ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

Scrapping Human Rights Act ‘would breach Good Friday agreement’

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Republished from The Guardian –

Ireland correspondent

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

Theresa Villiers

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.

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

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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.

Simon Hamilton appointed Northern Ireland’s health minister in DUP reshuffle

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repritned from Belfast Telegraph – 11 May 2015

DUP leader Peter Robinson has appointed MLA Simon Hamilton as Northern Ireland’s health minister.


The former Stormont finance minister replaces Jim Wells, who stepped down to care for his sick wife after sparking controversy with comments about gay marriage.
The appointment was announced as part of a major reshuffle of the DUP’s ministerial team at the Assembly.
Mr Robinson made the announcements via Twitter.
Mr Hamilton said: “I look forward to getting to grips with the challenges over the next number of days.
“Even though it is a new beat for me I am well aware of the challenges.”
Jim Wells resigned last month following a public outcry over comments allegedly linking gay marriage to child abuse. He later apologised.
Video: DUP Reshuffle – Simon Hamilton appointed Northern Ireland’s health minister   He said: “I wanted to get the right people in the right positions and I believe I have done that.” Mr Wells announced his resignation two weeks ago saying he wanted to devote more time to caring for his wife who had suffered two strokes.
Video: DUP Reshuffle: Peter Robinson announces new Executive ministers
He had been facing calls to resign since the release of video footage in which he said the “facts show you certainly don’t bring a child up in a homosexual relationship”.
An alleged verbal altercation with a lesbian couple during an election canvass in his South Down constituency added further pressure.
The furore came at a time of intense scrutiny when the DUP was claiming the party could be ‘kingmakers’ in the event of a hung parliament and former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg branded the remarks “truly backward looking”.
Mr Hamilton, a Strangford MLA, has been an effective caretaker for the department of health for the past two weeks.
He added: “I am looking forward to getting to grips with what is a challenging department and a very challenging role, particularly focusing on Transforming Your Care and that agenda of reforming our health service so that it is fit for the challenges the years ahead present.
“I have enjoyed the last couple of weeks in looking after the department. It has certainly shown all the immense challenges that are there within the department and I am looking forward to getting my teeth into them.”
Meanwhile Mr Robinson confirmed that Mervyn Storey remains as the minister for the department of social development.
In addition, Jonathan Bell was appointed as minister of department of enterprise trade and investment.
He takes over from Arlene Foster who has taken up the role as finance minister – which was previously held by Simon Hamilton.
Michelle McIlveen takes over from Jonathan Bell as junior minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister.
Following the announcement of the reshuffle Justice Minister David Ford said Mr Hamilton must “bring change in attitude to equality issues” in his role as Health Minister.
Mr Ford said:  “I would like to congratulate Simon Hamilton on his appointment and wish him well during his term in office. However, if he wants to be judged differently to his two predecessors, it is vital that he brings a change in attitude to the Health Department.
“During his first week in office, he can immediately bring an end to his Department’s legal challenge on the lifetime ban on gay men donating blood and indicate his support for adoption by civil partners.”
He added: “Bringing in a new face will be meaningless if Simon Hamilton just continues with the same attitudes as his predecessors.”
In a statement the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry congratulated the news Ministers.
Chief Executive of NI Chamber, Ann McGregor said: “NI Chamber congratulates the new Ministers who are taking up the lead in DFP, DETI and Health Departments.
“DFP Minister Foster is well briefed on the business sectors priorities for the NI budget in particular the need to focus on corporation tax as well as investment in skills and infrastructure.
“Minister Foster was very strong in DETI and we encourage Minister Bell to continue to ensure that we have a pro- business, pro enterprise agenda. A focus on growing export is essential.
“Minister Hamilton with his DFP experience should bring a new focus to Health and his understanding of balancing challenging budgets should lead to improved efficiencies in Health.”

