'LGBT - A Silent T?' : 18th June 2008

***Apologies for cross posting. We kindly request your assistance in distributing this email and details of this event widely, as it did not make it into the official Dublin Pride programme. Please see our full colour flier attached!!! See you there!***

Please join us in celebrating Dublin PRIDE 2008 and its 25th anniversary! UCD's Women's Education Research and Resource Centre (WERRC) is joining with Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) to host a Pride Forum on transgender inclusion in Ireland's wider LGBT community.

'LGBT - A Silent T?' :

WERRC Pride Forum in conjunction with TENI,

Temple Bar Hotel, Fleet Street, Dublin 2- (wheelchair accessible)

Wednesday, 18th June 2008

7-9pm

Free of charge

A panel forum followed by a community round table discussion on transgender inclusion in LGBT politics, activism and spaces.

Participants include representatives from TENI, Outhouse, LGBT Noise, BeLonG To, Dublin Pride, Garda LGBT Liaison Officer, Labour LGBT, the USI LGBT Rights Officer and Dublin's transgender community.

For more information, contact the forum organiser:

Leslie Sherlock WERRC

Tel : (01)7168567 Fax : (01)7161195

Email : leslie.sherlock@ucd.ie

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"Perverts" in Disguise

Image by jgrantmac via Flickr

The Definition of Pervert will be very important in this post:

Pervert: to cause to turn aside or away from what is generally done or accepted
Source: Merriman-Websters

I am not a pervert. I am many many things. I am a son. I am a friend. I am a lover. I am a brother. I am not a Pervert.

Not a typical mantra I have to say to myself everyday of the week but every so often Something appears which makes your blood boil and your bile turn over so that it acidifies the entrails of your body. Tonight such an event has happened. I have been sent a copy of the Mayo Echo's article entitled "Castlebar Lake Attracts Hundreds of Perverts".

Now as you can imagine since I have read the article, I have been told to take a deep breath and calm down. Not my style much. This time I am pretty pissed off . I have a copy of the article below because funnily enough the Actual Article is no longer available on the Mayo Echo's Website.

Published under the title "Castlebar Lake Attracts Hundreds of Perverts"


Hundreds of perverts are descending on Castlebar every week as the town has become the 'cruising' capital of Connaught. The carpark at Lough Lannagh has become a meeting point for so called 'cruising', where gay men walk or drive to a specific place in search of a sex partner, usually of the anonymous, casual, onetime variety.
Hundreds of gay perverts gather at this carpark at Lough Lannagh in Castlebar every week. When they find a partner, most make their way across the bridge and up the pathway to the left. In recent months, the men have begun arriving in the daytime, propositioning passers-by, including teenagers, for casual sex.

Over the past two years, the carpark at Lough Lannagh has become a magnet for men looking for such encounters, and their actions are making the area a nogo area for ordinary visitors and walkers. Many of our readers have contacted the Mayo Echo in recent times to complain about the activities of these perverts, and following an in-depth investigation, it can be revealed that the situation is much more worrying than anyone imagined.

Initially, the practice of cruising by men was confined to night-time, and the area it was taking place was usually quiet enough during these hours. However, over the past six months the practice has now spread to the daytime, when children are around, and many more members of the public are around. The perverts are approaching unaccompanied men and teenage boys who are walking, fishing, or visiting the local graves. Numerous complaints have been made to local Gardai in relation to unsolicited approaches for sex. Complaints have also been made about men having sex in public places, around the Lough Lannagh area. Walkers have come across men in various stages of undress, in different positions.

The Mayo Echo has been carrying out an investigation of the situation at Lough Lannagh over quite some time following complaints from our readers. The first thing to strike any observer is just how busy the area is. Many people visit the area to eat their lunch, read the newspaper, go for a stroll, feed the ducks, or just have a daytime snooze in their car. In fact, it should be stressed that the majority of people who visit Lough Lannagh are doing so for completely innocent reasons. However, as you spend more time in the area, you begin to notice that there is a hidden world. Over the course of the past week, up to fifty men visited the area looking for other gay men, every day. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are the busiest, when upwards of one seventy men will visit the area, right throughout the day. The vast majority will arrive by car, although an increasing number are arriving by foot, leaving their vehicles elsewhere in the town. Most of the men do not know their partner before they meet up, and do not stay in touch after the encounter.

