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Posted by – 20/03/2015 – The OutMostarchibishop dublinDUBLIN’S ARCHBISHOP CRITICISES “UNCHRISTIAN, OBNOXIOUS” LANGUAGE OF ‘NO’ CAMP

THE ARCHBISHOP OF DUBLIN HAS CRITICISED THOSE ARGUING FOR A NO VOTE IN MAY’S MARRIAGE REFERENDUM, FOR USING “UNCHRISTIAN” LANGUAGE TOWARDS GAY AND LESBIAN PEOPLE.

 
At ‘The Teaching of the Church on Marriage Today‘ discussion last night, Archbishop of Dublin Dr Diarmuid Martin discussed marriage, family and children.
The Archbishop revealed that, in the lead-up to the referendum, he has received communication from No voters that is “not just intemperate but obnoxious, insulting and unchristian in regard to gay and lesbian people”.
At the talk, hosted by the Iona Institute, he warned those correspondents that using such language shows “that they have forgotten something essential about the Christian message”.
The Archbishop agrees with equality for gay people but does not agree with same-sex marriage. He said that achieving equality for gay and lesbian people does not mean that they should have equal marriage.
“There can be an ethic of equality, which is an ethic of recognising and respecting difference.”
Instead, Dr Martin suggested that an inclusive society could find ways in which gay people had their relationships recognised – without marriage – because heterosexual relationships are ‘unique’.
“I’m not saying that gay and lesbian people are unloving or that their love is somehow deficient compared to others, I am talking about a uniqueness in the male-female relationship,” he said.

The Archbishop also challenged the Children and Family Relationships Bill, as children are born biologically to one woman and one man.
“Even if it were possible to clone a child, that child would still bear the genetic imprint of a male and a female. Genetic parentage is not irrelevant,” he said.
He acknowledged, however, that people will rightly question why he can lecture on a theme about which he has no experience.
“I must be honest and say that I am also lacking in knowledge of more fundamental day-to-day realities of the sexual, marital or parental experiences in a family,” he said.
The Archbishop, earlier this month, refused to back the Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran following his controversial anti-gay comments, wherein he stated that gay parents of children are “not parents”.

Gay Parenting

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Dear Heather Barwick, Don’t Blame the Gay Community

