Maman Poulet

Look what President Obama just did. Maybe the Taoiseach can give us the tour round his new online gaff.

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10,000 people from all over the world are expected to converge on Cologne for the Gay Games which begin tomorrow. The Irish Ambassador to Germany is hosting a reception for the Irish participants tomorrow afternoon.

Minister for Arts and Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin TD.  has written to Team Ireland giving her good wishes and support to the team. Maybe  the influence of her colleague Dermot Ahern at work.

The Gay Games Blog has a copy of the letter.

I know we all appreciate the important role that sport plays in our society in promoting healthy lifestyles, creating a sense of identity and belonging and bringing people together. Active participation in sport and physical recreation contributes enormously to the physical and mental well being of the individual and by extension, of the whole community.

Could I suggest maybe an official reception for our medallists on their return?

Good luck to everyone in Team Ireland taking part in next week ( I believe some of Cork’s finest footballers are due to be playing a team of German policewomen in the Soccer tournament amongst others!)

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The first national research programme documenting the experiences of LGBT people aged 55 and older has been launched recently and reserachers are seeking participants for research into the lives and concerns of Older LGBT’s.

This is the area I spent 3 years researching for the never completed PhD and I think the initiative will contribute hugely to the development of policy and knowledge in the area.

The study is commissioned by GLEN and funded by Age and Opportunity and the HSE. It is being carried out by a team of researchers in Trinity College Dublin, School of Nursing &
Midwifery. There are a number of other organisations involved in supporting the project.

If you are over 55 or know someone who is over 55 and would be interested you can find out more information at the Visible Lives website.  There is an anonymous survey and further options for participation by interview if people are interested.  Beast of luck to the researchers and I look forward to reading more about the project as it develops.

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Mary White TD, Minister of State for Equality, Integration and Human Rights sent me and lots of other people an invitation to a party which is happening tomorrow night to mark the passing of legislation for Civil Partnerships.

The Party for Partnership is being held upstairs at the Odeon on Harcourt Street. The Odeon is one of the most inaccessible venues in Dublin, the upstairs part included.  (I telephoned and checked). So that’ll be able bodied people partying tomorrow night for forthcoming nuptials next year.

The Green Party and the Minister may wish when they have concluded their celebrations to consult a document from the National Disability Authority which is now five years old. *

It discusses issues pertaining to disability and sexual orientation. It’s well time that some of the suggestions in this report were acted on and further work completed regarding access and inclusion for lesbians and gay men with disabilities. It’s not just the Green Party that has this problem, the lgbt community is legendary itself.

*I was one of the people who advised the NDA in a voluntary capacity on the report.

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Minister Pat Carey has been seeking questions from members of the public and members of his party. He invited people to email or tweet him with the questions. Today those of us who are on the FF supporters mailing list (the things I do for my readers !) received a video of a recent meeting where the Minister met with some of the people who had ‘asked him questions’. So herewith ‘Pat Carey Answers‘.

Jane Dignam and Adrian O’Higgins and others are members of the party but you wouldn’t know that from the video as they speak animatedly following their meeting with the Minister in Leinster House.

I’m not knocking the concept of speaking to the Minister and engaging with him like this but Fianna Fáíl might put the cumann names under the speakers names so we’re all clear. Especially as party members are being encouraged to spam send a link to the video to their friends. Did the Minister not get questions from non party members during this initiative? Or maybe this is the first video in a series. I’m also wondering where are all the questions asked and their resulting answers. There were pages of the questions on the website up until yesterday. Did anyone ask a question and get an answer? Comments please!!

While I’m at it – maybe the Minister could clarify the matter of his twitter account and if he does all his own tweeting. Last week at the MacGill summer school he tweeted that he had finished his speech before his backside hit the chair. It would be good to be clear on it all as he and his colleagues rush to go Obama on us.

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A statement from Labour LGBT was issued this morning.

At a meeting last night we decided to formally initiate the party complaints procedure against Cllr Colm Keaveny. We believe his recent comments in the Sunday Tribune are contrary to party policy and inconsistent with the principles and objects we stand for.

The group also issued a reminder regarding Labour Party national policy on transgender rights which was adopted earlier this year.

