LGBT community of Brighton and Hove

The following are resources and events serving the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community in the British city of Brighton and Hove.

Brighton Pride is an event, and wider organisation, which promotes equality and diversity, and advances education to eliminate discrimination against the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. The major event is an annual summer festival held in the first week of August. The 2005 summer event attracted 120,000 visitors.

The Brighton &amp; Hove LGBT Switchboard is a telephone helpline that describes itself as 'providing a service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual & trans communities since April 1975' and is one of the oldest in the UK.

Also based in Brighton is the UK charity the Gender Trust set up in 1990 that aims to help transgender people with gender identity issues.

The city also has the Allsorts Youth Project, which recently passed a unanimous resolution to include transgender young people and those who are unsure as members of Allsorts at their Annual General Meeting on the 21st November "to support young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans or unsure (LGBTU) of their sexuality".

Both Brighton and Sussex universities have their own LGBT organisations, sometimes working together, to cater to the needs of the ever increasing number of LGBT students. Widely regarded as one of the best LGBT groups in the country, LGBrighTon is for Brighton University students and The Sussex Uni LGBT has members from Sussex University.

The Brighton Our Story Project was set up to collect and preserve our lesbian and gay history community in the area.

In 2000 the award-winning and large scale LGBT community survey, Count Me In, led to the development of an LGBT Community Strategy 2001-06 for Brighton & Hove. Spectrum developed from this process to work with local services and planners in implementing the strategy, and to provide infrastructure and community development support for the LGBT community. Its aim is to act as an independent voice, negotiating the rights of LGBT people locally with specific focus on the needs of marginalised sections of the LGBT community.

The Clare Project is a local support group for transgender and transsexual people that was set up in 2001.

Count Me In Too! is a second study which in June 2007 published its 'Initial findings Reports' in partnership between the University of Brighton and Spectrum aiming to identify gaps in the original research and update the strategy.

Two free magazines are distributed in the city: Gscene describes itself as 'the gay and lesbian lifestyle, listings and community magazine for Brighton and Hove' and 3sixty that describes itself as 'your online guide to gay life round the south.'