ACOMSDave

Community Journalist

ACOMSDave Community Journalist

What is a journalist?

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What is a journalist? To my mind, a journalist is someone interested in finding out about a story.  A person who collects, gathers and sifts through the information and then formulates it into an article either for print, TV or radio – or these days social media channels. 

So what started me down this rabbit hole?  Over the last number of years, I have undertaken courses in journalism, and they were all good at teaching you the theory of journalism, and the law, but what was missing was talk about that spark that draws a journalist to put his or her life at risk for a story or fact.

Two separate articles, both from the Belfast Telegraph have made me take a step back and review what I have been doing.

The first was TV presenter Gavin Esker:  “Botched Brexit has shattered the idea of a ‘United Kingdom'” and the second, “There’s an easy way for BBC NI to defend its broadcaster against toxic sectarian slurs”.

 

What is a journalist?

Northern Ireland adrift

Gavin rightly highlights what is a common thread for so many in Unionism, that yet again Unionists in N Ireland have been treated as not even 2nd class citizens in the United Kingdom.  Yes, Boris (Johnson) and his like had a mandate to negotiate for the United Kingdon, but not to the extent of putting Northern Ireland under the ‘gravy train’.

…’ Unionists feel abandoned…NI came nowhere in Boris’s priorities.  He just wanted to say that he could get Brexit done’…

 

 

 

What is a journalist?

Has the BBC got lost down the rabbit hole?

 

In the second article, Gail Walker writes about journalists having their reputations being maligned by 30-seconds of the tap-tap-tap keyboard.  The article speaks about how the BBC is one of the great platforms for truth and justice, with exceptional journalists and reporters; however, it then leads to how the BBC needs to be more clear about how it chooses interviewees or topics.  What is their bias, and as she says

…are shows biased, are they balanced, are sections of the community under-respected…

But though some would say we should make more demands of the BBC as we are paying for it with our licence fee, the question has to be asked, can you just leave it at the BBC’s doorstep;   shou

ldn’t we be equally clear that all media including the ITV Hub, private radio stations, and social media have a duty of care as to be balanced with their reporting?

 

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The State of Our Library

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Books

The library provides books which provide a backdrop to our psyche and normal identity, in 868 A.D. The Diamond Sutra became the first printed book to come out of the press and it is no surprise it was a book about belief (The text challenges the common belief that inside each and every one of us is an immovable core, or soul—in favour of a more fluid and relational view of existence.).  However, as the whole population gained access to education and thus the ability to read, and slowly over time ‘leisure time’ became accessible by the majority and not just the limited echelons of the very rich, so reading became a national past-time, and people started writing stories down for posterity, which had previously been verbatim and fireplaces or bedtime for children

 

 

 

Sion Coin, The Guardian Booklist editor, said:

Library

“You can tell a lot about a country from how it treats its libraries and its authors…”

Across the UK, we see libraries being closed, hours reduced for those left operating, and full-time staff cut or replaced by volunteers under the guise ‘if you want a library in your community, then volunteer and run it!’

Libraries for so many have provided a refuge for people with limited access to resources and the ability to attend schools, colleges, and universities during COVID, and other times.  The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA)  facilities (in both town and rural areas) have been decimated, indeed we no longer have a WEA in Northern Ireland.

 The question is ‘How do we want to be remembered in our future?’  The generation who not only destroyed the economy, but the planet and its resources, and also the one that forgot about its people and the need for our libraries.

 

 

Links:

Library

Save Our Library

Northern Ireland Gay Movies

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Northern Ireland Gay Movie showing; A couple of months ago I approached the Queen’s Film Theatre for a listing of movies they had shown during the past year (Aug 20-Aug 21).  What I was trying to find out was how many ‘gay’ movies had been shown in the QFT during this period, and bearing in mind that it was the pandemic, the community managed to have 5 movies out of a total of 100 (a 5% showing).

In the scheme of things, we cannot really complain, especially as from observation, not all the showings had sufficient seats occupied to break even!  But when you then look at other cinemas in Northern Ireland, there would seem to have even fewer gay movies shown for the LGBTQ+ community, so the number showing drops dramatically.

So is there a sparsity of gay movies for the LGBTQ+ community being produced?  Not from what I can see, in 2020 my brief research has indicated that there were 80 LGBTQ+ movies released that year.  The BFI Flare 2021 Festival has 38 short LGBTQ+ movies showing, and considerably more full movies.

