Maman Poulet

I was asked 3 times yesterday about gay people in the Irish Army and if they were allowed to serve. The hearings to examine the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) have commenced in the USA and Obama has promised to remove the bar on lesbians and gay men serving openly in the US Military.

It’s so long ago since there has been any public discourse in the Irish media on the matter.

The answer is yes – lesbians and gay men can openly serve in the defence forces, in fact there has been no preclusion but in 1993 when male homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland there was a significant change to make sure that there was no discrimination in terms of policy. At the same time as equal age of consent was introduced the Irish Defence Forces calmly announced that they would be treating heterosexuals and homosexuals equally – no relationships between senior and junior officers. No harassment of gay officers and no asking questions about peoples sexuality was also confirmed by Ministers and Army chiefs.

From the Irish Independent May 1993

In a related development, the Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, Lieutenant General Noel Bergin, told the _Irish Independent_ on Tuesday that a report on the introduction of a code of conduct governing interpersonal relationships is being prepared. The decision to prepare a report follows a recent announcement by the Minister for Defence, Mr David Andrews, that military regulations would be modified to take account of any reform in the civil law on homosexuality. Mr Andrews is seen as a member of the liberal wing of the Fianna Fail party. Lt Gen Bergin pointed out that the Army does not ask potential recruits about their sexual orientation, and that they had few problems in the past in this area.

And a quote from the Dáil record in February 1993 from the then Minister for Defence David Andrews

51. Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Defence if there are regulations governing homosexuality for entrants to the Defence Forces; the current official position on the matter; if it is proposed to make any changes in the present regulations; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Defence (Mr. Andrews): While the question of homosexuality is not specifically covered in Defence Force Regulations the provisions of section 169 of the Defence Act, 1954, provide that acts which are in breach of the criminal law of the State are also deemed to be offences against military law.

Information regarding sexual orientation is not sought from personnel wishing to enlist in the Defence Forces and it is not proposed to change this policy.

The Defence forces have a code on interpersonal relationships and guidelines in relation to discrimination – see Section 4 par 119.

I’m sure there is still discrimination faced by gay and lesbian members of the defence forces but the policy would indicate that there is no bar on lesbians and gay men working in this area. Other lgbt historians and folklorists may wish to add information to this post?

Maybe we could send current Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea to Washington to tell them all about it? It’s 17 years ago since the issue was dealt with here and 17 years since it was last debated in the Capitol Hill.

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Next week is European Cervical Cancer Prevention Week. There are a number of developments recently in screening for cervical cancer – some I’ve previously written about which have concerned me but it’s vitally important that women continue to be screened for the disease.  (And for the many lovely lesbians who read this blog -  I know there are a few of ye – please read all the way to the end of this post – no switching off allowed!)

The Prevention Week is organised by the European Cervical Cancer Association (ECCA) and events will be taking place all over Europe to raise awareness about the disease.

The Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA) has partnered with CervicalCheck, the National Cervical Screening Programme, to promote the week in Ireland and to ensure that Irish women become better informed about cervical cancer.

If you are out getting your hair done next week you may get information on cervical cancer from your hairdresser as the IFPA have partnered with the Irish Hairdressers Federation

All 330 member salons of the IHF will help distribute Pearl of Wisdom campaign badges and information leaflets about CervicalCheck, the national cervical screening service, to woman during their hair appointment for the duration of the Prevention Week. It is hope that women will be encouraged to make an appointment when invited by Cervicalcheck to organise their cervical smear test.

• Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women under 44 worldwide.

• Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women under 44 in Ireland

• In Ireland 50% of all cases of cervical cancer are diagnosed in women aged 46 and under. Average age of death from cervical cancer in Ireland is 56

• Mortality rates from cervical cancer have increased 1.5% per year since 1978.

I should also point out that finally lesbian women are being encouraged to have cervical smears, something that I’ve spoken about and campaigned for over 15 years. (Many doctors in Ireland had previously denied that lesbian women needed to have smear tests) There are to be a series of information sessions for lesbian women organised by Cervicalcheck and I’ll post a link to these when I get more information.

