Orange Order stands by Fermanagh County Grand Master after 'homosexuality is wrong' remarks

22/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Stuart Brooker said that any gay members would ‘likely have to leave’

By Staff Reporter

PUBLISHED21/08/2015

The comments were made in an interview with Impartial Reporter journalist Rodney Edwards.

The Orange Order has backed Fermanagh County Grand Master Stuart Brooker after he said gay people could not join the organisation because “homosexuality is wrong”.

Speaking in an interview with The Impartial Reporter, Mr Brooker said any member that was gay would likely have to leave the organisation.
He was speaking following the publication of a good relations audit by the County Fermanagh Grand Lodge aimed at building community relations and awareness of the work of the organisation.
Asked for the Orange Order’s view on homosexuality, Mr Brooker told The Impartial Reporter: “We’re a Christian organisation and therefore we believe in what the Bible teaches.
“The Bible teaches that homosexuality is wrong.
“That doesn’t mean we are anti-homosexuals, LGBT people or that we hate people. I personally don’t agree, I believe homosexuality is wrong because the Bible teaches me it is wrong.”
Mr Brooker said the organisation had never had to deal with a gay person trying to join, however, he said the rules and regulations would not allow it.
“We are back to the teachings of the Bible again.”
And, while calling for “civil and religious liberty for all”, the prominent Orangeman was critical of some aspects of the Islamic faith, saying Muslims make “us feel like strangers in our own country”.
Mr Brooker has also shared posts on his personal Facebook profile from the extreme-right organisation, Britain First. However, he stressed he did not align himself with the organisation.
He added: “I wouldn’t be anti-anybody… I respect other people’s faith.”
On the Orange Order he added: “Many commentators call us anti-Catholic, but we are not anti-Catholic, we are pro-Protestant.
“We are a Christian organisation and we have Christian values and we must in inverted commas, ‘love everybody’ and show Christian charity.”
An Orange Order spokesman, in a statement, told the Belfast Telegraph: “The opinions were expressed during a wide-ranging interview, following the publication of a community audit commissioned by County Fermanagh Grand Orange Lodge with the intention of increasing understanding and good relations across the community.
“The remarks reflect the personal views of Mr Brooker. However, his viewpoint on certain issues would be shared by many within the Institution and others within wider society.”

Other items of interest:

Gay activist’s ‘King Billy was a homosexual’ claim sparks furore
Orange Order historian disputes gay rights campaigner Tatchell’s claim that King Billy was bisexual

Male Body Image

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave 2 Comments

We all have a body image. We all have feelings about the way we look. And we have ideas and feelings about how others think about our looks. Your overall body image can range from very positive to very negative. The fruitless quest for a “perfect” body isn’t unique to women, though based on the body image conversations we tend to hear, it’s easy to think so.

NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 5: Various men take part in a photo shoot aimed at showing that men can suffer from body image issues in New York on Wednesday August 5, 2015. (Photo by Damon Dahlen, Huffington Post) *** Local Caption ***

The Huffingtonpost Masculinity section

Rebecca Adams and Damon Dahlen have put together an interesting article having interviewed and phtographed 19 men abotu how they felt about their body, the good bits and the bad bits, and why we as men should be aware of the impact poor image has on us all.

The title of the article is:

19 Men Go Shirtless And Share Their Body Image Struggles

"I Love the Sinner" Is Often What Abusers Say

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Derek Penwell Author; Editor; Speaker; Activist