So, OK you might say that the movie industry has obviously improved and that it was different in the past.  In 1991 the Fifth London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival had a combination of 39 items on show, and I can assure you that very few of them reached Northern Ireland cinema halls.  (Details of this can be found in Capital Gay dated February 22nd, 1991)

There used to be a travelling BFI show of Lesbian and Gay movies, indeed the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association actively worked with many individuals in the community to get it shown at the QFT.  When I approached the BFI about any information on the festival and when it stopped coming to Northern Ireland, they were unable to furnish me with this information, they couldn’t trace anything in their records!

I am not saying we need special treatment, however, if a festival is already in hand in London, and in the past has been in Northern Ireland at the QFT, has also travelled to Manchester Pride and to Edinburgh to name a few other locations, then I do ask why have we gone backwards?

 

 

Links:

Exploring the history of the BFI Flare LGBTQ+ film festival through posters

Gay Magazines

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In 2000 I was in contact with the gay-libn group part of the USC, and a request came up about ‘what was the first gay magazine or gay magazines’?  Obviously, the US had the first [?] and it was called ‘One’ published in 1952.  This was not an auspicious time for a gay magazine anywhere, but in the USA Dwight Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10450, and it said:

 

…gays and lesbians were perverts, criminals, mentally ill, and must be blocked from any kind of federal employment…JSTOR Daily

Gay Magazines

This soon led to the FBI monitoring all the magazines posted through the USA postal system, and for employers being ‘advised’ to no longer employ these deviants.

But, in 1954 a new magazine hit the UK newsstands, Film & Filming magazine!  Not an inspiring title or magazine at first glance, but as Dr Bengry, senior lecturer in queer history at Goldsmiths University of London, said:

 

…If you go through it, for many of us, it will tweak our gaydar looking at those 1950s issues – because there seems to be more bare-chested men than you’d expect…and also the personal ads of young bachelors looking to meet other young bachelors…

 

It was in 1885, that “gross indecency” between two men was made illegal, and believe it or not, in 1921 a similar law was discussed for women as well.

Last week we saw the demise of Gay Times as a print magazine, it is still available on the internet, but like its predecessors Gay News (which ran from 1962 to 1970, and Capital Gay which ran from Jun 1981 to June 1995, it is no longer something tangible you can get hold off from the newsstand, supermarket or other outlets.  This is a large blow, because we fought to have gay magazines removed from the top shelf and available for everyone to get hold of, and it was no small fight.  By moving the magazine from the top shelf (and even in some cases out of the plastic bag) we provided visibility to all of the reading population, and also enabled those who were in the closet or to frighten or to stretch for it, to be able to get a copy and purchase it along with their ordinary magazines and newspapers.

Gay Magazines Gay Magzines

When you look back at these old newspapers and magazines you realise that the standard of news capture was of extremely high quality, and these outlets covered the news across all of the UK, and even indeed other parts of the globe.

The question is how in today’s world of almost instantaneous news through ‘social media’ and supposed 24-hour news coverage can we be sure that the news we are getting is accurate and relevant to the area we live in.  It is up to all of us to report the news to a responsible outlet or journalist  – remember that the print newspaper and magazines will want to sell papers and magazines – so what is news to you may not be news to the, or indeed they may even flip the story and give it a totally different slant.

There are gay journalists, I am one and I operate through my blog ‘ACOMSDave’, I write reviews of books and movies, and also articles relevant to us in Northern Ireland – so write and let me have your stories.

 

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Far Right

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The ‘faFar Rightr right’ continue to use whatever methods work for them, and there is little reason to believe that an appeal on moralistic grounds will work, remember, they believe they are on the moral high ground. If we need to beat them then we need to adopt strong tactics within the law, but we have to be as smart if not smarter than them.

‘Conservative Candidates Promoted Petitions That Sent Personal Data to European Far-Right Group’

In an article by Philip Baldwin, in the Gay Times [now no longer a print-based magazine, I am sorry to say] he said that

…the British Government is increasingly moving towards an agenda which, in his view, is profoundly lesbophobic, homophobic, biphobic and transphobic…

[Are LGBTQ+ people under siege in the UK?] (dated 

Then we have William Koenig who claimed that the LGBTQ people are prepping children to be”groomed and sexualized” and that COVID is God’s “judgement” for U.S. being “so pro-LGBT”

You, no matter where you turn you can see what appears to be a backlash against the LGBTQ+ community and the affirmation of our rights. 