The men follow the same sort of procedure to meet other men. They arrive by car or on foot, and walk about the immediate area. They say hello in a casual nature to other passing men , and if the other men engage them in conversation, they make their way to a remote spot and the sexual activity begins. They may also leave the area in one of their cars, although many refuse to do so as this can prove much more dangerous than staying in the locality. Most of the men make their way to one of three spots in the hedge-growth around the area.

The most popular spot is up in a corner alongside the river. Any sounds are drowned out by the noise of the river. The ground at these spots is strewn with discarded condoms and tissues. Worryingly, at the busier spot, there are pages from young boys' magazines strewn in the area. There is a well-worn branch where the men hold onto whilst engaging in their business. The most worrying aspect of the whole situation is that this spot overlooks a children's playground, and the noise of children playing can clearly be heard from just 50 metres away, whilst these man take part in their perversion. Unbeknown to parents who are minding their children playing on the swings or the slide, drooling perverts are getting off whilst watching their children.

Some men visit the area regularly, many times a day. The same faces and vehicles can be seen acting suspiciously almost every day. Men also travel from as far away as Sligo, Galway, Roscommon and even Donegal to visit the area. However, as word has spread about the practice, groups of young men have begun visiting the area to launch attacks on the perverts. Gardai have also been mounting undercover operations to detect the activities, and the Mayo Echo understands that a number of men have been arrested for crimes connected with the scandal over recent weeks. However, the Gardai operation is both ineffective, and barely discreet. Many of the men who use the area are already aware of the vehicles used by the Gardai. The undercover operations tend to be mounted at night, so the men increasingly visit the area in the daytime. Within the first day of watching the area, the Mayo Echo was able to detect the Gardai undercover operation.

On one occasion, the Mayo Echo came across two men in a sexual embrace in a public place, just a few metres from the car park, at 4.30pm in the day. Whilst these men were at this, a number of very young children were feeding the ducks with their parents, only 40 feet away.

The Mayo Echo managed to speak with a small number of the men who are taking part in the practice. Some complained that it was getting more dangerous. Many of the men have been attacked and robbed whilst taking part in the activity. Naturally, they do not report these attacks to the Gardai. They say they carry out the activity for the thrill of it, whilst some say they are married with children.

The Mayo Echo would like to give the men engaged in these practices fair warning. We shall be publishing pictures of the men engaged in these activities. It is completely unacceptable that ordinary decent people cannot enjoy a stroll with their children without coming across such disgusting scenes. These going ons are attracting criminals into the area, and are putting our children at risk. The acts are also putting the men's own health at risk. Innocent teenagers are now being propositioned for sex by older men, and this might lead to sexual attacks in the future. But most worrying of all is that these perverts are engaging in these activities whilst overlooking children playing in the nearby playground, and also looking at images of young boys from magazines strewn about the area. Extremely worrying, a boys' magazine is discarded in the den where the men gather.

Source: Mayo Echo. (Online link unavailable, as article was sent via email after site went down)

Am I pissed off? Yes I am pissed off. I don't care about the cruising. Cruising will happen despite any Garda Operation, effective or ineffective. So long as we live in a society which considers homosexuality as a deviance from the norm and endorses homophobic actions such as the actions of vigilantes which the Mayo Echo has reported on, nothing will ever change and cruising will continue. All any Garda Operation is going to do is to move the problem to another location and all things being equal of course, Will any Garda operation be required to make the same crackdown on heterosexual couples who fornicate in our public parks and upsetting my view from time to time by throwing their heterosexuality in my face all of the time.

