A flyer showing the sophomore UK Pride held in Ryde, Isle of Wight on the 21st July 2018

A reflection on being part of the University of Sussex’s LGBTQ+ Staff Network. Text reads: Being part of the LGBTQ+ staff network at the University of Sussex - on the Committee! It's such a strong presence here on campus with events throughout the year & i've met some wonderful friends & comrades. It's easy in this day and age to take such a thing for granted since we have so many securities now. But that just shows how far we've come! - Helena MacCormack Vice Chair & Bisexual Rep.

For 4 weeks over summer 2018 25 Trans & Non-binary people living in Brighton and Hove were given a VoiceOver radio. They were invited to record thoughts and messages and every week a 30 minute broadcast was shared created by different TNBI artists with an invitation to respond to prompts. There was a banner above the Marlborough Pub & Theatre embedded with LED lights that lit up in real time if someone was recording. Emma Frankland and Juan Carlos Otero then took the 374 pieces of audio and created 2 pieces. In September the boxes were displayed in one of the arches opposite The West Pier and one of the audio pieces was played on loops from different boxes for people to hear. The second audio was made for an exclusively TNBI audience and access to listen to this via headphones had to be requested.

My unapologetically queer window installation 'Everybody Is A ⭐️' at VOLT Gallery, Eastbourne! A collection of fantastical disembodied heads of indeterminate age, race and gender - a melee of misremembered characters informed by my long years either in clubs, online or on travels

In 2013, when I was invited to create new work for Queer in Brighton by Photoworks, Pink Fringe (now Marlborough Productions), and New Writing South I had no idea what this work would eventually look like, with whom it would be made, or how it would be created. What I did know was the intention of Queer in Brighton, to celebrate the cultural heritage of LGBTQ+ people in Brighton and Hove, resonated with my firmly held belief that all individuals and groups of people have a right to have a say in how they are represented and by whom. It seemed to me, as a gay man, it was the perfect moment to channel my interests in collaboration, community, and socially engaged practice towards my own experience of being queer and the lived experiences of others with whom I feel allied to. The process of creating Not Going Shopping could not be replicated in the exact same ways today. Not only have the social, cultural, and political contexts for queer people in the United Kingdom shifted over the past eight years, the contributions of the participants with whom I created this work – Charlie, Edward, Fox, Harry, JB, Kate, Kelly, Luc, Matt, Sarah, and Ten – are specific to the moment in time and the particular way in which we came together. The discussions that drove our research, experimentation, and co-creation over a period of nine months or so, were fuelled by openness, play, and a conviction to challenge our own presumptions and the preconceptions of other people of what it is to be queer. The commitment with which each participant invested in the creation of the photographs, texts, and the Collaborative Portraits which culminated in the Not Going Shopping exhibition, community newspaper, and blog – notgoingshopping.blogspot.com – enabled the collective endeavour of this project to be realised in ways that surpassed my expectations. That Not Going Shopping continues to be seen in exhibitions and publications in the UK and internationally is testament to the intentions we all brought to the making of the work. That is, for Not Going Shopping to celebrate the unique cultural heritage queer people in Brighton and Hove are part of, and, by doing so, for the ways in which the work speaks out about the politics of the representation of queerness to be relevant everywhere. The human rights of queer people across the spectrum of the LGBTQ+ acronym have been hard fought for in the UK. In many ways, aspects of these rights are still not fully achieved or acknowledged for everyone, socially, culturally, or politically. While the UK may be a far safer place for queer people to live, work, and love in, than many other countries around the world, and Brighton may be seen as a ‘gay capital’, we have a long way to go. For trans and nongender individuals, especially, many of the rights the majority of the UK population take for granted in their daily lives are a way off from being fully realised. Queer people everywhere need to remain vigilant and vocal about our right to be here. To remind ourselves and to remind other people that queer people have always been here. To let it be known that queer people will not be silenced and we do not have to apologise for speaking out about being who we are. For we are still, and will always be, Not Going Shopping.

Gary and Diane lying on beach in front of West Pier before it burnt down.

