EILE Magazine - November 2015

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Magazine V3 Issue 6 – Nov. 2015

Anthony McGill The Carver Inheritance

Swiggy

New Mayans

California Dispatch Minister of Justice

Gareth Russell England’s Royalty

Inside:

Marriage Act Signed

Fashion | Film | Music |Health | Interviews

EILE Magazine | Who’s Who

Contributors

Mark Anthony Mark is a UCD English graduate who writes his own menswear fashion blog. Mark has also produced several fashion shows in the past, all in aid of worthwhile causes Jon Beaupré Jon Beaupré is Assoc. Chair, Dept. of TV, Film & Media Studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and is a member if the radio team for US LGBT radio programme, This Way Out M. Butler M. Butler is a writer and editor, with a keen interest in human rights, and has studied philosophy and psychology.

Scott De Buitléir Scott is founder and Editor-in-Chief of EILE Magazine. He is also a writer and broadcaster, based between Dublin and Nottingham.

Stephen Donnan Stephen is a writer, LGBT rights and political activist, based in Belfast. He is founder of the all-Ireland equal marriage group, #LoveProudly.

Lisa Reynolds Originally from County Meath, Lisa is a fashion industry student living in Bray, County Wicklow.

Brian Rochford Brian has studied health and nutrition, with a special interest in controlling pain in rheumatism and arthritis.

Gareth Russell Gareth Russell is a native of Belfast and studied History at the University of Oxford. His first novel, “Popular,” about the life of young people in modern-day Belfast was published in 2011. His has also written his first non-fiction book, a history of the British monarchy.

Frances Winston Frances Winston is EILE’s resident film buff, and has contributed to many publications such as The Irish Independent and Irish Tatler.

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EILE Magazine | Welcome

Highlights November 2015 William II - P. 30

Volume 3, Issue 6

Gareth Russell writes on England’s gay royal, William II

Editor-at-Large: Scott De Buitléir Editor: MKB

California Dispatch – P. 50 Jon Beaupré writes on the Ministry of Troy Perry

Contributors: Mark Anthony, Jon Beaupré, M. Butler, Scott De Buitléir, Stephen Donnan, MKB, Lisa Reynolds, Brian Rochford, Gareth Russell, Frances Winston Photographers: Hanna König, Victoria Sanders, Anna Demarco

The Carver Inheritance Anthony McGill - P. 20 Review of Anthony McGill’s latest novel, suspense and mystery in the American west

Music – Ps.6 , 10, 14, and 18 This month we feature music from New Mayans, Sarah Petrelle, Wynner and Ewian

Fashion – Ps. 22 and 26 This month, Mark Anthony writes about how to be fashionable and warm, and Lisa Reynolds writes on the Androgynous style

NB: All images in this publication are either under Creative Commons licence, or used with permission. Image credits, where necessary, are printed on the corresponding page(s). Any queries can be made to hello@eile.ie Special Thanks to MKB for all her hard work, dedication and support.

Web: http://eile.ie Contact: hello@eile.ie Twitter: @EILEMagazine Facebook: http://fb.com/eilemagazine Note: All opinions expressed in this issue are the writers’ own.

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…plus film and health and much more!

EILE Magazine

EILE Magazine | Editor’s Letter

Contents 6-

The New Mayans

10 -

Sarah Petrella

14 -

Wynner-James Wynne

18 -

EWIAN

20 -

Carver Inheritance

22-

Winter Fashion

26 -

Androgynous Style

30 -

Russell on gay royals

34 -

Unionism MarEquality

38 -

Donnan on Queen of I.

42 -

Health-Winter Chills

46 -

Frances On Movies

50 -

California Dispatch

From page 56 on World LGBT News, Views, Ireland’s Equal Marriage Act 2015, Trans, Entertainment News, Religion, etc

Marriage Equality Is FINALLY Here!

Scott De Buitléir on the signing into law of the Irish Marriage Act 2015 EILE Magazine’s Editor-at-Large, Scott De Buitléir, writes about the great news that the Marriage Act 2015 has finally been signed into Irish law On a bus to Belfast to catch up with friends, the news makes it to my phone that our Marriage Act 2015 has been signed into law by the Presidential Commission, meaning that the long fight towards marriage equality in the Republic of Ireland is now, finally, over. Equality won. Love won. Common sense and decency won. Ireland won.

Since the launch of EILE Magazine, the mag’s team and I have been constantly keeping a close, critical eye on the marriage equality campaign in Ireland.

We reported, blogged and opined on the campaign’s events,

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fundraisers, speeches, debates, and protests around the country. We interviewed politicians and community campaigners. We featured commentary on how to win the campaign, and bring about a Yes result for the country on May 22.

We reported on the historic result of that referendum, and also on the unforgettable celebrations that took place in Dublin and across Ireland that evening. We took note of how the world’s media celebrated with us, and we continued our coverage since May, covering the various stages it went through in the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) until now, when the issue was put to rest.

To think that marriage equality is now achieved in the Republic of Ireland is truly, literally, incredible and amazing.

To think that I was born in an Ireland that still criminalised homosexuality, and

now live in an Ireland that treats me as a fully equal citizen, is hard to truly appreciate and fathom. This country, despite its ups and downs over the years, is now an example to LGBT rights campaigners around the world. Once again, Ireland, despite its small size, has made a major impact on world affairs.

And now we get to enjoy that.

That being said, I was aware of something else when I got the good news.

I had just arrived in Northern Ireland to visit friends, now the only part of the UK (or Ireland) that doesn’t have marriage equality. When the Republic gets to celebrate their wonderful new liberty, those in the North viewed our partying with a bittersweet smile, knowing that they weren’t able to enjoy it like the rest of us.

For those LGBT in NI, the struggle to be viewed as truly equal continues, as Stormont debates the issue of marriage equality yet again this coming Monday. Already, and predictable as clockwork, the ‘Democratic’ Unionist Party has put forward a Petition of Concern, meaning that regardless of the result of the Stormont debate, the Northern Irish government will not join the rest of Ireland, or indeed their friends in Britain, in the party of equality for its LGBT

citizens.

Knowing that, for me, makes me greet the news of the Republic’s marriage equality with a mixed bag of emotions. I’m relieved to have seen the successful end of such a massive campaign, and I’m proud to have played a role in it, however small that may have been.

On the other hand, I’m painfully aware that, once again, there are many people in the Republic who are unaware of what is taking place in Northern Ireland.

People came ‘down South’ to help with the marriage equality referendum canvassing, and even though there isn’t a referendum for NI on the cards, those of us in the Republic shouldn’t forget our friends ‘up North’ either. As Martin Luther King once said; “no one is free until we are all free”, and we Irish have moved on too much as a people to let a border divide us.

Still, regardless of the road that lies ahead, now is a time to take note of the success we have achieved, to be grateful, and to acknowledge the incredible power that we possess; to change what we see as unfair and unjust, and to make our society better.

We’re not done just yet, but we’re definitely on the right path.

Scott De Buitléir Founder / Editor-at-Large

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Swiggy of the New Mayans

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Photos: Victoria Sanders

New Mayans New Mayans, the US indie/rock band that hails from St Louis, have just released a new single, Universe, from Odyssey, available for free download

Swiggy has lived in a multitude of wastelands. Born beneath the streets of Saint Louis, he honed his skills shouting in the sewers. He learned to play on derelict guitars and unwanted analog synthesizers that people had flushed. Writing about his eventual escape where he joined a league of Interstellar bounty hunters that call themselves, NEW MAYANS. In 2014 they formed an alliance with members who have worked with the famous Ziggy Stardust himself, (Mario J Mcnulty, Earl Slick, and

Sterling Campbell) recording at one of Earth’s greatest audio recording stations, The Magic Shop.

His style blends the sounds of late 70’s David Bowie and Radiohead with a hint of Vangelis creating a Sonic Brave New World.

In each and every song, he logs his thoughts, adventures, and eventual devolution into madness.

His Name is Swiggy and this Orwellian Future is NEW MAYANS. In an interview with Popdust, Swiggy commented on New Mayans music: “I really like that contrast of what we consider present and what other people would consider present (but to us, it’s their past). They’re living in the past. I like that idea of mixing those concepts. The only way to progress art is by blending two different ideas and trying to see the cross pollination and what comes from that. If you are not doing that, you are just perfecting something EILE Magazine

New Mayans EILE Magazine

that somebody has already done (which is noble, but doesn’t has as much of a wow factor).”

New Mayans members are: Vox/Guitar/Synth: Joe Swiggy Bassist: Michael Downing Drummer: Jay Lutterman Additional Studio Players: Earl Slick-Guitar/E-Bow Sterling Campbell-Drums Chris Mozingo-Drums Nate Gilberg-Bass Jesse Gannon- Piano Dan SageBackground Vocals Audrey Simes-Background Vocals Mario Mcnulty-Producer/ Engineer Brian RybackSaxaphone/Engineer John Heisserer-Engineer Sean Hamre-Cello Katelyn Hamre- Violin.

With “Universe” as a first glimpse at the epic world of sound that New Mayans is capable of creating, big things are ahead for the Chicago indie act.

New Mayans ‘Universe’ Album Art

The song is the first single from their project, Odyssey, due out later this year and the track is now available online. To learn more about captivating and otherworldly adventures of New Mayans, visit www.NewMayans.com.

You can download the new single, Universe, for free at: https://soundcloud.com/ newmayans/universe

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Sarah Petrella

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Folk-Rock artist, Sarah Petrella is a rising star with a strong hold on the Los Angeles music scene. Her latest single, “Mr. Mystery,” showcases her sultry vocals and dramatic tendencies as she evokes intense passion in this bewitching tale. The dark melodies and grooving rhythms delve into a steamy story of romance.

The path to the release of Sarah Petrella’s debut album started from the moment she was born. She wrote her first song before the age of 10, and began immersing herself in musical theatre.

From a young age, musical theatre gave Sarah a great opportunity to gain experience performing and constant honing of her writing abilities. At 15, Petrella left for Nashville, TN to write and record with several prominent musicians including the famed songwriter, Don Goodman. Sarah continued onto a successful career in musical theatre, but was still drawn back to songwriting, her true love and passion.

“Mister Mystery” was recorded and produced

at Echo Underground Studios by Dan Kalisher, known for working with Jesse McCartney and several contenders of the television show The Voice.

Connected through mutual friends, the two found a harmonious relationship as Kalisher immediately identified with Petrella’s artistic perspective, to help impeccably capture the storytelling of her work.

better than the original, which is a classic.”

Petrella hopes that her music, derived from her life experiences and

Sarah’s music break the barriers of being genrespecific, and one can hear elements of folk, rock, blues, and country in her tunes, with her main influences ranging from Patty Griffin, Grace Potter and Bonnie Raitt. .

KCRW, describes Sarah’s vocal styling’s ranging: “from light fun, to Broadway, to alt-folk rock in just three cuts-- Petrella is a musician in the fullest sense of the word.” Sarah covered Pearl Jam’s “Daughter” and KCRW called her rendition as “… strong, sweet and I think

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relationships, will connect with people on a deep and personal level . Her goal is that when her fans hear her music they will know exactly what she was thinking at the time, a feeling she has shared with some of her own artistic idols.

For more, visit Sarah at: http://www.sarahpetrella.

You can download Sarah’s latest single, Mr Mystery on Soundcloud at: http://bit.ly/1Y6LLXm

Photos: Anna Demarco

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Wynner All Right!

James ‘Wynner’ Wynne talks to us about his debut album, and what made him decide to get his songs recorded

Dublin singer/ songwriter, James Wynne, who goes by the name of ‘Wynner’, is about to release his first album, called Angels & Egos, due out on 11 November.

James, who hails from Shankill, is very excited about the launch, as he has been singing and writing songs for years without ever having them recorded.

However, after what he calls a “life-changing trip to Bali”, and the death of close friend, David Spain about two years ago, he decided to try to make a go of music for a living (David Spain’s song is also on the album).

James started by doing a few open 14 EILE Magazine

“The dream, of course is to play my own stuff at my own shows”

mic nights, and moved onto playing gigs in Dublin pubs at weekends, doing covers and weaving in a few of his original songs into the mix. He admits: “The dream, of course is to play my own stuff at my own shows” and he would like to have his own songs heard and connected to by people.

The acoustic/indie/pop/rock singer writes about things and people that are close to his heart, with the song “Dilemma” actually being about the decision to make the album, and “chase the dream”.

“Each song on the album has a particular meaning to me, but I also like to write in a way where hopefully people can relate to the situations and emotions involved. I keep them open for interpretation”.

Most of his songs are about personal experiences, and when asked about his influences, James quips : EILE Magazine 15

“I like a little bit of a lot, but a lot of very little”, but says his influences include James Taylor, The Eagles, The Beatles, Stereophonics, Oasis, Radiohead, Arctic Monkeys, Paulo Nutini, and of course, Ed Sheeran.

“I decided it was time to get an album recorded, and myself and my mate, Kevin O’Gorman, moved into a house in Palmerstown for the summer, where our friend, Denis Horgan, has a studio”.