Tonight EMMA POWYS MAURICE , has reported in the Pink Paper ‘ Police are investigating after three people were reportedly whipped with belts by a group of men in a suspected homophobic attack.‘, and before this ‘The Independent‘ reported that attacks on LGBT people have surged by almost an 80% increase in the UK over last four years.

For so many in the LGBTQ+ community we have been living through what appears to have been an enlighten ‘rosy’ period; we have been legally recognised [though at different times in the various parts of the UK], different sectors have recognised us within the working world [i.e Gay and lesbian citizens have been allowed to serve openly in the Her Majesty’s Armed Forces since 2000], same-sex marriage has been recognised and performed in England and Wales since March 2014, in Scotland since December 2014, and in Northern Ireland since January 2020.

And because of these wins, we in the LGBTQ+ community have become complacent.  We go on our Pride Parades, and forget that these were originally Marches to fight for our rights!  IN the past we also had local magazines and Gay News was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE), this ran until 1983.

We don’t have these resources anymore, we depend on social media outlets, but remember in the main these are written by ordinary people and not journalists.  It also means that we are limited often in the in-depth research articles that we need.

Protection of our community is down to you the community, you need to report things of consequence to our community, to take a stance against things that are wrong (and let others know about your stance), and lastly, yes enjoy Gay Pride when it comes around, but remember this is to show everyone that we are not going away and that we have a right live as equal people.

 

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Porn Laws by Tim Clarke

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Porn LawsIn the Court proceedings against Lady Chatterley’s Lover in 1960, the jury was invited by the prosecution to consider whether “It is a book that you wish your wife or servants to read?”

Unfortunately, there are many people in this ostensibly more enlightened age who would share these sentiments, the  Hungarian Parliament and Russian Parliament for example, and they are not all Christian fundamentalists.  Indeed, some would claim to be progressive and liberal, Belfast Men Against Pornography is a group of “right-on” or “politic-all-correct” individuals who say they are ‘opposed to’ pornography because it is a key element in the oppression of women and it works on men by manipulating our sexuality.

The notion that porn exists because people (women and men) derive a great deal of pleasure from it is of no consequence to this group.  they have made their minds up that they, self-appointed ‘representatives of the social good, what material is or is not fit to be seen by all of us.

Their policy aims are to “increase awareness of the harmful effects” of porn on men and to “campaign to end the production, distribution and sale of pornography here (*remember this was pre the internet explosion).

With friends like that, you may well ask, who needs H.M. Customs and Mary  Whitehouse!

The two men from the group who attended the NIGRA meeting attempted to draw a distinction between (harmful) pornography and ‘erotica’.  the latter was defined as “sexually explicit material premised on equality”.

Their argument was not particularly convincing – one said that porn “degraded women” by portraying them as “objects to be dominated”, but was unable to substantiate this claim.  He became defensive when challenged on this point, and said something about “some feminists” he knew who found porn “offensive”.  It soon became evident that BMAP’s definition of pornography was fairly wide-ranging and would include most, if not all SM material.

It has always been my contention that the only legitimate purpose for which state power can be exercised over an individual against her or his will is to prevent harm to others.

BMAP maintain that porn has “harmful effects” on men as it (non-Gay porn) tells us that women” want to be dominated”.  Whilst some such material undoubtedly exists, it is simply not possible to legislate against heterosexism by attemp6ting to impose a ban on people’s fantasies.

I am not suggesting that women and young men should not be legally protected against exploitation.  People who work in the ‘sex-industry’ should demand fair pay and decent conditions for their work.  Women who want something more raunchy than Playgirl (*what is the equivalent today I wonder) should make their voices heard, only then will “sexually explicit material premised on equality” become more widely available.

There are enough right-wing groups and clerics campaigning to “end the production, distribution and sale of pornography” without people who claim to be politically progressive demanding censorship, whatever their reasons.

If people demand repressive legislation, of which there is enough on the statute book already, they will almost certainly get it (*again, remember, this was written pre the internet explosion of pornography sites, and every time that government attempts to look at this problem it runs away).  Quite how this will promote sexual equality is beyond my understanding.  Laws banning pornography will drive it underground (*the dark web) and suppress a great deal of open, rational discussion about sex and sexual inequalities.

BMAP did not have much to say about lesbian or gay male porn, although they were inclined to the view that most of it is probably OK as it is not premised on”inequality”.