No what I care about is the fact that the Mayo Echo has taken it up on themselves to be the Vanguard of the Good People of Mayo and to expose these "perverts" in their Paper. The piece is littered with homophobic bigotry dressed up in the language of "will somebody think of the children". It is completely unacceptable. For the record I am not and will not defend Child Abuse, nor the cruising of Minors. If it is non-consensual sex, then it is Rape & abuse. End of.

I want to know how extensive their research was. I want to know if they in fact interviewed these men to find out why they cruise these areas. I want to know if the Mayo Echo is aware of any services for Gay Men in the West and NW of the island. My own personal opinion is that they don't know and don't necessarily care. This piece is entirely disgraceful and is worthy only to become pulp for concrete in a sewerage drain pipe.


I don't even know if any of that made any sense. I am still quiet Irate about it. I will have to see in the morning how I am feeling to see what else can be done. This time, you will not be let get away with using such homophobic and backward thinking. If you think this is over Mayo Echo, I would not rest on your laurels too much. I can do threats too and It aint over till this queen says it is.

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Dublin: "Sexual Orientation and Mental Health", June 11th, St. Patricks Hospital

Got the Latest Bulletin from Marie in GLEN this afternoon. I grabbed these two items out of it because they interested me and hopefully somebody else who reads this blog.

• “Sexual Orientation and Mental Health” – Odhrán Allen, Director of Mental Health Strategy at GLEN will be giving a lecture on the topic of Sexual Orientation and Mental Health in the next lecture in the Aware Monthly Lecture Series. The lecture takes place on Wednesday June 11^th at 7.15pm sharp in the Swift Lecture Theatre, St. Patrick’s Hospital, James’s Street, Dublin 8. Admission Free and all are welcome.

• Greenbow Deaf LGBT Karaoke Night with Miss Panti-Date: Sunday 22^nd June 2008, Venue: Pantibar, Capel Street, Dublin 1 at 9pm. ISL/English Interpreters will be provided. Any donations are welcome and in aid of Dublin Pride! Many Spot prizes!! Admission Free.

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Australia: Admit your sins to God, priest tells gay judge

Glad to see as ever that somethings remain static. In New Zealand, a priest has advised one of the High Court judges, who happens to be gay, that he needs to repent his sins or face the wrath of God. Well, ya know he is a judge, so far I would imagine he is doing quiet well without the wrath of God but anyway, here's the story.

Australia: Admit your sins to God, priest tells gay judge

A senior minister of a Sydney Anglican parish has made an extraordinary attack on Australian High Court judge Michael Kirby, warning he would face the wrath of God if he remained unrepentant as a gay man.

The rector of St Stephen's Church in Bellevue Hill, the Reverend Richard Lane, denounced the judge for calling himself a Christian Anglican while living in an openly gay relationship and warned as a "messenger, watchman and steward of the Lord in the Anglican Church of Australia", he faced God's judgment.

To call himself a Christian Anglican was a "perversion of truth" and to continue to do so without changing his lifestyle would brand him, like Herod, a "coward, a liar, a deceiver" and a "lawless one".

"I appeal to you to cast yourself on the mercy of Jesus … That is admit your sin, confess your wrongdoing and turn in humble repentance to the Lord Jesus, who alone can forgive you," Mr Lane said.

Via Stuff.co.nz

Margaret Gill to speak on Late Late Show

For those of you who are not aware of who Margaret Gill is, I can honestly say from personal experience that she is a woman whom I admire greatly for her courage and conviction brought out by unfortunate circumstances. You can see a clip from her Prime Time interview on the RTE website. She is a truly remarkable woman and I look forward to seeing her on tomorrow show. She spoke at the MarriagEquality lunch a couple of weeks ago and she had the entire audience captivated by her frank discussion. A truly inspirational woman.

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Via 100 Days for Equality
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Just to let you know Brian Sheehan (GLEN) has just let us know that Margaret Gill (who spoke so eloquently and movingly about the death of her daughter and need for legal recognition of same sex partnerships) on Prime Time recently is on the Late Late Show this Friday.

