How WWII Started The Modern Gay Rights Movement

21/10/2015 By ACOMSDave 1 Comment

Long before Stonewall, the quest for community began.

Kira BrekkeAssociate Editor, HuffPost Live

Posted: 10/13/2015 01:55 PM EDT | Edited: 10/13/2015 02:21 PM EDT

We often attribute the 1969 Stonewall Riots as being the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement. But the first time gay people started coalescing was during World War II, according to USC gender studies professor Chris Freeman.
In honor of October’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history month, Freeman explained to HuffPost Live’s Alex Miranda that after the draft began, the army started screening people in the early 1940s for homosexuality. It was a term many had never heard before.
“It helped in a certain way to solidify an identity, or it gave a name to an identity, that they just had feelings for,” Freeman said. “And then, through the context of being in the all-male or all-female environments that they wound up in, they found each other.”
After the war, Freeman explained, many of those homosexual relationships remained, and as people resettled in cities rather than “going back to the farm,” early gay communities were created.
“Public sex and gay people meeting each other for that purpose has been perpetual, forever,” Freeman said. “But forming organizations and forming community around it as a modern identity and a modern community village is really a post-WWII phenomenon.”
Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation on gay history here.

Tom Bosworth: British Olympics hopeful comes out as gay

14/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Race walker Tom Bosworth competed for Great Britain at the World Athletics Championships, is set to feature at the Rio Olympics and is the first athlete on the team to come out as gay.

Here the 25-year-old talks about how his head was smashed through a window because of his sexuality and why he revealed the news, on the Victoria Derbyshire show.
Coming out is no surprise to my friends, family and even team-mates, even Mo Farah who didn’t bat an eyelid when I told him I was gay.
I got to know him and others on the Great Britain endurance team prior to the World Athletics Championships in August after we spent a few weeks on a pre-training camp in Japan.
It was a great chance to talk about it in a relaxed environment and everyone was very supportive of me being the first openly gay athlete on the GB team.
But there were some interesting questions when I told them about my circumstances.

GB athlete Bosworth comes out as gay

My team-mates asked whether I had a partner and how old I was when I came out. They were intrigued by my sexuality and asked me whether I got any stick for being openly homosexual.
The truth is that I used to. When I was competing in local athletics a number of years ago, some other athletes called me ‘fag’ or ‘queer’.
And when I was at school, when those feelings were still developing, I had my head smashed through a window by a group of boys. Thankfully, that’s all in the past now.
Whilst my current team-mates were interested to talk about my sexuality, they soon realised there was nothing to be concerned about and all was perfectly normal. It was great that everyone could be themselves as the pressure built in camp before a major championships.
It shows you that if someone of Mo’s stature can be supportive then there should be no issues from others.

Who is Tom Bosworth?
Born: Sevenoaks, Kent, 1990
Trains at the National Race Walking Centre in Leeds
Britain’s number one race walker over 20km, and third-fastest in history
Was 12th at 2014 European Championships; 24th at 2015 World Championships
Has a degree in sports performance and is a qualified trampoline coach and sports masseur

Tom Bosworth has been in a gay relationship for four and a half years

‘My head was smashed through a window at school’

I wish that all athletes from my past had been as positive as Mo.
About four or five years ago, some former athletes in local athletics would verbally abuse me. It was pretty nasty, and made worse by the fact they found it funny. Thankfully, they were in the minority.
In the end, I just ignored them. I realised they had no positive part to play in my life and fortunately I had enough people around me who I could rely on for support.
Sometimes, you have to be a bit thick-skinned about it all and I learned that lesson, sometimes literally, in school.
When I was 15 or 16, I thought I was gay and somehow word got around in school, leading to a really difficult period in my life. Teenagers can be really nasty and half the time they don’t even realise what they’re saying. It’s just ignorance, I guess.
A group of lads used to gang up on me and the worst episode came when they smashed my head through a window after a run-in. I decided not to tell anyone about it, so my parents or teachers didn’t know. I guess I was more worried about people blaming me than the students but I had the support of my friends to get me through that tough time.
It was a decade ago, so I’d like to think that things have moved on a lot since then, even in schools, and that kids are more tolerant these days.
That experience taught me to ignore lone voices. I know there will always be people who have a problem with my sexuality, but one person’s opinion doesn’t affect me now, as I have support from my parents and partner.
I’m not even sure I can change the opinions of those boys. All I want to do is give a positive message that you can succeed in sport whatever your background. Be it gay, straight, black, white, religious or non-religious – there are no barriers.