The resource captures the responses given by members of the community in Brighton & Hove in response to the question 'What does HIV/AIDS mean to you?' during the World AIDS Day Campaign 2009. They aimed to dispel myths and misunderstandings about HIV, promote safer sex and texting and challenge the stigma surrounding HIV

This displays the design and information for the exhibition Where are all the Lesbians? Held at Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Sat 3 October 2026 – Sun 28 February 2027. The exhibition was curated by AHRC Techné Collaborative Doctoral Award PhD Researcher Lisa Hinkins, which formed part of her project in collaboration with Brighton & Hove Museums and the University of Brighton. Lisa’ research focused on the limited representation of lesbian lives in museum collections and practices, with a particular focus on Brighton & Hove Museums’ Collections. She formed the Where are all the Lesbians (WAATL) Collective with a diverse group of ten lesbian-identifying women volunteers. From February to July 2026, they created responses to Lisa’s research on lesbian representation from the museums’ cataloguing software system MIMSY. The project highlighted the importance of collaboration and inclusion so that lesbian women’s lives are seen and heard in museum collections. Collective member and illustrator Eve Archer led the design for the exhibition poster and flyer in collaboration with Lisa and the other group members. The exhibition title text is in Lisa’s handwriting. The various shades of lavender hark back to the slur ‘lavender menace,’ while the use of black refers to the Black Triangle that ‘deviant women,’ including lesbians, would have worn in Nazi concentration camps. The reverse side of the flyer highlights a poem by Helen (charles), inspired by her participation with the Collective.

Wildblood and Queenie Post Office photobooth, Ship Street, Brighton 1993 We met in late 1992. Josephine aka Queenie called to ask if she and her girlfriend Michele could come play their bongos in my women-only nightclub Shameless Hussies which had just started upstairs at Fagins on East Street that May. Thanks to the committee of Brighton Pride’s Lesbian Strength who I worked alongside with Tiz Cartwright to create Shameless Hussies, this could only be approved by, you guessed it, a Lesbian Strength committee meeting. All of us. So we did. One meeting, many lesbians. Queenie, Michele, Tiz, the Lesbian Strength committee and me. It was at my place on Roundhill Crescent where I lived with my then-girlfriend Melissa. The sun was shining. The doorbell rang. I legged down our hallway stairs in my purple Doc Martens, Womad-purchased multi-coloured embroidered smoking cap and Tank Girl tee to open the door to my destiny. A destiny wearing a short-sleeved, stripey roll neck t-shirt tucked into a pair of oversized khaki high-waisted Bermuda shorts and a pair of dyke regulation black steel toe cap Doc Martens boots. T-shirt tucked in. Obviously. All it took was one look at that lesbian in that outfit walking up those stairs in front of this soul with her glorious backside flaunting its way ahead of me for this queer 23-year-old to become smitten. Completely and utterly. 18th May 1993. Seven months of flirting later we finally had our first kiss in the doorway of a lightbulb shop at the bottom of Trafalgar Street in Brighton. Having invented the term “it’s complicated” long before it was social, we had many dramas to get through before we could meet our disco destiny but it was coming. We were starting a connection. A connection made in dodgy 90s outfits and created in the DJ booths of Brighton. A connection that has lasted over 30 years. A connection I’m forever proud of. So this is our story. In long-kept ephemera, fabulous flyers, fuzzy photos, self-penned tunes, loved fuelled cartoons, xeroxed creations, press cuttings, VHS static, and adored audio. Wildblood and Queenie. Two elder queer disco dears who really should know better. Words by Kate Wildblood April 2024

The Amsterdam Bar, 12 Marine Parade, Brighton 2000

St James Street Party / Pride Village Party Various moments of joy from St James Street and the Brighton Pride celebrations.

2008-2009 Took place at Envy now Charles Street 8 Marine Parade Brighton Funky Buddha Lounge 169 Kings Road Arches Brighton, Suga Qube, Castle Square, Brighton, Dr Brighton’s, 16-17 Kings Road, Brighton Door Policy: Househeads Music Policy: House DJs and promoters / creators: Mikalis, Bryony Masters, Queen Josephine, Kate Wildblood Flyer Design: Peter Greenwood “Electronic Disco was created by a collective of music lovers with the intention of attracting like minded clubbers for a night of proper house music like it used to be, creating that feeling of unity and smiling faces.” Mike Mikalis

Iconic Brighton DJ duo, Wildblood and Queenie, share some stories from their queer life in Brighton. Partners in life and music, Wildblood and Queenie takes us on a journey through the gigs they’ve played, the club nights they’ve created, the ins and out of lesbian intrigue, bongos playing, radio shows, love on the scene and beyond, and their renewed commitment to being three times married. Recorded remotely on March 6, 2023 Interview by: Roni Guetta, David Sheppeard, and Rowan Rush-Morgan Editing and original music by Olive Mondegreen

Before social media or even the internet Freddie Bateman’s Scene 22 was the first port of call for any young queer soul rocking up wide-eyed and hopeful on Brighton’s shores. His cafe/shop /community hub Scene 22 on St James Street delivered every piece of information you could need about LGBTQI+ Brighton life via leaflets in every shape and size you could imagine. Helplines, support groups, club flyers, safer sex information, lubrication, love. Eyes were opened, blushes made, and lives changed. Thanks to a man with a mission to make LGBTQI+ Brighton better for everyone. Thanks to Freddie.

