Gay Ireland and Northern Ireland News and Reports 2005-06

For the past three weeks the centre has been running on private donations. Founder of the project Sean Morrin and manager David McCartney revealed the situation after gathering Derry’s gay community for a question and answer session with Foyle Westminster candidates. Socialist Environmental Alliance candidate Eamon McCann, Mayor Gearoid O’hEara, (representing Mitchel McLaughlin), Mark Durkan and SDLP council candidate Colm Eastwood faced a grilling over their parties’ stance on gay rights issues at the City Hotel.

Announcing the imminent threat, Mr McCartney said the organisation was hoping that the Western Health Board could provide funding. He said: "We have been in contact with a number of funding bodies and we are getting comments that are not giving us a great deal of hope. " We are now less than a month away from closure." Mr Morrin added: "This is a crisis situation now that will have major implications for sexual and mental health services outside of Belfast. " Research that we have conducted shows that gay and bisexual young people in Northern Ireland aged between 16 and 25 are five times more likely to be medicated for depression. "In the same age group, 29% have also attempted suicide."

The Rainbow Project was established in 1994 by a group of volunteers concerned about the spread of HIV within the gay male population of Northern Ireland. The group had been funded by a combination of Government sources, the Elton John Aids Foundation, private donations and fundraising. The project provides education and training to the gay community, as well as voluntary and statutory agencies across Northern Ireland. Staff have also undertaken joint protocol projects with the PSNI and other bodies. Last year the group successfully lobbied for the extension of the Civil Rights Partnership Bill to Northern Ireland. Foyle candidates said they were taken aback by the threat now facing the Rainbow Project. Sinn Fein’s Gearoid O’hEara said: "I didn’t realise the Rainbow Project was that strapped.

We are pleased to announce the launch of Alternative Parents Ireland new website: www.alternativeparents.com which has a mailing list at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alternativeparentsireland/ or it can be accessed from the home.

by Ben Townley
Ireland’s President has pointedly slammed homophobia whilst speaking at an event held in Londonderry, the centre of recent violent gay attacks. Speaking at an anniversary event for a school in the Northern Ireland city, Mary McAleese repeatedly drew attention to homophobia, and subsequently the rise of anti-gay attacks in the region.

According to The Times, McAleese denounced bullying in her speech, but did not shy away from the issue of homophobia in the playground. She said that young people should stand up against "sexist, racist, sectarian or homophobic jibes" in the playground.
"Do they stay silent and let the poison of contempt go on its cruel way, or do they have the guts to stop it in its tracks and say such words are unacceptable and dangerous?" the newspaper reports her as saying. Derry’s attacks have seen an increase in recent months, although campaigners believe the anti-gay violence is reflected across Northern Ireland.

4
Tensions rise over Belfast Pride

by Ben Townley, Gay.com UK
Tensions between Belfast’s gay community and religious leaders continued to rise today ahead of next month’s Pride parade.
Members of the city’s religious community have called the planned parade a "direct assault on the rights" of the city’s residents.
The comments come after the organisers were reported to the Parades Commission, an independent body established to soothe tensions around religious marches, in a bid to have the event cancelled.

Religious groups including the Baptist and Free Presbyterian Churches say the Pride event is divisive and goes against "the Bible’s teaching". They plan to hold protests on August 6th, when the parade takes place. Presbyterian Minister Ian Brown told the Belfast Telegraph that he was against the gay community being able to "swear, stamp their feet, foam a the mouth and shower all types of invective upon us".

"It has become tiresome to listen to homosexual spokespersons who take up positions behind the thin veneer of ‘the oppressed’ and bleat for the sympathy vote," he added. "Has it not occurred to them that parents have a right to take their children to the shops without having a base display of vulgarity and vileness played out before their faces?"

