Graysen Hall from Porchlight Be You Project and Hilary Cooke of Medway Gender & Sexual Diversity Centre will be co-hosting the group with Kent Community Health Foundation Trust.
We will be looking at:
Our aims within the group.
How we can effect change – who and how to influence and what processes have already started.
We will look at the survey results and along with experiences from group attendees use them to create a calendar of themed topics to focus on.
We are excited about the opportunities that we can see emerging and look forward to sharing these with you.
For mor information please contact info@mgsd-centre.org
MGSD Centre with support from the Test Bed Fund are starting three new support & befriending services for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Pansexual Community. We hope to begin the sevices during September 2020
These services will initially be virtual support groups but will eventually if the members wish develop into meeting both virtually and face to face for those who wish to.
Please email us info@mgsd-centre.org if you are intrested in joining any of the groups below
A Lesbian Befrending support group
A Bisexual & Panseuxal Befrending and support group
A Gay Men befrending and support group
If you are intrested in any of these new groups please contact us at
The South East Gender Initiative was formed in October 2011 by members of the LGBTQI+ community who formed the management committee. SEGI is a Constituted Not For Profit Community Group who manage the Medway Gender & Sexual Divesity Centre (MGSDC) which is based in Rochester, Medway, Kent. The members of our management committee come from a diverse background and have direct experience being part of, and/or working with, lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual, trans/non-binary, gender diverse, gender non-conforming people and people with gender incongruance, people who have or are undergoing gender reassignment, people who are questioning their gender or sexual identity.
We work with partners providing health promotion programs for LGBT people, deliver trans awareness training to organisations i.e. Kent Police, NHS Trusts, Social Care Providers, Counsellors and other health professionals and providers of health and wellbeing services.
MGSD Centre Services
The South East Gender Initiative (SEGI) project Medway Gender & Sexual Diversity Centre (MGSDC) provides a place where LGBTQI+ people their families and friends can meet in a safe environment to enable them to receive peer support, education, training, advice, and information, signposting opportunities for service users to access services with partnership organisations and other service providers.
COVID-19 UPDATE: This group is now meeting virtually via WhatsApp and Zoom. To join this group email info@mgsd-centre.org The SEGI Youth Group meets every Wednesday from 7pm to 9pm. The group is open to young Trans people under 25yrs Old, … Continue reading
COVID-19 UPDATE: This group is now meeting virtually via WhatsApp and Zoom. To join this group email info@mgsd-centre.org SEGI Drop-in is a weekly support service for members of the Trans community. There is no membership or subscription fees to attend … Continue reading
COVID-19 UPDATE: This group is now meeting virtually via WhatsApp. To join this group email info@mgsd-centre.org SEGI Parents and Carers group meets at MGSD Centre on the first Thursday of the month from 7pm to 9pm. This group is … Continue reading
MGSD Centre provides access to our LGBTQI+ counselling service. The counselling service is provided by Kim Ricketts BACP of Topaz Counselling Service. www.facebook.com/Topaz.MGSD Kim is a Trustee of SEGI, and professional counsellor, she has been managing and providing … Continue reading
SEGI / MGSDC also provides a resource to other organisations, public bodies and private companies to enable them to understand the needs of the Transgender / Non-binary & Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual community in Medway, Kent and the South East of England.
The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. The Day represents a major global annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, corporations, opinion leaders, local authorities, etc. to the alarming situation faced by people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
It would take until May 2019 before the WHO would take steps to declassifiy being Transgender as a mental disorder under the definition of Gender Incongruence. WHO officials voted to move the term they use for transgender people—gender incongruence—from the organization’s mental disorders chapter to its sexual health chapter in the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. That revision takes effect worldwide on Jan. 1, 2022, in preperation for this change some countries are implementing the change earlier.
We’re celebrating IDAHOBIT with the launch of our website. Whether you’re trans or cis, there’s something for you.
