Archives for May 2015

The 4Cs Model of Effective Communication – part I

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave

When you are writing for your business, whether it be for your blog, your Facebook page, or your emails, the need for effective communication is vital. You need to practise the elements of the 4Cs, and the more you practice, the better you will become.

The good news for everyone is, that you don’t have to be an expert writer or advertising genius to accomplish messaging mastery. The 4Cs model is easy to understand, simple to apply, and works with any piece of writing you have to do.

The 4Cs consist of the following four ideas, and over the coming weeks, I will expand on each idea to make mastery a foregone conclusion:

Does the Audience Get The Message – the main idea?

Does the audience ‘get it’ – does the message resonate with them? Is there a connection?

Do the audience believe in who is saying it? Is it credible?

Do the audience ‘catch’ the message – is it contagious?

Vienna turns on the gay lights ahead of Eurovision

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

From gay-themed traffic lights to singing sewers, Vienna is getting spruced up as it prepares to host one of the world’s most popular music competitions, the 60th Eurovision Song Contest.

With less than a week to go before the first semi-final, the Austrian capital has launched a series of original initiatives to celebrate the ESC’s anniversary edition.
Lights at 120 pedestrian crossings are receiving a quirky makeover: instead of the traditional single figure, they now show either a heterosexual or gay couple with hearts.
Officials said the revamped signals were signs of Vienna’s tolerance, celebrating not only the song contest, but also the HIV/AIDS charity Life Ball event on May 16 and the Rainbow Parade in June.
The installations are also part of a scientific experiment aimed at raising traffic awareness.
Local authorities said the signals had been replaced at junctions where people traditionally ignore the red lights, and want to test whether the new interfaces can change the public’s behaviour.
However, not everyone likes the campaign.
Toni Mahdalik of the right-wing FPO party called the initiative gender politics “gone mad”, and said the money would have been better spent on reducing poverty and unemployment figures.
Back on Vienna’s busy high streets and squares, sewers have swapped gurgling sounds for musical tunes.
Cleverly hidden stereo systems inside the gutters play Austria’s two winning Eurovision songs — one by bearded drag queen Conchita Wurst, who won last year, the other by 1966 champion Udo Juergens.
They also promote this year’s entry, “I Am Yours” by Austrian trio The Makemakes, currently ranked 21st of the bookmakers’ favourites.
Austria is one of 40 nations taking part in the competition.
After the semi-finals on May 19 and 21, the remaining 27 countries — including first-time contestant Australia which has automatically qualified — will face off in the grand finale on May 23.

Overall, the contest is estimated to cost between 25 million euros ($28 million)and 27 million euros, according to Austrian public broadcaster ORF, which is organising the event.

Watch: That’s Not Us Trailer

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The indie film about three millennial couples premieres at Toronto’s InsideOut festival this May

BY OUT.COM EDITORS

MAY 04 2015 10:35 AM EDT

The film That’s Not Us explores sex and relationships with a fresh perspective through the story of three young couples — one gay, one lesbian, and one straight — as they travel to a beach house to enjoy the last days of summer. Set to premiere May 23 at InsideOut, Toronto’s LGBT film festival,Out‘s debuting the trailer of the micro-budget indie film today.
“We wanted to make a movie about young gay men and women in committed relationships,” says William Sullivan, the film’s director. “We wanted to show characters who aren’t stereotypes or comedic relief, but are deep, thoughtful and emotionally complex human beings.”
That’s Not Us is available for pre-order now at ThatsNotUs.com. Watch the trailer below:

Gay New Jersey high school wrestling state champ comes out on college recruiting trip

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Large outsports.com.full.27780 SB Nation Outsports – By Cyd Zeigler  @CydZeigler on May 11, 2015, 9:28a 46

New Jersey state wrestling champ Alec Donovan, a top college recruit, is sharing his truth with the world.

Gay high school wrestling champion Alec Donovan wants colleges recruiting him to know he’s gay. He hopes sharing his story will help other LGBT athletes struggling with who they are.