High-profile gay sports men and women
Former Aston Villa footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger
British Commonwealth champion diver Tom Daley
England women’s footballer Casey Stoney
Former Wales rugby union player Gareth Thomas
Former Olympic champion swimmer Ian Thorpe

‘Some might see being gay as a weakness’

Coming out is not going to change my life on a personal level.
I’ve been comfortable with my sexuality and in a really happy relationship for the past four and a half years but in the build-up to the Rio Olympics next year, I don’t want this news to become a distraction or affect those closest to me.
That’s why I want to speak publicly about being gay now.
It’s a big decision for me and a little scary what the reaction might be, but I do think that attitudes are changing. Tom Daley’s decision to come out in December 2013 was a huge step in the right direction, paving the way for others to follow suit.
Unfortunately, speaking out about this as a sportsperson is still news.
In any line of work, whether you are a teacher or working in an office, it’s normal to have a gay colleague but in sport, we are lagging behind.
That’s a real shame and I’m not sure why that is because this summer has opened my eyes as to how supportive everyone in athletics really is.
A lot of sport is about giving the appearance that you are strong, that you have no weaknesses that rivals can prey on.
So perhaps there are people who feel that homosexuality is seen as a weakness, maybe even by those who are gay, as it may give others a chance to attack them. By hiding it, they might feel like they are protecting themselves.
But I guess it could also hinder their sporting performance. By keeping your true self a secret, it could play on your mind and for any athlete that could turn into a distraction.
I can only speak from my experience but I found it a relief to be open with my friends, family and team-mates. It made me feel comfortable not having that cloud over me, the feeling that you are covering things up.
I just hope that the more sportsmen and sportswomen who come out, the more sport will catch up with the real world.
Hopefully in two or three years’ time, coming out won’t be a news story.

Tom Bosworth was talking to Victoria Derbyshire on her show, which is broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel each weekday at 09:15 BST.

Gay blood donation: Thirty men turned down over sex ban

12/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By Peter CoulterBBC News NI

The NIBTS has stopped 30 men from donating blood at their clinics since 2011 after they said they had sexual contact with other men

Thirty men have been stopped from donating blood at clinics in Northern Ireland because they have had sexual contact with another man, a BBC investigation has found.

Elsewhere in the UK, there is a one-year deferral period for men who have had sex with men (MSM) to donate.
Northern Ireland has an outright ban.
But a judge ruled that former health minister Edwin Poots did not have the power to retain that ban. His ruling will be appealed in court later.
In the Northern Ireland Appeal Court on Monday, the current on-off health minister, the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) Simon Hamilton, is appealing the judgement, alongside Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.
They shall be asking who is in charge of blood policy and whether or not this is a devolved issue. The appeal is expected to last four days.

Screened

Following a Freedom of Information request, BBC News NI has seen emails sent between Northern Ireland’s Department of Health and the Northern Ireland Blood Transfusion Service (NIBTS), which is responsible for the collection, testing and distribution of blood.
The NIBTS also said it had stopped 30 men from donating blood at their clinics since 2011 after they informed staff that they had sexual contact with other men.
The BBC asked the NIBTS how confident it would be that its blood is screened correctly and that it would be safe for MSM to donate after the one-year deferral period.
It said: “All blood donations are subjected to the testing regimes required by the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005.
“As such, NIBTS is confident that all blood samples are screened correctly.”

Direction

The BBC has also seen instructions sent to the NIBTS from Dr Elizabeth Mitchell, the deputy chief medical officer, instructing the organisation how to respond if approached by the media about the ban remaining in place.
Dr Kieran Morris, the former chief executive of the NIBTS, replied showing some concern about the process and how he would answer questions from his own staff.
“As chief executive officer and accountable officer for the NIBTS special agency service, I require from the Department of Health a written direction, giving me a clear line as to how we manage and control the situation,” he said.
“There is no doubt in my mind that referring all matters to the Department of Health press office will not be sustainable for more than a few days.”

