There are occasions when I genuinely despair of the direction our society is headed. Within the past seven days, the Government has sentenced the family of an autistic child to a future of bankruptcy; a cache of secret files has been unearthed, recounting the most abominable abuse of helpless residents in our nursing homes; and the Roman Catholic Church has proved yet again that it has absolutely no intention of dealing with the predators it has harboured and protected for decades.Of the three bitter injustices listed above, the latter is perhaps the most infuriating, as the Church hierarchy has had ample time to come to terms with the horrific damage their callous mismanagement of abuse cases has inflicted on countless victims.The hypocrisy of ‘moral leaders’ like Cardinal Connell is almost laughable. The thought of him scuttling to his lawyers in an attempt to stem the avalanche of criticism and condemnation that was surely about to rain down on him would actually be funny, if it were not for the fact that the documents he is trying to suppress could mean the end of a cycle of anguish for so many.“Anger doesn’t even begin to describe what’s inside me right now” Ben (not his real name) told me. Ben is a survivor of clerical abuse, and his case is awaiting trial. “There is a culture of secrecy and collusion within the religious community in Ireland. It’s obvious that nothing has changed.

“If the Church really wanted to see those bastards brought to justice, they would have stopped Cardinal Connell from getting his injunction. He’s part of a larger organisation, and has to follow orders. They’re all in it together.”Ben was abused by two different priests. His ordeal began when he was four years old, and ended when he was 16. He is in his 30s now, and tells me that he still carries the memories of what happened to him “like a tattoo — I see that damaged kid every time I look in the mirror.’So far, one of his abusers has been prosecuted, but not for his molestation of Ben. “I was so young when he did it to me, I couldn’t remember dates or precise details. So, when they were putting the case together, my situation wasn’t much good to them. “You read about these monsters who have been raping kids for decades, and they’re put away for five years on 20 counts of indecent assault — the reality is they interfered with children literally thousands of times. But they can only get them on what they can prove.”Ben is very clear about how the behaviour of Cardinal Connell makes him feel. “Worthless,” he says. “At the end of the day, this man was the boss of the creeps who ruined my life, and here he is saying that he values them more than he does me. He is telling me very directly that he doesn’t give a damn about the frightened kid that I was. I know it shouldn’t hurt, but it does.”Ben is articulating a prominent aspect in the psychology of the abuse victim, something that is particularly relevant for survivors of clerical abuse. We must not forget that for countless children who experienced abuse at the hands of the clergy during the SeventieSeand Eighties, a major barrier to disclosure was the apparent unbelievability of their experience.PriestSeand nuns were supposed to be closer to God than anyone else, and therefore beyond reproach. Sex was still a taboo subject. The suggestion that a priest or nun might behave in such an abhorrent manner was utterly unthinkable.Therefore, recognition of the suffering experienced by clerical abuse survivors is a hugely symbolic thing. To have somebody in authority in the Church — as Ben puts it, ‘the boss’ — acknowledge the rightnesSeand truth of their plight validates what happened.In one fell swoop Cardinal Connell has demonstrated complete and utter apathy towards the foul social evil his organisation allowed to flourish unchecked, begetting levels of hurt, grief and despair that he probably cannot even begin to comprehend.The Roman Catholic Church has many things for which it should feel remorse. The industrial schools, the Magdalene Laundries, the persecution of the gay community, the marginalisation of women, the suppression of contraception, the condemnation of the labour movement — all these things illustrate an institution clearly out of step with the needs of the people it professes to serve.As the investigations into clerical abuse continue, the Church haSean opportunity to show that it is truly sorry for what it did (and failed to do).It is time for someone in the Church to stand up and cry: ‘enough’. The sleight of hand, the smoke and mirrors has to stop.Shane Dunphy is a child protection expert and lecturer. He is the author of ‘Wednesday’s Child’ and ‘Last Ditch House’ Sean Morrin
Youth Support Worker
The Rainbow Project12A

Queen Street, Derry BT48 7EG

Telephone 028 71283030www.rainbow-project.orgRegistered Company Office

2-8 Commercial Court, Belfast

.

I came across the following article at ‘The Derby Gripe‘ – the title iSeanything but supportive, yet the article is short, to the point and is at least non discriminatory. I wonder who wrote the article’s title?
HOMOSEXUALITY WILL BECOME COMPULSORY
Homosexual pensioners in Wales are to be provided with gay-only retirement homes. The Stonewall study found that gay OAPs need to be provided with separate sheltered accommodation and counselling to cope with being old and homosexual. Conservative Assembly member Mark Isherwood said, “We know of older people who are being forgotten by the system just because they are homosexual. Older people from the gay community have no family to support them in old age and often live in isolation.”

