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Community Journalist

Consign homophobia to history, urges ex-Irish president Mary McAleese

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Homophobia Not AllowedJeff Dudgeon MBE, is part of the history of Northern Ireland, and with his court case made the case for homophobia to be abolished in N Ireland.  Unfortunately until 1982 it was still a crime to be a homosexual in Ulster, indeed people were still persecuted under other laws for being gay, and their lives destroyed by what can only be called vindictive police cases which should never have ended up in court subsequent to this repeal.
Today, liFe has improved, but there are still problems; only within the last two weeks was a gay man attacked for challenging two men passing by who called him’queer’ and other words.
People are regularly still harassed in their homes. and probably more worrying is that fact that being young and gay is still open to abuse in schools, colleges and universities.
This is not acceptable in today’s world, and the more that we stand up against any form of persecution the more we as human beings earn the right to be called ‘human’.

Homophobia Not Allowed

President Barack Obama talks with Irish President Mary McAleese during a courtesy call in the Drawing Room of the President’s residence in Dublin, Ireland, May 23, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Mary McAleese has said homophobia should be consigned to history in Northern Ireland.

Source: Consign homophobia to history, urges ex-Irish president Mary McAleese – BelfastTelegraph.co.uk

LGBT History – Telling All Our Stories before they disappear!

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) Heritage Initiative – US national park service

LGBT History is Important

40s-friends-Boys-History-213x300-1For a number of years it has become clear that LGBT history is disappearing as our societies members have aged and their stories (which our our stories) disappear with their deaths or the onset of illnesses.

Our History is Disappearing

For Ireland this is compounded by the fact that so many of the LGBT community have had to leave the island to find work, relationships and just to be safe.  Today these things have been reduced, but the economic crisis of the last few years, and the impending impact of Brexit may well see further departures.
The LGBT society in both parts of the island of Ireland need to start thinkingNIGRA History - Pa and Mary Robinson urgently on how we should capture and then make available our history.  This will ensure our past, and also help our future, and will provide a wonderful resource for teachers and other groups/individuals.
A mechanism that might be considered is working with the museums in Ireland who have depositories to see if we can get access combined into a timeline – obviously this will take time and resources, but I believe that a small group could achieve a lot in this regard.

If you feel that you are interested then please get in contact and we can see if we can form that working group.

 
The American National Park Service has produced a wonderful book in two parts about LGBT History in the USA – the publication LGBTQ America: A Theme Study of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer History  is available for download in PDF format – this is just another example of what can be done with the right active group and money.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Source: Telling All Americans’ Stories (U.S. National Park Service)

Roger Casement: Butterflies and Bones review: blood and thunder

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Secrets Of The Black Diaries...Picture Shows: Image order No HK6737 Irish Patriot and British Consular Official Sir Roger Casement (1864 - 1916) is escorted to the gallows of Pentonville Prison, London. TX: BBC FOUR Friday, March 15 2002 Getty Images/Hulton Archives Roger Casement, former British Consul to the Congo, was hanged for treason for his role in Ireland's 1916 Easter Rising. His conviction rested on a set of diaries that suggested he had pursued a highly promiscuous homosexual life. Under the social mores of the day, such a revelation deprived him of all hope of clemency. But were the diaries faked? BBC Four investigates the 85-year-old mystery. WARNING: This Getty Image copyright image may be used only to publicise 'Secrets Of The Black Diaries'. Any other use whatsoever without specific prior approval from 'Getty Images' may result in legal action.

Secrets Of The Black Diaries…Picture Shows: Image order No HK6737 Irish Patriot and British Consular Official Sir Roger Casement (1864 – 1916) is escorted to the gallows of Pentonville Prison, London.
TX: BBC FOUR Friday, March 15 2002
Getty Images/Hulton Archives
Roger Casement, former British Consul to the Congo, was hanged for treason for his role in Ireland’s 1916 Easter Rising. His conviction rested on a set of diaries that suggested he had pursued a highly promiscuous homosexual life. Under the social mores of the day, such a revelation deprived him of all hope of clemency. But were the diaries faked? BBC Four investigates the 85-year-old mystery.
WARNING: This Getty Image copyright image may be used only to publicise ‘Secrets Of The Black Diaries’. Any other use whatsoever without specific prior approval from ‘Getty Images’ may result in legal action.


If you’ve never heard of Roger Casement, who was executed by the British for treason 100 years ago today, the reason is as simple as it is sad, he was homosexual. For that reason he was ignored when he was not being written out of our revolutionary history.

