Housewife’s Choice Saturday 21st January 1995 Queen Josephine presents Jacksons Wig World (Jackson the Barber) The Loft, 11 Dyke Road, Brighton (members only – membership available on 0273 325491) 10pm-2am £3.50 b4 11, £4.50 after. £1 discount for wig wearers Music policy – wig wobbling house and girlie garage DJs X Kitten (Zap Club) Meesh Mash, KTB. Mixed gay Bring your own carmen rollers and hairspray

Housewife’s Choice Saturday 26th November 1994 The Loft, 11 Dyke Road, Brighton (members only – membership available on 0273 325491) 10pm-2am £3.50 b4 11, £4.50 after Music policy – groovy house, tough handbag and girlie garage DJs Gordon Lovetrain a.k.a. Sex Kitten (Zap Club) Meesh Mash, KTB. Mixed gay For up to date information and recipe line ring 0273 731170

You lugged it from the builder’s yard. Now it’s my turn to know its stiff weight, the slow chafe of pine against vertebrae: a decade-long kiss, flush with splinters. I closed it when I left. The lock snicked. Then I noticed it hitching a ride. It never gives up―patchy blue, invisible straps; a faint knocking though nobody’s there. So many slab hazards: repeated thumps to my skull, brass hinges clouting strangers as we creep into lifts, beds. I lie awake on its panels, framing rectangular thoughts, obsessed by the side I can't see; what grows there. The problem is you died so there’s no way to set the thing down, no wall to prop it against with its stuck handle and fracturing paint. All day we continue our back to front tango, this dance where I almost but never arrive, where I’m shut off to visitors for hours ​ then, with one touch, swing wildly open.

Ian Scobbie was a remarkable man - originally from Scotland, he became a mature student at the University of Bradford, on a translation and interpreting course which is where I met him back in the late 1970s. Subsequently we worked together in a translation and information department in the public sector. Ian was a brilliant linguist, fluent in Russian and German, but far more than this: a pianist, poet (compiling, in particular, hilarious and scurrilous verse about colleagues), DIY enthusiast, cook and foodie, lover of musicals in which he performed, devotee of Dusty Springfield, Kiki Dee and others; Master of Ceremonies at Burns Night parties; a wit and raconteur, and most of all, a warm-hearted and supportive friend. In 1986, knowing he had AIDS but not wishing to share this knowledge with others, Ian emigrated to Germany and died there not long after starting a new job and moving into a flat there.

Illustration

Impact Magazine Cover - Jan 1997 Cover from January ’97 but the photo was taken in 1994. The photographer’s name was Amanda (surname not available). It was taken in her studio (part of her house) in Greenwich. Stu is wearing a knitted twinset of knickers and waistcoat which he made himself.

This looks like an Impact Magazine listings. No idea what year it would be, but it’s around 1995 or 1996 I reckon as we were at the Joint from 1995 onwards and the description of wedding dresses worn with cardigans suggest we were all dressing like Debut-era Bjork.

Rainbow badge with the words 'LGBTI Intersex Inclusive'

Snippet from an interview with Elle Kennedy. The full interview was part of Queer in Brighton oral history project. A collection of over 100 recordings, documenting queer life in Brighton. Elle discusses the politics of "passing" and how it informs dating as a trans person, she also talks about life in Brighton, community organisations and social events, and pronouns and labels.

Elle Kennedy is interviewed by Ten Harber. She speaks about coming to Brighton for university in 2010 and choosing it as a place to transition. She speaks about nightclubs such as Legends, The Queens Arms and Revenge, and the issue of unisex toilets in club spaces. She speaks further about passing and dating as a transwoman, including the challenges of being translesbian in women’s spaces. Elle also talks about straight people attending Pride and how it brings a higher security risk. The Clare Project is mentioned as a space to meet and speak to other trans women, also noting The Marlborough and The Zone as trans-friendly spaces. Though self-identifying as right of Labour, she does support Caroline Lucas and the Green party in Brighton. Brighton is mentioned as a place that introduced Elle to gender beyond the binary, now regarding the term queer as a ‘conciousness’ rather than as a sexual preference. Elle speaks about transitioning and how Brighton uniquely helped with that.

An interview with the extraordinary collector of ordinary queer lives, James Gardiner, explaining how he discovered the Betty & Tommy collection; photography, handwritten notes, cameras which offer a touching insight into a 50 year lesbian relationship - currently displayed as part of Queer The Pier at Brighton Museums . Editing and captioning by Rosie Powell Freelance Supported by National Lottery Heritage Fund

This snippet is part of a longer interview James Ledward gave to Queer In Brighton oral history project. In this snippet James Ledward describes the origins of G-Scene Magazine, early forms of community fundraising and organising, and the relationship of the community with local newspaper The Argus.

Snippet from an interview with Jenny Bennett. The full interview was part of Queer In Brighton oral history project. A collection of over 100 recordings, documenting queer life in Brighton. Jenny recalls her experience of volunteering for Switchboard at the time when it was Gay, then Lesbian and Gay switchboard. She describes what the service was there for and what worried people most.

"Interview with John Rosewarn for Queer in Brighton Oral History Project (28 May 2013), interviewed by ??. Oral history interview collected as part of the Queer in Brighton project 2013-2014. Life history from Taunton to Brighton DOB 1944 circa - leaves home at 18 (gets thrown out by father after being caught in bed with dad’s best mate) goes to London -sex worker from 18 to 24 years of age 1961 to 1967 - moves to Brighton 1969. Trains as a nurse - lives in Brighton- work students in Hayward’s Heath. Moves to Spain from 1991-1999. Talks about sex work, cottaging and it’s demise in the early 1980s, celebrities, work as a nurse, homophobia, bars in Brighton, his relationship with older man - open relationship- promiscuity, first Pride, estrangement from parents, drag persona. "

Lucy Foster is interviewed by Ten Harber (04/02/2013). Lucy came to Brighton from Surrey in 2008 to study humanities at Brighton University. She has yet to truly discover the gay scene and has been out for 2 years. She recalls how she felt after coming out and how her friends and family reacted. She says she is still coming to grips with her sexuality and mentions her fears of getting involved with the queer community but that she also has a desire to do so. She speaks about how visiting Stonewall affected her coming out experience. She notes how there is a sensitivity of language in Brighton that doesn’t exist in her hometown.