“We spent the summer working on Angels & Egos, with Denis producing, and Kevin working on all the original artwork, photography and music videos. There was also help from so many musicians, models, camera people, editors, and more, who are all thanked on the album annotations”.

Angels & Egos was recorded at Nightgroove Studios, Produced by Denis Horgan, and is due to be released November 11 2015.

The album was written by James Wynne, Guitar: James Wynne, Drums: Paul Horgan, Lead Vocals: James Wynne, Lead Guitar: Carl Mclennon, Bass: Sean Shakespere, Backing Vocals: James Wynne, Kris Finnerty, Produced by Denis Horgan, Nightgroove Studios, Artwork: Kevin O’Gormon, PreProduction : Andrew Dixon, Model: Sophie Devlin Angels & Egos is out on 11 November 2015, and is currently available for pre order on: bandcamp http://wynner.bandcamp.com/album/angelsegos And iTunes http://itunes.apple.com/album/id1052775147 ?ls=1&app=itunes

- M. Butler 16 EILE Magazine

Wynner James Wynne

Above left: Album art for Angels & Egos Above right: Singer/songwriter James Wynne

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We catch up with the German band since our last visit to see what they are up to since their last album, Good Old Underground

Photo: Hanna Kรถnig Photography

EWIAN 18 EILE Magazine

With their fourth release and second album, We Need Monsters, German band EWIAN continues the evolution of their sound.

but the idea of projection as a means of psychological defence takes centre stage.

Again, their trademark elements of fragile and bittersweet vocals, distorted E-pianos and noisy guitars add up to a remarkable wall of sound.

Following the release of We Need Monsters, EWIAN have decided they will take a break from recording to channel their energy into performing live, and bringing their music directly to the heart of their audience.

While EWIAN had been collaborating with international artists on their debut LP (among them London-based Fifi Rong and James Hrabak from the States), the new release, which came out November 2015, sees a shift of focus toward the band’s very own, unique style.

We Need Monsters might not be a concept album,

The album title is based on this idea.

To turn this concept into a building of lyrics and sounds, EWIAN deliberately take the risk to lose that much and widely propagated homogeneity etheral shoegaze, indie hooks and elements of noise rock are just as confidently used as post-rock.

Performers: Ewian Christensen (Vocals, Keys, Soundsystem) Jannis KĂśrferPeters (Guitar, Vocals) We Need Monsters was released on 6 November 2015

iTunes: www.smarturl.it/ WeNeedMonsters Amazon: www.WeNeedMonsters_Am

http://www.ewianmusic.com/index.php EILE Magazine 19

Book Review:

The Carver Inheritance

By Anthony McGill

Anthony McGill’s novel, “The Carver Inheritance”, is not just a historical novel about America’s west at the time of the Indian wars, but a well-written tome full of mystery and suspense.

You will find yourself drawn into a thriller of immense proportions, where the ordinary everyday is skilfully interwoven with one man’s ancient lineage, and a series of murders which wouldn’t be out of place in any psychological thriller today.

Sarah Boyle is the daughter of faminescarred immigrants to the US from Roscommon in Ireland. She has been brought up in New

20 EILE Magazine

York, but at age 23, goes out west to meet her prospective husband, 62 years of age, for the first time.

He, Mel Carver, is a man of property, who supplies cattle to the American military, at a time when the political situation with the Red Indian is deteriorating, and there is a strong prospect of an Indian war.

Because of this, Carver teaches his new wife Sarah to shoot, and she is already good with horses, saying her family was descended from centaurs.

Within months of their wedding, the Battle of Little Big Horn takes place, sending shockwaves through the community, and martial law is put in place.

Carver’s friend, Minister Eli Bell, has always had

contact with the Indians, and has preached to them from time to time.

He is suspected by some military of being in league with the enemy, and some townspeople, like Henrik Svensen, hold a grudge against him from the past.

Svensen’s son, Jack, who also hates Eli, tries at every turn to harm him, and lies about him to anyone who will listen.

Sarah gets used to life on the range, but then becomes pregnant. When her son is baptised by Eli, the Bells’ and the Carvers’ lives become inextricably interwoven forever.

On the death of Mel Carver, Eli uncovers the secret of his friend’s ancient lineage, and can’t believe what he sees....

As Eli safeguards Carver’s legacy to one day pass on to Carver’s son, he begins

to suspect that the youth may be capable of great violence and dark deeds.

This is a well-written novel, with events moving seamlessly from the everyday to the surreal, with no loss of credibility.

The story draws you in very quickly, and you become immersed in the lives of the characters, who come alive on the page. You identify with Sarah, and her determination to make a go of her life, now so different to her life in New York. You admire Eli’s optimism, even in the face of the ominous clouds which seem to be hovering over him, and

you gradually come to dread the deeds of a young man who has everything going for him.

To give any more of the story away wouldn’t be fair to the reader, and so I will end by saying I would highly recommend this book, to anyone who loves the psychological thriller, the murder mystery, and who also likes historical settings, although there is not too much history to put you off, just enough to give the novel a filmic quality.

Review by M. Butler

Glaswegian Writer & Author Anthony McGill, living in Ireland since he was 27, won the PJ O’Connor award in 1988, and has written The Carver Inheritance, Abe’s Story & The Man Who Heard Ghosts You can buy The Carver Inheritance for Kindle on Amazon.com at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/ B0166UAIOU/ref=r_soa_s_b (Price $6.98 (approx. Euro 6.30)

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Summer’s Been And Gone....

Mark Anthony tells us how to be snug and fashionable in the cold months ahead Now that summer’s pretty much been and gone and sale rails have been picked over, it’s time to start getting excited for the season to come.

Well, maybe not excited, but definitely equipped. With harsher weather on the horizon, let’s take a look at what’s worth spending on to brave the elements, while looking bang ontrend.

Shearling is far and

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away the biggest trend for Autumn/Winter 2015. Why? Because pretty much everyone, from Stuart Vevers at Coach, to Brit brands Hackett and Burberry Prorsum, offered a take on this classic jacket.

And because well-built outerwear is the single most important addition to your wardrobe, once the leaves start to yellow and the breeze gets brisk.

Promising warmth (this is, after all, the sartorial equivalent of a sheepskin rug, faux or no) and an air of Steve McQueen, a shearling jacket looks just as handsome thrown over a simple T-shirt and jeans combo as it does over a button-down Oxford and sweater pairing.

If you’re planning on getting involved, don’t

skimp. Better ignore shearling altogether than pick up a subpar style that might save you a couple hundred quid but looks unmistakably bargain basement.

Even the most savvy sartorialist can find himself stumped when it comes to styling all-over busy prints and patterns.

But this season, some designers are suggesting a more accessible take on visual impact, swapping digital prints for subtle checks.

Hackett and Dunhill layered check tailoring for a standout headto-toe effect, while Hentsch Man and Shaun Samson took the trend to the street with grunge-inspired checked outerwear. If you’re looking to break out of the metaphorical blockcolour cell block, then

Burberry Reiss

Bally J.Crew checks are your best bet. Timeless and versatile, this pattern instantly adds interest to any outfit, and works across everything, from a casual plaid flannel shirt to smartly-cut separates.

To say military is trending in menswear is a bit like branding the Pope a Catholic - from cuts to

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Tommy Hilfiger Burton

utilitarian details, battlefield uniforms have come to set the foundation of the contemporary wardrobe. But this season it wasn’t buttoned cuffs and epaulettes that strengthened the military-menswear bond, but the colour of fatigues themselves.

Whether olive drab or hunter, fern or artichoke, subdued shades of green were worked across everything from technical tailored pieces (Christophe Lemaire) to smartcasual separates (Michael Kors). With shades to suit every skin tone, green’s worth putting at the core of your coldweather looks. Use it to pull together neutrals like black, beige and grey, or pair it with complementary colours like burgundy and navy.

Rakishly elegant, supremely comfortable, and extremely easy to dress up and down, the roll neck is arguably the

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hardest worker in your wardrobe. With variations on the theme provided by Margaret Howell, Kris Van Assche, Kenzo and more this Autumn/Winter, it’s hard to imagine we only rediscovered the roll neck a few seasons back. Choose from thin or thick gauges, plain colour or vividly patterned. Use yours in place of a shirt under a suit for a debonair take on tailoring (thin gauge recommended), or team with a simple pair of wellcut wool trousers and trainers, for an off-duty ensemble that still looks luxe.

Half the battle in bulking up your wardrobe for Autumn/ Winter is knowing exactly what to buy. Why not start here?

AY Not Dead Tommy Hilfiger EILE Magazine 25

Spotlight On...

Androgynous Fashion Lisa Reynolds writes about Androgynous clothes, and the models, fashion houses and personalities who have championed this fashion

Androgynous style has always been a strong statement of individuality.

Although it is difficult to pinpoint when the style started, a huge moment was when Katherine Hepburn wore male inspired buttoned down shirts and trousers, which caused a fuss among fashion savvy women back in the day, but by the end of World War II the mindset was different, and many working women with a need for comfort and practicality opted for the androgynous style.

By 1930, skirt-pants 26 EILE Magazine

were making an impact in mainstream fashion, and the androgynous style was being promoted by Hollywood stars. Marlene Dietrich was a huge trailblazer for this style, wearing a man’s suit with a hat, and in 1950, Liberace dressed as the queen of France. However, this was only the start, and by the following two decades, androgynous style was set to really take off.

In the 1960s, unisex dressing had gone mainstream in London, and until the 1960s, fashion designers created their clothing according to stereotypical gender roles, but then things changed. Twiggy cut her hair short, and male hippies grew their hair long, donning colourful clothing and tight

rocker pants.

Bell bottoms also became a major style in this decade, for both men and women. By the early 1970s, David Bowie had unleashed his alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, on the world, and in the process became the king of androgyny.

The 1970s were a huge high point for androgynous style, with glam rock taking off, and it was everywhere, with rockers such as Marc Bolan, Roxy Music, Kiss, Lou Reed, Sweet and New York Dolls.

By the 1980s, Prince and Boy George were at the height of their fame, and bringing androgyny once more to the mainstream, but by the 1990s, androgynous

Andreja Pejic

David Bowie

Brian Molko

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fashion went under the radar a bit.

There were a few moments where it featured in the mainstream context, such as when K.D. Lang dressed in male clothing for the August 1993 Vanity Fair cover, in a photoshoot where she sat in a barber’s chair having her face shaved

by Cindy Crawford, and in 1997, when Dennis Rodman dressed in a wedding dress.

But by 2010, androgyny was back with a bang, with Andreja Pejic, who walked the catwalks of many womenswear and menswear shows, including Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs, billed as an androgynous model, before her transition in 2014.

In 2012, Pejic also did a photoshoot commissioned for FORWARD by Elyse Walker, by photographer Sara M. Saric, with fellow androgynous model, Erika Linder.

Also in the Spring/ Summer season of 2011, many other androgynous models walked the catwalk, which was a huge step forward for the style.

Fashion has embraced the androgynous style with numerous 28 EILE Magazine

high profile fashion houses and high street companies such as Burberry, YSL, Topman Design, The Kooples, Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, Emilio Pucci, Calvin Klein, J.W. Anderson and H & M promoting it in their collections.

In 2011, H & M created a unisex clothes line to benefit the Fashion Against AIDS Campaign.

Fashion’s love affair with androgyny seems to have started with Coco Chanel, who went against the world around her in the 19th century, which was awash with gendered images in style and fashion. She created her version of the masculine-feminine look, by creating tailored and structured jackets, making use of jersey, borrowing her lovers’ clothing, and creating the first trouser suit for women.

Another major designer who was influential for this style was Yves Saint Laurent, with Le Smoking, which he debuted in 1966, and which was made iconic by the likes of Betty Catroux, Bianca Jagger, and Nan Kempner.

Comme Des Garcons, which was founded in 1969 by Rei Kawakubo, and translates into English as “like boys”, has been another influential fashion

company promoting androgynous style.

Androgyny has also featured in film, and a well-known film for this style was the 1977 movie Annie Hall, starring Diane Keaton as the main character.

Keaton was dressed in a man’s shirt, tie and galligaskins, creating the New Yorker style, as well as tucked in shirts, waistcoats and trousers.

Other films showing androgynous fashion include Welcome to the Dollhouse with Dawn Weiner, The Dark Crystal, and two shorter films: 2014’s Androgyny, directed by Kevin Michael Reed and Tudor Vasilescu, which explored the modern androgynous woman, and the 2011 film, Androgyny Limitless Variety, directed by Starr* Saffa, with collaborating directors Cheryl Layton, Debra Lee and Elizabeth Rose.

There have been many other style icons of this style including Annie Lennox, Patti Smith, Marilyn Manson, Tilda Swinton, Edie Sedgwick, Grace Jones, Brian Molko, Adam Lambert, YOHIO, Agyness Deyn, Ezra Furman, Adam Ant, Lady Gaga, Louise Brooks, Cathy Horyn, Janelle Monae, Audrey Hepburn, Robert Smith,

Alice Cooper, Brigitte Bardot, Chloe Sevigny, Frida Kahlo, Ellen DeGeneres, Ezra Miller, Billy Idol, Madonna, Michael Jackson and Leona “Binx” Walton.

