Tag Archives: Brexit

Heather Peace on Brexit

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I found a very interesting from Heather Peace on the whole Brexit thing. Good read.
What do you think?

Thanks to divamag.co.uk

DIVA: You played at this year’s Pride in London. How did it go?

HEATHER: It was absolutely amazing. Trafalgar Square was packed. It was just what everybody needed after Friday. [The day before Pride, the UK voted to leave the EU.] People wanted to feel like they were together.

DIVA:You were pretty vocal about voting Remain on Twitter. How are you feeling about Brexit?

Heather Peace1I’m totally heartbroken, especially having a daughter. We took for granted the fact that when we were younger if we wanted to go and get a bar job in Spain and experience what it was like to live in another country, we could just go. I’ve never in my lifetime felt so uncertain of my country. In a weird way we’ve always been quite apathetic. You’d never be able to have a revolution in this country. But now there’s people ferocious on either side. It’s not a nice feeling and there’s a very small minority that suddenly think it’s OK to be vocally racist. I’m finding that really frightening. It’s giving me a very heavy heart that there might be a platform for those people to come together. But we can’t tarnish people who voted Leave with the same brush. I’ve got family members who voted Leave and they’d really thought about it. They’d read everything and had very strong viewpoints that weren’t based on immigration. I respect their opinions. There needs to not be, from the Remain campaign, out and out viciousness towards the older generation who percentage-wise voted more towards Leave.

DIVA:Do you have any ideas about how we move forward?

There has to be a sense of unity. We have to just try and be kind to each other. Politically, I don’t know what they’re doing. All this stuff’s coming out now saying they don’t have a plan. It depends what newspaper you read. I’m The Guardian, not The Daily Mail. It’s not even the economical side that worries me the most. It’s that racism could come acceptable again. I’m speaking as someone who is a third generation Lithuanian. It makes absolutely no sense to me.

DIVA:On a happier note, you’ve got a performance at Newcastle Pride lined up.

I’m really excited because we haven’t gigged in Newcastle for a few years. It’s always a really raucous crowd, really good fun. They’ll be well up for it. London Pride is so nerve-wracking – you hardly get over the nerves before you’re offstage. It’s nice having a longer set where you can settle into it and let it grow.

DIVA:You’re definitely a Pride favourite. What does Pride mean to you?

Heather Peace
I remember being a 19-year-old who’d just come out, going to my first London Pride and the whistles were going off outside Westminster. It was before Clause 28 had been repealed. Back then we were fighting for certain things within our own country. Now it’s more of us showing a united front for the world when stuff isn’t OK outside the UK. There’s still a lot of work to be done here in terms of discrimination and bullying but the law is on our side now. I see Pride as a celebration of who we are. We can be visible and celebrate together that it’s alright to love who you love. I’m glad we’ve got a global community. It feels good in troubled times.

DIVA:You’re right that it’s a big comfort. Do you have a favourite track to perform?

Probably No Mercy, which is from The Thin Line. I’m really enjoying the dancier stuff and No Mercy’s good fun. It’s filthy and upbeat. Nothing wrong with that.

DIVA:Haha, agreed. Can you tell us a bit about your latest EP, Come Home?

The EP’s a love story from meeting someone to a terrible breakup in 20 minutes. The lyrics of Lightbulb are really sad and I thought we’ve just got to play against the lyrics and stick in a disco bass. There are so many great disco tracks that are so gutting but just stick a disco bass behind it and it plays in juxtaposition to the theme of the song. Otherwise it’s just too depressing.

DIVA:Thanks for keeping us uplifted. How’s family life treating you now you’re a mum?

It’s amazing. It was quite a funny weekend really. I played at London Pride, which we reckon was about 20,000 people. Then I got a train for my own gig at Eastbourne bandstand that night. The next day I was in the Night Garden Live, which is a TV programme for babies so it was all Iggle Piggle and Makka Pakka [characters from In The Night Garden]. My Saturday and Sunday couldn’t have been any more different – all in a theatrical setting but two ends of the spectrum. And Annie’s fantastic. She’s really quite boisterous, climbs all the time, and she’s very vocal. She’s funny, very funny. She only started walking about three weeks ago and she’s practically running now.

DIVA:Have you faced any challenges being same-sex parents?

We’re in Brighton and if I came across any weirdness it’d be a shock. It’s its own city, this place. I’ve literally experienced nothing that’s been negative at all. We had a guy around here building us a little cupboard in my music room. Ellie had called him and when I walked in as the partner, there’s not even a raised eyebrow. He’s a carpenter, big fella. We really have come a long way. But I know some people aren’t as lucky as myself, living where I live.

DIVA:Was that a conscious decision to live somewhere so gay-friendly?

Heather PeaceIt was and it wasn’t. I was living in London and it came to a point that me and my partner at the time wanted to buy somewhere and it was the classic thing of not being able to afford in London. We’d spent a bit of time down here. It’s a nice place to be when I’m not working. I love being by the sea. I’m a very outdoors kind of person. If I go for a run, I just go straight down to the beach. It’s great.