A gay woman has been forced to leave her home, after coming under relentless attacks because of her sexuality in Northern Ireland. Ashley Stinson has had her window smashed and her rubbish bin set on fire by local thugs. Additionally, cars belonging to her friends have been vandalised while outside her home in Dhu Varren, Portrush. She says that she can no longer take the level of abuse, which she believes is sparked by homophobia. She told the BBC that the attitudes that led to the attackers are archaic and “disgraceful”.

"Ignorance, I would say, is a big part of it. If anybody is slightly different, people are afraid of them," she said. "I thought: ‘That’s enough I’m going to get out of here now’.”

29 July 2005

6
Good news from Belfast Pride–parade approved

The PRIDE parade can go ahead as planned on August 6th. Thanks to all the ILGA members who sent messages from around the world to The Parades Commission in Northern Ireland. The parade has been approved by this authority to go ahead as scheduled and without any restriction. PRIDE parades have been held in Belfast city centre for the past 14 years. Christian groups called for the parade to be banned this year and the police passed the matter on to the Parades Commission who rule on ‘sectarian’ and ‘contentious’ demonstrations and parades in Northern Ireland.

Amnesty International said the march should be given the go-ahead. "Prejudice against people based on their sexuality is, sadly, all too common in Northern Ireland and around the world," said Amnesty International’s NI Programme Director Patrick Corrigan. "Politicians, church leaders and ordinary people all have an obligation to stand up against such prejudice and stand in solidarity with gay people here and worldwide who face persecution and violence.

7
Belfast’s annual Gay Pride parade takes place today

by Deborah Dundas
Topping a week of events – including a fashion show and ball – the parade is the highlight of the Pride celebrations. It’s also a chance for supporters and detractors alike to voice their opinion. Twelve floats and at least 3,000 people are expected to attend – with protesters expected to gather at City Hall. This year hasn’t been without controversy. Police asked the Parades Commission to rule on the parade after concerns were raised by some Christian groups that the parade was encouraging a "sinful lifestyle". Late last week, the Parades Commission ruled that the parade can go ahead.

Sally Young, co-chair, Belfast Pride Committee: "Pride Week is a celebration; it’s acceptance and I think, now, it’s about feeling connected. I always wanted to be involved in Pride. Since I’ve been working on it I’ve been making new contacts and friends, and it’s given me a sense of belonging. It’s also given me a support network. Plus, I love to dress up and have a party! Belfast Pride is drawing more people internationally. Last year there were people from across the UK, Ireland, Germany, the United States, Canada, and more. In the past a lot of people would have left Northern Ireland because of their sexuality. Now people don’t feel as threatened. These days, there are lots more support groups for young gay people. When I was younger – I’m 35 now, originally from Carrickfergus – there weren’t those kinds of groups.

"More businesses and organizations are putting floats in the parade. Last year there were six, this year there will be 12. There’s an informal competition to see whose float is the best – and the loudest! Over the last three years, the parade has taken on a carnival atmosphere. In the past it was more political.

"I work at the Masque Project, which is part of New Belfast, a community arts organization. One of our groups is the Pride group, but we work with all different backgrounds. One group of young people designs fashions. We’re always looking for places to hold fashion shows so they can show off their designs. Pride organized Kube (now known as Mynt) as a venue. It’s a gay bar; and we let the parents and community leaders know it was a gay bar. Everyone was fine with it and had a great time. When I think about the positive community relations that developed, I think it’s great.

"It’s a political statement to show people we’re human beings and deserve the same rights as everyone else. Love is a human right and people shouldn’t be disgraced or ashamed. A lot of straight people are supporting us; all of the big unions are coming out, Amnesty International. I see the Pride parade as a day to celebrate who you are, to be who you want to be. We’ll always get abuse – get called queer or freak – but that doesn’t bother me.

"Gay Pride Week really depends on volunteers. It’s funded by the community; we do fundraising events. We get a bit of money from City Council and Laganside, but the work the volunteers do is what makes it. Taking part in last year’s parade, I have never been so uplifted and happy, seeing all those people out to support us, people with their kids on their shoulders, clapping. I felt accepted.It’s not about saying "we’re gay and we’re here". I don’t want to be a screaming "poof". I want people to know we are a community, and God does love us. I wouldn’t say I am a strong Christian, but people shouldn’t be beaten or ejected from their homes or petrol bombed just because they’re gay.