Image captionEdwin Poots, the former health minister, said he kept the ban on the basis of ensuring public safety

A BBC investigation earlier this year found the Department of Health does not have any medical evidence of its own to support a permanent ban on gay men donating blood.
The ban was put in place across the UK during the Aids crisis of the 1980s, but was lifted in England, Scotland and Wales in November 2011.

Irrational

New rules were introduced that allowed blood donations from men whose last sexual contact with another man was more than a year earlier.
But Northern Ireland did not follow suit.
A gay man, granted anonymity due to his perceived vulnerability, launched a judicial review challenge over then health minister Edwin Poots’s decision not to adopt the same policy on this side of the Irish Sea.
A judge ruled that Mr Poots’ decision was “irrational” and “infected with apparent bias”.
Mr Poots said he had kept the ban on the basis of ensuring public safety.
In April, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that a lifetime ban may be justified in member states if no effective detection techniques exist within the country.

Devolved

The ECJ said countries must establish if such donors were at high risk of acquiring infectious diseases like HIV.
Mr Hamilton said he would study the ruling.
A number of issues will be looked at in the Court of Appeal, including whether blood policy should be a devolved matter.
The appeal is expected to last for four days.
The NIBTS did not respond to the BBC to give an additional comment.
A Department of Health spokesman said: “It would not be appropriate at this stage to comment on matters that are before the courts.”

StoryCorps Releases Hopeful, Pre-Stonewall Story for National Coming Out Day

12/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

BY OUT.COM EDITORS

OCTOBER 11 2015 1:00 PM EDT

As part of StoryCorps’ OutLoud initiative to gather LGBTQ stories across America, Patrick Haggerty recalls talking with his father about being gay in rural Dry Creek, Washington, in the late 1950s.

The groundbreaking oral history project StoryCorps released the animated short “The Saint of Dry Creek” in partnership with the It Gets Better Project today as part of the OutLoud initiative to document the stories of LGBTQ people across America. In the story, Patrick Haggerty remembers the advice his father, a dairy farmer in rural Dry Creek, Wa., gave him when, in the late 1950s, he realized his son was gay.
OutLoud documents the powerful, varied experiences of LGBTQ people. The initiative honors the stories of those who lived before the 1969 Stonewall uprisings, celebrates the lives of LGBTQ youth, and amplifies the voices of those most often excluded from the historical record.

“We’ve recorded 700 interviews with 1500 people in the last year,” Isay tells Out. “I am surprised again and again how important these interviews are to the participants, and how powerful the stories are, and how little there is in the public record about life pre-Stonewall, especially in small towns and red states, like in this recent story. They rip my heart out—and inspire me—again and again. “

The end result of OutLoud will be a diverse collection of stories that will enrich our nation’s history.StoryCorps launched OutLoud in 2014 on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the riots, in memory of StoryCorps founder Dave Isay’s father, the renowned psychiatrist and early advocate for marriage equality Dr. Richard Isay, who came out to Dave when he was 22 and Richard was 52. More information about OutLoud, and interviews collected for the initiative, can be found atStoryCorps.org/outloud/.
StoryCorps and the It Gets Better Project released this animated story for National Coming Out Day. See more StoryCorps.org/animation/

Transgender woman targeted with a PIPE BOMB ‘for being LGBT

08/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Nick Duffy
6^th October 2015, 10:32 AM

Police are investigating after a trans woman’s home was bombed in Northern Ireland.
27-year-old Rachael Keys of Derry/Londonderry was forced out of her home after the incident on Saturday.
A pipe bomb that had been left on her windowsill exploded, shattering the window and showering her with glass.
Ms Keys, who luckily escaped without serious injury, told Belfast Live that police believe she was targeted for being trans.
She said: “I am a member of the LGBT community. The police feel that I may have been attacked because of that reason.”
Five homes were evacuated after the bombing, with families forced to seek shelter in a local community centre.
Ms Keys added: “I was just watching TV in my living room. Suddenly the window came through, there was glass everywhere and there was a big bang and a flash. I was covered in glass.
“To be honest I was completely dazed, I didn’t know what was happening. It scared the life out of me. I just ran out of the house screaming to my neighbours.
“I didn’t even have time to lift my poor cat, Jessie, who was sleeping in the bedroom. I was terrified, shaking, upset.

