Home Secretary Theresa May lays red roses at the Aids Memorial, during a visit to Brighton to discuss hate crime issues with Sussex Police
She was accompanied on the visit by Simon Kirby MP for Kemptown and Peacehaven who introduced her to the sculpture of the memorial, Mark Romany Bruce and Paul Elgood, chair of the Rainbow Fund, who commissioned the Aids Memorial for the LGBT in Brighton and Hove. Paul explained the role of the Rainbow Fund in funding small volunteer LGBT organisations in Brighton and Hove and important role Brighton Pride pays in the fundraising process.
Paul Elgood, said: “It was very welcome that the Home Secretary took such an interest in the Aids Memorial and the ongoing work of the Rainbow Fund. The visit was respectful to the memorial as a place of remembrance. The Aids Memorial project enjoyed all party support during its development, including from the constituency MP Simon Kirby who hosted the visit today
Earlier in the afternoon the Minister visited the Sussex Beacon charity shop on St James Street after meeting along with Simon Kirby MP, police officers in John Street police station to discuss the reporting of hate crimes in St James Street which is locally referred to as the Gay Village. The Home Secretary confirmed to Gscene that while the recording of hate crimes was improving slowly right across the country, there was still much more to do.
Simon Kirby said: “I am incredibly proud to represent Brighton Kemptown and it’s diverse community. I am delighted to have been able to show the Home Secretary Brighton’s exciting St James’s Street area and to have discussed important issues including LGBT policing and hate crime. I am particularly pleased that Theresa May found time to pay her respects at the AIDS memorial and I have no doubt that she will have left Brighton with a much better understanding of our LGBT community. “