GCN__February_2018
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Serving Visage Issue 338 February 2018 www.gcn.ie FREE
- Page 3: The Skylab, 2 Exchange Street Upper
- Page 6 and 7: FROM THE EDITOR As it goes into its
- Page 8 and 9: FOCÁL UP! This month we’re havin
- Page 10 and 11: FOCÁL UP! continued We sat down wi
- Page 12 and 13: FOCÁL UP! continued Vegans, look a
- Page 14 and 15: THE RUTLAND CENTRE SEE BEYOND ADDIC
- Page 16 and 17: BeLonG To Youth Services hosted the
- Page 18 and 19: Feature Interview Music - Sofi Tukk
- Page 20 and 21: Feature Interview: RuPaul’s Drag
- Page 22 and 23: “ If we keep informing them, lett
- Page 24 and 25: HIV+ ACT UP - PrEP - Sexual Health
- Page 26 and 27: Report Roma - Barabarapien - Cultur
- Page 28 and 29: “I was hesitant to let people kno
- Page 30 and 31: On the FRONT LINES In countries whe
- Page 32 and 33: CHARLOT JEUDY (Haiti) PRESIDENT Kou
- Page 34 and 35: Travel Vietnam - Hong Kong Made in
- Page 36 and 37: Feature Mindfulness - Spirit - Pres
- Page 38: “ Gay men are increasingly sexual
- Page 41 and 42: Hotel Westport 4* Luxury in the Wes
- Page 43 and 44: The Outlet LGBT social group 6.30 t
- Page 45 and 46: Are you taking PrEP? (or thinking o
- Page 47 and 48: HELPLINE OPEN 7 DAYS : 01 872 1055
Serving<br />
Visage<br />
Issue 338<br />
<strong>February</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.gcn.ie<br />
FREE
The Skylab, 2 Exchange Street Upper,<br />
Dublin 8, Ireland, (01) 675 5025, www.gcn.ie<br />
Managing Editor: Brian Finnegan editor@gcn.ie<br />
Deputy Editor: Ciara McGrattan deputy@gcn.ie<br />
Advertising & Distribution Manager: Lisa Connell lisa@gcn.ie<br />
Design & Layout: Dave Darcy production@gcn.ie<br />
Web Content Manager: Katie Donohoe katie@gcn.ie<br />
Digital Marketer: Stefano Pappalardo stefano@gcn.ie<br />
Intern: Ellie Sell ellie@gcn.ie<br />
Contributors: Declan Buckley, Andrew Byrne, Cian Carroll, Fi<br />
Connors, Sarah Gilligan, Andrew Leavitt, Stephen McCabe, Stephen<br />
Meyler, Chris O’Donnell, Ray O’Neill, Will St Leger<br />
Publishers: National LGBT Federation Ltd.<br />
National LGBT Federation Ltd is a not for profit company limited<br />
by guarantee. Reg. Co. No: 322162<br />
CHY No: 12070<br />
NXF Board: Chair: Caroline Keane. Brendan Byrne, Steve Jacques,<br />
Laura Harmon, Adam Long, Chris Noone, Daniel Tóth, Bego Urain<br />
<strong>GCN</strong> Advertising Policy<br />
Gay Community News (<strong>GCN</strong>) does not necessarily endorse the<br />
quality of services offered by its advertisers. All ad copy must<br />
comply with the code of practice of the Advertising Standards<br />
Authority of Ireland and <strong>GCN</strong> reserves the right to edit or refuse<br />
adverts if they do not comply with this code. <strong>GCN</strong> does not accept<br />
liability for any loss or damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in<br />
the printing of any advertisement. The placing of an order or contract<br />
will be deemed an acceptance of these conditions.<br />
The ideas and opinions expressed in any article or advertisement<br />
are not necessarily those of <strong>GCN</strong>. Don’t make assumptions about<br />
somebody’s sexual orientation just because we print their name<br />
or picture. Publication of any material is at the discretion of the<br />
publishers, who reserve the right to withhold, edit or comment on any<br />
such matter. Permission must be obtained prior to the reproduction<br />
of material published in <strong>GCN</strong>. We welcome submissions but cannot<br />
guarantee publication. If you are submitting on a professional basis<br />
and expect payment, you must clearly state this fact. <strong>GCN</strong>’s list of<br />
subscribers in print and online is not given, sold, rented or leased to<br />
any person or organisation for any reason.<br />
© Gay Community News, January <strong>2018</strong><br />
08<br />
Focál Up<br />
From Celebrity Big Brother to Mr Bear<br />
Ireland, we present all the queer stuff<br />
going down this month, and then some.<br />
18<br />
Sofi, So Good<br />
They’ve gone from complete<br />
unknowns to mega-hit makers in the<br />
blink of an eye. We’re having the reals<br />
with darlings of the queer kid set,<br />
dance pop duo, Sofi Tukker.<br />
20<br />
Michelle, Ma Belle<br />
Bam! We catch up with the doyenne of<br />
the RuPaul’s Drag Race judging panel<br />
as she gets set to unleash the bad-ass<br />
mama vibes on Ireland’s Got Talent.<br />
24<br />
Proper PrEP<br />
We’ve got cheaper, generic PrEP in<br />
our pharmacies, but is that enough?<br />
The guys from ACT UP Dublin tell the<br />
government what’s up.<br />
26<br />
Invisible Roma<br />
Although there is a sizeable number<br />
of LGBT+ Roma people in Ireland, not<br />
one has come forward to seek help<br />
from any of the queer organisations.<br />
Chris O’Donnell explores issues of<br />
invisibility.<br />
30<br />
Courage To Defend<br />
Across the world, activists defend<br />
LGBT+ rights in countries where it’s<br />
dangerous to be queer. We meet just a<br />
few of these brave fighters.<br />
36<br />
Intimacy Issues<br />
With the rise of modern technology,<br />
our relationships, with ourselves and<br />
others, are ever more compromised.<br />
So, how do we foster intimacy in the<br />
internet age?<br />
con<br />
Supported by the Department<br />
of Rural and Community<br />
Development under The<br />
Community Services Programme.<br />
The Community Services<br />
Programme is a Pobal<br />
managed programme.
Would you like to work on<br />
issues that matter to you<br />
and your community?<br />
The National LGBT Federation<br />
(NXF) is a not-for-profit NGO<br />
striving to advance equality and end<br />
discrimination against LGBT people in<br />
Ireland and internationally. The NXF<br />
aims to achieve this social change<br />
through advocacy, publications<br />
(<strong>GCN</strong>), digital platforms and events<br />
that celebrate our vibrant and diverse<br />
community including the GALAS and<br />
the ROAD TO EQUALITY.<br />
We are seeking new volunteer board<br />
members & sub-committee members<br />
with specifi c experience and skill<br />
in the areas of Finance, Human<br />
Resources, Company/Charity Law,<br />
Research Fundraising and Social<br />
Media & Communications to support<br />
these initiatives and to develop new<br />
ways of advancing the key issues of<br />
importance identifi ed in the BURNING<br />
ISSUES 2 survey of the LGBT<br />
community in Ireland. Interested in<br />
becoming an NXF Board member?<br />
Contact us at info@nxf.ie<br />
for further information.<br />
Deadline for expressions of interest<br />
is Friday 2nd March <strong>2018</strong><br />
www.nxf.ie<br />
What we do
FROM<br />
THE<br />
EDITOR<br />
As it goes into its 30th<br />
year, there’s a very<br />
good reason for <strong>GCN</strong>’s<br />
survival, against<br />
the odds<br />
<strong>2018</strong> is a big year for <strong>GCN</strong>, in that it turns 30, making it the oldest<br />
surviving free LGBT+ magazine in Europe. It’s no mean feat in an<br />
industry that’s been in flux since the dawn of the digital age, and<br />
for a publication that’s aimed at a relatively small niche living on<br />
this small island.<br />
Although it’s changed and grown considerably since issue one<br />
was published in 1988, there’s a straight line through from then<br />
until now that is core to <strong>GCN</strong>’s longevity – its relationship to its<br />
readers.<br />
Five years before the decriminalisation of homosexuality in<br />
Ireland, <strong>GCN</strong> was published by the National LGBT Federation<br />
to act as a kind of nucleus for a disparate group of people who<br />
largely had no access to information. Those gays who were ‘in<br />
the know’ were a small group of people who lived in Dublin and<br />
socialised on an underground scene; the rest mostly lived in<br />
invisible isolation. On one hand, <strong>GCN</strong>’s role was to let them know<br />
what was going on socially, culturally and politically, and on the<br />
other it was to be a conduit for other groups and organisations to<br />
share their information.<br />
It was not-for-profit and published by a voluntary board of<br />
publishers, who were members of the community. That it was free<br />
of charge was central to <strong>GCN</strong>’s role. It was to be a fully accessible<br />
service, a place for the community to see itself reflected and<br />
celebrated, while engaging in the real issues that LGBT+ people<br />
faced in this country.<br />
Nowadays, along with the monthly printed magazine, we have a<br />
busy website, an app with special digital versions of the mag, and<br />
annual events like The GALAS, which celebrate our community,<br />
particularly the efforts of individuals and organisations across<br />
Ireland who seek to make life better for LGBT+ people.<br />
But as we enter our 30th birthday year, <strong>GCN</strong> is still that free-ofcharge,<br />
not-for-profit information service; a hub for every LGBT+<br />
community organisation in Ireland that seeks to represent every<br />
queer event, group, artist, politician, activist, and community<br />
worker in this country. The number of queer people living in Ireland<br />
who have been featured in these pages, or who have written for<br />
<strong>GCN</strong>, is phenomenal.<br />
It also continues to be a hand that reaches out to those who<br />
are not at the heart of the action, who are isolated and in need of<br />
connection to their community.<br />
You may be reading this issue of <strong>GCN</strong> in a gay bar in Dublin, or<br />
at home having picked it up at your local LGBT+ centre, and if you<br />
are, count yourself lucky. Burning Issues 2, the largest ever survey<br />
of the issues affecting LGBTs in Ireland, which was conducted by<br />
<strong>GCN</strong>’s publishers in 2016, reported a significant gap in the lives<br />
of rural LGBT+ people, who are doubly deprived of community<br />
supports and opportunities to socialise.<br />
Over the coming year, we’ll be looking at the history of <strong>GCN</strong> in<br />
relation to Ireland’s LGBT+ community, but one thing is clear as<br />
we go towards the 30th anniversary of the first issue, its amazing<br />
longevity is rooted in an ongoing need for a publication that is not<br />
only for the community, but is of the community.<br />
MEET OUR<br />
CONTRIB<br />
—UTORS<br />
This month’s issue<br />
is packed with some<br />
pretty meaty content.<br />
Here are the people<br />
who wrote some of it...<br />
ANDREW BYRNE<br />
Andrew Byrne is a reporter<br />
working in central and<br />
eastern Europe. “Visiting<br />
lesser-known places is<br />
a fascinating part of the<br />
job,” he says. “Some of my<br />
toughest assignments have<br />
been following refugees<br />
trapped at Europe’s frontiers.<br />
It reminded me that an Irish<br />
passport is an incredibly<br />
valuable thing to have. It<br />
opens doors closed to others<br />
and I try and appreciate that<br />
every day.”<br />
Andrew has been<br />
fascinated by Spain ever<br />
since he saw his first<br />
Pedro Almodóvar film as a<br />
teenager. “Barcelona and<br />
Madrid rarely disappoint,”<br />
he says. “But this year it’s<br />
time to be more ambitious;<br />
I want to find the next big<br />
destination in the Far East.”<br />
STEPHEN MCCABE<br />
Stephen McCabe, who<br />
interviewed human rights<br />
defenders on the LGBT+<br />
frontlines for this issue, is<br />
currently in his final year of<br />
journalism at DCU. Prior to<br />
that he worked for many<br />
years in Dublin City Council.<br />
“Now is a great time to be a<br />
journalist,” he says. “There’s<br />
so much happening around<br />
the world. Living in the West<br />
we are limited in how we<br />
can support LGBT people<br />
living under systematic<br />
oppression. The BDS<br />
movement against Israel<br />
could be a useful model in<br />
pressuring homophobic<br />
regimes, but it would be hard<br />
to sustain. The strongest tool<br />
western allies have is cash.<br />
Donate it to LGBT groups.<br />
They need it and they’ll<br />
appreciate it.”<br />
SARAH GILLIGAN<br />
Psychotherapist Sarah<br />
Gilligan, who is in<br />
conversation with fellow<br />
therapist and author, Fi<br />
Connors about the pressures<br />
of modern technology on<br />
queer relationships this<br />
month, specialises in the<br />
areas of relationships, sex,<br />
sexuality and gender, with a<br />
keen focus on working with<br />
LGBT+ clients to develop<br />
awareness, compassion,<br />
great relationships and the<br />
life they want.<br />
According to Sarah, “One<br />
small thing could you<br />
do today to foster more<br />
intimacy in your life would<br />
be to go for a walk or dinner<br />
without the phone. Eeek!”<br />
Fi Connors book When<br />
Love is a Drug available to<br />
purchase on iBooks or from<br />
the Capable Minds website.<br />
CHRIS O’DONNELL<br />
Chris O’Donnell is a journalist<br />
and musician who has a<br />
particular interest in LGBT+<br />
issues, mental health and<br />
marginalised communities<br />
For her feature on Roma<br />
LGBT+ people in this issue,<br />
she interviewed several<br />
LGBT+ Roma people,<br />
but couldn’t locate any to<br />
interview in Ireland.<br />
Chris says the best way<br />
to promote a message of<br />
inclusivity to LGBT+ Roma is<br />
to become actively engaged<br />
in the channels through<br />
which organisations make<br />
contact. “LGBT Pavee is a<br />
wonderful chat site for LGBT<br />
members of the Travelling<br />
and Roma communities,”<br />
Chris says. “Inviting LGBT+<br />
Roma people for a chat and<br />
a coffee would be a great<br />
place to start.”<br />
06 g
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Available on:
FOCÁL<br />
UP!<br />
This month we’re<br />
having words<br />
about…<br />
Water<br />
Cooler<br />
Chatter<br />
‘Celebrity’<br />
Big Brother<br />
Image: Shane Jenek<br />
Image: India Willoughby<br />
Anyone watching this year’s Celebrity Big<br />
Brother – well, the first CBB of the year<br />
(there will be another one in September)<br />
– will be aware of that issues of sexual and<br />
gender identity have been at the forefront<br />
of the contestant’s minds.<br />
In perhaps the most unlikely twist yet,<br />
former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant,<br />
Courtney Act (also known as Shane<br />
Jenek) has become the house’s font of all<br />
LGBT+ knowledge – and both Shane and<br />
Courtney are doing a bang-up job.<br />
There was immediate tension between<br />
Courtney/ Shane and trans former<br />
newsreader, India Willoughy, who was the<br />
first evictee, as India claimed she had a<br />
phobia of drag queens (a claim derided<br />
by Twitter users who were quick to circulate images of her<br />
posing with several drag queens).<br />
It was an extraordinary situation: India is a trans women<br />
who does not feel any affinity with the wider LGBT+<br />
community. “I do feel women like me have been sort out<br />
drowned out by the LGBT narrative,” she said. “This is part<br />
of the problem with being hitched to LGBT, it’s the confusion<br />
element.”<br />
Courtney/ Shane pointed out that had it not been for<br />
LGB and T activists campaigning so ardently for so long, the<br />
freedom for a trans person to be a newsreader may not exist.<br />
Indeed, for his part Courtney/ Shane has been more than<br />
considerate, explaining to other housemates why a trans<br />
woman might have a problem with a cis man in drag, and<br />
making efforts to increase the group’s understanding of the<br />
trans experience. Shane’s approachability and eloquence on<br />
the subject has in effect made him the hetero housemates’<br />
queer glossary.<br />
Many viewers have suggested that India’s dislike of Courtney<br />
is less about the latter’s career as a drag queen, and more<br />
about jealousy, which seems like a valid criticism. For India,<br />
the sight of a carefree, cisgender man, easily jumping<br />
between genders without being burdened by issues related<br />
to gender identity must be grating to say the least.<br />
As always, there are also several rather generic ‘lad’<br />
charcters – a former Love Island contestant, a former<br />
comedian desperate for redemption after making careerending<br />
rape jokes, and former Apprentice contestant,<br />
Andrew Brady. On more than one occasion during the men’s<br />
‘lad’ chats Brady has referred to both India and Courtney as<br />
“it”, without being challenged by Big Brother.<br />
However, viewers and housemates have been quick to<br />
point out that Brady and Shane/Courtney have been flirting<br />
up a storm. It’s a complicated bromance in a house where<br />
all the gender and sexual buttons are being tweaked. Stay<br />
tuned!<br />
Celebrity Big Brother airs daily at 9pm on 3e<br />
08 g
We can’t get enough of smooth sound of<br />
queer band, Wyvern Lingo’s new single,<br />
‘Maybe It’s My Nature’. The trio made it to<br />
2FM’s Rising <strong>2018</strong> list of the best Irish music to<br />
watch for this year, and it’s easy to see why.<br />
Lead singer on the track, Karen Cowley,<br />
also wrote the lyrics with a sexually<br />
empowering message in mind. “I find that<br />
female characters in a lot of popular media<br />
still seem to lack sexual agency or fall into age<br />
old stereotypes,” says Cowley. “I wrote this<br />
song at a time when I was particularly fed-up<br />