Republished from Huffpost Gay Voices

Posted: Updated:
SIDNEYSWITZERMOMSONETIMEUSE
Gay community, I am also your daughter. My moms raised me from birth. The only dad I had was a sperm donor who was anonymous. I was raised in a wonderful family. The only ignorance I have faced was from those who felt a father is necessary in raising a child. I have worked for years educating the gay and straight community alike that my family structure is just as good for raising children as any other, so I feel the need to respond to Heather Barwick, a daughter of gay moms, who believes her family structure (my family structure) was detrimental to her upbringing.
In her article on The Federalist, Heather explains that her mom left her dad when she was 3. Not only does she openly admit that her father “wasn’t a great guy,” but she says that he abandoned her after the divorce, and that her mother’s new same-sex partner didn’t fill the spot of her father.
I want to first say that her feelings about her father are legitimate. However, they are not relevant to the argument that she needed a father in her upbringing. As with many children of divorced parents, she didn’t feel like the new replacement for her old parent was suitable. Regardless of gender, she wouldn’t have felt like the new person dating her mother would have been what she needed. What she felt she needed wasn’ta dad but her dad.
As for Heather’s mother, I do agree that she made a mistake in failing to consider her daughter’s feelings. But this has nothing to do with her sexual orientation. Heather was surrounded by negative man haters. She also had a mother who didn’t make her feel like she could talk about her feelings. Had her mother been heterosexual and acted this way, it would have been equally detrimental to her child. The environment her mother put her in, the people and attitudes she exposed her to, and her failure to acknowledge her child’s needs are likely the causes of her detriment.
At the age of 12, I joined a travel softball team. Having experienced hateful comments on a previous team, I asked my moms if it would be OK to keep the gay thing under wraps. Though they’d been out of the closet for nearly 20 years, they were full-heartedly supportive and gave me my time to “come out of the closet.” They admitted years later that they were secretly hurt by my wanting to hide them, but they knew that they had been given time to come out, so I should be given the same courtesy. They listened to their daughter’s insecurity about having gay parents and supported me. It wasn’t long until I got some self-confidence and stopped being upset by negative comments. I just needed some time and understanding parents.
When Heather’s mother and new same-sex partner made her feel like her feelings were wrong and she didn’t have a voice, it was not poor gay parenting. It was poor parenting, period.
Parents, gay and straight alike, parent poorly sometimes. Kids who come from heterosexual parents may have parents who, they feel, don’t listen to them. They may even have parents who are abusive. Heather had an experience with a messy divorce, a dad who left her, and less-than-adequate parenting that happened to be done by two women. She’s now seeing a great parent in her husband and assuming that his great parenting can only be done by a male.
Heather, you may be looking at your lovely family and think that your husband is an amazing father, and I’m sure he is. This doesn’t mean that you can discount my family structure because of the lack of structure you were raised in. There are plenty of dysfunctional families led by a mother and a father, and there are plenty of wonderful families led by single parents, grandparents, same-sex parents, etc.
I have no hole to fill. I am lucky to have two wonderful parents who love me. I don’t “desperately need a daddy,” because mine didn’t leave me. My parents support me and have surrounded me with a great community of LGBT and heterosexual people who are positive role models. There were no man haters in my community. My parents listen to my concerns and do their very best to help me. I have two loving parents who taught me about the ignorant people who will hold up those “Gods Hates Fags” signs and didn’t let me worry about it, because I was taught that those people were closed-minded, ignorant, full of hate, and in no way worth my tears. I was encouraged to be patient and educate, but not to be bothered by them. I have two parents who raised my two brothers and me as independent thinkers who have their own voices.
So please, Heather, in regard to your less-than-adequate upbringing, don’t play the “gay card.” Your parents may not have supported you, but do not put the blame on my family’s, or any other LGBT family’s, structure. Your family being dysfunctional had nothing to do with your mother being gay. It had everything to do with having a father, a mother and a stepmother who all failed you as parents in some way or another.
You are right in that there are hard topics that need to be talked about. Divorce is a hard topic. A parent leaving you is a hard topic. Being surrounded by negative role models is a hard topic. As a young girl, you were abandoned and raised in a negative, man-hating environment where you felt you couldn’t speak, but this does not give you the right to strike out at the gay community as a whole.
Talk about how your parents didn’t parent correctly to whatever excess you please, but do not make a blanket statement about gay parenting simply because your family is dysfunctional and an abandoned little girl inside you is hurt.
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OUTRAGE AT UK VISIT BY UGANDAN ANTI-GAY PENTECOSTAL REVEREND

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Reprinted from O-blog-dee-o-blog-da Blog

Simon preacher Ugandan banPlease sign the Petition below
By Melanie Nathan, March 18, 2015
A Pentecostal reverend, a major anti-gay protagonist, who called homosexuals evil, is set to speak at St James Church, Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, in the United Kingdom and activists are outraged.
The controversial preacher, Rev. Simon Peter Emiau,  General Superintendent of the Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG) in Uganda,  was a critical partner to the American homophobic Evangelical preachers such as Lou Engle and Scott Lively who led the anti-gay crusade in Uganda,  and now he will be speaking in the United Kingdom at St James Church on the 23 March 2015.

In 2001, Emiau complained of homosexuals  “invading Mbale District.” “Our cities have become like the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. There is a lot of immorality and homosexuals increasing in number even in our town, Mbale,” he said.