It was on a recruiting trip to Limestone College in South Carolina that Alec Donovan finally answered “the question.” Donovan had just won the New Jersey high school state championship in the 145-pound division of the NJSIAA/Rothman Institute Wrestling Championships. Along with him on the recruiting trip was another New Jersey wrestler who had placed in the state tournament.

“Rumor is you’re bisexual,” the other recruit said to him. “Is it true?”

It had been a long journey for Donovan, once fraught with fear, depression and suicidal thoughts since realizing he was gay as a high school freshman. Now a senior approaching graduation, he had climbed out of the abyss all the way to a state title and a peace of mind. There were a select few close to him who knew his secret, but he had never shared it with other top wrestlers.

“The rumor isn’t true,” Donovan told the other recruit. “I’m not bisexual… I’m gay.”

The recruit was “cool with it” and found it fascinating. He asked Donovan if he could tell the guys on the Limestone team who were recruiting them. Donovan didn’t care. He had accepted who he was. Fear had left him.

“It’s better that everybody knows anyway, so I don’t end up on a team that doesn’t want me for all of me.”

When the other wrestlers at Limestone College heard the news, they were hardly fazed.

“That’s cool as long as you don’t hit on me” was the worst reaction Donovan received from the Limestone grapplers.

“Why would I hit on you?” Donovan replied, happy to not face rejection. They laughed.

A state champion, Donovan was 39-1 in his senior season and ranked in the top 25 in the entire country for his weight class. The Limestone College wrestlers just wanted a good competitor to join their team. Donovan has stayed in touch with the captain of the team, and Limestone is one of Donovan’s top choices for college. His sexual orientation is largely irrelevant to today’s college athletes focused on excellence and victory.

Yet Donovan does not know where he will compete next year. At the time this story is published, Donovan is on a recruiting trip at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Other schools – in addition to Limestone College – have come calling as well.

For Donovan, the importance of being with a program that wants him for who he is – and the opportunity to help other LGBT athletes walking down the path he was on just three years ago – far outweighs any risk this story might pose.

* * *

During his freshman year at Brick Memorial High School, Donovan was plotting to kill himself.

Growing up in Brick, N.J., just over an hour outside of New York City and Philadelphia, he had heard anti-gay language in school, in sports and from friends and family all his life. Better to end that life than live it as a gay person, he had decided.

“I felt like I was a piece of dirt. I was worthless.”

Worthless. This eventual state champion and top college recruit felt worthless three years ago simply because of his sexual orientation. Think about that. The environment in the United States – in and outside of sports – continues to drive talented, promising young men and women to suicidal thoughts, feeling as though the world is better served without them in it.

Donovan even wrote a suicide note. Thankfully it was the middle of wrestling season, and he felt an inexplicably loyal obligation to his team to finish the season with them. Despite early success, the season didn’t end well. He missed weight at his regional meet by ounces and was barred from competition. His coach screamed at him. He was depressed, desperate for answers. He had let his coach down and he was… different.

He hit rock bottom.

In that time he researched suicide and the reactions to it. As he watched YouTube videos and read blogs chronicling the aftermath of suicide, Donovan became more and more present with his will to

At the end of his freshman wrestling season he reached out to a friend, Haley, for help. He was struggling with his sexual orientation and didn’t know where to turn. Haley was the perfect sounding board. She convinced him to tear up the suicide note he had written to his parents – she stood and watched as he did it.

“I was so happy she made me do that. Because now I don’t think about it. I’m moving forward.”

* * *

During a road trip to Atlantic city his junior year, two teammates cornered him. On these road trips it was four guys to a hotel room. While one of his roommates was in the shower, the other two pressured Donovan into answering the last question he ever wanted to hear.

“I know we’re brothers,” said one of the teammates, “but are you gay?”

Donovan surveyed the hotel room carefully. He was nearer to the door than they were. He wanted to tell them the truth, but if they tried to attack him he needed an escape plan – that was the level of fear he faced. As he had been told all of his life, gay athletes would not be welcome on a sports team, let alone in a sport with athletes competing in the close quarters of wrestling. This could go very badly.

“Yes,” Donovan told them, “I’m gay.”

He braced himself for an attack that would never come.