of hearing and seeing the same depictions<br />
that don’t resonate with how I feel.”<br />
We won’t get fed up of listening to Cowley’s<br />
crystalline vocal on this track, and we can<br />
hardly wait for Wyvern Lingo’s debut album,<br />
which gets a release on <strong>February</strong> 23. Watch<br />
this space for tour dates!<br />
Lingo Nature<br />
Gender Play<br />
Our curiosity has been piqued by a new play exploring sexuality and<br />
gender runs this month at the Dublin’s Project Arts Centre.<br />
Inspired by gender politics as well as recent court cases dealing<br />
with ‘gender fraud’, Scorch by Belfast playwright Stacey Gregg<br />
tells the story of a teenager, Kes, who is struggling with their gender<br />
identity.<br />
Kes explores their sexuality and gender by presenting as a boy who<br />
embarks on an intimate relationship with a girl, an act that leads to<br />
devastating consequences both legally and personally.<br />
At its heart, Scorch delves into the complexity of love, through the<br />
eyes of a gender-curious teen, examining how the human story often<br />
gets lost amidst the headlines.<br />
‘Scorch’ runs at the Project Arts Centre from <strong>February</strong> 13 to March 3,<br />
7.45pm. Tickets €16 - €18 from projectartscentre.ie<br />
09 g
FOCÁL UP!<br />
continued<br />
We sat down with one half of jazz duo Zrazy, Carole<br />
Nelson, last month to talk about her first album fronting<br />
her new outfit, The Carole Nelson Trio, and this month<br />
we’re delighted to report she’s out and about, bringing<br />
her music to the people.<br />
We were particularly charmed to hear that idea for her<br />
sumptuous album, One Day in Winter, came to her one<br />
night while driving to a gig just after hearing the news<br />
of Leonard Cohen’s passing. “I knew too how I would<br />
structure it, from pre-dawn to sunrise, to the moon rising<br />
over the Blackstairs Mountains,” she told us.<br />
You can catch Nelson’s trio at the following venues:<br />
on January 27 at the Wexford Arts Centre (Jan 27),<br />
Billy Byrnes, Killkenny (Feb 1), Arthur’s Blues and<br />
Jazz Pub, Dublin (<strong>February</strong> 15), The Courthouse Arts<br />
Centre, Tinahely, (Feb 17), and finally on <strong>February</strong><br />
21 at the Limerick Jazz Society. Find out more at<br />
carolenelsonmusic.com<br />
Nelson’s<br />
Tour<br />
The<br />
Write<br />
Stuff<br />
For any burgeoning or aspiring writers out there seeking assistance in crafting<br />
believeable and authentic LGBT+ characters, a one-day course offered by the<br />
Irish Writers Centre is just the ticket.<br />
The course, hosted by Hilary McCollum whose debut novel, Golddigger, won<br />
the Golden Crown Literary Society Award for historical fiction in 2016, will focus<br />
on how to research LGBT+ lives and how to avoid clichés and stereotypes.<br />
“There are many issues to consider when representing LGBT characters,”<br />
McCollum says. “How are LGBT people viewed in the setting the writer has<br />
chosen? Are they accepted or are they stigmatised? What is the character’s<br />
attitude to their identity? Is the character’s LGBT identity explored in the<br />
storyline or is it incidental? For example, JK Rowling has said that she always<br />
considered Albus Dumblesdore, headmaster of Hogwarts, to be gay but this is<br />
not hinted at until the final book of the seven book series.<br />
These questions in more will be explored in depth on the course, during which<br />
participants will explore LGBT+ characters across different genres. And if<br />
McCollum could be one queer fictional character for a day, who would it be?<br />
“Virginia Woolf’s Orlando,” she says, “so that I could experience life over many<br />
centuries and many cultures while falling in love and perfecting my craft as a<br />
writer.”<br />
Writing LGBTQ Characters With Hilary McCollum runs at The Irish Writers<br />
Centre on Dublin’s Parnell Square on March 3, from 10.30 to 4pm, tickets €80<br />
(€70 for members)<br />
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FOCÁL UP!<br />
continued<br />
Vegans, look away now: Leather Pride is hitting Dublin city from<br />
January 26 – 28. There’s a smörgåsbord of events crammed<br />
into the weekend, with a mixture of paid and free events to<br />
entice the leather-lovers out there.<br />
The weekend eases attendees in gently with cocktails on<br />
Friday January 26 from 6pm at The Blind Pig, followed by a<br />
Meet and Greet at Street 66 from 9pm. On Saturday 27, the<br />
day kicks off with a cultural tour at 11am, followed by ‘Pints and<br />
Platters’ at the Galway Bay Brewery on Newmarket Square.<br />
Later on it’s time to dust off the old leather tuxedo for a formal<br />
Leather Dinner at WUFF, followed that evening by GEARED<br />
Ireland’s Mr Leather Ireland contest at Fibber Magees.<br />
The next day is all about chilling and kicking back in your<br />
most comfortable chaps, kicking off at 12pm with Leather<br />
Brunch at Oscars and followed by a Fireside Chat and look at<br />
the Leather Archives in the Central Hotel Library Bar. Then<br />
there’s a Fetish Dinner at 7.30pm at Viva in Portobello, before<br />
the weekend finishes with a dungeon chill-out called ‘Sounds<br />
and Sleaze’ at 9.30pm, downstaris in the same venue.<br />
Leather<br />
Pride<br />
For more information about Leather Pride, visit<br />
leatherpridedublin.ie<br />
Q+A<br />
With Michelle<br />
For this month’s Q+A podcast, we sat down for the fat chats with Michelle<br />
Visage, who just happened to be here to film Ireland’s Got Talent. She wanted to<br />
talk to <strong>GCN</strong> from the outset, and she had things to impart, especially in the light<br />
of Trump’s America.<br />
“What I loved most about Michelle was the way she focused all her attention on<br />
getting her message about inclusivity across,” says editor, Brian Finnegan, who<br />
sat behind the mic. “In her role on RuPaul’s Drag Race she’s a mentor to many<br />
queer men who’ve been rejected by their families, and as that show is broadcast<br />
across the world, she’s become kind of beacon to LGBT’s who don’t have the<br />
privilege of being safe in their communities and countries. It’s a role she takes<br />
very seriously.”<br />
In between the serious stuff, there’s plenty of laughs, though. We wouldn’t have<br />
expected anything less.<br />
You can listen to this episode of Q+A, and all our other episodes, at Apple<br />
Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast fix.<br />
WWW.SUPERMISSSUE.COM/LUNA<br />
14 g
FOCÁL UP!<br />
continued<br />
A<br />
Quickie<br />
with…<br />
Mr Bear Ireland, Eoin Dolan<br />
Hey Eoin, tell us, what did it mean to you to win Mr Bear Ireland in 2017?<br />
I tried out for the first time in 2015 and came second to my best mate. So I waited a<br />
while and gave it another go, because I really wanted it. I thought that I could be a good<br />
representative for Ireland’s bear community.<br />
What’s the one burning issue that you think is most important for gay men<br />
right now?<br />
We can all see that our society grows healthier and more open as the years go by, but<br />
for others – people of all ages – peer pressure, self-confidence, insecurities and fear<br />
in general keeps them in the dark about themselves and stops them from wanting to<br />
come out. Seeing the crap that’s going on around the world, particularly in Chechnya, I<br />
know if I were coming out in that type of climate, it would surely be fearful.<br />
Why do you think bear culture is important for gay guys?<br />
As a titleholder and visiting different bear scenes throughout the year, I’ve noticed there<br />
is a lot of exclusion when it comes to types, preferences and labels. We deal with enough<br />
childish behaviour and ignorance outside, and I think we shouldn’t forget what bear<br />
culture really stands for. Dublin Bears is very much a community-focused bear group,<br />
and together we try to promote the positive side of bear culture.<br />
If you could have five fabulous and famous bears to dinner at your place,<br />
who would they be?<br />
I were to choose off the top of my head, Kevin James has always been one of my<br />
favourites. Alex Matthews, who plays Brett in ZNation’s first season. Ride! Chris Sullivan<br />
who plays the big bear in the diner in the first few episodes of Stranger Things. RIP<br />
Benny! And, of course, I can never leave out poor aul’ Baloo.<br />
If they were making a movie of your life, what would it be called?<br />
I love travelling and I am single, so I think this title would work: Continental Shift. Can<br />
the other stars be all of my listed famous bears above?<br />
What event at Béar Féile are you looking forward to most, and why?<br />
The main event on Saturday night! We’ve a good few special guests coming to visit. We’ll<br />
be welcoming Mr Bears Belgium for 2017 and <strong>2018</strong>, Mr Bears Poland 2017 and <strong>2018</strong>, Mr<br />
North American Daddy Bear, Mr Bear Gran Canaria, and Mr Bear Europe. I really think it<br />
will be a fun night, introducing the guys and partying with them again.<br />
If the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do today?<br />
Session!<br />
Bear Féile takes place this year from March 23 to 25,<br />
www.dublinbears.ie for full details of events<br />
Image: Darek Kuc<br />
New Look<br />
New Menu<br />
www.dillingers.ie
THE RUTLAND CENTRE<br />
SEE BEYOND<br />
ADDICTION<br />
We’re here to help. The men and women we help<br />
have often felt socially isolated in some way before<br />
they get in touch. They come from all walks of life<br />
and backgrounds. They could be be straight or gay.<br />
They could be single, married or in a relationship.<br />
But we know that recovery is possible, for everyone.<br />
So don’t let misconceptions about addiction stop<br />
you from seeking help if you need it.<br />
At the Rutland Centre we ofer a safe, conidential<br />
treatment service. So if you, or someone you<br />
love, is living with addiction and needs help,<br />
call us today on (01) 494 6358 or email<br />
info@rutlandcentre.ie for more information.<br />
rutlandcentre.ie
FOCÁL UP!<br />
continued<br />
As a GP and a gay man who grew<br />
up in the ’90s, access to abortion<br />
is surely not a remote issue for<br />
Varadkar.<br />
QUEER<br />
VIEW<br />
MIRROR<br />
with<br />
Stephen Meyler<br />
#RepealThe8th<br />
#AlPorter<br />
#STIs<br />
SAY NUTTIN’, LEO<br />
The government continues to discuss what it should do<br />
about the Repeal the 8th referendum. Will it present the<br />
recommendation of abortion on demand up to 12 weeks to the<br />
electorate? Will it be something more restrictive? Will it be in<br />
May?<br />
Leo Varadkar has more than once refused to state his own<br />
opinion on the matter. As a GP and a gay man who grew up in<br />
the ’90s, access to abortion is surely not a remote issue for him,<br />
but all he’ll say is that he will tell the country he leads what he<br />
thinks about it when the exact proposition for the referendum<br />
has been decided and a date set for the vote.<br />
Is this fence-sitting? Or is he respecting voters’ ability to work<br />
it out for themselves? It might be both. Although Varadkar won<br />
the vote of Fine Gael TDs and ministers during the leadership<br />
contest with Simon Coveney, he lost the vote of the more<br />
conservative party members, a group he would need on side if<br />
the electorate ever got the chance to vote for him as Taoiseach<br />
in a general election. Polls suggest he is a popular Taoiseach, so<br />
why rock the boat by alienating the Yes or No side with a definite<br />
opinion on access to abortion?<br />
Of course, he could be staying quiet because he believes the<br />
outcome of a referendum should be down to the individual voter<br />
and his personal opinion is not relevant at this time.<br />
However, when the referendum is announced, will he then<br />
forcefully campaign for whichever argument he believes is the<br />
more just?<br />
TOO ERR IS HUMAN…<br />
As the list of male celebrities accused of everything from<br />
groping to rape continues to grow, is Ireland’s most famous<br />
example on the road to forgiveness? Al Porter lost all of his<br />
lucrative work with Today FM, the Olympia Christmas panto and<br />
a busy schedule of guest appearances just before Christmas.<br />
This was on foot of social media accusations by men that he<br />
had behaved in a sexual and inappropriate way on a number<br />
of occasions – in bars, after his shows and most seriously of<br />
all, at a psychiatric hospital where he was on a charity visit.<br />
Groping an adult man in a bar after a few drinks is one thing,<br />
but taking advantage of a vulnerable hospital patient is another<br />
and Porter’s excuse that it was down to his outrageous public<br />
persona read like a self-serving crock.<br />
Why bring it up now though? The postponed episodes of<br />
the Porter-fronted revamp of Blind Date were the focus of<br />
interest at the TV3/Virgin Ireland spring launch (well, that and<br />
the departure of Ireland AM host Sinéad Desmond over a<br />
gender pay gap). TV3 wouldn’t say anything much about either<br />
issue, but don’t be surprised if the show surfaces in the autumn<br />
schedule.<br />
This followed the inclusion of Porter in the Christmas<br />
message by Eamonn Walsh, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin with<br />
responsibility for Tallaght. The bishop appealed for justice to<br />
be allowed to take its course, rather than what has been until<br />
recently trial, condemnation and punishment of Porter by social<br />
media witch hunt.<br />
Now however, that same social media mob is having second<br />
thoughts. Even people who find his toilet humour and ’70s-style<br />
single entendre act a bit monotonous are now uncomfortable<br />
with the damage to his career caused by as yet unfounded<br />
allegations of crime.<br />
Is this crowd-sourced balance? Maybe many heads, innocent<br />
as well as guilty, will have to roll to clear out the rottenness of<br />
power relationships in the entertainment industry, but as new<br />
accusations appear on an almost daily basis, won’t there be a<br />
point when we’ve had enough?<br />
A BROKEN RECORD<br />
Writing for a queer magazine is a great pleasure. You get to<br />
spout your opinions on all sorts of topics of personal and<br />
community interest, but the one subject that is a struggle is the<br />
regular one about STIs. It’s rarely good news – access to generic<br />
PrEP was one of the stand-out good HIV news stories last year<br />
– and as every new set of statistics is released, it seems like HIV,<br />
not to mention syphilis, hepatitis, chlamydia and all the rest will<br />
never go away.<br />
Now, hook up apps are blamed for the latest surge in infections<br />
– the alienation and isolation of a social media saturated world is<br />
inducing us to engage in riskier activities.<br />
Maybe, we should accept our sexual and social fallibility and<br />
hold out for vaccines, given when we are babies. While we wait<br />
though, the old messages of consistent and correct condom<br />
use, getting tested regularly and taking the pills, will just have to<br />
be repeated and one hopes, be eff ective.<br />
15 g
BeLonG To Youth Services hosted their Inaugural<br />
Rainbow Ball in the Ballsbridge Hotel, Dublin in<br />
November raising €53,000 for Stand Up Awareness<br />
Week, Ireland’s largest anti-bullying campaign.<br />
The event was hosted by actress and comedian Tara<br />
Flynn, with a raffle led by online influencer, James<br />
Kavanagh. Prominent artists including Steve Mannion<br />
Farrell, Maser, Marian Buckley, Will St Ledger and Joe<br />
Caslin donated their stunning work to the art auction.<br />
Guests were treated to entertainment during and after<br />
their meal, provided by The Bugle Babes and DJ Rocky<br />
Delgado.<br />
The evening was one of celebration, but also of emotion<br />
as guests were moved by stories from 18-year-old Katie<br />
McCabe who spoke about her struggles coming out, and<br />
from Kirsty Donohue, a mother who shared the sad and<br />
inspiring story of her son’s transition. Both Katie and<br />
Kirsty spoke of the positive difference that joining the<br />
BeLonG To community made to their lives.<br />
Funds raised from the gala event will support LGBTI+<br />
young people across Ireland dismantling the stigma and<br />
bullying many face because of who they are.<br />
Photography by David Gannon<br />
The event was sponsored by Salesforce, Marks and<br />
Spencer, Coca-Cola, Tesco, State Street, Dalata Hotel<br />
Group and Microsoft.<br />
BeLonG To is the national LGBTI+ youth organisation,<br />
responding to the needs of young people across Ireland<br />
and helping them thrive.<br />
SAVE<br />
THE<br />
DATE
16<br />
.11.<br />
18 BeLonG<br />
The Ballbridge Hotel, Dublin<br />
In support of BeLonG To Youth Services<br />
DRINKS RECEPTION ON ARRIVAL<br />
THREE-COURSE MEAL WITH WINE<br />
SPECIAL GUESTS<br />
RAFFLE AND ART AUCTION<br />
To Youth Services are delighted to announce that the <strong>2018</strong> Rainbow Ball will take place on Friday, November 16 th<br />
in the Ballsbridge Hotel. A special early bird rate of €1,000 per table of 10 is being offered until March 30 th (subject to availability).<br />
For sponsorship packages, table bookings and queries, please contact fundraising@belongto.org or call 01 670 6223.