"I’m not ashamed of who I am and I won’t hide in a cupboard. When I first came out, one of my brother’s friends found out and phoned him up at three in the morning to tell him about it. My brother said he was proud of who I am. It annoys me that people see all gay people as drag queens. Businesses who think that if they advertise that they’re handing out fake tan for free and holding a Kylie Mynogue night, we’re all going to come running. They’re so busy chasing the "pink pound". But I have a normal life, an office job (I’m an administrator at a ferry company), straight friends. I don’t always go out to gay night clubs.

In effect, the interpretation clears the way for cohabiting couples, whether they are heterosexual or homosexual, to apply to adopt a child, so long as they do not make the application together. The ruling also means that any person living alone – gay or heterosexual – can apply for adoption. Anyone wishing to adopt a child either from Ireland or from overseas must be assessed by the health authorities and approved by the Adoption Board. The relevant interpretation of the Adoption Act was communicated to the Adoption Board by the Attorney General within the past year, the board said.

Already three individuals living in homosexual relationships have applied to their local health boards for permission to adopt from abroad, a report in this week’s Irish Catholic claims. The Registrar of the Adoption Board, Kiernan Gildea, said that the interpretation from the Attorney General means a single person can be assessed for adoption regardless of whether they are living with someone – the person they are living with could be a parent, or simply a friend.

He admitted it was possible the board has already approved individuals for adoption who are in homosexual relationships; but if so, this had not been brought to their attention in any of the assessment reports sent to them for final approval. Mr Gildea would only say that 66 "sole applicants" have been approved for adoption over the past 13 years. He added that the board strove to comply with all relevant equality legislation in assessing individuals for suitability to adopt. According to The Irish Catholic, a social worker with the Inter-country Adoption Service for the eastern region confirmed to it that a lesbian couple was currently being assessed for adoption.

She said: "There is nothing to stop a gay couple from applying to adopt. A lesbian couple have already applied to adopt a child and their application is quite far ahead at this point in time. As of yet, there has been no declaration by the Adoption Board. It won’t take a lot longer and should come quickly."

The advice from the Attorney General clearly implies that a single person can be assessed even when they are living with someone else when it states: "In the case of a single applicant, the board must be satisfied that the statutory criteria are met in relation to that applicant . . . it follows then that the assessment should be of the applicant and not of another person who is not, and who cannot by law be a co-applicant."

It then stipulates that where the sole applicant is living with another person, this fact should not be ignored.
"In many cases it might well be necessary to carry out a proper assessment of the applicant, eg where it is clear that the partner will be carrying out a considerable portion of caring for the child." A spokesperson for the Health Service Executive also confirmed last night that homosexuals can apply for adoption.

October 14, 2005

9
Derry to host first ever gay marriage in Ireland and UK

28 November 2005

10
Northern Ireland Council Allows Gay Ceremonies

Lisburn council has announced a u-turn in its ban on civil partnerships and will allow same-sex couples to hold their ceremonies in the council’s official wedding room. The move comes after the Northern Irish council refused to allow lesbian and gay couples to use the room when new laws come into force in December. Authorities said that, while they would allow same-sex couples to hold civil partnerships, if they allowed access to the formal wedding room they would be undermining traditional marriage. However, according to press reports, the council has now changed its mind after consulting legal experts who warned the council could face legal action.

Campaigners were already threatening to take the council to court over the issue if they refused access and had protested the policy since it became known earlier this year. The whole council met last week to debate the issue.

