Time For An End To Closet Homophobia

Image c/o OutNews.co.uk

SEXUAL ORIENTATION is often viewed as irrelevant in western society, particularly in the eyes of young people. Despite this, sexuality-centred bullying and the use of gay-related derogatory termas are alarmingly common. Is this immature name-calling nothing more than just that or does it signify something more insidious? In Ireland, homosexuality was only decriminalised nineteen years ago. As a nation, do we still hold on to outdated but deep-rooted prejudices or is homophobia a part of our past?

Undoubtedly, this country has come a long way where the issue of gay rights in concerned. Mary McAleese's recent declaration of support for marriage equality will go down as a momentous occasion in Irish history. The former president, who is an active member of the Catholic Church, stated that gay people should be able to live their lives on their own terms and marry if they so choose. "I just think that people have this obsession somehow around sexuality with the idea of sex, forgetting what it is that family and partnership is about - it's about love and being there for another human being," she said.

Ciara Keighron (18) agrees with this stance. "Love is love, it doesn't matter who it's for. You can't say one person's love is better than another's," she says. Ciara is openly gay at college but her family do not know the truth about her sexuality. She cites fear as the main reason for this as "certain members of my family and friends definitely won't accept it". She has not experienced a lot of discrimination in Galway but recalls one particular occasion where a drunk man called her and a friend "f***ing lesbos" on a night out. She feels homophobes should not use alcohol as an excuse to disguise their bigotry as the truth often comes out when people have been drinking. "It's a case of idiots saying things, as opposed to idiots thinking things," she remarks.

Seán Reilly (21) came out two years ago. A close friend of his had actually come out in the months preceding this and he was the first person he told. He began to question his sexuality around the age of 14 but was not comfortable enough to come out while at school. He is a firm believer that our education system is doing a disservice to Irish society by not teaching children more about the various types of sexuality. He also thinks the government need to "remove the barriers" currently stopping gay people from marrying and adopting. "I would like to think that [gay marriage] will be legal by the time I want to marry," he adds.

Kealan Moore (30) would also like marriage and children to feature in his future. He has been sure of his sexuality for some time but did not come out publicly until last year. "I had been struggling with it for years and I tried to come out when I was 18 but, at the time, I just didn't have the proper social structure around me," he says.  Although most people received the news well, his housemate did not and he almost ended up homeless as a result. "You learn that you can't live with certain people," he muses. He admits that coming out can be a huge learning curve for both the person themselves and those close to them.

Ian Power, of youth-centred charity SpunOut, agrees that telling people is not always easy but, if you choose someone you trust, the chances are they will be supportive. "Coming out as LGBT can be a hugely positive experience – a liberating time, when you embrace your sexuality. Whatever your sexual identity, remember it is only one part of your life, so embrace how you are feeling and enjoy being individual," he says.

He believes that Ireland has made significant progress in battling homophobia in the last ten years alone. "Society is much more accepting of LGBT people across all generations. We still have a long way to go and prejudice still exists in dark corners of society and the LGBT community is still fighting for many legal protections and rights which still have not been recognised by the state but my view of Ireland is certainly a positive one," he affirms.

Figures released earlier this month by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network show that every county in Ireland has now hosted a civil partnership ceremony, with 862 couples entering into such partnerships since they were first legalised in April 2011. A recent 'Sunday Times' poll suggested that 66 per cent of people in Ireland are in favour of same-sex marriage. Sexuality is a single aspect of a multi-dimensional person - it does not define them, nor should it define their rights or the way they are treated. Ireland, it would seem, is now more aware of this fact than ever before. 


This article was also published in Student Independent News, NUI Galway's student newspaper.

Hat's Off: I Post, Therefore I Am

Image c/o GetLucid.net

THE OTHER day I was watching a video online and it was so funny I literally fell off my seat and began to roll on the floor. This was all strange enough until I started to laugh. I laughed to the extent that my ass actually fell off. As you can imagine, I was rather alarmed by this incident. Despite my posterior predicament, in that very moment I couldn't help but wish there was a more succinct way to express what had happened to me.

While I waited in the hospital for my a-hole keyhole surgery, I had a bit of time on my hands and got to thinking about the internet and its effect on us. We now live in the age of so-called 'Digimodernism' (thanks, Alan Kirby), where, for some reason, it's become acceptable - and often expected - to document almost every waking moment of our existence. 

It's a fair enough assumption that one would want to share significant moments in their lives with their family and friends. The meaning of the word 'significant' can vary greatly, however. I can't remember the last time I thought, "Jeez, thank god Karen posted that she just ate a sandwich for lunch. I was beginning to suspect she sourced her energy through photosynthesis. What a fool I feel upon discovering the truth. She is, in fact, not a plant. OMG." Karen's a notorious liar so, in order for people to believe her statement, she also feels the need to upload a photograph of said sandwich. The inclusion of an image was of particular benefit to me as, up until that point, I had never actually seen one before. I mean I knew they were edible but I just assumed it consisted of some sand sprinkled on a potato wedge. The internet really is expanding my horizons.