He encouraged  the Ugandan government and the people to fight the ‘vice’ before it was too late to control. And what followed his rhetoric was an escalation of anti-LGBT persecution, culminating in the call for the Kill The Gays Bill, its eventual passage, its invalidation and now further calls for the return of a similar Bill in the Uganda Legislature.
The crusade in which Emiau has participated caused incalculable damage and persecution, not only for Uganda’s gays, but also others around Africa, giving credence to the USA preachers who spewed the hate in the name of their brand of Christianity.
It is believed that Rev Emiau, with his Co preachers, did a lot of campaigning and lobbying to the president and MP’s as well as campaigning on radio and in church to actively lobby for the anti-gay law, which it is believed he continues to do at this time..
On 24 February 2014, President Museveni signed the AHA bill into law, toughening penalties for gay people.  It included life sentences for gay sex and same-sex marriage.
Soon after the Bill was signed Rev Simon Peter Emiau, Pastor Ssempa and other religious leaders held a rally in Uganda cheering the new law and exalting the lawmakers and President Museveni who ensured its full enactment. Thirty thousand people attended the rally, all supporters of this brand of Christianity.
While speaking at the event, Rev Simon Peter Emiau, representing three organizations of evangelical churches, compared Museveni’s stand for the Anti-Homosexuality Act to his “courage” in overthrowing the regimes that preceded him in power. “Your excellency demonstrated yet courage by signing this bill,” Emiau said.
And Quoting David Bahati (the Lawmaker who Sponsored the bill):

“Today, we come here again [to celebrate] sovereignty and freedom … [and] to take charge of our destiny. ~ Bahati.”

Rev. Simon Peter Emiau is fully aware that his actions have caused countless LGBTI people to go underground or into exile to escape the brutal persecution engendered by the call for such legislation and its ultimate passage. He is also aware that he has caused direct harm to health services needed for LGBTI people due to immobilized NGO’s and human rights defenders. This horrifying impact hurts all Ugandans.
Commenting on Rev. Simon Peter’s invitation to preach at St James Church in the UK, a gay man from Uganda Isaac Kawesi noted:

“This is totally an insult to the LGBTI community. I left Uganda because of people like Rev. Simon Peter who made my life a living hell. We will do whatever it takes to stop this man from preaching in England and if our effort fails, we are ready to hold a demo to show him and St James Church how unhappy we are”.

Rev. Simon Emiau, should be prevented from entering any Western Country that subscribes to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, least of all be given platform in a country which expounds equality and basic human rights for LGBT people. The United Kingdom sees many asylum seekers seeking refuge from Ugandan because of this man and the harm he has caused. Ban him now!
SIGN PETITION TO INDICATE YOUR OUTRAGE HERE.
Simon preacher Ugandan ban

Conscience clause: 'No anti-gay law' billboard tours Northern Ireland

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All-Out's billboard against the 'conscience clause' Bill

All-Out’s billboard against the ‘conscience clause’ Bill

Reprinted from Belfast Telegraph – 19 MARCH 2015

A huge pink billboard objecting to the DUP’s “conscience clause” Bill has been touring around Northern Ireland in an attempt to convince Paul Givan to drop his proposed legislation.

The van has been paid for by a crowdfunding campaign among people around the world, who believe the MLA is introducing an anti-gay law that will legalise discrimination.
Mr Givan Private Member’s Bill was sparked by a case involving Ashers Bakery, whose Christian owners rejected an order for a cake iced with a message supporting same-sex marriage.
Ashers is facing a court battle over its decision to refuse to make the cake. The Equality Commission, which has taken the case against the business on behalf of the customer whose order was declined, has alleged the bakery’s stance was in breach of equality legislation.
But Mr Givan said he believed this was wrong and wants the law to be “rebalanced”.
Last month, 230,000 people signed a petition by gay rights campaign group All Out against his Bill.
Following this, 900 members crowdfunded the billboard van – paying for it to drive around Belfast and in Paul Givan’s constituency, Lagan Valley.
It parked up outside Stormont, Titanic Belfast and St Anne’s Cathedral, displaying the message “230,000 say no anti-gay law in Northern Ireland”.
All Out co-founder Andre Banks said: “The DUP’s anti-gay amendment would make it legal for businesses to refuse to serve lesbian, gay and bi people, just because of who they love. 230,000 All Out members signed our petition to make it clear that this just isn’t OK.  Not in Northern Ireland – not anywhere.
“Hundreds of thousands of voices opposing the proposed anti-gay amendment were taken straight to politicians in Northern Ireland. More than 900 of us chipped in a small donation, so a giant billboard van with our message for equality could drive non-stop around Belfast and Paul Givan’s constituency, to push him to drop his anti-gay plan.”