Jeffrey Dudgeon, MBE has written two wonderful insightful books into Casement,

and

Aidan Lonergan has written that there are ten things we don’t know about Casement:

  1. His Antrim father fought in Afghanistan
  2. His Anglican mother secretly baptised him as a Catholic
  3. He was looked after by the people of Antrim after his parents died
  4. He exposed one of the bloodiest colonial regimes ever
  5. What he saw changed him
  6. He sought German backing for an Irish rebellion during WWI
  7. Some see him as a gay icon
  8. Arthur Conan Doyle campaigned against his sentence
  9. He converted to Catholicism on the day of his execution
  10. A hundred years on from the Easter Rising, it’s important to remember Casement

However, as with all history, it is open to interpretation, and I know that different camps will have different feelings towards Casement, his impact on Irish history, and on Gay History.
The musical about him was one such attempt, and I hope that if it comes to a theatre near you, you will make an effort to see it and view it through the eyes of someone who is probably far older than he was, and also who has the benefit of a society that is beginning to be accepting of LGBT people.
 

Roger Casement is (again) centre stage, but this time it’s the dance world that’s exploring the many facets of his life

Source: Butterflies and Bones review: blood and thunder

Park service releases LGBT history study

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LGBT History

History to everyone is important, but for those who have not been able to have their full identity because of family or societal pressures, or laws which punished their very existence, history can become a poison chalice.  It is extremely comforting to know, that one country, which even though it still has its share of bigots and organisations which seek to continue this persecution, is moving forward and recognising the LGBT community and taking note of its history –  in this case it is the National Park Service of America.LGBT History

Positively, I have just heard that the Scottish Government is seeking to pardon all those LGBT people who have a criminal record due to draconian laws which punished you for being gay!

Unfortunately, due to government filibustering, England and Wales will have to wait for some time for Westminster to bring forward a possible legal instrument for doing the same job.

And for Northern Ireland, the political posturing of both the main parties, means that it is highly unlikely that any law will see the statue books within the next 5 years.

The laws were unjust within the UK, and because of them so much of our history has been lost, as people rightly seeked to protect themselves and their families; I hope that sometime soon we can stat to put together our own history and to have it incorporated into the mainstream history – it is jsut as valid, and when you consider people like Alan Turing and how he and others in other professions helped to win our freedoms, then we must strive to get equal.

 

Breaking news & opinion from the B.A.R.

Source: The Bay Area Reporter Online | Park service releases LGBT history study

Russian Embassy mocks Europeans as ‘gay pigs’ as warships taunts Bris | Daily Star

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RussiaRussian Humour.

As with all reporting, you need to take a step back and try to see if it is balanced.  Lovely headlines do not make for in depth reporting.  Yes, the Russian fleet (or part of it) did sale up the North Sea; however we did know about it, it was a planned sailing, so why the big headlines from the papers.  Secondly, Russia is doing no more today than it has been doing for the last 10 plus years, and whilst the West is in disarray it will continue to do so!
If the UK, which is now going to disconnect from Europe, is worried then it needs a cohesive defence plan, not the piece meal one which it now seems to offer to its voting population.  If we have restrictions due to our balance sheet, then we must be realistic about what we can and can’t do.
For me the worrying thing in Russia, is its backward stepping in terms of LGBT rights, the rights of woman and in particular their right to a free, safe abortion when necessary.  For a country which has as its political background and current leanings Communism, it is very funny (and not funny amusing) on how much the church and indeed now outside American groups seem to be influencing Russian policy!
 
Russian humourSource: Russian Embassy mocks Europeans as ‘gay pigs’ as warships taunts Bris | Daily Star

IBM VP Claudia Brind-Woody

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Diversity Policies

Claudia Brind-Woody, vice president and managing director IBM

Diversity Policies: A policy on workplace diversity: Makes a commitment to anti-discriminatory practices and fosters equal opportunity through the removal of systemic barriers. Can reinforce compliance with human rights legislation. Is a statement of an organization’s values

LGBT diversity policies, procedures, advocacy and impact – Business Insider

Claudia Brind-Woody, vice president and managing director, speaks to BI about LGBT and  diversity and how it is shaping the wider tech and business community.

Source: IBM VP Claudia Brind-Woody: LGBT diversity policies, procedures, advocacy and impact – Business Insider

‘Gay cake’ row: born-again Christian bakers lose court appeal | UK news | The Guardian

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The Cake and Ashers'Court Case Settled. A lot has been written over the months regarding this court case, and indeed some of it was factually wrong.  The facts were that an order was placed with no intention of setting up any individual, business or organisation up for in-adverse publicity.  A contract was entered into, and money was exchange – a normal business transaction.  Therefore the contract should have been honoured, possibly with a note to the person who placed the order that the business would not be able to fulfil any future orders of this nature.