Feature<br />
Interview<br />
Music – Sofi Tukker – Pregnant Beyoncé
In the space of less than a year,<br />
dance-pop duo Soi Tukker have gone<br />
from unknowns to Grammy-nominated<br />
blockbuster hit makers, but before<br />
that they’d already built a devoted<br />
queer following. It’s a case of mutual<br />
admiration, they tell Cian Carroll.<br />
On the back of just one EP, Soft Animals, 2017 was a meteoric<br />
year for dance-pop duo, Sofi Tukker, with a Grammy<br />
nomination and the use of their song, ‘Best Friend’ by Apple<br />
to advertise the iPhone X turning it into a blockbuster smash.<br />
But before they were adopted by the mainstream, the pair –<br />
Sophie Hawley-Weld and Tucker Halpern – were a hit with<br />
queer kids across America and Europe.<br />
“We really make it clear that we value being yourself, and<br />
expressing yourself however you want and celebrating that,”<br />
Tucker says. “That’s where we’re most happy and that’s what<br />
we want to create for the people who are with us. That’s<br />
something the queer community stands for and we admire<br />
that. Hopefully there’s some mutual admiration there.”<br />
Sophie and Tucker are talking to me on the phone from a<br />
dressing room at the Jimmy Fallon Show, on which they’ll be<br />
appearing later to perform ‘Best Friend’. It’s a platform most<br />
performers can only dream of, and the pair are just getting to<br />
grips with it.<br />
“I think we’ve taken last year in our stride, because for us<br />
we’re just on the road every day, doing shows, writing songs,<br />
doing what we love, so what’s happened doesn’t hit us really,”<br />
says Tucker. “Today’s one is pretty wild, though. It feels a little<br />
crazy.”<br />
That said, Sophie didn’t quite take being in the presence<br />
of a pregnant Beyoncé at the Grammys this time last year in<br />
her stride either. “We were so wide-eyed,” she says. “It was like,<br />
‘what are we dong here? This is awesome!”<br />
The pair met three years ago when they were both studying<br />
at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.<br />
“I was playing an acoustic bossa nova set in an art gallery<br />
and Tucker was booked in as the DJ for later at the same<br />
event,” Sophie explains. “He came early and saw me play, and<br />
he basically ended up remixing one of my songs on the spot.<br />
The next day we met up and started making music, and we<br />
pretty much haven’t stopped since.”<br />
The moment was part of a reinvention for Tucker, who had<br />
come to the University on a basketball scholarship.<br />
“I spent my whole life training to be a basketball player,” he<br />
says. “That’s what I loved and what I thought I was going to<br />
be doing, but then I got sick and had to leave school for a<br />
year. I was in bed for six or seven months and I wanted to be<br />
productive, although I didn’t have the energy to do much. So, I<br />
got music software and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials<br />
trying to train myself how to use it. Then when I went back to<br />
school I played basketball for a little longer until my doctor<br />
said ‘no more’. I had one year left, so I said to myself I really<br />
want to make music my career after I leave. I started DJing at<br />
parties all over campus and all over Providence, and I really<br />
got into it.”<br />
Having forged a connection, Tucker persuaded Sophie<br />
to move to New York and embark on a career in the music<br />
industry with him. She wasn’t so keen to begin with.<br />
“I had a fear that making music was a sort of selfish or selfindulgent<br />
thing to do,” she explains. “I feel like I got a really good<br />
education and there’s a responsibility with that education to<br />
give back and to make sure that my life’s work is a contribution.<br />
I wasn’t sure whether or not making music would do that. Now<br />
I couldn’t be happier about how it feels in terms of it being a<br />
contribution. It’s something I’m offering to the world that I’m<br />
really proud of.”<br />
The summer after graduation was spent honing their<br />
sound, something that could have been disastrous, given how<br />
different their taste in music is.<br />
“I like music that Tucker finds boring,” says Sofi. “He’s very<br />
high energy. The stuff that we don’t agree on is frenetic.”<br />
“It took us that summer to figure out a lot of things,” says<br />
Tucker. “Like about how to work together, how to be upfront<br />
and honest with each other.”<br />
“We went down a lot of dead ends,” adds Sophie. “We’d keep<br />
working and working trying to make something right, when it<br />
wasn’t actually clicking. I think we’ve learned to navigate that. If<br />
something feels really good, we’ll keep going. If it doesn’t feel<br />
that excellent, we’ll let it go.”<br />
The feel-good factor extends to their shows, which Sophie<br />
describes as “our favourite thing to do.”<br />
“With people coming to our shows at first, we didn’t know<br />
what to expect. But the people that come ended up being<br />
the kind of people who make that vibe instantly in the room,<br />
and it’s like this energy cycle, where we’re giving them energy<br />
and they’re giving us energy, and it becomes this amazing<br />
experience. They’re people who all want to be joyful and<br />
expressive and loose and loving.”<br />
“That community, we’ve found out, is one of the most<br />
important things about who we are as a band,” adds Tucker.<br />
“We love being surrounded by people who bring each other up,<br />
and support each other, and create things together.”<br />
Ironically, neither Sophie or Tucker were aware of<br />
the original 1920s singer and comedian, Sophie Tucker<br />
(immortalised by Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl), when they<br />
came up with the amalgamation Sofi Tukker as the name for<br />
their band.<br />
“We kind of found out after,” says Sophie. “We’re so happy to<br />
pay homage to her. She’s bad-ass.”<br />
I’ve a feeling Sophie Tucker would have firmly approved of<br />
Sofi Tukker too.<br />
Sofi Tukker play Dublin’s The Button Factory on January 27,<br />
ticketmaster.ie<br />
g 19
Feature<br />
Interview: RuPaul’s Drag Race – Ireland’s Got Talent
VISAGE<br />
VOYAGE<br />
Michelle Visage has a reputation for tough talking on<br />
RuPaul’s Drag Race, a reality talent show that has blossomed<br />
into a pop culture phenomenon like no other over the past<br />
decade. Will she be bringing the same style of judging to her<br />
new role on the panel of Ireland’s Got Talent? And what does<br />
Michelle think of the situation back home in America, where<br />
the Trump administration is rolling back on many of the<br />
things Drag Race stands for? She talks to Brian Finnegan.<br />
It’s exactly nine years this month since RuPaul’s Drag Race<br />
first sashayed onto American television screens, courtesy<br />
of the Logo TV network. Since then the show has not only<br />
become a pop culture phenomenon, but a triumphant new<br />
strand of queer programming, credited with helping change<br />
the face of LGBT+ representations and educating a new<br />
generation about the fight for queer rights.<br />
It’s also brought drag into the mainstream, catapulting<br />
queens like Bianca Del Rio, Sharon Needles, Trixie and Katya,<br />
and Courtney Act into the firmament of global stardom, while<br />
its creator and star, RuPaul has ascended to become a kind of<br />
queer Oprah – her message at the end of every show - “If you<br />
can’t love yourself, how the hell you gonna somebody else?” –<br />
becoming the new mantra.<br />
Sitting firmly but fabulously by RuPaul’s side since season<br />
three of Drag Race has been Michelle Visage, and over over<br />
the course of seven seasons of the show, and two seasons<br />
of RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, her persona as a straighttalking<br />
ally who takes no shit has become part of the show’s<br />
overall ethos. Alongside RuPaul, Michelle has evolved into a<br />
kind of straight mama to the gays, helping mend the broken<br />
kids who come through the Drag Race doors to lip-sync for<br />
their lives.<br />
“<br />
People think of ‘Drag Race’ as a<br />
camp show about boys dressing<br />
up in girl’s clothing, but that’s<br />
on the surface.<br />
The contestant pool has included survivors of assault,<br />
people abandoned by their parents or kicked out of their<br />
homes, and people for whom being gay or trans nearly cost<br />
them their lives. Season two winner Tyra Sanchez (aka James<br />
Ross IV) was homeless when he entered the competition.<br />
Season four contestant Timothy Wilcots, aka Latrice Royale,<br />
had served jail time, while All Star contestant, Jujubee was so<br />
used to being homophobically abused as a child, he answered<br />
to the word ‘faggot’.<br />
“People think of Drag Race as a camp show about boys<br />
dressing up in girl’s clothing, but that’s on the surface,” Michelle<br />
tells me as we chat on a break from her filming schedule with<br />
Ireland’s Got Talent, on which she’s a judge (more of which<br />
later). She’s impeccably made-up for the cameras, jet-black<br />
hair coiffed, eyeliner sequined, and the Drag Race persona is<br />
fully intact. She talks a mile-a-minute, her opinions forthright<br />
and peppered with expletives, but at the same time she<br />
touches my hand or arm at regular intervals, forging a kind of<br />
instant intimacy for the brief time we have together. It’s hard<br />
not to want Mama Michelle to like you.<br />
“Really the show is so much more about life, about integrity,<br />
about grit, determination, love, loss, self-endurance, selfloathing,<br />
self-love…” she says, her intricately painted fingernails<br />
grazing my wrist. “We actually bring families together. These<br />
queer boys, however they identify, have lost touch with their<br />
parents or family members because their families didn’t<br />
accept them.<br />
“A lot of these parents kick their kids out on the street when<br />
they come out, and they only thing they have to turn to is<br />
selling sex, selling their bodies. They don’t believe they have<br />
what it takes, the self-worth, the self-love, to do anything<br />
other than tricking. So we end up with drug issues, suicides,<br />
homicides… LGBT youth homelessness is a big deal, so with<br />
our show a lot of times the parents come around and say, ‘Oh<br />
my God, I am so sorry, I didn’t see what was right in front of my<br />
face, all you really needed was for me to love you’.<br />
“Or if that doesn’t happen, if there is no epiphany, they realise<br />
there can be a relationship. Maybe it’s slow, but the relationship<br />
happens.”<br />
g 21
“<br />
If we keep informing them,<br />
letting them know the history<br />
and not letting them forget…<br />
then they’ll get it, and they’ll<br />
know why they were able to<br />
come out of the womb shitting<br />
rainbows and glitter.<br />
Visage herself is the mother of a queer child – her 18<br />
year-old daughter, Lillie identifies as bisexual. “I knew I’d end<br />
up with a queer kid,” she laughs. “I just thought it would be a<br />
choreographer, or an interior decorating boy or hairdresser,<br />
but it ended up being a girl who is still questioning and finding<br />
her way.”<br />
While a bi kid couldn’t hope for a more clued-in mother,<br />
Michelle says it’s only recently that she’s come to accept the<br />
viability of bisexuality.<br />
“Back when I started with the community, in the 1980s, it was<br />
close to a death sentence to come out as gay. It was safer for<br />
the boys, not the girls, to come out as bisexual even though<br />
they were gay. So, it’s only in the past three years or so that I’ve<br />
realised bisexuality is a viable way of being.<br />
“My daughter identifies as bi and non-binary. She’s dealt with<br />
some pretty serious depression issues, so she’s finally coming<br />
out of that now and exploring her bisexuality. She’s 18, so it’s<br />
later in life, whereas some kids might do it at 13, so I don’t know<br />
if she even needs that validation yet. She might, in university,<br />
realise how important it is, because bis and trans get the shitty<br />
end of the stick. It’s not fair. Being the mother of a bisexual kid, I<br />
will scream louder for her rights, which do matter and are real.”<br />
Although the America in which Lillie is coming of age is a<br />
much more evolved place than when her mother was living<br />
it up on the New York underground with her best buddy, the<br />
young RuPaul (aka Andre Charles), one year into the Trump<br />
administration, with the roll-back of protections for trans<br />
people and rhetoric, along with the erasing of gay recognition,<br />
there are clear efforts to turn the evolutionary direction<br />
backwards.<br />
“It’s very hard in America right now,” says Michelle. “But the<br />
stronger and louder we are, and if we band together, we will<br />
be heard. Our brothers and sisters did not fight in Stonewall<br />
all those years ago for it to go back to the way it was. We’re<br />
no longer being pushed back into the closet; we’re no longer<br />
being silenced.<br />
“As a mother of a queer kid, I can only look to the future. It’s<br />
a lot easier to be under the queer umbrella these days than<br />
it has ever been, in my life, so I want those kids to know why.<br />
If we keep informing them, letting them know the history and<br />
not letting them forget… then they’ll get it, and they’ll know why<br />
they were able to come out of the womb shitting rainbows and<br />
glitter.”<br />
Visage herself was born to an American-Irish mother in 1968,<br />
then adopted by a Jewish family in New Jersey and christened<br />
Michelle Lynn Shupack. “My mother couldn’t have me, other<br />
circumstances got in the way, but she loved me enough to<br />
give me up for adoption,” she says early on in our chat, but<br />
later, when we’re talking about Drag Race again, it becomes<br />
apparent that this presented its challenges.<br />
“If it were me growing up, my self-loathing, and the hatred I<br />
had for myself, not knowing why I’d been given up for adoption,<br />
if I’d had a show like Drag Race, maybe I wouldn’t have had<br />
an eating disorder, maybe I wouldn’t have thought I was<br />
ugly, or didn’t fit in or had nobody who didn’t understand my<br />
weirdness,” she says. “But I didn’t have that, so I had to go<br />
through all that shit, to come out the other side and realise,<br />
I’m not going to sit back and let somebody bully somebody<br />
22 g
else the way I was bullied.” Perhaps it was the tracing her<br />
birth mother and learning that her grandmother was from<br />
Cork that somehow originally brought Michelle to Ireland’s<br />
media. Ireland’s Got Talent isn’t her first time to appear on our<br />
airwaves.<br />
“I did radio here in 1997 for three years on 2FM with Dusty<br />
Rhodes,” she tells me. “He’d have me on once a week to take a<br />
bite out of the Big Apple, sponsored by Cidona. He flew me to<br />
Ireland a few times to do events. Then in 2009 I was back on<br />
2FM with Michael Cahill at the weekends. So, I’ve always had a<br />
relationship with Ireland.”<br />
This relationship should be further enhanced when Ireland’s<br />
Got Talent begins broadcasting on TV3 on <strong>February</strong> 3. Is she<br />
going to get shady as she searches for charisma, uniqueness,<br />
nerve and talent amongst the Irish public, or will she be more<br />
Mama Michelle?<br />
“In RuPaul’s Drag Race I have a very specific role,” she says. “I<br />
grew up in this community since I was literally weaned off the<br />
plastic tits of a drag queen. I have a background and standard<br />
that I’m holding these queens to, when I know they can do<br />
better. I’m a lot tougher on them because I need to be.<br />
“If a child comes up on Ireland’s Got Talent or somebody<br />
who has something but they’re not quite ready, I’m not going<br />
to shoot them down and tell them this sucks, because that’s<br />
not who I am. I want to encourage everybody to follow their<br />
dream. If they don’t have that talent I’m going to tell them, ‘I<br />
don’t know if this should be your dream, you should have<br />
a back-up dream’. But I’m not going to stop anybody from<br />
chasing what they want.<br />
“I like to give constructive criticism. It’s not going to help<br />
me to cut someone else down; it’s going to help me help<br />
somebody else. I’m a Virgo; I want to help everybody. I want<br />
everybody to be happy.”<br />
As a certain drag queen might say: shantay, gurl, you stay.<br />
“Our brothers and sisters did not<br />
ight in Stonewall all those years<br />
ago for it to go back to the way it<br />
was.<br />
‘Ireland’s Got Talent’ begins on TV3 on <strong>February</strong> 3. Listen to<br />
our Q+A podcast featuring this full, unedited interview on<br />
Apple Podcasts. It’s sickening.<br />
Michelle and RuPaul with<br />
fellow Drag Race judges,<br />
Ross Matthews (left)<br />
Carson Kressley (right)<br />
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HIV+<br />
ACT UP – PrEP – Sexual Health<br />
PrEP<br />
UPDATE
While new HIV diagnoses continue<br />
to be at an all-time high for gay and<br />
bisexual men in Ireland, the government<br />
needs to make sure PrEP is fully<br />
accessible, says Andrew Leavitt of<br />
ACT UP Dublin. Image by Will St Leger.<br />
As of January <strong>2018</strong>, preliminary figures released by Ireland’s<br />
Health Service Executive (HSE) show 506 newly reported<br />