Although some have warned that barring use of the Cherry Room would amount to discrimination, some councillors said they feared the usage would be “detrimental” to society. "If you attack the nucleus of society namely the family and family values, what’s left?" Alliance Party councillor Seamus Close told the BBC. "Where do we go from there, if we allow young people to believe or to think that having two mummies or two daddies is the norm in our society?"

by Ben Townley
The spread of civil partnerships across the country begins today, with the first ceremonies taking place in Northern Ireland.
Three same-sex couples are expected to hold ceremonies in Belfast, making them among the first in the country to become civil partners. Around 20 couples have provisionally booked to hold their ceremonies in the city. The first couple to exchange vows were Shannon Sickless and Grainne Close, who were scheduled to have their ceremony at 10am in Belfast City Hall. Supporters of the new laws waited for the couple outside the civic building to cheer and celebrate their relationship.

However, opponents were also outside. Many said their religious beliefs meant they were opposed to the new laws. But Ms Sickles said the new laws were about “protection” for each other. "For us, this is about making a choice to have our civil rights acknowledged, and respected and protected as any human being,” she told reporters. "This is for all the people who went before us and all the people who want to come after us – this is for protection."

That the first ceremonies will take place in the province is particularly important, since opponents of the laws had long campaigned for Northern Ireland to be exempted from civil partnerships. A minority of politicians representing the region argued that there were no lesbian and gay couples in Northern Ireland and that the laws would be wasted in the region. Additionally, the area has been hitting the headlines for an apparent rise in violent attacks targeted at gay men and women and for the annual Stop the Parade march against Pride celebrations.

12
Derry Gay Crime Posters Condemned

Derry’s Rainbow Project have condemned the appearance of posters throughout the town encouraging the city’s gay population to stand up for themselves against homophobic hate crime.

Icon is thought to be the first magazine to focus solely on the gay community and scene in the province, and is thought to be a result of the ever expanding range of gay services and clubs available. As well as articles on the Belfast Film Festival and interviews with celebrities, the first issue of the magazine will also feature articles from noted campaigners in the province, including the Rainbow Project’s Sean Morrin and PA Mag Lochlainn. The team behind the magazine say they hope it will offer information, guidance and support to lesbians and gay people in Ulster, claiming the province is usually overlooked by both the British and Irish press.

April 3, 2006

15
Republic of Ireland Backs Legalizing Gay Partnerships

Dublin, Ireland – Ireland will legalize civil partnerships for gay couples, Prime Minister Bertie Ahern pledged Monday as he opened new offices for the country’s main gay rights group. Civil partnerships allow gay couples the same rights to inheritance, state benefits and other financial rights as held by married heterosexual couples. "Sexual orientation cannot, and must not, be the basis of a second-class citizenship. Our laws have changed, and will continue to change, to reflect this principle," Ahern told an audience at Ireland’s Gay and Lesbian Equality Network.

Ahern said it would be more difficult to legalize gay marriage in Ireland than it was in the United Kingdom, which approved the civil unions in December. Ireland’s constitution has a clause requiring the predominantly Roman Catholic state to protect the institution of marriage, whereas the UK, which includes neighboring Northern Ireland, has no written constitution.

Running in 12 Dublin City Venues!

The third International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival brings an exciting line-up of World Premieres, European and Irish Premieres, Five Edinburgh Festival Smash hits. All genres of theatre are explored at this Dublin Gay Theatre festival. Highlights of this Dublin Theatre Festival include productions from across the globe with performers from three continents performing. Late Night Revues and a Nightly Festival After-Show Club, a seminar and exhibition enhance this smorgasbord of Dublin theatrical delights.

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival will present a choice selection of Double Bills including Christine Jorgensen Reveals from New York and All Alone from London at the Project Arts Centre. The International Comedy Theatre Shorts includes a Double Bill of premieres from London. Minor Irritations from London and Don’t Call Me Baby will be performed at the Teachers Club in Parnell Square. Direct from Chicago, the European Premiere of Oh Holy Allen Ginsberg will be presented at Andrews Lane Theatre. The Cobalt Café Music Venue will provide delightful nights of cabaret and an international theatre seminar will take place at the Samuel Beckett Theatre.

