Issue 7: December 2010
gay as Christmas issue
FREE OF CHARGE
EDITOR’S MESSAGE
CONTENTS
W
elcome to our Gay as Christmas issue, which also marks our first birthday. We are delighted here a GHQ (Gay Head Quarters) to have reached our first milestone. Now available all over the country with a growing internet following and a readership which spans over 30 countries world wide. But we wouldn’t be where we are without the fantastic support of our talented team of contributors, joined this month by Riyadh Khalaf from “Young Dumb and Living off Mum” fame. We have been delighted to bring to the gay community a new breed of journalists and commentators on all things gay in modern Ireland. We are also very much indebted to our advertisers who had the courage to invest in our project and see the potential in what we are trying to achieve throughout the gay community. Because of their belief in us and our product we can proudly announce that THE magazine has advertising revenue to secure our publication for another year to come. And so in this issue we celebrate. In a time of doom and gloom it is the gay population who continue to bring colour and optimism to an Ireland which is feeling battered and torn by recent events. Long live the Queens, and a very merry Christmas to you all. Derek Byrne THE magazine was proud to be a part of an event to mark World AIDS Day on December 1st at the Convention Centre, Docklands, Dublin 1. Let us not forget our friends who have died and those who live with HIV and AIDS.
REGULARS 4 THE RADICAL EYE Two wrongs do make a right 6 FINGER ON THE PULSE 6 THE PULSE
7 The Pink alien ’Tis the season to be jolly 8 OUTHOUSE 9 CONFESSIONS OF A LESBIAN 10 FINANCE Deal or no deal 11 A DAY IN THE LIFE 14 OPINION Riaydh Khalaf
10 FINANCE
16 DUBLIN LISTINGS 18 REGIONAL LISTINGS 20 2ND OPINION Tom Prenderville 22 STRAIGHT UP John O’Donovan 26 GAY NATION Joe Kearney 29 NANCY FERMANAGH GOES GREEN
12 FEATURE
FEATURES 12 FRAGRANCE NOTES Gender benders 21 GAYDAR WHITE PARTY
LIFESTYLE 23 MUSIC
18 HEALTH HIV message 28 HEALTH Cancer 23 MUSIC with Mark Power 24 FOOD with John Poole 30 FASHION Marcio Norberto THE magazine 3
24 FOOD
OPINION
THE
RADICAL EYE Barry Cannon
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he anti-gay riots in Belgrade, Serbia on October 10th were the latest in a string of such incidents throughout Eastern Europe over the last decade or so. Yet these attacks need to be seen in a wider context whereby most countries in Europe are seeing increasing support for radical right parties, some of them even becoming members of government coalitions.
It’s our 1st birthday!
classes as they chase the economically and socially liberal centre, middle class vote. A political – and moral - vacuum is therefore created in which the far right thrives. It is interesting to note an ambivalent attitude to homosexuality amongst radical right parties. The PVV in Holland led by Geert Wilders, for example, is pro-gay rights. Two of the best known European far right leaders were gay; the out Pym Fortuyn in Holland and the closeted Jőrg Haider of Austria’ Freedom Party (FPȌ), both now deceased. Most far right parties and groups however are homophobic – some violently so, such as those in Serbia. What links them all, however, is their xenophobia, most notably, although not exclusively expressed as Islamophobia. How should LGBT communities deal with this increasingly dangerous situation? We need to follow a double strategy whereby on the one hand we demand protection from state institutions as is our right as citizens, while on the other we participate in wider struggles to protect fair living standards and services for all and protest any and
Celebrating 7,500 copies delivered to over 100 locations in five cities around the country PLUS 10,000 online readers and growing We’re also celebrating our Editor Derek Byrne being awarded the Community Merit Award from the South West Inner City Network for Voluntary Work in the Community for his work on THE magazine and EQ magazine
TWO RIGHTS DO MAKE A WRONG Who are supporting these parties and why? Main support seems to be coming from lower-middle class groups, but far right parties are particularly targeting working class areas and so gaining important footholds in these communities too. These groups are supporting the radical right, as they feel threatened by the economic globalisation which all mainstream parties are supporting, which have led to increases in socio-economic inequality, hitting these groups the hardest. In the current recession all parties throughout Europe are cutting back on welfare and social and health services as they increase indirect taxes, such as VAT, and favour the rich with fiscal policy. At the same time the political consensus supports socially liberal policies such as, for example, civil partnerships for samesex couples. LGBT along with immigrant and other groups are thus thought to be getting favourable treatment. Social Democratic and Socialist parties meanwhile have abandoned their traditional constituencies in the working and lower middle
all forms of discrimination. In this way, not only do we demand our own protection from the state; we also secure support – and respect – from the wider community. By following such a strategy, lesbian and gay communities are showing that we are not just interested in our own welfare but earning – and not just demanding - our position as equal citizens in a fairer, more just society for all. Seasons greetings to all readers of ‘Radical Eye’. If you would like to comment on the issues raised in this column please email: finbaz@hotmail.com. It would be good to hear your opinion.