HIV diagnoses in Ireland in 2017. These latest figures match<br />
closely with record high figures of 508 in 2016. It’s clear<br />
Ireland has a HIV crisis and one that is disproportionally<br />
affecting gay and bisexual men. The good news is that we<br />
have the best tools that science can offer to prevent HIV and<br />
halt its onward transmission.<br />
PrEP & Clinical Support<br />
Although PrEP has not been widely available or accessible<br />
in Ireland, we know that a considerable number of people<br />
here have been self-sourcing generic versions of PrEP via<br />
online suppliers. With the recent availability of generic PrEP<br />
from Irish pharmacies, we expect the number of people<br />
using PrEP in Ireland to continue to increase. Getting proper<br />
medical support is a crucial part of safely using PrEP, and a<br />
number of medical tests are needed before you start and<br />
while you continue to use it.<br />
The Gay Men’s Health Service on Baggot Street in<br />
Dublin opened the first clinic specifically for people using<br />
PrEP in Ireland in November. This walk-in clinic offers<br />
users information on how to get and use PrEP, along with<br />
a consultation with a supportive doctor who can answer<br />
questions about PrEP and provide a prescription. It runs<br />
every Thursday morning from 10am to noon.<br />
Just a few weeks later, the Mater Hospital announced the<br />
start of its own Prevention Support Clinic for PrEP users.<br />
This clinic is by appointment, and to make one you can email<br />
psc@mater.ie.<br />
Having access to these dedicated clinical services is a big<br />
step forward in meeting the needs of those of us already<br />
using PrEP, and in preparing the health services for<br />
delivering PrEP when the HSE begins to provide it directly.<br />
Generic PrEP in Ireland<br />
Teva Pharmaceuticals began marketing their generic PrEP<br />
product in Irish pharmacies from Monday, December 4, last<br />
year. Although prices will be set by individual pharmacies, it’s<br />
expected that it will cost between €85 and €100 for a bottle<br />
of 30 pills. This is about the same price-range as a similar<br />
product that recently became available in the Netherlands.<br />
Currently there are over 100 pharmacies in 20 counties<br />
stocking generic PrEP. The number of pharmacies stocking<br />
PrEP will likely continue to grow and competition between<br />
pharmacies may mean prices fall a bit further.<br />
Some key points about this development:<br />
• PrEP is not yet available through the HSE. This product is<br />
only available at full retail price. There is no discount for<br />
medical card holders or anyone else.<br />
• It’s vital that any potential prescribing doctors and<br />
dispensing pharmacists are properly informed about what<br />
tests are needed to support PrEP users, and that they<br />
understand the different dosing regimens so that they can<br />
offer informed guidance to users.<br />
• The availability of generic PrEP in community pharmacies<br />
is a result of a private company taking the opportunity to<br />
directly market a product because the health service has<br />
failed to make it available. Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, the<br />
Department of Health or the HSE did not do anything to<br />
make this happen.<br />
• It’s imperative that we keep the pressure on the<br />
Department of Health and the HSE to make PrEP<br />
available and accessible immediately. Teva’s shown that<br />
generic companies can offer their product at a fraction of<br />
what Gilead asks, removing the biggest obstacle to PrEP<br />
access. It’s time for the Department of Health and HSE<br />
to become proactive and take advantage of this historic<br />
opportunity to deliver PrEP in Ireland.<br />
GetPrep.online<br />
GetPrEP.online is a new website created and launched by<br />
a Dublin-based group of individuals to provide information<br />
specifically for people living in Ireland about getting and<br />
using PrEP. It is entirely volunteer-run and independent of the<br />
HSE or any NGOs. All costs related to creating this site were<br />
paid using their own funds. GetPrEP.online creators want to<br />
ensure that current or potential PrEP users in Ireland can find<br />
clear and up-to-date information to support them in making<br />
informed decisions about their sexual health.<br />
Visit www.getPrEP.online and see if PrEP is right for you<br />
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Report<br />
Roma – Barabarapien – Culture<br />
Roma<br />
& LGBT+<br />
“I was hesitant to let people know<br />
that I was gay in a Romani context…<br />
because I assumed I wouldn’t be<br />
welcome if I were to reveal who I am.<br />
I think that was a mistake. I should<br />
have come out sooner.<br />
William Bila
At a low estimate, there are approximately 500 LGBT+<br />
Roma people living in this country, yet not one has come<br />
forward to the organisations that support Travellers and<br />
Roma people. This invisibility is rooted in the overall<br />
challenges Roma people face in Ireland, as Chris O’Donnell<br />
reports.<br />
Roma people constitute the largest ethnic minority group in<br />
Europe, with an estimated population of 10 to 12 million. Gaining<br />
specific figures on the exact number of Roma people living in<br />
Ireland has been difficult, as their ethnic identity is not included<br />
in census forms and there’s an understandable reluctance to<br />
tell officials that they belong to a group which is continually<br />
subjected to state-sanctioned racial discrimination.<br />
The rough estimate at the moment, from the National Roma<br />
Needs Assessment (a new report by Pavee Point Traveller and<br />
Roma Centre and the Department of Justice and Equality)<br />
is 5,000. According to Oein DeBhairduin, a core member of<br />
the online support group, LGBT Pavee, there may be over 13<br />
different Roma groups living in Ireland alone. “There are different<br />
dialects, different belief systems, different habitations and<br />
engagements, different ethnicities to a certain degree, different<br />
nationalities, and at the moment everyone is engaged as a<br />
singular group. It’s quite diverse, but the system is a ‘one-sizefits-all’.”<br />
Where does this leave LGBT+ Roma in Ireland, of which there<br />
are approximately 500, based on the one in ten assumption? It’s<br />
hard to know, because at this point no LGBT Roma have come<br />
forward to share their experiences. Pavee Point suggests that<br />
this lack of visibility, or confidence to come forward, is rooted in<br />
the broader experience of Roma people in Ireland.<br />
“What we found in the report is that there is a very high level of<br />
experiences of poverty in the Roma community in Ireland, and<br />
very extreme poverty for a minority of Roma,” says Siobhán<br />
Curran, Roma Project Coordinator at Pavee Point. “Across<br />
the board there were extremely high levels of discrimination,<br />
particularly in social protection and accommodation. Many<br />
Roma are living in very substandard accommodation.<br />
“All of this was part of a broader finding that there were<br />
negative experiences with services for some Roma in the state,<br />
and they didn’t always feel that they could engage with services.<br />
I think this links very much to the experience of LGBT Roma<br />
and the extra barriers they face. If you think of the supports that<br />
somebody may need to come out, or if they have come out, for<br />
their family, the access to mainstream services is not the same<br />
as it is for the non-Roma community.”<br />
The upshot is that there are no services are specifically<br />
tailored towards LGBT+ Roma in Ireland, despite a clear need.<br />
“Quite regularly we deal with breakdowns in the home,<br />
alienation, and suicidal ideation,” says DeBhairduin. “There’s a<br />
lack of cultural connectivity where suddenly people are asking<br />
themselves who they are, and that comes in conflict with their<br />
other sense of identity.”<br />
Added to this, according to Curran: “The issues facing Roma in<br />
Ireland are very complex. Oftentimes we’re dealing with issues of<br />
racism, homelessness, poverty, survival and then the issues that<br />
are very important around identity don’t get prioritised.”<br />
According to Czech Roma LGBT+ activist David Tiser: “Roma<br />
LGBT people face triple discrimination: firstly as Roma, secondly<br />
as LGBT people, and thirdly as LGBT people in the Roma<br />
community. In the case of young Roma LGBT living in ghettos,<br />
there is a fourth ground for discrimination: exclusion. Due to<br />
the address of their residence, they are often unable to access<br />
services and are at a major disadvantage in terms of engaging<br />
with agencies such as the police, healthcare, and so on.”<br />
LIVING OPENLY<br />
The Council of Europe’s Roma Youth Action Plan published<br />
a study named Barabarapien in 2014. ‘Barabarapien’ means<br />
‘equality’ in the Romani language, along with other related<br />
meanings such as together, togetherness, next to each other,<br />
etc. The report outlines the multiple discrimination faced by<br />
Roma youth across Europe by telling the stories of young Roma<br />
individuals. Maria, based in Serbia, lives with her female partner<br />
in a Roma settlement, and she tells the story of how she and<br />
her partner chose to live openly. “Although we are two barelyeducated<br />
Roma women living in quite bad conditions, we dared<br />
ask to be recognised as a same-sex family,” she says.<br />
“Apart from being finger-pointed all the time, we haven’t been<br />
harassed or discriminated against. There are many women<br />
here who are either single parents or their husbands don’t care<br />
a lot about their families, so they are often left to take care of<br />
everything, and that is where I step in and help them. I feel this is<br />
the reason that the people in the community accept my partner<br />
and I. Maybe they don’t like the way we live, but they need us.”<br />
Out, gay Romani Gypsy, Isaac Blake, also had a positive<br />
experience in his community. Currently Executive Director of the<br />
Romani Cultural & Arts Company in Cardiff, Blake grew up on<br />
a Gypsy and Traveller site. “People have seen me grow up from<br />
a young child into a young man, so I’ve never really experienced<br />
challenges,” he says.<br />
However Isaac is quick to point out that his story is not<br />
necessarily the norm. “I’m not going to and lie and say that<br />
everyone has had a positive experience similar to mine. There<br />
are a lot of LGBT people in the community who have had a<br />
negative experience, and they are actually afraid to come out.”<br />
William Bila (pictured left), Adviser on Partnerships and<br />
Network Development at the ERRC, is also an out gay Romani<br />
man, but it took him some time to come to this point.<br />
g 27
“I was hesitant to let people know that I was gay in a Romani<br />
context,” he says. “I think that held me back from participating<br />
fully and volunteering in different Romani-led activities in the<br />
emancipation movement, because I assumed I wouldn’t be<br />
welcome if I were to reveal who I am.<br />
“I think that was a mistake – I should have come out sooner, but<br />
I didn’t want to be excluded. I was afraid to come out as many<br />
young people are when they don’t have other visible examples of<br />
people like them in their communities.”<br />
Bila’s reluctance to come out earlier echoes the experiences<br />
of LGBT+ people across the board, and he agrees that Romani<br />
communities are no different to others in many respects when it<br />
comes to discrimination.<br />
“I’ve talked to some of my friends, they’ve had quite homophobic<br />
experiences within their families, some of them being excluded<br />
entirely, others only excluded for a couple of weeks and came<br />
back together, so you have the full range. Romani people are just<br />
like all other people. Some are accepting, some need some time,<br />
and others refuse to listen.<br />
“Every time you tell someone it becomes a little bit easier and<br />
a little bit more natural. Romani people - and this is my personal<br />
conclusion - basically are not more or less homophobic than<br />
anyone else.”<br />
WIDER DISCRIMINATION<br />
According to the website of the Council of Europe, many<br />
LGBT+ Roma experience social exclusion on personal, familial<br />
and community levels. At the same time they are also facing<br />
discrimination from the wider LGBT+ population because of their<br />
origins.<br />
LGBT+ Irish Roma often struggle to find ways to successfully<br />
negotiate their ethnic and sexual identities, while often within<br />
LGBT+ movements there is little awareness of the specific<br />
concerns of Irish Travellers and Roma.<br />
The Council of Europe’s Roma Youth Action Plan suggests that<br />
young LGBTs may feel torn due to there being a cultural clash<br />
between sexual orientation and some Roma traditions. The<br />
Barabarapien study highlighted a conflict experienced between<br />
being LGBT+ and a Romani, with members of the community<br />
having to choose between one or other aspect of their identities.<br />
This ‘choice’ is most likely the reason for the invisibility of Roma<br />
LGBT+ people in Ireland. It’s a chicken and egg situation, because<br />
if there was more visibility, there would be more supports.<br />
Community Development Worker with the Roma Project at<br />
Pavee Point, Gabi Muntean of Pavee Point is keen to encourage<br />
Roma LGBTs to come forward.<br />
“Just because nobody has come to us yet, it doesn’t mean<br />
they’re not there,” she says. “We would like to support LGBT Roma<br />
people in Ireland. We would like to talk to them.”<br />
“We would like to support<br />
LGBT Roma people in Ireland.<br />
We would like to talk to them.<br />
Gabi Muntean, Pavee Point<br />
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“People have seen me grow<br />
up from a young child into a<br />
young man, so I’ve never really<br />
experienced challenges.<br />
Isaac Blake<br />
“<br />
Roma LGBT people face triple<br />
discrimination: irstly as Roma,<br />
secondly as LGBT people, and<br />
thirdly as LGBT people in the<br />
Roma community.<br />
So how can LGBT+ Roman be encouraged to come forward?<br />
“There are plenty of things that can be done to try and open up<br />
the table a bit,” says Oein DeBhairduin. “We should not just to ask<br />
‘How can we help?’ but check in with ourselves and ask ‘What can<br />
I do to help?’<br />
“It’s assertive inclusion – rather than waiting for people to present<br />
themselves, it’s about engaging with people assertively, seeking<br />
them out. Make sure they know there’s always a space there.”<br />
“There is a need for LGBT Roma role models for new<br />
generations,” adds Curran, “but before that there’s a need at<br />
a higher policy level for clear support of Roma that involves<br />
outreach, that involves public information that’s accessible to the<br />
Roma community, rather than expecting that people can access<br />
the mainstream services.”<br />
According to DeBhairduin we also “need to have those awkward<br />
conversations about how people treat the Roma. When people<br />
see those who are very ethnically identifiable as Roma out and<br />
about in the wider community, there is this fear, because a lack of<br />
information leads people to believe the common thought which<br />
runs along the lines of ‘thievery, alienation, the other’.”<br />
The National Traveller and Roma Inclusion Strategy, launched in<br />
2017, clarifies that the needs of LGBT+ Travellers and Roma will<br />
be one specific focus in the development of the LGBT+ Inclusion<br />
Strategy, to be led by the Department of Justice and Equality, and<br />
on which a consultation process will commence this year. The<br />
government have also committed to challenging homophobia<br />
and transphobia within the Traveller and Roma communities and<br />
giving support for Traveller and Roma families who have children/<br />
partners coming out.<br />
“This is the first time this has been encapsulated in policy,” says<br />
Curran. “There needs to be action related to that now.”<br />
The ’Roma In Ireland: A National Needs Assessment’ report<br />
was launched on January 18. It can be downloaded from www.<br />
paveepoint.ie<br />
08 g
On the<br />
FRONT LINES<br />
In countries where members of the LGBT+ community are<br />
systematically attacked, arrested, tortured and murdered, there<br />
are courageous activists who stand up to advance queer rights,<br />
sometimes at great personal cost. Here Stephen McCabe<br />
meets just six poweful individuals on the frontlines of the ight<br />
for a world of acceptance.<br />
BOUHDID BELHEDI (Tunisia)<br />
LGBT HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER<br />
Association SHAMS (winner of GALAS International Award, 2017)<br />
“<br />
Forced anal testing is<br />
theoretically banned, but it<br />
is still a widespread practice<br />
throughout Tunisia.<br />
“I was the first activist to appear on TV to talk<br />
about the LGBT situation in Tunisia. Following my<br />
appearances I received multiple threats from the<br />
government and also from extremists. I am no longer<br />
safe in my hometown, so thanks to a grant I was able<br />
to get rehoused.<br />
Our organisation SHAMS is the only organisation<br />