17
Gang targeting gay men in Dublin city centre

Gardaí in Dublin have issued a warning about a seven-strong gang that has been targeting gay men in the city centre in a string of assaults and robberies. They say a gang of five men and two women aged between 15 and 18 years have been targeting gay men for some time. They often engage the victims in a friendly manner before attacking them.

September 08, 2006

24
Dublin: Out, Proud, Young

Ireland’s gay magazine, GCN, short for Gay Community News, last week celebrated publication of its 200th issue—with a new edition of the magazine entirely edited and written by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered teenagers These teens proclaimed they “want to use this month’s issue of GCN to claim a piece of rightful territory—our existence in schools all over the country,” in the words of 18-year-old Kevin Gaffney, who served as chief editor on the project.

It is something of a milestone marking the explosion of Ireland’s out-of-the-closet gay community to have a group of out teens with enough self-confidence and maturity in their identities to take charge of an entire issue of an established publication.
Homosexuality was still illegal in Ireland when GCN, which today has a circulation of some 11,500 and an estimated readership of triple that figure, first began publishing in 1988.

For those of us who grew up with the legendary sexual repression of Ireland’s traditional, extraordinarily austere and strict Catholic culture—the stuff of countless plays and novels—imprinted, as it were, on our inherited cultural DNA, and even transmitted across the Atlantic, the gay teen issue of the magazine is a stunning sign of progress.

“ When it was first published, GCN was an underground freesheet that was delivered to gay bars in anonymous brown packaging for fear those bars would be identified as queer,” said the magazine’s regular editor-in-chief, Brian Finnegan. “One of our contributors to this issue is 15 and out as gay in his school. This issue is something that would have been unheard of when I was a teenager.”

Openly gay Irish Senator David Norris called the all-teen issue of the gay magazine “tremendously important and historic.” Speaking to Gay City News by telephone from Cyprus, where he was on vacation, Norris said, “It’s particularly relevant in view of the recent debate on lowering the age of consent in Ireland,” which is now set at 17.

Norris emphasized that coming out can still be a risky business in Ireland.
“ There is a terrifying epidemic of anti-gay bullying in the schools, and nothing is being done” by the government, he said. “Ninety percent of all school bullying incidents have some foundation around homophobia, and 90 percent of those incidents go unpunished or acted upon by school authorities.”

Norris explained that “teachers are frightened to do anything about the anti-gay bullying and harassment because schools are controlled by the Catholic Church—which sought exemptions from Ireland’s equality legislation so they could be free to fire people on the basis of lifestyles. And homophobia in schools is behind the extraordinary rate of teen suicides” in Ireland.

The gay teen’s issue of GCN was produced by members of the Dublin-based gay youth group BeLonG To
which was launched in 2003 through the concerted efforts of a raft of Irish groups, including OUTHouse (the Dublin LGBT cultural center), OutYouth, Gay Men’s Health Project, HIV Strategies, Gay Switchboard Dublin, Parents’ Support, Union of Students of Ireland, and the National Lesbian and Gay Federation. The City of Dublin Youth Services Board also provided support.

A poll of BeLonG To’s members taken for the magazine underscored Norris’s comments—67 percent of the gay youth polled said that schools did nothing about homophobic bullying; 93 percent said schools failed to educate pupils “fairly and clearly” about homosexuality; 69 percent said they would not feel safe holding hands in the street with their partner; 69 percent said they’d been subjected to verbal harassment; 48 percent said that harassment took place in school; and 10 percent said they’d been subjected to physical violence.

A collective manifesto written by the gay teens for the magazine notes that, “In a report carried out by the Department of Education in Northern Ireland it was found that 86 percent of young people were aware of their sexual orientation while at school, with boys realizing they were gay at 12 and girls at 13.”

