustrated. As it stands, the Home Office statement can only be perceived as, as tasteless — in such circumstances as the GSN article reveals — as it is disingenuous.  

It may be that the Home Secretary is comfortable with civil servants [Home Office officials] making such statements on behalf of his Department, but the Network doesn’t believe so. Rather, it feels it is much more probabable that he may not have even been consulted before an unnamed, unelected civil/public servant made what in effect is a major government position statement.  This in the circumstances is, in light of the facts of operational level performance, protections abandonment, and abuses of process, as exposed by Jagat’s horrific experience, and by Gay Star News through the Open Letter on the Rainbow Rush Scandal, not acceptable.