She continued: “The police came and cordoned the place off and evacuated us all to the community centre. I was totally dazed.
“One of my neighbours is epileptic and I was really worried about her not being able to get her medication. Another neighbour has a child who is autistic, another is a pensioner. It was awful for them. Just awful.
“We all had to sleep in the community centre overnight. I was distraught. Someone gave me a tablet to help calm me down and help me sleep. I didn’t sleep though.”
A Police Service of Northern Ireland officer told the newspaper: “We are lucky that no one was injured by this device, or by the window smashing.
“This is being treated as a sectarian hate crime and I would appeal to anyone with any information about this incident to contact detectives at Strand Road police station on the non-emergency number 101.”

“Real equality” is what the Conservatives stand for, according to David Cameron

08/10/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

17:30 7th October 2015 by Josh Withey David-Cameron

British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke about how important equality meant to his party, in his speech to the Conservative’s annual conference.

Mr Cameron told party members, MPs and the press: “Ten years ago I stood on a stage quite like this one, and I said that if we changed our party, we could change our country.
“We’ve done that together.
“It wasn’t just me that put social justice, tackling climate change, equality for gay people, and helping the world’s poorest at the centre of the Conservative Party’s mission. We all did.”
This wasn’t the only reference to equality Mr Cameron made in his speech in Manchester, he went on to say: “We can talk all we like about opportunity, but it is meaningless unless people are really judged equally.
“Think about it like this: opportunity doesn’t mean much to a British Muslim if he walks down the street and is abused for his faith.
“Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a black person constantly stopped and searched by the police because of the colour of their skin.
“Opportunity doesn’t mean much to a gay person rejected for a job because of the person they love. It doesn’t mean much to a disabled person prevented from doing what they’re good at because of who they are.”
“The point is, you can’t have true opportunity without real equality, and I want our party to get this right. The party of the fair chance. The party of the equal shot.
“I want us, the Conservatives, to end discrimination and finish the fight for real equality in our country today.”
The Prime Minister made his comments on the same day the United Kingdom was knocked off the number one spot in the European Union’s Rainbow Index. The UK, which was previously number one for four years, is no longer considered the best European country to be LGBT in.
In addition to that, yesterday John Walker was denied the same pension rights for his hisband that heterosexual couples have. His partner of 20 years is only entitled to £500 of an £41,000 pension a year.
Despite the fantastic moves forward in LGBT equality, it seems the Conservative Party still have their work cut out of them to achieve true equality for all.

Saudi Arabia – Stop the beheading and crucifixion

30/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Editorial: NIGRA has always been involved in ‘Human Rights’, and we have already written about Saudi Arabia today and its conflict of interest in the United Nations and the Human Rights Commission; we therefore urge you to sign this petition by clicking on the ‘Stop’ button below and entering your email address on the electronic form.

We have to stop this beheading and future torturing and beheading in Saudi Arabia, and the British Government must come out against this!

Saudi Arabia is about to behead a 21-year-old man and then crucify him to display his body in public. This same country was just chosen to head a U.N. Human Rights Council panel. If it weren’t so serious this would be funny!
Ali Mohammed al-Nimr was arrested when he was 17 for participating in demonstrations against the government, then he was convicted under torture. But his case is not an exception in the kingdom — Saudi Arabia has executed more than 100 people this year, that’s a rate of one every 2 days!
France has already requested that Saudis stop this execution, but the US, Germany, and the UK also have very cosy relationships with the regime. The best way to get urgent action is to channel our outrage to these leaders who can persuade their Saudi allies.Sign up now to save Ali, and then stop this human rights farce, his execution could happen anytime.

A breakthrough… Irish gay rights group to march in New York Paddy’s Day parade

30/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By Dan MacGuill | TheJournal.ie

Members of the New York City Police Department march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade past protesters, Monday, March 17, 2014 in New York. The banner reads “Boycott Homophobia.” The city’s St. Patrick’s Day parade stepped off Monday without Mayor Bill de Blasio marching along with the crowds of kilted Irish-Americans and bagpipers amid a dispute over whether participants can carry pro-gay signs. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

THE NEW YORK St Patrick’s Day committee has allowed an Irish LGBT group to march in the 2016 parade, carrying a banner, for the first time in the event’s history.
Speaking to TheJournal.ie from Queens this evening, Louth man Brendan Fay called it “a stunning announcement” and a “marvellous moment.”
During a board meeting of the committee, it was decided to accept the application of the Irish LGBT group the Lavender and Green Alliance, of which Fay is a co-founder.

