Anti-Bullying & Homophobia Archives - Page 54 of 72

Irish gay couple turned down by multiple landlords

11/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Pink News

2^nd April 2015, 12:18 PM
Naith Payton

Ian Begley and Eric Wan have been looking for somewhere to live together for two months

House-hunting pair speak out about the constant struggle to find a place to live.
Ian Begley and Eric Wan are currently living with Mr Begley’s parents but are trying to find a place of their own.
Mr Begley points out that many factors are against them – “My boyfriend is a recent accounting graduate, he’s currently unemployed so it’s not the ideal situation to move out.” – but that they have been turned down on multiple occasions specifically because they are gay.
He told RTE 2FM: “We’ve been persistently looking, but we’ve been turned down countless times by landlords who say they don’t want to let gay couples into their home.
“The first time it was a Polish man. He seemed really nice, he was interested in getting to know who we are. On my way up he said, ‘Are you and your girlfriend going to be here anytime soon,’ I said I’m with my boyfriend. There was a pause, until he said, ‘You’re gay guys. Oh well, that changes everything. I won’t have gay people living in my house.’
“I’d be getting emails back saying we don’t let gay people into our house. A Moldavian landlord said, ‘You’re gay are you? I’m not sure if we can allow you. There’s a child in the house and I’m not sure what the parents would think about it. We’d have to get all occupants of the house together and have a vote about whether you can stay.’
“I ring up landlords and we have banter over the phone. Once I say I want to move in with my boyfriend, there’s always that long awkward silence, and an awkward laugh and then they say, ‘No unfortunately not, I don’t agree with the gay lifestyle, or we wouldn’t know what to expect.’”
“I’ve got it in writing several times. Yesterday, there was a man who emailed me back saying, ‘We don’t let gay people in here, didn’t you read the ad, we have a child.””
Mr Begley is a journalist, and he and Mr Wan have been together for 18 months – and have been house hunting for two of them. They say they spend all their free time looking for a place to live.
“I’m optimistic and confident we’ll get through it but its disheartening.”

Ulster University probe into academic’s anti-gay rant on Facebook

10/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Researcher brands homosexuality a ‘bizarre fetish’ in online debate on Ashers Bakery case

Republished from Belfast Telegraph BY DEBORAH MCALEESE – 09 APRIL 2015

Dr Mark Gilfillan stressed the remarks were his own personal views made during a “very limited online conversation”

The Ulster University has publicly distanced itself from one of its academics after he launched a scathing attack on homosexuality.

Dr Mark Gilfillan is now under investigation by the university after he used his Facebook account to describe homosexuality as a “bizarre fetish that has resulted in 72% of new cases of HIV”.
He also quoted from an article claiming to have found a “conclusive link” between homosexuality and “sexual predation targeting children”.
In a clear bid to distance itself from Dr Gilfillan’s comments the university said the views he expressed were “in no way supported by the university which prides itself on being inclusive and on welcoming staff and students of all backgrounds and beliefs.”
A spokeswoman for the university added: “This individual was commenting in a solely personal capacity and not as a university representative… the university is currently investigating the matter.”
Dr Gilfillan is a Research Associate in Irish Jewish History at the university. His main research area is British Jewish history in the late 19th and 20th centuries covering the social history of British Jewry, immigration issues and responses to the Jews.

According to his university profile he also has “strong interests in the Holocaust, the history of anti-Semitism, immigration and ethnicity in modern British history”.

In an email to the Belfast Telegraph last night Dr Gilfillan said that his contract with the university had expired at the time he made his comments.
He added that the remarks he made were his own personal views and stressed they had been made during a “very limited online conversation with a handful of participants”.
Dr Gilfillan made his comments during a public Facebook debate on the case of Ashers Bakery – the Christian-run business that refused to bake a cake promoting gay marriage because of their religious beliefs.
Outraged members of the gay community have described his views as “disturbing” and “deeply offensive”.
He began his comments by stating: “God or no God, there’s no such thing as homosexuality. Just a bizarre fetish that has resulted in 72% of new cases of HIV coming from the population group practicing this fetish even though they represent under 2% of the population at large.”

He added that gay culture “includes being applauded by morons while gyrating half naked in the presence of children during their equally bizarre parades”.