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Additional contributors Craig McCormack Eddie McGuinness Published by THE D&P Media Company Limited. Print by IPJ Print Services. We encourage you to send us
4 THE magazine
First SatURday of every month on Newstalk 106-108 FM, 7-9pm, with Dil and Derek
Web: www.themagazine.ie Email: thenewgaymagazine@gmail.com Phone: 087-621 2491 Editor Derek Byrne Creative Paul O’Connor
Barry Cannon’s Radical Eye column can now also be found on our sister web publication for Irish ex-pats in France @ www.fr2day.com
available on line at www. themagazine.ie
submissions. Submissions cannot be returned, so please don’t send any originals or valuables. Publication of any material is at the discretion of the publishers, who reserve the right to withold, edit or comment on any such matter. Contributions are welcome on the understanding that any unsolicited manuscripts may be published without further correspondence. Work cannot be returned to the author
unless previously agreed by THE magazine. Submissions made in expectation of a fee must clearly state that fact. Policy The appearance, mention or likeness of any person(s) or organisation(s) in this publication is not to be taken as any indication of their sexual, social or political orientation. All opinions expressed are those of the contributors and not of THE
magazine. THE magazine does not necessarily endorse the quality of services or products of it’s advertisers and we reserve the right to edit or refuse adverts if they do not comply with the code of practice of the Advertising Standards Society of Ireland. THE magazine does not accept liability for any loss or damage incurred due to error or innaccuracy in the printing of any advertisement.
© THE magazine 2009. All rights reserved. THE magazine is protected by copyright, no part of this publication either in whole or in part, may be reproduced, stored in a data retrieval system, or transmitted in any form whatsoever, or by any means, electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express, written permission of THE magazine.
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THE PINK ALIEN
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Scott De Buitléir
FINGER ON THE PULSE
orgive me for sounding like something from a Marks & Spencer advertisement, but it does have to be said that Christmas is a time of giving and spending time with those whom we love and appreciate. Christmas time, generally speaking, reminds us to be thankful for what and who we have in our lives. One of the things I look forward to giving is time. All too often, we run around with our apparently-hectic schedules and forget about spending quality time with our family or friends. Whatever about parents and siblings, your extended family can be a different matter altogether. Some have to go through the ritual of seeing all the aunts, uncles and fourth cousins twicer e moved on or around the special day, and for those people, I’m rooting for you. Yes, you’ll probably have to hear Uncle Joe’s story for the seventh time. Y’know, the one about meeting Dana that’s about as funny as chewing your left foot. There’s a reason why mulled wine is served over the Christmas period. Give generously… to yourself. As an only child, my Christmas Day has always in6 THE magazine
volved a few valued family members and friends. I’d be out with my parents, playing with my various toys (be it the play kitchen I got when I was five, or my first mobile phone), watching films on TV or enjoying Mamaí de Buitléir’s best vegan Christmas dinner as the Crann Nollag sparkled in the corner of the sitting room. In the evening, I’d head up to my best friend’s house or relax with a DVD or something. This year won’t be much different, maybe with a glass of bubbly, some soft music and a few friends over to relax on Christmas Night. Having grown up in a household without religion, Christmas never had a religious connotation to me. There was never an obligation to be dragged to Christmas Mass, nor was there ever a tacky crib in the house. I learned about Jesus’ birth in school, but it wasn’t important to me. It still isn’t, but the holiday is much more than a historical event of a woman giving birth to what would become one of the world’s most influential philosophers. At the same time, however, it’s still all about family – no matter who they are. Ón chéad eagrán eile ar aghaidh, beidh alt á scríobh agam i nGaeilge toisc go bhfuil an iris á leathnú amach go náisiúnta. Beidh mo cholún Béarla fós agam, ach beidh mé in ann cuma Carrie Bradshaw ar theanga Pheig Sayers ó mhí Feabhra ar aghaidh freisin! Feicfidh muid conas a éireoidh mé...! Scott De Buitléir presents The Cosmo Wednesday evenings from 8-10pm on RTÉ Pulse. Available on digital radio, UPC Ch. 943 or online at www. rte.ie/pulse
Dil Wickremasinghe Global Village Saturdays 7-9pm
C
hristmas can be a wonderful and not so wonderful time of the year for many of us. It brings out the child in us as we shop for presents and wonder what awaits us under the tree... It may well be a lump of coal for me as some would say I have been a bold girl this year but I don’t mind as coal has become such a precious commodity these days! The annual Christmas party has many divided as it can be brilliant or spell out utter disaster as someone always gets too drunk and its usually you! This is only because the mere thought of making idle and brain numbing chit-chat with people you don’t really know over a mass produced plate of dry turkey and ham would drive anyone to drink! Now, tradition dictates that Christmas is meant to be spent with family. This causes acute anxiety for many gays. Depending on where you are in relation to your family’s acceptance of your sexuality, Christmas can be a joyous occasion especially if you find yourself sitting at the Christmas dinner table with your family and your partner full of Christmas cheer! On the other hand it could be hell on earth where you are forced to pretend you are straight or even dating someone of the opposite sex just to spare yourself the Spanish Inquisition!