“I love her, but she’s got to learn right from wrong,” he said … after beating her half to death. And there she lies, one foot in this world and another in the next–but fully “loved.”
I imagine that’s what LGBTQ folks hear when yet another Christian says, “I love the sinner, but I hate the sin.”
Now, I can imagine that immediately upon reading the connection between those last two thoughts, cries of righteous indignation will rise as a chorus unto heaven. “We’re not abusers, simply because we hate what homosexuals do with their private parts. We’ve never actually, physically struck a gay person because of their gayness.”
Hmmm … Maybe not, I don’t know you. In fact, I’m perfectly willing to believe you’re not part of a roving band of homo/transphobes out trolling the streets for fresh bodies on which to work out your frustrations with the dismal state of America’s godless culture. Nevertheless, I don’t think that gets you off the hook for the violence that is done in the name of your religious commitments for two important reasons.
First, when you fight against anti-bullying laws written to keep LGBTQ kids safe from being abused, you are propping up a system of violence that steals the dignity, and often the lives of those children you say you love. If a gay or trans kid commits suicide because you want to retain the right to loudly and repeatedly announce to the world your moral disapprobation, giving energy to a system dedicated to never letting LGBTQ kids forget that they are sinful aberrations for which the fires of hell are regularly stoked hotter, you bear some responsibility for their death. When LGBTQ kids get beaten, when they’re kicked out of their homes and forced to live on the streets and struggle to do some of the despicable things they have to do to stay alive, you may not be raising a hand against them, but you’re certainly massaging the muscles that do the damage. When you support a vision of the world in which LGBTQ people daily have to live in fear for their livelihoods, their homes, their right to a peaceful and flourishing existence just so you can proudly announce your doctrinal purity and your commitment to a world where only your religious beliefs matter, you may not be drawing anyone’s actual blood–but don’t kid yourself that there’s not blood on your hands.
Second, physical violence isn’t the only kind of violence. The abuse that takes place in families, for instance, is often not physical abuse. You can lay claim to having never physically harmed a person, while at the same time being guilty of killing that person’s soul. As anyone who’s suffered abuse by an abuser who claims to love them can tell you, some of the worst things that can be done to you have to do with being humiliated, devalued, dehumanized, made to feel alone and crazy. For how many years, for instance, did we gaslight LGBTQ people, making homosexuality a mental disorder? [Answer: Even though homosexuality was removed from the DSM-II as a disease in 1973, it wasn’t until 1987 that it was completely removed as a disorder, “ego-dystonic sexual orientation,” from the DSM. In other words: “Gay people are crazy or, at least aberrant” gave shape to the world we now inhabit.]
Take a casual glance at a list of behaviors considered emotionally abusive in personal relationships; then, read that same list through the eyes of someone who is LGBTQ, and try to persuade them they’re not victims of “loving” abuse. As one of my favorite theologians, Fred Craddock, said, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words … can kill me.”
Now, someone might object: “We really do love them. We just think what they’re doing is wrong.”
Fine. The problem is that if you talk to many abusers, they will say the same thing … and mean every word of it. Punching someone in the mouth because you “love” her and “want to correct” her, can’t help but be heard by the person being so punched as a blatant form of patriarchy (i.e., I know better than you do what’s appropriately “not sinful”; you’re just going to have to trust that I have your best interests at heart), or as a way of justifying the hatred and violence of the puncher, or simply as a cynical lie. Whatever the case, your attempts at “loving” the object of your disapproval always seem to come off as a self-righteous assertion of your moral superiority (at best), or downright antipathy (at worst).
Let me see if I can make this any clearer (and I know it doesn’t feel good): Participating in a system that belittles, punishes and commits violence against those who are often in the weakest position to defend themselves, frames you as an abuser in the eyes of those whom you claim only to be trying to love.
Here someone might wonder: “But how can they not know I love them? I said I love them, didn’t I?”
That’s the whole point. Saying you love someone as you punch them in the mouth, or standing by (while cheering or remaining silent) while somebody else punches them in the mouth or loudly fighting for laws that will continue making punching them in the mouth legal in the name of “religious freedom” isn’t love.
A cursory reading of the Gospels suggests that, for those of us who follow Jesus, loveisn’t the perpetual need to make everyone else conform to our understanding of righteousness; it’s the merciful realization that Jesus has freed us from the responsibility of thinking that’s even our job.

Gay film pioneers remember a new use for piano wire!

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By Paul: Gay History

Falcon Studios | 15171
Out have looked back 40 years to the founding of the US gay video industry, where studios like Falcon began producing sex material for the burgeoning gay market, first with pictures and magazines, and then venturing into video production. Four key players at the time were Vaughn Kincey, Jack Dufault, Jim Hodges, and Chuck Holmes, who worked under the pseudonyms of John Summers, Matt Sterling, John Travis, and Bill Clayton. Chuck Holmes, Jim Hodges and Vaugh Kincey founded Falcon Studios, and went on to become the most commercially successful of the four men.

