Project Brighton: Latest’s Andrew Kay talks about the company’s most exciting new project: LGBT+ TV

Since the start of this column last year Project Brighton has featured a great many initiatives in and around the city, but funnily enough never one of our own. Latest, in its many forms, has been around for years. Most people will be aware of the magazines, some will even remember The Punter from which it sprang and others will know that, under our managing director Bill Smith we were heavily involved in the launch of Surf FM which went on to become the very successful Juice radio station. We have created awards, events, music, films, books, magazines of course and most recently Latest TV. If this is not a true manifestation of Project Brighton then I don’t know what is.

Which leads me to our most current project and in my mind most exciting. I might be biased but that’s how it is. When Bill Smith told me that he wanted to launch a new channel within Latest TV that would be aimed at the city’s LGBT population I was immediately captivated by the concept and eager to be very involved. As a gay man I should tell you that Bill, who is not, has always been supportive of me but more importantly of what is going on in Brighton’s gay scene. He is a solid supporter of all kinds of humanitarian causes and especially issues of equality, not just locally but globally. LGBT+ TV will champion those causes and expose inequalities wherever it can.

The channel will be led by my friend and colleague Sophie Cook. Sophie is an extraordinarily passionate woman, a brilliant photographer who has not only worked in the world of music but is also the only trans woman to work in Premier League football in her role as team photographer at AFC Bournemouth. Sophie is heading up the channel, will be making documentaries as well as news stories, and has re-launched her ‘Beyond The Rainbow’ magazine format programme.I have already started to make a new chat show AK Soufflè, and the first episode with guests James Ledward, G Scene editor and political commentator and activist and chanteuse and choir mistress Aneesa Chaudhry, has already been screened – and there are lots of amazing guest already lined up for the future.

A conduit to fight for worthy causes

We also have amazing films to screen, documentaries and dramas which are being curated by Prof Dr Rainer Schulze, (Professor (em) Modern European History, Department of History and Human Rights Centre, University of Essex). There will be weekly looks at global and local issues in our new LGBT+ versions of The Papers and The Vote, already popular viewing on the channel, and broadcast veteran and well known character on the city’s gay scene Mike Mendoza will continue to be involved in producing and presenting these.

Latest LGBT+ is an exciting new development for us all. I love the fact that I can use the channel to celebrate being gay and all the fun and entertaining things that includes but most importantly use it as a conduit to fight for worthy causes – and I am sure that all my colleagues see this opportunity in the same way.

But it’s not just about us, we want to be an all embracing channel, one that invites you to join in and fight for a real equality whilst having fun along the way. Join us, support us and get involved, our doors are always open to new ideas. Let’s make Latest LGBT+ TV a real force for good in the city and beyond.

Latest LGBT+ TV, 9pm to 10pm daily, repeated at midnight on Latest TV, Freeview 7, Virgin Media 159, thelatest.co.uk