Back in 1992 Queenie and Michele Allardyce aka Xi-Xi used to play live percussion at the Coco Club at Brighton’s Zap Club on a Saturday night and decided doing the same at Shameless Hussies might be a good idea. Michele said to Queenie ‘Go on – phone up that Kate woman and ask if we can shake our maracas at the next one’. Suffice to say she’s been banging my bongos for her ever since. Now I would call it a meeting of “minds” but when Queenie walked up those Roundhill Crescent stairs ahead of me to her first-ever Shameless Hussies meeting it wasn’t her mind I was falling for. And it was more than just bongos getting the attention –Jo and Michele threw themselves into the Shameless universe – providing free tunes, décor, banner design and flyers, the endless copies supplied by the DJ Magazine office. After lots of hard work, tall tales and constant convincing Tiz and (now working as promoters with Michele and Queenie but still in support of Lesbian Strength) hit the holy grail of clubland – a Saturday night. A Saturday night at The Concorde on Madeira Drive opposite the pier– the original Concorde – home of Fatboy Slim and Midfield General’s Big Beat Boutique. And now home to a Harvester – oh how we love to treasure our culturally significant buildings nowadays. By now we were making an Impact. Playing underground and upfront house music. Bringing décor and dancers and design together to create club nights that welcomed those who had been excluded from much of the gay scene. We celebrated our first birthday with two parties in one week – god the hedonism of the 90s – how did we do it? Now it must have been the excitement of having two parties in one week but just like every good slice of queer history a little drama, a little something for the gossip queens, a date that changed everything. Me and Queenie, drinks at the Prince George, snog up in the doorway of the lightbulb shop – yep a lightbulb shop and walking into a lamppost immediately after. A grin that never left our souls. Despite all the dramas (and were there some dramas), we have found a way to connect and stay connected for over 30 years. And so Shameless continued. Venue hopping – we enjoyed nights at Fisherman’s Friend aka The Beachcomber on Kings Road Arches –(Honeyclub/Shoosh), The Madeira Hotel, Concorde and eventually in September 1994 The Loft ) and The Loft Club (Formerly The Asylum & Downbeat and now The Rialto) on Dyke Road, (oh the synergy). We played with others – working with promoter and Zanzibar manager Pauline Brehun for our first mixed version of Shameless Hussies / first collaboration with another club night – Mix. Michele Allardyce excelled herself and pushed the DJ Magazine office photocopier to the edge with some truly iconic flyer designs. Guest DJs joined us including DJ Parminda bringing the bhangra beats, Kate the DJ, (not this Kate the DJ), Venus Rising’s Funki G, DJ Sema (Zanzibar/Mix) and Gordon Lovetrain (Shaft The Zap / Sanctuary). There was lots of coverage in The Face, DJ Magazine, Spare Rib, Pink Paper, Gay Times, and Capital Gay. Lesbian London, Shebang!, Quim, Punter, Evening Argus, Buzz, Impact and Streetlife. Of course, things didn’t always run that smoothly. Relationships were being made and broken. Clubbers were being entertained and infuriated. For instance, we took photos of each party each month (like the 90s dial-up version of RealBrighton.com) and then developed them on slide film to display via a projector up in the lighting rig. A projector often demanded to be removed by some soul who had been photographed snogging someone other than their actual girlfriend. Some women were mortally offended by the S&M imagery Tess Boffin and others used in their décor designs, many balked at paying a whole £3.50 for a night out and yes the DJs were asked for everything. Apparently, if you’re at a women-only night it’s a given the DJ will always play country and western. Theme nights were embraced, including the International Women’s Day Celebration, Leather & Lace – days and days making paper chains to look like, er, chains, SEX – Lips, Love & Latex, a Beach Babe Special – complete with sandpit and Michele in her bathing suit asleep on a deckchair in the middle of the dancefloor, Edge of Twilight – Butch, Femme & Shameless, Wild West Women – and there I was saying Shameless didn’t play country and western, Love All – I Say What A Peach! marking out the dancefloor as a tennis court, which worked brilliantly until people actually arrived, Beach Party Ride The Wild Surf, a huge success until we left Michele’s the giant pineapples in the taxi on the way home. Shameless eventually came to an end three parties after moving to The Loft. Tiz and I had parted company after a disagreement so serious at the time it stopped play but now is never mentioned whenever we meet each other walking our dogs on the beach. Like many club nights it just kind of fizzled out. Clubbers wanted something different and the age-old problem of getting people to come dancing at a venue outside of the Brighton gay village. Oh, the horror! Words Kate Wildblood April 2024