KD Lang

There is no doubt that androgynous style is once again back at the forefront of fashion, and is a style which many of us love and embrace. Fearless, individual, and a challenge to conventional ideas of gender roles - what’s not to love about this style?

Adam Lambert

Diane Keaton in Annie Hall

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Pointed Shoes and Sodomites’ Beards: Homosexuality at the Heart of England’s Monarchy

By Gareth Russell William II succeeded to the English throne in inauspicious circumstances.

His awe-inspiring father, William the Conqueror, died feared, but not loved, in September 1087, splitting the royal family’s ancestral homeland of Normandy, and the newly-won domain of England, between his two eldest surviving sons.

Spineless Robert got Normandy, and William was crowned in London. The nobles and prelates, who had carried the late King to victory at Hastings in 1066, tended to have estates on both sides of the Channel, and they generally preferred to see malleable Robert in charge rather than autocratic William.

A rebellion rocked the new King’s reign, and it was only suppressed through the support of the native English, who rallied to the monarchy for the first 30 EILE Magazine

time in a generation, with the intention of thwarting their detested foreignimposed nobility from gaining any further domestic advantage.

This support in his hour of need resulted in William promising to alleviate his subjects’ lot, by lifting many of the legal discriminations put in place against them by his father – this was a policy of rapprochement which he maintained until he was killed in a hunting accident in 1100.

Despite this, until very recently, William II had a fairly dire historical reputation.

Nicknamed William Rufus, from the Latin word for red, a tribute either to his complexion or his hair, William had the bad historiographical luck to be both a homosexual and to quarrel with the Church. Since most of the surviving chronicles from his era were written by monks, it is unsurprising to find William emerging so unfavourably. Only in recent years has the hysteria of their denunciations attracted suspicion.

One scribe claimed that under William II ‘everything that was hateful to God

William’s pointed shoes were judged obscene by the English clergy”.

and to righteous men was the daily practice in this land during his reign’. In the late eleventh century, homosexuality had not yet attracted the opprobrium in Christian countries that it was to acquire in later generations – there is substantial evidence to suggest that the real witch-hunt did not begin until the century after William II – nonetheless, it was still something the clergy generally disapproved of and William, quite clearly, did not care one fig for that disapproval. There was no “don’t ask, don’t tell” with this soldier-King.

Gifted with great physical presence, William II was vital and muscular, with a physique that one of his enemies likened to that of a strong bull. Although he lacked the regal demeanour expected of a King, he evidently had

scads of the charisma needed for a successful general. He lacked his father’s vindictiveness, letting several of the rebels sail into exile rather than murdering or mutilating them. He was funny and easy-going in private, but apparently far less gifted as a public orator. He peppered his conversations with a soldier’s oaths, and he was always dressed in the height of fashion.

Once, when he discovered that the boots he was wearing had only cost three shillings, he rounded on his chamberlain and exclaimed, ‘You son of a whore! Since when has a king worn boots of so paltry a price? Go, and buy me a pair worth a mark of silver.’

For inexplicable and obscure reasons, a few monks took particular umbrage EILE Magazine 31

at William’s introduction of the fashion for pointed shoes for men, now such an integral part of our popular image of medieval fashion. Why they felt so moved to fury by his shoes is unclear, but royalty’s accessories often seemed to provoke clerical ire. In the next century, the famous preacher Saint Bernard of Clairvaux would wax apoplectic about Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine’s earrings, which he considered too long to be seemly.

Less than two years after he became King, William had to deal with the death of his father’s trusted Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc. The new Archbishop, Anselm, was a devout man who wished to expand the power of the Church in England, which William chose to interpret as an assault on the monarchy.

The Church held a significant amount of land in England, and to have such a sizable segment of the country operating under the authority of an institution, that was completely independent of the Crown, was something William would not tolerate.

In 1095, William tried to resolve the dispute by summoning a council at Rockingham. Archbishop Anselm, in a magnificent piece of defiance, proclaimed he would cling to the rock of his faith, conjuring images of Saint Peter, Christ’s chief apostle, the rock of the Church and, so tradition claimed, the first Pope.

Church-state relations deteriorated further after this impasse, with King William famously declaring of Anselm, ‘Yesterday, I hated him with great hatred, today I hate him with yet greater hatred and he can be certain that tomorrow and thereafter I shall hate him continually with ever fiercer and more 32 EILE Magazine

bitter hatred.’

In 1097, Anselm voluntarily chose exile in Europe, and William, no doubt overjoyed by his rival’s departure, began collecting the archdiocese’s income for himself. Many grumbled, but few complained openly.

Outside the issue of the Church, William Rufus was a much more successful King. He smashed an invading army led by King Malcolm III of Scotland in 1093. (Shakespearean enthusiasts will recognise Malcolm as the victorious prince at the end of Macbeth.)

To William’s credit, he continued to treat Malcolm’s daughters with every kindness as they remained in England to complete their education. He increased his country’s presence in Wales, continued his father’s wars in Europe, and allegedly had designs on Ireland and the Aquitaine. Whether he would have moved forward with them is uncertain.

On 2 August 1100, William II was killed on a hunting trip in the New Forest, and he was succeeded by his youngest brother, Henry I. Unusually for medieval kings, even homosexual or bisexual ones, William II had never married. With equal oddness, we do not know the names of any of his male lovers. The name of the tragic Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, lover of William’s five-times great-nephew Edward II, survives in posterity because of Edward’s all-consuming love for the Earl, and the horrible culmination of their affair with Piers’ lynching by their enemies.

Even kings whose sexuality was never proven – like William’s great-greatnephew Richard the Lionheart, the fourteenth century’s Richard II, James I of the King James Bible fame or William of Orange, ‘victor of the Boyne’ – can be linked to men who were, or were alleged to be, their partners.

But with William Rufus, there is no surviving name. Reading between the lines, it seems as if he embarked upon a policy of cheerful promiscuity, although the failure to marry at all is remarkable.

The only other male English monarchs to die unmarried in the millennium since were Edward V and Edward VI, who both died as children. Even monarchs with a seemingly clear preference for their own gender seem to have ‘lain back and thought of England’ by producing heirs and spares.

time.

William Rufus remains one of England’s most interesting Sovereigns, if for no other reason than his reign showcased the mounting tensions between an absolute monarchy that, by its very nature, could brook no organised opposition to its authority, and an increasingly imperial Papacy that sought to liberate the international Church from secular interference.

Yet William’s larger-than-life personality and the contradictions posed by his promiscuous lifestyle, his magnanimity, his success as a soldier, his hatred of Archbishop Anselm, his coarse speech but quick brain, his humour and his towering temper, make him interesting in his own right, as do the ways in which his private life and his quarrel with a clergyman helped shape, and damn, his subsequent reputation.

Despite their relatively friendly relationship when he was alive, Henry I shredded his brother’s reputation when he became king, right the way down to his wardrobe. The shoes were thrown out of the palace. The new King publicly renounced the fashions, haircuts, and even the beards favoured by his late brother.

Not to go clean-shaven, a bishop warned him, would be tantamount to condoning the ‘fornicators and sodomites’ who had peopled the royal court during William’s

William II, “The Red King” of England between 1087 and 1100

EILE Magazine 33

Opinion: NI Unionism Needs To Modernise - It Could’ve Started With Equal Marriage EILE’s Founder & Editor-at-Large, Scott De Buitléir, analyses the state of Unionist politics in Northern Ireland in light of Stormont’s Equal Marriage vote recently. He notes how many LGBT and liberal Unionists are left out in the cold by their own.

The people of Belfast, and Northern Ireland in general, have been in a weird tug-o-war for years; caught between the problems of the Troubles (and their aftermath) and the potential the city possesses for the future.

Many of its politicians are the very ones, ironically, who keep ‘NI’ in the past, despite their being the 34 EILE Magazine

ones meant to lead the region/country/state (use as appropriate) into brighter days. From my time keeping an eye on Northern Irish politics, very few of those politicians seem capable of achieving real change.

They all had a unique opportunity recently, however, although it was one that many expected would be doomed from the start. The Stormont Assembly, Northern Ireland’s devolved government, debated the issue of marriage equality for the state (yet again).

It was by no means the first time that Stormont would discuss this issue – in fact, it was the fifth – and the debate fell into two camps as predicted.

The Republicans, and a select few progressive/ liberal Unionists,

advocated equality for everyone in Northern Ireland, regardless of sexuality. The majority of Unionists, however, condemned the possibility of same-sex marriage being introduced into (their share of) Ulster, maintaining the status quo. Quelle surprise, as those used to previous debates would’ve thought.

Unionism in Northern Ireland, however, is playing a dangerous game by making the opposition to equal marriage a Unionist ‘issue’. The party stance of the DUP — Unionism’s largest party —is to oppose it, abandoning many LGBT Unionists. The UUP, under leader Mike Nesbitt’s direction, allows a free vote for its MLAs and Councillors on the issue, which has allowed the likes of Danny Kinahan to

The statue of Edward Carson stands at the foot of the Stormont Buildings, just outside Belfast.

be one of the few Unionist politicians to advocate for marriage equality.

Nesbitt’s own stance on equal marriage had been unclear prior to the vote, which made things slightly confusing. Recently, at the UUP Annual Conference, Nesbitt warned his party members that they faced being “on the wrong side of history” by opposing marriage equality in Northern Ireland, recognising that same-sex marriage in NI would be only a matter of time. Despite his acknowledgment, Nesbitt knows that the party is not liberal enough — despite being marginally more liberal than the DUP — to wholly endorse the idea of gay marriage. In fact,

Nesbitt’s speech was enough to make the Fermanagh-based UUP councillor, Raymond Farrell, quit the party.

This is both bizarre and logical at the same time, a conflicting statement that can only make sense in Northern Irish politics. Nesbitt himself has explained that while he doesn’t approve of the idea of equal marriage, he is aware of the negative effects of homophobia, which affect mental health, a topic close to Nesbitt’s heart. Despite all of that, Nesbitt has repeatedly voted against marriage equality in previous debates at Stormont, although his most recent vote was slightly more obscure.

Farrell made an interesting point, however, when he explained his decision to leave the UUP in an interview with the Belfast Newsletter: “I just don’t think it’s right to take the clothes from the right of unionism and also from the liberals in our community because I don’t think we’re building on a firm foundation.”

This is exactly where Unionist politics is primed to collapse. While Unionism in Northern Ireland will always be linked to some form of conservatism — after all, the idealogy is to maintain Northern Ireland within EILE Magazine 35

the UK — that doesn’t mean that Unionists can’t be socially progressive or liberal. There are many from a Protestant or Unionist background in Northern Ireland today, who feel that there is no-one in the political sphere who can represent them comfortably. LGBT Protestants feel this more so, as the two large Unionist parties are both against such equality.

Furthermore, the ‘middleground’ Alliance Party has repeatedly failed to step up to the mark at Stormont debates, as have the SDLP. This leaves only Sinn Féin as the largest party to support equal marriage, but their lack of presence in many Protestantmajority constituencies means that their stance is effectively useless to liberal Unionist voters.

Plus, there’s the ageold issue of the ‘Green/ Orange’ question, which means that Sinn Féin is perceived as the old enemy to this day.

What about the smaller parties, however? Basil McCrea’s NI21 party is the best answer to a liberal Unionist party (or “pro-Union”, to use their wording) but their fall from grace at the last general election was a near-fatal blow to the party. Still, McCrea has become an unlikely advocate for equality and tolerance, far from his 36 EILE Magazine

days in the UUP. McCrea and NI21 have also crossed community lines on other issues, such as the promotion and use of the Irish language in Northern Ireland, which adds to NI21’s liberal and progressive image. It may take a while (or a miracle) for NI21 to build up the same level of ‘buzz’ that the party possessed before the last elections, but if it were possible, then liberal Unionism may actually live to see brighter days.

The other party, which has not only officially supported marriage equality since 2013, but also has an openly-gay councillor currently representing them at Belfast City Council, is the PUP. This small Unionist party claims to be progressive, and indeed, is quite active when supporting LGBT and wider diversity, antiracism, and equality issues. Where the PUP is hindered, however, is in what the party calls its ‘special relationship’ with the UVF, a paramilitary group, which would deter many liberal Unionist voters. This relationship is unfortunate, as the PUP is otherwise a communityfocused, grassroots party.

Overall, Unionist politics probably has never been more divided, and has lost sight of its own community. Ironically,

this has become so bad for Unionism that they are no longer united with Britain on certain issues, such as marriage equality.

Equal marriage is legal across England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, meaning that both LGBT Unionists and Republicans are left abandoned by both sides.

It’s fair to say that maybe only 10% of voters are LGBT, but the issue shows that Unionism, despite aspirations of being British in Northern Ireland, have lost sight entirely of what it means to be British today.

Tolerance, openness and inclusivity is what the modern-day UK is meant to be about. If Unionist politicians want to maintain Northern Ireland’s link with Britain, they ought to keep this in mind.

The original version of this article appeared on Scott De Buitléir’s Medium profile.