DUP reshuffle changes

Mervyn Storey remains as DSD Minister.
Jonathan Bell appointed Enterprise Minister.
Arlene Foster appointed as Finance Minister.
Simon Hamilton appointed as Health Minister.
Michelle McIlveen appointed as Junior Minister in the Office of the First and Deputy First Minister.
– See more at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/simon-hamilton-appointed-northern-irelands-health-minister-in-dup-reshuffle-31213105.html#sthash.P6lS8DQB.dpuf

Homophobic bullying in Lithuanian schools

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Almost a quarter of school bullying in Lithuania is homophobic

May 10, 2015 – The Lithuanian LGBT organization LGL has released a research on homophobic bullying in Lithuanian schools, which shows that almost a quarter of teachers (23.3%) said that verbal bullying is based on presumed or actual sexual orientation.
 

Key results

Some key findings include:

  • Only 10% of teachers said that non-heterosexual students are studying in their school.
  • One-third of teachers admit that they lack knowledge and experience in dealing with the issue of homophobic bullying in schools.
  • 79% of the students who responded to the survey faced bullying based on their sexual orientation in school.

To summarize, it can be said that the majority of teachers do not recognize the problem of homophobic bullying in schools.

Teachers are blind to challenges

Teachers seems to be quite unaware of homophobic bullying and homophobic language. The majority said that they very rarely notice homophobic bullying or are not aware of such incidents at their school. This is in contradiction with heir statement that 23% of bullying is related to sexual orientation. It is alarming fact that almost half of surveyed teachers felt that there is no need to deal with homophobic bullying because there is no such problem at their schools.
Slightly less than one-fifth of teachers support the disclosure of sexual orientation at their school. More than half of teachers believe that school is not the place to talk about one’s (homo)sexual orientation. Such an approach does not allow students to feel safe enough to be themselves at school.
== Censorship law aggravates problems ==
Almost one-fifth of the teachers beliefs the issue of homophobic bullying is complicated by the political situation regarding LGBT people in Lithuania. The Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information was adopted in 2010. This law forbids any positive information about LGBT people in the public sphere. Meanwhile, stereotypes and hostile attitudes are not forbidden and are freely disseminated in the media.

Recommendations

LGL makes several recommendations:

  • Raise teachers’ awareness of the fact that there are LGBT young people and students in their schools and that they face bullying and harassment
  • Educate teachers on how to provide support to these young people
  • Incorporate homophobic bullying into the general anti-bullying program
  • Ensure that sexual education is taught in school
  • Create support and informational systems for students

Source: ILGA Europe

Doctors’ group supports LGBT-inclusive policies, same-sex marriage

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Reuters – Health | Mon May 11, 2015 11:22pm BST BY ANDREW M. SEAMAN
 
(Reuters Health) – – The largest group of internal medicine doctors in the U.S. came out Monday in support of policies it says will improve the health of the country’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people.
Those policies include support for civil marriage rights for same-sex couples, opposition to so-called conversion or reparative therapy and support for health insurance plans that include comprehensive transgender healthcare services.
“The LGBT community deserves the same high quality care that any community in the United States should be getting, but may not be getting,” said Dr. Wayne J. Riley, president of the American College of Physicians.
A new policy position paper from the college, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, is the result of more than a year of work, Riley told Reuters Health.
“It’s based upon our long standing policy in regard to eliminating healthcare disparities,” said Riley, who is also a clinical professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville.
The LGBT community faces similar health concerns as the rest of the population, according to the organization in its paper, but some disparities may be worse among LGBT people.
For example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that some 1.1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. About one case in six is undiagnosed.
While the CDC says only about 4 percent of U.S. men are gay or bisexual, they represent about two-thirds of the country’s new infections.
Also, the American College of Physicians writes that lesbian and bisexual women are less likely to be screened for breast or cervical cancer, compared to heterosexual women.
A separate paper in the same issue of the journal reports that lesbian girls and women are less likely to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, which helps prevent cervical cancer.
The position paper identifies nine policy positions the organization supports. For example, it says that gender identity, which is different than sexual orientation, be included in nondiscrimination and antiharassment policies.
Also, the organization says health insurance plans should include comprehensive transgender healthcare services and provide all services to transgender people as they would to others.
“It focuses in on making sure that transgender individuals can access the appropriate level of healthcare services to provide them with the opportunities that you or I and anybody else has with health and wellness,” Riley said.
The paper also comes out against the use of so-called conversion or reparative therapy, which has been banned by an increasing number of U.S. states.
“We agree conversion therapy is not a wise use of healthcare resources,” Riley said.
The organization also supports civil marriage rights for same-sex couples. Denying those rights has a negative impact on physical and mental health, and contributes to stigma and discrimination, it says.
The top editors of the New England Journal of Medicine also urged the U.S. Supreme Court to require “the full recognition of same-sex marriage,” in a recent editorial.
“It’s important, because we know from our members that simple things like hospital visitation and participation in the care of LGBT patients has e problem around the country,” Riley said.
The quality of healthcare should be consistently provided for all population groups, he said.
“This speaks to the fact that the nation’s largest specialty society comes down on the side of health equity for all,” he added.
SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, online May 11, 2015.