Thankfully I am spared this tradition as my folks live halfway across the world... lucky me! However, I know so many who dread having to enter their family home. Entering those doors is akin to passing through the ring-shaped alien device “Stargate” which transports you to a place where you are no longer an adult; your opinion doesn’t count and you revert to being the little awkward kid desperately trying to fit in despite your obsession for dinky toys, transformers, remote control cars and action figures! Perhaps that’s just me! Irrespective of what the season has in store for you bear in mind the dark cloud hanging over us due to the economic climate. Perhaps this year we could re-evaluate what Christmas really means... is it meant to be a commercially orientated festiv-
’Tis the season ity or a time to enjoy the company of loved ones? Do you need to spend hundreds of Euros on gifts or could you factor in making a donation to a charity? Volunteering could also be an option as there are many charities across Ireland that would welcome the extra help. Whatever you decide, be sure to mind yourself, think of others who might be less fortunate and above all stay away from eggnog and mulled wine as it will give you a fierce hangover! Happy Christmas and hope you have a fabulous 2011!
www.dwickremasinghe.ie
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55+, Transgender PSG, Women’s night etc), while other groups were assisted in their early formation and growth (TENI, BelongTo, amongst others). Outhouse is home to Gay Switchboard Dublin, Greenbow, Marriage Equality, Gay Men’s Health Project and LGBT Diversity who have offices here. Outhouse is a ‘first point of call’ to many LGBT persons who are coming out, and acts as a central information point to many within and without of the community. Recently, we opened a fully kittedout (stage, seating, light and sound systems) intimate venue in Outhouse. This will provide a high quality space for LGBT creative expression across
activity and activism. Outhouse belongs to the LGBT community and not to individuals who can privately profit from its sale or ongoing operation. Over the years more and more people have become involved in Outhouse and currently over 40 groups use the space, along with numerous individuals. As a result a number of peer support groups have started here (GOLD
the arts, offer a new social space as well as bring in some income (which is badly needed). Get involved in Outhouse at some level – use the resource, create a group or join one, become a volunteer or offer your skills, or just drop in for a coffee and support the centre. We need you. For further information please contact us at info@outhouse.ie Telephone: (01) 873 4999
TIME TO
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Confessions
Caroline Barry
O
OPINION
uthouse is a LGBT community resource centre in Capel St, Dubin 2. It was founded in 1996 by volunteers as there had been no community centre in the city for a decade, and therefore no base from which a wide variety of LGBT-related activities could happen. Currently it has a core staff of four and an active volunteer base which keeps it running. Outhouse is an independent, slick, professional operation not in the pocket of any agency or body – it is a facilty that supports grassroots
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here are a few things that cause me to break out in a fearful sweat. 1: Juicy couture tracksuits. 2: Thesis deadlines 3: Buying Christmas presents for loved ones. I normally approach buying presents with a rat like cunning. Stalking the aisles of HMV or Topshop with determination and skill. While I usually know what to buy my friends and family. The thing that really makes me panic, is buying gifts for girlfriends. I go into the store with great ideas of lingere, perfumes and fluffy toys. But the terror of Christmas shopping takes hold and I often leave with the highly recommened (normally by a hyper perky sales girl) pen or book of useless poems about cats. I watch as whatever poor unsuspecting girl I date opens the gift with anticipation, tearing layers of glittery snowmen wrapping paper apart to reveal, a scarf. There is nothing like watching the death of your romance while you try to explain just why you thought she’d love a book about penguins or a cheese grater. You see for a while now, I’ve been on the other side of the fence. I’ve been the super perky hyper sales assistant.