Jim Hodges (“John Travis,” co-founder Falcon Studios): I was probably one of the first in the business. Bob Mizer [publisher of [of Physique Pictorial] was down here on West 11th Street in Los Angeles. We were shooting posing straps. And then it went from posing straps to ‘soft’ nudes [with flaccid penises]. And then it went from ‘soft’ nudes to piano wire holding the penis back — but hard so it would stay down, not go up. It was a lot of magazine publishing back then. That is really where it all started.

In the US, the sale or exhibition of “porn” — actual sex on film — was illegal. In 1969, San Francisco became the first city in the US to allow porn to screen in theaters, and the business flourished, leading the New York Times to proclaim it the “Smut Capital of the United States” in 1970. Demand for hardcore product increased nationally (and internationally), and much was produced in San Francisco.
http://www.out.com/entertainment/2015/7/08/few-good-men-oral-history-early-gay-porn

Belfast Pride 2015: sea of colour and party atmosphere as parade gets underway

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Thousands of participants and supporters take part in the 25th annual Belfast Pride parade on August 1, 2015 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Thousands of people joined in the fun of the 25th annual Pride parade in Belfast on Saturday.

Organisers said they expect a bigger turnout than usual at the parade following the Yes vote in the Republic’s referendum on same-sex marriage and subsequent push for marriage equality in Northern Ireland.
Belfast Pride website says the organisers wanted the even to be “a big, positive celebration of the 25th anniversary of Belfast Pride as well a celebration of our community and our place in the city”.
Meanwhile a small group of protesters clutching placards displaying Bible verses gathered at Belfast City Hall in opposition to the event.
View photos from the event in the gallery above.

Greg Louganis On How His Life Has Changed for the Better

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

With the documentary about his hardships debuting on HBO, the Olympic athlete reflects on downsizing his life and finding happiness.

BY JERRY PORTWOOD

AUGUST 03 2015 3:35 PM EDT

The documentary Greg Louganis: Back on Board was a hit at festivals a year ago, but with its debut on HBO Sports this week, the heartbreaking story of one of America’s greatest athletes will finally reach millions of households who may not be aware of the diver’s ups and downs since he was in the spotlight.
Directed by Cheryl Furjanic and produced by Furjanic and Will Sweeney, the film about the four-time Olympic gold medalist comes at a pivotal time when acute attention is being paid to LGBT athletes, especially after Caitlyn Jenner came out as trans this year and the debut of the docuseries I Am Cait on E! is creating heightened trans awareness. The fact that some have questioned whether Jenner deserved her medals after the revelation, is a sore point for Louganis as well since people had tried to take his medals after coming out as HIV-positive. But it was Louganis’s husband, Johnny Chaillot who informed Louganis of the similarity.
“I had no idea since I don’t read my press,” Louganis explains, while sipping coffee in a Midtown New York City hotel with his dog Dobby at his feet. “I had competed in the ’88 Seoul Olympics while HIV-positive, and some people said I shouldn’t have been allowed in the country. I’m kind of glad I didn’t know it, but it made me think: How can you deny somebody, especially a physical achievement like that? You can’t take that performance away. It stands on its own.”
Chaillot and Louganis were married in California in the fall of 2013 — and it’s a happy turning point included in the film — and since then, Chaillot has helped Louganis get many of his affairs in order and donated a trove of memorabilia to the National LGBT Museum, which plans to open its doors in New York City in 2019. “They now have the largest collection of Greg Louganis memorabilia collection in the world,” Chaillot says. “Hopefully they are going to do a preview of Greg’s stuff since next year since it’s an Olympic year. We kept some of the bigger items” — including medals from each of the Olympics — “But we donated items like Speedos he wore in competitions and the 1988 sweater he wore in Seoul, so these things would be in a place where the whole world can see them.”
Since the film begins with Louganis in dire financial straits and about to lose his Malibu home, we wanted to know how his life has changed since the filming took place and find out where he’s living these days.
Out: Was it odd that the film starts with you and the house and your financial situation?
Greg Louganis: When I first saw it, I got a little nervous. I think it was important to tell the story because it wasn’t unique: This was happening across the country with loans and the 2006 black mold scare. I know how empowering it can be to know that someone else has been through that. I think it was an important story to tell within the documentary. But we sold the house last year. It was kind of bittersweet, I lived there 29 years. But now we’re completely out of debt. I was able to pay my taxes, my loan, paid for our wedding. Now we have a whole new fresh start.