John Whittingdale, who has voted strongly against gay rights, elected as UK culture secretary

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 Reprinted from  | BY JOE MORGAN

He voted against gay marriage and lowering the age of consent for LGBTI peopleUK Prime Minister David Cameron has elected John Whittingdale as the new culture secretary.
The former chair of the commons culture committee has voted strongly against gay rights, with him being one of the few to vote against same-sex marriage in England and Wales.
He also voted against lowering the age of consent for gay people back in 1998 and was against including sexual orientation in the Equality Act.
Whittingdale is just one of the new appointments made by Cameron in his new Conservative government following the UK General Election on Thursday (7 May).
His opposition will be out gay MP Chris Bryant, promoted to become Labour’s shadow culture secretary.
While he will not be in charge of LGBTI rights in particular, his influence could see the community getting less say in the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.
He is already expected to be in favor of being against the BBC license fee.
When he said he would be voting against same-sex marriage in England and Wales, he said he felt like it would cause ‘distress to many, particularly those with strong religious beliefs’.
Nicky Morgan, who was chosen to be education secretary and women and equalities minister in the 2014 reshuffle, will keep her position. While she voted against same-sex marriage as well, she later said she was ‘proud‘ of the progress LGBTI equality has made in the UK.
Some were not happy with Whittingdale’s appointment, including Father Ted creator Graham Linehan.

– See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/john-whittingdale-who-has-voted-strongly-against-gay-rights-elected-uk-culture-secretary1105#sthash.E7bLERzT.dpuf

Catholics recognise equal rights for gay marriage

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Reprinted from Belfast Telegraph – 11 May 2015

Normally, when someone declares oneself a person of faith (in my case Catholic), the public – with justification – will make the presumption you are a staunch upholder of the status quo in society. However, such a presumption is not justified anymore.

Over the past 50 years, there has been a significant change occurring, especially within the Catholic Church.

This change is not seen among the hierarchy, but is very evident among the non-clerical lay people, who have decided to remain in their Church to demand reform. Very many Catholics, especially in the Western world, do not accept the traditional teachings of their Church and yet still insist they are true and loyal followers of Jesus Christ.
When the media reports that the Catholic Church – from the Pope down – is against marriage equality, it does not mean that such a view represents the totality of its members. Modern theology sees the Church not as a static, hierarchical power structure, but as the people of God in movement through history. There are leaders, of course, but they are out in front, exercising true leadership not, as in the past, demanding absolute obedience from their sheep-like followers. Catholics do not leave their self-autonomy and freedom of action at the door of their church when they enter it. At the heart of this new vision of the Church is the certainty that Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed a vision of an alternative society based on justice, equality and inclusivity.

As followers of the way of Jesus, we cannot accept an unjust society where between 5%-10% of citizens are marginalised when it comes to marriage equality, while the rest of their sisters and brothers can enjoy the full exercise of their constitutional right to marry.