This is it. This is a historic moment. It’s amazing.

The landmark decision appears to bring an end to a 25-year struggle by Irish and Irish-American LGBT activists to openly take part in the world’s largest St Patrick’s Day event.
In a statement, Fay added:

We have been on a long and winding road to equality, a road marked by painful exclusion and years of protests and arrests.

With this decision, we are transformed from cultural outsiders to insiders who can share in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, a vital expression of our heritage and culture

The move comes amid increasing pressure on organisers to allow for a fully inclusive parade.

In 2014, Bill deBlasio became the first New York mayor in a generation to boycott the event, due to the ban on openly gay groups.
In March, after Guinness withdrew support from the parade, a group of LGBT employees of TV sponsors NBC were allowed to take part, but some activists regarded this as an unsatisfactory compromise.
In July, John Dunleavy was ousted as chairman of the committee, and replaced by Quinnipiac University president Dr John Lahey, who had been lobbying internally for the inclusion of LGBT participants.
In a statement sent to TheJournal.ie, Lahy said:

Since 2016 marks the 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising, the birth of Irish independence, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 17 is a special opportunity for renewed commitment to Irish values and traditions, and the Irish role in the 21st Century.

We are working with the Irish government in this anniversary year to teach our young people the lessons of sacrifice and heroism, of love and tolerance, embodied in the Irish spirit.

Irish politicians have traditionally taken part in the parade during annual St Patrick’s Day trips to the United States, with Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan marching in 2014 and 2015.
Last year, however, Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton publicly vowed not to participate, “unless progress was forthcoming” in adding LGBT groups to the fold.
Brendan Fay, who has been arrested several times while picketing the parade, and 15 years ago helped set up the alternative St Pat’s For All event, concluded:

It will be a great day for the Irish diaspora and for all New Yorkers as we will honor the centenary of 1916 Rising together.

The words from the 1916 proclamation, ”cherishing all the children of the nation equally” will be real and meaningful

Unsung Northern Ireland LGBT Heroes

24/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

In the USA the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame — this year being rechristened the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame — is the only municipally supported institution of its kind in the nation.

Who are our LGBT Heroes in Northern Ireland? why submit your nominations and then we put them up on our site for you!

Same Sex Marriage

20/09/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Editorial:

Last week we published the wedding of two Spanish policemen in full uniform with full honour guard. You have to admit that they did look very handsome and happy at their wedding.

Today we carry on the theme, but publishing information on the Spanish Conservative ruling party whose leaders attended the same-sex marriage of their deputy secretary-general, giving tacit approval to a law they once bitterly opposed.

Life is changing all over the world, and when our local politicians in Northern Ireland resolve their differences, bigotry and stupidity maybe we to will move forward.

Spain’s conservative ruling party leaders attend gay wedding

By HAROLD HECKLE | Associated Press – 12 hours ago

MADRID (AP) — The top brass of Spain’s ruling conservative Popular Party including Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy have attended the same-sex marriage of their deputy secretary-general, giving tacit approval to a law they once bitterly opposed.

Javier Maroto exchanged vows with Josema Rodriguez late Friday at a ceremony in the northern city of Vitoria attended by Rajoy, secretary-general Maria Dolores Cospedal and other party dignitaries, the party said in a statement.
“In Spain, the right to marriage is for everyone and we all share that message today,” Maroto said afterward.
“Parties evolve,” he added. “Now my party and the government join in backing that right.”
Maroto and Rodriguez have been partners in a same-sex relationship for 19 years. Apart from being a senior leader in the Popular Party, Maroto is a former mayor of Vitoria.
Parliament legalized gay marriage in 2005 under a Socialist government, angering conservatives in once-staunchly Roman Catholic Spain. The Popular Party then challenged the law but Spain’s Constitutional Court — the highest in the land — upheld its legality.

Now, a decade after voicing strong opposition to gay marriage, photographs at the ceremony that ended early Saturday showed Rajoy with other party leaders smiling broadly as they posed beside the two grooms