Gay geography and history: 1903-2003
According to Roger Casement’s diaries, from 1903 to 1911, the gay cruising areas in Belfast were at the Albert Clock (probably also around the Customs House toilet), Botanic Gardens, Ormeau Park, and the Giants Ring. Cottaging went on in Victoria Square in an elegant wrought iron edifice (which was still operating in the 1960Seand may be in the Ulster Folk Museum) and at the Gasworks.
From then until after the 2nd World War, the GNR station in Great Victoria Street and DuBarry’s bar at the docks were recognised haunts, the latter, as in other cities, being shared with prostitutes. The blackout from 1939, and the arrival from 1943-44 of 100,000 American troops in Northern Ireland had a huge impact and special place in gay memories.
The Royal Avenue (RA) Bar in Rosemary Street (the hotel’s public bar, opposite the Red Barn pub) as portrayed in Maurice Leitch’s fine 1965 novel The Liberty Lad (probably the earliest description of a gay bar in Irish literature) was the first in the city. It operated from some time in the 1950s being shared at times with deaf and dumb customers who often occupied the front of the bar. The two (straight) staff in the RA ran a tight but tolerant ship. Two lesbians, Greta and Anne, were the only females who in the 1960s were regular customers. At that time and until the end of the 1970s, pubs closed sharply at 10 p.m.
When the Royal Avenue Hotel was on its last legs due to the troubles, Ernie Thompson and Jim Kempson (who have both recently died), from 1974, ran, in its elegant ballroom, Belfast’s first ever and highly memorable discos in Belfast (probably the first in Ireland).
After the Royal Avenue closed, the Casanova Club (prop. Louis Wise) in Upper Arthur Street (presently part of the British Home Stores site) flowered briefly until bombed by the IRA in c. 1976.
Meanwhile the Gay Liberation Society (GLS) was meeting at Queen’s University Students Union from 1972 with significant town as well as gown membership. Initiated by Andy HindSeand Martin McQuigg it was taken forward by Dick Sinclair, Maeve Malley, Joseph Leckey and Brian Gilmore. Later from about 1975 until the early 1980s it ran highly successful Saturday night discos in the McMordie Hall, attended by up to 300 gays (and indeed many apparent straights). Key helpers included Kevin Merritt, Billy Forsythe, John McConkey, and Michael McAlinden. This was at a time, during the most brutal years of the troubles, when there was next to no night life in the city and only gays ventured out.
Cara-Friend www.cara-friend.org.uk started its befriending and information operation as a letter service in 1974. After a brief telephone service at the Students Union which ended in the switchboard collapsing, it moved on to a permanent telephone service in about 1976, operating first from Doug Sobey’s flat in Ulsterville Avenue (Doug is still a Cara-Friend officer after 30 years). Lesbian Line and Foyle Friend developed later. Cara-Friend was grant aided by the Department of Health and Social Services, at Stormont, from as early as 1975.
NIGRA started in the summer of 1975 when USFI became corrupted. Early NIGRA Presidents have included Dr Graham Carter (who sadly died young), former life-President Richard Kennedy, and Tim Clarke ably supported by Sappho sisters Geraldine Sergeant and Maureen Miskimmin. A noticeable number of NIGRA officers married and had children which was baffling for some: The Strasbourg case taken by J eff Dudgeon to the European Court of Human Rights, which in 1982 ultimately resulted in the ending of life imprisonment for gay men, was started by NIGRA in 1975. P.A. MagLochlainn, current NIGRA President, has filled the post longer than any of his predecessors.
From about 1975 until the early 1980s Gay Lib (OLS) met in No. 4 University Street, a large house loaned by the university, where Cara-Friend had a room with a telephone cubicle. It was in constant use for regular Thursday meetingSeand parties. From there was organised the successful case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against the British Government funded by the Queen’s discoSeand the singer Tom Robinson. 1976 was also the year of the gay raids when all the NIGRA and Cara-Friend committee were arrested and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided to charge Jeff Dudgeon, Doug Sobey and Richard Kennedy. Only a political intervention forced the DPP to drop the cases in 1977.
The Strasbourg case took seven years to go through the court and was won in 1981 when the UK was found guilty of a human rights violation. This was because it criminalised all gay male sexual activity with a possible sentence of life imprisonment for buggery, and two years jail for any other sexual act (“gross indecency”) thereby interfering with the right to a private life. A year later a reluctant British government pushed an Order in Council through Westminster legalising certain gay sexual activity with an age of consent of 21.
The Chariot Rooms in Lower North Street was the first gay-run bar in Belfast, which was operated successfully, and with flair by Ernie and Jim in the darkest years of the troubles. It had its own disco. The reasons for its closing are obscure although it was well frequented. It is now the site of the NI Human Rights Commission.
(End of Part I)
[Jeff Dudgeon]

Prime Minister John Howard said Friday people with the AIDS virus should not be allowed to migrate to Australia, and the government was investigating whether it could tighten existing restrictions.