Porn LawsIt is all very well for them to think along these lines, but the fact remains that the advocacy of repressive measures aimed at depriving people of the right to the reading of material of their choice could all too easily result in the targeting of the ‘gay’ community as purveyors of “material likely to deprave and corrupt”.  It is not long since HM Customs used their draconian powers to seize material from gay book shops (In 1984, Customs and Excise, assuming Gays’s The Word, London to be a porn store rather than a serious bookstore and ordered the destruction of imported books without reference to the Obscene Publications Act.)

Sexual equality and ‘Gay’ liberation can only come about as a consequence of the removal of oppressive laws which purport to regulate people’s sexual behaviour, women’s fertility – in short – Gay Liberation means nothing if not the removal of all constraints on consensual sexual activities and the lifting of restrictions on the rights of individuals to look at sexually explicit material, regardless of the opinions of others.

…first published in Upstart (Reasons to be cheerful ) – a paper copy of this magazine is held in the Linenhall Library, Belfast…

 

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The Portsmouth Defence by Jeff Dudgeon

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Portsmouth DefenceThe Portsmouth Defence – every solicitor and barrister knows the traditional defence to utilize when defending a client accused of murdering a gay man when there is no other legitimate defence available.  Its name indicates that it originated in medieval times in seaports when mariners were caught on rolling/robbing their homosexual clients or victims.

Brief Heroes

It is simply this – the deceased made a pass in the form of a smile, a word or a touch, at my client.  being a man he beat the pervert to death/strangled him/repeatedly stabbed him.  Judges especially, juries less so, are susceptible to this defence.  Sometimes killers have been acquitted, even become brief heroes, as in the George Brinham case in the 1960s when a Labour and Trade Union politician was butchered in London.

Macho Sentiments

Obviously, if females, subjected to unwanted attentions, disembowelled wolf-whistlers, the male population would plummet.  But judges, being men, instantly warm to the macho sentiments aroused at the notion of innocent heterosexual manhood threatened by oily homosexuals.

Fate Worse Than Death

Nowadays, acquittals would be rare, but the continued use of the Portsmouth Defence is designed to get the charge reduced from murder to manslaughter and the sentence reduced accordingly.  this still works even though in every other case a murder rap would hold unless it was self-evident that had the defendant not attacked the victim his own life would have been in jeopardy.  \but, to the conservative judiciary, being touched up or smiled at by a queer is a fate worse than death.  It is plain that in 99% of such cases the gay victim is offering no violence at all, just checking the other guy out or using a little verbal persuasion.

A Local Crop

In the recent Addis (Portadown) and Hagan (\belfast) murder cases the victims made a suggestion through porno pics and divesting himself of his clothes respectively.  \both were brutally done to death.  their killers received light sentences and the Portsmouth Defence was used.  this was in courts in Northern Ireland in the 1980s where the establishment continues to think of gays as less than human and their killers as less than criminals.  A test case will occur soon in a trial relating to a killing in Ballymena where the Portsmouth Defence has already been used in a bail application.

Casual Violence

It is important that the legal establishment is made aware of the new social and legal status that gays now enjoy.  And that we will no longer tolerate such frequent murders.  The Director of Public Prosecutions – who decides what charges to prefer – and whether to accept plea-bargaining to get a lesser charge preferred, has to take account of social change and modern literature*.  If for no other reason than that, anti-gay tugs (and their homosexual counterparts), will continue to use massive violence on gay victims in the sure knowledge that the courts will see their crimes as slight!

 

*Attacks on Gay People by Julian Meldrum (CHE) 1977 – A comprehensive and meticulously researched casebook (Currently out of Print)

 

 

Amazon Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Campaign for Homosexual Equality (1 Aug. 1981)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 48 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 095044295X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0950442952

Links:

 

This article was first printed in Gay Star No 10, a copy of which is held in the archive of the Linenhall Library

 

Identity (a gay journal) – reviewed by Graham Walker

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Identity

NOT THE MAGAZINE COVER FOR IDENTITY

Identity is a new Gay Journal published by the National Gay Switchboard in Dublin.  At the time of writing Gay Star No. 10) three issues had appeared, the latter two of which are discussed here.

Let it be said straight away that ‘Identity’ is very welcome.  It is modeled though not too obviously on journals such as Body Politic and Christopher Street in that it seeks to combine substantial literary content (short stories, poems, reviews of books and films) with political polemics and special items of news and current day affairs.