In many ways, the message of the film seems to be a cautionary tale for athletes and families of athletes to make them aware that you aren’t going to be “golden” your entire life.
Right. That’s why I wanted to talk about mentoring U.S. divers. It’s not just about getting to the Olympics and performing well at the games. What happens after? When you retire from your sport, you’re still pretty young and you almost lose your identity. To go through that process of: Now what do I do? I didn’t know what my passion was going to be. I’ve seen it with the other athletes, you reach a certain age, and you need something else to move to.
One of the more poignant lines from the documentary is when you explain that, having a coach who told you what to do, you never had to think about how to live your life. Do you have any advice for people who have that sort of relationship so it doesn’t necessarily translate into other parts of their lives?
My coach was trustworthy, and I trusted him. We were together for 10 years, so I trust him implicitly. I always knew he had my best interest at heart, but in the “real world” not everyone is trustworthy, so that was a real hard lesson for me to learn. I kept making the same mistakes again and again, but I needed to learn those lessons. I don’t have any regrets, but I would like, in an ideal world, for other athletes and performers and whomever would hear that and not make the same mistakes. Part of that is learning what questions to ask or doing the research, now that we have the Internet, you can look people up and do background checks.
SLIDESHOW: Champions: Heroes, Past and Present, Who Play For Our Team
One of the other details revealed in the doc that I didn’t know about: You never had a Wheaties box. I know it’s not the biggest accoldate, but I never realized that you were overlooked in that way.
You know what, I didn’t either until I was working with Cheryl on the documentary, and we were at the International Swimming Hall of Fame where they had all the Wheaties boxes lined up of all the aquatic athletes. It’s box after box after box, of some rather obscure names, and I’m going, “Oh my god, I am nowhere in that group.”
What did that feel like to realize that oversight?
Well that first came out with the book in ’95. I thought, Oh yeah, whatever. I didn’t really know the significance of it until we started working on Back on Board and I saw all the boxes and realized, I’m not there. That was the first time it really struck me what the significance of that was. I realized why people were upset.
But two of the reasons you thought were that there were rumors that you were gay or you felt you weren’t “All-American” enough. But that made me think about people wondering if that would affect Caitlyn Jenner in some way: Would Wheaties do something now that she came out as transgender or would the OIC take away her medals?
I marched in the opening ceremonies with Bruce in 1976. I was on the Tour of Champions with Medco, and they always put me with Bruce and Mark [Spitz], and between the two of them I couldn’t get a word in edgewise. I know these people. Then the whole Kardashian thing. I don’t watch TV so I don’t know, I haven’t seen the show.
I wasn’t sharing the Caitlyn sensationalism angle, but I read about trans-exploitation, a term I had heard before, and discussed it with Johnny and what the implications can be. So that was news to me. I did Larry Kramer’s Just Say No with Alexandra Billings, and Alexandra taught me so much about her journey transitioning. That’s been my education. The thing about it is we talk about the LGBT community, but we’re really not informed as a community. I know a lot about the G, and I have wonderful relations with the L in LGBT, but the B, I’m not quite as sure, but I have a better sensitivity to it by viewing sexuality as much more fluid. But I knew nothing about the T in LGBT, so to do that show with Alexandra, I had an education and how to talk respectfully. It’s almost like learning a whole new language. Also, RuPaul is a friend. And RuPaul, he or she, it’s whatever I’m dressed as, that’s how you address me.
Personally, I kind of bristle with the whole “girlfriend” and “she” thing. Someone called me “Oh, girl” or “her” or something like that. And I said, “Excuse me?” I said I’m a man and I’m proud to be a man. I appreciate camp and there’s a time and a place for that but to somebody you don’t know, it can be rather inappropriate.
RELATED | VOWS: Greg Louganis & Johnny Chaillot
One of the happiest moments takes place after we see you selling off your memorabilia and medals to save your house, and then you meet Johnny, and you find happiness. Was that something you think the filmmakers were looking for?
I wasn’t in the editing process at all. I relinquished all the creative control, but having built that relationship with Cheryl, she was like my therapist who I would go to. And the crew, too. They lived with us through this, too. One of the crewmembers was going through the same thing I was going through. I just reconnected with him recently and I found out he was also able to get out of the debt and sell his house and he’s moved on.
Now Johnny and I are very cautious about her finances. We’re living well within our means so we can put money aside. We know where we’re at right now is temporary [Chaillot’s one-bedroom Beverly Hills apartment, which he describes as cramped, but “very Gloria Swanson.] It’s affordable and we don’t have to worry where the next job is coming from. We don’t have that pressure. With that lifted, it enables us to have much more freedom.