Supporters of hate-crimes legislation said Thursday they expect Congress to enact a law this year expanding federal penalties for acts of violence against homosexuals.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday signed a law forcing an anti-gay pastor and his followers to keep their distance when protesting military funerals, but the church claims the new rules will have no effect on its demonstrations.

or Sixteen All Round

TWO CABINET MINISTERS have promised two different correspondents in Northern Ireland that they will support the extension of any change in the (homosexual) age of consent to this region. They were Chris Smith, Secretary for State for Culture, the Media and Sport, (whose disinterested support we are glad to acknowledge), and Marjorie (‘Mo’) Molam, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. Her promise was that we would get an age of consent o f17. Dr. Molam repeated this offer to the Executive of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association, whey they met her on December 18, 1997.

This is in line with the reply to a Parliamentary Question put by Kate Hoey MP (Labour, Vaux-hall), to Adam Ingram MP, a Minister of State at the NIO [Northern Ireland Office]. This written response (dated Thursday, July 24, 1997) was to the effect that the different age of consent was due to the recommendations of the Lynn Committee. It was passed into law in the Children and Young Persons Act of the Northern Ireland [Stormont] parliament in 1950: it is dated February 14, 1950.

This is ‘ on the face of it ‘ pretty conclusive, though it does indicate that this oddity (the differ-ential age of consent) is not some ancient enactment of he vassal Irish parliament. 1950 is quite a long time ago, but it is not ‘time immemorial’ (a legal term meaning before the reign of Richard II).

 

 

THE COMMITTEE

The Lynn Committee stated work on December 10, 1935, and produced its Report in 1938 (no specific date is given in the text). The title of the Report is The Protection And Welfare Of The Young And The Treatment Of Young Offenders, it is long, thorough, and well (even elegantly) written.

In Scope Of The Inquiry, section 1, the fourth (unnumbered) paragraph reads: “We have not attempted to define exactly in terms of age the expression “young” and “young offender”; but we have in general confined our inquiry to persons under 21, though we go beyond that limit in dealing with the treatment of Borstal inmateSeand young prisoners.”

In Recent Changes in the Law in England and Wales, Section 3, the second paragraph reads: “The differences between the existing law in England and WaleSeand in Northern Ireland are explained in detail in the succeeding sections of this Report. It is sufficient to note here that among more important changes brought about by the Children and Young Persons Act, 1933, were the raising of the maximum age on the definition of “young person” from 16 to 17 years ””.

(An Act containing the same provisions was enacted for Scotland in 1934 ‘ NIGRA).

The Northern Ireland Children and Young Persons Act, 1950, (the languid pace of law-making is very striking), in its first section reads:

 

“It shall be no defence to a charge or indictment for an indecent assault on a child or young person under the age of sixteen to prove that he or she consented to the act of indecency” (Our emphasis ‘ NIGRA)

 

This is practically the first item one reads in the [Children and Young Persons] Act referred to by Mr. Ingram, and it is as near to being an age of consent as it is possible to get. (“Age of consent” is not a technical legal term; it is “journalese”).

 

The Act, like the Lynn Report itself, is very clearly written and thoroughgoing.

 

The age was changed by adding a Schedule to the Criminal Law Amendment Act [13 & 14 Geo. 5] (Northern Ireland), 1923.

 

It is obvious from the above, that for nearly seventeen years, the effective age of consent was lower in Northern Ireland than it was in the rest of the UK.

 

To ask for the same age of consent as the rest of the UK, it to ask for this region to return to the approach to the law and to law-making, which informed the deliberations of the Lynn Committee (an eminently respectable group of worthy citizens).

 

WHAT PRICE SEVENTEEN?

 

There is a further argument against the proposition put forward by the NIO. It is a piece of legislation enacted at Westminster by, (in effect), the Northern Ireland Office itself: The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 1982. This was brought in as a result of NIGRA’s successful fight against the UK government at the European Court of Human Rights. (This was the ‘Dudgeon Case’, which revolved around Mr. Dudgeon’s right to privacy).

It was “made” on “27th October 1982” (it iSean Order In Council, usually wartime emergency legislation, but the normal method of making laws for this region since 1972 ‘ it was signed by Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother, and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon).

 

A Schedule (to the Offences Against the Person Act (c. 100)), reads:

 

1. in section 61 for the words “shall be liable” onwards substitute – “shall be liable” –

 

(a) where the offence was committed with a boy who at the time of the commission of the offence was under the age of 16 years ””

 

The import of the above is that a ‘boy’ of 16 was deemed, in Northern Ireland, (but not in Britain (England and Wales) or in Scotland), to be capable of committing a crime: ‘ what price 17?

 

 

Published by

NIGRA (the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association)

PO Box 44,

Belfast B1 1SH

Fon:- Belfast 90 665257 / 90 664111

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This hand-out was produced in 1999

The House of Lords has today voted by 146 to 66 to approve the draft Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008, which is the Northern Ireland equivalent of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
When it comes into force, the Order will change the age of consent in Northern Ireland from 17 to 16.