What does the proposed bill mean?

  • Paul Givan says the focus of his Northern Ireland Freedom of Conscience Amendment Bill is “making space for rights that clash”. He says it aims to “make space for providers” and proposes that businesses may refuse a situation where they feel they are required to “endorse, promote or facilitate a same-sex sexual relationship in violation of his/her faith identity”.
  • For example, a Catholic adoption agency could refuse to place a child with a same-sex couple, a Muslim printer could refuse to print a book promoting same-sex sexual relationships and an evangelical photographer would not be required to choose between taking photographs at a civil partnership ceremony and losing their livelihood.
  • But, Mr Givan says, an evangelical grocer could not refuse to sell an apple to a gay man, or a Muslim printer could not refuse to print a brochure publicising coffee tables made by a lesbian cabinet maker.
  • The Rainbow Coalition, which supports gay rights, has claimed that under the Bill restaurants could deny a same-sex couple, a mortgage provider could deny a mortgage to a same-sex couple, and hoteliers could deny a room to a same sex couple as all could be seen as endorsing or facilitating same-sex relations.
  • The draft Bill has been published on the DUP website. The party is inviting responses about its contents to be submitted to its headquarters on Dundela Avenue in east Belfast. The consultation will close at 5pm on Friday, February 27.

All-Out's billboard against the 'conscience clause' Bill

All-Out’s billboard against the ‘conscience clause’ Bill


 
 

30 Years On, Miners Take Pride Again

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30 years on, miners take pride again,  with their first meeting immortalised on the silver screen, Welsh miners will be reunited tonight with their lesbian and gay supporters.
Twenty-seven members of Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners (LGSM), led by Mark Ashton, travelled from London to Onllwyn miners’ welfare hall on October 26 1984.
That night of “dancing in Dulais” sparked the famous solidarity story told in Bafta-winning blockbuster Pride…
 
 

 

LGSM activists return to Wales for another ‘dance in Dulais’

Reprinted from : The Morning Star
 
 Saturday 14th Mar 2015  posted by Luke James in Britain

…Many of the miners and LGSM members there from the outset will be among more than 250 people packed into a sold-out celebration at Onllwy’s Palace of Culture tonight.
The special event is being staged after both LGSM and the Neath, Dulais and Swansea Valleys Miners Support Group reformed in the wake of the film’s success.
Hywel Francis, the historian and local miners’ support group leader turned Labour MP, will launch a new edition of his book History on Our Side at the event.
Speaking to the Star yesterday he said: “It will be almost as if we were back 30 years ago.
“It’s a sense of reminding ourselves of the struggle and also renewal for the future.”
Pride was the catalyst for Dr Francis to take a fresh look at the consequences of the miners’ dispute in 1984-85.
He said that the “valuable alliance” built between miners and LGSM is part of the legacy that have helped coalfield communities endure in the face of industrial devastation.
“There were resources of hope that came out of that, including a tremendously strong sense of community and a sense of responsibility to one and other,” said the MP.
“That message, that eternal message, is still there and in that sense, despite the defeat, we feel that history is on our side.”
Pride actor Bronwen Lewis will join miners and their supporters, who are coming from across Britain and Europe, to attend the Onllwyn miners’ welfare hall tonight.
In a foreword for Dr Francis’s new book, LGSM secretary Mike Jackson describes his fateful first visit in 1984 “as one of the most memorable experiences of my life.”
He recalls: “As we walked through the double swing doors the level of the conversations dropped for a moment.
“Then someone started clapping and the rest followed.”

30 years on, miners take pride

File:Photo of plaque commemorating the life of Mark Ashton 02.jpg – Wikimedia Co

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Teaching our children that tolerance is everything

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New guidelines for teachers will help primary school pupils understand LGBT issues to prevent bullying by teaching tolerance

Reprinted from Independent.ie – Katherine Donnelly   PUBLISHED12/02/2015 | 02:30

Beating the bullies: Teacher Cecelia Gavigan from Balbriggan Educate Together NS with the new Respect guidelines on teaching primary pupils about LGBT issues and homophobia. Photo: Arthur Carron

Beating the bullies: Teacher Cecelia Gavigan from Balbriggan Educate Together NS with the new Respect guidelines on teaching primary pupils about LGBT issues and homophobia. Photo: Arthur Carron

The age of 12 is the most common age for children to become aware of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) identity, according to research published in Ireland in 2009.