UPDATE: 2/4/2008 Linky to Video of Interview

DIT Rainbow Week

The Stud.nets of DIT will be having their Rainbow week next week and it is only right and proper to give their schedule a little mention on the Hedgehog.

Ladies and Gentlemen of DIT LGBT Soc., Rainbow Week fast approaches.It's time to break out the shirts and ties, fix the facial hair, adjust your package and that's just the Dykes of Hazard. From the 31st of March to the 5th of April we are on a mission to gay up DIT. The plan of attack is as follows: Monday-Launch Party in Panti Bar(Downstairs) @ 7.30p.m. Tuesday-Guest Speaker('Staying Safe On The Scene') and Movie Night in Mountjoy Square S.U.@6.30p.m. Wednesday-Drinks in The Dragon @ 7.30p.m. followed by The George@9.30p.m. Thursday-Guest Speaker('Mental Health Issues for LGBT People') and Open Forum(Meet in Java City,Aungier Street @ 6.30p.m.) Friday-Dining Out in Odessa(14 Dame Court, D2) @6.30p.m. followed by Q+A! Saturday-Zoo Adventure and Picnic. Meet at The Spire @11a.m. The Phoenix Tigers left this comment on our bebo page; "were holding our annual lesbian 5 a side soccer tournament here in dublin on the 12th of april. its a one day event wit a great nite out to follow. we are inviting teams of 8 to come and participate. doesnt have to be a serious team just grab some mates and come along." Sounds like fun! If you are interested in the effort to save the USILGBTRO then check out: http://www.bebo.com/USILGBT So that's pretty much it for now, if you need anymore information email us at the address below. Viva la resistance! Gillian DIT LGBT PRO www.ditlgbt.com lgbtdit@gmail.com

Derry: Elderly gay couple 'being forced out of Derry home'

So here we are again, homophobes raise their ugly heads in Derry and this is not the first time I have heard of this from that city. The Irish Independent reports that an Elderly gay couple have been the victims of attacks, physical and verbal on their properties in the last number of months. I am truly sickened by this behavior. Every time, its a case of one step forward, 15 back. For crying out loud, those little sick shits who are doing these attacks need to be stopped. Nobody, gay or straight deserves the level of abuse that this couple has faced up to this point and it certainly does not fit in with the plight of the civil rights marches in the 1960s & 70s. For Christ sake, it is sickening to think that up to 10-15 years ago, these same shits were either quaking at their mothers boots for fear of reprisals against their respective communities. Now they are doing the same to those who are as vulnerable as our children, the elderly. I hope to christ that something does get done and done fast for all concerned. However the only way to sort the rampant homophobia in North and South, is to tackle the root problems across the board. Education & Legal recognition of the status of same-sex relationships will go along way to attempting to deal with the institutional & societal homophobia which exists.

(ps, cheers to Oz for reminding me about this story-I saw it this morning and wasn't reminded about it until he emailed it on to me)

MarriagEquality Fundraiser

Just got this in this morning's email from Moinne. MarriagEquality has replaced the KAL initiative from February of this year by the looks of it and they are going to be fundraising. For those of you who do not know what the KAL initiative is or what the case is about, it concerns two women-Katherine Zappone & Anne-Louise Gilligan-who were married in Canada and have taken a challenge against the Revenue Commissioners to the High Court, which they lost and is now appealed to the Supreme Court, with a date for sometime in the Fall of 2008. For those of you who have the time and can contribute to this event or to the Campaign in General, I'm sure all donations great and small would be appreciated.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends

MarriagEquality is having a fundraising lunch on the 6 th of March 2008, at FIRE Restaurant in the Mansion House, Dublin and we need everyone to sell as many tickets as they can so that this year is as big a success as the last two lunches.