A judgement from the court has now been made, the decision reach, and it is now time to step back and try to move on amicably.

Judges uphold ruling that Ashers Bakery discriminated against gay man by refusing to make cake with pro-gay marriage slogan

Source: ‘Gay cake’ row: born-again Christian bakers lose court appeal | UK news | The Guardian

Calm down, the Tories haven’t abandoned Alan Turing – they have just ditched an SNP attempt to claim credit

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Alan Turing - Pardon

 

It is a good thing that Theresa May’s Conservative government is introducing an Alan Turing Law to pardon gay men convicted of historical victimless sexual crimes – that is what I wrote for The Independent last month. No one should be criminalised for being gay. At the start of the century, I was still policing these sex crimes as a police officer until they were repealed by the Labour government.

Source: Calm down, the Tories haven’t abandoned Alan Turing – they have just ditched an SNP attempt to claim credit

 

tory-mp-sam-gyimah-bore-the-brunt-of-internet-outrage-because-of-his-filibustering

It doesn’t surprise me that the government reneged on their promises – they have continuously done this across so many platforms, that the difficulty is in realising when they will actually tell the truth and stick by the agreed word and promises.

The article written above is clearly a white washing attempt to try and get them out of a hole that they have dug themselves into.  The comment by Of Independent Mind immediately following this article is succinct and factual, and shows how two faced our Prime Minister and her government are in relation to the proposed law to pardon ‘gay’ people who have been done an injustice due to society’s inability to accept them!

I ask you to read the following article and understand why it shouldn’t just be a pardon; pardoning is only a piece of paper, it does not adjust the lives and balance the lives of those men and women who have suffered unjustly for crimes that ‘are not crimes’!

Visit ‘Pride’ in Spain – You Won’t Regret It!

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Pride 01Pride in Spain – Always!!!

What is it like being gay in Spain? Well like any question of this ilk, it depends on what you are looking for; but for any Spaniard it means one thing – BEING PROUD TO BE A SPANIARD.  They have pride in their country and their culture. Some of the major cities have a thriving LGBT culture, with clubs and bars, and other venues, but most often you will find that in Spain being gay means you have to travel if you want to socialise. That is not to say you won’t find gay friends in the small towns and villages, but it is difficult unless you are using the internet and apps on your phone – and remember internet access can be expensive in Spain, but a lot of bars/restaurants/cafes offer free internet so the possibility is there.

The following cities run Pride events during the season:

Pride in Bendirom

barcelona-viewpoint

Indeed this year the Benidorm Tourist Foundation,  travelled to Stockholm, along with Turespana and the Valencian Tourism Agency for the Stockholm Pride 2016 LGBT Festival. The objectives of Visit Benidorm where two fold, firstly to promote Benidorm Pride, one of the resort’s most important LGBT assets; and secondly to demonstrate to Sweden’s gay community that Benidorm can offer year-round advantages including LGBT accommodation, beaches, food, sports and leisure opportunities.

 

Folk Gourmet Festival – Saturday 24thSeptember 2016

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Folk FestivalMostra Gastronomica Ciutat D’Oliva –

Macrotast – Folk Gourmet Festival

The second event of the festival was on Saturday evening, where on the Passeig you could enjoy tasting some of the best wines of the Oliva and Alforins – nine wineries in all.

Accompanying these wines were food samples of every description. The hosts in all the areas were amiable, happy and excited to show you their produce and let you sample whatever took your fancy, whether it be wine or food!

The event was characterised by the attendance of all age ranges, with families coming out onto the Passeig to mingle, find friends and just relax and be happy.

The entertainment apart from people watching, was provided by the Enric Peidro Quartet whose rendition of jazz classics certainly made me happy, and from what I could see brought out the best in all – some of the younger children as always danced, some just listened – but for most of the attending visitors to the event the music was a welcome bonus, which was unobtrusive but enjoyable.

 

The difficulty in going to such an event, is that making notes about what was available and what you drank is difficult; particularly as the tickets were 10 tickets for 8 Euros, and you only needed one ticket for a glass of wine or a small plate of food.

If the numbers that I saw attending are an indicator, then the event was a great success; and I hope that the sponsors and organisers feel the same and will come back again next year in 2017!