“I’m proud of you,” one of his teammates said. “We’re brothers and, no matter what, brothers stick together.”

The acceptance of those two teammates meant the world to him. He had for years feared how his peers would perceive him, whether they would reject him on the mat. Donovan (left, in the grey sweatshirt) had been channeling his will to live into wrestling. He wanted nothing more than to be the best wrestler he could possibly be – he wanted to be a state champion.

The acceptance of his teammates translated into renewed dedication to his sport. If he could accept himself, and if his teammates could accept him, then he could go as far as he chose to go.

* * *

Now a state champion, Donovan is a top college wrestling recruit. He has been ranked in the top 25 of high school wrestlers in his weight class in the nation. He lost one match out of 40 last season. And he’s gay.

In the next 10 days he will decide for which college he will wrestle. With this public revelation, each school that has recruited him or offered him a scholarship has the opportunity to showcase inclusion. The next 10 days will be telling.

Whatever happens, Donovan knows he will be competing as a publicly out gay NCAA wrestler in the 2015-16 collegiate season. Unless someone else comes out in the sport in the next six months, he will be the first person to do so.

Yet his significance off the mat makes him just as enthusiastic. From the first time we communicated months ago, Donovan badly wanted to help other people by sharing his story publicly. The wins and the losses are great, and they lend heft to his story. Helping other people excites him.

Every time we have spoken, Donovan has mentioned a clandestine anti-bullying group he has been part of at Brick Memorial High School. Beating down his opponent in the ring is his trade, his lifelong passion. It has earned him college scholarships. It has brought him incredible glory in the form of a state championship. Yet tackling bullying and intimidation are what drive him more than success on the mat.

“I’ve done a lot of great things ever since I was suicidal,” Donovan said. “But yeah, helping other people makes me most proud.”

You can follow Alec on Twitter @thedoc42007. You can reach him via email at alecthedoc@hotmail.com.

If you’re a teen struggling with depression or thoughts of self-harm, please contact The Trevor Project immediately. Someone is there to help you.

Gay wrestler at Don Bosco in Iowa wrote his dad & coach a letter. The response was great.

Outsports male hero of the year: Conner Mertens

Straight Bodybuilders Take a Really Muscular Stand Against Bullying

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave 1 Comment

From OUT magazine

BY LES FABIAN BRATHWAITE

MAY 11 2015 4:37 PM EDT

They’re going to pump you up. Your self-esteem anyway.

BY LES FABIAN BRATHWAITE

MAY 11 2015 4:37 PM EDT

YouTube gays Davey Wavey and Raymond Braun asked straight bodybuilders about bullying and — besides an excuse to have more slabs of beef than your neighborhood Sizzler — these mammoth muscle men reveal that their hearts as big as their biceps. Which, for the record, are friggin’ huge.

Most of them were bullied at some point in their lives, including Brad Rowe (this guy):

who actually has a gay dad and was bullied as a result, despite being an “alpha male.” Check out his and other stories in the video below. Meanwhile, why everyone’s wearing a shirt is beyond me, but that’s neither here nor there.

And here’s part two, featuring some commentary and background from Davey and Raymond.
Les Fabian Brathwaite — do you even gif, bro?

Marriage referendum debated live on UTV Ireland

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

IRELAND LIVE 11 MAY 2015 Story by UTV Ireland Staff, Dublin

Representatives of both sides of the marriage referendum coin discussed the issues live on UTV Ireland on Monday in the first of a series of referendum debates this month.

Videos (3)

09.03

Marriage referendum debate one

08.58

Marriage referendum debate two

02.33

Gay community divided over marriage referendum

News anchor Alison Comyn explored both Yes and No vote arguments from representatives of Mothers and Fathers Matter, Yes Equality, Stand Up for Marriage and Labour LGBT from UTV Ireland’s Cork studios on Monday.
On May 22, the electorate will be asked to vote on the proposal to add a new clause to Article 41 of the Constitution: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

Mothers and Fathers Matter spokesperson Margaret Hickey and Stand Up for Marriage chairman Barry Jones represented the No side on Monday’s debate.
Ms Hickey said: “Marriage in Article 41 is described as the foundation on which the family is structured, so if you change the definition of marriage which you are doing in a very fundamental way by taking it from a gender-based instruction to a gender-less institution, you are going to obviously profoundly change the constitutional understanding of parenting and family.”
Mr Jones added: “If it does go through, what will happen is that the definition of marriage will be changed and if that is changed, because of the way the Constitution is written, then family will be changed.
“The definition of family, or what it means, will be changed and if it is changed that means the fundamental building block of society, society will change but if it changes artificially it has to give rise to trouble,” he added.