MarriagEquality will be launched formally on the 18 th of February 2008 in the Mansion House. As you know, we are aiming to build an active coalition seeking equality for gay and lesbian people and their families. We will organise our own informative and awareness raising events, support other LGBT and Human Rights organisations, work to influence politicians, support couples, families and friends to meet and influence their public representatives and publicise widely the discrimination suffered by gay and lesbian people and their families in Ireland because they are denied access to civil marriage. To do all this however, we need to raise funds.

Please pass this on to everyone you know and please revert and let me know how many tickets you are willing to take on to sell and if you or your organisation can buy a table. Tickets are €150 each, so a table of ten is €1,500.

We also need items for our auction and prize draw so please revert if you or someone you know can donate something.

If you require any further details please feel free to contact me at the below number. I look forward to hearing from you as early as possible in response to this advance notice.


Best Wishes
--
Moninne Griffith
MarriagEquality
087-9321329

2007: The year of misoppourtunity

It is the the 31st of December 2007 and Tomorrow will be the 1st of January 2008.

Where has the year gone eh? Well normally the appropriate answer to that is to say "God I don't know" However, in this instance I will not be using that response. Instead I will say, well 2007 has fucked me over as well as a number of others in this world so badly that I cannot wait until 2008 and a the season of new starts begins.

So where to begin. Well 2007 begun in the Lodge. Never a good start to any night but it was amongst friends and that is all that matters. 2007 also began with a medical scare, not helped by reactions and advise from certain persons within that particular organisation. Thankfully that got resolved and my health was improved. However whilst in the middle of that my entire medical history got broadcast loud and clear by a very vindictive person, whom has left my life and I hope never to have to deal with again.

A disagreement with people also graced the middle part of 2007, which has resulted in a more independent mindset. I regret that particular friendship is lost to me now because there was some very happy times involved and for that, if you are reading I do thank you.

6/7/2007. my brothers Bday party. 7/7/2007. Head on collision with a VW Golf around a very sharp bend on a narrow road. Two fire-brigades, Two ambulances & a Garda Car later, I emerged from the hospital on crutches, a bruised ego and a new found love of life-though that could have been the Diffene. Two months later a bill for €808 from the fire service arrived just when I was about to start in UCD. Thank god for AXA insurance extra benefits.

Work in 2007 was up and down like a roller-coaster. One minute I was one thing, the next minute I was another. and whilst I loved every minute I worked for the company, especially all my mates from there, there were times when it was severely tested to the max. Whilst I may be unemployed at the moment, it is good because I can focus more.

The Weather: Need I say anymore about the wettest summer on record!?!?!?!?!

We won't even go into the topic of relationships. The Summation Mantra still holds firm in this regard, as well as everything else in my life.

So there has to be some good points about 2007 right. Ok well yes there is a few. I got involved in Rainbow Support Services in limerick and in both their Youth group and briefly the Switch board. I helped with the running of Queerbash IV and it was a success, I think. I got introduced and hooked to Dr. Who. I became reacquainted with an old friend and rekindled our friendship, which I thought had become too distant to recover. I made new friends and thickened old friendships further. I took part in Cork Pride events and helped Out in UL build the only float for Limerick's first Gay Pride Parade. I got accepted to my masters course in UCD and I am loving it. I am so far keeping my promise to not be as involved in Organizations this year because of the masters alive, we shall see how the new year pans out. And latterly I have learned that sometimes it is better to build a bridge and get over it than to dwell on things too much-thanks for that kick up the arse! Overall perhaps the Good has out-weighed the bad of 2007. However I still cannot wait to see the back of it. Roll on 2008 because you are more than welcome into my life.