Dr Gilfillan then complained that “disgust” at homosexuality “is outlawed” and “called bigotry instead”.

“Why can’t one simply be disgusted by the practice, by hundreds of thousands of disease infected men, of a bizarre fetish, accompanied by a sick and oversexualised ‘culture’?” he asked.

He also quoted from an article claiming to have found a “conclusive link” between homosexuality and “sexual predation targeting children”.

“The only reason ‘gays’ are indulged in modern society is because we now worship minority status,” he went on to state.

He then added; “These people, and their fate, are tragic. They deserve sympathy. I see no reason why they should be encouraged, however, or indulged in their belief that their parody of marriage is valid.”

Dr Gilfillan was unavailable for comment when contacted by the Belfast Telegraph yesterday.

An online news and entertainment site that offers support to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community described the academic’s comments as “scathing and deeply offensive”.

They accused him of posting “a profoundly disturbing, horrifically homophobic analysis of the gay community” and said his “unhealthy beliefs and prejudices” are “worrying considering he is currently in a position of influence within the university”.

Profile

Dr Mark Gilfillan is a research associate in Irish Jewish History at the University of Ulster, where he graduated with a PhD in history in 2012. His main research area is British Jewish history in the late 19th and 20th centuries covering the social history of British Jewry, immigration issues and responses to the Jews. He also has strong interests in the Holocaust, the history of anti-Semitism, immigration and ethnicity in modern British history. Dr Gilfillan is also editor of the bulletin of the British Association for Jewish Studies.

Study Finds UK Gays, Lesbians Still Face Job Discrimination

10/04/2015 By ACOMSDave 1 Comment

Editorial: Job discrimination has for many minority areas, been a major problem. What is interesting from this study, is that parallels can now seem to be drawn with where discrimination use to happen between men and women when they were interviewed for jobs, and the man seemed to get the job even though the woman was equally if not better qualified. And the same thing also happened during the racial discrimination (indeed there may be evidence that both are still occurring).

But those of us who live in Northern Ireland, discrimination could become even more of a problem if the ‘Conscience Law’ is allowed to passed in Stormont.

We are now in election ‘fever’ time, and when the candidates come around your doorstep (if they even do) then make certain to ask them what their views on this law are, and how they will vote. Also ask them about other area of LGBT law and support, like for instance support for LGBT people in care homes.

If you don’t have the full picture on the candidate you are voting for, how can you make an informed decision.

Republished from Study Finds UK Gays, Lesbians Still Face Job Discrimination

By Rick Nauert PhD

A U.K. study finds that discrimination against gay and lesbian job seekers is commonplace within both private firms and the public sector.For the research, Dr. Nick Drydakis of Anglia Ruskin University studied 144 young people, all first-time job seekers, making 11,098 applications.

The study, published in the journal Human Relations, found that gay applicants of both sexes are five percent less likely to be offered a job interview than heterosexual applicants with comparable skills and experience.
The firms who offer interviews to gay male candidates pay an average salary of 2.0 percent less than those who invite heterosexuals for interview ($34,377 compared to $35,081). For lesbian women the average salary is 1.4 percent less ($33,628 compared to $34,131).
The discrimination was skewed by job sector. Gay men receive the fewest invitations for interviews in traditionally male-dominated occupations (accounting, banking, finance, and management jobs), whereas lesbians receive the fewest invitations for interviews in traditionally female-dominated occupations (social care, social services, and charity jobs).
In the accounting, banking, finance, and management sector, the study found 74 occasions when only the heterosexual candidate was offered an interview and not the gay male candidate with comparable skills and experience. There were no cases of only the gay male candidate being offered an interview.
Similarly, there were 63 examples when only heterosexual women were offered an interview in the social care, social services, and charity sector, but no examples of only the lesbian candidate being offered an interview.
The study was carried out with the help of 12 students’ unions at universities across Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Of the 2,312 students who volunteered for the study, Drydakis was able to match 72 students whose CVs mentioned having a prominent role in their university’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) society with 72 students whose skills and experiences were identical, but whose CV didn’t indicate their sexuality.
The participants were all third-year undergraduates, 21 years old, British nationals and unmarried. They were all predicted to achieve an upper second class degree (2:1).
In pairs, the 144 students applied for 5,549 jobs (11,098 separate applications) that had been advertised on 15 of the U.K.’s leading recruitment websites over a two-month period.
Drydakis comments: “Because of the limited research carried out so far into the experiences of gays and lesbians in the labor market, the disadvantages and discrimination they experience has gone unnoticed and therefore unchallenged.
“Despite measures to encourage openness and discourage discrimination, including the introduction of the Equality Act of 2010, it is evident from my research that gays and lesbians are encountering serious misconceptions and barriers in the job market.
“It is also clear that people who face biased treatment in the hiring process must spend more time and resources finding jobs, and firms lose potential talent as a result of biased hiring.”