Yes Equality’s Joe Noonan and Catherine Clancy from the Labour Party’s LGBT group were proposing a Yes vote.
Mr Noonan said: “Civil partnership is something that is understood by family lawyers. Marriage is understood by everybody and everybody should be entitled to marry subject to the law and that is what we are voting on.”
Ms Clancy added: “This referendum is a one liner and all you are being asked is do you agree that same sex couples can marry. In Ireland alone we have 220,000 gay or lesbian citizens – the population of cork is 120,000 people – so that is near double the population of Cork city.
“What we are saying is on May 22 to go out and give those 220,000 people, if they wish, the right to marry the same as you or me and anybody else and to have that recognition for their relationship.”
Meanwhile, former Cork Hurler Conor Cusack said a Yes vote would send out an important message.
“I just think that we had the decriminalisation of homosexuality some years ago and I think this referendum is another stepping stone on that long road to equality, because it is not about wanting to be treated as less than or more than anyone else. It is about wanting to be treated equally,” he said.

In recent years, both Conor and his brother Donal Óg came out as gay.
“I know for people out there there is a load of fear and worry around this but ultimately what this comes down to is the things that bind us all as human beings. It is a desire to be loved and to be able to love,” Conor added.
However, First Families First argue that a Yes vote will radically change the legal meaning of family and parenthood. Their concerns centre on the wording of the referendum.
“Judges can only work with what they are being given and what they are being given is a complete change in the landscape of family law which is going to result with sadness. It is going to play out in a lot of tragedy for children and for their biological parents in the future,” said First Families First representative Kathy Sinnott.
Two gay couples also told UTV Ireland about their differing views on the upcoming referendum.
Paul Dalton, who entered into a civil partnership with his partner Des two years ago, said he is still unsure what to call his other half, which he says makes his relationship feel less important.
“For a lot of people, introducing him as my civil partner doesn’t make any sense. That language doesn’t translate. Not being able to introduce Des as my husband is very strange and very limiting.
“Our relationship is different and inferior. My father said recently, ‘when this is passed will your civil partnership be upgraded?’ He is 78 years old. He didn’t really knows what he was saying but I think it captures it,” explained Paul.
However, Keith Mills who is about to celebrate a one year anniversary with his partner, has a completely different opinion on the referendum and will be voting no.
“Ireland has transformed completely in the past number of years. We have gay ministers, business leaders, sportsmen, journalists, judges and it is terrific and we don’t need gay marriage.
“We have to think of the issue of surrogacy – giving same sex couples the right to marriage gives them the right to surrogacy. I look at the situation like Elton John and his partner bringing children into the world and excluding the mother and I’m very uncomfortable with that.
“I hope that the referendum fails and I will then campaign to put civil partnerships on an equal standing with the constitution so we have that diversity recognised forever and ever,” said Keith.
Monday’s discussion will be followed by a live debates on the Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum in Dublin on 12 May and in Galway on 18 May.

The series of referendum debates will cumulate with a final debate on the Marriage Referendum in UTV Ireland’s Dublin studio on 19 May.
UTV Ireland’s Referendum Debate Schedule:
11 May: Marriage Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Cork on Ireland Live at 10pm
12 May: Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Dublin on Ireland Live at 10pm
18 May: Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Galway on Ireland Live at 10pm
19 May: Marriage Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Dublin on Ireland Live at 10pm
23 May: Regular updates from the Ireland Live News team throughout the day, with a special edition of Ireland Live at 5.30pm

A local councillor has called for the removal of the LGBT pride flag from Cork City Hall

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

A row has broken out at a meeting of Cork City Council over 22 May’s same-sex marriage referendum.