LGBT Noise & Gay Civil Marriage

So today I took part in a protest with the new group 'LGBT Noise' on Sth King st. (I think, yas should know how shocking my geography is.lol). Anyways I arrived at 12ish, and firstly because it was bleeding freezing out, despite my heavy jacket & scarf, I needed a fantastic White hot chocolate from Butlers on Grafton st.(Stephen's Green end). I did eventually warm up and was beginning to feel my feet again but not until after the Carols had begun. Anyway I was amazed at the range of people who showed up today; maybe it is because I have always been involved in events in Limerick so I knew who everybody was or half-knew who everybody was. However I was genuinely amazed at firstly seeing Sen. David Norris, a man whom I have the greatest of admiration and respect for but then to see Katherine Zappone and Anne-Louise Gilligan as well, well needless to say I was very impressed. I do sometimes find it quiet hard to speak with people I don't know. Mainly because I don't know what to say, but when it is people whom you admire, for a whole host of reasons, then the walls just build and build.

The reasoning behind this protest/Carol Service was to give some momentum behind a push for civil marriage in Ireland. As the website states:

"The purpose of this event is to create an awareness of the need for FULL equality for gay people and to let the public know that Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgendered (LGBT) people no longer wish to remain second-class citizens under Irish law. The current government is promising to publish the heads of a bill for same-sex civil partnership in Spring 2008: Bullet points for discussion, not commitments to equal rights. This bill promises to demote rather than promote equality and is an insult to all who believe in human, civil and equal rights"

Doing the Masters that I am doing, has this year given me a whole new lease of life. I have begun to see things in a completely different light and also a recognition that while change is hard as hell, change is always necessary when inherent inequalities persist. While this was a view I had in the past, I think i have finally realized how hard it is to fight for something continuously when you know you should have it from the beginning.

I am Irish. I am a Constitutional Republican. I am a citizen of my wonderful Ireland. Yet my wonderful Ireland, in all her Constitutional Republican virtues, refuses to bestow all the rights and privileges which she gives to those who are married to me or any of us who identify as Lesbian or Gay. Instead, my wonderful Ireland will next year bring forward a piece of legislation which will apparently bring "equality" within my community. Well I say that this Civil Partnership/Civil Union is not equality. Equality which has restrictions is not equality. It is another institutional bloc which exists to prevent people from participating fully and openly in Irish society.

There is only one way to have equality between those who are gay and lesbian and those who are straight and that is the complete equalization of relationships in the State institution of Civil marriage. Those who argue that Gay marriage is not constitutional should examine their Government's own report on this, which says that the only way for full equality is for Gay Civil Marriage. It is also of note to point out that marriage has never been defined as one man and one women in the Irish constitution. The only piece of legislation which was brought in on this was the Social Welfare Miscellaneous Act in 2003, which specifically defined marriage as one man and one women, in order to further stigmatize and institutionalize homophobia within the Irish state.

I yet again call on those who read this blog to voice their opinions to all in their power. Make representations to your local T.D.s, get involved in a campaign, Support a Campaign, but ultimately get out and make some noise because be dammed sure that nobody else is going to do it for you. You are the only person who knows your story well enough that you can recount it. As the cliché goes "Be the change you want to be yourself". However as much as a cliché as that is, it was Mahatma Ghandi who said it.

Gay Clare Disco

Just got this today from the Guys in Gay Clare.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi,

We in the Gay Clare group wish to let you know you
that
the Christmas Gay Clare Night Out/Disco will take
place on
Saturday 29th December in the One Mile Inn, Lahinch
Road, Ennis.
Apologies for the delay in the announcement,we were
awaiting definite confirmation on the availability of
our venue.
Time 10.00pm till late. Music, dancing & Craic.
For further details email gayclare@yahoo.co.uk. You
can also check us out at www.gayclare.com
The site also has photos from our last night out. We
are also now on Bebo at www.bebo.com/gayclare

We hope you can make it and would appreciate if you
would let any people know who you might be interested
in coming along.


Hope to see you on December 29th.


Regards & thanks,
Gay Clare Group

A plea for the Broadening of Civil Marriage

While I am always slow to put across any particular group's manifesto, this provisio does not apply when it is something that I firmly believe in.

