EXETER is to host the largest rainbow flag parade the city has ever seen as part of the biggest lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans celebration in the region.

A 50 metre-long rainbow flag will be part of the Exeter Pride parade down the High Street to Exeter Phoenix on Saturday, March 31.

The Deputy Lord Mayor of Exeter, Cllr Kevin Mitchell, accompanied by his consort, his civil partner Ian Rutland, will start the parade, which will leave the St Sidwell Centre at 11.30am.

The parade will be lead by a fire engine provided by Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.  Firefighters will also be marching in the parade, as will officers from Devon and Cornwall Police.  Students from the University of Exeter will also be taking part. Exeter-based Samba band “Street Heat” will provide musical entertainment during the parade.

Representatives from community groups, as well as individuals, will also be taking part in the parade.  A road closure will be in operation for the duration of the parade. All the events and activities throughout the day are free of charge and family-friendly.  This will include stalls, workshops and same-sex Latin and Ballroom dancing. There will be drumming, Zumba dancing, Burlesque, a legal workshop, trans women's workshop, photographic studio and family creative activities. A discussion session will take place with a panel of invited guests exploring "LGBT representations in the media".

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Stonewall has welcomed a decision by the Court of Appeal to uphold a landmark court ruling in favour of a couple refused a hotel room by the owners of a hotel in Cornwall.

Civil Partners Martyn Hall and Steven Preddy had been turned away from the Chymorvah Hotel near Penzance in 2010 by owners Peter and Hazelmary Bull. In January 2011 a judge at Bristol County Court ruled that the Bulls’ behaviour amounted to direct discrimination, and awarded a total of £3,600 damages to Mr Hall and Mr Preddy.

Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: ‘We’re delighted that the Court upheld the judgment. The Court’s decision vindicates Stonewall’s hard lobbying to make it illegal to deny goods or services to someone just because they happen to be gay. That obviously includes hotel rooms for many gay holidaymakers, which can only be a good thing in a Jubilee year. I hope Mr and Mrs Bull will now feel content to go home to do God’s good work as Easter approaches, instead of relentlessly pursuing a happy couple through the courts.’

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A psychology PhD student at UWE Bristol (University of the West of England) is researching lesbians’ experiences of anorexia and bulimia and how these experiences may be similar to and different from those of heterosexual women.

The research involves in-depth interviews with self-identified lesbian women who are experiencing anorexia and/or bulimia.

Researcher Rebecca Jones said, “This new research will build on the pilot study I did at UWE Bristol as an undergraduate, which has just been published by the online journal Psychology and Sexuality.

“My motivations stem from having past experience of an eating disorder and self-identifying as a lesbian. When I started University I became interested in lesbians’ eating disordered experiences from a research perspective which prompted me to explore the literature further in my undergraduate research project.”

According to Rebecca, there is now a considerable body of research exploring how our culture’s norms and ideas about gender impact upon girls’ and women’s experiences of anorexia and bulimia and heterosexual girls’ and women’s experiences of anorexia and bulimia.

The South West is to hold its first ever dedicated diversity and equality recruitment careers event.

Diversity Careers takes place on the 14th October in the @Bristol Centre and features top employers from all over the UK keen to show their support to diversity and equality in the workplace.

Brought to you in Partnership with Enterprise Cars, The BBC, Hewlett Packard, The Army, Beachcroft, Ernst & Young, TLT law firm and Bristol University the event is also working with gay, lesbian and bisexual charity, Stonewall. Thousands of students, graduates and other jobseekers from all over the South West and farther afield are expected to attend the show and have the chance to meet with scores of employers who are keen to speak to people from a diverse backgrounds, as well as those that want to work with an employer who’s values are aligned to their own.

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The new 'Just A Ball Game?' went live with a survey looking at homophobia in sport.

'Just A Ball game?' are inviting sport’s people, in particular those who identify as LGBTQI to fill out this survey which will be live until 1 September 2011. The survey is easy to complete and will take only around 2 or 3 minutes. You can complete the survey whether you are active in a sport or leisure activity or even if you only watch live sport as a fan. There is no limit to how many times you can take the survey so you are able to fill in details on the 17 questions, as a sports participant and then do so again as a spectator if you wish too.

In May this year 'Just A Ball Game?' completed over 240 hours of research looking at homophobia found on the internet,  from football fans forums and message boards and put out research findings from this.

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