Typically, it is the age of fifth and sixth class pupils but there has been a lack of formal support in Irish primary schools to help teachers to deal with such sexual or gender identity issues, and the related challenges of homophobic or transphobic bullying.
Both are what are known as identity-based bullying – homophobic bullying based on actual or perceived sexual orientation and transphobic bullying based on gender identity: a person’s internal feeling of being male or female, regardless of the sex listed on their birth certificate.
According to the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), identity-based bullying occurs in Irish primary schools and research shows a link between such bullying and negative personal and educational outcomes.
The recent controversy in Coláiste Eoin, a boys’ secondary school in south Dublin, which was forced to postpone a workshop on homophobic bullying run by an LGBT organisation, Shoutout, after parents raised concerns about pupils being singled out for not-attending, is an illustration of the sensitivities that surround such issues, even around teenage students.
Cecelia Gavigan, a teacher at Balbriggan Educate Together and a member of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation’s LGBT group, is crystal clear about the need to start the conversation about identity and related issues as early as junior infants, couched in a wider context of respecting diversity of all types and therefore teaching about tolerance.
“Some people would have said that dealing with identity is a secondary school issue, but the research shows that it is an issue for children before they go to secondary school.
“In infant classes we are not talking about LGBT, but we would focus on different forms of families and how all families love each other. That is the core message.”
On that theme, last year, the INTO made a poster available to schools on the many ­different forms of families, including step-parent families, lone-­parent families, foster and adoptive families, LGBT-headed families, and cohabiting couples with children.
The INTO LGBT group has been involved in ­shaping new guidelines to help ­primary teachers to create a climate where not only is ­bullying around issues such as ­homophobia not tolerated, but that it doesn’t arise in the first place.
A significant proportion of bullying is rooted in a lack of respect for difference and ­Respect is the name given to the new INTO guidelines for its 40,000-plus members, both in the Republic and Northern Ireland, to give practical effect to anti-bullying procedures for schools published by the Department of Education and Skills (DES) two years ago.
Coming 20 years after the previous such official ­advice, it was a long-overdue update.
Among other things, there is now an onus on schools to recognise cyberbullying and identity-based bullying and to be proactive in education and preventative strategies around them.
The INTO called in the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) to assist with its ­guidelines and the union’s LGBT group came on board to offer practical advice about what teachers need. Cecelia Gavigan says even teachers in the LGBT group would have been unsure about how to handle LGBT issues sensitively and properly in the classroom,
“Even if you understand, how do you translate it for children?” she says.
The ­starting point for the guidelines is not homophobic or transphobic bullying, but respect for, and celebration of diversity.
“It is really important in primary school that we instil that respect right from the start”, says Gavigan.

When it’s OK, and not OK, to say ‘gay’

Research in the UK (there is no equivalent research in Ireland) indicates that 70pc of primary school teachers report hearing phrases such as “You’re so gay” or “That’s so gay”.
Children may hear the word gay when people use it to identify themselves. They also hear it used negatively, as a pejorative term meaning “rubbish”, for example: “that bag is gay”. Inappropriate use of language, whether intentionally or unintentionally, can be a precursor to bullying and needs to be challenged at every incident.
It is one of the issues addressed in the INTO Respect guidelines and the advice is:
Words that people use to describe themsleves are acceptable, eg: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender
It is not acceptable to use the same words in a derogatory way, or to use those words to try to hurt or embarrass others
Challenge the child to use the words that they intended, eg “I I don’t like that bag because I don’t like the colour”.

Irish Independent

It may cost too much to save gay men from anal cancer

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UK health bosses: It may cost too much to save gay men from anal cancer

Decision to vaccinate gay and bi men to protect them delayed

| BY TRIS REID-SMITH
Human Papillomavirus: Causes warts, anal, oral, penile and cervical cancers but can be prevented by immunisation.