Fianna Fáil councillor Terry Shannon has called on council chief executive Ann Doherty to remove the LGBT rainbow flag which is currently flying from the roof of Cork City Hall.
Shannon says that it’s inappropriate to have such a flag flying with the referendum due to take place on 22 May.
As an alternative, Shannon suggested that if the pride flag must fly then a No flag must also be displayed at civic buildings.

shannon

The flag is being flown to mark the Cork’s fifth annual LGBT Awareness Week.
“I believe, as a corporate body, we should not have a flag like that hanging over City Hall while the referendum is on. Either we put up two flags or we take this one down,” Shannon told the Irish Examiner after the council meeting where he raised his concerns.

Scrapping Human Rights Act ‘would breach Good Friday agreement’

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Republished from The Guardian –

Henry McDonald Ireland correspondent

Tuesday 12 May 2015 11.34 BST

Belfast-based human rights organisation says Conservative government’s plans to ditch HRA will also violate international treaty

The Committee on the Administration of Justice is seeking an urgent meeting with the Northern Ireland secretary, Theresa Villiers, about the implications of scrapping the HRA. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Scrapping the Human Rights Act would be a breach of the Good Friday agreement that sealed the peace process in Northern Ireland, a Belfast-based human rights organisation has said.
The Conservative government’s plans to ditch the HRA would also violate an international treaty as the agreement in 1998 was an accord between two sovereign states – the UK and the Irish Republic, according to the committee on the administration of justice.
The CAJ (Committee for Administration of Justice) is seeking an urgent meeting with Theresa Villiers – who was re-appointed by David Cameron as Northern Ireland secretary in his new cabinet – about the threat to the HRA.
In a letter to Villiers, the CAJ’s director in Northern Ireland, Brian Gormally, points out that European human rights law was incorporated into the 1998 agreement.
He says article 2 of an annex to the Good Friday agreement binds the UK internationally to the multi-party deal, which was endorsed in joint referenda on both sides of the Irish border in May 1998; and, after it was ratified, both governments lodged the agreement as a treaty with the United Nations.
Gormally notes that in the section of the agreement guaranteeing the rights of minorities, the British government commits to “complete incorporation into Northern Ireland law of the European convention on human rights, with direct access to the courts, and remedies for breach of the convention, including power for the courts to overrule assembly legislation on the grounds of inconsistency”.
This part of the agreement is going to be used, for example, by campaigners who are seeking to overturn the ban in Northern Ireland on gay marriage, a challenge that has been blocked by the assembly in Belfast but will now be taken to the European courts.
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The CAJ director says any move to tamper with or dump the HRA would undermine Northern Ireland’s fragile peace settlement.
“The secretary of state should urgently clarify the government’s position as to whether it intends to breach the Belfast/Good Friday agreement in this way. Such a step would make the UK an international outlaw and significantly roll back the peace settlement in Northern Ireland.”
Gormally stresses that the Human Rights Act and and the European court of human rights, and states’ compliance with them, had nothing to do with EU membership.
Founded in 1981, the CAJ monitors human rights abuses by the state and the security forces in Northern Ireland.

Belfast Book Festival 2015

12/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

The Belfast Book Festival has come around again with a richness far beyond its small title.

A Sneak Peak

at the 2015 Belfast Book Festival line up.

The Belfast Book Festival is back from the 8 – 14 June with more on offer than ever before! Click here to visit the website.

DERMOT BOLGER
8 June | 13:00 | £5
One of Ireland’s best known writers. His eleven previous novels include The Journey Home, The Family on Paradise Pier, A Second Life and The Fall of Ireland.
Click HERE to find out more.

CARPET BURNS: MY LIFE WITH INSPIRAL CARPETS
Mon 8 June | 20:00 | £6/£5
Tom Hingley’s book Carpet Burns: My Life with Inspiral Carpets, is an account of his life as lead singer of Inspiral Carpets. The event includes a live acoustic set from Tom.
Click HERE to find out more.

