gaelick

Ireland squad named for Algarve Cup

click here — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:30:44 +0000

While men’s football went into convulsions yesterday over Fabio Capello’s shock resignation as England manager, this writer learned about the naming of the Irish squad for this year’s Algarve Cup.

Women’s Soccer United and Extratime.ie’s Niall Farrell bring us the news that Sue Ronan has named a 24 woman squad, which includes nine players from the Bus Éireann Women’s National League, all four members of Arsenal, and one player each from Chelsea and Liverpool. Sara Lawlor, Emma Mullin, Ruesha Littlejohn and Sophie Perry make their debuts for their country.

Announcing the squad on Monday last, Ronan said:

I’m looking forward to getting the squad together for the Algarve Cup at the end of the month. We haven’t been together since our European Qualifying game v Israel in October, so the 4 games we will play in this tournament will be vitally important as we prepare for the next game in the group, which is away to Scotland in April.

This time of year is always a problem for us in terms of the match-fitness of our players because some are only in pre-season with their clubs. However for a change it’s the opposite at home where our new Bus Éireann Women’s National League is in full-swing and as a result, our home-based players are in tip-top shape!

Also the quality of the games these players are now getting on a weekly basis is a big plus and can only benefit the international teams in the coming years. Already it has led to Sara Lawlor, Peamount United FC, being named in the squad for the first time. Sara has played underage football for Ireland, but her outstanding performances in the WNL to date for her club, sees her included for the first time at this level.

Taking place at the end of the month and into March, The Algarve Cup will provide an ideal opportunity to field the national side and integrate the team’s new players ahead of the remaining Euro 2013 qualifiers later this year.

The Algarve Cup is a worldwide invitational tournament for national teams. This year, 12 countries will participate. It has taken place each year since 1994. Apart from the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Football, the tournament is one of the most prestigious women’s football events.

Ireland has been placed in Group C, facing Wales, Hungary and hosts Portugal over the course of six days.

The Euro 2013 qualifiers resume in April, with games against Scotland, Wales, France and Israel concluding in September.

The Ireland senior women’s team currently is ranked 28th in the World, in the FIFA international ranking list. The side is ranked 17th in Europe.

Algarve Cup 2012: Ireland fixtures

29 Febr 2012: Hungary v Ireland
2 Mar 2012: Wales v Ireland
5 Mar 2012: Ireland v Portugal

Ireland Squad, Algarve Cup 2012:

Emma Byrne (Arsenal FC)
Eve Badana (Drexel College)
Grace Moloney (Reading FC)
Yvonne Treacy (Arsenal FC)
Louise Quinn (Peamount United FC)
Megan Campbell (Raheny United FC)
Sophie Perry (Chelsea FC)
Grace Murray (Peamount United FC)
Meabh De Burca (Amazon Grimstad FK)
Niamh Fahey (Arsenal FC), Ciara Grant (Arsenal FC)
Dora Gorman (Peamount United FC)
Marie Curtin (Cork Women’s FC)
Julie Ann Russell (Doncaster Belles FC)
Aine O’Gorman (Doncaster Belles FC)
Stephanie Roche (Peamount United FC)
Fiona O’Sullivan (Soyaux ASJ)
Ruesha Littlejohn (Liverpool FC)
Denise O’Sullivan (Cork Women’s FC)
Shannon Smyth (Amazon Grimstad FK)
Emma Mullin (Castlebar Celtic FC)
Michele O’Brien (Chicago Red Eleven FC)
Diane Caldwell (Avaldsnes FC)
Sara Lawlor (Peamount United FC)

Finance Bill includes provisions for civil partners

click here — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:31:38 +0000

Yesterday the government introduced the Finance Bill 2012. The proposed legislation will be discussed today in the Dáil. “So far, so boring,” I hear you say.

Well, yes. But, in amongst the latest raft of measures implementing economic shock doctrine in Ireland, there are provisions which affect civil partners.

GLEN, not surprisingly, have cheerfully welcomed the measures as “extending equal treatment for civil partners in the tax codes”. Given the organisation’s record on how they represent civil partnerships, however, I’d be a bit sceptical and prefer to read the document and wait for the Oireachtas debates myself.

The relevant bit is in Part 6 at Section 117 (“Miscellaneous amendments: civil partners”). Unfortunately, since it’s a series of amendments, it may be difficult to make sense of it at first glance (unless you’re a tax lawyer, say).

The government’s simplified version is:

Section 117 makes a change in respect of the tax treatment of civil partners subsequent to the passing of Finance (No. 3) Act 2011. The section addresses issues in relation to maintenance arrangements for
civil partners as compared to the maintenance relief provisions for married couples.

It also places civil partnerships on the same footing as married relationships where it is accepted, that after the break-up of a relationship, often for economic reasons, persons may continue to live under the same roof.

A number of minor technical amendments identified after passage of Finance (No. 3) Act 2011 are also being dealt with.

On first glance, and with precisely no expertise whatsoever, here’s my own (probably wrong) initial assessment:

One of the amendments relates to “rent-a-room relief” and means that now if a child is paying rent to their civilly-partnerfied parents for a room in the parents’ private residence, that rental income is not exempt from income tax (within a certain upper limit).

Stay with me, now.

Another amends the law relating to “wear and tear allowances for licences for public hire vehicles“. Jesus wept. Anyway, the amendment means that civil partners are included as well as spouses in being recognised as the “beneficial owner” of the vehicle licence upon the death of their partner.

Cheery.

The next amendment appears (to this lay person’s eyes at least) to be a bit of a semantic change. The section that’s amended, however is interesting. It currently states: “in the case of civil partners where they are not living separately and apart in circumstances where reconciliation is unlikely [...]“.

“Where reconciliation is unlikely”? Really? Does anyone else remember the big deal the then Minister for Justice, Fianna Fáil’s Dermot Ahern, made about being unable to include any mention in the Civil Partnership Bill about requiring family lawyers to explore the possibility of reconciliation before pursuing a dissolution of a civil partnership?

His justification was that it would be “unconstitutional” to include such a requirement. (Please..) And yet, since the Fine Gael Labour government has come to power, the prospect or otherwise of reconciliation is important when it comes to tax law? How curious. Does anyone know if the main Civil Partnership Act has been similarly amended?

It’s a good thing, certainly, since the clause relates to children and one-parent family tax credits – but it’s still a general contradiction, isn’t it?

Moving on.

The next amendment relates to the definition of “dependent relatives”. Surviving civil partners are included as being dependent relatives. Two things, however: they can be the parent of an individual, of the parent of an individual’s husband or wife; but there is no mention of the parent of an individual’s civil partner. The dependent relative, if they are a surviving civil partner, must also have not entered into a further marriage or civil partner; there is no such restriction mentioned in relation to a surviving spouse.

(Someone please tell me I’m reading this wrong.)

(a) In this subsection ‘dependent relative’, in relation to an individual, means a relative of the individual, or of the wife or husband of the individual, who is incapacitated by old age or infirmity from maintaining himself or herself, or a person, whether or not he or she is so incapacitated, and—

(i) who is the widowed father or widowed mother of the individual or of the wife or husband of the individual, or

(ii) who is the father or mother of the individual or of the wife or husband of the individual and is a surviving civil partner who has not subsequently married or entered into another civil partnership.

The words that spring to mind are “glaring” and “galling”.

After that, there are amendments which: include children raised by civil partners in relation to retirement funds; include surviving civil partners in relation to PRSA products; again makes a seemingly minor change (though the divil is always in the detail) in relation to income tax and civil partners living separately where reconciliation “is unlikely”; and broadens the definition of “maintenance arrangement“.

There are also seemingly minor amendments to capital acquisitions tax law, which aim to include civil partners as well as spouses; and, finally, provisions setting out the times and dates from which assessments or calculations are deemed to commence.

Ain’t equality grand?

Finance Bill 2012 (as initiated, together with Explanatory Memorandum) (PDF)
GLEN’s press release

Marriage equality comes to Washington state

click here — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:59:24 +0000

Gaining marriage equality rights in one state may be considered fortunate. Gaining marriage equality in two states may be regarded as real progress.

California’s Proposition 8 ruling is, like, so two days ago. Now it’s all about the introduction of a marriage equality Bill by the Washington legislature. (Do keep up.) West coast, y’all!

The state House of Representatives debated the measure before taking a vote just before midnight Irish time. It passed by 55 votes to 43. Washington governor, Christine Gregoire, who introduced the measure has indicated that she will sign the Bill into law immediately.

With today’s vote, we tell the nation that Washington state will no longer deny our citizens the opportunity to marry the person they love. We tell every child of same-sex couples that their family is every bit as equal and important as all other families in our state. And we take a major step toward completing a long and important journey to end discrimination based on sexual orientation.

- Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The New York Times reports that the Bill could be signed as early as next week, but cautions that it may not take effect right away because, well, haters gonna hate. If opponents to the law can cobble together at least 120,000 signatures, then under state law the measure will be put to a referendum.

Nevertheless, now we can add to the list of things Washington is famous for: rain, Sleepless in Seattle, Nirvana, Starbucks, and marrige equality.

This is about couples. This is about family. This is about kids. This is about love and commitment.

- Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma.

Why should their union of over 23 years not be recognized? They are committed to each other. They love each other.

- Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Lake Forest Park, talking about her Democratic colleague, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, and her partner, Laura Wulf.

I’m very proud of my children. I’m very proud of my two sons. And they deserve the same rights and privileges that their brothers and sisters have. We have to have equal rights.

- Rep. Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney, D-Seattle, speaking about her two gay sons.

Congratulations, Washingtonians!

Quotations via AP/Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Sligo LGBT Soc protest againsts Lucinda Creighton with “marriage ceremony”

Jen — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:00:42 +0000

Speaking of marriage equality, on Monday Lucinda Creighton was scheduled to arrive at a seminar in Sligo IT called European Economic Policy – What’s in it for Ireland?

In February of last year Creighton caused uproar when she was criticized for her thoughts on marriage equality. She tweeted:

I think marriage is primarily about children, main purpose being to propagate & create environment for children to grow up. Its a good policy for society to support male/female marriage imo. I think civil partnership should ensure gay couples r treated fairly and justly re tax inheritance etc & recognition by the State But marriage is different.

The LGBT community and allies across the country voiced their rage and urged Enda Kenny to fire his then “equality spokeswoman”, while Fine Gael covered their tracks by stating they were Creighton’s own views and had nothing to do with the party.

So when the LGBT Society at Sligo IT heard about Creighton’s trip to the college they got their thinking caps on and immediately decided that they were going to make their presence felt and show Creighton that they were there, they mattered, and the fight for their right to marry was still going as strong as ever.

The staged marriages took place at the Salmon of Knowledge statue in the college grounds. The gay, lesbian and straight couples read vows and said their “I dos”. Shortly after this Lucinda Creighton arrived at the college while the LGBT society moved to the balcony to take photos.

Sarah O’Riordan, secretary for the ITS LGBT society said:

She showed up and we had one of our couples holding the flag. She averted our gazes completely. We kept silent, and went inside to stand on the balcony, and take photos, and they stood just to the left and attempted to pay no attention to us.

Sarah asked all in attendance to remember that this year Irish MEPs (Mary Lou Mcdonald , Bairbre Dé Brún,Padraig Mcloughlin,Toiresa Ferris, Kathleen Funchoin, Dan Boyle, Fiachra O Luain) signed the Be Bothered pledge which asked that:

…politicians remember to uphold their promises to the LGBT community, to uphold the fight for equal rights in the LGBT community, and to promise for the next twoand a half years to work 110% to make that difference.

Sarah’s speech concluded with:

We are all fighting for something in life, we are fighting for equality, four our rights, and it is a battle that never stops.

Creighton was not oblivious to the ITS peaceful protest against her presence in the college. Before she left she apparently lodged a complaint against the ITS LGBT Society. That didn’t dampen their spirits, however, and the couples enjoyed their ”honeymoon” in the local with a few pints and smiles all round.

Hollywood Valhalla

CanuckJacq — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:00:57 +0000

Rock Hudson was the first public “face” of AIDS. Diagnosed in 1984, he disclosed his diagnosis in 1985 and made the general public reconsider the notions they had about who could get AIDS.

If Rock Hudson can have it, nice people can have it. It’s just a disease, not a moral affliction.

- William Hoffman (1985)

A new play by Aidan Harney, Hollywood Valhalla, explores the time between Hudson’s diagnosis and his disclosure: how the first public figure with AIDS decided to tell the world. The two characters are Rock Hudson and his fitness instructor and friend, Toby.

Living in the middle of nowhere, I’ve been unable to make it to the show. For anyone remotely fascinated by queer stories or that muddled intersection between the public and the private, where fame and a person’s inner life meet (and struggle), it’d be hard to find a better way to spend your lunch break if you happen to be in Dublin.

Reviews:

Mesmerising … Harney’s sharp and self-assured script is … the most entertaining, dramatically satisfying two-hander I’ve witnessed for some time.

- Irish Independent

It’s quite an achievement… whimsical, courageous, dignified.

- Sunday Independent

FOUR STARS * * * *

- Irish Mail on Sunday

Harney seems shy to put words in Hudson’s mouth, which leads to a sad kind of silence of a myth unmasked: gone is the zing we remember from Rock’s romantic comedies, the excess emotion of his melodramas, or even the enjoyably breathless pap of the soap opera. Instead, we have a Rock of mumbling realism with a story that deserves better telling; a complicated film star rendered as Movie of the Week .

- The Irish Times

The play’s best scene is the nicely played moment when Toby reads Linda Evans’ lines from Dynasty in a faux-feminine voice and Rock becomes ‘Rock’ the hypermasculine lothario. The interplay between real and fake, masculine and feminine, and public and private is nicely realised as a play within a play that gives formal heft to the theme of performance and roleplay, and both Byrnes and Roche play it beautifully.

- Irish Theatre Magazine

Hollywood Valhalla has four shows remaining (today through Saturday) at 1.10pm at Bewleys Café Theatre. Tickets are €10-12 euro. An extra €4 gets you a soup and bread lunch.

California’s Proposition 8 deemed unconstitutional

click here — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:03:55 +0000

Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California.

It’s LGBT History Month in the UK, but it was across the Atlantic that history was being made yesterday.

A court in the United States ruled yesterday on the validity of California’s Proposition 8, the referendum proposal which introduced a ban on marriage equality in the state.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting in San Francisco, issued its ruling at 10am local time (6pm Irish time). It stated that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional as a matter of US federal law.

Although the [US] Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted.

The Court’s ruling can be read here (pdf). The AP has some excerpts from the ruling here. The National Center for Lesbian Rights has issued a statement. There’s also an easy-to-understand analysis here.

Although strident in its language, the Court confined itself to a narrow issue: it did not address the question of the right to marry or equality for same-sex couples in general. Rather, the court looked at the particular circumstances which arose in this case.

California had already introduced marriage equality before the proposal to ban same-sex marriage was introduced, and eventually passed by voters.

The Court ruled that this measure, removing a right which had previously existed, was unconstitutional.

Because under California statutory law, same-sex couples had all the rights of opposite-sex couples, regardless of their marital status, all parties agree that Proposition 8 had one effect only. It stripped same-sex couples of the ability they previously possessed to obtain from the state, or any other authorized party, an important right — the right to obtain and use the designation of ‘marriage’ to describe their relationships. Nothing more, nothing less.

Does the ruling have any implications for Ireland? Well yes and no and maybe (but mostly no).

Irish courts can have regard to judgements from other countries, although such judgements are not binding.

The circumstances of US case don’t arise in the Irish context: although the Fianna Fáil-led government introduced legislation in 2004 to ban marriage between same-sex couples, Ireland hasn’t already expressly provided for equality.

(Compare Spain, however: there, the previous Socialist government introduced marriage equality, but before recent elections, the conservative Partido Popular pledged to remove such equality. It remains to be seen whether the current Spanish government will follow through with this election promise and, if they do, whether such a move will stand up to EU and/or European human rights laws.)

The case being taken by Senator Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan to have their Canadian marriage recognised in Ireland is currently awaiting a hearing date from the Supreme Court. Before Christmas, they were unsuccessful in including a challenge to the 2004 legislation, but in theory the legislation may be open to challenge.

Although the US ruling relates to different circumstances, some of the points it makes may well be relevant to the Irish situation.

NBC picks up Bad Girls remake

Gooner — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:00:11 +0000

A few years ago, when I was on line reading all the American websites going on about how amazing Bad Girls is, I got a little smile. After all, who on this side of the water wasn’t jealous of them, getting to see the entire Nikki and Helen story for the first time? I am sure we’d all agree it is one of the best TV lesbian story lines of all time.

I remember watching it with my mam of all people in 1999. She was the big Bad Girls fan in my house -- and then I saw Helen as I walked through the sitting room one evening and thought, “I may as well spend some quality time with my mam!”. I mean, that voice: Helen Stewart could read the phone book and I would go weak at the knees. I think any notion my mam had of my being straight died a death right there.