Gay marriage to be recognized by largest Presbyterian Group

09/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

The change was approved by a majority of the church’s regional bodies – called presbyteries – on Tuesday following the recommendation of the Presbyterian General Assembly last year.
“With the positive vote on (the marriage amendment), our denomination steps forward into a new chapter – one that values our past journeys of faith, respects the importance of pastoral discretion in congregational matters, and yet offers to the world a compelling witness about how God’s grace is active in loving, mutual relationships,” the Rev. Randy Bush, pastor of East Liberty Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in a statement.
Tuesday’s vote changes the definition of marriage in the church’s constitution from “a man and a woman” to “two people, traditionally a man and a woman.”
This will allow gay couples to be married in congregations under the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church, though the change was clear to leave the decision to marry couples to the discretion of the officiant.
The Presbyterian Church has about 1.8 million members in 10,000 congregations and is among the largest Protestant denominations in the US.
The constitutional change comes as gay marriage has picked up unprecedented momentum in the US. Currently, 37 states allow gay marriage and 13 have banned it.

Cell Block Tango – Broadway Backwards 2015

06/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Published on 14 Mar 2015

Highlights from Broadway Backwards 2015 included Chicago’s “six merry murderesses” were represented in a sexy, all-male version of “Cell Block Tango” featuring Joshua Buscher-West, Marty Lawson, Alfie Parker Jr., Waldemar Quinones-Villanueva, Alex Ringler and Ryan Steele.

An exuberant, exhilarating and emotional evening of performances by Broadway’s best made for a poignant celebration of the 10th anniversary of Broadway Backwards.
The 2015 edition of the event, held March 9, raised a record $466,717 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center.
The sold-out show included 20 audience-pleasing numbers and multiple standing ovations for Tituss Burgess, Lena Hall, Florence Henderson, Norm Lewis, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Lillias White and more Broadway favorites, as well as a special appearance by 2014 Kennedy Center Honoree Lily Tomlin.
Broadway Backwards is the annual celebration where gays and lesbians see their stories told through the great songs of musical theatre, sung by their favorite Broadway performers.
This year’s fundraising total surpassed the previous record of $423,182, set last year. In its 10 editions, Broadway Backwards has raised more than $2.4 million for Broadway Cares and The Center.
Broadway Backwards creator Robert Bartley again directed and choreographed the show. Also returning were Mary-Mitchell Campbell as music supervisor and Tim Rosser as music director. Production Stage Manager Peter Lawrence led a team of 12 stage managers. Adam Roberts served as associate choreographer with lighting design by Ryan O’Gara and costume design by Bernadette Banner.
Broadway Backwards began as a grassroots concert performed at The Center in 2006. The event grew quickly, performing next Off-Broadway and subsequently in Broadway theatres.
Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, one of the nation’s leading nonprofit AIDS fundraising and grant-making organizations, produces a number of fundraising events throughout the year. From Gypsy of the Year to Easter Bonnet Competition, Broadway Backwards to Broadway Bares, Broadway Cares draws upon the talents and generousity of those in the theatre community to raise money for those in need.
Since 1988, BC/EFA has raised more than $250 million for essential services for people with AIDS and other critical illnesses across the United States. Broadway Cares awards annual grants to more than 450 AIDS and family service organizations nationwide and also is the major supporter of the social service programs at The Actors Fund, including the HIV/AIDS Initiative, the Phyllis Newman Women’s Health Initiative and the Al Hirschfeld Free Health Clinic.
Join us.
What we do together makes a difference.
broadwaycares.org
SUBSCRIBE NOW: youtube.com/BCEFAtv
broadwaycares.org
facebook.com/BCEFA
twitter.com/BCEFA
instagram.com/BCEFA

