TRAUMFRAU

We won free tickets a couple of months ago to a night called Traumfrau, hosted at the Envy night club, above Charles Street. The theme (since it was Halloween) was biggest fears. So Kai and I decided to go as a priest and Satan.

Now I’m going to be totally honest. It ended up being not my night at all. Firstly I would like to say that the organisers are lovely and the concept itself is a beautiful thing but for myself and Kai, it was a huge struggle.
All evening I was called Miss. Now normally I can deal with it at club nights, but because this is such a queer night, it felt fucking awful. I told people that it was Mr, and one person decided to give me “tips” on how I could pass more. Thank you, but no thank you.
Secondly my sexuality came into question quite alot, and so did Kai’s. But towards the end of the night, we realised that the event is probably aimed at queer women who love queer women. As well as this, Kai got daggers stared at him the whole evening, which he felt was because where he “passes so well” , it now makes people feel uncomfortable. Which he understands totally, because of all the issues we have faced with cis people, but it got really awkward when it felt as if I was entitled to be there, but he wasn’t. We are both trans, both VERY queer, just so happens one still has boobs and the other has a huge beard now.

As I said, that it had nothing to do with the people hosting or organising the event, they did a wonderful  job and I hope that there are many many events like this.
It was just a little bit too much for me that evening.

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Why I Love Brighton

I moved to Brighton 12 years ago this month and through out all of my ups and downs, I adore living here. There are reasons why Brighton can be a shit place to live, its super busy, the roads are terrible, and you have to sell a kidney to pay for rent in a reasonably good area. But the positives out way the negatives.

Photo of the beach taken by moi

For starters, we have a fucking great beach. This picture is a typical sunset you will see. Yes, the stones will end up in your underwear and you will get cramp pretty quickly. But look at it. Its beautiful. In the summer the water looks amazing, and you can see some amazing views. The downside of this is that everyone who visits Brighton, knows this, and the beach gets filled up pretty quickly in the summer time.

Photo of beach taken by moi

Then you have the beautiful scenery. There are lots of places that you will come across that look amazing. There is everything from modern buildings, to sculptures and buildings that are hundreds of years old. There are museums and of course The Pavilion that attracts not only tourists but small animals in the gardens.
There are many hidden (and well known) gardens and patches of grass that have flowers and squirrels around. Watch out though for the odd occasional dog poo and needle. Though we do love pur scenery, we also have a huge problem with drugs.

Photo of old steine gardens, taken by moi

There is the nightlife. I could list off a million places you could get drunk at bit that would be shameless advertising. There is a wide variety of places, ranging from wetherspoons to dungeon bars, and everything in between. If you are on a budget, there is always a bar open with some drinks deals in them or not. A few of the bars and clubs even have some amazing views. Always remember to drink responsibly though, we get frustrated with tourists trashing some of our venues. Also we are a gay city, and homophobia do not get treated well here, there are many gay venues (I say gay because as yet, there are not many trans friendly or bi inclusive ones, sorry) and they are always monitored by staff and security

Outside legends bar, photo by moi

As well as the views, the night life and some of the greatest coffee shops, there is one other thing. THE PEOPLE. I have met some wonderful friends during my life in Brighton, some that I will treasure their friendships for a life time.
There are also lots of social and support groups here, and so many hardworking volunteers are in Brighton, and they keep groups running. What ever your looking for, whether its an lgbt group, a geek society or a book club, we have it. I would urge to go to community base on queens road, and they can tell you where places are and there are many places online that will tell you what’s going on, on what day.

FTMB committee at pride, photo taken by Kai

Eventually I would like to leave Brighton, start a new chapter in my life, but right now, I’m staying, and I couldn’t be much happier with the place.