to talk publicly about LGBT rights. As a result of<br />
our media activism we have begun to educate the<br />
Tunisian people about our struggle.<br />
The main challenges Tunisian LGBT people face<br />
are Article 230 [of the Penal Code] which criminalises<br />
gay people, and the anal test for homosexuality.<br />
Forced anal testing is theoretically banned, but it<br />
is still a widespread practice throughout Tunisia. A<br />
person can refuse the anal test, but if you do, an<br />
inference will be drawn from that.<br />
The Tunisian president has stated clearly that he<br />
is against abolishing Article 230 and all the deputies<br />
in our parliament are currently opposed to removing<br />
it. The only chance available to us is through the<br />
constitutional court, which is an independent<br />
institution.<br />
Things have changed since the revolution. With the<br />
creation of SHAMS we can now publicly talk about<br />
our issues. We have won the freedom to express our<br />
opinion and the freedom to create associations like<br />
SHAMS, who talk about delicate subjects. But we<br />
have a lot more to achieve.<br />
I recently called on the EU to stop all diplomatic<br />
and economic exchanges with Tunisia until Article<br />
230 and the anal test are repealed. We work with<br />
other international organisations who help us to<br />
build pressure. It is very important to work at this<br />
level as the government is quite sensitive to how it’s<br />
perceived. The EU delegation in Tunisia is one of our<br />
partners and LGBT rights are one of their priorities.<br />
This is very encouraging.”<br />
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CALEB OROZCO (Belize)<br />
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR<br />
United Belize Advocacy<br />
Movement (UNIBAM)<br />
“<br />
When they couldn’t progress<br />
their abortion agenda<br />
they came ater the LGBT<br />
community. They just needed a<br />
campaign to mobilise around.<br />
“I first became an LGBT activist as a result of my work<br />
around HIV issues, which then evolved into setting up the<br />
United Belize Advocacy Movement in 2006. We engage<br />
with diplomatic systems and international organisations to<br />
achieve our goals for LGBT rights in Belize.<br />
The local part of our work is legal research around issues<br />
which impact on LGBT people. We look at reforming<br />
discriminatory policies in the country. We also run a human<br />
rights observatory group and we document human rights<br />
abuses. There have been 356 human rights abuse cases<br />
in Belize since 1995, and of those over 50 were murders or<br />
attempted murders of members of our community.<br />
In 2010 we filed a lawsuit to challenge the constitutionality<br />
of the sodomy laws in Belize. When the hearing for the<br />
decriminalisation case came up in 2013, I had to get security.<br />
Previously my car had been damaged and my property<br />
was invaded while I was sleeping. We won the case in 2016,<br />
athough an appeal is pending.<br />
Originally the government decided that they would not<br />
be appealing the judgment, but then after protests they<br />
engineered a situation to allow the Catholic Church to have<br />
legal standing to appeal the decision.<br />
Our engagement with local right wing groups didn’t start<br />
with the decriminalisation process; it started with abortion<br />
back in 2009. They were working towards sending our<br />
abortion laws into the dark ages. We fought back and we<br />
won on the ground, so when they couldn’t progress their<br />
abortion agenda they came after the LGBT community.<br />
They just needed a campaign to mobilise around.<br />
At this point in Belize marriage equality is not a priority.<br />
We don’t even have basic things like job and education<br />
protection. For me it’s about building political voice that is<br />
visible and working from there.”<br />
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CHARLOT JEUDY (Haiti)<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
Kouraj<br />
FARZANA RIAZ (Pakistan)<br />
PRESIDENT<br />
TransAction Alliance<br />
“Between 2015 and 2017 there were 400 reports of abuse<br />
against trans people in Pakistan, much of which involves hair<br />
cutting. Sixty trans people have been killed in this period. A<br />
board member of my organisation was raped and her hair<br />
and eyebrows were cut. These types of abuses are common<br />
and are carried out by locals. When we go to report these<br />
incidents, the police often refuse to take the reports and<br />
rarely act on them when they do.<br />
When trans people are injured from these attacks they are<br />
taken to hospitals, which refuse to admit them either in the<br />
male ward or the female ward. The hospital denied our board<br />
member admission and she died because of this.<br />
We want to address all these issues but there are huge<br />
restrictions here and many challenges. When we worked<br />
with the local government, they faced threats from locals.<br />
Anybody who supports our work is being threatened by<br />
extremist and other political actors.<br />
I got the first third gender passport issued because I went<br />
to court. I’m driven by the large number of trans people with<br />
nobody coming out to fight for us. Within our organisation we<br />
have 11 staff, but in the network we have 45,000 members.<br />
Many of our members have been shunned by their families<br />
and they are not getting education or other types of support,<br />
so this is a big priority of ours.<br />
Our main focus for the future is to create employment so<br />
that trans people can lead normal lives. I plan to work on<br />
providing a building to house trans people who often face<br />
huge barriers to accessing housing.<br />
By fighting we could get equal rights and the respect we<br />
deserve. Local, national and international media coverage<br />
can help by bringing our story to the masses.”<br />
“The levels of discrimination we face in Haiti has a<br />
relationship to socioeconomic factors. LGBT people<br />
from less educated backgrounds are more likely to be<br />
discriminated against by their families. Families can be very<br />
religious and this can add an extra layer of misunderstanding<br />
and discrimination. It doesn’t mean that there is no<br />
discrimination among the more affluent parts of our society,<br />
but it’s less pronounced.<br />
The main strategy of our organisation is to use<br />
communication to raise awareness within the wider<br />
population. The main media we utilise is social networks;<br />
traditional media doesn’t give us a voice. We have very<br />
popular social pages through which we raise awareness<br />
on different issues. We also provide legal assistance to the<br />
victims of transphobic and homophobic violence and raise<br />
awareness amongst our own community in regards to our<br />
rights to health.<br />
It is extremely hard to get the general population in Haiti<br />
interested in our issues. When people cannot eat, don’t have<br />
proper shelter or can’t get their kids into school our rights are<br />
not a priority. The earthquake has also made our issues less<br />
important to the mainstream.<br />
Human rights are not a buffet. though. You can’t pick and<br />
choose the rights you want to defend. Rights to food, shelter<br />
and accommodation are important, but so are our rights.<br />
Rights to health and housing need a big budget, whereas the<br />
right to respect needs political will. This is not here.<br />
Promises made to improve our situation are seldom<br />
respected unless they serve the government’s political<br />
interests. I am proud that we are a well established<br />
organisation which couldn’t have existed ten years ago, and<br />
now more and more young people are interested in this<br />
movement. That makes me hopeful for the future.”<br />
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KAROLINA WIECKIEWICZ (Poland)<br />
HRD & SAFETY PROGRAMME<br />
COORDINATOR<br />
Lambda Warsaw Association<br />
The current Polish government openly expresses negative<br />
attitudes towards gay people. The previous government tried<br />
to bring in legislation supposedly against paedophilia, but it<br />
was connected to their prejudice against gay people and this<br />
was an attempt to conflate the two.<br />
The Catholic Church plays a huge role in perpetuating<br />
negative attitudes. They’re respected as a result of the role<br />
they played with Solidarity and the struggle, and successive<br />
governments are afraid of the church. The ruling party is now<br />
straightforward about the fact that they take their lead from<br />
the church on social issues. This is a huge problem.<br />
Security has become an issue for us at Lambda, which<br />
is the oldest LGBT organisation in Poland. Last year there<br />
were a number of attacks on our office. We are always under<br />
the threat of physical attack and there are very limited<br />
protections available to us.<br />
Poland has always had a problem with neo-Nazis and<br />
nationalism. When groups like these march through cities,<br />
they always demonstrate their hatred towards LGBT people.<br />
It’s really hard for the authorities to acknowledge that when<br />
our premises are attacked, these are not just property<br />
crimes; they are hate crimes.<br />
The media is also problematic for us. The language they<br />
use about gay people and the stereotypes they employ are<br />
all part of the problem. We don’t have many journalists who<br />
truly get our cause. Sometimes their heart is in the right<br />
place but they are full of reductive language and often cover<br />
our issues in a clichéd way, which has a negative effect.<br />
Gay men are more visible in Poland than lesbians and this<br />
is connected to gender issues. It’s easier for men to be out<br />
there and we have very few lesbian public figures. We are still<br />
not fully legally recognised in terms of marriage equality, we<br />
have a terrible trans legal framework, and we have a long way<br />
to go. But I am excited about the work we have to do.”<br />
IBTISSAME LACHGAR (Morocco)<br />
CO-FOUNDER<br />
Mouvement Alternatif pour les<br />
Libertés Individuelles – Maroc<br />
“As a heterosexual woman I am sometimes reproached by<br />
the LGBT community for my work in the LGBT sphere. I get<br />
some comments online saying I am useless to the cause. But<br />
by the same logic, does that mean that men shouldn’t fight<br />
for women’s rights or white people shouldn’t fight for minority<br />
rights?<br />
In defending sexual rights it shouldn’t matter what you<br />
identify as. I criticise the society at large and its attitudes<br />
towards the gay community, but I am also a feminist who<br />
stages actions against the patriarchy. I would never speak for<br />
gay people. The focus is always on them to tell their stories.<br />
We introduced the International Day Against Homophobia<br />
in Morocco in 2012. There was a visual campaign designed<br />
to generate maximum publicity. We all staged a mass kiss-in,<br />
which was widely covered.<br />
During a campaign In 2014 I publicised the fact that I was<br />
living out of wedlock and having sexual relations with men,<br />
and I had a fatwa issued against me. I was also part of the<br />
28th <strong>February</strong> movement, which came out of The Arab<br />
Spring to demand wider political reform within Morocco.<br />
There are other groups here who protest against anti-gay<br />
legislation but their methods are not the same as ours. We<br />
like shock tactics and hard-hitting imagery alongside civil<br />
disobedience. Some people might think that these strategies<br />
are counterproductive. The way we highlight issues is<br />
designed to garner maximum attention. All our events are<br />
widely covered, sometimes in a negative way. But it is still<br />
a victory as it starts a conversation and debate, which is<br />
important.<br />
The fact that I engage publicly in shock tactics with my<br />
face showing means that I am perhaps the least-liked<br />
activist in the country, both by the authorities and other<br />
more conservative activists. I have never been arrested<br />
specifically for my advocacy work. The authorities have<br />
always held me under spurious pretexts, making arbitrary<br />
arrests. When I was detained in 2016 I suffered police<br />
violence and sexual assault.”<br />
The activists in this feature attended the Frontline Defenders<br />
Dublin Platform in October, 2017. To find out more about the<br />
work of Frontline Defenders visit frontlinedefenders.org<br />
33 g
Travel<br />
Vietnam – Hong Kong<br />
Made<br />
in Southeast Asia<br />
A state-sponsored visit by Panti Bliss last year to speak<br />
in Southeast Asia about the marriage referendum has<br />
put the region on the map for queer Irish travellers.<br />
Andrew Byrne checks out two destinations with his<br />
gay hat on: Vietnam and Hong Kong.
VIETNAM:<br />
Luxurious relaxation, history and unspoilt beauty<br />
“You’re a real ladykiller now,” says the woman at the downtown<br />
Saigon nail spa, admiring her work on my paws, before tilting her<br />
head and peering at me sideways: “But maybe you’re a mankiller,<br />
I can’t tell…”<br />
Saigon locals are a shrewd lot. I assure her that no one’s life is at<br />
risk, especially from an overly pampered Irish tourist getting his<br />
first mani-pedi.<br />
Vietnam may be one of Southeast Asia’s less developed<br />
holiday destinations, but a holiday there offers a tantalising mix<br />
of luxurious relaxation, history and – for now – unspoilt beauty.<br />
As the gentle inquisition at the nail spa attests, it’s also a country<br />
where gay life is increasingly viewed with friendly curiosity.<br />
A quasi state visit by Queen of Ireland Panti Bliss in September<br />
has underlined the allure Vietnam offers LGBT+ travellers in<br />
search of a destination untouched by circuit parties or the other<br />
trappings of mass gay culture.<br />
Ho Chi Minh, or Saigon as it is still commonly known, is an ideal<br />
starting point for a visit to Vietnam – a country modernising so<br />
quickly that it seems to change before your eyes. Skyscrapers<br />
shoot up from the muddy banks of the river Saigon, dwarfing the<br />
small but elegant French colonial-era buildings of the city centre.<br />
Still the vestiges of an older Vietnam remain – follow the narrow<br />
river boats of the vegetable traders out of the city to the floating<br />
markets of the Mekong Delta. There you can glimpse a rural<br />
way of life that is already disappearing, as humble river huts are<br />
replaced by shiny McMansions.<br />
Back in Saigon, the city’s war memorial museum provides a<br />
stark account of the brutal war fought by US forces for years, and<br />
the horrific toll it left on Vietnam’s people. The nearby Cu Chi<br />
Tunnels reveal the grim determination of the Viet Cong to drive<br />
the Americans out, whatever the cost.<br />
Saigon may be transforming at breakneck speed, but Bangkok<br />
it is not. Vietnam remains a one-party Communist state with<br />
a more conservative streak than some of its neighbours.<br />
Lawmakers decriminalised gay marriage in 2015, although the<br />
state still doesn’t recognise any same-sex unions.<br />
Gay dating apps like Grindr have probably stunted the growth<br />
of a bigger scene in Saigon but there are still some spots where<br />
boozy homos and their friends gather. Qui bar is an upmarket<br />
cocktail lounge where the local fashion set – including a hefty<br />
quota of bright young gays – gather to see and be seen.<br />
Whisky and Wares is a cosier cocktail bar run by a friendly<br />
American and has become an unofficial meeting spot for expats<br />
and local gays. If the clouds lift before you leave, grab a cocktail<br />
in your freshly manicured hand and watch the sunset over this<br />
fabled city.<br />
HONG KONG:<br />
City of contrasts<br />
If Saigon is slowly inching its way onto the LGBT+ holiday<br />
destination map, then Hong Kong is the mature, well-heeled<br />
queen who’s been entertaining the likes of you since long before<br />
you were born.<br />
The city’s contrasts are legendary: both Chinese and<br />
international, modern and traditional. Sharp-suited bankers and<br />
lawyers spend their weekdays in skyscrapers above the clouds<br />
and their weekends on tree-lined beaches across the bay – minus<br />
the suits, of course.<br />
Hong Kongers prize their autonomy within China and the<br />
island’s cosmopolitan identity is underlined by a huge expatriate<br />
community and reminders of its British colonial past: trams, red<br />
letterboxes and an old funicular railway up to the Peak. You may<br />
even witness a few wedding proposals at this romantic spot, with<br />
majestic views.<br />
Otherwise this is a city with a space-age modern feel, but even<br />
so, Hong Kong’s laws have some ways to go. The government<br />
have still not enacted anti-LGBT+ discrimination laws. Nor are<br />
same-sex unions recognised. But the LGBT+ community is<br />
increasingly prominent.<br />
Luxury shoppers can find every known prestige label in the<br />
city’s malls, but a hike might leave your bank balance in better<br />
shape. Hong Kong’s territory includes several lush, pristine islands<br />
with long white beaches. Catch a ferry and you will find nature and<br />
fresh air just an hour away from the city’s bustle on Lantau Island.<br />