THE BELFAST BOOK FESTIVAL POETRY SLAM
Sat 13 June | 21:30 | £4
Purely Poetry presents:
‘The Belfast Book Festival Poetry Slam 2015’.
Open to all poets, we invite you to ‘take the mic’ and enter our annual poetry slam competition. Share your work in front of a live and lively audience, with new readers always welcome.
Click HERE to find out more.

LITERARY LUNCHTIMES: SARA BAUME
Wed 10 June | 13:00 | £5
Spill Simmer Falter Wither is Sara Baume`s debut novel. This quietly powerful story is told through the eyes of a man speaking to his only companion, a rescue dog he calls One-Eye.
Click HERE to find out more.

KARIM MISKE: ARAB JAZZ
Tues 9 June | 20:30 | £6/£4
With Malachi O’Doherty
In Arab Jazz, his debut novel, Karim Miské demonstrates a sharp eye for character and an evocative sense of place, moving seamlessly between the sensual streets of Paris and the synagogues of New York to reveal the truth behind a horrifying crime.
Click HERE to find out more.

TOM HARTLEY: RESEARCHING PAST LIVES, WRITTEN IN STONE
Tues 9 Jun | 18:15 | £6/£4
Local historian Tom Hartley will take you on a journey through the graveyards of Milltown and Belfast City cemeteries and talk about his research into the lives of those buried there: priests and nuns, architects and footballers, businessmen and poets, hurlers and harp makers, British Army soldiers and IRA volunteers.
Click HERE to find out more.

OGGY BOYTCHEV
8 June | 18:15 | £6/£4 | 16+ yrs
Oggy Boytchev, the author of ‘Simpson & I’ has spent his career working as a journalist in the most dangerous places on earth. Oggy will be illustrating his talk with two short films.
Click HERE to find out more.

LITERARY LUNCHTIMES: VOICES FROM SCOTLAND
Tues 9 June | 13:00 | £5
The showcase will feature Margaret Montgomery, (“Beauty Tips for Girls”), Kate Tough, (“Head for the Edge, Keep Walking”) and Nicola White, (“In the Rosary Garden”).
Click HERE to find out more.

BRIAN PATTEN: THE ACCESSIBLE MUSE
Wed 10 June | 20:30 | £10/£8
One of the UK’s most distinctive and popular poets, Brian Patten has been delivering scrupulously crafted, heartbreakingly honest, funny and uplifting poems for nearly five decades. A master of performance – genuine and generous – his readings are always memorable.
Click HERE to find out more.

LITERARY LUNCHTIMES: KELLY CREIGHTON
Thurs 11 June | Ticketed FREE event | 13:00
In conversation with Jan Carson
Belfast Book Festival presents Kelly Creighton in conversation and reading from her debut novel ‘The Bones of It’.
Click HERE to find out more.

HELEN LEDERER: LOSING IT
Sat 13 June | 19:00 | £8/£6
Helen Lederer, best known for her role as dippy Catriona in Absolutely Fabulous has published her debut comedy novel: Losing It. Her unique wit and observational humour means that as well as writing and performing her own material, Helen has starred in many top TV comedy and radio shows.
Click HERE to find out more.

LAURENCE DONAGHY: BUILDING BETTER TOYBOXES
Wed 10 Jun | 18:15 | £6/£4
There is a huge and passionate fanfic community out there. In “Building Better Toyboxes” Laurence will talk about his take on fanfic, explore why it has a place in the wider writing world as a springboard for those too intimidated to construct their own worlds, and talk about his own journey from fanfic dabbler to published author.
Click HERE to find out more.

More events will be announced shortly
www.belfastbookfestival.com

Crescent Arts Centre

2-4 University Road

Belfast, Antrim BT7 1NH

United Kingdom

If You’re A Gay Man You Should Know About This One Cancer

12/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Republished from HuffPost Gay Voices – 2 May 2015

Getty Images

A recent study of gay and bi men found that 69% had HPV, which can cause genital warts, and 42% of the people with HPV had high-risk HPV, a major cause of anal cancer. These rates are scarily high! Luckily, there is a vaccine for people under 26, so we need to spread that news. Whatever your age, keep that condom on.

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