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Photo thanks to DFmagazine.ie

Back from Chad is the Minister… eh no back from Chad is all the equipment, landed in Dublin Port today.  Minister for Defence, Tony Killeen, was there to kick the tyres, and check for rust presumably.  The soldiers who were on the peace keeping mission in Africa arrived back weeks ago. But a Minister has got to do what a Minister has got to do eh?!

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A spokesperson for the Labour Party has distanced the party from comments made by Cllr Colm Keaveney on medical treatment required by people undergoing gender reassignment.

In a telephone call this afternoon the spokesperson said that Cllr. Keaveney’s comments were personal and not in line with party policy, he said that the Labour Party believed that ‘if there is any medical procedure required people are entitled to have it paid for by public funds like any other procedure. ‘

Further clarification is expected shortly from others and TENI may also issue further comments later this week.

Earlier today Sinn Fein issued a press release calling the comments ‘transphobic and wrong’

Deputy Aongus O’Snodaigh said he was ‘baffled as to why he would wish to make a target of an already-marginalised and vulnerable community.

“The HSE’s funding difficulties are not the fault of transgender people – or indeed of any service user. They are the consequence of political decisions made by the Health Minister and the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government. His comments give credence to their lie that savings must be made in the health service by rationing care. Shame on him for pitting public patients against each other in this way.

Readers may also be interested in a post from Fiona de Londras on the Human Rights in Ireland blog regarding rights perspectives on the comments and issues involved.

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Colm Keaveney is a Labour Party Councillor in East Galway and a SIPTU official. He has stood unsuccessfully in two general elections for the party, left the party for a while in 2007 and rejoined in 2008.

In today’s Sunday Tribume, Cllr. Keaveney gives his opinion on the matter of HSE spending and how one group don’t deserve it and should wait their turn. Cllr. Keaveney thinks that the 22 people who in the last ten years have been supported to undergo gender reassignment are 22 operations too many when there are others waiting for surgery for hearing aid implants. He plays the trans fear card.

“When allocating scarce resources, we must establish what actually delivers best value for society and the individual,” he said.

“Depriving children of necessary aids and appliances at this point in their life will have a devastating social outcome in later years when compared to some very expensive procedures being paid for by the taxpayer.

“While I understand this may be offensive to transgender people, I would ask them to look at this through the eyes of a parent and try to empathise with how they feel about their child’s wellbeing.

“Given the dire straits the country finds itself in, it is vital that we focus government spending on areas that will deliver positive results for our society in the long run.”

Not sure if Colm knows anything about transgender issues and the impact of waiting for surgery on peoples lives or indeed the impact of politicians spouting this sort of rubbish on the safety and mental health of transgendered people in Ireland. Well given that Colm was President of USI when I knew him and supported the development of structures for lgbt students one might have thought he would know better. It’s fairly clear he can’t see things with their eyes and empathise with them.

Transgender Equality Network Ireland point out that transgendered people are also part of Irish society and tax payers and ‘are entitled to access healthcare appropriate to their specific needs, just like other people living in Ireland.’

I assume the Labour Party health spokesperson Jan O’Sullivan will be along shortly to clarify matters.

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It’s been difficult not to notice that Minister for Community, Equality and Gaeltacht affairs Pat Carey has hit the ground running in terms of visiting community projects around the country and trying to offer soothing words to the decimated sector. Minister Carey has a lot of making up to do given the bad relations which have existed with other ministers in a number of departments in the past three years.

For LGBT groups the area of community development is still rather new, or at least the national recognition and co-ordination of initiatives is still new .

Minister Carey earlier today launched the LGBT Diversity initiative which aims to support lgbt organisations and communities throughout Ireland. Currently there are nine organisations involved in the programme and a number of staff have been appointed throughout the country to work in supporting the development of programmes which support LGBT people, build sustainable communities and support voluntary and statutory bodies at local and regional level in how they work in the area.

Merrionstreet.ie were there to cover the launch and the Minister’s speech – which included his views on gay marriage. (Merrionstreet.ie is the Government’s new online portal/news service with video, ‘blogs’, tweeting etc. It’s cost €40,000 so far and there is no way for the voters to engage back with their socially mediaesque elected officials.)

The Minister believes that same sex marriage will happen ’sooner rather than we think’ but will be difficult and require further lobbying. Interesting to see him take up the issue in a speech and he also spoke about homophobia and suicide in the LGBT community. I can’t find the full text of his speech yet but will include it when it is published. Thanks to the speech genie you can read the Minister’s speech here.

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