We live in a Republic. A Republic looks after of its citizens regardless of creed, beliefs, gender or sexual orientation. The individualistic nature of a Republic means that sometimes it combines with established societal norms and actively discriminates against those citizens who make up its core. Such a combination has existed in Ireland, with regard many issues, but now the time has come for the Irish Government to recognise FULL and EQUAL marriage as already exists in Civil marriage legislation in this state. The Government's piece meal equality which will be published in the heads of their bill next March, based on the the content of Sean Power, T.D.'s, (Minister of State with responsibility for Equality, Dept of Justice, Equality & Law Reform), speech at last weeks NLGF symposium in Kildare St, is just not good enough. 2 provisios will exist in this bill, a) the registration of partnerships mainly for tax, property & inheritance purposes. b) the dissolution of the registration of this partnerships. The problem which I have with these is one simple thing. This is STILL not full equality between heterosexual & homosexual relationships. There is only one way in which FULL AND EQUAL relationships can exist in the Irish context and that is through the broadening of the definition of Marriage, which the COLLEY REPORT, (a government report published in 2006), recommended was the only way FULL EQUALITY could be achieved.

I am calling on all people, GAY AND STRAIGHT to make representations to their local Government TDs, and call for complete Equality, which can only be acquired through the broadening the CIVIL MARRIAGE definition, and the extension of CIVIL MARRIAGE privileges and responsibilities to members of the Lesbian and Gay community.

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What is MarriagEquality?

MarriagEquality is a new initiative working for full civil marriage for same sex couples.

Wasn’t it previously called KAL?

MarriagEquality has grown out of the KAL Advocacy Initiative which was established to support the legal case of Drs Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan to have their Canadian marriage recognised in Ireland. This case is currently being appealed to the Supreme Court and is expected to be heard in autumn 2008.

So what’s the difference between KAL and MarriagEquality?

KAL was established specifically to support the legal case. MarriagEquality goes beyond the case, building a broad-based public initiative to promote civil marriage for all. MarriagEquality will be at the centre of an active coalition of individuals and organisations influencing legislators to introduce full equality for same sex couples.

But hasn’t the Government said it will introduce such legislation?

No. All the Government has done is to commit to publishing the Heads of a Bill on Civil Partnership in March 2008. Civil Partnership is not the same as marriage. It will not give the same rights to gay and lesbian people as marriage provides for heterosexual couples.

So, are civil partnerships or civil unions the same as marriage?

No. Civil unions and civil partnership are not marriage. They will create a separate and unequal institution. Civil partnership may well suit many couples but it will not suit those who want to get married.

But isn’t the Government against same sex marriage?

The Government’s own “Colley Report” commissioned in 2006 to examine partnership options clearly stated that marriage is the only option that would provide full equality for same sex couples.

Isn’t same sex marriage against the Constitution?

MarriagEquality shares the opinion of some of the finest constitutional lawyers in the country who see no constitutional impediment to providing marriage equality in Ireland.

There is no substance to the argument that full equality for same sex couples is unconstitutional. The Constitution is a living document that has been changed many times to reflect the changing needs of Irish society. No where does it state that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

Is Ireland ready for same sex marriage?

There are many same sex couples living in Ireland who have already been married in other countries, some of whom are raising children in loving and safe families. Same sex marriage is already a reality in this country.

What about other countries? Surely not many have introduced marriage?

In the European Union same sex marriage exists in the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. In addition Canada, South Africa, and Massachusetts in the United States have introduced full marriage equality.

Catholic Spain?

Yes. The Spanish Government decided to introduce full marriage equality because they realised that half or incremental measures would mean simply returning again and again to the issue, and instead decided to deal with it in one go by providing full equality from the start.

OK. So what will MarriagEquality do?

MarriagEquality will be launched formally in February 2008. We will build an active coalition seeking equality for all. We will organise our own events, support other events, work to influence politicians, support couples, families and friends to meet and influence their public representatives and publicise widely this initiative.

Where do I find out more?

Contact Moninne Griffith, MarriageEquality Coordinator, at MarriagEquality@gmail.com or 087- 932 1329