Links:

Greg Louganis – 30 Years Later: The Same Cereal Box, a New Perspective

Why you should have sex with anyone you like

21/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

BY FLORENCE WALKER 20 AUGUST 15

How can this be put delicately? A hole is a hole is a hole. Alright, maybe that wasn’t so delicate, but the mechanics of sex are pretty basic. Put Monsieur Le Grand Saucisson inside something, move it backwards and forwards a bit and, “hey presto!” Unfortunately, our big human brains tend to complicate even of the most simple of actions.
Historically, we imposed rules on our sexual behaviour and then started categorising our behaviour as identities. Suddenly, the act of using a hole belonging to a man made you “homosexual” or possibly “bisexual”. Today we have a plethora of identities relating to sexual activities and we define and judge each other using these arbitrary labels. With the increasingly popular view that sexuality is fluid, when will we finally stop trying to label others and ourselves? Let’s have a look at some examples of different attitudes to sexual identities around the world to try and find out…

Ka-Man Sutra
In India, many sects of Hinduism see so-called homosexual acts as just one of the many diverse ways that love can be expressed to attain “moksha”, a state of mind required to break the cycle of reincarnation. The Hindu texts mention sex acts can take place between men or women who are friends and trust each other. Oral sex is emphasised and penetration with artificial phalluses is also suggested. These acts do not define the practitioners as homosexual or as defying the order of nature, they are carried out between people as friends rather than homosexuals. A beautiful catch-all phrase embraced by ancient-Greek scholars for such unions is that of “lover”.
Despite all that, homosexuality was made illegal in India in 2009, a country where 80 per cent of the population identify themselves as Hindu, a religion where homosexual acts are not necessarily problematic. The specific act is Section 377 of India’s penal code, which forbids “sex against the order of nature”, which is interpreted as gay sex, with a possible sentence of 10 years in prison. The law dates back to the days of British colonial rule in India. Unsurprisingly, Section 377 has been met with strong opposition.
He’s got your back
The Sacred Band of Thebes was an elite fighting force of 150 same-sex male lovers who fought in the Theban Army in the 4th century BC. At the time, to die for your lover was considered a noble and honourable death. It was believed that the love between fighting couples made them fight harder to protect each other. Usually there was an age difference between pairs which created an imbalance of power in the pairing so one would take the role of the “lover” (ἐραστής) and the other the “beloved” (ἐρώμενος). The receiver (or bottom, in modern parlance) was the more effeminate position. Although when you’re a fighting soldier carrying a great big sword it’s difficult to understand exactly what’s so effeminate about him.
Even sex between men in Ancient Greece didn’t entirely avoid definitions of the “natural” order. Sex was still very much understood as sex between men and women, but sex between men and men wasn’t frowned upon. Does this mean “homosexuals” were accepted within Greek society? Not really, but only because the idea of “homosexuality” hadn’t been invented yet. It just wasn’t a thing.
Straight as a row of tents
