What does family mean to you? Help Dublin Pride’s WRF2 project by giving your answer – and be in with the chance to win a fantastic prize!

You would think that the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Ireland has better things to do than continue wittering on about gay rights issues. But no. Their strategy – as it is for the Vatican downwards – continues to be to try to distract from their child abuse issues by attacking equal rights issues: the gays (and women’s control over our own bodies).

At last the weekend is upon us! But what have you missed in Gaelick-land this week? Here’s a quick round-up of what we’ve been yakking about.

Heads-up, kids: the Civil Partnership Bill’s Committee Stage resumes tomorrow, Thursday, 27th May 2010 at 10:00am. Tune in, comment, Tweet!

A few days ago, GCN published its interview with Brenda Power. Since then, I’ve heard some people – horror of horrors gays included – agreeing with some of the things she has to say. … I just can’t abide that.

Portugal’s highest court has today issued a ruling that expanding the definition of marriage to include same-sex relationships is permissible. This is in the context of Portugal’s constitution, which obliges the state to uphold and protect marriage and the family.

The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 continues its progress through the Oireachtas, with committee stage taking place this Wednesday, 24th March 2010 at 10am. A Live Blog has again been set up, and we hope to embed the stream to the live Oireachtas video to allow readers to follow the debate.

The Civil Partnership Bill is progressing, and conservatives are stepping up their game in opposition. LGBT Noise needs us to do the same – read on!

The Dáil is to resume its debate on the Civil Partnership Bill 2009 this Wednesday, 27th January 2010. (It is scheduled to take place at some point between 11:29am and 1:30pm, although first to be debated in that time-slot will be two other bills.) A Live Blog has again been set up, and we hope to embed the stream to the live Oireachtas video to allow readers to follow the debate.

The Dáil is to resume its debate on the Civil Partnership Bill 2009 this Thursday, 21st January 2010. (It is scheduled to take place at some point between 10:30am and 3:30pm, although first to be debated in that time-slot will be the Adoption Bill.) A Live Blog has again been set up, and we hope to embed the stream to the live Oireachtas video to allow readers to follow the debate.

The Portuguese government yesterday approved proposed legislation to remove references to gender in respect of marriage. Yes, Portugal looks set to soon remove any prohibitions on same-sex marriage. The proposals, however, exclude such couples from being considered for adoption, with some saying that this enshrines further discrimination.

The Dáil is to debate the second stage of the Civil Partnership Bill today 6:45pm. As you may recall, the Bill was published the day before the Dublin Pride march in June of this year. A couple of weeks ago we wrote that An Taoiseach said the Bill would be debated, “Hopefully, in the first week of December.” And so it has come to pass.

I came across crazy Christians, Renew, thanks to recent posts on MamanPoulet. MP has also been writing about the religious fundies lobbying for a religious “opt-out” to the Civil Partnership Bill. The misses tried to extract some reasoned discussion from the un-speak and scare-mongering by dropping them an email..

Pink Training is a weekend event for LGBT students from all over Ireland consisting of talks, workshops and a night out or two. The aim is to educate LGBT students on the issues they will face, how to deal with them, to learn about sexual health and to learn about LGBT history

Our friends at MarriagEquality have been working away at trying to make some sense out of the Civil Partnership Bill and so decided to ask a barristor to have a look. They asked important questions like what the Bill will mean for same-sex couples and those with children if it becomes law in its current state?

I’m sorry.. Last time that I checked, I was sure that Seán Brady was not an elected representative of this country, nor is he a member of government. And yet, he seems to think that he can stick his oar in concerning how the law of the land is shaped.

Recent years have seen gay rights activism in Ireland gathering momentum and a new wave of advocates has pushed the rights of LGBT people to the fore of the equality agenda. One such advocate, Lisa Connell, has now thrown her hat into the ring for a seat on Dublin City Council. Lisa took time out from her busy campaigning schedule to answer a few questions for us…