Today and everyday, TransActual are breaking the silence around transphobia. Take a look at the website and share share share….Meer weergeven
Hilary Cooke CEO of MGSD Centre advised ‘Today 17th May is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). Medway Pride represents all LGBTQI+ communities and their fight to stop Discrimination and Hate Crime. To support the cause of equality for our Trans Brothers and Sisters, Genderqueer & Non-binary people we have shared a new resource released today. #StoptheHate#IDAHOBITwww.hatecrime.app
Medway Pride supports the reduction of Discrimination and Hate Crime against all communities. Together we can reduce discrimination and bring understanding of each other, reduce fear and hate. We encourage the reporting of hate crime, hate incidents and anti social behaviour
Use the www.hatecrime.app to report crime to Kent Police or True Vision and please complete the Hate Crime Survey via the App which gathers feedback on the experiance of reporting hate crime or ASB, for both current and historic events.(Edit)
Welcome to Galop’s survey. Thank you for your interest in taking part. About this research
This is a survey to understand how LGBT+ victims of hate crime seek help and their experiences of reporting. The answers we collect from this survey will be used, alongside the results of some interviews, to better understand and improve the support LGBT+ people who have been the victim of a hate crime need.
The MGSD Centre is not open to visitors at this time to comply with the governments advice on COVID-19 social distancing.
To keep our services available We have moved all our peer group and drop in services on line. If you wish to access these services please contact info@mgsd-centre.org or check our social media pages https://www.facebook.com/MGSDC/
MGSD Centre provides access to our LGBTQI+ counselling service. The counselling service is provided by Kim Ricketts BACP of Topaz Counselling Service.
If you would like to access counselling you can contact Kim on
As a member of Medway Pride Steering Group and a support organisation for the LGBTQI+ community in Medway & Kent we are aware of the enormous benefit that pride festivals make for the community.
It is disapointing that due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions we had to take the decision to postpone Medway Pride 2020 to next year. It was the right decision to make to keep volunteers, performers, and visitors safe as well as preventing extra demands on Kent Police, NHS and other services.
The good news is Medway Pride Community Organisation have agreed to shcedule the event as Medway Pride 2021 on Saturday 21st August 2021.
We are also colaborating with MPCO and others to work on a Vitual Medway Pride this summer.
We want to replace the loss of Medway Pride 2020 by creating a Virtual Medway Pride Event delivered via the internet. We are open to any ideas that can contribute to Virtual Medway Pride 2020.
Our immediate thoughts go to performance on video, both recorded and live stream, that can be programmed and streamed online, but we also want to look at wider engagement including but not limited to:
Performances, Plays, monologues, Comedy, Dance
Music, all styles of music performance
Poetry, Performance and writing / publication online
Photography and film
Art, Creative art works on video, Collaborative artwork, collages, Craft work Creating artifacts, (Any physical works could be included in our planed 2021 LGBTQI+ History Month Exhibition at Nucleus Arts Chatham Gallery next February).
We are open to any and all suggestion that we can look at, to deliver Virtual Medway Pride during August 2020. Anyone wanting to take part in or contribute to VMP2020 can contact VMP2020 on medwaypride2020@gmail.com
MGSD Centre is working with Medway Pride, Metro Charity and Creatabot to promote and deliver Medway Pride 2020,.
Medway Pride Community Organisation
Medway Pride (MPCO) is a not for profit community organisation which aims to promote equality and diversity across all communities for the public benefit and in particular the elimination of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity especially for those living in Medway and the surrounding areas in particular but not exclusively by:
1) Raising awareness and educating the public about the issues and difficulties affecting the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Intersex (LGBTQI+) people;
2) Cultivating a sentiment in favour of equality and diversity in particular through celebrating the diversity of the LGBTQI+ community;
3) Staging an annual LGBTQI+ festival and smaller events, including regular social events for the LGBTQI+ community in a safe environment throughout the year.
4) providing funding and or grants and or donations to other charitable and voluntary organisations which support diversity and inclusion of LGBTQI+ communities in Medway.
Medway Pride 2020 festival on Saturday 22nd August is going to be a colourful fun filled event for all the family to celebrate diversity and support equality for all communities of Medway. It is in essence a community cohesion event to bring everyone together, break down barriers and develop understanding and acceptance of each other.