And, said the kids’ manifesto, despite the continuing problems, “By and large things have changed enormously for young gay people. At BeLonG To, the Dublin LGBT youth group, we get teenagers as young as 13 coming through the door and the numbers have increased so greatly, we have divided into two groups, one catering to the under-16s, with another for 17-24 year-olds. Many of the teenagers in BeLonG To feel a sense of self-empowerment that older people, even people in their late 20s comment on and are encouraged by.”
Gay youth are not coming out only in Dublin—the magazine interviewed teenage members of groups in other parts of the country, like Young Outcomers in Dundalk, SPHERE in Wexford, and UNITE and Rainbow Chicks in Cork.

Another sign of the changed atmosphere—the magazine carried a half-page recruiting ad from the Gardai, Ireland’s police force.
This progress would not have been possible without the years of struggle by the Irish gay movement—which made its first media appearance in 1973, when Radio Eireann broadcast the voices of two openly gay people, Hugo McManus and the late Margaret McWilliams, speaking about a meeting to be held by the Sexual Liberation Movement.

Senator Norris, whom many Irish gays consider the godfather of the Irish gay rights movement, embodies much of that struggle’s history. In 1974, Norris—then teaching literature at Dublin’s Trinity College (Oscar Wilde’s alma mater)—and a group of friends formed the Irish Gay Rights Movement (IGRM). The group rented a building that housed a disco in the evenings, while in upstairs offices the work of fighting for gay rights went on during the day. After a controversy-stirring appearance on Radio Eireann in 1976, Norris—who had courageously

become IGRM’s spokesman, earning him the nickname of the “Trinity queer” as the only out-of-the-closet faculty member—erupted into the general public’s consciousness, and became the public face of Irish homosexuality for the next several decades.

In 1976, the IGRM split into two groups—those who wanted merely to pursue social activities and run their disco, and those who were committed to the fight to make homosexuality legal. That year Norris, leader of the latter group, founded the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform (CHLR), and enlisted the services of a friend, Trinity contemporary and barrister Mary Robinson, to initiate legal action to overturn criminal penalties for homosexuality. (Robinson was elected president of Ireland in 1990, serving until 1997, when she became the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.)

With Robinson as its attorney, CHLR succeeded in bringing Norris v. The State before Ireland’s Supreme Court in 1983—but, in a 3-2 decision, the suit was rejected. The decision referred to the “Christian nature of the Irish State” and argued that criminalization of homosexuality served both public health and the institution of marriage.

Norris next took his case to the European Court of Human Rights to argue that Irish law was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. In 1988, the court, in the case of Norris v. Ireland, ruled that the criminal penalties on homosexuality in the Irish Republic violated Article 8 of the Convention, which guarantees the right to privacy in personal affairs. But it was not until 1993 that Irish law was finally changed and homosexuality became legal.

Norris first ran for Ireland’s Senate, from a Dublin constituency that included Trinity College, in 1977—and received only 200 votes. But a decade later, after three more attempts, in 1987 Norris—by then an internationally recognized James Joyce scholar and a leader of the movement to preserve and restore Dublin’s historic architecture—finally won election. In the Senate, he led the successful parliamentary fight for decriminalization.

October 3, 2006

25
Lesbian couple take marriage case to Irish court

Dublin – A lesbian couple living in Ireland began a landmark court case on Tuesday to have their marriage recognised there.
Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, who married in Canada in 2003, are taking legal action after Irish Revenue Commissioners refused to recognise them as a couple for tax purposes.

Same-sex partnerships and marriages currently have no legal status in Ireland although Justice Minister Michael McDowell said earlier this year the government would propose new laws recognising same-sex couples in the next 12 months. However, he said the legislation would fall short of allowing marriage.

Family law in predominantly Catholic Ireland, where homosexuality was illegal until 1993, has struggled to keep up with the rapid pace of social change heralded by more than a decade of rapid economic growth. Supporters of Zappone and Gilligan said their case highlighted the need for laws to be updated. " The constitutional rights that we in Ireland cherish, such as the right to equality and marriage, and property and family rights, continue to be denied to certain groups of people living in the state," Green Party spokesman Ciaran Cuffe said.