If the GOP race for the candidacy of the party for next year’s Presidental election wasn’t so serious it would be comedic gold. However, Ron Paul’s newsletters, which seem to surface from time to time, are far from funny.

It turns out that Santa Claus has a lesbian working in the toy factory and, even though she didn’t win the Secrets Ireland hamper, she has taken some time out of her busy schedule to tell us who will get a pressie from the big man this year.

Over the course of the last week, BeLonG To participated in the first ever UN level consultation on tackling homophobic bullying globally. BeLonG To’s work to end homophobic bullying in Ireland was identified as best practice and will be included in a UN toolkit to be made available to governments and civil society organisations worldwide working to help combat homophobia

International Human Rights Day commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One of the key architects of the Declaration was the feminist and humanitarian, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Tomorrow, 10th December, is International Human Rights Day. If you haven’t yet seen Hillary Clinton’s speech to the UN in Geneva this week, here it is. My advice is to set aside 30 minutes to sit down and fully listen to the whole speech.

When people are suffering in the world, you can be sure that someone is making money out of it. It’s a fact of our flawed existence. That doesn’t mean that we have to sit back and take it.

Worlds AIDS day falls on December 1st each year, with the aim being to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS. Unfortunatlely, fighting the stigma still attached to HIV is going to be an uphill battle. Several World AIDS Day events are taking place in Ireland through December.

A new ad for Marriage Equality, this time from the land of Oz, has become an internet hit. The ad depicts one person simply loving and caring for a man, the person turning out, of course, to be a man himself. Simple but to the point

Benetton has completely undermined their position, their message and their brand by bowing to vitriolic hatred from the Vatican and capitulating to its hate-motivated threats.

20th November, is Transgender Day of Remembrance. A Ceremony of Remembrance to mark the GID/TG Year of Hope 2011 takes place tonight, 19th November, at the Unitarian Church in Dublin at 8pm.

The Vatican has successfully managed to force Benetton to withdraw one of its UnHate campaign posters. The image depicts Pope Benedict XVI locking lips with the grand sheikh, Mohammed Ahmed al-Tayeb, of al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. But don’t worry, here you can see the image in all its glory.

Ecuador is accused of using torture clinics to “cure” LGBTs – predominantly affecting lesbians. A petition to the Ecuadorian government has now been launched.

Yesterday, Laurie Penny wrote about the reaction she gets for being a woman with an opinion: the death threats, the rape threats, the physical threats. Graham Linehan weighed in with his support via Twitter.
Which was all going so swimmingly until he tweeted about chivalry

Major new study into the needs and experiences of older LGBT people in Ireland is launched today.

Welcome one and all (even imaginary bisexuals and trans* people) to your mid-week, once-off “Eamon Delaney round-up”. (Or, to your mid-week, once-off “Eamon Delaney antidote,” if you prefer).

The reign of the Marys (I & II) may have ended, but Ireland now welcomes into Áras an Uachtarain a man who is amongst other things a feminist, LGBT ally, intellectual and human rights activist.

This morning the Green Party tweeted that Ireland’s outgoing President, Mary McAleese, “commended” civil partnership. It’s disappointing that her views in support of equality for LGBT people would be so blatantly misrepresented.