Helen was, of course, the wing governor on Larkhall’s G wing. The wing housed many women, one of which was the kick-ass Nikki, imprisoned for killing the cop who tried to rape her girlfriend. Come on - even her reason for being there was noble. Although Helen was engaged at the time, I remember being hooked, I was so sure we’d actually have a lesbian love story as the main plot in a mainstream show that I was hyper.

I have re-watched it all many times, my friends and I always ended up watching the video after we watched The L Word. Well we were all there, why not? It never got old and is still a great view today. The chemistry between actors Simone Lahbib (swoon) and Mandana Jones was palpable and, to be honest, I have yet to be as invested in a story since.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSqVzW_y9pk

Now, NBC have ordered a pilot of a remake of the show from Shameless (US) producer, John Wells.

This is great news but it’ll be interesting to see if this version has the same pull as the original. As good as shows like Prime Suspect (US) and Shameless (US) are, let’s be honest, they aren’t a patch on the UK original versions. Much of that is because we have such relationships with the original that it is almost impossible to re-create something of the same stature, but it is possible and I really hope they pull it off with Bad Girls. According to Eileen Gallagher, CEO of Shed Media, the show will have the same characters and the same storylines.

The original had characters like Rachel, who committed suicide after being bullied. It had a prisoner violently strip searched by fellow inmates to find drugs and even a prisoner miscarry in her cell. These were real characters and the storylines were hard hitting.

Who could forget Jim Fenner, the greatest villain ever? We wanted him to suffer and suffer badly. Jack Ellis should have won award after award, he was amazing. God, we hated him. Not forgetting the likes of Shell Dockley and Denny Blood of course? Shell slept with Fenner in season one and eventually escaped Larkhall with Denny in the third season. Bodybag, The Two Julies, Yvonne -- I could go on and on, such was the depth of the character pool.

Will NBC be so brave with the characters relationships or will they shy away from the depth the original had?

John Wells’ shows give me cause for optimism. He has shown he’s not afraid to push boundaries. The West Wing was smart, rewarding telly and shows like ER and Shameless (US) have plenty of substance. I really hope he does this show justice and that Helen and Nikki take centre stage again.

Teachers and civil partnership or marriage

Webmaster — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:31:40 +0000

Aoife Neary, a secondary school teacher and Doctoral researcher at the University of Limerick, has been in contact regarding her current research – and you can get involved!

What is this research about?

The experiences of lesbian and gay teachers who are considering, planning or have had a civil partnership or civil marriage.

What are the benefits of the research?

This research attempts to break some of the silences that have surrounded lesbian and gay teachers in Ireland in the past. Civil partnership creates a new space and opportunity to explore how lesbian and gay teachers are negotiating their way around issues related to their sexuality in their school environments. The new knowledge created by this research will inform key stakeholders in the Irish education system about the realities of the everyday lives of lesbian and gay teachers in Ireland.

What are you being invited to do?

As a teacher myself, I am very aware of the busy nature of teachers’ lives so participation in this research will be efficient and flexible! It will involve an interview with me (1 hour) and a reflective task on your everyday life (decided by you).

Please get involved! Contact:

Aoife Neary,

Secondary School Teacher and Doctoral Researcher,

Department of Sociology, University of Limerick

Email: aoife.neary@ul.ie

Tel: 086-8647474

This research is funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences

DIT Rainbow Week starts today!

click here — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:22:07 +0000

This just in from our roving reporter in studentville, Soapie:

This week DIT’s LGBT Society will be holding DIT Rainbow Week 2012. With workshops galore, there’ll be speakers on trans issues, a homophobia discussion and a coming out workshop – not to mention bake sales and quizzes.

Kicking off today, Monday, we’ve Rebecca De Havalland, Ireland’s first recognized transgender woman, to speak about her journey. The talk will be held in DIT’s Aungier Street campus at 6pm, with light refreshments afterwards.

The Coming Out Workshop, on Tuesday, will act as a safe, inclusive space to LGBT students. Anyone querying coming out, head down to the Black Box Theatre in the basement of DIT Aungier Street for 4pm.

The same evening there’ll be the Homophobia panel discussion, held by USI LGBT Rights Officer Siobhán McGuire. The panel will feature “Growing up Gay” producer and “Hold on Tight” director Anna Rodgers, and Senator Katherine Zaponne. This will be held in DIT Aungier Street too at 7pm.

Bake sales will take over DIT on Wednesday hitting the Kevin Street, Cathal Brugha Street and Mountjoy Square campuses from 8:30am to 1pm. As the posters say, “Om Nom Nom Nom Nom.”

That evening, at 8pm, Panti will be hosting the Rainbow Quiz in aid of Aware. Held in Pantibar, on Capel Street, it promises great prizes from Nandos, Lush, Havana Tapas Bar, Foam Café & Gallery, Lemon Jelly Café, Burritos & Blues, Irish Film Institute, Lunatic Fringe, DIT LGBT Soc, Stephen Thomas Male Grooming, Pantibar, Boojum and many more! Tables are €25 for 4/5 people.

Louise Hannon and Broden Giambrone of the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland will visit DIT Aungier Street on Thursday, 9th February, to speak about transphobia and their own experiences of it. The talk will start at 6pm, with light refreshments afterwards.

Thursday night at 8:30pm will mark the opening of the DIT Rainbow Week Closing Party. DIT LGBT Soc and DJ Soc will be managing the tunes for the night in SOLAS Bar on Wexford Street.

A fantastic week of events, it looks to be highly informative and a great way of lending support to some much needed causes. I look forward to seeing a few of you there. Be proud!

Six Nations: Ireland v Wales (abandoned)

click here — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 15:06:17 +0000

UPDATE: 6th February 2012 at 10pm

Tonight’s Against the Head has footage of Friday night’s match – skip to the 24 minute mark. (Frustratingly, despite the fact that an RTÉ crew were therefore actually at the game, it was neither broadcast nor streamed online, nor were there any highlights on RTÉ news bulletins, unlike the senior men and under 20s boys teams.)

/ Update

The Six Nations got off to a disappointing start yesterday evening, when the Ireland v Wales match at Ashbourne RFC was abandoned at half time.

We brought you tweets live from the game as it happened. Unfortunately due to the freezing conditions and hardening of the ground, and citing concerns for the health and safety of the players, referee Kevin White made the decision to abandon the game. Indeed, even before game began, the ground was hard and grass crunched underfoot.

Niamh Briggs, who’s kicking was flawless, with one conversion and one penalty, tweeted:

To say we are disappointed is an understatement! We live to fight another day.. We’ll regroup for next match.. Support was unreal

The IRFU has confirmed that the Six Nations committee will meet early next week to decide on a date for the match replay. An offer had been made to replay the match today, but Wales declined.

(Personally, I’m delighted. A replay today would have meant I’d have missed it. The Six Nations: it’s all about me, really.)

View a slideshow of images from last night’s game.

The game (or half a game) itself was impressive. Both teams were fairly evenly matched, with Wales playing well defensively. Ireland appeared to have an edge, however, reflected by the 10-3 scoreline at half time.

Despite being confined to the Wales half for some time, Ashleigh Baxter and Lynne Cantwell combined before Cantwell got the ball to Connacht’s Alison Miller. Miller capitalised, with a blistering run from deep inside the Wales half to the try line, touching down in the 18th minute.

Niamh Briggs easily made the conversion, to make it Ireland 7-0 Wales.

Ireland later conceded a penalty in front of the uprights, giving away an easy three points to Wales. At the end of the half, a penalty was awarded in Ireland’s favour, and Briggs stepped up again for the kick. Sending the ball over dead centre from an awkward angle, Briggs made earning the additional three points look easy. The score at half time: Ireland 10-3 Wales.

Standout players included: Alison Miller, with a fantastic run and try; Niamh Briggs, with impeccable kicking; Sophie Spence, including an impressive run in her debut for Ireland; captain Fiona Coghlan, with a cracking block of a Welsh kick near the visitors try line.

More:

Six Nations: Team Ireland (part 2)

click here — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 08:00:17 +0000

Happy Six Nations Day, everyone!

Yesterday we introduced you to Ireland’s starting XV against Wales this Friday night, including the views of skipper Fiona Coghlan and former skipper Joy Neville.

The game kicks off this year’s RBS Six Nations proceedings from Ashbourne RFC.

Here we take a look at the XV’s replacements. An overview of the full squad (before the final cut) can be found here.

Let the games begin – Smashy smashy!

Tonight’s XV Replacements

16. NEWBIE: Paula Fitzpatrick (St Mary’s/Leinster) *

New to the Ireland side, and a member of the Leinster squad, Fitzpatrick was captain of St Mary’s RFC for several years and coaches Leinster’s youth side. When she’s not belting around a rugby pitch, you might find her wielding a hockey stick at Glenanne Sports Club in Dublin. Or if she’s not there, you might find her in a lab. Like her team mates, she’s got plenty of brains as well as braun, and is a PhD candidate at DCU’s School of Health and Human Performance. It involves lots of NaHCO³, and that’s all we need to know really.