We have to jump forward a couple of millennia before we see any kind of widespread definition of homosexuality, and we have 18th century psychoanalyst and category-fanatic Richard von Krafft-Ebing to thank for that. Before Krafft-Ebing, the terms “homosexual” and “heterosexual” didn’t exist. These terms have caused Western cultures all sorts of issues because of their presentation as “unnatural” and “natural”, respectively. Jane Ward in her book Not Gay: Sex between Straight Men pulls together case studies from around the USA to piece together an argument which shows that men having sex with men does not make them homosexual per se. Male-on-male sex in many cases is functional, with no romantic leaning. It can relieve sexual frustration and even build a stronger heterosexual identity.
Straight metal jacket?
One of Ward’s primary examples of this is “hazing”, a set of rituals used in the US military (and elsewhere) to test the limits of new recruits, with activities including anal penetration by other soldiers. While the acts would clearly seem sexual to outsiders, by subjecting themselves to acts in a setting where they are understood as undesirable, their heterosexual identities are reinforced. The rituals are meant to be embarrassing and demeaning. By pushing boundaries and breaking taboos, friendships are forged and cemented. This example neatly shows how our imposed definitions of sexual activity can create behaviour in humans which defy all logic. By behaving this way, the soldiers can reinvigorate their masculine standing while alienating people who are actually attracted to members of the same sex, all at the same time. Genius!
Go with the flow
In recent years, there’s been increasing acceptance of the idea that sexuality is genetically determined, but really the only thing that’s genetically determined is which type of sex organs we’re born with. There is no way of measuring how “straight” or “gay” anyone is, and any attempt to ring-fence behaviour according to such logic runs the risk of attributing non-existent morality to them and causing unnecessary distress and confusion. There’s nothing defined in nature that tells us what to do with our sexual organs, only what we see or hear other people do. It’s this realisation that human behaviour is so varied and complex that makes the term “sexual fluidity” such a happy compromise. Sexuality can’t be explained, only experienced.
If you do want to try things out: be safe, be kind, wear a condom, and don’t fear labelling yourself. You’re only human after all.

DEPRESSION CRISIS: One Quarter Of Gay Men Surveyed Tried Committing Suicide

20/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By The Gay UK, Aug 6 2015 01:32PM

Shocking new statistics from GMFA’s FS magazine show that nearly one quarter of gay men who have suffered from depression have tried to kill themselves.

File photo: (C) kwest /depositphotos

A startling survey in the latest issue of FS magazine uncovers the true extent of the affects of depression on gay men. Around 600 men, who identified that they had or were suffering from depression, were asked if they had tried to commit suicide and around 24%, nearly one quarter, said they had, that number increased to over half when asked if they had had suicidal thoughts.
Around 54% of gay men surveyed said that they had consider ending their lives, with self esteem being the biggest contributor to their thoughts.
For those men living with HIV, 66% identified their diagnosis as the leading cause of depression and suicidal thoughts.
Simon, 36 from Oxford, is one of the many HIV-positive gay men who responded. He says: “I was diagnosed with HIV in January 2012. I was having lots of risky sex and I knew eventually it would happen but didn’t really care. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed that reality set in. I wasn’t ready for it and became depressed. It affected my job. It affected my social life and I became a recluse.”
Anthony is 26 and from London. He told FS that after his diagnosis he couldn’t handle it. He said: “About three months after I was told I was HIV-positive I tried to overdose. I didn’t cope at all with being told I had the virus. I thought my life was over and suicide was the best option. Luckily my attempt failed.”

