Although no exact figures have ever been counted it is estimated that 1 in 4 of the men living in brighton are gay. 1 in 10 of the women in Brighton are lesbian. Of this group approximately 21% are aged 16 -21.

Although much of gay and lesbian history has never been recorded, the earliest recording of gays and lesbians in the town was in August 1822, George Wilson, a servant from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, was accused by a guardsman he had met in the Duke of Wellington public house in Pool Valley of having offered him a sovereign and two shillings to go with him onto the beach to commit an unnatural crime.

Philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906), great friends of Charles Dickens and the Duke of Wellington, spent part of each year on holiday at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton with her companion Hannah. The couple were devoted to each other, were socially recognized as a pair, even sent joint Christmas cards, and when Hannah died in 1878, Miss Burdett-Coutts told a friend that she was utterly crushed by the loss of "my poor darling, the companion and sunshine of my life for 52 years".

If you would like to read more please go to Brighton our history project you will be able to find more information there.

The oldest record of gays and lesbians comes from egypt and the tomb of two men buried together Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep. You can view the BBC's webcam which is not far from the area in which switchboards and allsorts building here.

As with asking anyone out you need to be prepared for the possibility of rejection if the person doesn't feel the same way as you do. Sometimes getting to know a person as a friend first and trying to gauge their feelings and attitudes can help you to decide whether to take things any further. Sometimes you may find that other people's prejudices and fears mean that you experience a really negative reaction. Talking things through with Switchboard/Allsorts workers. It can be really useful too as these are people who have been in a similar situation and can be really helpful to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience. The allsorts group is a good source of advice in this sort of situation as well as a means of meeting people -both friends and possible partners without having to work out whether they are gay or not.

Programs like 'queer as folk' can give a very one sided point of view about being gay/lesbian. Being gay/lesbian like any other group of people has many different types of people. At the moment the only characters that have been seen on TV are not very representative of the whole gay community and those that are in a steady relationship and those that have children are rarely seen. Although it is not legal recognized many gay/lesbians couples choose to take a wedding ceremony/commitment ceremony. Secondly many couples choose to adopt or foster.

Teachers can not promote homosexuality due to section 28. This law has current been repealed, but this will not take affect until January 2004. However if you go to them with a concern then they should listen in a confidential, non-biased way about anything you choose to tell them. They should not tell your parents, unless a law was being broken (ie having sex under 16) and they are concerned about your safety. However they should inform you of weather they would say anything to you parents.

In the majority of cases teachers are to be trusted with total confidence, however types of teachers and there opinons vary enormously in every school

Coming out to your parents is a difficult issue. Many gays and lesbians choose not to tell their parents about their life until they feel its necessary. For most parents its not an issue and while it takes sometime to get use to changes, eventually everything returns back to normal. For some parents, thing do not go well and some gays and lesbians find themselves cut off by their parents. It is important to remember that as a young person who is 14 - 19, your rely on your parents for many things such as housing and your education. If you are unsure or have doubts then it may well be worth considering waiting until you are independent of your parents. Talking things through with Switchboard/allsorts workers can be really useful too as these are people who have been in a similar situation. It can be really helpful to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience. The allsorts group is a good source of advice in this sort of situation as well. Secondly if you would like to speak to other parents on the issue or would like to put your parents in contact with someone who can help, please see FFLAG, Families and Friends of lesbians and gays UK, UK Parents Network

Biologist are not really sure why people are gay or lesbian and this the subject of much scientific research. What is known that you can't make someone gay/lesbian. Further to that, parents have no influence on your sexuality. Gays and lesbians, come from both married heterosexual parents, divorced, multi racial and single parents so there is no relationship between you parents and you're sexuality and the same applies to factors, such as you being closer to you're mother/father. A good source of information on this issue is American Psychological Association Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality

This is something that many homophobics say a lot, but the truth is that many animals show homosexual behaviour and secondly homosexuality has existed over many millions of centuries which generally proves it is part of nature. Again a good source of information on this issue is American Psychological Association Answers to Your Questions About Sexual Orientation and Homosexuality

Always remember that God created you, and that God does not make mistakes! There are two decisions when it comes to religion and sexuality: the first is admitting to who and what we are. The second, is working out how to use that information without hurting anyone. If we do this, then any God who speaks of having a loving nature is not going to reject you.

Many people today however feel that this is not enough. There is a definite feeling that they need to give expression to their spirituality, just as they give expression to emotion, ambition and all of those other feelings. There is no need as a gay person to miss out on this. There are undoubtedly ministers of many religions who would have difficulty in ministering to gay people, but there are a growing number who do not. Indeed several communities will welcome and love gay people - both as single people and partnered. It is a matter of seeking them out. This does not mean having to go to a gay worshipping community, although you many choose to do this, but it may mean travelling about to find a place where you can feel comfortable and at home.