LITTlE GEM RECOrDS 5, CAVENDISH ROW, AT THE TOP OF O’CONNEll STrEET, DUBlIN, IS OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. SPECIAlISINg IN INDEPENDENT ArTISTS AND lABElS, STOCKINg VINYl, CASSETTE, COMPACT DISC, AND lITTlE gEM PlAYErS

EILE Magazine 37

Film Review - The Queen Of Ireland Stephen Donnan reviews The Queen of Ireland, the film which documents the life of Drag Queen extraordinaire and LGBT activist, Rory O’Neill, aka Panti Bliss.

There are three things I have taken away from The Queen of Ireland, the documentary about the legendary Irish drag queen, and accidental activist, Panti Bliss/ Rory O’Neill: The first is that Panti uses the same hairspray as I do (Squeeee!), the second is that I really want to go clubbing in Tokyo very soon, and the third is that Conor Horgan is a bloody good film maker.

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It’s odd, and yet enriching, to watch a movie about one of your heroes, and also about a time of your life in which you were so invested, and to see that time and the same hopes and fears you felt about the marriage referendum expressed on the silver screen, by people you have met and laughed with.

Through Conor Horgan’s mastery of the interviews he conducts, and the raw footage of Panti’s early days as part of Candy-

Panti in Tokyo, we get to see Rory as a human being, and not the 9ft tall blonde bombshell that rallied a community to do something about their lot in life.

That touching scene where Rory describes how he breathed life into Panti, and she breathed more life into him, is the essence of what this documentary is about - life and happiness and the expression of desires, fears, ambition, and what it means to be an

icon, a son, a brother and an ordinary man living an extraordinary life. We get to meet Rory’s family and friends. We get to listen to those who witnessed the birth of Panti, and the death of Pantigate.

Horgan eloquently takes us on a journey in such detail that we can see the pride that Rory’s family have for him, for how he dealt with an HIV diagnosis and simply said “the show must go on.”

We travel with him from when he started out as a young Ballinrobe boy in woollen jumpers and welly boots, and made his way to the stages of Dublin’s drag circuit in gold sequin dresses - dressed as a “Disney villain” as he describes in one scene.

It’s no secret that I am a

fan of Panti/Rory, and this film is a perfect companion to his book, “Woman In The Making” as it gives us a more objective look at the marriage referendum, how Ireland has tackled homophobia, and just how far the community in the South has come, and how hard they have fought to get there.

There is a lovely shot of Panti walking arm in arm with his parents, down a little road in Ballinrobe, towards the marquee in which he performs, bringing the story to a beautiful and heartwarming conclusion.

The love and passion Horgan has for Panti, and her craft, is evident in the framing of the movie.

It never once portrays Rory as anything other than human - a man with nothing to lose - and yet flabbergasted by the support he has gotten from the community, and the world at large.

[You can see The Queen of Ireland at the Irish Film Institute (IFI) in Eustace Street, Dublin 2, until 19 November]

Bravo to all involved.

It is clearly a work that has been decades in the making.

EILE Magazine 39

Concrete Soup: Gig on 14th November – Psychiatric Music!

This month at Arthur’s ¡NO! will give an exclusive lone performance of their eureka formula Psychiatric Music ÷ 4 x History ².

The live set by the Dublin new psychedelic improvisers will be followed by MUSIC YOU NEVER HEAR ON THE RADIO delivered by Concrete Soup DJs. ¡NO! – Psychiatric Music ÷ 4 x History ² + Concrete Soup DJs

Saturday 14th November Arthur’s Pub, (Upstairs) Dublin Doors 8:30pm Admission 8€ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ events/1635668053379810/ ¡NO! are a para-psych improv group based in Dublin. They curate Concrete Soup, the longest running improv music residency in Dublin city.

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EILE Magazine 41

Health: Preventing Winter Chills Brian Rochford talks us through the best way to avoid those Winter sniffles This is the time of year when we traditionally suffer from colds, flu, and in general, the winter chills.

Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan, has warned of “a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer have a cure and [will] once again, kill unabated� (7th April 2011).

Experts in world publichealth agree that bacteria which are drugresistant, and created in animals through the use of antibiotics, can be transmitted in food to the general public, and can also be transmitted person-to-person.

These developments are a real cause for concern, and would naturally lead to people seeking an alternative way of dealing 42 EILE Magazine

with common colds and flu.

Natural cures and preventions have been around for a long time. Long before the availability of antibiotics, people used herbal remedies and potions to help take away some of the symptoms experienced when ill.

Some research suggests that, on average, an adult suffers at least three colds in one year. These colds can hang around for approximately nine days.

But all is not lost, as soon as you feel the symptoms developing, be sure to keep yourself hydrated, as this will reduce the symptoms of a stuffed nose and even a sore throat.

Get gargling with some salt in warm water, about a teaspoon full in a glass of water should

help the irritation, and go some way to reducing the inflammation in the throat. This practice can also help cleanse away nasty viruses and bacteria, and may go some way to reducing or even preventing you getting a cold or flu.

Try Echinacea, as it has been shown to help stimulate the immune system, and, according to some experts, can still have a role to play in helping us avoid that nasty common cold.

Many experts agree that increasing your intake of vitamin D is helpful when you are experiencing a bad cold. Vitamin D is usually recommended as a preventative step, however upping the intake can help you get over your illness.

Boost your immune system with vitamin C approximately every two

hours. This will also help in treating or preventing the common cold.

If you are suffering digestive problems when ill, try Ginger root, as it is an excellent agent in reducing inflammation.

Strong chemicals that assist a healthy immune system can be found in Oil of Oregano, noted for

its power to stop nasty viruses taking hold, and also for helping to keep them at bay. The active primary ingredient in Oil of Oregano is Carvacrol, which can help to reduce harmful pathogens.

Another good remedy is a tablespoon of extra virgin Coconut oil, especially at the beginning of a cold, to help stop an unwelcome

virus. Taking Coconut oil can also help shorten the length of time an infection remains in your system.

So you can see, there are ways of preventing those winter chills, and enjoying all the good things that the Winter season has to offer.

EILE Magazine 43

Design: Anthony Zagariko, exclusively for EILE Magazine

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Frances Winston on Movies Directed by: Sam Mendes – Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennnes, Rory Kinnear Love him or hate him, James Bond is back, and as usual the release of the latest film in the franchise is something of an event. There are very few movies that could live up to the hype that surrounds a Bond flick, and cast and crew must surely feel the pressure in the build up to it’s launch, especially following the phenomenal success of 2012’s Skyfall.

However, they seem to have taken a very Bond-like approach to it, and if they were anyway shaken by the task at hand, they certainly didn’t seem to let it stop them, and the result is a Bond movie that is as good if not better than the aforementioned Skyfall.

Since I’ve been asked not to mention any spoilers in my review, it does restrict me somewhat. Obviously the title indicates that the global criminal agency, Spectre, are back in their first appearance in a Bond film since 1971’s Diamonds are Forever, and without giving too much away, I can say that fans won’t be disappointed. This draws heavily on Bond author Ian Fleming’s source material, and has plenty of subtle homages

to the classic movies and the books.

In this offering, Bond (Craig) finds himself going rogue to complete a mission left for him by the now deceased M. In an adventure that takes him all over the world, he uncovers a corruption that runs far deeper and closer to home than he could have imagined. As he delves deeper into the seedy world he has uncovered, he is hindered by the fact that back in London, M16 is fighting for it’s very existence, as C (Scott) tries to replace 00 agents with drones, claiming that they are obsolete.

As he ploughs ahead with plans to implement a worldwide surveillance system that puts George Orwell’s 1984 vision to shame, the new M (Fiennes), Moneypenny (Harris) and Q (Whishaw) helplessly watch as Bond faces possible death with no support network.

It’s not a spoiler to say that Bond makes it out alive – this is one character who is unlikely ever to die on screen – but along the way he does face some of the stickiest situations of his long career.

Continuing the tradition that started with Craig’s tenure, we get further insight into Bond’s background to help us better understand what has made him the man he is. Craig continues to bring a complexity to the role that was often lacking with other Bonds, and the supporting cast

all do a stellar job. It is nice that we get to see more of his colleagues here, who have all to often been used merely as catalysts to move a story along.

Meanwhile, Waltz revels in his bad guy role, although he sometimes veers on the side of pant villain This hasn’t reinvented the wheel, it still contains all the elements you expect from a Bond film – beautiful girls, fast cars, OTT bad guys – however it feels fresh and contemporary. There are plenty of big set pieces and spectacles, but in Mendes’ hands they are interwoven nicely with the more human elements of Bond’s tale, lest we forget that he is just a man and not some sort of super hero.

I’d say this is a must-see, but that’s something of a given since you’ll be the only person around the water cooler who hasn’t seen it if you don’t.

Unlike many “must see” movies, this is supremely entertaining. A thrill a minute from the off, Spectre never drags, and keeps you engaged throughout.

There has been speculation that this may be Craig’s last Bond, and it is quite a movie to go out on. You can believe all the hype. If you’re not already a Bond fan, this may be the movie that converts you, and if you are, you will analyse it to death.

In cinemas now!

EILE Magazine 47

The Martian

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Frances Winston on Movies continued...

Directed by: Breck Eisner – Starring: Vin Diesel, Rose Leslie, Elijah Wood, Michael Caine Apparently, witches live amongst us and go about their day-to-day business, thanks to an agreement that was reached whereby they never use their magic on humans. Ensuring that they adhere to this is Kaulder (Diesel) the Witch Hunter of the title, cursed with immortality by the Witch Queen 800 years ago, whose mission ever since has been to maintain the truce by ensuring any rogue witches get punished. However, the tentative peace is set to be broken as a plague his about to be unleashed on New York, and Kaulder could be both the cause and the cure of it.

This movie is difficult to define. It sits somewhere between fantasy drama, supernatural thriller, and action movie. The problem with that is that you’re not always sure what you’re watching. Equally I found it difficult to gauge who the target audience is. It’s probably too dark and complex for kids, not sexy enough for tweens, and slightly on the safe side and not complex enough

for adult fantasy fans.

There have been plenty of films over the years featuring an immortal lead character, and from Dracula to Highlander, the one thing that that character has to convey is world weariness, which is something you don’t really get from Diesel here. At no point do you feel that he is an ancient soul.

Despite two other big names in the cast in the form of Caine and Wood, this is very much his film, and unfortunately he forgets to play anything other than Vin Diesel.

Former Downton star Leslie grates as Chloe, a dreamwalker witch, who works alongside Kaulder to defeat the dark magic.

She never really seems to fully engage with the role, and she and Diesel have very little chemistry.

This has some good effects and some of the writing is good. The biggest problem here is pacing and timing. The wittiest of lines won’t work if it’s delivered too late, and this unfortunately is often the case. This detracts from the humour, leaving nothing to lift this film.

really great promise, but attached a star name and it became a star vehicle, rather than keeping the focus on the story and your target audience.

You get the impression Vin wanted everyone to like this, but in trying to please everyone, the plot, effects, and performances all seem to have been diluted. Despite this no doubt his name will get plenty of bums on seats, but if fans are expecting Fast and Furious with broomsticks, they will be sorely disappointed.

I am a big fan of fantasy movies and supernatural tales, and I really wanted to love The Last Witch Hunter, but I left it feeling rather meh. Taking the critic in me out of the equation, and thinking about it as a fan of the genre, my opinion is the same.

However, I can see how, in the right hands, this could have been wildly entertaining. Diesel has already announced a sequel, and hopefully, they will rectify the issues with the next one.

In cinemas now!

This is the unfortunate kind of film that had

EILE Magazine 49

Califor Minister

Revd Troy Perry

How Troy Perry almost killed himself, married his boyfriend and changed the world - By John Beaupré

By Jon Beaupré

While LGBT people have known for a long time that we can be found in virtually every corner of society – rural, urban, rich, poor, progressive to reactionary – the straight world at large may have been most surprised that sexual minorities are also deeply spiritual.

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The Reverend Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches, the largest religious community serving LGBT people and their families (and some would say the largest LGBT membership organization in the world), knew early on that traditional churches were driving away their members by rejecting their same sex behavior.

For many in the straight world, being gay meant promiscuity, bars, drag

performances, and a rejection of anything from their traditional upbringing, especially religion of any kind, which was felt to condemn LGBT life.

Reverend Perry built an enormous, welcoming communion, based on the simple premise that God, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, could make no mistakes, and that God loved LGBT people as much as anyone else. It was a tough sell, even at a time when the country was moving away from the

rnia Dispatch: of Justice stifling conformity of the mid-century, toward the rebellious freedom and reinvention of the 60s.

Perry was born in deeply conservative Tallahassee, Florida in 1940, and from an early age felt drawn to preaching the Gospel. His brother, Jimmy, recounts a tale of he and Troy finding dead animals over which Troy could pray.

He was ordained a Baptist Minister by age 15.

His childhood was hard – his father was killed in an auto accident when the boy was 11 – but not especially more difficult than many other hardworking families. Perry continued his preaching, and by age 18, married Pearl Pinion, the daughter of a preacher. They had two sons and moved to Illinois, where Perry studied to advance his preaching career.