A good balance has been struck and the serious is necessarily tempered by the humourous.  The writing is in general of a high standard, and it is never less than interesting.  ‘Identity’ wisely eschews long, rambling, and invariably tedious ‘consciousness-raising’ in favour of shorter, more trenchant pieces, which in most cases make a strong impact.  The diversity of the journal is its greatest strength.

Several items deserve mention – T C Breen’s admirably researched articles on the Dublin Scandals of 1884 (no. 21), and the ‘Strange Case3 of Bishop Atherton’ (No. 3), lend an instructive historical dimension to the paper; David Norris’s article on the Christian Churches (No. 2), is lucidly erudite if a little blib; Damian Stewart’s ‘Last Dance’ (No. 3), an engaging story which captures the ‘treadmill’ nature of the gay scene and the desperate anxieties of its patrons; and David O’Connor’s ‘Crumbs’, while frequently losing its way in the author’s frenetic attempts to intellectualize his characters, still manages to be a refreshingly unconventional piece of writing.

It is still possible to quibble.  While some pieces in ‘Identity’, most notably those of Father Joe O’Leary and Conor Davidson, raise important controversial topics, there is nowhere to be found a serioussELF iDENTITY discussion of them.  the journal exudes a ‘Glad to be Gay’ tone which is to be applauded; equally necessary is a facility for self-criticism and a questioning approach to many aspects of current gay lifestyles.  

It is to be hoped that in future issues, ‘Identity’ will open up debate on such topics as the positive and negative aspects of gay ghettoes, and the opinions before the Gay movement in its attempt to pursue political change.

 

Links:

 

The National Gay Federation is now known as National LGBT Federation (NXF)  – Identity

Identity

 

 

 

 

 

Review of ‘Identity’ first published in Gay Star No 10 (held int he Linenhall Library Archives)

Olympic Medals and Population

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So the Tokyo Olympics are over and the medals are coming home, and yes there will be disappointments, but it is a big but, every one of those athletes went and represented their country to the very best of their ability.  And yes, if we just look at medals, as one newscaster did when he stated that the United Kingdom had done as well as in Rio or London (a  statement now proven to be at least half incorrect).   The United Kingdom has achieved more than London and only slightly less than Rio – an absolutely brilliant result when considering the pandemic’s impact and comparing Olympic medals against the population.

It is very easy to forget that the United Kingdom is fifth in population size in the top ten medal winners, which means that for every 1m people in the population our Olympians achieved a medal.  This is absolutely stupendous when you compare that again People’s Republic of China (1 med per 16.4m), the USA (1 medal per 2.9m) or the ROC (1 medal per 2m).

It is estimated that at least 182 ‘out athletes’ from about 30 countries attended the Tokyo Games. 

…At least 55 of those athletes, who competed in 35 different sports, won medals — five nabbed gold for Team USA women’s basketball alone. In fact, if the LGBTQ Olympians competed as their own country — affectionately labeled “Team LGBTQ” by Outsports — they would rank 11th in the total medal count (right behind France and before Canada), with 32 team and individual medals: 11 gold, 12 silver and nine bronze…NBC News

Our Olympians are marvellous. and wouldn’t it be wonderful if the media realised this for more than just the two weeks of the Olympic Games!

 

Olympic Medals and Population

 

 

  Top 10 Countires Olympic Medals 2021 with Population  
Rank Team/NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank by Total Population Total  
1 United States of America 39 41 33 113 1 332.9 million  
2 People’s Republic of China 38 32 18 88 2 1444.2 million  
3 Japan 27 14 17 58 5 126 million  
4 Great Britain 22 21 22 65 4 68.2 million  
5 ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) 20 28 23 71 3 144.2 million  
6 Australia 17 7 22 46 6 25.8 million  
7 Netherlands 10 12 14 36 9 17.1 million  
8 France 10 12 11 33 10 65.4 million  
9 Germany 10 11 16 37 8 83.9 million  
10 Italy 10 10 20 40 7 60.3 million  

 

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Belfast Pride and Economics

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Belfast Pride and Economics!  Originally, we had Pride Day with a march to show people that we are part of their community and that we had a right to exist.  At this point we were fighting for our lives;  abuse, both physical and mental, was normal, and murder occurred and was usually brushed under the legal table as justified due to overtures or something similar. (Portsmouth Defence)

And again, marches started in large cities like New York and London, and like a spider’s web slowly the marches spread into other cities and links were formed.

