Editorial
There ’ s a curious thing about sharks . Sharks must always move forward . Their gills - the way they breathe - are designed in such a way that if there ’ s no forward motion , they don ’ t work . So they must move forward . The only shark that doesn ’ t move forward is a dead shark . And who wants to be a dead shark ?
Brighton Pride is something to be proud about . It ’ s one of those things that makes Brighton what it is , one of the reasons we live here . But everything changes , and rather like Glastonbury , the world is divided between those who say “ Oh , it ’ s not like it used to be ” and those who , for their own reasons , are happy it ’ s there .
Pride began here in 1972 , a demonstration by The Sussex Gay Liberation Front ... Don ’ t worry , we ’ re not going to go into the history of Pride - that ’ s what Wikipedia ’ s for - but suffice to say it ’ s very different now . A weekend wristband to the St James ’ s Village Party is £ 27.50 , a ticket to “ We Are Fabuloso ” at Preston Park to see Christina Aguilera is £ 54.50 - £ 67.50 if you get the weekend pass . Of course , it ’ s not like it used to be .
Politics and commercialism are uneasy mates . They ’ re often suspicious of each other . Must it be that way ? Must money ruin the spirit ? At the first Pride here there were 2,000 people . This year there ’ ll maybe be half a million . Has Pride strayed too far from its roots and become another party on the calendar , next to Fatboy on the Beach and whatever else ?
How did you spend the Great Heatwave of 2022 ? I spent it paddling in the sea and running contraband over the Brighton-Hove border . I ’ ll start with the sea . It ’ s slightly less traumatic .
The thing is , that although I have been coming here since 1984 , in the very week the IRA blew up the Grand ( golly , I thought , is Brighton always this interesting ?), and living here since 2018 , I have never been in the sea here . Well , maybe once . But the memory is confused and dim and I might be imagining it . This time , though , I really did .
I took off my shoes and socks , rolled my
Should all the acts be gay ? I remember how Live Aid was criticised for being too white , for having no African bands . If we were raising money for Africa , the argument went , should we not have been celebrating African music and culture instead of listening to a lot of white chart acts ? But a lot of money was raised , a lot of people were helped . So should all the artists be gay ? Or are we celebrating togetherness , celebrating being us ?
Nothing is ever the same as it was . Life , like the shark , always moves forward . And Pride , just like Glastonbury and the others , just gets bigger , gets more popular , becomes mainstream , part of a wider culture .
None of this is to say that we should think
trousers above the knee , and stepped into the surf . It was about half past nine in the evening , and the breeze , such as it was , was coming from the North , that is , from the parched interior of the country .
There were still plenty of people on the beach , at least one barbecue I could see , and , of course , bongo players . Did you know that the council hands out free bongo drums to everyone who moves here ? I ’ ve yet to claim mine , but I think that ’ s rather charming .
One of the reasons I have always been reluctant to swim here , apart from the fact that the sea is incredibly cold , is the beach . I have lovely , delicate feet , and their soles are sensitive , so walking barefoot on the shingle is not one of life ’ s great experiences .
I had been hoping that in the 38 years since I first came here , the action of the waves might have done something to turn the stones into sand , but it quite simply hasn ’ t happened yet . I mean , come on .
But then again … it kind of has . Go out at low tide and you ’ ll find that it actually is a the battle ’ s won , that the story is over , that that was then and this is now . The battle ’ s never really won . It never stops . We only have to look at the resurgence of antisemitism under the last Labour leadership to know how fragile our safety is . We ’ re safe now , but we should never forget that living in Brighton in 2022 is a privilege , that we ’ re just lucky enough to be born into a time and place where glitter ’ s not a crime .
Maybe we should just enjoy how great is it that half a million people can come and celebrate together , drink together , dance together . How great that the only murder is gonna be is on the dancefloor . And you ’ d better not kill the groove DJ , gonna burn this goddamn house right down ...
View From The Hill ... Nicholas Lezard
HANDYMAN
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bit sandy on the shore . ( Incidentally , it took me half a century to realise that the singer Sandy Shaw ’ s name was a pun .) So I paddled around a bit ; the water was Mediterraneanwarm . That was a big surprise . But after a while there ’ s only so much paddling you can do before getting tired so I went back up the beach and lay down in a damp patch of stones , which was very welcome .
Isn ’ t it nice how the beach slopes in such a way as to make a kind of natural divan or sun lounger ? I had a smoke and looked at the lights of the Rampion Array blinking on the horizon .
A dog ran around like crazy , at one point even kicking a couple of stones onto my head but he hadn ’ t done it on purpose so I took no offence .
I knew I had a hill to climb when I turned for home , but somehow the knowledge that it was warm enough to sleep on the beach if I wanted made it all better somehow . God , living in this town is a privilege . And my stories of smuggling bongoes into Hove will have to wait for another day .