Perry sometimes had sexual relationships with other men, but didn’t think it meant that he was a homosexual, just that he was exploring his youthful sexuality. Soon however, church elders made him leave his congregation.

With Pearl and his two

sons, he moved to Santa Ana, California, just south of Los Angeles, in 1963.

Perry was increasingly unable to hide his sexual orientation, and ultimately separated from his wife, who returned to the mid west with their two sons.

He served two years in the military in Germany, and returned to California with few prospects.

As Perry himself recounts in the 2007 documentary, “Call Me Troy”, in 1968 -- after a suicide attempt following his break up with an early long-term relationship, and seeing a friend arrested by the police at a popular LA night club -- he felt called to take up the faith he had left, and to build a sanctuary for LGBT people to worship without hiding their sexuality, and without fear of ostracism.

(Former MCC Minister Lucia Chappelle, who contributes to this column, appears prominently in the documentary).

Against all predictions, a dozen worshippers showed up on October 6, 1968, for the first service.

Perry recounts: “Nine were my friends who came to console me…

and three came as a result of the ad” referring to an advertisement he had placed in the local gay weekly, which featured ads for bars, and gay men seeking sex partners, mixed in with the news.

The congregation had to move several times, from Perry’s tiny home in Huntington Park, to a women’s club, an auditorium, and a movie theatre. In 1971, the congregation dedicated their own ‘Mother Church”, after months of scraping, painting, cleaning and generally rehabilitating a former Congregational church they had purchased in South Los Angeles, the first property purchased by an LGBT group in the country, perhaps the world. A thousand people showed up, dramatic growth in only three years.

Chappelle recalls arriving at the church and being deeply moved by what the denomination had achieved.

The church was burned nearly to the ground in a suspicious fire in January 1973. (Twenty of the 300 Metropolitan Community Churches world-wide have been fire-bombed in its 47EILE Magazine 51

Left to right: Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Neil G Thomas; Minister of Latino Ministry, Rev. Alejandro Escoto; Minister of Congregational Life, Rev. Dr. Pat Langlois; Founder of Metropolitan Community Church and Founders MCCLA’s first pastor, Rev. Dr. Elder Troy D. Perry. Photo by Mark S. Hahn

year history.)

Over the years, Perry could be found at the forefront of every major LGBT rights challenge, from spear-heading the repeal of California’s sodomy law in 1975, to fighting the state’s notorious, anti-gay ‘Briggs Initiative’ in 1976, cofounding the first Gay Pride celebrations in Southern California (one of the earliest such events in the country) to raising funds for AIDS research, and ministering to those suffering from AIDS and consoling their families, after so many succumbed to the infection. Perry claims the church lost over 5,000 to the AIDS epidemic.

When he set out to raise funds to defeat the Briggs Initiative, Perry went on a hunger strike on the steps 52 EILE Magazine

of the Federal Building in downtown Los Angeles, and described it at first as being ‘like a picnic’.

After 16 days consuming only water, Perry and his supporters were able to raise $100,000 -- the crucial seed money that helped pay for the campaign that saw the initiative go down to a 58% to 42% defeat.

He and colleague, Robin Tyler, were key promoters of the first LGBT march on Washington in 1979, which galvanized sexual minorities across the country, showed the nation for the first time the size and variety within queer communities in the U.S., and proved that a Christian minister – not a celebrity, politician or athlete – could be a powerful voice for gay rights. The rally drew between 75,000 and

125,000 to the nation’s capital.

Former child star and state legislator, Sheila Kuehl, said Perry would “…stride right into the middle of the fray” and show cheerful, quiet courage in the face of considerable resistance.

Perhaps Perry’s most moving success was the filing of a suit against the state of California, with Robin Tyler and both of their spouses, to repeal a state law blocking marriage equality. The battle was long and dramatic, with backand-forth reversals in the courts, but led to the eventual approval of marriage equality in California, and ultimately, in the country as a whole.

Perry and his husband, Phillip De Blieck, had been previously married in

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Toronto in 2003.

A release from the MCC notes that “Perry was the first openly gay member of the LA Human Rights Commission, a member of the first gay rights delegation invited to the White House, and founder of the first Christian denomination with a primary ministry to gays and lesbians.”

Today, the church boasts almost 300 MCC congregations in 22 countries around the world, from Founders Metropolitan Community Church on Prospect Ave. in Los Angeles, to the Northern Lights MCC in Newcastle, UK. More than 43,000 people consider themselves members or adherents of Metropolitan Community churches.

For nearly five decades, the MCC has changed the face of Christianity, and helped to fuel the international struggle for LGBT rights. From his start in Southern California, the Reverend Troy Perry set a high standard for LGBT activists to follow.

(Note: You can see the documentary “Call Me Troy” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/1O4Qi7M Jon Beaupré is Assoc. Chair Dept. of TV, Film & Media Studies California State University, Los Angeles jbeaupr@calstatela.edu @jnbeaupre

54 EILE Magazine

EILE Magazine 55

Irish Equal Marriage Commencement Ceremony Held in Dublin The commencement orders for the Marriage Act and related legislation were signed yesterday evening (10 November) at 5pm in George’s Hall, Dublin Castle, by the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald TD and Tánaiste Joan Burton TD. The orders will mean that from next Monday,

56 EILE Magazine

November 16th, lesbian and gay couples will be able to get married in Ireland.

“We celebrate the final legal step in the remarkable Irish journey to equality for lesbian and gay people. From next week lesbian and gay couples will be apply to get married and share in the same constitutional status as every other citizen” said Kieran Rose, GLEN Co-Chair.

Rose continued: “It is a truly joyful and historic moment, not just for lesbian and gay people, their families and friends, but for all Irish people. It is the end of a long legal journey that began with decriminalisation in 1993, equality legislation in 1990s, Civil Partnership in 2010 and culminated in the passing of the marriage equality referendum in May. The Tánaiste and

Minster Fitzgerald are to be congratulated for the role they have played in that journey As we approach the centenary of 1916 we can celebrate the Irish people’s determination, as shown in the referendum result, to continue to make the words of the proclamation real for all”.

“There is further work to be done to ensure that the extraordinary support and goodwill of the Irish people is translated into real change in the daily lives of LGBT people.

Together we can create an Ireland where this and future generations of LGBT people can achieve their full potential in school, in work and in wider society on the same basis as all others” said Rose. (eile.ie 11 November 2015)

From Left: Deirdre Duffy ICCL, Gráinne Healy Marriage Equality, Min Frances Fitzgerald, Tánaiste Joan Burton, and Kieran Rose GLEN co-chair

“We celebrate the final legal step in the remarkable Irish journey to equality for lesbian and gay people. From next week lesbian and gay couples will be apply to get married and share in the same constitutional status as every other citizen”

EILE Magazine 57

Right: Irish Minister for Justice & Equality, Frances Fitzgerald

Ireland to See First Same-Sex Marriages Within Weeks The Republic of Ireland will soon bear witness to the first same-sex marriages within a matter of weeks, as the Marriage Act 2015 finally comes into effect.

Ireland’s new legislation, allowing samesex marriage, will take effect from next Monday, November 16. Couples who already have a civil partnership, and wish to convert that into a marriage, will be able to do so from that date.

Other same-sex couples will be able to give three months’ notice to the State

58 EILE Magazine

from that date, also.

The Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald TD of Fine Gael, will sign the commencement order for the Marriage Act later today, while the Tánaiste, Joan Burton TD, will also sign an accompanying regulation for the Civil Partnership Act 2004. This is the final act necessary for marriage equality to be fully legal and recognised in the Republic of Ireland. (eile.ie 10 November 2015)

-Scott De Buitléir

From Left: Brian Sheehan GLEN, Mark Kelly ICCL, Minister Frances Fitzgerald, and Gráinne Healy Marriage Equality, after the passing of the Marriage Bill 2015

Ireland’s Marriage Bill Finally Passes!

Another major milestone has been reached with the passing of the Marriage Bill on Thursday last, 22nd October. It will now be sent on to President Michael D. Higgins to be signed into law.

The approximate date for the long awaited first same-sex marriages will be mid-November, and the Minister for Justice, Frances Fitzgerald, said: “Today is a good riposte to the prejudice of the past.

[..]…we’re seeing the marker of a changed Ireland” Frances with Brian Minister Frances Fitzgerald With Brian Sheehan She celebrated by joining the marriage equality leaders at Pantibar in the evening.

Brian Sheehan tweeted: “An amazing day.#marref completed. Thanks to people of Ireland & @ FitzgeraldFrncs Outside @ PantiBliss bar tonight”.

Many people all over Ireland have reason to celebrate, from the LGBT

community, to their parents, family, friends and supporters.

Senator David Norris, who has been fighting for these rights for many years, reminded us that there is still work to be done, and places in the world where it is dangerous and fatal to be gay.

The Bill now passes to President Michael D. Higgins for his signature, which will mean that marriage equalilty is finally on the statute books in Ireland.

-MKB (eile.ie 26 October2015) EILE Magazine 59

GLEN (the Gay & Lesbian Network) has issued this helpful notice t law in Ireland, and the commencement order, so that civil marriag some answers to frequently asked questions!

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to fill the short gap between the signing of the Marriage Act 2015 into ges can start taking place. For those of you planning to get married, For more information, visit www.glen.ie EILE Magazine 61

Playwright Alan Bennett Coming Out To Parents Would Have Been Pointless 81 year-old author and playwright, Alan Bennett, has said that telling his parents that he was gay “would have been pointless”.

In an interview with the Guardian Weekend magazine, he tells how he felt that it would only distress both of his parents for him to have come out to them, and would have been painful for them.

He stated:

“People talk about coming out to their parents, and I just didn’t see the point of 62 EILE Magazine

that”.

Part of the reason was that he didn’t have a partner:

“In my case, coming out about what? Nothing was happening – I might be gay, but I didn’t have a partner or anything, so there was no point”.

Bennett has had a partner for 23 years, Rupert Thomas, the editor of World of Interiors. He also had a ten-year relationship with Anne Davies, who died in 2009.

He said that they became “really fond of each other”.

Although the relationship ended, she moved to Yorkshire, next door to Bennett, and at first did

not get on with Rupert.

However, when she became ill, “she became closer to Rupert than she was to me, really”.

Born in Leeds, Bennett was the son of a co-op butcher, Walter, and Lillian, who, according to Bennett, suffered from mental illness.

He attended Oxford University, where he took part in the Oxford Revue. He collaborated with Dudley Moore, Peter Cooke, and Jonathan Miller in Beyond The Fringe at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival, which brought him instant fame, caused him to give up academia, and write fulltime.

-MKB (eile.ie 2 November 2015)

Alan Bennett in 1973, Photo

by Allan Warren

EILE Magazine 63

Actor Harry Hains in ‘The Surface’

LA-based Director to Present Film at GFEST London Gay Arts Festival Michael J Saul, the acclaimed director of gay feature drama, ‘The Surface’, will be in London to present his UK premier film at GFEST – Gaywise FESTival 2015.

GFEST1GFEST 2015 artistic director Niranjan Kamatkar said: ” We are delighted that Michael will be here to present his comingof-age film in London. This is a film that can inspire a number of LGBT young filmmakers and potential filmmakers.”

The film screening will take place at ArtHouse, Crouch End, in London, on Tuesday, 17th November, at 8 pm.

Director of ‘The Surface’, Michael J Saul, added:

Melbourne-born Harry Hains, an emerging talent, stars in the film, portraying a young man struggling to create his own sense of family:

“I am very excited for our UK premiere and very happy that I get to attend. I look forward to the audience reaction to the film.”

‘The Surface is the story of Evan, an orphan who has been a disaffected college student, living with his wealthy boyfriend. While sifting through old relics at an elderly man’s yard sale, Evan finds an 8mm movie camera. As he vicariously takes a journey through the home movies, Evan’s relationship with his boyfriend Chris splinters…’

The second night of GFEST 2015 film screenings showcases diverse short films on Wednesday, 18th November, at ArtHouse, Crouch End, London.

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GFEST – Gaywise FESTival is presented by arts charity Wise Thoughts, a pioneering organisation based in Haringey, north London, that combines creative use of diverse art forms such as film, visual art and performance, and delivers targeted services. Its services help address social

Harry Hains justice issues and needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) and Black, Asia, & Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities. A platform for LGBTQI artists, GFEST takes place annually in November.

Producer Writer Director Michael J Saul

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Third Annual Irish VFX & Animation Summit 20 – 22 November 2015 And First Irish Screening Of Disney / Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur Details have been announced for the third annual Irish Visual Effects (VFX) & Animation Summit, in partnership with Animation Skillnet and Screen Training Ireland. Following on from last year’s massively successful event which hosted over 350 delegates, this year’s event will span three days with delegates attending free of charge to hear the cream of world leaders in the industry discuss their high-profile work on this year’s blockbusters.

masterclasses, discussion panels and Q&As with awardwinning VFX and animation professionals including cutting edge talent from both Ireland and around the world.

Demand is expected to be significant for tickets, which are free for the 2015 event.