For an affordable and authentic Cantonese lunchtime<br />
experience, head straight to Maxim’s Palace on the second floor<br />
of city hall. There a legion of smiling middle-aged aunties push<br />
steaming trollies of dim sum from table to table in a large gilded<br />
hall by the riverbank. Point at the helpful pictures on the trolleys<br />
and toss a tasty shrimp dumpling into your drooling mouth.<br />
Hutong is a pricier eatery on the 28th floor of a tower in Kowloon<br />
– on the other side of the harbour. Daring guests will try the<br />
succulent Drowned Pigeon while taking in the views of the city’s<br />
glittering skyline.<br />
Once you’re ready to hit the tiles, check out Behind, a stylish but<br />
friendly monthly party, FLM – a well-established favourite, and<br />
Petticoat Lane – a stalwart gay bar.<br />
Where to Stay: The five-star W Hong Kong is the city’s<br />
liveliest, trendiest and most LGBT-friendly hotel. Mingle with the<br />
fashionable locals at parties by the stunning rooftop pool and<br />
admire the view from Kowloon across the harbour. Rooms from<br />
from €265 per night.<br />
How to Get There: Emirates Airlines will fly you in luxury from<br />
Dublin to Hong Kong via Dubai. Economy fares start at €563,<br />
while all-inclusive business class fares start at €2,679. Fares are<br />
subject to availability and travel dates.<br />
Where to Stay: Le Meridien Saigon offers enormous rooms in<br />
the heart of the city from €128 per night in low season and €165<br />
per night in high season.<br />
How to Get There: Emirates Airlines will fly you from Dublin<br />
to Ho Chi Minh City return via Dubai from €796 all-inclusive<br />
economy class or from €2,665 in business class. Fares are<br />
subject to availability and travel dates.<br />
35 g
Feature<br />
Mindfulness – Spirit – Presence<br />
THE<br />
INTIMACY<br />
CRISIS
While physical sexual health is prioritised and highlighted<br />
in the LGBT+ community, emotional sexual health is often<br />
left by the wayside. In a culture that’s increasingly defined<br />
by technological advances, our relationships, or lack thereof,<br />
are taking a queer turn, say therapists Sarah Gilligan<br />
and Fi Connors. Illustration by Oliver Weiss.<br />
We are all aware that the modernised world we inhabit is<br />
fast-paced, hectic and massively dominated by technology.<br />
Seismic changes in the way we communicate and interact<br />
with each other (think Grindr, Facebook etc.) are having an<br />
untold effect on how we deal with each other and how we have<br />
relationships.<br />
This is not breaking news, but something that’s gaining more<br />
and more traction as the months pass. These days it is difficult<br />
to speak about relationships and sex without recognising the<br />
all-pervasive nature of technology in our daily lives.<br />
For this article, I took the opportunity to Facetime with my<br />
friend, Fi Connors, a natural medicine clinician, educator<br />
and author of the emotional sexual health book, When Love<br />
is A Drug, who currently resides stateside. We have an<br />
appointment to discuss some of the recurring themes that<br />
have emerged in our individual practices, in the areas of<br />
emotional and sexual wellbeing – the real-time, real life effects<br />
that we are both witnessing with our clients on a weekly basis.<br />
And so, breaking news, the biggest commonality on both<br />
sides of the pond? You guessed it. The rise of the challenge<br />
of the relationship and of course the increasing challenge of<br />
being single. The questions we hear our clients asking are<br />
becoming ever more critical. Do I want to be single? Do I want<br />
to be out there playing the field? Have I chosen to be single?<br />
Or is too difficult to get into a relationship, and even when I<br />
manage to, is it impossible to sustain?<br />
Having difficulty in emotional relationships is never fun.<br />
When we are out there struggling on our own, it makes it<br />
almost impossible to make the vital changes needed to<br />
succeed. How do we succeed in relationship, if we don’t even<br />
know the parameters of emotional and sexual success?<br />
Working in clinical practice, Fi and I are starting to see that it<br />
is becoming extremely common that people are increasingly<br />
unhappy with their lives, and in particular their primary<br />
relationships.<br />
A huge amount of pain is wrought from looking around social<br />
media and thinking that everyone is extremely happy and<br />
‘perfect’. This social comparison is causing a self-harming and<br />
self-hurting behaviour that a lot of the time people can’t even<br />
identify.<br />
As opposed to feeling connected and free through the<br />
use of social media, people are often becoming more<br />
isolated, disillusioned and lost. There is a growing pernicious<br />
unhappiness that is happening between comparison with<br />
others and the curating of selves, our beloved ‘personalities’<br />
on social media sites. Of course, this comparison is poisonous<br />
for emotional balance, happiness and contentment.<br />
THE RISE OF CHOICE<br />
The next most difficult thing to contend with, in terms of the<br />
rise of technology and its effect on our relationships, is choice.<br />
We have choice at our fingertips 24/7, and we are paralysed<br />
by it. We think, ‘why do we have to deal with our partners, like<br />
their shitty humours, or the fact they are upset or the fact they<br />
won’t have sex tonight? There are a hundred thousand people<br />
that can give me what I need, so why would I bother doing the<br />
hard work with this person?’ With so much choice in the ether,<br />
people think that if they’re not happy, then the right action is to<br />
move on immediately.<br />
That’s what all the popular psychology gurus seem to be<br />
saying, the Instagram mantras of ‘be your best self,’ ‘live your<br />
best life’. The quick-snap solution is often to get rid of anything<br />
perceived to be standing in the way of deserved ‘happiness’.<br />
With the advent of apps like Tinder, Grindr and others,<br />
access to people and sex is instantaneous and we have<br />
commodified ourselves more dramatically than ever before.<br />
We flip through catalogues of faces and bodies, seeking<br />
attraction but not pausing to see how we actually feel.<br />
We all want everything, and we want it now. There is little<br />
concept of waiting or working through the deeper stuff; it’s all<br />
instantaneous, instant gratification. Of course, this is a very<br />
hollow, deep place to be digging ourselves into and the result<br />
is that people increasingly lack the attention and patience to<br />
stick around and nurture fledgling relationships.<br />
There are many who may read this and say, ‘Sure I’m<br />
grand. I’m delighted with life, ‘I’ve got the things I want, I’ve<br />
got a boyfriend or girlfriend, or I‘ve got many. I can have sex<br />
whenever I want; I have mates and we go out and have the lols.<br />
Don’t be annoyin’ me with this emotional stuff.’<br />
Then there are many that will read this and deep down will<br />
know they are struggling with these exact issues.<br />
If these themes sound familiar it is because they are. These<br />
exact currents are endemic within the queer community, and<br />
because “everyone else is doing it” means it is more likely to<br />
be more and more difficult to get out of particular patterns of<br />
behaviour.<br />
g 37
“<br />
Gay men are increasingly<br />
sexualising the feeling of wanting an<br />
intimate, connected relationship.<br />
THE CULTURE OF LOOKING GOOD<br />
There are very obvious but rarely spoken about polarisations of<br />
sexual behaviour in the lives of gay men and women that Fi and<br />
I are seeing over and over in our practices. Gay and queer men<br />
have polarised towards sex – sex with multiple partners, open<br />
relationships, ‘fun’ superficiality, sex for sport.<br />
On the outside, gay male culture is very good at making itself<br />
look good. Gay men are fun, fast-paced and cultured; they’re on<br />
hook-up apps, attending sex parties or in open relationships, while<br />
also holding down great jobs, looking fantastic and having great<br />
friendship circles. It really looks like gay men are getting away with<br />
it so brilliantly.<br />
What appears however are that gay men are increasingly<br />
propping themselves up with darker behaviours and sexualising<br />
the feeling of wanting an intimate, connected relationship. The<br />
‘big-upping’ of being a hot, in-demand gay man can of course help<br />
to counterbalance the shame of not reaching our relationship<br />
wishes for yourself, but only in the very short-term.<br />
Shame is an emotion that nobody chooses, or wants to feel.<br />
The shame of not reaching our relationship wishes for ourselves is<br />
usually what drives us into seeking help.<br />
With gay and bisexual women, we see the opposite behaviour.<br />
Women tend to seek deep underpinning emotions through<br />
relationship intensity, dropping into deep emotional states with<br />
partners very quickly. Often the sexual connection is secondary.<br />
For gay women, emotional and sexual intimacy are two sides of<br />
the same coin. If the sexual balance is overtaken by the emotional,<br />
sex often leaves the relationship.<br />
In either instance, too much or too little does not make for a<br />
balance. Eating constantly off the table of what we want, versus<br />
the table of what we need, eventually makes us unwell.<br />
It’s really important clarify that sexual behaviour is absolutely<br />
fantastic. But if we want truly meaningful connections, sex has<br />
to have the underpinning of the emotions associated with what<br />
is, in reality, going on. We all may want to have mind-blowing sex,<br />
but sometimes we need to begin with something as simple and<br />
intimate as the gentle touch of another’s hand.<br />
WHAT DOES A HAPPY RELATIONSHIP LOOK LIKE?<br />
Whatever way you look at relationships, they are hard work, but<br />
the rewards of doing the work are extraordinary. When you stick<br />
with something, work through it, and work it out, it connects to<br />
directly to your self-esteem. On the other hand, if we just bail<br />
every time it gets hard and jump onto our iPhones, onto porn sites,<br />
or into new relationships, we will never get to experience true<br />
intimacy with ourselves, let alone with another.<br />
A happy relationship is what everyone is looking for, right? But<br />
what does being happy in a relationship actually look like? Being<br />
happy with something means you get to experience the whole kit<br />
and caboodle, not just the parts that suit.<br />
Deeper emotion is harder to access, and can be frightening to<br />
engage with initially, but the rewards are so much greater. Take<br />
seeking the feeling of joy, for example. Joy is an expression of<br />
contentment, but the underpinning of that one elusive emotion is<br />
a feeling of safety and security in the world where there is<br />
constancy. Without feeling safe and secure, it is hard to get to an<br />
experience of real joy. The deeper layers have to be in place; the<br />
others don’t appear out of nowhere.<br />
Laughing, Connors says that being your best self doesn’t always<br />
mean you will be tripping down the road in Prada, going to the<br />
best party in town with the hottest yoke on your arm, though it can<br />
be that. Being your best self can also mean being curled up in the<br />
fetal position, bawling your eyes out, snot running down your face.<br />
It’s incredible how much the average person spends, both in<br />
time and money, on a monthly basis, to look fantastic from the<br />
skin out. It would do us all much better in the long run, to invest<br />
some of that time and money on emotional and sexual health,<br />
which will keep us fit long after our physical body starts to wear. A<br />
gym that will build our self-connection and self-esteem.<br />
There are lots of support and constructs around sexual health,<br />
but up to now, not for sexual emotional health. In this rapidly<br />
changing social environment, it’s time to open up a framework<br />
where people can start to talk about, understand and develop<br />
their sexual emotional connection. After all we’ve been through,<br />
we know what the LGBT+ community deserves more than<br />
anything is big love and healing. A big love that begins from the<br />
inside out.<br />
Sarah Gilligan MSc. MIAHIP, and Fi Connors MA, ISHOM will<br />
be holding a day conference on sexual and emotional health in<br />
Dublin, early <strong>2018</strong>. Email: info@capablemindsppc.ie for details<br />
Having Sex?<br />
08 g<br />
GONORRHOEA<br />
HAVE YOU TESTED?<br />
Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection(STI).<br />
Always use condoms for anal and oral sex.<br />
Don't share sex toys and always change condoms and gloves.<br />
Get regular STI check-ups: blood test, urine sample,<br />
throat & anal swab.<br />
Pick up a leaflet or for information and<br />
where to get free tests www.man2man.ie
Community Centres<br />
Outhouse<br />
105 Capel Street<br />
Dublin 1 T: (01) 873 4999.<br />
W: outhouse.ie.<br />
Mon-Fri: 1pm-9.30pm.<br />
Sat: 1pm-5.30pm. Closed to general<br />
public Sundays<br />
Dundalk Outcomers<br />
8 Roden Place Dundalk<br />
T: 042 932 9816. W: outcomers.org<br />
MONDAYS<br />
Dundalk Outcomers<br />
Women’s Night<br />
Begins October.<br />
For more info T: 042 932 9816 or<br />
W: outcomers.org.<br />
The Emerald Warriors Training<br />
Beginners welcome, no experience<br />
necessary. St Mary’s RFC,<br />
Templeogue Further information at<br />
W: ewrfc.ie<br />
TUESDAYS<br />
Gorey Youth Group<br />
5:30-7:30pm, Gorey Youth Needs,<br />
Mary Ward Lane, Gorey.<br />
For more info E: david.clark@fdys.ie<br />
BeLonG To<br />
Over-18s group (18-23)<br />
Bi-weekly. 6-8pm, Belong To,<br />
11 Parliament St, Temple Bar, D 2.<br />
Dublin Devils FC<br />
Soccer club for gay men,<br />
all levels welcome<br />
7pm, Acres Road, Phoenix Park.<br />
For more info W: dublindevilsfc.com<br />
NA meeting<br />
7.30-9pm, Outhouse.<br />
Saga Youth Club<br />
LGBTQ+ Youth Club for kids<br />
aged 12-18.<br />
7- 8:30pm, Blanchardstown Youth<br />
Service, Blanchardstown Village.<br />
Gloria LGB Choir Rehearsals<br />
7.30-9.30pm.<br />
For more info E: info@gloria.ie or<br />
W: gloria.ie<br />
Personal Development<br />
Course for Men<br />
Six-week courses at Outhouse.<br />
For more info T: (01) 873 4952 or<br />
E: gmhpoutreach@eircom.net.<br />
Dundalk Outcomers Men’s Night<br />
For more info T: 042 932 9816 or<br />
W: outcomers.org.<br />
WEDNESDAYS<br />
IndividualiTy<br />
Peer support for trans people<br />
aged 14-23.<br />
Bi-weekly. 5.30-7.30pm,<br />
Ombudsman for Children’s Office,<br />
Great Strand Street.<br />
For more info T: (01) 670 6223.<br />
Rainbow Recovery<br />
LGBT AA group<br />
6.30pm, Friends Meeting House,<br />
Eustace Street, Temple Bar.<br />
Dublin Front Runners<br />
Running club for gay men and<br />
women, all levels in Phoenix Park.<br />
Summer at the Cricket grounds and<br />
Winter at Garda Head Quarters,<br />
7.30pm. For more info:<br />
W: dublinfrontrunners.ie or<br />
E: dublinfrontrunners@gmail.com<br />
Transgendered<br />
Peer Support group<br />
Bi-monthly. 7.30-9.30, Outhouse.<br />
For more info: E: info@outhouse or<br />
T: (01) 873 4999<br />
Garda Advice<br />
Weekly free and confidential service<br />
7-9pm, Outhouse.<br />
For more info: E: info@outhouse,<br />
T: (01) 873 4999<br />
Girls’ night In<br />
Social group for LGBTQ women<br />
7-9.30pm, Outhouse.<br />
For more info<br />
E: girlsnightinouthouse@gmail.com<br />
GOLD group for over 50s,<br />
Outhouse 5-7pm. For more info:<br />
E: info@outhouse,<br />
T: (01) 873 4999<br />
Friendly Gay Book Club<br />
First Wednesday of every month.<br />
8pm, Outhouse.<br />
Co-dependents Anonymous<br />
8:15-9:30pm, Carmelite Community<br />
Centre, Aungier Street, Dublin.<br />
Amach Wicklow<br />
Gay and lesbian group.<br />
Second Wednesday of every month.<br />
9pm, Ashford. For more info<br />
E: amachwicklow@gmail.com<br />
Emerald Warriors Training<br />
Gay and bisexual men’s<br />
rugby club. All welcome, no<br />
experience necessary. St Mary’s<br />
RFC, Templeogue. Further<br />
information at W: ewrfc.ie<br />
THURSDAYS<br />
Gay Youth Wexford<br />
Ages 14-23., 5-7pm, FDYS, Francis<br />
Street. For more info:<br />
Facebook.com/gayyouthwexford1.<br />
The Lady Birds<br />
LGBT young women, ages 14-23., biweekly<br />
meeting, 6-8pm, BeLonG To.<br />
For more info T: (01) 670 6223 or<br />
W: www.belongto.org.<br />
Drogheda LGBT group<br />
7-9:30pm, Barbican Community<br />
Centre, Drogheda.<br />
T: 083 484 2064<br />
First Out<br />
Confidential discussion group for<br />
women exploring their sexuality.<br />
First Thursday of every month.<br />
7:30pm, Outhouse. T: 01 873 4999.<br />
Acting Out<br />
LGBT drama group, 7.30-9.30pm,<br />
Outhouse.<br />
E: info@outhouse.com or<br />
T: 01 873 4999.<br />
LOOK<br />
Loving Our Out Parents, support<br />
group for parents and family<br />
members. First Thursday of the<br />
month. 8pm, BeLonG To.<br />
For more info T: (01) 670 6223 or<br />
W: www.belongto.org.<br />
NA Meeting<br />
8pm, Outhouse. More information<br />
from (01) 873 4999.<br />
The Phoenix Tigers<br />
Dublin’s lesbian soccer team training.<br />
New players welcome.<br />
8-9pm, YMCA , Sports Centre,<br />
Aungier Street. For more info<br />
E: phoenixtigersirl@gmail.com.<br />