A decision to start a vaccination program to stop gay and bi men getting anal cancer has been delayed by UK health officials.
The reason? Because it may not be ‘cost effective’.
All girls aged 12 to 13 already get the vaccines which stop them getting the human papillomavirus (HPV) and developing genital warts and cervical cancer.
The idea was to extend that to all boys of the same age. But that decision has been put off until 2017.
In the mean time, the UK Committee on Vaccination and Immunization was expected to at least approve giving the life-saving jabs to men who have sex with men.
Clinicians say the rates of HPV and the cancers it causes in gay and bi men are the same as the rates in women before they started the nationwide vaccination program.
That, campaigners argue, makes this a clear gay health inequality.
But minutes released by the committee today say that feedback that more people should be vaccinated would push up the price of the jabs.
They even say it might be cheaper to let gay men get anal cancer and then treat it, rather than prevent it. They say fewer would die than they previously thought.
‘More recently published data on chemotherapy for anal cancer… showed improved survival,’ the minutes argue.
Their decision to gather more data on the vaccination’s cost-effectiveness pushes an eventual decision to the tail end of 2015 – after the General Election.
Even then, there is no guarantee they will agree to the vaccinations.
Dr Shaun Griffin, director of external affairs at sexual health charity Terrence Higgins Trust, said: ‘We are hugely disappointed that a much needed decision to introduce HPV vaccination for gay and bisexual men has once again been pulled further from our grasp.
‘Each delay leaves this group unprotected against HPV-related cancers. These inequalities urgently need to be addressed.
‘We believe that the HPV vaccine should be extended to all boys irrespective of their sexuality.
‘Until that happens, if the government is serious about improving the health of gay and bisexual men, a program targeted at them specifically would be a good place to start, given their increased risk.’
UK figures from 2011 show 47,500 men get genital warts each year, and over 2,000 contract anal, oral or penile cancers as a result.

– See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/uk-health-bosses-it-may-cost-too-much-save-gay-men-anal-cancer130315#sthash.OVn4nkst.dpuf

Here’s a way for gay men to help save lives, even if you’re banned from giving blood

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Reprinted from Pink News – 
 

Young gay men who remain banned from giving blood have been urged to sign up to the bone marrow register instead.

In England, Scotland and Wales at present, men who have sex with men (MSM) are banned from giving blood from 12 months from last sexual activity. In Northern Ireland, men who have sex with men are permanently banned from giving blood.
However, the regulations do not mean there is no way for MSM to make a difference – as they are still able to register to donate stem cells and bone marrow.
Bone marrow donor Stuart Brooks has urged more gay men to sign upStuart Brooks, a 25 year old trainee lawyer from London, has opened up about his experience of donating bone marrow – and urged other gay men to do so.
He said: “While at university I found out that donating blood simply wasn’t open to gay men who were sexually active.
“But when [bone marrow charity] Anthony Nolan visited my university they quickly established that my sexuality would not bar me from saving a life – it was like a breath of fresh air.”
Seven years after joining the register, he was found to be a match for someone in need of a transplant – and opted to go ahead with the procedure.
He continued: “Suddenly I was confronted with the fact that there was another person out there who had a specific need for my stem cells. Only then did it become real – it’s not just this abstract thing.
“I decided to donate in the less common method – a short surgical procedure – because it was best for my specific match.
“The vast majority of people donate stem cells through their blood now, instead of giving actual bone marrow like I did.
“But despite the myths, the procedure was painless – in fact, the most discomfort I felt was removing the medical tape from my arms!”
He added: “After I donated my bone marrow, word spread among my friends, and I was stunned by the response from my peers. I found that lots of gay men assumed they couldn’t donate due to their sexuality.
“This is wrong and since young men make the best donors, it felt like a terrible waste.
“I felt compelled to spread the message; we need more young gay role models to sign up to the Anthony Nolan register and save lives.
“If the gay community can get behind this, we can have a really positive impact and drastically increase the number of people who are cured of blood cancer.
“Many gay men strive to provide role models for our community, so wouldn’t it be awesome if we could become known as a group of selfless superheroes that has vitally improved the prospects of those living with blood cancer?”
Ann O’Leary of Anthony Nolan said: “Sadly many gay men assume they can’t donate stem cells but this just isn’t the case.
“We urgently need more young men to join our register, as they are most likely to be asked to donate yet make up just 15% of the register.
“The more young men like Stuart sign up, the more lives we can save. It’s so easy to sign up to the register, all you have to do is fill out a simple form and spit in a tube.
“If you are a match for someone donating isn’t painful, 90% of the time it’s just like an extended blood donation.”
You can join the bone marrow register online here.
The government ruled out relaxing the rules on MSM blood donation last year – though Tory MP Michael Fabricant submitted a backbench bill calling for a change.
Gay men in Canada were allowed to give blood for one day last year – with the blood used for research purposes instead of transfusions.