President of Pixar Animation Studios, Jim Morris, will speak at the event, which will be held at: The Foundry, Google European Head Office, Barrow Street, Dublin.

Jim Morris, President of Pixar Animation Studios, who will speak at the SFX event

The Summit will celebrate the world of Visual Effects and animation, with the first screening in Ireland of the new Disney / Pixar film The Good Dinosaur. This will take place along with talks, workshops, 66 EILE Magazine

As well as the continued collaboration with Screen Training Ireland and Animation Skillnet, Enterprise Ireland, Grant Thornton and the U.S. Embassy Dublin are also event supporters this year. The 2015 event expects to increase the number of attendees to over 400, making it the largest event ever hosted in Ireland to focus on the Visual Effects and animation industries.

Confirmed speakers at this year’s summit include high profile industry figures such Jim Morris, President of Pixar Animation Studios, who will give a keynote speech at the event. Prior to joining Pixar, Morris held a range of key positions in various divisions of Lucasfilm Ltd. He served as President of Lucas Digital

Ltd. and managed its two divisions, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) and Skywalker Sound. As ILM’s General Manager for more than ten years, he supervised a staff of over 1400 artists and technicians, and guided the largest visual effects facility in the entertainment industry.

Some confirmed speakers at this year’s summit include renowned industry figures such as Neil Weatherly, CG Supervisor at Framestore who will give a presentation on The Martian; Kevin Baillie, CEO of Atomic Fiction, CEO of ConductorIO for cloud rendering and VFX Supervisor on The Walk along with other world industry leaders in the VFX and animation fields.

Other presentations at this year’s Summit will include discussions on films such as Ex-Machina; The Martian; Avengers: Age of Ultron; The Walk; and Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur..

The annual VFX & animation summit will promote the VFX and animation trades within Ireland, to create a wider dialogue between existing and aspiring VFX and animation professionals and to offer training and support

Jim Morris, President of Pixar Animation Studios, who will speak at the SFX event

to those who wish to join the industry. The event’s success depends upon the support and participation of the key players in the industry: the established Irish VFX and animation studios and their artists, the film and culture supporting bodies and the aspiring, young students who want to be tomorrow’s professionals.

With this support both existing and new talent in Ireland will benefit enormously from this annual conference.

Event Founders Laura Livingstone and Eoghan Cunneen, drawing on their experiences at a number of high profile VFX facilities across the UK, Canada and The United States, are certain that there is a genuine opportunity to develop and sustain a world-leading VFX industry in Ireland.

Livingstone commented: “A career in VFX and animation can be rewarding and exciting. We want to show

prospective students that it’s also accessible. We’re bringing the most relevant speakers to Ireland to showcase the work done on the largest productions and future proof our talent at home, exposing them to state of the art techniques and production workflows. To celebrate Irish achievements recently, we note that Ireland has been receiving worldwide recognition for its contributions to Visual Effects and Animation with Cartoon Saloon receiving its second Oscar nomination for their feature animation Song of the Sea. At the same time, Alan Holly and Eoin Duffy were on the Oscar nomination shortlist in 2013 and 2014 respectively.”

The Irish VFX & Animation Summit’s mission is to celebrate the Visual Effects (VFX) and animation industries within Ireland and beyond. To create a stronger dialogue between existing and aspiring VFX and animation professionals and to offer training and support

to those who wish to join the industry. Ireland has a strong history of producing world-class talent in the arts and film in particular, with the production of indigenous films increasing at pace in recent years. This history, coupled with ongoing success in producing talented and successful engineers, software developers and computer game professionals, creates a range of talent that can contribute to our homegrown VFX and the wider film industry. Tickets are limited, free of charge, and can be accessed here: http://vfxsummit.com/ – / tickets/ The full schedule will be announced shortly. (eile.ie 28 October 2015)

EILE Magazine 67

US: Trans Gavin’s Case – ‘All I Want to Do Is Be a Normal Child and Use the Restroom in Peace’ Joshua Block, Senior Staff Attorney, LGBT & HIV Project at ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) wrote last Wednesday (21 October) about the case of Gavin, a sixteen-year-old transgender from Virginia in the US: “A few minutes ago, we filed our opening brief in our appeal of Gavin’s case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

I wrote about Gavin’s case last July, when we argued on behalf of Gavin in federal court in Norfolk, Virginia. I was proud to stand with Gavin then, and I’m even prouder to stand with him today.

Gavin [Grimm] is a 16year-old boy at Gloucester High School in Virginia.

He is transgender and

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is undergoing hormone therapy; he has legally changed his name; and his state identification card identifies him as male. In all aspects of his life, he uses the boys’ restrooms, just like any other boy would. But at school, Gavin is singled out for different treatment. Even though Gavin had been using the boys’ restrooms for almost two months without any problems, the Gloucester County School Board decided to debate Gavin’s rights to use the restroom. The board ultimately passed a new policy that prohibits Gavin, and any other student with “gender identity issues,” from using the same restrooms as the rest of his peers. This policy forces transgender students to go to separate, single-stall restrooms that no other student is required to use.

Last June — the day after classes ended — Gavin filed a lawsuit challenging the

school board’s stigmatizing policy under Title IX, a statute prohibiting schools from discriminating on the basis of sex, and the Constitution. Gavin asked for an injunction allowing him to use the boys’ restroom while the case is pending. We had hoped to get that injunction before classes began this September so Gavin could begin his junior year with a fresh start. The Department of Justice and Department of Education filed a brief supporting Gavin. But a few days before classes began, the district court in Norfolk denied Gavin’s request for an injunction.

Gavin is now asking the Fourth Circuit to reverse the lower court’s ruling, which conflicts with modern precedent recognizing that transgender people, like everyone else, are protected from discrimination based on

Transgender man Gavin Grimm

their sex. In order to equally participate in school, work, and society, transgender people — like everyone else — have to use the restrooms. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Education have all recognized that transgender people should be able to use the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity and cannot be segregated into separate restrooms away from everyone else.

From the first time he stood up in front of his school board and a room full of hostile adults, Gavin’s message has been simple:

“All I want to do is be a normal child and use the restroom in peace.”

Hopefully by the time Gavin begins his senior year, he will finally be able to do that”.

– ACLU (eile.ie 23 October 2015)

EILE Magazine 69

InterPride - WorldPride To Be Held In NYC For Stonewall 50th

InterPride – the International Association of LGBTI Pride Organisers – have announced that New York City will host a huge WorldPride event on 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which happened in 1969, to be held in 2019.

According to NYC Pride: “Early in the morning of June 28, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police, a then common occurrence at the Greenwich Village bar that had become a staple of New York City’s underground gay community. But this time its members, tired of the ongoing raids, fought back, striking what would become known as The Stonewall Riots”.

70 EILE Magazine

A year after Stonewall, the first Gay Pride March was held by the Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee to commemorate the riots.

“One of the first major successes of the movement came when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the DSM-II, [..] The struggle continued, with Pride organizations forming in other major cities throughout the U.S. to remember Stonewall and continue its aim”.

“In 2011, state lawmakers vote to make New York the sixth state in the nation, and the most populous thus far, to legally recognize samesex marriages. The Big Apple joins Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. The vote

comes on the eve of Pride weekend, making the victory ever sweeter”.

Because the Stonewall Riots were such a pivotal point in the gay rights movement, it seems only right that New York City should host WorldPride on the 50th anniversary of the riots in 1969, and where the first Pride march was held a year later in 1970.

-MKB (eile.ie 21 October 2015)

US - Philadelphia Duo Who Beat Up Gay Couple Get Community Service Two men who beat up a gay couple in downtown Philadelphia last year have got community service and a fine of under $1,000 for the crime.

The two men, Philip Williams (24) and Kevin Harrigan (26) were part of a group who were shouting homophobic slurs at the couple, yet they said in court on Thursday last (15th October) that the attack was not motivated by the couple’s sexual orientation. One of the victims had his jaw and cheekbones broken during the attack on September 11 last year.

The pair pleaded guilty to assault and conspiracy

charges, and in a plea bargain, were given 200 hours community service at an LGBT centre, a fine of under $1,000, and told to stay away from downtown Philly for a number of years. The state does not have sexual orientation included in its hate crime law.

The gay couple, Zachary Hesse and Andy Haught had requested a sentence for the attackers that would show tolerance and understanding, and avoid excessive punishment.

The District Attorney, Seth Williams said the bargain was about justice, but also about honouring the wishes of the victims, and allowing them to get on with their lives.

However, LGBT activists and organisations were furious at the lightness of the sentence. Activist Dan Savage tweeted that the sentence was appalling and others called shame on District Attorney Seth Williams.

Assistant District Attorney, Michael Barry, has said that this has tarnished the city’s reputation, and that keeping the duo out of downtown Philly would be very difficult to enforce.

A third person involved in the attack, Kathryn Knot, has chosen to go to trial.

-MKB (eile.ie 18 October 2015)

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US: Shkreli’s Donation Rejected By Democrat Sanders 72 EILE Magazine

US Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has rejected a donation from Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, who recently raised the price of an AIDS drug, Daraprim, also known as pyrimethamine, by approximately 5,000 percent.

The drug is used to treat malaria, toxoplasmosis, and HIV. When his company, Turing Pharmaceuticals, obtained the manufacturing licence for Daraprim, a drug in existence for 62 years, Shkreli immediately raised the price from $13.50 to $750 per tablet, drawing criticism from many quarters including Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump, among other politicians and celebrities, the HIV Medicine Association, and the Infectious

Diseases Society of America (IDSA) who wrote him a letter. The letter from IDSA asked Shkreli to immediately implement a rational and fair pricing strategy to keep the drug accessible to the vulnerable patient population.

It is estimated that the drug costs about one dollar to produce.

Toxoplasmosis can severely affect those with a weakened immune system, and so people with AIDS are particularly vulnerable.

“They are likely to experience headache, confusion, poor coordination, seizures, lung problems that may resemble tuberculosis or Pneumocystis jiroveci pneumonia (a common opportunistic infection that occurs in people with AIDS), or blurred vision caused by severe inflammation of the retina (ocular toxoplasmosis)”.

according to a report in the Boston Globe.

32-year-old Shkreli, who has consistently defended his price hike, saying the extra funds would go into research, was not happy with Sanders actions. According to the Advocate, he said he hoped to get an interview with Sanders to explain his reasoning on the price increase. Now he feels Sanders is appealing to the masses, and talking out of his “rear end” to get votes.

Although Shkreli has said that he will reduce the price of the drug, not saying by how much, to date he has not done so, yet has hired a PR firm and lobbyists to help him deal with the fall-out from the price increase.

-MKB (eile.ie 17 October 2015)

Democrat Bernie Sanders, who received $2,700 from Shkreli, the maximum allowed by a private donor to a campaign, proceeded to hand over the money to a health clinic which deals with HIV patients, Whitman-Walker Health, based in Washington DC,

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US: AIDS Drug Now Being Made Available By Shkreli Rival For $1 Imprimis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced yesterday (22nd) that it has made available a customisable compounded formulation of pyrimethamine and leucovorin for physicians as a low cost alternative to Daraprim.

Last month, Turing Pharmaceuticals LLC, the sole supplier of Daraprim, increased the price of this prescription drug from $13.50 per tablet to a reported $750.00 per tablet.

The FDA-approved label for Daraprim indicates that it is prescribed for toxoplasmosis and other types of infections.

Toxoplasmosis can be of major concern for patients with weakened immune systems such as patients 74 EILE Magazine

with HIV/AIDS, pregnant women and children.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pyrimethamine works to block folic acid synthesis in the parasite T. gondii, the cause of toxoplasmosis, and leucovorin helps to reverse the negative effects on bone marrow caused by this mechanism of action.

Imprimis is now offering customisable compounded formulations of pyrimethamine and leucovorin in oral capsules starting as low as $99.00 for a 100 count bottle, or at a cost of under a dollar per capsule.

Compounded medications may be appropriate for prescription when a commercially-available medicine does not meet the specific needs of a patient.

Mark L. Baum, CEO of Imprimis stated:

“It is indisputable that generic drug prices have soared recently. While we have seen an increase in costs associated with regulatory compliance, recent generic drug price increases have made us concerned and caused us to take positive action to address an opportunity to help a needy patient population. While we respect Turing’s right to charge patients and insurance companies whatever it believes is appropriate, there may be more cost-effective compounded options for medications, such as Daraprim, for patients, physicians, insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers to consider.

This is not the first time a sole supply generic drug – especially one that has been approved for use as long as Daraprim – has had its price increased suddenly and to a level that may make it

unaffordable. In response to this recent case and others that we will soon identify, Imprimis is forming a new program called Imprimis Cares which is aligned to our corporate mission of making novel and customizable medicines available to physicians and patients today at accessible prices.”