Homo is the Greek word for same. Therefore homosexual means same sex or a sexual attraction towards someone of your own sex. Phobia is an irrational fear or hatred of something. So homophobia is an irrational fear or hatred of homosexual or gay men. To answer the next part of the question it's necessary to clarify where this phobia of gay people comes from.

We are all born into a world that has in place a number of laws, cultures, and political systems, religions, which decide what is acceptable and unacceptable. Over time what is acceptable and unacceptable changes. A good example is the change in the age of consent for gay men. Back in the first half of the 20th Century 'homosexual acts' were illegal and punishable by a prison sentence. Slowly society and its attitudes changed (in part due to gay rights pressure groups). In the 1970's the law changed and homosexual acts became legal between consenting adults in private over the age of 21. Then in the 1990's this was reduced to 18, and in 2000 an equal age of consent for straight and gay men of 16 was made legal. Just in case you wonder why there has only until recently never been a law in the UK prohibiting women having sex with each other, its because Queen Victoria refused to believe women would ever want to have sex with each other!

So, Laws change and adapt to the society and culture around them. But individual attitudes take longer to change. Even in the 21st century hatred is expressed towards gay men. In UK politics you hear politicians talking of 'traditional family values' and anything else, such as gay relationships, is seen as odd, bad or evil! In the school playground being called queer, pouf, and lezzy is still a major term of abuse. Put all of this together, and bare in mind that gay people are raised within this political, social and culturally environment too, and you can begin to understand why growing up gay is not easy.

Many people today however feel that this is not enough. There is a definite feeling that they need to give expression to their spirituality, just as they give expression to emotion, ambition and all of those other feelings. There is no need as a gay person to miss out on this. There are undoubtedly ministers of many religions who would have difficulty in ministering to gay people, but there are a growing number who do not. Indeed several communities will welcome and love gay people - both as single people and partnered. It is a matter of seeking them out. This does not mean having to go to a gay worshipping community, although you many choose to do this, but it may mean travelling about to find a place where you can feel comfortable and at home.

People and adults are like sponges; we absorb information, ways of being, beliefs, attitudes etc. Gay people take on board or internalize these beliefs too, including the beliefs and attitudes that are negative towards gay people. This therefore becomes internalized-homophobia. As gay people we have internalized (or placed inside our own mind and thoughts and feelings) the homophobic attitudes and beliefs of our society and culture.

If you doubt the above here is little test. Make a list of all the positive words you can thin of that describes gay men and lesbians. Now make a list of all the negative words that describes gay men. I know which will be longer and which you will find easier to do. Evidence, if you still need it, that homophobic language and its associated attitudes, is alive and well, even within gay people!

As someone who is not out, its unlikely you will have ever seen a plosive image of gays or lesbians, infact its more common that you will have never seen two people of the same sex holding hands or kissing, so therefore its difficult to form such judgements. For some people (gay or straight) the shock of seeing two people of the same sex kissing for the first time, can make them feel ill. But in time you will see a different view and perspective of the situation and this will lead you to feeling better about yourself and your situation

There are two books which are a must read. The first is produced by allsorts called "deep blue sea" and contains accounts of young lesbians and gays in brighton, you can find more about the book here. The second is a book called "young gay men talking" which contains various stories about coming out and school, you can download a free copy here.

You can find self help manuals for young gay/lesbian teenagers at places like www.amazon.co.uk. We decided to list some books that may not be obvious. "Tales of the city" by Armistead Maupine is set in san francisco and concentrates on set of characters, gay, lesbian and straight, the book give a good idea of what being gay/lesbian is like and are written with comical view. There are eight books in the series and the stories get more in depth as you move along. Three of the books have been made in a television series. ISBN: 0552998761. "Beginnings" : Lesbians Talk About the First Time They Met Their Long-Term Partner (Lindsey Elder) is a collection of short stories from lesbians talk about the first time they met their long-term partner. ISBN: 1555834272. "Early Embraces:" True Stories of Women Describing Their First Lesbian Experience (Lindsey Elder) is a collection of short stories from Lesbian describing their fist experiences, there is also a second book. ISBN: 1555833543. "There Must Be 50 Ways to Tell Your Mother " by Lynn Sutcliffe, contains personal "coming out" stories from a wide range of young women and men in the UK are divided into three sections: "Coming Out", "Shouting Out" and "Moving On". The stories explore ways to combat the fear many people face before telling their family about their sexuality; the means of expressing pride and helping to fight prejudice; and the process of building strong, lasting relationships with gay friends and partners. ISBN: 0304331. All books are available from your local libraries and Brighton and Hove libraries have special gay and lesbian section, click here for more information

The following films we think are perfect viewing for young gays and lesbians. Unfortunately there are few lesbian films, but should we find anymore, we will of course place them online. If the title is underlined please click for a link to official website. All films are Available from your local libraries and Brighton and Hove libraries have special gay and lesbian section, click here for more information. Or you can order all of these titles on video or DVD, from stores like Virgin Megastores (UK), HMV (UK), Amazon (UK), Amazon (US), HMV (US), Virgin Megastores (US), HMV (Aus).