Guidelines on the issue of testing women who have sex with women/lesbians have been issued by Cervical Check.

4.3.9 Women who have sex with women (WSW)

Cervical screening recommendations do not differ for WSW/ lesbian women regardless of their history of sex with men. Cervical neoplasia and CIN lesions can be found in WSW who report no history of sex with men. Transmission of HPV requires only skin to skin contact. Furthermore sexual practices among WSW could potentially allow for intra-vaginal deposition of HPV both through digital-vaginal contact and shared sex aids. Studies show that most WSW (53-99 per cent) have had sex with men and that many (21-30 per cent) continue to have sex with men. Among these women, acquisition of HPV from male partners presumably occurs at a rate per contact similar to that of the heterosexual population. Women infected via this route could serve as a source for subsequent viral transmission to their female partners (Marrazzo et al, 2001).

So whomever you have sex with, or not,  smear tests for women are available and women are going to be invited to take them – we need to encourage each other to take up the appointments and make sure we get tested and look after ourselves. And we need to ensure the funding for the screening and the high standards remain in place.  All young women should be able to be vaccinated against HPV too, not just 12 year olds.

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The Burning Issues research launched today by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation comes shortly before the debating of the Civil Partnership Bill. Yesterday evening a number of LGBT organisations were invited to the Equality Authority for a briefing on the Bill. As Tipster says it’s a bit odd that GLEN could not/did not want to get all the players into the room themselves and a state agency had to do the calling!  I wonder what the tunes from the Hymm sheets to be sung to are going to sound like. (Stay tuned for news on coverage of the CP bill debates.)

Back to this research which was a survey of over 1100 people using online non random methods. Funded by the European Commission and SIPTU it was conducted earlier this year and is launched tomorrow along with a report of a conference on Marriage Matters hosted by the NLGF in May.  The NLGF have stated that they are using this research to establish their mandate in influencing policy in national and international spheres – ooh a consultation!  To be followed by meetings around the country!  Good to see talking and listening to people is suddenly in vogue!

..the NLGF decided to consult with LGBT individuals and organisations nationwide, on what they consider to be the most important policy areas affecting them. The first stage of this was undertaking an online survey of the community. We were delighted to receive over 1100 responses to the survey, which makes it one of the largest consultation exercises ever undertaken with the LGBT community. The results of the survey form the basis of this report.
The next stage will be a number of meetings with people and organisations across the country to discuss the issues and plot the way forward. This will help us prioritise our future work, and inform us as to how we may best continue to support the LGBT community.

The Key Research Findings on the main issues concerning the LGBT community rank as follows

1. Equal Rights at Work

2. Personal Security

3. Marriage Equality

4. Support for younger LGBT people

5. Supporting people coming out

The Age and Gender split on the issues is very interesting and there is a strong emphasis in the report on the issues affecting people outside of Dublin and the difference between rural and urban respondents.

Marriage equality ranks highest for women under 35 and only 5th highest for women over 35. It does not rank at in the top five issues for Men over 35 and is third important for younger men.

It is to the Qualitative Data that the researchers are asked to turn to to drag up the Marriage Equality ranking.  Put simply respondents said more in open answers as a Burning Issue Priority on Marriage Equality issues than any other. So that makes it important again.  This blog’s resident sociologists can interpret this further if they wish! (Question 4a in the questionnaire and page 24 and 25 of the report)

Respect and dignity at work and safety in the streets coming higher than marriage in this research may serve as an important reminder to those recognised as commentators and consulted on LGBT issues.  But then again a few of them are busy talking up the LGBT community as confident actors in the economy.  Oops that was before the recession, I don’t know what the spin will be now.  Maybe the vulnerable and socially excluded drums will start beating soon enough as the money runs out.

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h/t Huffington Post

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Congratulations to Cllr Ruth Illingworth on her election as Mayor/ Cathaoirleach of Mullingar Town Council.

Ruth is being described as Ireland’s first Out Mayor a tag I think she doesn’t really have much truck with. I do think she’s probably one of the first elected out lesbian councillors in the state. A member of Fine Gael, Cllr Illingworth has spoken out about homophobic bullying and the role of the Catholic Church in education/management of schools.