Imprimis compounded formulations are not FDA approved and may only be prescribed pursuant to a physician prescription for an individually identified patient consistent with federal and state laws governing compounded drug formulations. (eile.ie 23 October 2015)

“This is not the first time a sole supply generic drug – especially one that has been approved for use as long as Daraprim – has had its price increased suddenly and to a level that may make it unaffordable”

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US: NY Gov Cuomo Extends Protection To Transgender New Yorkers Last Thursday (22 Oct) the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, hailed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for taking a bold step to extend vitally important non-discrimination protections to transgender New Yorkers and visitors in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

In a historic move, Governor Cuomo’s administration will be issuing regulations clarifying that gender identity is included in the definitions of sex and disability, which are protected under current state non-discrimination law.

“This critically important step by 76 EILE Magazine

Governor Cuomo is not only consistent with case law, but is the moral choice to protect thousands of transgender New Yorkers and visitors,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “We congratulate the Governor on his leadership and vision on LGBT equality which has and will continue to inspire the nation.”

New York law authorizes state agencies to issue regulations regarding the state’s non-discrimination laws. The state’s new regulations build upon state and federal case law, including a 2012 decision in Macy v. Holder where the EEOC determined that discrimination based on an individual’s gender identity is sex discrimination and thus constitutes a violation of the Civil Rights Act. Transgender New Yorkers are frequently denied employment, evicted

from their homes, or harassed in public because of their gender identity.

According to the Empire State Pride Agenda, 74% of transgender New Yorkers have been harassed or mistreated on the job, 19% denied a home or apartment, and 53% harassed in public accommodations, such as a restaurant, library, store, or public transportation.

The Governor’s important administrative action follows a lack of leadership from the New York State Senate which failed to consider and pass the state’s Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) – a bill that would explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression in employment, housing, and public accommodations.

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. (eile.ie 25 October 2015)

NY Gov Andrew Cuomo – Photo: Pat Arnow

EILE Magazine 77

Irish Minister for Health Leo Varadkar

GLEN (the Gay & Lesbian Equality Network) has welcomed the launch of Ireland’s first national sexual health strategy.

The Strategy was launched yesterday morning (Thursday, Oct. 29) by the Minister for Health, Leo Varadkar in the Button Factory in Dublin.

Tiernan Brady Director 78 EILE Magazine

of the Gay HIV Strategies project at GLEN said the strategy represented a significant step forward in improving the sexual health and well being of all people in Ireland: “If we are to deliver the best possible sexual health outcomes for everyone then it requires that all relevant groups including community groups, NGOs, Government departments, especially Health and Education, and clinical experts work together. This strategy both calls on all these relevant groups to work together to prioritise sexual health and sets out for the first time, a clear

GLE Welco Ireland’s Natio Sexual H Strate plan of how that can happen. We especially welcome the strategy’s emphasis on the need to develop specific policies and actions which are targeted and tailored to population groups with specific needs such as gay and bisexual men.”

One of the centrepiece announcements at the strategy launch was for a new pilot programme

by GLEN to deliver free access to rapid HIV testing in community settings for gay and bisexual men.

Brady continued: “The free rapid HIV testing pilot aims to ensure getting tested for HIV is as simple, accessible

EN omes s First onal Health egy

Tiernan Brady of GLEN

and convenient as possible for gay and bisexual men.

The HIV free rapid testing pilot is based on the best international research which highlights the importance of community run HIV testing programmes and their effectiveness at increasing testing levels”.

“Knowing your HIV status is a critical part of ensuring the best possible health outcomes for gay and bisexual men. It is also important in reducing levels of onward transmission of HIV as people who are aware of their HIV status are much less likely to pass on the condition. It will also deliver vital Irish data on how best we can further increase testing levels and reduce new cases of HIV”.

EILE Magazine 79

Australia: Melbourne Council Joins Marriage Equality Campaign Tim Peppard, Victorian Director for Australian Marriage Equality, yesterday welcomed Melbourne Council’s support for marriage equality after it unanimously passed a motion that will see Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, write to his fellow Liberal, Malcolm Turnbull, urging action.

proud the city council is sending a unanimous message to Canberra that it’s time to act on this important and urgent reform”, Mr Peppard said.

“Melburnians should feel

The Melbourne City

80 EILE Magazine

“The City of Melbourne has joined a growing list of local governments, private companies and community organisations that have put their weight behind marriage equality.”

“Promoting social inclusion is a core role of local government and marriage equality is key to inclusion for same-sex couples.”

Council motion, initiated

by Cr Rohan Leppert and unanimously passed yesterday evening, commits the Liberal Party Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, to write to the Prime Minister requesting action on marriage equality as quickly as possible.

“Robert Doyle’s letter will remind Malcolm Turnbull that calls for urgent action on marriage equality are coming from across the political spectrum, including from within his own party”, Mr Peppard added.

The Melbourne City Council motion, and a list

Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle – photo: abc. net.au

of other local governments that have supported marriage equality, are below:

The Melbourne City Council Motion That Council: 1. Supports the legalisation of marriage between consenting adults regardless of sex, sexuality or gender identity; and 2. Calls on the Federal Government to legislate for marriage equality as soon as practicable, and

requests the Lord Mayor to write to the Prime Minister to that effect.

Other Australian councils that support marriage equality Moreland City Council, Vincent City Council, Camden City Council, Coonamble Shire Council, Randwick City Council, Tenterfield Shire Council, Marrickville Council, Lachlan Shire Council, Bega Valley Shire Council, Blue Mountains Council, Geelong City Council, Surf Coast Shire, Hepburn Shire, Albury Council, Moreland

Council, Ballarat Council, Wodonga Council, Hobart City Council, Glenorchy City Council, Byron Bay Council, Sydney City Council, Port Philip Council, Leichhardt Council, Glen Eira Council, Hobsons Bay Council, Hepburn Shire, Barebin Council, Buloke Shire, Shepparton Council, Maribyrnong Council, Ashfield Council, Gosford Council, Kingborough Council, Yarra City Council (eile.ie 28 October 2015)

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Northern Ireland First Vote In Favour (53 to 52) Of Marriage Equality Welcomed An iconic day for equal marriage advocates in Northern Ireland The Northern Ireland Assembly have voted in favour of civil marriage for same-sex couples, in a 53 to 52 majority vote (see voters below).

Out of 105 MLAs, 53 voted in favour of marriage equality with 52 against and 3 abstentions.

However, the Unionists have yet again vetoed the motion, by invoking a Petition of Concern, which calls for a clear majority from both the Nationalists and Unionists for the

motion to carry.

and religious marriage.

Dr Richard O’Leary of Faith in Marriage Equality (FiME) responded to the news:

Unfortunately, a fundamentalist Christian rump are still vetoing the democratic wish of the people for a more inclusive Northern Ireland”.

“As persons of Faith in Marriage Equality [we] share in the joy that the Northern Ireland Assembly has supported a motion to extend civil marriage to same sex couples”.

Dr O’Leary stated:

“We witnessed today -MKB many politicians with a (eile.ie 3 November 2015) religious faith who voted for civil marriage equality, and who are able to distinguish between civil

NI Marriage Equality Voting Results right and opposite page

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Although this is the fifth time a vote has been called on the motion to extend marriage to same-sex couples, this is the first time a majority voted in favour of the motion.

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Northern Ireland - Faith Group calls on N I Assembly to cease being dictated to by fundamentalist religious beliefs On this Monday, 2nd November 2015, the Northern Ireland Assembly will have an opportunity to vote on a motion in support of making civil marriage available to same sex couples.

We recognise that some members of the Northern Ireland Assembly are opposed to equal civil marriage on religious grounds. Therefore, Faith in Marriage Equality (FiME) has sent the MLAs a submission (copy attached).

It is titled “Faith in Marriage Equality for Same- Sex Couples in Northern Ireland” and it is co-authored by Dr Richard O’Leary, Canon Charles Kenny, and Mr Gerry Lynch. It presents faith based and other arguments in favour of extending civil marriage to same-sex couples.

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Dr Richard O’Leary, of Faith in Marriage Equality, said: “We take this opportunity to remind our politicians that they are being asked to legislate for civil, not religious marriage.

Furthermore, Northern Ireland’s politicians and faith leaders should learn from our history, when the state and the Anglican Church of Ireland establishment refused to recognise the legality of Presbyterian or Catholic marriages. Furthermore, Church leaderships, who now oppose marriages between same sex couples, have in the past opposed mixed Protestant-Catholic marriages.

Dr O’Leary added: “It is a worrying development in our democracy that the Democratic Unionist Party has said it will

use a petition of concern to block any majority in the Assembly on Monday for marriage equality. It is time that our political parties cease being dictated to by religious fundamentalist beliefs at the expense of providing equal rights and responsibilities for all under the civil law in Northern Ireland” Faith in Marriage Equality is supported by a range of faith organisations including the Catholic groups ‘We are Church Ireland’ (WACI) and ‘Gay Catholic Voice Ireland’ (GCVI) and the Church of Ireland group ‘Changing Attitude Ireland’ (CAI).

You can read the submission to the NI Assembly below: Faith in Marriage Equality for Same- Sex Couples in Northern Ireland A submission to Members of the Northern Ireland

Assembly 30th October 2015 Dr Richard O’Leary, Canon Charles Kenny, Mr Gerry Lynch EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Faith in Marriage Equality (FiME) strongly supports the extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples. As a faith body FiME supports marriage equality not despite its faith background, but because of it, believing marriage and stable relationships to be one of the bedrocks of society.

Allowing churches and other faith groups to ‘opt in’ to registering samesex marriages, while protecting them from any attempt at compulsion, is the best way to respect the religious freedoms of both those who support and those who oppose samesex marriage.

1. About Faith in Marriage Equality Faith in Marriage Equality is campaigning for the legislation of civil marriage for same sex couples in Northern Ireland. It previously worked for the introduction of equal

marriage in the Republic of Ireland. We believe: 1. We are all equal under God, whether we are heterosexual or gay. Faith leaders should not marginalise or exclude people who are gay rather they should promote equality and inclusion.

2. People of faith understand that marriage is based on the values of love and commitment. This is the case for heterosexual and same sex couples, whether the marriage involves children or not.

3. Faith institutions already distinguish between civil and religious marriage. While it is proper that faith leaders govern their members’ access to religious marriage, they should not seek to prevent access to civil marriage.

4. People of faith in Northern Ireland can exercise their

freedom of conscience to allow civil marriage for same sex couples as has been done to allow civil divorce for heterosexual couples.

2. The Importance of Marriage Marriage is one of the foundation stones of our society, encouraging selflessness, sacrifice, commitment, stability and community. Marriage is undergirded by the willingness of each spouse to sacrifice his or her own individual interests for the common good of the marriage, for any children being brought up in it, and for any other dependents reliant on it. Marriage is an essential part of the social glue which enables us to live together as one society, not just a random collection of individuals.>

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Those of us who are Christian see the values lived out by Jesus reflected in the values which couples aspire to live in marriage. As such, a good marriage, regardless of the faith or gender of the spouses, reflects key Christian values, not least a willingness to ‘love our neighbours as ourselves’.

We believe that civil marriage being available to couples who, irrespective of their gender, wish faithfully to commit themselves to each other for life would also support sexual desire to be rightly located in a loving, stable, relationship.

3. Why civil partnerships are not enough Most people can’t tell what the difference between being married and being in a civil partnership is – the love and commitment in each are the same.

Yet, contrary to popular conception, there are a range of legal differences between civil partnerships and civil marriages in Northern Ireland. Civil partners do not have the same pension rights as married couples, as the pension a surviving partner is entitled to is measured differently depending on whether they have 86 EILE Magazine

been civil partnered or married. Official forms often require a declaration of marital status. This often means that civilly partnered people are forced to state their sexuality, ticking a separate box that says ‘civil partnership’ rather than ‘marriage’. Civil partners who travel or emigrate are denied the rights enjoyed by samesex married couples in the growing number of countries and states where these are legal.

Furthermore, for Christians, as for most others, marriage is about more than a specific bundle of legal rights.

Marriage is one of the foundation stones of our society, encouraging commitment, stability and self-sacrifice, and need not be the preserve of heterosexuals.

Equality should be not be ambiguous. Rosa Parks, the Black civil rights heroine, wasn’t satisfied by being told that she must settle for simply being on the bus but could only sit at the back of the bus, not the front. Similarly, same sex couples should not have to settle for a cold and legally defined contract, civil partnership weaker than marriage, while the full equality of civil marriage, with its rights and responsibilities, is denied to them.

Same-sex relationships

are now a visible reality in our society. In contrast to the silence that surrounded the subject of homosexuality a generation ago, there are now few people in Northern Ireland who don’t know at least one LGB family member, workmate, fellow student, teammate or regular at the pub. As samesex relationships have become more visible, the majority of the population have come to value the contribution they make to the good of our society, encouraging those within them to faithfulness and mutual support, and helping create a more cohesive society.

A growing number of children are already being raised by same-sex couples. Regardless of whether one approves or disapproves of the nature of their parents’ relationships, surely all would agree that they do not deserve to be disadvantaged as a result.

By denying their parents the right to marry, we deny them all the benefits which marriage brings to the raising of children.

4. Northern Ireland is out of step with mainstream British and Irish society Marriage equality already exists in the rest of the United Kingdom, having been passed by

large majorities in the Westminster Parliament and in the Scottish Assembly. The Republic of Ireland has also extended civil marriage to same sex couples, the measure passed by a large majority in a referendum.