CREDIT: FS MAGAZINE

When asked, what were the main reasons HIV-positive gay men felt suicidal or why they attempted suicide, 66% said ‘Living with HIV’ was the main issue with ‘Low self-esteem (60%) and relationship issues (39%).
“HIV remains one of the most stigmatised of all health conditions,” says Matthew Hodson, Chief Executive of GMFA. “Rates of depression among gay men with HIV are twice as high as they are among other gay men, affecting about one in every four men. And depression in men with HIV can lead to poor adherence, which can have a major impact on their physical health as well.
“Depression also has an impact on someone’s likelihood of becoming HIV-positive,” adds Matthew. “A recent study showed that men with depressive symptoms were more likely to have unprotected sex, and to have unprotected sex with several partners. Tackling the mental health challenges faced by gay men is crucial if we are going to reduce the high levels of sexual risk-taking and high incidence of HIV in our community.”
Ian adds: “Gay men are just as likely to face the same everyday struggles straight people face on a day-to-day basis with the added pressure of their sexuality. For HIV-positive gay men the issues they faced were greater due to their diagnosis. The gay men in our new issue wanted to share their stories in a bid to help other gay men realise that they are not alone. The first thing to do when trying to fix a problem is admitting you have one. So, hello gay people… we have a problem.”Last year helpline charity Samaritans revealed that 1 in ten male callers were worried about their sexuality.The new issue of FS magazine can be read online for free by going to: www.fsmag.org.uk
If you’d like support Please call 08457 90 90 90 (UK) 1850 60 90 90 (ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of the nearest branch.
Or phone Switchboard on 0330 330 0630

No evidence that migrants are lying about their sexuality to get into the UK

20/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

It’s ‘nonsense’

The Daily Mail is reporting that posters are appearing in Calais informing migrants that they should lie about their sexuality to gain asylum in the UK.
The paper is claiming that a ‘how-to’ guide has been glued to the entrance of the migrant camp named ‘The Jungle’ explaining in Arabic and English that : “Migrants are told to choose a ‘category’ which proves that their life is in danger in their homeland. Reasons given include ‘race and religion’ and ‘being gay in some countries’.”
Strangely the Mail has failed to provide any photographic evidence of this poster.
UK Lesbian & Gay Immigration Group, a charity dedicated to supporting, and advocating for the rights of, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people seeking asylum in the UK has responded to this story.
Paul Dillane their Executive Director said : “There is no significant evidence available that demonstrates people are lying about their sexuality in order to claim asylum let alone that they are successful in doing so. The idea that seeking asylum on those grounds is an easy option is nonsense.
“In fact, LGBT people face significant obstacles in navigating the complex and frequently unsympathetic UK asylum system. Many LGBT people who are at real risk of persecution have been wrongly refused refugee protection in the UK due to poor standards of Home Office decision-making.
“This story is a further distraction from the real issue at hand: the humanitarian needs of several thousand men, women and children, many of whom have fled war and persecution, and are living in squalor in the heart of Western Europe.”
“UKLGIG urges the government to demonstrate leadership and compassion in responding to the situation which exists in Calais and to advance the UK’s role in protecting those who seek asylum in this country and who are in need of assistance abroad.”
If you want more information about UKLGIG go to their website: uklgig.org.uk
Image Takver via Flikr
Words Iona McGregor – Nelson, @i0na95

Bus Driver calls Belfast Pride marchers 'bum-busters'

20/08/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Bus Driver calls Belfast Pride marchers ‘bum-busters’

He then defended his comments

A bus driver is being disciplined after he allegedly used homophobic slurs over an open radio channel during Belfast Pride.
The Translink bus driver is reported to have told his supervisor, on the company radio, that he couldn’t get his bus through the city’s streets because there were “too many bum-busters” in the road.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that the driver repeated the slur and then defended his comments to his supervisors, the other bus drivers who heard him on the radio and Translink passengers who were in his vehicle.
In a statement to the BBC, the bus operator apologised to its passengers and staff for the driver’s “offensive language”.
They said: “We take incidents of this nature very seriously and we expect all our staff to deal with their passengers and colleagues in a friendly, helpful and professional manner at all times.
“A full investigation has been carried out and appropriate action is being taken.”
John O’Doherty from the Rainbow Project spoke to BBC Radio Ulster’s The Stephen Nolan Show saying that this was the kind of “everyday homophobia” that “still exists within our society” and which “in many ways is tolerated”.
He went on to say: “It shouldn’t be tolerated in the workplace especially in relation to public employers but the reality is in too many places and too many parts of our society it is still acceptable.”
Image Belfast Pride Instagram
Words Iona McGregor – Nelson, @i0na95