She was interviewed on Tuesday by Matt Cooper on The Last Word and spoke about lesbian and gay issues and her personal experiences of coming out.

A historian, Cllr Illingworth plans on donating her allowance to charities in the town.

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Minister for Health, Mary Harney this morning launched a report on a major study entitled Supporting LGBT Lives: A Study of the Mental Health and Well-Being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People . You may remember the survey phase of the project and my post about it in late 2007. The reports authors, Paula Mayock, Audrey Bryan, Nicola Carr and Karl Kitching are from TCD and UCD.

From my first perusal they have done a very comprehensive job on interpreting the data from online surveys and in person interviews. You can read the report here and the press release here.

o 80% of online respondents had been verbally abused because of their LGBT identity
o 40% were threatened with physical violence
o 25% had been punched, kicked or beaten
o 58% reported the existence of homophobic bullying in their schools
o Over half had been called abusive names related to their sexual orientation or gender identity by fellow students
o 40% had been verbally threatened by fellow students
o 25% of the overall sample had been physically threatened by their school peers
o 20% missed or skipped school because they felt threatened or were afraid of getting hurt at school
o 34% reported homophobic comments by teachers or other staff members
o A quarter of those who had ever worked had been called abusive names related to their sexual orientation or gender identity with 15% being verbally threatened and 7% physically threatened by work colleagues

I will be interested to examine the differences if any they found in the experiences of women and men in terms of coming out, use of services and experiencing difficulties with their Mental Health.

The research was commissioned by GLEN and Belongto and was funded by the National Office of Suicide Prevention (HSE)

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I went to see Milk tonight and loved it. I’m not a good reviewer of books and movies – I find myself going off on tangents – just go see it! (Tangent alert coming up!)

I couldn’t help myself from getting angry though at the lack of a Milk figure or politics in operation in Ireland. I’m not talking about out gay politicians here – more a focus on a politic or practice of politics which built alliances with other groups including minority groups, those living in poverty, women and people with disabilities.

Politics which does not desert those groups in favour of our own interests. Politics which recognises political silencing, playing safe, being bought off, the fact we could be next if we don’t stand up for others and refuses to have any of it. That sort of politics in lesbian and gay circles in Ireland seems to have left before the Celtic Tiger.

Instead a representative of Ireland’s lesbian and gay community (appointed in an individual capacity) refuses to resign from the board of the Equality Authority – an organisation which can no longer properly function and uphold the legislation it was created to support. An organisation that many politicians and civil servants wanted to damage permanently and silence and seem to have succeeded in doing so. It is seen as acceptable that someone from lesbian and gay politics stays on the board because civil partnership legislation is due. Many other NGO’s have grown used to this type of attitude from gay organisations in recent years in relation to equality and human rights issues.

€2.1 million of a private foundation’s money is going into supporting this sort of undemocratic and selfish agenda and a further €700,000 has been given to other organisations with similar non-mandates and lack of consultation.

This week a lesbian and feminist member of the board of GLEN seems to have had enough and resigned – you won’t hear much about Ursula Barry’s departure – it would be preferred if nobody heard. (Thanks to the Leeside sisterhood for confirming the info I had received earlier this week.) GLEN have long had difficulties in terms of gender equality and gender proofing of it’s programme and structures – it won’t be getting better anytime soon.

In the next few days I’ll be looking at some of the other games being played at the moment including standing idly by as government proposes discriminatory legislation.

Oops there goes my GALAS nomination I suppose – oh I think I’ll live with the five IBA ones I’ve received this month.

Addendum: I’m not saying that the politics of Milk was lesbian and gay utopia – 1970’s San Francisco was a very divided and segregated community and the film reflected this. (Look at who got Milk endorsed and elected though ) In making a reference to the politics of Milk and his campaign I’m referring to recognition of class and minority politics and the not being bought or silenced codes.

Addendum 2: I’ve also been informed (by a number of sources) that Eadaoin Ni Chlerigh had also recently resigned from the GLEN board.

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