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community newsChair of Brighton Pride resignsThursday, 19 November 2009 Yvonne Barker, Chair of Pride in Brighton & Hove for the last four years, has resigned after a heated public meeting on Tuesday. In a statement issued by Pride, Barker said: "It is with much regret that I am standing down as Chair of Pride after four years on the board. As Chair I accept responsibility for the relationship breakdown between Pride and some community groups and local businesses. However I stand by the board’s position that Pride, and particularly the park event, should refocus on the needs of the LGBT community and the delivery of Pride’s charitable objectives. Also that no business should have an automatic right to profit from the park, and that open and transparent tender processes and open book accounting, in terms of who is profiting from running Pride, should be in place." The statement went on: "The aggressive and bullying approach to the Pride trustees and staff adopted by a small number of business and press representatives that are being used on social networking sites and in some of the gay press, and that were displayed at the Pride open meeting on Tuesday evening, is shameful. If this is the way that such individuals and organisations behave then they are certainly not the right people to either save Pride or to run the park event. I hope that in securing the future of Pride in 2010 and beyond Pride as a charity is able to work with those who genuinely care about all of the LGBT community, and not the small number of aggressive individuals who oppose positive change and that have a vested interest in making money and taking it down a commercial route." Vice chair of the organisation, Robert Clothier will step in as acting Chair. The Pride board are due to meet again this evening to discuss the feedback from Tuesday's public meeting. Pride's full press release is available on the Pride in Brighton & Hove website or at www.realbrighton.com/business-news. your comments said by dograt If people got their wallets out universally this wouldn't have happened.
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Stonewall
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said by mbiker
on Thursday, 19 November 2009, 7:36pm
I am very disappointed that in her resignation letter Yvonne Barker still kept up the animosity and resentment of businesses involved in Pride, insinuating that the posts on Facebook etc were all contrived by businesses for their own gain.
As someone who has been actively outspoken on these sites against the Pride board (for the record I am a member of Pride) and have no connection to any business - like many others I resent having my opinions muddied in this way,
which is a fundamental slur on the very people that Pride represent.