17. NEWBIE: Ruth O’Reilly (Galwegians/Connacht) *

Another newbie, and another woman from the Wesht. Ruth O’Reilly is a Munster ex-pat, from Tralee, and lives in Galway. Along with provincial and national team mate Carol Staunton, she’s an assistant coach to the Connacht u-17 girls team, and therefore is one of those people who are instrumental to developing the pathways in women’s rugby mentioned by skipper Fiona Coghlan. O’Reilly can produce some impressive tackles, and has impact defensively as well as in anchoring the scrum, so here’s hoping it won’t be long until she gets the opportunity to demonstrate her skills.

18. NEWBIE: Siobhán Fleming (Tralee/Munster) *

Another of the uncapped players called up by Philip Doyle, and it’s easy to see why, Siobhán Fleming plays at flanker position. Another latecomer to rugby, Fleming started out in the sport only in 2007, and yet she’s captain of her club, Tralee RFC, and last year won Munster Ladies Rugby Player of the Year. She had originally been called up to play for her country last year, but was unable to participate due to personal reasons, so it’s particularly welcome to see her wearing the green jersey in 2012. She and her team mates appeared on Monday’s “Against the Head” on RTÉ Two. Take a look, sure (skip to 25 minutes in).

19. LEGEND: Heather O’Brien (Highfield/Munster)

The second qualified physiotherapist on the Ireland side (as far as I can tell), Cork’s Heather O’Brien plays in the lock position with Highfield, Munster and Ireland. She probably knows all about struggle and hard graft, and must be made of grit, having worked as a physio at two hospitals in the Irish health system before settling in private practice. Oh, and while she was working in the public system, she worked as a physio in private clinics, with rugby teams, GAA teams, basketball teams and the FAI. As well as pursuing further qualifications in specialist areas of her discipline. Clearly there are too many hours in the day, like.

An honours graduate from university in Edinburgh, she has also plaid college rugby in Scotland, as well as with the Irish Exiles and the invitational Shamrock Warriors 7s side. And if she’s feeling bored, she might just complete a marathon, climb Kilimanjaro, compete and/or teach various equestrian sports, and cycle the 80km round trip to work. Apparently. What is it with over achieving Irish rugby-playing physiotherapists, eh?

20. Larissa Muldoon (Exile/UWIC/Ulster)

After new cap, Ashleigh Baxter, is Larissa Muldoon the second-most wee member on the squad? (Well, they’re both born in 1991, so I feel old either way.) All the way from Ballybofey (wahey!), Cappry native Muldoon returns to the Ireland side again since the last Six Nations, after earning three caps thus far. Studying at and playing for the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, as well as the Irish Exiles, she will be very familiar with some of the opposition tonight who on other days are fellow team mates. Here she is speaking to IRFU TV and being just adorable. Aw. Mind you, she’s a scrum half, so that’s actually a bit scary.

21. NEWBIE: Nikki Caughey (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) *

We’ve found our baby of the bunch! (Née 1992.) Another brand new player called up to the national side and addition to Ireland’s Ulster contingent (that number is now seven, down from nine following the final cut) is Belfast Harlequins captain Nikki Caughey. Like her club team mate, Baxter, Caughey has been racking up the tries in her first two years playing senior rugby. She recently made several excellent runs, scored two tries and converted 5 out of 6 conversions for her club when Longford received a tremendous drubbing. Unsurprisingly, she was voted Players’ Player after the match.

It’s easy to understand Caughey’s accomplishments at such a young age, given that she has been playing since the age of five or six. She’s also a dab hand at hockey and netball, for the laughs, like. Caughey’s dream of playing for Ireland may be just around the corner (perhaps tonight), and the next goal? World Cup 2014 in France, baby!

22. AN Other

Ireland have left a spot empty on the bench as they await word on centre Shannon Houston‘s fitness. The Canadian, now a naturalised Irish citizen, collected an impressive 25 caps coming into the 2010 World Cup as a strong running centre, and since her debut in 2006 the tally is now running into the 30s.

A doctor by profession, she plays club rugby for Blackrock RFC and for Leinster. When she’s not representing club, province and country on the field, or curing disease, she’s a fan of skiing, and includes competitive weight lifting as part of her fitness programme. Of course!

* Denotes uncapped player

14 year old girl asks Maryland to vote “No” on marriage equality for her birthday

Jen — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:06 +0000

A video of a 14 year old girl asking the people of Maryland to vote “No” on marriage equality went viral yesterday on Buzz Feed. She spent her birthday with the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee and made her birthday wish to lawmakers. She said:

Today is my 14th birthday and it would be the best birthday present ever if you would vote NO on gay marriage. I really feel bad for the kids who have two parents of the same gender. Even though some kids think it’s fine, they have no idea what kind of wonderful experiences they miss out on. I don’t want more kids to get confused about what’s right and okay. I really don’t want to grow up in a world where marriage isn’t such a special thing anymore.

It’s rather scary to think that when I grow up the legislature or the court can change the definition of any word they want. If they could change the definition of marriage then they could change the definition of any word.

People have the choice to be gay, but I don’t want to be affected by their choice. People say that they were born that way, but I’ve met really nice adults who did change.

So please vote no on gay marriage. Thank you.

The recorded birthday message sounds obviously scripted. A girl of fourteen does not come up with these opinions on her own, so what kind of parents must she have? It’s truly sad to hear a fourteen year old voice her homophobia so blatantly whether she’s being influenced or not.

I posted the YouTube video on Facebook and immediately people were commenting on the video, voicing their outrage. Darragh Horgan said:

Definitely a sense of moral questioning going on, “whats right and okay“, plenty of things are not right and ok, but they are ongoing in the world at present and dont heed any obstruction. The only difference is, this threatens people’s understanding of the society they are in, and more importantly brings the recognisation of anyone who fails to fufill a heteronormative role into question as a second class citizen.

Paul Bostock said:

“But i think marriage should be between opposite genders and children must experience a mum and a dad” What bullcrap. When it comes to marriage and family it’s love and stability that matter, not gender. I still can’t believe the amount of “not-in-love” people that get married and screw up their kids time and time again and are allowed preference over a gay couple that’ll happily love and care for their children and for each other. The whole thing sickens me.

On ThinkProgress where the original ‘news flash’ was posted, a comment beneath the recording said:

For her to be abused that way by her anti-gay parents constitutes a form of child abuse. “People have the choice to be gay,” she says “but I don’t want to be affected by their choice.” The only way she is being “affected” by gay people is that her parents are teaching her to hate them.

For all of the people who have moved on from their prehistoric homophobic views, there seems to always be somebody waiting to challenge the progress that has been made, and what a disgrace it is when adults are still influencing the next generation of kids to be just as homophobic and ignorant as they are.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-Tsr7rz9Og

Six Nations: Team Ireland (part 1)

click here — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:30:06 +0000

It’s Six Nations Eve, everyone!

On Tuesday RTÉ brought us news of Philip Doyle’s choice for Ireland’s starting XV against Wales tomorrow night. (I know: RTÉ reporting on women in sport. Knock me on over with a feather!)

The game kicks off this year’s RBS Six Nations proceedings at Ashbourne RFC.

Also on Tuesday (knock me over a second time!), The Irish Times reported on captain Fiona Coghlan’s thoughts about her expectations as Friday night approaches.

The primary concern lies with the lack of team games played in advance of the competition. Ireland haven’t played a game since the last Six Nations. You read that right: that’s almost exactly a year. And with plenty of new talent in the squad, Ireland will hit the ground running in terms of putting their training into practice.

She told Scrumqueens:

We are set as we can be. We will have had four weekends together and there are some new faces in the squad so it will be good to see how they gel with the side in the first game out against Wales. They are similar to ourselves in that we haven’t had much time in games to work on things so I would say we will be fairly even. This game is always a massive one for both sides.

Discussing the fresh faces to the team, the Ireland captain told IRFU TV that many of the new players have excellent levels of skill and understanding of the game. She continued:

There have been [new] underage teams set up, so girls are playing [rugby] at a younger age. Their skill level is higher, their understanding of the game is better. And then they’ve been coming up through the provincials. Then there were inter-pros, and they were spotted at that, and then brought into national training for strength and conditioning. [The new squad members] have been involved since September in training and conditionging, so it’s been really good.

She confirmed that the development pathways from youth teams to national level are now meant to reflect the approach taken with the men’s game.