AIM Young Adult Night (Dundalk)<br />
For 18-25 year olds.<br />
8-10pm, Dundalk Outcomers.<br />
For more info T: 042 932 9816 or<br />
W: outcomers.org.<br />
FRIDAYS<br />
Coffee morning<br />
for LGBTQIA parents<br />
First Friday of the month.<br />
11-1pm, Café at Outhouse.<br />
For more info<br />
E: familymatterslgbt@gmail.com.<br />
AIM Youth Group<br />
For 14-17 year olds.<br />
4-7pm, Dundalk Outcomers.<br />
For more info: T: 042 932 9816 or<br />
W: www.outcomers.org.<br />
Senior Men’s Group(OSMG)<br />
7-9.30pm, Outhouse.<br />
Alcoholics Anonymous<br />
LGBT AA meeting. 8pm, Outhouse.<br />
Co-dependents Anonymous<br />
8:15-9:30pm, Carmelite Community<br />
Centre, Aungier Street.<br />
Dining Out (Dublin)<br />
Social club for gay men.<br />
Second Friday of the month.<br />
For more info T: 087 286 3349 or<br />
W: diningoutireland.org<br />
SATURDAYS<br />
Dublin Front Runners<br />
Running club for gay men and<br />
women, all levels. 10am,<br />
Meets at Papal Cross car park.<br />
W: dublinfrontrunners.ie<br />
LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous<br />
7:30pm, Friends Meeting House,<br />
Temple Bar.<br />
Dublin Devils FC<br />
Soccer club for men,<br />
all levels welcome.<br />
1-2pm, YMCA, Aungier Sreet.<br />
For more info W: dublindevilsfc.com<br />
or T: 089 474 0448.<br />
Film Qlub<br />
Third Saturday of the month.<br />
2pm, New Theatre, Temple Bar.<br />
For more info E: filmqlub@gmail.com<br />
or W: www.filmqlub.com<br />
AIM Youth Group (Dundalk)<br />
14-17 year olds.<br />
3-5pm, Dundalk Outcomers.<br />
The Dublin Gay Music Group<br />
A gathering of gay men who meet<br />
each Saturday afternoon to listen to<br />
recordings of classical music. New<br />
members welcome.<br />
W: dgmg.businesscatalyst.com<br />
Dining Out<br />
Social club for gay men.<br />
Last Saturday of the month.<br />
For more info W: meetup.com/<br />
gay-Dining-Out-Ireland or E:info@<br />
diningout.org or T: 087 286 3349.<br />
SUNDAYS<br />
Out & About Hillwalking Group<br />
Wicklow Mountain hike.<br />
10am, National Concert Hall,<br />
Earlsfort Terrace. For more info<br />
W: gay-hiking.org<br />
Co-dependents Anonymous<br />
2:00-3:30pm, Carmelite Community<br />
Centre, Aungier Street.<br />
BeLonG To Sundays<br />
Group for LGBT young people in a<br />
safe and fun environment. Ages 13-<br />
17. Bi-weekly. 3-6pm, Outhouse.<br />
For more info T: (01) 670 6233 or<br />
W: belongto.org<br />
LGBT AA group<br />
6:30pm, Outhouse.<br />
OTHER GROUPS<br />
Irish Queer Archive<br />
National Library of Ireland<br />
T: 085 170 5887<br />
E: irishqueerarchive@gmail.com<br />
W: irishqueerarchive.com<br />
OUT2TENNIS<br />
Ireland’s LGBT tennis network.<br />
W: out2tennis.com<br />
Changing Attitude Ireland<br />
LGBT Christian group.<br />
W: changingattitudeireland.org<br />
LGBT group for primary teachers<br />
in Ireland, North and South.<br />
The group has the official sanction<br />
of the Irish National Teachers<br />
Organisation (INTO).<br />
E: lgbt@INTO.ie or<br />
T: 087 695 2839.<br />
Married Men’s Support Group<br />
Meets once a month. For more info<br />
contact Gay Switchboard Dublin on<br />
T: (01) 872 1055.<br />
Labour LGBT<br />
E: lgbt@labour.ie<br />
W: labour.ie<br />
Sunrise LGBT Kildare<br />
E: sunrise.lgbt@gmail.com<br />
T: 085 829 8237 or<br />
Facebook.com/sunrise.lgbt.kildare<br />
Gay Bray Social Group<br />
E: gaybray@gmail.com.<br />
Wet & Wild LGBT<br />
Outdoor pursuits club, monthly<br />
activities.<br />
E: wetandwild@gmail.com<br />
G Force<br />
Garda LGBT Employee Support<br />
Network.<br />
E: contact@g-force.ie<br />
Older Wiser Lesbian social group<br />
Meets for dining out etc.<br />
W: meetup.com/older-wiser-lesbians<br />
Running Amach<br />
Social networking site for LGBT+<br />
women in Ireland.<br />
W: meetup.com/dublin-lgbtqwomens-social-networking-club.<br />
VOGUE @ Gallery<br />
Fusion Nightclub Drogheda.<br />
LGBT+ event, first Friday of every<br />
month. Admission €8.<br />
HEALTH & HELP<br />
Gay Men’s Health Service<br />
(GMHS) HSE Free sexual health<br />
clinics for MSM and trans people,<br />
Monday to Thursday, Baggot St<br />
Hospital, 18 Upper Baggot St, Dublin.<br />
T: (01 )669 9553<br />
W: gmhs.ie<br />
GMHS Free counselling<br />
service at Outhouse<br />
For more info T: (01) 8734932.<br />
Man2Man.ie<br />
Sexual health information in nine<br />
languages.<br />
St. James’ GUIDE Clinic<br />
Sexual Health Clinic at St James’s<br />
Hospital, Dublin 8<br />
T: (01) 416 2315 or (01) 416 2316<br />
HIV Ireland<br />
70 Eccles St, Dublin 7<br />
T: (01) 873 3799<br />
W: hivireland.ie<br />
Transgender Equality<br />
Network (TENI)<br />
Advice, help and support<br />
T: 01 873 3575 or E: info@teni.ie or<br />
W: teni.ie<br />
Drugs/HIV Helpline<br />
10am-5pm everyday.<br />
T: 1800 459 459.<br />
BeLonG To Drugs Outreach<br />
Support for young people around<br />
drugs and alcohol.<br />
T: Gillian (01) 670 6223/087 328<br />
3668 or W: belongto.org or E: info@<br />
belongto.org.<br />
HELPLINES & PEER SUPPORT<br />
National LGBT Helpline<br />
Wherever you are, help is just a<br />
phone call away at 1890 929 539.<br />
Mon-Thurs. 6:30-9pm, Fri: 4-9pm,<br />
Sat & Sun: 4-6pm. W: lgbt.ie.<br />
Gay Switchboard Dublin<br />
Call (01) 872 1055, Mon-Fri 6.30-<br />
9pm, Sat-Sun 4-6pm<br />
W: gayswitchboard.ie<br />
Dublin Lesbian Line<br />
Call (01) 872 9911<br />
Mon and Thurs 6.30-9pm<br />
40 g
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Last Chance To Have Your<br />
Say In Sex Survey<br />
An urgent call has been made for men who have sex with men (MSM) to participate in a<br />
ground-breaking research project that will be the foundation of critical sexual health policy<br />
and services in Ireland.<br />
The Gay Health Network (GHN) and HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC)<br />
are calling for more MSM living in Ireland to complete the European internet sex survey<br />
(EMIS) at www.emis2017.eu.<br />
This research comes at a critical time in men’s sexual health and reflects the community<br />
interest in promoting awareness especially in regional and non-urban settings. The EMIS<br />
2010 Ireland findings were a key input in the joint HSE and Gay Health Network (GHN) first<br />
National Sexual Health and HIV awareness programme for MSM (www.man2man.ie), which<br />
is now one of the most important sexual health tools for MSM in Ireland.<br />
The findings have also contributed to the planning, promotion and increased access to<br />
HIV and STI testing, free condoms and to the greater understanding of the psychological<br />
needs of men living with HIV in Ireland. It also highlighted HIV-related stigma and<br />
homophobic attacks on MSM.<br />
According to Dr Derval Igoe of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, HSE: “As<br />
cases of HIV and other STIs continue among men who have sex with men, the information<br />
from EMIS 2017, as with previous surveys, will provide vital information for the GHN, HSE<br />
and other organisations to help plan services and campaigns in Ireland. It will also greatly<br />
contribute to the knowledge of MSM sexual health needs across Europe.”<br />
The EMIS 2017 survey is due to end on January 31, <strong>2018</strong> and we at <strong>GCN</strong> are urging our<br />
male readers across to join tens-of-thousands across Europe who have completed it so far.<br />
Club<br />
• •<br />
@ Roisin Dubh<br />
BeLonG To Youth Project<br />
Supporting and resourcing lesbian,<br />
gay, bisexual and transgender young<br />
people aged 14-23<br />
T: 01 670 6223.<br />
E: info@belongto.org;<br />
W: belongto.org<br />
Greenbow LGB Deaf Group<br />
E: deafgreenbowlgbt@yahoo.ie.<br />
W: facebook.com/GBWDeafLGBT<br />
LOOK (Loving Our Out Kids)<br />
Parents Support Group.<br />
T: 087 253 7699<br />
W: lovingouroutkids.org or<br />
E: info@lovingouroutkids.org.<br />
TransparenCI<br />
Peer support group for parents and<br />
family members of trans people.<br />
T: (01) 8733575<br />
E: Office@teni.ie<br />
STUDENT LGBT+ SOCIETIES<br />
National Union of Students in<br />
Ireland, LGB Rights Campaign<br />
E: lgbt@usi.ie,<br />
T: (01) 709 9300<br />
National College of<br />
Ireland<br />
E: nci.lgbt@gmail.com,<br />
W: ncilgbt@wordpress.com<br />
National College of Art & Design<br />
E: ncadlgbt@gmail.com<br />
Trinity College Dublin<br />
E: lgbisoc@csc.tcd.ie<br />
University College Dublin<br />
E: lgbt.society@ucd.ie<br />
Dublin City University<br />
E: dculgbt@gmail.com<br />
Dún Laoghaire IADT<br />
W: Facebook/IADT LGBTQ<br />
Dublin Institute of Technology<br />
W: Facebook/ditlgbt<br />
E: lgbt@socs.dit.ie<br />
NUI Maynooth<br />
E: lgbt@nuimsu.com<br />
Tallaght IT<br />
E: supres@it-tallaght.ie<br />
Institute of Technology<br />
Blanchardstown<br />
E: colourssoc@gmail.com<br />
GARDA ELO/LGBT OFFICERS<br />
Pearse Street<br />
Sgt. Gerard Walsh: 01 666 9000<br />
Store Street<br />
Sgt. Karl Mackle: 01 666 8000<br />
Kevin Street<br />
Sgt. Will Dempsey: 01 666 9400<br />
Kilmainham<br />
Garda Mark Melbourne: 01 666 9700<br />
Bridewell<br />
Garda Jamie Cruise: 01 666 8200<br />
Mountjoy<br />
Garda Catriona Brody: 01 666 8601<br />
Crumlin<br />
Garda Ray Moloney: 01 666 6633<br />
Tallaght<br />
Garda Sinead Hennigan: 666 6020<br />
Galway Monthly LGBT Night<br />
Friday 16th Feb<br />
/clubgass<br />
Doors 11pm<br />
SARAH GILLIGAN<br />
MSc. Psychotherapy and Counselling IACP<br />
Specialising in relationship therapy, issues with<br />
sex, sexuality & gender and addictions.<br />
Are you currently struggling to find or stay<br />
in a relationship?<br />
Do you need help around issues of intimacy,<br />
sexuality, confidence and self esteem in<br />
yourself and within your relationships?<br />
A high priority for many among the LGBT community<br />
is to find a therapist who knows and understands your<br />
experiences, as therapy works best when you feel free<br />
to talk about everything that is concerning you.<br />
To make an appointment with Sarah<br />
Ph: 086 3083934 Email: sarah.gilligan@gmail.com<br />
www.sarahgilligan.ie Capable Minds, 18 Capel Street, D1<br />
g 41
Donnybrook<br />
Garda Niall Burke: 01 666 9200<br />
Swords<br />
Garda Margaret Coyle: 01 666 4700<br />
Blackrock<br />
Garda Niamh Colfer: 01 666 5200<br />
Blanchardstown<br />
Sergeant Vincent Connolly:<br />
01 666 7000<br />
Ballyfermot<br />
Garda Ronan Allen: 01 666 7200<br />
Clondalkin<br />
Garda Maeve McBride: 01 666 7600<br />
Dundrum<br />
Garda Robert McNulty: 01 666 5600<br />
Cabinteely<br />
Garda Angelene Conefry:<br />
01 666 5400<br />
Dun Laoghaire<br />
Garda Sean Greene: 01 666 5000<br />
Santry<br />
Garda Laura Jane Sheridan:<br />
01 666 4000<br />
Coolock<br />
Sergeant Daniel Creedon:<br />
01 666 4220<br />
Lusk<br />
Garda Conor Morris: 01 843 7222<br />
Kildare<br />
Sergeant Conor McMahon (Naas):<br />
01 675 7390<br />
Kilkenny<br />
Garda Caroline O’Malley:<br />
056 777 5000<br />
Carlow<br />
Sergeant Declan Callan:<br />
059 913 6620<br />
Wicklow<br />
Sergeant John Fitzpatrick (Bray):<br />
01 666 5300<br />
Drogheda<br />
Garda Keith Dempsey: 041 987 4240<br />
Community Policing Unit<br />
Pearse Street Garda Station,<br />
Pearse Street, Dublin 2,<br />
T: 016669030 or<br />
E: Pearse_street_community@garda.ie<br />
COMMUNITY CENTRES<br />
LINC Resource Centre<br />
for LBT women<br />
11A White St., Cork.<br />
Open: Tues-Weds 11-3pm, Thurs<br />
11-8pm, closed Fridays.<br />
Cork Gay Project for GB Men<br />
Dunlaoi, 8 North Mall, Cork,<br />
T: (021) 430 0430<br />
W: gayprojectcork.com.<br />
North Kerry/West Limerick LGBT<br />
Listowel Family Resource Centre<br />
T: Call Bridie, 086 855 6431.<br />
MONDAYS<br />
Basketball training<br />
7-8pm, LINC, 11A White St, Cork.<br />
TUESDAYS<br />
Drama Group<br />
7-9pm, LINC, 11A White St, Cork.<br />
LINC Library<br />
11-3pm, 11A White St, Cork.<br />
Kerry Youth Pride LGBT Support<br />
Ages 14-21. 7-9.30pm, KDYS, Denny<br />
St, Tralee, Co Kerry.<br />
Ladies Badminton (Cork)<br />
LINC, 11A White St, Cork<br />
WEDNESDAYS<br />
LINC library<br />
11-3pm, 11A White St, Cork. For more<br />
info E: info@linc.ie.<br />
In4Lunch<br />
12.30-1.30pm, LINC, White St., Cork.<br />
UP Cork Youth Group<br />
Ages 16-23. 6pm. For venue info<br />
E: youthworker@gayprojectcork.com<br />
THURSDAYS<br />
LINC library<br />
11-8pm, 11A White St, Cork.<br />
UP Cork Youth Group<br />
Ages 16-23. 6pm. For venue info<br />
T: 021 480 8600 or<br />
E: youthworker@gayprojectcork.com<br />
Rainbow gang<br />
5-7pm, Lava Javas, Limerick.<br />
E: LGBT@goshh.ie.<br />
Women’s Peer Support Group<br />
Facilitated group for women new<br />
to the community.<br />
Every second Thursday. 6-7pm,<br />
LINC, 11A White St., Cork<br />
E: info@linc.ie.<br />
LATE LINC<br />
LINC drop-in opens late until 8pm.<br />
T: 021 480 8600<br />
SATURDAYS<br />
POS+ (Cork)<br />
Confidential group for men<br />
affected by HIV. Second Saturday<br />
of the month. Call in confidence:<br />
085 744 3484<br />
SUNDAYS<br />
Rainbow Ramblers (Cork)<br />
First Sunday of the month.<br />
E: rainbow.ramblers.cork@gmail.com<br />
T: 087 678 3726.<br />
Gender Blender (Waterford)<br />
Group for trans and questioning<br />
youths ages 14-21.<br />
1pm, Urban Youth Cafe, Manor St.<br />
W: Facebook:<br />
GenderBlenderWaterford<br />
T: 086 021 8491 or<br />
E: chillout@wstcys.ie.<br />
OTHER GROUPS<br />
Choral Con Fusion<br />
Cork’s LGBTS choir.<br />
W: choralconfusion.com<br />
Waterford Gay Parents Group<br />
E: waterfordgayparents@gmail.com.<br />
sOUTh LGBT Waterford<br />
Support, social events and personal<br />
development for LGBTs.<br />
T: 086 214 7633<br />
LGBT Social & Sporting Group<br />
Social group for women in Limerick.<br />
For more info text 087 167 8218.<br />
WinK: Meet-up group for LGBT<br />
women in Kerry<br />
Dedicated to creating a fun, safe<br />
community space.<br />
W. Meetup.com/WinK-Women-inKerry<br />
HEALTH HELP<br />
STD Clinic at Victoria<br />
Hospital, Cork<br />
Apt Necessary. Mon, Tues, Thurs:<br />
9.30-11.45am & Wed: 2.30-4.30pm.<br />
T: (021) 496 6844.<br />
STD Clinic at Waterford<br />
Regional Hospital<br />
Mon-Fri: 9am-12.45pm, 2pm-4pm<br />
Appointment only. T: 051 842646<br />
HELPLINES<br />
National LGBT Helpline<br />
Wherever you are, help is just a<br />
phone call away at 1890 929 539.<br />
Mon- Thurs. 6:30-9pm, Fri: 4-9pm,<br />
Sat & Sun: 4-6pm. W: lgbt.ie<br />
AIDS Helpline<br />
(021) 427 6676. Mon –Fri: 10am-5pm<br />
Tues: 7-9pm<br />
NA Helpline<br />
(021) 427 8411. Mon – Fri: 8pm-10pm<br />
AA Helpline<br />
(021) 450 0481.<br />
Mon-Sun: 8pm-10pm<br />
Lesbian Line<br />
0214318318. Weds: 7-9pm<br />
E: info@linc.ie or W: linc.ie<br />
STUDENT LGBT SOCIETIES<br />
University College Cork<br />
Meets weekly<br />
W: www.ucclgbt.com or E: lgbt@<br />
uccsocieties.ie<br />
CIT LGBT Soc<br />
Meets every Wednesday at 8pm.<br />
E: lgbtcit@gmail.com<br />
Waterford IT LGBT Society<br />
E: witlgbt1@gmail.com<br />
Tralee Institute of Technology<br />
W: Facebook: IT Tralee LGBT<br />
Limerick Institute of Technology<br />
E: litisout@gmail.com<br />
University of Limerick<br />
E: outinul@gmail.com<br />
GARDA ELO/LGBT OFFICERS<br />
Cork City<br />
Sergeant John O’Connor<br />
(Anglesea St) 021 452 2069<br />
Cork North<br />
Garda Clodagh Fitzgerald<br />
(Glanmire) 021 490 8530<br />
Cork West<br />
Garda Aidan Moynihan (Clonakilty)<br />
021 023 882 1570<br />
Limerick<br />
Garda Diane McAuley<br />
(Henry Street) 061 212400<br />
Kerry<br />
Sergeant David O’Connor<br />
064 663 1222<br />
Waterford<br />
Garda Sinead Donoghue<br />
051 305 300<br />
Wexford<br />
Garda Sean Lee 053 916 5200<br />
COMMUNITY CENTRES<br />
Teach Solas<br />
1 Victoria Place, just off Eyre Sq<br />
Galway’s LGBT+ Resource Centre<br />
E: resourcecentre@amachlgbt.com<br />
T: 089 252 3307<br />
W: amachlgbt.com<br />
New Parish Office<br />
Station Road, Ennis<br />
T: 085 2850 107, E: lgbt@gossh.ie.<br />
GOSHH<br />
Redwood House, 9 Cecil St,<br />
Limerick. Drop-in Mon-Fri: 9.30-5.30<br />
(closed 1-2.15pm). T: 061 314354 or E:<br />
rainbow@redribbonproject.com.<br />
MONDAYS<br />
Transpire - Queer, trans,<br />
inter and allies group<br />
Third Monday of the month.<br />
4pm, GOSHH, Redwood Place, 18<br />
Davis St, Limerick.<br />
E: LGBT@goshh.ie.<br />
LGBT Choir West/Northwest<br />
7-9pm. For more details<br />
T: 085 176 2641<br />
TUESDAYS<br />
‘I’m Out Here’<br />
Informal meet up. 10pm, Sligo.<br />
For more info text: 087 986 2400<br />
Dr.Ray O Neill<br />
M.A M.Sc. M.Phil. Grad Dip PsychAn<br />
Belvedere Avenue, Dublin 1<br />
AND<br />
Eyeries Beara,Co. Cork<br />
(086) 828 0033 / (01) 819 8989 / ray@machna.ie<br />
Registered Practitioner APPI<br />
www.machna.ie
The Outlet<br />
LGBT social group<br />
6.30 to 8.00pm, GOSHH, Redwood<br />
Place, 18 Davis St, Limerick.<br />
E: LGBT@goshh.ie<br />
GoBLeT LGBT social group<br />
Ballina, Co Mayo. For more info<br />
call or text: 089 445 4708<br />
FRIDAYS<br />
shOUT! LGBT Youth Group<br />
Ages 18-21 6.30-8.30pm<br />
Youth Work Ireland Offices, 41-43<br />
Prospect Hill<br />
W: lgbtyouthgalway.com<br />
E: shout@youthworkgalway.ie<br />
T: 087 773 8529<br />
OUTWEST<br />
Bi-monthly social group.<br />
T: 087 972 5586<br />
W: outwest.ie<br />
E: info@outwest.ie<br />
SATURDAYS<br />
shOUT! LGBT Youth Group<br />
Ages 14-17. 12-1.30pm, Youth Work<br />
Ireland Offices, Galway<br />
W: lgbtyouthgalway.com<br />
E: shout@youthworkgalway.ie<br />
T: 0877738529.<br />
Gossip Trans Group<br />