'Homophobic bullying is stubbornly pervasive in society,” says Welsh equality charity

04/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Wales Online: 16:18, 2 April 2015 By Liz Day
Stonewall Cymru is calling on people to contact their parliamentary candidates for support in challenging homophobic bullying and hate crime
Rainbow flag at RCT council offices in Clydach ValeRainbow flag at RCT council offices in Clydach Vale
One in three gay pupils in Wales have changed their plans for further education due to homophobic bullying, according to data from an equality charity.
In the run-up to the General Election, Stonewall Cymru is calling on its supporters to contact their local parliamentary candidates for support in challenging homophobic bullying and hate crime.
Work to be done
Charity director Andrew White said: “The progress made during recent parliaments is something to celebrate, but we’re acutely aware that LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) people still face bullying, discrimination and prejudice.”
According to the charity’s most recent research in Wales, 43% of primary school teachers said that their pupils had experienced homophobic bullying or name-calling.
Related: Wales’ schools failing to monitor homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying finds study
In secondary schools, this figure was even higher, with 89% of staff reporting that their pupils had experienced harassment for being gay, lesbian or bisexual.
‘Profoundly damaging’
Across the UK, the charity believes that 75,000 young people are being bullied for their sexual orientation, with more than half of LGBT pupils experiencing some form of bullying. According to the charity, the use of homophobic language in Welsh schools is “endemic.”
In Welsh primary schools, 61% of teachers reported hearing pupils use the expression “you’re so gay”, rising to 93% in secondary schools.
Related: General Election 2015: Head of Christian Party UK plans to stand as Parliamentary Prospective Candidate in Cardiff North
Stonewall says that bullying has a “profoundly damaging” impact on young people’s school experience, with three in five saying it impacts directly on their work.
With just over a month until the election, the charity has launched an equality manifesto, calling for developments such as measures to combat hate crime.
‘Bullying is stubbornly pervasive in society’

BullyingBullying
Mr White said: “Hate crime continues to be a miserable and under reported reality across Wales. Homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying is stubbornly pervasive in society.”
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, police in Wales recorded 270 incidents of hate crime against people on the grounds of sexual orientation in 2013-14. Welsh forces also recorded 47 hate crimes against transgender individuals over the same time period.
But the charity believes these figures are the “tip of the iceberg”, as many victims never report such crimes.
‘Equality must sit at the heart of the political agenda’
Chief executive Ruth Hunt said: “A lot has been achieved during this parliament, but the biggest risk now is that huge achievements in legal equality may result in complacency.
“Legal equality is not enough by itself, we need to encourage our candidates to help change hearts and minds in their communities in order to achieve social equality.”
Related: Revealed: The best places to work in Wales if you are gay
She added: “Equality must sit at the heart of the political agenda and we will call out any instances of homophobia, biphobia or transphobia that we see from any political party or candidate.
“Political parties should be thinking long and hard about how they can help us fight for a world where every LGBT person can be themselves, and be safe, every day.”

‘Homophobic bullying is stubbornly pervasive in society,” says Welsh equality charity

04/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard says he would 'love it' if a gay footballer came out

04/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

Editorial: LGBT people are part of life; there is no one sector in which they don’t exist. However, there are sectors of life in which they don’t feel comfortable on being ‘out’, or indeed welcomed. Football is one sport, but there are others. Strides have been made to make it more welcoming, with various campaigns led by individual clubs and also by the football association, but to date there is not ‘gay and out’ footballer playing in the Premier league. We do have some LGBT teams in lower divisions of course.

The Manchester City midfielder also told how he is enjoying life up north but admitted he will always consider himself a “Chelsea boy”

Frank Lampard runs with the ball — Hopeful: Lampard wants a gay player to come out

Frank Lampard says he hopes a gay footballer will come out soon and be “treated with respect” in the near future.
The Manchester City midfielder also told how he is enjoying life up north but will always consider himself a “Chelsea boy” because of his successful time at Stamford Bridge.
Lampard, 36, was asked about gay footballers on Channel 4’s Chatty Man when openly gay host Alan Carr insisted some Premier League footballers must be gay statistically.
Lampard replied: “We have had a couple come out afterwards. I think it is a fact they will be out there, they are in all lives and times, but we are at fault as a sport. It is that old syndrome where it is a man’s game and you can’t talk about that.
“I have to say the game is changing a lot, there are a lot of campaigns and I feel it in the dressing rooms. I would love it if someone came out and everyone treated it with respect.
“This silly thing that we are macho and we play football is very old hat.”