Coghlan, along with Lynne Cantwell and fellow team mates also appeared on Monday’s “Against the Head” on RTÉ Two. Those interviewed talked about their training, as well as about the challenges faced by the women’s game and the fact that the women’s game remains, as Ryle Nugent put it, “resolutely amateur”. It’s well worth a look (skip to 25 minutes in).

With all of that in mind, let’s take a look at the fifteen players selected for tonight’s game. There’s a healthy mix: Legends of the Ball; hardy perennial stalwarts; and wee newbies fresh from making their way up through the ranks.

We’ll also have a run-down of the XV’s replacements tomorrow, so check back! An overview of the full squad named before Christmas can be found here.

So, without further ado, to the players:

Backs

15. NEWBIE: Ashleigh Baxter (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster) *

Belfast native Baxter plays at fullback position, and is just a wee thing at 21 years of age and 5’5″. She teams up with experienced hands Alison Miller and Niamh Kavanagh to complete the back three. But don’t let age or a singular cap deceive you: she began playing rugby in second year in school. Compare that with some of Ireland’s top players who began their rugby careers after their school years. Unsurprising, then, that she spent the end of last year scoring oodles of tries and conversions. More of that, please!

14. Niamh Kavanagh (UL Bohemians/Munster)

This particular Niamh Kavanagh isn’t Ireland’s Eurovision legend, but is well on her way to becoming a legend for Ireland. Hailing from Offaly, Kavanagh made her first appearance for her country during last year’s Six Nations, and in her first two appearances managed to score a try for Ireland in each game against France and Italy. According to the woman herself, she’s met a Boston Celtic, is a fan of her Nan’s beef dinners, and is a bit addicted to YouTube. Here’s hoping she’s brought her lucky sports bra. She told the Offaly Express her feelings on playing for Ireland: “I’m very lucky and privileged. There’s loads of competition there. I don’t know what way to describe it really but it’s fantastic.”

13. LEGEND: Niamh Briggs (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Careful now. Clonmel’s own Garda Briggs, by now a fixture of the Irish team, won’t take yer messin’. (Probably.) Previously playing the fullback position, Briggs joins Grace Davitt in the centre pairing. She’s a one time Munster Women’s Player of the Year, and member of Scrumqueens team of 2011. Keep up the kicking and get that long arm of the law over that try line, will ya?

12. Grace Davitt (Cooke/Ulster)

Stamullen’s Grace Davitt has played at outhalf and on the wings, with clubs Boyne and Blackrock as well as her current club, Cooke RFC. Tomorrow night she’ll play at inside centre, teaming up with Niamh Briggs. A reliable kicker for Ireland, she’s also had her fair share of tries. Keep her lit, Davitt!

11. Alison Miller (Portlaoise/Highfield/Connacht)

Winger and full-back Miller is Connacht’s captain, one of three provincial captains on the Ireland side. The peripatetic Laois woman, teacher and relative newcomer to rugby, starts against Wales on the left wing. Miller’s sporting origins are in athletics. She rose through the ranks of Laois county football from the age of 21, had a brief dalliance with rugby while in college, before she began playing for Portlaoise RFC in 2009. She has risen steadily in three short years. Give those Welsh hell, Miller!

10. LEGEND: Lynne Cantwell (Exile)

Everyone loves an over-achiever. With a record number of caps for Ireland, and representing her country at no less than three World Cup tournaments, Cantwell will earn her 68th cap against Wales on tomorrow night. With another change in the usual player positions, she lines out in the fly half position and will team up with Amy Davis.

A graduate of the University of Limerick with a Masters from Southampton, Cantwell is a qualified physio, and isn’t alone on the team in that respect. Previously working in Ireland and New Zealand, and popping over to Oz for an advanced diploma (as you do), she now works at a practice in the UK. Oh, and she’s qualified in acupuncture. Starting out in rugby while at uni, she’s played for Munster, UL Bohemians, College Rifles (Auckland), Richmond RFC; she’s from Dublin’s northside (superextrabonuspointsthankyou); she’s happy to partake in a pinch of athletics, basketball, camogie and swimming; has been up for numerous awards and has won several (exhibit A, B and C); she’s been nudging the IRFU towards holding Ireland’s matches at Lansdowne Road; and has worked with the Wooden Spoon children’s charity raising funds to improve the lives of mentally, physically and socially disadvantaged kids in the UK & Ireland. Plus she’s mad for a chicken korma.

Did we mention that she’s a legend?

9. Amy Davis (Blackrock/Leinster)

Comfortable at scrum half, wing or centre, Davis is another experienced hand for Ireland and will team up with Cantwell tomorrow at the scrum half position. A University of Ulster woman, originally for County Down, and with a rake of caps to her name, Davis can also turn her hand to athletics, weight lifting and water sports if the mood takes her. Here she is havin’ the chats with Ireland and Leinster team mate Tania Rosser.

Forwards

1. LEGEND: Fiona Coghlan (UL Bohemians/Leinster) (capt.)

Yes, everyone loves Paul O’Connell and welcomes his captaincy for this year’s Six Nations, but there was a kind of fabulous symmetry with Brian O’Driscoll as skipper: both he and Fiona Coghlan are Clontarf natives, both captain Leinster, and of course both captain the national team. Coghlan has spoken of her anticipation of tomorrow night’s game against Wales: she knows they face a tough side but, despite the lack of game play with Ireland’s new line-up, she’s confident in her team. She stays on as prop tomorrow, leading Ireland in the loosehead position.

After Cantwell, she’s one of the country’s most capped players along with Joy Neville. A late-comer to rugby, she’s always been an enthusiastic sports woman. She tried out for Munster before joining the Leinster squad, and was introduced to the national side in 2002. When Coghlan is not propping up the Irish scrum she’s a full time PE and maths teacher. So behave down the back!

2. LEGEND: Gillian Bourke (UL Bohemians/Munster)

The University of Limerick just churns out Ireland’s top rugby players, and here’s another. Ireland’s hooker tomorrow, Bourke is among our veterans at the front and can also be found playing at prop. She started with the national team in 2009, had the good fortune and tenacity to be part of the side that defeated France, and has been a fixture ever since. Bourke is keenly aware of the additional dedication and challenges faced by women players compared with the men: “People don’t realise the commitment that women put in to play with their national team. I’m alright because my work can be reasonably flexible but there’s girls there who have less suitable jobs. There are a few teachers on the team who have to go to their headmaster asking for about 15 days off when that mightn’t be possible.”

She’s coached the UL team, as well as working as a youth development officer in Galway. Bourke is also a keen show jumper, if you don’t mind. (She doesn’t have much time for soccer players, though: they’re just too soft.)

3. Ailis Egan (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

TCD graduate Egan is another top Leinster player on the national side. Her debut for Ireland was during last year’s Six Nations tournament, and she plays again at tighthead prop, joining Coghlan and Bourke in the front row. Rack up those caps! Do Ireland proud! Trinners for winners!

4. Marie Louise Reilly (Old Belvedere/Leinster)

Although she has previously played at full back, Maz Reilly again takes up her position tomorrow night in the second row as lock. She first lined out for Ireland in 2010. And how did it feel to get picked for the Ireland squad for the first time? “Shock … nerves … excitement! Just delighted as I knew my family would be very proud.”

Prior to playing for Old Belvedere she played with Navan and with her first club, Tralee. From the land of the Lilywhites, Reilly attended Scoil Dara in Kilcock, attended college in Tralee, lives in Meath, and works as a sports development officer. So there now.

5. NEWBIE: Sophie Spence (Exile) *

Welcoming another new face into the Six Nations squad, Spence takes up the number 5 lock position in the second row. A current member of the Mowden Sharks, her previous clubs have been Teesside Uni and Darlington. In the autumn she made a powerful run for the Irish Exiles against Camp Hill (Birmingham), bursting through several tackles to earn a try under the posts. Her birthday’s at the end of the month, so let’s hope it’s a particularly special one!

6. LEGEND: Laura Guest (Highfield/Munster)

Clonakitly’s finest. A flanker with Munster, Laura Guest is another of Irelands legendary players. Tomorrow, she’ll be the blindside flanker with back row forwards Molloy and Neville. She’s also been a prop for Ireland, and plays tighthead for Highfield RFC. During the 2010 World Cup, she stepped in as prop to replace the injured Lauren Day.

A graduate of the University of Limerick, Guest is a former Clonakilty and UL Bohs player, has earned nine caps, is a secondary school teacher, and coach to UCC’s rugby team. She’s partial to a bit of golf, cycling, swimming and camogie if they’re going.