To be fair, Karen is as innocuous as she is irritating. There are many people who use social networking sites and other online forums for much more malicious reasons. E-bullying and trolling are huge areas of concern both abroad and closer to home - as was elucidated by Leo Traynor's recent encounter with his anti-semetic cyber persecutor. The anonymity shield provided by the internet bestows bravery on pathetic, insecure idiots who have nothing better to do with their time than torment innocent people they've never met and know relatively nothing about.

Online arguments are ten-a-penny and, in the main, entirely harmless - even when one takes Godwin's Law into account. Trolls from 2012 are very different their 1990s namesakes. Although, for all we know, they could well be bulbous, asexual creatures with illuminous spiky hair. Instead of hiding under bridges, they secrete themselves in the bottomless recesses of the internet. They come in all shapes and sizes - at best, they're annoying; at worst, they have the potential to ruin someone's life. They can mock, stalk or ogle an almost infinite number of people. Reddit's 'creepshot' and 'jailbait' sub-forums are paradigms of the latter. This lascivious online behaviour encourages the objectification of women who have often been photographed surreptitiously and many of whom are underage.

The internet connects people in a colossal and unprecedented way - for better or worse. It opens up the entire world for exploration, education and entertainment. It also provides a springboard of unprecedented potential for perverts. As Yeats might say, a terrible beauty is born, photographed, uploaded, tagged, shared, mocked, de-tagged, deleted and posted once more. Once online, always available.

I recently rejoined Facebook for practical reasons following a two and a half year period whereby I was most definitely conspicuous by my absence. Had I died? Been mauled by bears? Returned to my home planet? Without a profile to check, how could anyone possibly know? At one stage there was a somewhat plausible rumour that I never actually existed. I post, therefore I am. I do not post, therefore I am odd.

One can change how they speak and look and, ultimately, who they are when online. I had first-hand experience of this when my South Korean mail-order bride arrived and she was, in fact, a 40 stone guy from Minnesota called Randy to whom I'm now legally bound. I can't complain too much though, we do lol a lot. We're not alone in this regard, either. Initially online abbreviations were for internet use only but now they've infiltrated our spoken vernacular. Many people say the term 'lol' as opposed to actually laughing. I'm sorry but that is just plain weird. So many of us are lolling on a regular basis, Huckleberry Finn would be proud.

If I could pass on one piece of netiquette: the next time you feel the urge to sneeze or wank (verbally or literally) and want to tell the world -  don't. Grab a tissue, not your laptop. FFS. 


This article was also published on Campus.ie and in Student Independent News, NUI Galway's student newspaper.

Ireland's Children: Second Class Citizens?

c/o Barnardos.it

THE ERA of treating Ireland's children as "second class citizens" could and should soon be over. 

This is the view of Fergus Finlay, CEO of Barnardos and long-time children's rights activist, on the upcoming Children's Referendum. Mr Finlay is one of the most vociferous supporters of the referendum.

He feels the constitutional amendment, if ratified, will aid in ending the current situation in Irish society whereby children are often treated as sub-par members of the community. 

He is firmly of the belief that such a referendum is long overdue and he admits to being continually frustrated by "the notion of a society that pays lip service to equality". He made the comments while speaking at NUI Galway this week.

The amendments to the Constitution proposed in the referendum aim to ensure that all children are recognised in their own right; protected from abuse and neglect; and will benefit from equal rights and protections, regardless of the marital status of their parents.

Mr Finlay is all too aware that parental neglect is by no means the only form of abuse faced by children.

He cites the Ryan and Murphy Commissions - both of which dealt with the sexual and physical abuse of children in Ireland at the hands of the Catholic Church - as evidence that the State is "adept at turning a blind eye" to the institutional and systematic abuse of children.

Barnardos, Ireland's leading children's charity, runs over 40 centres in local communities across the country, working with vulnerable children and their families. Their only direct facility for adults is the Barnardos Service for Survivors of Abuse.

The aforementioned reports are not alone in exposing state and institutional corruption. Mr Finlay notes the importance of the media in shining a light on the gross misconduct that permeated so many aspects of Irish culture for a prolonged period. 

He views the work of the late Mary Raftery as a prime example of the huge impact a journalist can have on societal change. Her documentaries for RTÉ - States of Fear (1999) and Cardinal Secrets (2002) - led to the setting up of the aforementioned commissions. In doing so, Mr Finlay feels they aided in bringing the 'kissing the ring' culture in Ireland to a halt, whereby the Government bowed before the Church in an unapologetic and widely unquestioned manner that led to the horrific abuse of approximately 100,000 children.

Barnardos is funded by the state to a "bog standard level", according to Mr Finlay. The organisation bridges the financial gap between the money they receive and the money they need through fundraising. In 2011, they recorded losses of €1.5 million, following a nine per cent decline in donations. Total revenue at the charity fell from €24 million to €23.9 million, while employee costs increased from €16.9 million to €17.1 million.

In a bid to save money, the charity closed all its services and put its staff on unpaid leave for one week last August. Mr Finlay has warned that the funding cuts being imposed across the NGO sector have the potential to do “untold damage” to vulnerable children and families.

It seems quite the juxtaposition that the State is attempting to improve the lives of its children with the referendum while concurrently cutting vital funding for the organisations that aim to end the chronic poverty in which many of them struggle to survive. Unfortunately, it seems likely that some of our young people will remain second class citizens for the foreseeable future.