We are working with Medway Council and Partners to make sure we have a safe event which will include a Pride Parade from Chatham to Rochester Castle where we will host a community festival with stage performances and representations for community support organisations who deliver services to Medway Communities
To deliver this fantastic celebration of diversity we need to raise funding to cover the costs of Medway Pride festival, which we estimate to be in the range of £18,000 to £22,000 pounds. The community response since the announcement of Medway Pride 2020 has been very positive and sponsors will have a direct connection with the public via branded advertising and association with Medway Pride.
Would you or your business consider becoming a Main Medway Pride Sponsor, or a Pride Supporter, or Donor.
We have three packages that include
£5000 + Sponsor branding on our advertising on www.medwaypride.co.uk website, social media, at the festival,
£3000 + Supporter branding less prominent that a sponsor on our advertising, www.medwaypride.co.uk website and social media.
Medway Pride partners can provide your business with training and advice on LGBTQI+ diversity especially awareness training for your employees as part of a main sponsor or supporter sponsorship package.
If not one of the above packages or in addition too, a drive to raise donations or run sponsorship events to support Medway Pride.
Please contact me to discuss how we can work together to deliver Medway Pride 2020
We look forward to working with you to celebrate Medway’s cultural diversity
We are a partner with IN4 and Kent Independent Police Advisory Group in promoting a new hate crime survey and reporting app.
If you have been a victim of hate crime or ASB is affecting you and your family please report it. You can use the app to report to Kent police or True Vision, and please complete our Hate Crime Survey
The Hate Crime App includes useful links to Kent Police web pages giving information about hate crime and anti-social behaviour and online reporting to Kent Police and reporting web site TrueVision
The Hate Crime Reporting Survey provides an opportunity to record your feedback on
Hate Crime
Hate Crime Incidents
Anti Social Behaviour
You can use the survey to give feedback on your experience of reporting to Police / Authorities. The survey also records feedback on crime that has not been reported to the police or authorities to help identify the barriers to reporting and identify locations and hot spots where crime is taking place. The survey data is monitored by a third party organisation (IN4) and is not intended to replace reporting of incidents to the Police
Donate to MGSD Fund
Find Us
Address
MGSD Centre
331 High Street
Rochester
Medway
ME1 1DA
Phone
01634 408668
Email
info@mgsd-centre.org
Hours
Open by appointment Please see our services for support group times
About This Site
MGSD Centre provides services for LGBTQI+ People. Please see our service page for information on the support we can offer.
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Last Updated: 04/07/2020 by Hilary Cooke Leave a Comment
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
The International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia was created in 2004 to draw the attention to the violence and discrimination experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexuals, transgender, intersex people and all other people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
The date of May 17th was specifically chosen to commemorate the World Health Organization’s decision in 1990 to declassify homosexuality as a mental disorder. The Day represents a major global annual landmark to draw the attention of decision makers, the media, the public, corporations, opinion leaders, local authorities, etc. to the alarming situation faced by people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities or expressions, and sex characteristics.
It would take until May 2019 before the WHO would take steps to declassifiy being Transgender as a mental disorder under the definition of Gender Incongruence. WHO officials voted to move the term they use for transgender people—gender incongruence—from the organization’s mental disorders chapter to its sexual health chapter in the 11th revision of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. That revision takes effect worldwide on Jan. 1, 2022, in preperation for this change some countries are implementing the change earlier.
We’re celebrating IDAHOBIT with the launch of our website. Whether you’re trans or cis, there’s something for you.
www.transactual.org.uk
Today and everyday, TransActual are breaking the silence around transphobia. Take a look at the website and share share share….Meer weergeven
Hilary Cooke CEO of MGSD Centre advised ‘Today 17th May is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT). Medway Pride represents all LGBTQI+ communities and their fight to stop Discrimination and Hate Crime. To support the cause of equality for our Trans Brothers and Sisters, Genderqueer & Non-binary people we have shared a new resource released today.
#StoptheHate #IDAHOBIT www.hatecrime.app
Medway Pride supports the reduction of Discrimination and Hate Crime against all communities. Together we can reduce discrimination and bring understanding of each other, reduce fear and hate. We encourage the reporting of hate crime, hate incidents and anti social behaviour
Use the www.hatecrime.app to report crime to Kent Police or True Vision and please complete the Hate Crime Survey via the App which gathers feedback on the experiance of reporting hate crime or ASB, for both current and historic events.(Edit)
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