7. Claire Molloy (Bristol/Exile)

Openside flanker for Connacht, and captain of Cardiff University’s first XV, Galwegian Claire Molloy remains in this position for Ireland, although she’s also comfortable as a centre. She plays her club rugby for Bristol. Molloy spoke with IRFU TV before the 2010 World Cup, and gave an interesting insight into Connacht’s training and conditioning, as well as the experience of integrating into the national side. (Blogging Scrum Caps and Handbags for the IRFU, she also provided a ..unique post-World Cup run-down.) A GAA enthusiast, when her university studies in medicine took her to Wales, she settled for the next best thing: rugby. And thank feck for that.

8. LEGEND: Joy Neville (UL Bohemians/Munster)

Munster captain, former Ireland captain, one of Ireland’s most capped Ireland players with 58 caps, and a fixture of the national side for nine years. She made the Scrumqueens Team of 2011 and is described thusly: “The Ireland number 8 is an expert positional player with an array of ball skills. Works well from the base even when under pressure.”

Like Coghlan, Neville spoke with IRFU TV, and described the team’s preparation and the challenges they expect to face this week. She stays at the number 8 position tomorrow night. Yesterday, she spoke again about her expectations for the game, and how she’s looking forward to settle some scores against Wales:

All the training leading up to it has been really exciting and to put that jersey on, there is no better feeling to be honest.

Any time we play in the Six Nations will be a challenge but I’m really looking forward to playing Wales.

Wales is always a very hard tie. They are very strong and play with a lot of heart when they play against the likes of us.

A Limerick woman, she studied Social Studies and Social Care, works with a charitable organisation in her day-job, and has given her support to the Women’s Aid 16 Days campaign.

* Denotes uncapped player

Trans* people could be barred from flying in Canada

tabula rasa — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:16:05 +0000

As you may or may not have read this week, it seems that under current travel regulations in Canada, transgender individuals can be prevented from merely boarding a plane. In a recent post, I wrote about the violations of every day rights faced by T* identified people, and this is a prime example.

This story was first reported by Christin Scarlett Milloy who highlighted the relevant section of the Identity Screening Regulations:

5.2 (1) An air carrier shall not transport a passenger if
(a) the passenger presents a piece of photo identification and does not resemble the photograph

(b) the passenger does not appear to be the age indicated by the date of birth on the identification he or she presents

(c) the passenger does not appear to be of the gender indicated on the identification he or she presents

Damn it Canada, you used to be cool! This revelation comes hot on the tails of the widespread confusion over marriages of same-sex couples performed in Canada (for more see CanuckJacq’s post ) The current conservative government seems to be doing their best to remove any sort of “LGBTQ heaven” image that Canada has. These travel regulations were set in place by the Conservative Minister of Transportation, Denis Lebel, and the full set of regulations can be rea here (.pdf). As you can see, they further state:

(2) Despite paragraph (1)(a), an air carrier may transport a passenger who presents a piece of photo identification but does not resemble the photograph if

(a) the passenger’s appearance changed for medical reasons after the photograph was taken and the passenger presents the air carrier with a document signed by a health care professional and attesting to that fact

With that section they are demanding that a Trans* person carry a medical document with them when they travel, which is a pretty unfair onus of responsibility to be putting on anyone-travel is stressful enough without having to remember a doctor’s letter, or more to the point, without the added stress of having to go to see a doctor to obtain the relevant document, which will probably also cost a lot of money, just for the appointment. And what then of the T* people who would not be able to obtain said documentation?

As Christin Milloy also points out in her blog post, summing it up better than I could ever hope to:

So for non-operative transgender persons, for gender nonconforming (genderqueer) persons, and for the vast majority of pre-operative transsexual persons, it is literally impossible to obtain proper travel documentation marked with the sex designation which “matches” the gender identity in which they live.

This is obviously a ridiculous situation for people to be left in, and even though there’s be no reports that anyone has been stopped so far, I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a worrying precedent. It’s my second “Is this real life?” moment in under a week… I’m going to hide under a duvet now, wake me up when the world makes sense again.

There is a petition that you can sign if you want to take action.

A Glee-ful Valentine’s Day for Brittana… finally?

CanuckJacq — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:46 +0000

Spoilers and speculation ahoy. Ye’ve been warned.

There’s been a lot of talk about how Brittana and Santana get no Gleespect as a couple. The fact is, we’ve never seen them smooch, no matter how much they’ve talked about it since season 1. We’ve seen them hold hands a lot. We’ve seen cheek kisses. We’ve seen them lying on a bed discussing kissing and scissoring, but we haven’t seen them kiss. Not properly. And really, it’s all our little lesbian hearts want.

On the 14th, Glee Goddess Naya Rivera tweeted this:

And we all tried really, really hard to not get excited because we’ve gotten so excited before.

And then this happened on Monday:

So, we should still try really, really hard to not get excited. We know from cast tweets that they’re still filming the episode (called “Heart”) so nobody knows what made the final cut yet. And those of us who survived the Klaine Xmas Box/Ring fiasco know all about spoiler disappointment. There’s nothing worse than staring at your telly at the end of the episode wondering what happened to the scene you knew was going to happen.

And don’t worry. Unlike in America, the Valentine’s Day episode won’t be on Valentine’s Day here, so you’re free to go to the Melissa Etheridge gig in Dublin, or something else (who are you kidding?), and you can enjoy the episode when it airs later.

So, what do you think? Is it finally going to happen? Is it going to be sweet and cute or breathless?

Ireland’s first sex festival on 25th February

Jen — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:30:43 +0000

On the 25th of February ‘Bliss Festival‘ takes place in Dublin city on South William street in South William Place, D2. It will be Ireland’s first sex festival which goes to show how far our green isle has come from it’s previously prudish ways. The ‘Bliss Festival‘ invites us all to ‘Come join Ireland’s first Sexual Health, Freedom and Pleasure event’.

The festival aims to bring together different aspects of adult sex life and ‘Bliss Festival‘ believes:
‘-individual choice
- that human beings are whole beings – body, mind and spirit,
-that our sexual nature is reflected, & experienced, in, and through, all three
- that we have a right to (consensual) sexual pleasure, however we choose to experience it
- that we have a right to accurate & accessible sexual & reproductive health information & service’

Attendees can expect to explore sexuality through talks and playshops over an afternoon and evening where like minded people will get the chance to meet each other and converse in between live music and performers. At 2pm people in attendance choose one of four playshops to attend for and hour and a half which include:

Tantra Massage – Opening The Door To Sacred Intimacy with Lynn Paterson
The Metaphysics of Sexual Energy
Energy Dynamics with Self & Others – Isaac George
Relationships – Emer O’Grady & Derek McDonnell
Special Guest playshop – To be announced!

(Everyone is probably going to go for the ‘Special Guest’ playshop to see what Yoda of sex turns up to dish out some sexy lessons.)

After their sex lesson people will have a half an hour to mingle,chat and check out what the stalls have on offer before choosing a new sexshop from this list:

Spiritual Speed Dating – Fiona Daly
Alchemy of Love – Glenn Sullivan
Yoga for Every Body – Tobye Hillier
An Introduction to Kink! – C. A. O’Hara

Personally I think ‘An Introduction to Kink!’ sounds both profound and useful although ‘Spiritual Speed Dating’ could lead to finding a ‘soul mate‘. By this time everyone should be both hungry and horny so if there’s no rooms about get some food. There will be a dinner break from 5.30pm-7pm. Just enough time to get fed, bed and rejuvinated before the second half of the sex fest commences.

From 7pm-9pm can anybody guess what’s next? That’s right, another sensual playshop for two hours so choose your playshop wisely.

Tantra Massage – Sensual Loving Touch for Couples and Partners – Lynn Paterson
Awakening the Senses – Beth Wallace
Special Guest playshop – To be announced!

‘Tantra Massage’ sounds all well and good unless it’s the kind of tantra massage that was dished out in Sex and the City. Nobody wants to run the risk of a possible ‘There’s Something About Mary’ hair do.

The night concludes at 9pm with a social gathering that provides non-alcoholic beverages, performers,music and a chance to talk to others about your experience at Dublin’s first ever sex fest.

Currently tickets are €55 with concession and are €75 without. Tickets can be purchased online here and detailed information on the festival, performers and guests can be found on the ‘Bliss Festival‘ blog here and on Facebook.

Belong To launches LGBT refugee & asylum seeker project

click here — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:30:04 +0000

If you or anyone you know would like support and information from the Belong To LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees project, you can contact them by phone (01-670 6223) or by email (john@belongto.org)

This morning BeLonG To Youth Services launched their LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees Project.

BeLonG To created the Project to make life better for young asylum seekers and Refugees who may be lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT).