Frank Lampard holds up the Champions League trophy — Chelsea boy: Lampard was hugely successful at Stamford Bridge

Appearing on the show to promote his Frankie’s Magic Football children’s books,Lampard also spoke about his time at Chelsea.
He said the fans and staff at Manchester City had embraced him, but he added: “I had 13 years at Chelsea and I will always be a Chelsea boy because I played there and have so many memories.
“They decided I was moving on and at 35 you are not going to fight that. If they want you to move on you move on. Then Manchester City came in for me. it was too good to turn down.
“At 36 not many people get asked to play for the champions of England at the time for five months.
“I have got such a great relationship with the Chelsea fans. It hasn’t broken it.
“I still have my main house in Chelsea and I go back to London a lot, I hope I won’t ever lose that, I don’t think I will.”

Jose Mourinho on the touch line — Brilliant: Lampard hailed Mourinho

Asked about Jose Mourinho as a manager, he added: “He is brilliant. If you wanted to bottle a manager and get all the good bits in it, he has got them.
“I say that because he helped me in my career a huge amount. When he came I didn’t have that self confidence, I was 25, and he brought that out of me. And he does that with all the players he works with.
“He is very good at gauging a player and he knows if you need a b******ing he will give it to you individually or as a team on a day but if you need a little bit of love and niceness he does that as well.”

Frank admitted that he enjoyed celebrating his success with Chelsea, though his fiancee, TV presenter Christine Bleakley, did keep him in line.
He said: “Winning the champions league was the greatest acheivement. We celebrated on the pitch for an hour, we celebrated through the night and the next two or three days.
“And then I took it too far because about three or four days later I was on the sofa at home and I was struggling a little bit and Christine said ‘Frank, you need to stop celebrating this now. You need to get on with life!’.”

Going Stateside: Lampard will move to New York at the end of the Premier League season

Frank also said his recent trip to New York had been successful and he thought he and Christine had found an apartment to live in after spending two days searching for the right home.
Of the New York City fans, he said: “They did chant a lot, they are very game and very keen. They have started a new club and you know what Americans are like, they are very positive and behind their team.
“The game we watched was a funny game and they didn’t play particularly well but the fans were all behind them. If there was a shot from anywhere they get really excited.”
Frank also hinted he could go into TV work or management after he retires. He said: “I’m in the back end of my career, whether I stay in football, I don’t really know.
“I will maybe do my coaching badges, that is two years worth of work to maybe be a manager.
“But I am not sure if I will go down that route or certain other routes, a bit of TV maybe, everyone is lining up to do it, that punditry thing. It looks easy but it is not that easy.”

Chelsea legend Frank Lampard says he would ‘love it’ if a gay footballer came out

04/04/2015 By ACOMSDave 1 Comment

Editorial: LGBT people are part of life; there is no one sector in which they don’t exist. However, there are sectors of life in which they don’t feel comfortable on being ‘out’, or indeed welcomed. Football is one sport, but there are others. Strides have been made to make it more welcoming, with various campaigns led by individual clubs and also by the football association, but to date there is not ‘gay and out’ footballer playing in the Premier league. We do have some LGBT teams in lower divisions of course.

The Manchester City midfielder also told how he is enjoying life up north but admitted he will always consider himself a “Chelsea boy”

Meet the Boys of HOPE

04/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

GT Community

Meet the boys of HOPE

UK’s first gay rugby union team spread the love

Meet the Kings Cross Steelers. They are the UK’s first gay rugby union team.

With a big decline in voters since changes were made to the electoral register, the team have come together to encourage you all to register your vote and make our voice a the LGBT community count.
With their campaign HOPE not hate – the group are hoping they can convince you to make the effort to register, vote and make your voice count.
The deadline to register your vote for this year is 20 April.
HOPE not hate is the UK’s leading anti-racism and anti-extremism campaign and has been promoting the power of voting since the beginning of March.

More information on the team and their work can be found here.
Reprinted from Gay Times: Words William J Connolly, @wjconnolly