In the background to these marches were the fights in court to get us legal recognition and protection (e.g., Jeffrey Dudgeon, MBE).

 

…’Try to will yourself into – or out of – loving someone,  try to will someone into loving you, and you collide with the fundamental fact that we do not choose whom we love.’  …James Baldwin on Love, the illusion of Choice and the Paradox of Freedom

 

Time has passed and so the Pride March has become Pride Month, with a lot of regions or cities now holding the Pride Parade which is almost like a Lord Mayor’s Float Parade!

With a parade comes flamboyance, but why?  To quote i-d-vice.com  in their article the significance of men’s fashion at pride’: 

 

…Queer men have always worn outlandish clothing within the safety of their own spaces but Pride is different; it’s an occasion which allows you to dress however you want, in broad daylight, in the centre of the city. Fashion at Pride is a way of being defiantly visible, satirising the straight world, and experimenting with gender….

 

However, this last year during the covid lockdown we have all seen how shallow the acceptance has been, with an increase in LGBTQ+ attacks, with the homeless of LGBTQ+ increasing and with some countries even reversing (or seeking to reverse) the laws which were fought for to give the LGBTQ+ community acceptance and protection.

I love Belfast Pride, having been one of those few souls who marched on the very first one in 1991 (all 200 of us), and walked past the various vociferous groups protesting us being there and alive.

That first Pride in Belfast was a small affair, but so significant as it allowed the Belfast population going about their normal daily tasks, to see that we were just like them from one end of the spectrum to another, with very flamboyant characters to extremely conservative ones – and that just as other groups have marched for centuries in the belief of their right to exist, so were we.

Today, as I have mentioned above, the Pride Day Parade is a large affair in Belfast, with conservative numbers for those taking part being (55000) and with watchers at least double that.   We have support groups from Trade Unions, the PSNI, local councils, student groups to name but a few.  The detractors have gone down in number, and indeed the local papers generally write in a positive way about the parade.

I welcome this change, but again I caution everyone to remember our roots, there are still those who would seek to have us put back in the closet.

The one thing that is not often mentioned about Gay Pride Parades is the economic benefit that regions, towns, or cities get from them.  I come from a background of finance, and I am also a local community journalist for our community, so I was extremely interested to see if anyone knew what economic benefits were brought into Belfast specifically and for Northern Ireland in general.

There is little available documentation regarding this area, but one that I have read with interest is the Greater London Authority Mayoral Decision for funding for Pride in London for the period 2018-2022.  I would like to share an extract from it: –

…During the past five years, Pride in London has continued to see growth and improved community engagement.  It is the UK’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT+) event and parade that typically attracts an annual attendance of up to a million people into central London.  Independent audience survey research in 2016 (the most recent data set) showed that additional spend in the local economy from people attending Pride was approximately £26.3m…

Now obviously Belfast figures as I have stated above are nowhere near 1 million (55000 approx.), however, if you conservatively look at the projected spend figures then I would suggest that Belfast economically benefits to the tune of

 

  Attendance Figures Additional Spend Spend per Head Estimated Policing Cost Estimated Cleaning Up Costs Estimated Net Benefit
             
London 1000000 £26.3m £26.30 £1m £1m £24.3m
             
 Brighton 400000 £20.5m  £51.25 £420k* £200k* £19.8
             
             
Belfast 55000 £.825m £15.00 £55k £45k £725k
  55000 £.550m £10.00 £55k £45k £450K
Northern Ireland            
             

 

Now the statistics for Northern Ireland are a lot more obscure as the Northern Ireland Tourist Board does not seem to track increased  figures for the period of Pride Month, and in particular Belfast Pride (FOI Request reply to 3 questions on Belfast Pride and in general N Ireland Pride Festivals dated 25 Jun 2018), but I believe that economically, the events help attract tourist income, stimulate employment, encourage spending, and contribute to public infrastructure development; and in so doing events prove the opportunity to revitalise communities and foster economic development. 

Also, the rural pride events can help members of the LGBTQ+ community to feel supported and accepted by creating visibility about different sexual orientations.

In the last week, we have seen reference to 1991 A Belfast Pride to be remembered!  It is important to realise that Belfast Pride is both a celebration of life and who we are, but also a political statement to show we are here, that we will not be going back and that we will continue to fight for our rights in society.

 

Belfast Pride and Economics

 

 

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