It is important to know these facts before venturing out. Safe sex applies to everyone, male, female, gay, bisexual and lesbian. Secondly in general you should always assume that everyone including people who are young may carry HIV, so safe sex is important. Brighton has one of the highest rates of HIV in the country, simply due to good HIV care, large amounts of people move here. Sex should be looked at divided into three groups according to how risky these activities are.

Group 1. These activities carry no risk what so ever:

Hugging, kissing, touching, caressing, body rubbing and mutual masturbation (.

Group 2. These activities carry a very low risk:

Deep or open mouthed kissing (french kissing) is considered a very low risk activity for transmission of HIV. This is because HIV is present in saliva but only in very minute quantities, insufficient to lead to HIV infection alone.

Oral sex (one person kissing, licking or sucking the sexual areas of another person) does carry some risk of infection. If a person sucks the penis/licks the vagina of an infected person, for example, infected fluid could get into the mouth. The virus could then get into the blood if you have bleeding gums or tiny sores somewhere in the mouth. The same is true if infected sexual fluids from a woman get into the mouth of her partner. But infection from oral sex alone seems to be very rare.

For lesbians sharing sex toys can be risky. Using condoms on the toys when sharing will also help to reduce the risk.For more information on Lesbian safe sex please click here

Group 3. These activities carry a very high risk:

The biggest risk of getting HIV is having anal sex without using a condom. This is also true for many other sexually transmitted diseases. If you decide not to have anal sex, perhaps as a way of protecting yourself from HIV or just because you don't want to, you'll find you're not the only person who feels that way. If you do decide to have anal sex, you need to use condoms and a water-based lubricant which won't rot the condom. Other lubricants will weaken the rubber. If possible, you should use extra-strong condoms, which are more suitable for anal sex than ordinary condoms. Using things such as cream, oil, massage oil, suntan lotion or chocolate will effect the condom and it may break. For more information click here

If you need a HIV test or are worried about anything then please click here for more information

There are many myths about gay men and Anal Sex (ie sex by the bottom). Anal sex is a preference, some men like it and some men find it too uncomfortable. For gay men there is a lot more to sex than anal intercourse and lots of gay men do not regard it as necessary to a really good sex life. In a survey in 1990, its was found that upto a third of gay men do not have anal sex. This is your choice and don't feel pressured to say yes. Most gay men find being in a relationship with a understanding partner better if its your first time. But above all remember to USE A CONDOM and LOT OF LUBE!

These things are perfectly normal although a little bit uncomfortable and embarassing. Firstly don't panic, you may well have picked up an STI (or sexual transmitted infection). Most people experience an STI several times in their life (and apart from HIV), they are all easy to treat. Everyone is nervous when they visit an STI clinic so don't worry. Everything you do there is confidential and they will not tell your parents, teachers or Doctor. You don't have to book an appointment, you just turn up (although a quick call might be a good idea).

These are also the places to go for a HIV test. So you have three options

Option 1, You can tell you doctor/GP. But they could tell your parents, so probably best not. A HIV test may also be written on your records

Option 2, To visit the local clinic. The local STI Clinic in Brighton is called the Claude Nichol Centre and they have a clinic for gay men called the "wilde clinic". Its opposite the Royal Sussex Hospital and therefore is easy to find. Details :-

Claude Nichole Centre
OutPatients Building
Opposite Royal Sussex County Hospital
Eastern Road
BRIGHTON
BN2 5BE
(01273) 664721
Opening Times
AM
Monday - Friday (except wednesday) 8:30am - 11:30am
PM
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday 14:00pm - 16:00pm
Wednesday 14:00pm - 15:30pm
No Friday's

Click here for a map and click here for more information.

Option 3, If you are a little nervous about going somewhere in Brighton, they you may want to try nearby Croydon's, "Walk-In center". It is conveniently on the high street, near the library. which is not far from the train station. The address is :-
Croydon NHS Walk-in centre
45 High Street
Croydon
CRO-1QD
(0208)6660368

Click here for a map.

As well as many other things it has a young peoples clinic (and yes that includes gay men and young lesbians) on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays 3:30pm to 5:30pm and Saturday 10:00am to 12:30pm

For more information about Allsorts have a look at there FAQ page.