Northern Ireland is the only part of these islands where civil marriage for same-sex couples remains prohibited.

Court cases to challenge this discrimination in Northern Ireland are already under way.

As a vulnerable, peripheral, region fighting for its economic life in the teeth of a global depression, the message we risk sending out about Northern Ireland is that it is a region stuck in the past, out of touch with the cutting edge of global society. We should be honest – our history and the religious roots of our communal divisions mean we already suffer from a serious image problem. It is entirely possible that within a few years, Northern Ireland could find itself the last significant jurisdiction in Western Europe where same-sex marriage remains prohibited and on the “wrong side of history”.

5. Protecting minority faith groups Historically on this island, laws on marriage have often been a cause for

grave concern to religious minorities and more recently to those of no religious affiliation. We must not repeat these past injustices. The root of this problem is that in Ireland, politically or numerically dominant religious groups have tried to impose on everyone else, through the civil law, their particular understanding of marriage.

For example, up to the mid nineteenth century, when the Church of Ireland was politically dominant, it imposed its view of marriage on those of other denominations in an exclusivist way. Thus only marriages conducted by clergy of the Church of Ireland were legally valid, with those of both Roman Catholics and other Protestant denominations treated by the state as non-marriages. In the twentieth century when the Roman Catholic Church was politically and numerically dominant in the Republic of Ireland it used its canon law, especially the Ne Temere decree, and influence to discriminate against mixed Catholic-Protestant marriages and nonreligious marriages. Ne Temere was also used to put pressure on couples in mixed marriages in Northern Ireland in making decisions about the religious upbringing of their children, with Protestant Churches often responding in

kind. Far from being valued as the bedrock of society, marriages were often used as a religious battleground.

In the Northern Ireland of 2015, increasingly multifaith and increasingly comfortable with its own diversity, our laws around the family must be based on what is good for society as a whole, rather than the precepts of any one faith of group of faiths.

6. Religious Freedom means Faiths must be able to ‘opt in’ At the time of the introduction of civil partnerships, all religious bodies were prohibited from registering them, despite the desire of some Churches and other faith groups to celebrate their members’ love and commitment to one another by registering their civil partnership in the context of a religious service. In effect, the religious freedom of smaller religious bodies to determine their own views on the validity of blessing same-sex relationships was voided to appease the largest Christian churches. This should not be repeated in any introduction of marriage equality. Churches and other religious bodies who are permitted to register heterosexual civil marriages must be absolutely free to decide whether or not to extend EILE Magazine 87

that permission to samesex couples.

We recognise that many religious bodies will not wish to register same-sex marriage at this time, although we note that many of these may well change their approach in the near future. There is absolutely no suggestion in Northern Ireland, from any quarter, that they should be compelled to do so. The right of religious bodies to refuse to solemnise same-sex marriages is absolutely agreed upon by all. This is the obvious compromise to balance two competing sets of “rights”.

There has been no move to compel religious bodies to solemnise same sex marriages in any of the countries where there is already some provision for them in civil law. In the European Union member states where equal marriage has been introduced, it has not resulted in any attempts to force churches to solemnise same-sex marriage through the European Courts. Nor, for example, has any serious attempt been made anywhere in the world to compel the Roman Catholic Church to remarry divorcees.

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that teachers could not conscientiously bring themselves to impart are also exaggerated. The teaching profession has never had any problems teaching that marriages may not in practice be permanent but may end in divorce and remarriage.

7. The definition of marriage is constantly evolving Those opposed to civil marriage equality often express the view that marriage has been an eternally unchanging institution, and would be threatened by any developments. They speak as if there were a fixed form of this institution from the dawn of time that has been changeless until now.

Viewers of Downton Abbey will have noticed how much marriage has changed in the last century, and probably think it has changed largely for the better!

History records that some Christians argued that the basis of society and the wellbeing of children would be threatened if married women could own property, if they could have their own bank account, if they could divorce an abusive husband, or if wives were not contracted before God to obey their husbands.

Shockingly, only in 1991 did it become a crime in the UK for a man to force sexual intercourse on his wife.

The Christian Churches teach that marriage is in its purpose a union permanent and life-long, for better or worse, till death do them part.

While permanence is still the ideal, the Churches support the availability to heterosexuals of civil divorce.

The Church of Ireland’s marriage services hold that the foremost sacred ingredient of marriage is the “comfort and help” each spouse has for the other, “living faithfully together in plenty and in need”, whereas previous Church of Ireland liturgies had stated the main purpose of marriage to be procreation.

Similarly, until recent decades, a wife had to promise to ‘obey’ her husband in the Church of Ireland’s marriage service – few regret that this has been confined to history, although this was undoubtedly a radical change in the understanding of marriage.

We are particularly puzzled to hear many Christians argue that the definition of marriage has been a given since the days of Adam and Eve, and claim the

Bible provides grounds for doing so. The Old Testament’s great heroes from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to David and Solomon are all recorded as polygamists. Indeed Solomon is recorded has having 700 wives and 300 concubines!

8. Isn’t Christianity opposed to equal marriage?

While most of the larger Christian denominations in Ireland are formally opposed to civil marriage equality, many of their members are not. During the referendum in the Republic of Ireland two serving Church of Ireland bishops and two retired Archbishops of Dublin spoke in favour of extending civil marriage to same sex couples. Some of the strongest voices in Northern Ireland in favour of marriage equality come from practising Christians.

sex relationships. We are aware of representatives and/or members of these groups who are in favour of the extension of civil marriage to same sex couples. Internationally, a number of Christian denominations support equal marriage, notably the Episcopal Church in the USA, a sister Anglican denomination of the Church of Ireland.

The Lutheran Churches in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Iceland, all solemnise same-sex marriages. In Great Britain, the Unitarian Church, the Quakers and the liberal Jewish faith council have all strongly argued in favour of extending civil marriage to same sex couples.

The argument against homosexuality from Scripture depends on just half a dozen isolated verses out of over 30,000.

These exist in only two types of Biblical literature, the early Hebrew purity code, which also dismisses While the four main eating shellfish as an Churches tend to dominate abomination, and a the public policy debate few lines in St. Paul’s on marriage equality, letters where the subject the position of smaller of homosexuality is churches and minority addressed only in passing. faith groups have to be This tiny selection of taken into consideration. verses contains obscure Some smaller churches Greek and Hebrew terms (Non-Subscribing which are interpreted by Presbyterians) and other many scholars in a more faith groups liberal Jews humane way. and Buddhists) have taken a considerably In any case, the Christian more positive attitude to Churches have no celebrating faithful samemonopoly on the concept

of marriage. Marriage is common to all human cultures, and exists in the context not only of the Christian faith, but all major world religions as well the traditional religions of Africa, the Americas and the Pacific. Both within and between and within these traditions, there are considerable differences in how marriage is understood, and in who may contract a marriage.

This includes, in some traditional religious cultures of the Americas and the Pacific, a long tradition of marriage being permissible between people of the same gender.

Marriage also exists outside any religious context, and Northern Ireland has always made provision for those who wish to have a civil marriage in an entirely secular context. The number of purely civil marriages in Northern Ireland has grown strongly over recent decades.

9. Churches have always led the charge against the acceptance of lesbian and gay people on this island Christianity has long been marked by a particular hostility to lesbian and gay people and their relationships.

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own denominations, indeed often derided and dismissed by Church hierarchies, who have led the journey from hostility to respect for LGBT people.

As recently as the early 1980s at the time of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, a majority of Irish Churches supported continued criminalisation. An active political campaign> was launched to oppose decriminalisation, and 26 district councils supported a motion opposing the move.

show how other church congregations are embracing fully their same sex couple members (Share Your Story: Gay and Lesbian Experiences of Church, CAI ,2010).

Sadly, at a leadership level, there has been an unwillingness by Churches to challenge the worst practice of parish or congregational level, or to examine attitudes and doctrines that are profoundly damaging to the wellbeing of young LGBT people.

Former President McAleese, a supporter of equal marriage, highlighted the Religious attitudes psychological damage have been moving caused to young gay rapidly on the subject of men by official Roman homosexuality in recent Catholic teaching on decades, although they homosexuality, an issue have tended to be at all she explicitly linked to times somewhat more the high rate of suicide homophobic than those among gay teens and across society as a whole. young adults. Too many The opposition of the young gay people take largest Christian Churches their lives because to marriage equality must they have been taught be understood in that that their sexuality is context. disgusting and shameful.

Apart from removing the Evidence gathered by discrimination in law Changing Attitude Ireland faced by couples in civil (CAI)shows that churches partnerships, the key remain deeply complicit benefit of introducing in poor treatment of marriage equality is lesbian, gay, bisexual and the message it sends transgender people at to young people in this present. While accounts position – that there is like that of ‘Mary and Jane’ nothing wrong with being show the continuance attracted to people of the of homophobia among same gender, and that some congregations, Northern Ireland society other stories like that values and celebrates the of ‘Henry and Charles’ contribution that same90 EILE Magazine

sex relationships and the people in them make to making our society a better place for all.

Dr. Richard O’Leary is a social researcher and campaigner.

He was formerly a lecturer in sociology at Queen’s University of Belfast. He has published extensively on religion, minorities and equality. He is a co-founder of and spokesperson for Faith in Marriage Equality.

Canon Charles Kenny was head of Religious Education in Grosvenor High School in Belfast and Vicar Choral at St. Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast from 1995-2000. He is a former Secretary of Changing Attitude Ireland and is a spokesperson for Faith in Marriage Equality.

Gerry Lynch works as a Director of Communications.

He is a former Executive Director of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. He is an Anglican and is a former Vice Chair of Changing Attitude Ireland For more, visit: www.fime.ie (eile.ie 1 November 2015)

Dean Mac Cearáin (right) with Panti Bliss after the referendum result at Dublin Castle

A Monaghan man, who went to San Francisco for his brother’s wedding, has died there.

The 23-year-old, Dean Mac Cearáin, had campaigned for marriage equality, and was a former president of the Pride Society at NUI Maynooth, who “wanted to make the world a better place”.

A San Franscisco Chief Medical Examiner spokesperson only confirmed that an Irish National, named Dean Mac Cearáin, had died there.

According to the students’ union, Dean had been visiting America with his family when he passed away.

LGBT Activist Dean Mac Cearáin Dies Aged 23

MSU, the Maynooth Students Union, said:

“Dean was an individual of incredible talent, creativity, quick-wit and probably most of all….sass. He was a legend”.

A clip of Dean at the referendum results celebration was used in the film about Panti Bliss, the Queen of Ireland, and Panti paid tribute to Dean on Facebook, and extended condolences to his family and friends.

Many tributes were paid to Dean, including from the MSU, Panti Bliss, and Minister Aodhán Ó Riordáin.

Dean was very wellliked by everyone he had contact with, and had also been friendly with

Eoghan Culligan, one of the students killed last June in the US when the balcony collapsed in Berkeley. Dean had paid tribute to him on his facebook page at the time, saying he was one of the first students he had in his house when working for Coláiste Sheosaimh, as a cúinteoir.

We, at EILE, extend our sincere sympathy to Dean’s family, friends and fellow students, on the loss of such a vibrant member of the community.

Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.

-MKB

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US: SAMHSA Report “Conversion Therapy Not Appropriate For Minors” The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in America have released “Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth,” a comprehensive report that provides an in-depth review of research and clinical expertise related to conversion therapy.

This important new resource makes it clear that conversion therapy is not an appropriate therapeutic approach based on the evidence, and explores alternative ways to discuss sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression with young people.

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This report includes the first publication of consensus statements developed by an expert panel held by the American Psychological Association in July 2015. The expert panel included researchers and practitioners in child and adolescent mental health with a strong background in gender development, gender identity, and sexual orientation in children and adolescents. Experts with a background in family therapy, ethics, and the psychology of religion also participated.

Through a collaborative process, this panel found that variations in sexual orientation and gender identity are normal, and that conversion therapies or other efforts to change sexual orientation or gender identity are not effective, are harmful, and are not appropriate

therapeutic practices.

The report provides an overview of existing efforts to eliminate the practice of conversion therapy.

“When dealing with a sensitive topic such as gender identity or sexual orientation in young people, it is essential that families, educators, caregivers, and providers seek the best available information and advice,” said SAMHSA Acting Administrator Kana Enomoto. “SAMHSA’s report provides this information, as well as resources young people, families and others can use to promote healthy development for all youth.”

The information and resources contained within the report include a review of the research in this area, detailed information on supportive

therapeutic approaches, areas of opportunity for future research, existing strategies to end the practice of conversion therapy, and targeted guidance for various audiences.

These materials help providers, families, and care-givers support their LGBTQ and gender nonconforming children and adolescents.

They also illuminate practices that may contribute to the health disparities facing LGBTQ youth, which should be avoided.

Ending Conversion Therapy: Supporting and Affirming LGBTQ Youth is available for download at: http://store.samhsa.gov/product/SMA154928 The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. (eile.ie 20 October 2015)

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Information and support for women who need someone to talk to

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