May 08 - G3 Magazine

est foot forward
With the Brighton
Equality walk only a
few weeks away, we
talk to organiser
Michaela Greene
about the event and
how this year’s
money will be spent.
How long have you been organising
the event and how much has it
changed over the last few years?
I’ve been organising it for the
past two years, although the
Brighton Equality walk is
something of a tradition now
as this year is the fifth. It has
certainly changed over the
past few years. Last year, the
highest number of people to
date took part…some 300.
It wasn’t just lesbian, gay and
bisexual people doing the
walk, people brought their
friends and relatives
with them and we were
joined by a lot of families –
both gay and straight.
How much money are you hoping
to raise?
As much as we can. Last year
we raised £40,000 and ideally,
we’d like to raise more this
year because the money will
go directly towards our
campaign against homophobic
hate crime. Last year’s
sponsorship money helped
fund the lobbying we did to
secure a new criminal offence
of incitement to hatred on the
grounds of sexual orientation.
This year’s work is more
long-term but equally
important. It will involve us
trying to understand more
about gay people’s
experiences of hate crime and
working on ways to make
people feel more confident
about reporting it.
How will that work?
Stonewall is currently working
with the Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) on developing
their staff’s understanding of
what homophobic hate
crimes are, which has proved
very successful. We know
from experience that many
gay people don’t feel able to
report hate crimes, either
fearing repercussions from the
perpetrators or that the
police won’t take them
seriously. But we need to
encourage people to have
more confidence to report
any incidents they’ve
experienced, which is why
were working with the police
to change this.
Why is the event always held
in Brighton?
Brighton is the ideal place, it
has a large and visible gay
community and our hatecrime
campaigning has really
struck a chord there. People
want to feel safer walking the
streets and this is why people
will be joining us to make a
clear statement that
homophobic hate crime is
not acceptable and to raise
money to help tackle it. It’s also
great to see a sponsor like
American Express employing
so many local lesbian and gay
people in Brighton and
showing their commitment to
equality by getting involved.
Why do you need people
to fundraise?
We know that raising money
for some people won’t be as
easy as it is for others, but every
penny counts and any help a
person can give us will go a
long way to combating homophobic
hate crimes that blight
the lives of so many men and
women today. As an incentive
we’re offering prizes not just
for the top fundraiser (£500
of holiday vouchers), but for
everyone who raises over £75
there’s a free bottle of bubbly!
To join Stonewall, register at
www.equalitywalk.org.uk. It only
costs £10 and for this everyone
will get an Equality Walk T-shirt
and a goodie bag. The walk is on
Sunday 4 May, starts at 2pm and
will follow an excellent 10km
route compiled by members of
BLAGGS, the local gay sports
group. The day ends with
celebratory drinks and a prizegiving
at Legends bar and club.
community
WE’RE
BANKING
ON IT!
UK residents enjoy
only eight bank
holidays each year…
… however, there are several
European countries such as
Germany, Italy and Poland that
boast much higher numbers
ranging anywhere from 10 to 15
days! There’s little wonder then,
that recent calls to add another
bank holiday to the UK calendar
have been well received, but the
debate has created much furore
over what cause should be
attributed to such a day.
There are rumours that Gordon
Brown has suggested a ‘British
Day’ by way of reinforcing Labour’s
new pro-British political stance.
Elsewhere others have nominated
a ‘Waterloo Day’, a ‘European
Day’ in celebration of the EU and
even one to represent the Queen’s
birthday such as those held in New
Zealand, Canada and Australia.
In light of such paltry options,
Square Peg Media – publisher of
g3, Out In The City and Proud
magazines – has decided to
campaign for a worthy cause: an
‘Equality and Diversity Bank
Holiday’. The idea is that the bank
holiday will be respectful and
inclusive of all sexual orientations,
genders, races and religions – ideal
in a such a multi-cultural country
as the UK.
To register your support, visit:
www.g3mag.co.uk/forums
or check out the Facebook
group, ‘LGBT Public
Holiday Campaign’.
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