Toolkit to help prevent suicide in LGBT youth

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RCN launches toolkit to help prevent suicide in LGBT youth

Reprinted from Royal College of NursingPublished: 13 March 2015

The RCN, in collaboration with Public Health England (PHE), has launched a toolkit to guide nurses and other health professionals in the prevention of suicide in lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender (LGBT) young people.
LGBT youth are at a higher risk of suicide than their heterosexual peers due to the impact and fear of stigma, discrimination and rejection from society.

Reducing the risk of suicide

The toolkit aims to equip nurses with the knowledge and skills to provide effective support to LGBT young people and help reduce the risk of suicide.
The National Aids Trust recently reported that 99% of LGBT teenagers had received abuse from school mates due to their sexual orientation, whilst a 2014 study by METRO Centre found that 44% of LGB youth had thought of suicide and half had experience of self-harm.

Nurses are uniquely placed

Nurses are uniquely placed to support LGBT young people who have not accessed mental health services.
The toolkit provides insight into the experiences of LGBT young people, and offers practical advice and resources on key areas including:
• Risk factors
• Confidentiality and consent
• Effective communication
Dr Peter Carter, Chief Executive & General Secretary of the RCN, said:
“Suicide in any situation is a tragedy and nurses have a duty to identify risk factors and prevent suicide wherever possible.
“The RCN is dedicated to addressing the problems facing lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Our ambition for this toolkit is to help nurses deliver the best possible care to LBG young people experiencing mental health issues, in order to help save lives across the UK.

An important and often overlooked issue

Dr Carter added: “This toolkit should help to highlight an important and often overlooked issue, and should ultimately be integrated into the National Suicide Prevention Strategy to ensure LGB young people receive the support they deserve.”
The toolkit is available to download from the Gov.uk website

The It Gets Better Project is just one of many organizations dedicated to preventing LGBT teen

The It Gets Better Project is just one of many organizations dedicated to preventing LGBT teen


Awareness and Prevention Of Suicide Among LGBT Teens
 

After two Erskine College athletes come out as gay, school bans homosexuality

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Rural South Carolina college issues statement to be added to official manual

| BY GREG HERNANDEZ
Erskine College graduation 2007

It’s officially not okay to be gay at Erskine College in South Carolina.
Two male volleyball players came out publicly last year and although they have been accepted by teammates, the school has taken the step of issuing  a new official statement of human sexuality that is against homosexuality.
It states in part: ‘As a Christian academic community, and in light of our institutional mission, members of the Erskine community are expected to follow the teachings of scripture concerning matters of human sexuality and institutional decisions will be made in light of this position.’
It also states: ‘Sexual relations outside of marriage or between persons of the same sex are spoken of in scripture as sin and contrary to the will of the Creator.’
Juan Varona, one of the two out volleyball players, expressed his disappointment saying the ‘school took several steps back instead of progressing towards a future where everyone can be treated as an equal, in the school taking this step.’
‘The release of this statement makes me disappointed because I have never received anything but kind treatment from everyone at this school, and my sexual orientation is no secret. So it took me by surprise,’ he told Outsports which featured his story last year.
‘… When I saw the mention of sexual orientation being an issue, it just made me sad and worried for other gay people who might be struggling with confidence to come out.

– See more at: http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/after-two-erskine-college-athletes-come-out-gay-school-bans-homosexuality260215#sthash.3p7GKftC.dpuf