Second Saturday of every month.<br />
10:30-12 30pm, Teach Solais in<br />
Galway.<br />
OTHER GROUPS<br />
shOUT! Parent group<br />
Second Sunday of every month.<br />
2.30-4.00pm, Youth Work Ireland<br />
O ffi c e<br />
T: 087 773 8529<br />
Over The Rainbow Drama Group<br />
Sligo. W: Facebook.com/<br />
overtherainbowdramagroup<br />
SHEnanigans<br />
Lesbian, bi, trans women’s social<br />
group in the West.<br />
E: shenaniganswest@gmail.com or<br />
W: meetup.com/shenanigans<br />
AMACH! LGBT Galway<br />
W: amachlgbt.com<br />
E: info@amachlgbtcom<br />
T: 086 069 4747<br />
GOSSIP Trans Group<br />
E: gossipgalway@gmail.com<br />
LGBT Pavee<br />
Gay Traveller Group<br />
W: www.lgbtpavee.com<br />
OUTWEST<br />
Social group for LGBTs in the West<br />
W: outwest.ie<br />
E: info@outwest.ie<br />
T: 087 9725586.<br />
LGBT Navan group<br />
Various meets for differing age<br />
ranges.<br />
E: youth@outcomers.org<br />
Smily LGBT Youth Group, Sligo<br />
Safe space where LGBTs can<br />
be themselves<br />
Weekly drop-in for ages 14-23.<br />
T: 089 4820330 or T: 071 9144150<br />
E: smilyyouthlgbt@gmail.com<br />
W: Facebook: smily.<br />
LGBT>northwest.<br />
HEALTH HELP<br />
AIDS West<br />
T: (091) 562 213 or<br />
E: info@aidswest.ie<br />
W: aidswest.ie<br />
GOSHH Limerick<br />
(Gender, Orientation, Sexual<br />
Health, HIV)<br />
T: (061) 314 354<br />
E:info@goshh.ie<br />
W: goshh.ie<br />
LGB Alcoholics Anonymous<br />
(Galway & Midlands area)<br />
Every Saturday, 7.30pm<br />
Call Denis (087 295 6233) or Paddy<br />
(087 250 7580) for details<br />
HELPLINES<br />
National LGBT Helpline<br />
Wherever you are, help is just a<br />
phonecall away at 1890 929 539.<br />
Mon-Thurs. 6:30-9pm, Fri: 4-9pm,<br />
Sat & Sun: 4-6pm. W: lgbt.ie.<br />
Clare Area Lesbian<br />
Information Line<br />
Find out what’s going on in Clare<br />
T: 087 949 4725<br />
E: clarelesinfo4@eircom.net<br />
Clare Women’s Network<br />
Meets fortnightly<br />
E: clarewomen@eircom.net<br />
GOSHH Helpline (Limerick)<br />
(061) 316661. Mon-Fri: 9.30 am to<br />
5.00pm, Wed: 11-5pm<br />
W: goshh.ie<br />
NW Lesbian Line<br />
(071) 914 7905. Monday & Thursday.<br />
6-9pm<br />
W: dublinlesbianline.ie<br />
OUTWEST Gay Helpline<br />
(094) 937 2479, Thursdays 8-10pm<br />
STUDENT LGBT SOCIETIES<br />
Mary Immaculate College,<br />
Limerick<br />
W: Facebook/Mary I LGBTA<br />
Sligo IT<br />
E: itslgbt@gmail.com<br />
GMIT LGBT and Equality Society<br />
E: GMITequality@hotmail.com<br />
NUI Galway GIGsoc<br />
W: su.nuigalway.ie<br />
E: gigsoc@soc.nuigalway.ie<br />
GARDA ELO/LGBT OFFICERS<br />
Clare /Shannon<br />
Garda Barry Doherty, 061 365900<br />
Galway<br />
Garda Claire Burke 091 538079<br />
Mayo<br />
Garda Michael Toland (Castlebar)<br />
094 903 8200<br />
Sligo<br />
Sergent Philip Maree 071 915 7000<br />
Leitrim<br />
Garda Josephine Kirrane<br />
(Manorhamilton) 071 982 0620<br />
Donegal<br />
Garda Cliona Moore (Letterkenny)<br />
074 916 7100<br />
GROUPS<br />
Longford LGBT<br />
Wednesdays at 8pm<br />
T: 0863022161 or<br />
E: longford_lgbt@ hotmail.com<br />
W: Facebook: Longford LGBT<br />
LGTBT AA Midlands area<br />
T: 087 912 2685 or<br />
T: 087 679 8495<br />
Luck Out (Laois)<br />
Youth Group providing support for<br />
LGBT+ young people aged 14-24<br />
E: josh@ywilaois.com<br />
T: (057) 866 5010<br />
GARDA ELO/LGBT OFFICERS<br />
Athlone<br />
Sgt. Andrew Haran 090 649 8550<br />
Cavan<br />
Garda Jerome Forde 049 433 5302<br />
Longford<br />
Garda Una Brady 043 3346741<br />
Meath<br />
Garda Sandra O’Leary (Navan)<br />
046 907 9930<br />
Monaghan<br />
Sergeant Rose M. Mcgirl 047 77200<br />
Mullingar<br />
Garda Neill Donellan 044 938 4000<br />
Portlaoise<br />
Sergeant John Healy 057 867 4122<br />
Roscommon<br />
Sergeant Michael Hogan (Granard)<br />
043 668 7660<br />
Tipperary<br />
Garda Shaun Brosnan (Clonmel)<br />
052617 7640<br />
Tullamore<br />
Sergeant Thomas Duffy<br />
057 932 7052<br />
Community News<br />
Outing The Past<br />
<strong>February</strong> will see the debut of Northern Ireland’s first LGBT+<br />
History Festival, which aims to empower the community to learn<br />
more about our own history, as well as educating those outside<br />
the community.<br />
OUTing the Past will be launched by Belfast’s Lord Mayor<br />
Cllr. Nuala McAllister on <strong>February</strong> 16, with speeches by Cllr<br />
Jeff Dudgeon, the man responsible for taking the case against<br />
Northern Ireland to have male homosexuality decriminalised in<br />
1982, and Senator David Norris.<br />
On Saturday is the festival’s conference component, which<br />
takes place in the Ulster Museum. Short papers will be presented<br />
with discussions afterwards - everything from trans personnel<br />
in the British Army to gay and lesbian people in ancient Gaelic<br />
Ireland will be explored.<br />
Here’s the full line-up for Saturday, <strong>February</strong> 17:<br />
10am Cork LGBT Activism and Cork-Belfast<br />
Collaborations, with Orla Egan<br />
The previously hidden history of LGBT+ Activism in Cork and the<br />
development of the Cork LGBT Community.<br />
10.30am Queers Dancing with the ‘Terrorists’, with JGM Evans<br />
A rare insight into an event in the early 1980s when the first UK<br />
Student LGBT+ Conference (NUS LGBT) was picketed by Rev.<br />
Ian Paisley’s Save Ulster from Sodomy Campaign.<br />
11.00am LGBT Emigration Northern Ireland,<br />
post-1967, with Nadine Gilmore<br />
Oral history interviews found in various archives throughout the<br />
UK, as well as a number of interviews conducted with members<br />
of the gay community in Belfast.<br />
11.30am ‘Gay’ Behaviour in Gaelic Ireland:<br />
AD500-1600, with Brian Lacey<br />
The diverse evidence of homosexual relations and practices in<br />
medieval Gaelic Irish culture – c.AD 500-1600.<br />
12.00pm PSNI and Garda Síochána<br />
A collaboration between the Police Service of Northern Ireland<br />
and An Garda Síochaná on LGBT+ history in Ireland.<br />
12.30pm Soldiers in Love, with Peter Roscoe<br />
This presentation explores approximately 300 love letters<br />
between Infantryman Gordon Bowsher to Gunner Gilbert<br />
Bradley, sent before and during World War Two.<br />
1.30pm Cara-Friend & Lesbian Line:<br />
Combating Isolation, with Mary McKee<br />
How Cara-Friend and Lesbian Line fought to combat isolation of<br />
queer people in Ireland between the 1970s and 1990s.<br />
2.00pm The AIDS Epidemic in Ireland<br />
and Northern Ireland, with Tonie Walsh<br />
<strong>GCN</strong>’s founder, Tonie Walsh talks about his personal experience<br />
of AIDS in Ireland in the 1980s and ’90s.<br />
2.30pm ‘Out of the Shadows’: 21 years in Merseyside Police, with<br />
Tracy O’Hara<br />
Personal story of serving as a gay detective in Merseyside police<br />
for 21 years.<br />
3.00pm DYEP: Trans Personnel in the<br />
Armed Forces to 2009, with Emma Vickers<br />
The historical experiences of trans personnel in the British<br />
Armed Forces before 2009.<br />
3.30pm Sound and Vision, with Kate Hutchinson<br />
Looking at the history of media portrayal and representation of<br />
the trans community.<br />
Clare /Ennis<br />
Garda Denis Collins, 065 684 8100<br />
For more information, visit outingthepast.org,uk<br />
g 43
comm<br />
—unity chest<br />
mental health<br />
OPINION:<br />
Ray<br />
O’Neill<br />
Body Shame<br />
“Don’t fix your life so that<br />
you’re left alone when you<br />
come to the middle of it,” is<br />
a sage piece of advice given<br />
by an older gay man to a<br />
young woman in a film I<br />
watched over Christmas. It’s<br />
something we could all do<br />
well to listen to.<br />
In the midst of lazy Christmas downtime, watching films and<br />
eating delicious food that cannot be good for you (carbs!),<br />
came 1998’s The Object of My Affection. I hadn’t seen it in<br />
a while and remembered it as pushing the Will and Grace<br />
dynamic of gay guy and gal pal into a more honest, tender,<br />
raw space. Now I’m in my mid-40s, my point of poignant<br />
identification no longer came from the gay/gal dynamic, but<br />
from the supporting role of ‘older gay man’ played by Nigel<br />
Hawthorne, who in his singleness sagely advises Jennifer<br />
Aniston’s character: “Don’t fix your life so that you’re left alone<br />
right when you come to the middle of it.”<br />
We make New Year’s resolutions at the beginning of the year,<br />
but they always come from the middle of our lives’ experience.<br />
And so, I proffer this same sage advise to myself and others<br />
that in this year, you don’t fix things so that you’re left alone.<br />
This ‘not being left alone’ isn’t ever merely about dating or<br />
“<br />
All of us have skills, talents, time,<br />
space and money that can be shared,<br />
given, circulated. But how many of<br />
us actually share them?<br />
relationship (it is more often the coupled ones who realise just<br />
how left alone they have chosen to be, though this is never<br />
really spoken about.) This is about making choices, indeed<br />
fixing things for your life that bring you genuine experiences<br />
and expressions of company, companionship and community.<br />
We can often be deceived into confusing having lots of people<br />
around with not being ‘lonely’ or ‘alone’. There are lots of places<br />
and spaces hiding us from loneliness, but badly.<br />
Most people ‘couple’ as a way of staving off fears of<br />
loneliness, and ‘fix’ their lives this way, becoming either<br />
dependant on the idea of the ‘couple’ to hide in, or the<br />
performance of the ‘couple’ to hide from. One only has to<br />
look at the numbers of ‘married’ and ‘partnered’ folk online<br />
still seeking something they aren’t getting at home. But there<br />
are few apps and websites fostering community, fellowship.<br />
Instead, they drive people to consume, to be consumed by<br />
their consumption, be it alcohol, drugs, sex, products, things.<br />
So, to all of us, myself included, I ask what, in <strong>2018</strong>, are we<br />
going to do that reinforces those experiences and expressions<br />
of company, companionship, community. Who are we going to<br />
reach out to, and who are we going to let reach us?<br />
Resolutions have become such a cliché. Stop listing<br />
things you are going to lose or gain and instead choose one<br />
opportunity to bring into your life that allows a real experience<br />
and expression of company, companionship, or community.<br />
Something that involves time and space, dates, taking a<br />
stand, a commitment, an engagement, vowing, duty, all those<br />
‘coupley’ words that don’t only belong to couples, but to any<br />
individual who genuinely commits to anything and anyone in<br />
life. In doing this, we already move from resolution to revolution.<br />
All of us have skills, talents, time, space and money that<br />
can be shared, given, circulated. But how many of us actually<br />
share them? I applaud anyone that wants to lose some weight,<br />
or get fitter, or quit smoking, or cease using porn, especially<br />
if they are doing such things for themselves. But when we<br />
do things for others, for community, for groups, then our<br />
resolve is different because we have others’ support, needs,<br />
responsibilities.<br />
I took so much pride in <strong>GCN</strong>’s ‘New Year, New You’ piece last<br />
month because it was a personal call to get involved, and as<br />
within all social altruism, there is a personal gain. We are less<br />
alone when we fix things to share some of our lives, energy,<br />
time with others.<br />
As the LGBT+ scene moves from pubs to Apps and our<br />
culture becomes more and more assimilated and flat, the<br />
need to gather, to join, to have pride and take part is lessened.<br />
With marriage equality and an ‘out’ Taoiseach we are told we<br />
have it all, but who is telling us this, and why?<br />
So, in the reflections that can often be part of a more sober,<br />
and definitely thriftier start to the year, instead of listing<br />
resolutions, perhaps some of us can resolve to make a change,<br />
a real change, one that engages others, that builds community.<br />
My nerdiest highlight over Christmas obviously had to be<br />
the new Star Wars film, during which, in the midst of all the<br />
CGI drama, one line of dialogue stood out: “We’re going to win<br />
this war not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”<br />
Maybe the battle for LGBT+ equality is over and we no longer<br />
have to fight, but the war continues and now, in the middle of<br />
it, more than ever we have to save something of and for our<br />
selves – we have to love.<br />
The need for community, camaraderie remains and<br />
continues. Don’t leave such things alone. The revolution should<br />
keep turning. Long live the revolution!
Are you<br />
taking PrEP?<br />
(or thinking of taking PrEP)<br />
GMHS has set up a new<br />
PrEP monitoring clinic<br />
to support you.<br />
Every Thursday, 10am - 12 noon<br />
(starts Thursday 9th November)<br />
● PrEP monitoring tests and support<br />
clinic for men who have sex with men.<br />
● Rapid HIV test and full STI screening.<br />
● This is a PrEP monitoring service only.<br />
● PrEP is not available at this clinic.<br />
Visit www.squirt.org<br />
to hook up today
Shirley’s Burn Book<br />
This month, Chloe Krumholtz is a fugly fag hag and…<br />
Oprah<br />
for President! Not.<br />
Yeah, yeah! Oprah made a great speech at the Golden<br />
Globes. And there’s no denying she’s a very influential<br />
person – especially if you’re trying to shift copies of<br />
your crappy self-help book or peddle some conspiracy<br />
theory that vaccines give you autism. Housewives lap<br />
up what Oprah dishes out… and that’s why people<br />
think she’d be a great President.<br />
Of course, she has all other qualifications to be<br />
US President: she’s a billionaire and she’s has a huge<br />
platform. I just don’t think that TV presenters running for<br />
high office is something Miriam O’Callaghan needs to<br />
hear about.<br />
James Franco<br />
is a Great Pretender<br />
This week it’s the turn of James Franco to deny he’s<br />
done terrible things to women. But wait, he’s (sorta) gay, isn’t<br />
he? Can we stop acting surprised that Hollywood people<br />
aren’t what they seem? It is literally their job to pretend<br />
to be someone they’re not. And sometimes they’re really<br />
convincing at pretending to be decent a human being. I know<br />
I am.<br />
Bye by to those ‘Franco is secretly gay’ rumours.<br />
Courtney Act<br />
flashed her tuck!<br />
I’m not watching Celebrity Big Brother but I did hear about<br />
Courtney Act’s revealing entry into the house. In case<br />
you missed it (and there wasn’t much to miss), Courtney<br />
‘caught’ in her dress on the steps to the house and the<br />
entire bottom of her dress came away… and bitch wasn’t<br />
wearing panties.<br />
Scandalous! Most people think it was intentional and she<br />
was just looking for headlines. And unless you’re Janet<br />
Jackson, that kind of thing tends to work. Personally, I’m<br />
just not really into unsolicited dick pics.<br />
RTÉ<br />
is Gender Fucked<br />
RTÉ is giving itself a pat on the back<br />
for finally getting around to hiring two<br />
female anchors for its Six O’Clock News<br />
programme, Keelin Shanley and Catriona<br />
Perry. But if RTÉ think that’s gender<br />
representation sorted for them, they’ll shit<br />
themselves when they realise that the kids<br />
are a bit more complex than that. Facebook<br />
says that there are more than 70 different<br />
categories for gender used on the site. RTÉ<br />
News needs a bigger studio!<br />
Marky Mark<br />
is a Greedy Bitch<br />
Marky Mark Wahlberg became famous for grabbing his crotch<br />
in his Calvin Klein undies. Now he’s just known for money<br />
grabbing.<br />
When Kevin Spacey was revealed as a sex-pest and<br />
fired from the film All the Money in the World, , the crew<br />
re-shot scenes with his replacement Christopher<br />
Plummer. Co-star Michelle Williams really wanted the<br />
film to happen so she agreed to do the reshoots for<br />
next to nothing, but supporting actor Marky Mark got<br />
paid an extra $1.5 million because he cared less.<br />
And that’s his biggest dick move since he flashed his<br />
prosthetic in Boogie Nights.<br />
g 46
HELPLINE OPEN 7 DAYS : 01 872 1055<br />
ask@gayswitchboard // www.gayswitchboard.ie<br />
HELPLINE OPEN 7 D<br />
Gay Switchboard Ireland provides a conidential<br />
telephone, email and online chat support<br />
service for the LGBT+ community.<br />
Our friendly, trained volunteers provide a safe<br />
space where listening, support, information and<br />
signposting are provided in a non-directive and<br />
non-judgmental way.<br />
The service is available to anyone who has<br />
concerns or is seeking information on sexuality,<br />
gender identity, sexual health and wellbeing,<br />
mental health and wellbeing, drugs and alcohol,<br />
clubs and organisations, the scene and anyone<br />
who just wants to talk about how they’re feeling<br />
and for them to be sure of a supportive voice to<br />
hear them.<br />
Whatever it is that you want to talk or type<br />
about, you can get in touch with our friendly<br />
volunteers 7 days a week:<br />
Monday to Friday: 6:30pm – 9pm<br />
Saturday & Sunday 4pm – 6pm<br />
Call us: 01 8721055 //<br />
Email us: ask@gayswitchboard.ie //<br />
Chat: gayswitchboard.ie
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