BeLonG To has found that in several cases, young people in the refugee determination process come out after their initial arrival into Ireland, and therefore after their initial claim for asylum has been lodged.

There could be a number of reasons for this.

Think about it: largely, the countries where LGBT people are persecuted are countries where officials are corrupt and/or the police routinely violate the human rights of those they are meant to protect.

It may not be surprising, then, for someone who has lived their lives in that society to be fearful of disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity to officials in Ireland.

Consider, too, the situation of separated children under the age of 18 years. The very fact of their young age may mean they haven’t come out to themselves, let alone disclosed this fact to anyone else.

I know I certainly didn’t seek support until my final year in school, and didn’t disclose to my peers until some time after that.

Significantly, if a person who applies for refugee status is perceived by the determining authority to have “changed their story”, this will almost certainly be viewed as undermining the applicant’s credibility.

A culture of disbelief permeates Ireland’s refugee status determination procedures at every level as it is.

Without proper training for the relevant officials, a person who discloses or comes out after the initial application for refugee status has been made will effectively be regarded as either simply a liar or someone who is introducing new information as a way to “enhance their claim”.

It is important to bear in mind, too, what happens when a separated child turns 18 while they await the outcome of their asylum claim.

A separated child is one who is in Ireland and is been placed in the care of the HSE as soon as they come to the attention of the authorities here. Usually nowadays the child resides with a foster family and has the support of a HSE social worker and/or project worker.

As soon as they turn 18, however, they leave the care of the HSE and are placed in one of the hostels housing adult asylum seekers.

In other words, they leave the constant safety and support of their adult carers. Although they will normally have an “after care plan” with the HSE, these young people are suddenly placed in a new environment where the possibility of hostile attitudes towards LGBT people is very real.

Even if a young LGBT person overcomes the hurdles of disclosure, coming out, establishing their credibility with the authorities, adjusting to their living arrangements – all while trying to carry on as normal an existence as possible, incluing pursuing studies and receiving any possible medical treatment they may need – they still must contend with simple ignorance and failure to correctly apply the law in their cases.

A refugee is someone who is outside of their own country, who fears persecution – in these cases on the grounds of being LGBT, or being perceived as such – and whose own country is unwilling or unable to protect them.

The recent report, Fleeing Homophobia, found that there have been a number of cases involving people who identify as gay which were refused notwithstanding the fact that homosexuality is criminalised in their countries of origins. It also found inconsistencies where some applicants from a particular country – e.g. Kenya – were declared to be refugees whereas others were refused.

The same report found that Ireland often refuses asylum on the basis that if the applicant is “discreet” in his or her country of origin no persecution will arise.

This is despite the fact that a leading ruling regarding LGBT asylum seekers states clearly what approach is required in cases involving LGBT asylum seekers. In short, a person cannot be expected to conceal their sexual or gender identity in order to avoid persecution.

The court stated:

When an applicant applies for asylum on the ground of a well-founded fear of persecution because he is gay, the tribunal must first ask itself whether it is satisfied on the evidence that he is gay, or that he would be treated as gay by potential persecutors in his country of nationality.

If so, the tribunal must then ask itself whether it is satisfied on the available evidence that gay people who lived openly would be liable to persecution in the applicant’s country of nationality.

If so, the tribunal must go on to consider what the individual applicant would do if he were returned to that country.

If the applicant would in fact live openly and thereby be exposed to a real risk of persecution, then he has a well-founded fear of persecution – even if he could avoid the risk by living “discreetly”.

If, on the other hand, the tribunal concludes that the applicant would in fact live discreetly and so avoid persecution, it must go on to ask itself why he would do so.

If the tribunal concludes that the applicant would choose to live discreetly simply because that was how he himself would wish to live, or because of social pressures, e g, not wanting to distress his parents or embarrass his friends, then his application should be rejected. Social pressures of that kind do not amount to persecution and the Convention does not offer protection against them. Such a person has no well-founded fear of persecution because, for reasons that have nothing to do with any fear of persecution, he himself chooses to adopt a way of life which means that he is not in fact liable to be persecuted because he is gay.

If, on the other hand, the tribunal concludes that a material reason for the applicant living discreetly on his return would be a fear of the persecution which would follow if he were to live openly as a gay man, then, other things being equal, his application should be accepted. Such a person has a well-founded fear of persecution. To reject his application on the ground that he could avoid the persecution by living discreetly would be to defeat the very right which the Convention exists to protect – his right to live freely and openly as a gay man without fear of persecution. By admitting him to asylum and allowing him to live freely and openly as a gay man without fear of persecution, the receiving state gives effect to that right by affording the applicant a surrogate for the protection from persecution which his country of nationality should have afforded him.

The Secretary of State should, of course, apply the same approach when considering applications of this type. Although I have, for the most part, concentrated on the position of gay men, the Secretary of State and tribunals should approach applications concerning lesbian women in the same way.

(The man who wrote this seminal judgement, Lord Rodger of Earlsferry, sadly passed away almost exactly one year later, on 26th June 2011, following a brief illness. His same principles were later applied, separately, to a case relating to religious belief.)

The BeLonG To Project aims to develop best practice for inclusion of LGBT asylum seekers and refugees in those statutory and voluntary services which work with either asylum seekers and refugees or LGBT communities, and which have a focus on youth and young adults.

BeLonG To will offer training and capacity building to this end. The organisation will also provide direct support to LGBT asylum seeking and refugee young people aged 14-30 years through its Project Youth Worker, John Duffy.

The Project draws on advice and feedback from key partners in the statutory and NGO sectors. Training Workshops will soon be launched, and in December 2012 there will be a seminar and report published. The Project will be completed in January 2013.

The LGBT Asylum Seekers and Refugees Project is co-financed by the European Commission under the European Refugee Fund (ERF) and is supported by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration in the Department of Justice and Equality, by Pobal and by the HSE.

Speakers at this morning’s launch included:

Sophie Magennis, Head of Office, UNHCR Ireland
Sue Conlon, CEO, Irish Refugee Council
Dr. Nazih Eldin, Director, HSE Health Promotion Office, Dublin North East
Patricia Brazil, Barrister and the Averill Deverill Lecturer in Law at TCD / National Expert for Ireland to the European Fleeing Homophobia Project

For any further information, please contact the Project Coordinator, Marissa Ryan.

Preview: Lip Service Season 2

Gooner — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 06:00:57 +0000

Now that our feet are back on solid ground having heard, before Christmas, that the BBC have confirmed Lip Service will return, lets take a little look at what might be in store.

The debut season averaged over half a million viewers per episode and I am confident in saying the vast majority of them wanted more than a paltry six episodes. I know I did, so although we all took a communal sigh of relief when the series was recommissioned we shouldn’t really be to surprised, after all, it was well written and well acted, so why shouldn’t it gather a large and loyal following?

The cast of characters lead by Laura Fraser, Ruta Gedmintas and Fiona Button, are a bunch of twenty-something lesbians living in Glasgow, and they all have something going for them. My personal favourite is Button’s portrayal of Tess, she’s just so adorable, however, I don’t think there is any doubt that it’s Fraser and Gedmintas’ long lost love that gets most people tuning in.

Those of you who saw all of season one know how it ended. Sam waiting in the pub with her mates while her girlfriend, Cat, slept with her ex, Frankie. So who’s camp are you in? Frankie or Sam? Who should Cat end up with? For me the key issue here is that I just don’t feel any chemistry between Cat and Frankie, whereas Cat and Sam had real chemistry before the writers decided they had done to good a job and tried to tone it down a bit. I think Frankie is a pain in the back side quite Frankly (see what I did there?). I know she’s supposed to be a commitment-phobe trying to mend her ways, but it doesn’t play for me. She comes off a selfish and just plain annoying. The whole idea of Cat sleeping with Frankie again just made me dislike her more, it didn’t change my mind about Frankie at all. I know what you are thinking, Frankie is ‘the one’ so it doesn’t matter how nice Sam is, however, as I said, I don’t see that she is the one. I am probably alone here but there you go.

It takes great writing to have us all arguing over who’s the one and well done to the show’s creator and writer, Harriet Braun, for giving us lesbians and bi women what we want, nay, need! A show about real women living in the real world. When season two got the green light Braun said:

I am incredibly happy to be given this opportunity to take the characters forward and to allow all of our loyal viewers a chance to get to know them even better. I’ve got some great twists, turns and surprises up my sleeve for series two

That’s what we like to hear Harriet, twists and turns -- music to my ears. So lets take a look at a little teaser shall we?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kXFTW3rqgM

Not exactly giving the game away there are they? Basically it’s letting us know what has already happened -- as if we could forget. I have had many a Frankie v Sam discussion in the last year.