DIVA:Lastly, you’re involved with Jacquie Lawrence’s Different For Girls project, which we’re all really excited about. [The web drama series is currently on hold due to funding but thankfully it still looks like it will go ahead.] Can you spill the beans on the character you’ll be playing?

Unfortunately she’s the complete love cheat. I don’t know how I feel about that. The thing about playing any role – and I’ve played some right psychos – is you’ve got to get into the nitty gritty of finding something you can relate to. If you hate them from the beginning, you’re lost. Hopefully I’ll make something about her loveable. Her actions are not. She tries to have her cake and eat it, to have her family and a bit on the side. She’s a very selfish character so I’ve got to try and pull out some redeeming features.

You can see her performance at Newcastle Pride on Saturday 16 July

Brexit and LGBT community

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Hello people!

I never expected the UK to go Brexit aka leaving the EU! I was wrong. Personally I think this is not the right choice but I am not from England, do not live there, so maybe I am missing something from the whole story. I do read a lot and watch the news. Till now my opinion is the same: I am still convinced this was not the best choice the UK could have made. However this is NOT Armageddon!! 😉

A normal voice aka realistic imo over this after that we go to the LGBT community.

Diva.mag.uk had an interesting article about this concerning the GLBT community:

By the early hours of this morning, it was clear that the UK had voted decisively to leave the EU.

Despite sharp divisions emerging across the country, with Scotland and London voting largely to Remain, Leave won 17,410,742 (51.9%) votes across the UK as a whole, beating Remain’s 16,141,241 votes (48.1%).

The reverberations are being felt across the country. This morning, Prime Minister David Cameron tendered his resignation while MPs tabled a motion of no confidence in Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. And Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, whose country voted unanimously to Remain, told a press conference that a second independence referendum was now “on the table” and legislation was being prepared to stop Scotland being dragged out of Europe against its will.

And as the country attempt to come to terms with this seismic shift in UK politics, we wonder, how do the LGBT community feel about today’s decision?

Angela Eagle, Shadow Secretary of State, described the Leave surge in some of Labour’s heartlands as a “protest vote” by those frustrated with Tory austerity. She later retweeted Brendan Cox, the husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, who said: “Today Jo would have remained optimistic and focussed on what she could do to bring our country back together around our best values.”

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives and the woman some are tipping as a potential successor to David Cameron, praised the Prime Minister for offering “stability while the country plots its course” and said he was “honourable to the last”.

Margot James, a Conservative MP voting to remain, also praised Cameron and said she had tears in her eyes following his resignation.

Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, Director of UK Black Pride, this morning said she was feeling “concerned” about the result and asked: “The trajectory of our future, what does that look like now UK vote to leave the EU?”

And it wasn’t just politicians and activists voicing their opinions. Comedian Jen Brister tweeted: “I’m sick of this ‘proud to be British’ bullshit. I’ve never felt less proud,” while fellow funny woman Suzi Ruffell wondered if Leave supporters popping the Champagne knew their tipple of choice was French.

Not all LGBT people were disappointed with the result, though. Former UKIP MEP Nikki Sinclaire tweeted a picture of her with former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and said: “We did it Maggie, We did it, We got our country back. I never gave up,” before adding: “We are getting out of the EU and getting rid of David Cameron in one go RESULT.”

Adam Lake, Director of Out and Proud UK, was also jubilant – and somewhat shocked – by the result, tweeting: “Fuck. We won. I can’t believe it. I’m scared but excited. So much to prove, but if we all work together on this my god we will prove it.”

But it seems most of the LGBT community, like wider society, are still letting the result sink in and feel uncertain about what the future will hold.

A Stonewall spokesperson told DIVA: “Clearly this decision will have a far-reaching impact throughout the UK and Europe. We don’t know what that impact will be at this stage, but Stonewall will be focusing on how any changes in the coming months and years affect the rights and equality of LGBT people.

“Our core mission – to improve and protect the rights of LGBT people and ensure that everyone, everywhere, is free to be themselves without fear of discrimination – remains the same regardless of today’s result.

brexit“We will continue to work with the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments to ensure that LGBT people are accepted without exception wherever they live, shop, work, study and pray. We will continue to work with the government to reform the way trans people are treated in the law, and we will continue to work by the side of LGBT campaigners across the world until every LGBT person, everywhere, is accepted without exception.”

And ILGA-Europe, who expressed concern about a Brexit before yesterday’s vote, today released a statement called for unity.

A spokesperson said: “From ILGA-Europe’s perspective, the message that must be taken from the UK referendum result is the need for more solidarity, not less. For greater compassion, not concentrating on what divides us. For celebrating our common humanity, not withdrawing to an insular worldview.

“Human rights organisations must come together to articulate a clear vision for the sort of Europe we want, one that is based on our shared vision of social justice, equality, freedom and diversity.

“We are not just talking about the LGBTI movement, but all human rights and equality groups, whether that is the women’s rights movement, environmental initiatives, development organisations, or sexual health and reproductive NGOs. More than ever, we all need to come together, standing stronger and more unified in our resolve to translate this vision into reality.

“Predictions about what will happen as a result of the United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union are fanciful at this point. But our commitment to working with our members in all parts of the United Kingdom to drive forward equality there, and across the entire continent of Europe, is one thing that will never be in doubt.”