When gay people are denied marriage equality, it not only perpetuates an unjust society, but it also diminishes the dignity of those who refuse to recognise the rights of their gay and lesbian sisters and brothers.
BRENDAN BUTLER
By email
– See more at: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/letters/catholics-recognise-equal-rights-for-gay-marriage-31207385.html#sthash.Uq99ySpc.dpuf

Project Homophobia Celebrates Two Years

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By The Gay UK, May 6 2015 08:01PM
Project Homophobia, which is celebrating two years since its release this week, is a short film about gay bullying and self-acceptance by Austrian filmmaker Gregor Schmidinger.
Homophobia, since its release on YouTube, has proved to be a  powerful haunting movie has become a viral sensation with nearly 3 million hits to date
An adolescent boy, who serves the Austrian Military Forces, experiences homosexual feelings towards one of his comrades. It’s their last night at the Austrian-Hungarian border, socially isolated and armed with loaded weapons.
https://www.facebook.com/ProjectHP
@RogerWalkerDack

Challenging Prejudice – Promoting Inclusion

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LGBT Awareness Week 2015 – Programme (2)LGBT Awareness Week 2015 - Programme (2)-page-001 (1)
Challenging Prejudice – Promoting Inclusion
The theme of the week is Challenging Prejudice – Promoting Inclusion, and as part of the week of events the Newry Rainbow Community, in partnership with Changing Attitude Ireland and the Dominican Community of St. Catherine’s Newry are delighted to be hosting a night of sacred music, song and reflection, including scripture readings, followed by a social reception in the adjoining Church Hall.
This will take place in St. Catherine’s Church, Dominic Street, Newry this coming Sunday 17th May commencing at 7:30pm.
This will be an up-lifting, positive and affirming event providing a unique and positive opportunity to promote engagement, inclusivity and acceptance.
You are cordially extended an invitation to come along and participate in this event in St. Catherine’s and we look forward to welcoming you there.
LGBT awareness week is organised by The Rainbow Project, Here NI and Cara-Friend and runs from Monday 11th May to Sunday 17th May. A full list of events is detailed in the attached programme. (please circulate)
 
Regards,
 
Damian McKevitt
Secretary
Newry Rainbow Conmmunity

Gay Conversion Therapy hits the headlines again!

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 Public meeting to be held on gay ‘conversion therapy’

Friday, May 08, 2015
By Fiachra Ó Cionnaith
Irish Examiner Reporter
A group which says people can change their sexuality through counselling and “gay conversion therapy” is set to hold a public meeting on the same-sex marriage referendum today, after claiming the national debate is mired in political “bias”.

Covenant Christian Fellowship church member Bill Hamilton said his “Yes or No, a faith perspective on issues concerning same-sex marriage” will be held to give full information to the public on how the “gay lifestyle” can be avoided.
The event was initially planned for the Pillo Hotel in Galway City before the facility cancelled the booking yesterday after being informed of potential protests due to the subject matter involved. However, Mr Hamilton — who describes himself as a Christian evangelist — said he is still planning on holding the question and answer session today once he finds a suitable location to hold the event.
The public meeting is due to hear from Mike Davidson, a director of the UK-based Core Issues Trust which claims counseling can change a person’s sexuality and that being gay is a choice.
Mr Davidson — who said he used to have unwanted feelings towards men but is now married with children — told the Irish Examiner he does not believe same sex marriage is “good for gays or anybody else” and that “politicians are using the position to gain political power”.
He said he wants to put forward a “reasoned” response to the “imposition of social engineering” through the referendum.
However, Equality Minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said while all views have a right to be heard “I believe most people will see through the argument”. News of the controversial event came as a raft of yes and no campaign launches and press briefings took place yesterday as the May 22 referendum draws closer.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Children’s Minister Dr James Reilly met with young gay and lesbian people at the Belong youth group in Dublin city centre, during which one member — Alison Kershaw— tearfully called for a yes vote in a comment Mr Kenny described as “powerful” and which was applauded by Dr Reilly.
Tánaiste Joan Burton also called for the country to be “on the right side of history” at a Labour yes equality event in Galway City.
With the no vote, the Iona Institute launching a video setting out its views and Independent senator Jim Walsh speaking in favour of a new group which has concerns over a lack of real debate.
Meanwhile, a presenter of RTÉ Pulse digital station LGBT programme, The Cosmo, has stood down from the role after claiming he has been put under pressure by management to ensure balance ahead of the referendum. Scott de Buitléir, who has presented the show as an unpaid volunteer since 2009, said in his personal blog: “I couldn’t bring myself to allow someone on an LGBT radio show saying why we shouldn’t be equal”.