BBC drama executive producer Matthew Read has said

We were delighted by the audience response to Lip Service – both in terms of its loyal fan base and the level of discussion online – so its incredibly exciting to be moving forward with a second series.

When Matthew, when will you “be moving forward with a second series”, we need it NOW!

Some Possible Spoilers

Season two is rumoured to start off with none other than Cat and Frankie returning home after a trip to South America. Does Sam know who Cat was with? Has she finally made up her mind? I doubt even she knows.

Tess is still sharing a flat with Frankie, however, when Lexy, a sexy doctor, turns up to interview for the third room, sparks fly. Will Tess, who has just got a major actor job, find love? Apparently she already has a girlfriend, is it the electrician from over the road? I hope so.

Unfortunately Sadie is still part of the group, but who knows, they might actually do something with her character this time.

So what do you really want to happen in season two? More or less Sam (stupid question)? New characters? Tess for Prime Minister? Let us know in the comments.

A is for A-list side kicks

Gooner — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:30:38 +0000

We continue our look at those lovely ladies whose names start with A. This time I am in the land of the unsung. Those characters that add greatly to a show or film but never really get any credit.

Astrid Farnsworth (Fringe)

Played by the out gay actor and artist Jasika Nicole, Astrid is more than just a background character on the show, she’s intelligent, caring and patient. After all, Walter calls her by the wrong name every time and it never gets old.

Astrid also ensures the programme passes the The Bechdel Test, which is most important. With a small cast, every character is pivitol and Astrid’s imput is always central to the plot.

Arizona Robbins (Grey’s Anatomy)

OK, so you might think she is more than a side kick but I disagree, I think she should be more, but sadly she and her sexy wife, Callie, are back-up characters to the main event. Played brilliantly by the gorgeous Jessica Capshaw, Arizona has been one of those characters that is totally out and proud and has taken lesbian visibility on TV to a whole new level. Wedding, child, co-parenting with bio-dad, all good stuff to get out there in a major TV show.

Ashley Davies (South of Nowhere)

Back in time a little here for this one. Ashley was Spencer Carlin’s best friend in the hit show about a family who moved cross country to start fresh. Mandy Musgrave had originally auditioned for the part of Spencer but in the end she did a great job playing the bisexual teen and Spencer’s love interest, Ashley. There aren’t enough bi characters on TV (I know, join the club) so seeing this strong teen make her mark was amazing, and very well written.

Angela Montenegro (Bones)

Played by the lovely Michaela Conlin, Angela is a scientist and artist, which all ads up to being a specialist in forensic facial reconstruction. What I love about this character, though, is that this time the scientist is sexy and out going, a welcome change to the stereotype. Angela’s character is more social than her co-workers, and adds a little spice to the show. Conlin is excellent and makes sure Angela does more than paint by numbers.

Abby Sciuto (NCSI: Naval Criminal Investigative Service)

Yet another forensic scientist I hear you say? I agree, but Abby is popular, and I mean mega popular. Actress Pauley Perrette was named most popular primetime TV star by Q Score for playing the role of this intelligent woman. Now that’s saying something when you consider the sheer number of shows out there. She is smart, insightful and definitely there to do more than make up the numbers.

Anna Milton (Supernatural)

Played by the wonderful Julie McNiven, Anna is a fallen angel reborn on earth who remains an outcast from Heaven. She can however, still hear angels’ conversations which left her committed to a mental institution. Having been freed she remembers through hypnosis that she was an angel who fell due to the misery she felt from the lack of free will she suffered. I know that probably all sounds totally mad, but she’s a great character in a really interesting show. Trust me!

Allison Cameron (House)

Another doctor, this time an immunologist, Allison was portrayed by the gorgeous Jennifer Morrison till she left the show in 2006. This show is all about the main man so it’s not easy to make yourself seen. Morrison does a great job with this feisty woman. Her character actually blackmailing the House into a date in order to regain her services having been let go. Sexual harassment I hear you say? Well they didn’t work together at the time so I guess it goes down to standing up against a strong character.

Lt. Alicia Washington (Terra Nova)

Well we can’t very well have a list of sexy ladies and not include a military type, can we? Second in commant Alicia, also called “wash” is refered to by this new show’s hype as “focused, sassy, and dry”. I don’t know about you, but my spider senses are tingling! Played by the sexy Simone Kessell, this woman is, well, hot stuff. Killed in the finale to season one I am hoping they get her back somehow.

So who have I left out? There is bound to be many more out there, so please comment!

A Suppa Earl Gae

click here — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:24:30 +0000

It’s a gloomy, rainy Monday. Are you in any kind of mood for work? Hell no! So here’s a round-up of some of the headlines that caught our eye over the past day or so. Enjoy.

News-y

The UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon, urged African countries to entrench civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights to boost stability and development in the continent. He cited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity as one of the injustices that has been ignored or even sanctioned by many States for too long.

He told leaders:

This has prompted some governments to treat people as second-class citizens, or even criminals. Confronting this discrimination is a challenge. But we must live up to the ideals of the Universal Declaration [of Human Rights].

And he called for greater representation of women in parliaments across Africa, which he said currently stands 20 per cent on average, as well as speaking about young people in African nations:

We must ensure that women are fully represented in decision-making bodies, including in Egypt and Tunisia, where they played a role” in the recent pro-democracy protests.

And we must restore hope and a better future for youth in Africa. Unemployment and poverty feed chronic instability and create tensions. I intend to appoint a special representative for youth, who will open dialogue with young people and lead our efforts.

South Africa’s Times Live reports that the men convicted of the murder of Zoliswa Nkonyana are due to be sentenced later this week.

Nkonyana (19) was stabbed and stoned to death outside a shebeen in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, on 4th February, 2006.

The trial of the men has been beset by repeated delays in the nation where violence against women, and in particular the persecution of lesbian women, is endemic.

In other news, and without a hint of irony, an African Christian cleric has urged that “tradition and history” in England be preserved.

The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, told The Telegraph that “Marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman,” and “[Marriage] is set in tradition and history and you can’t just [change it] overnight, no matter how powerful you are.”

Speaking of Biblical texts and “tradition”, those very same foundations framed arguments employed by those seeking to preserve the system of slavery and the slave trade in 19th century Britain and “anti-miscegenation” laws in the 20th century US.

Blogger Blabbeando brings has tweeted the news that Cuba’s Communist Party “has officially adopted platform to end discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity”. Far from being a bastion of human rights vindication, it will be interesting to see who this “official” move by the Cuban authorities plays out.

Meanwhile, Pinksixty News reports that Jamaican gay rights activist Maurice Tomlinson has fled his country after the police said they couldn’t guarantee his safety. Following reports of his marriage in Toronto to his Canadian partner, increased death threats made it impossible for him to remain.

On the good news front, lesbians feature in good-parents-shocker!

Q News brings us the latest from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study.

The Study began in 1986, and the latest findings examines the situation of about 80 teenagers parented by lesbian couples. The young people were matched on gender, age, parental education, and ethnic background with adolescents in heterosexual-parent families. The children were interviewed at age 10 and again at age 17 with queries about their activities, social lives, feelings of anxiety or depression, and behaviour.

The authors found that children raised by lesbian mothers – whether partnered or single – scored very similarly to children raised by heterosexual parents on measures of development and social behaviour. They also discovered that children in lesbian homes scored higher than those in straight families on some psychological measures of self-esteem and confidence; did better academically and were less likely to have behavioural problems, such as rule-breaking and aggression

Take that, Professor Patricia Casey!

“Quality of Life of Adolescents Raised from Birth by Lesbian Mothers” is published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

Sport-y

On Wednesday, the Six Nations rugby fest was officially launched in London. It may have been easily missed (thank you, mainstream media) but the women’s captains were there as well as the men’s captains, and there’s even photographic evidence to prove it!

Here’s the skippers namecheck: Fiona Coughlan (Ireland); Sara Barattin (Italy); Katie McLean (England); Susie Brown (Scotland); Rachel Taylor (Wales); Nathalie Amiel (France).

(IRFU / TheScore)

Across the pond, the USA was victorious over Canada with four goals to nil in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying final, securing the States qualification for this year’s tournament in London. Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan secured their country’s win with two goals each.

Fluff-y

In celebrity-ville, at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, Emma Stone and Emily Blunt were looking a-fecking-mazing.

* swoon *

Irishers may not be too familiar with the phrase “No homo” – so here’s an intro from Current TV’s Bryan Safi to get you up to speed:

Now, Chescaleigh – she of “Shit white girls say to black girls” fame – brings you the ultimate how-to in finally ridding us of the rotten phrase. Behold!