I’ve been the one advising panicked girlfriends about pens and glittery snowdomes. I have been the terrified girlfriends worst retail nightmare. Which is why I feel the need to apologise for all my retail crimes. Remember that year your girlfriend bought you THAT thing? Chances are I sold it to her and lied like a politician to make her buy it. You see as Christmas sales assistants we are trained like vultures. We spot the weakest member of the herd (Yes that’s you trailing behind the other more frantic shoppers) we approach with caution before devouring you whole. In short, we are trained to sell you stuff you don’t need. So this year I am quietly confident. Confident as I face into the Christmas period single and don’t need to subject myself to a fate worse than death. Otherwise known as Grafton street in Dublin at half five on Christmas eve. Mind you, there is a lot to be said for getting yourself something for Christmas. Treating yourself to the one item you’ve always wanted. After all, you know just how well behaved you’ve been and how much you deserve it. For me, it’s the Mulberry Alexa handbag. After all, I’ve spent all year with my nose pressed against the display case and occasionally daring to fondle the leather. Why not? After all, don’t single people deserve a gift too? Why should I have to wait for someone else to realise my love for the bag? But at about €950 a bag, I have a feeling my bank manager may not agree with my logic. So perhaps I might stick to buying myself a massive box of Roses and eating them in front of the fire with my family. After all, is that not what Christmas is all about?
THE magazine 9
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6 DVDs of Grease a playin’ (his words not mine). When 8 young ones from Avonmore showed up at me door it was time to get rid of him but still they kept on comin’. 9 strippers showed up the next day! Thats when I called the guards and got the barrin’ order, the freak. The 12th day comes and he shows up at me door with a gold ring, an actual one, not a napkin one and I’m in no mood. I slammed it in his face and next minute he’s outside me window singin’ Mariah Carey. I wouldn’t even mind if it was All I Want For Christmas but it was some other shite. Fuck that! I grabbed the Christmas wreath off me door and lets just say by the time I was finished with him, he was full of Christmas cheer. Clearly I robbed the ring.
ADULT NEEDS
10 THE magazine
The middle class have become the Lidl-class and the Glitterati have been replaced by the Aldi-rati
T
is the season to be jolly and gay or somethin’ along them lines. Yes the Chrimbus is here and its time to get the last of the shopliftin’ and crates of cheap beer from Sainsburys in Newry, not to mention the boxes of USA biscuits! The Cadbury’s Heroes have Creme Egg ones this year!!! I don’t even know if I’m all that bothered really after all the drama last year. I have an emotional scar. At least I would if I was talkin’ to Dr Phil about it. Although it could be worse, he needed stitches. Your man from last year this is, not Dr Phil. It all started just after I moved to Waterford. I left my Phoenix at home with me ma coz clearly I can’t cope with the pressure of show business and raring a child. Angelina Jolie I amn’t. So the week I moved here I’m at the bar in Escape and this ride of a youngfella comes up and starts throwin’ the lines at me. Clearly I’m playin’ hard to get. Thats a lie but pretend for traumatic emphasis. Turns out this chap is Canadian and has a few quid. Fast forward later that night and me on me back, say nothin’, and we end up “datin’” as he puts it. He can put it where he likes as far as I’m concerned coz its huge. He wanted to do the 12 days of Christmas which I thought was nice until I came home to find a partridge in a pear tree in me sittin’ room! I told him not to take the song literal like so the next day I get 2 terapins instead of turtle doves and it just kept getting worse. There was 5 imitation gold napkin rings,
25/11/2010
Shane Quilty
I’ve become a bit fanatical about it. Flyers (or junk mail) that used to go directly into the green bin are being looked at for deals and discounts. A ‘Pizza night’ treat can be great value if you pick the right day and deal. All the supermarkets are putting together amazing deals, for example: last weekend I got a Tesco Breakfast deal: rashers, sausages, black & white pudding and 4 eggs, enough for 4 people… cost? €5.00! M&S has got me through some great dinner parties with their meal deals and the food and value are amazing. The middle class have become the Lidl-class and the Glitterati have been replaced by the Aldi-rati. Being the optimist I’m going to leave you on a high note. This year saw the passing of the Civil Partnership Bill. From a financial standpoint this will have very favourable implications for gay couples which I will be outlining in a later issue when they have been clarified in the finance act early next year. Until then, may I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.
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welve months ago I started my first article for ‘THE’ magazine with the words ‘Christmas is coming! And so is what is expected to be the toughest budget in years…’ Little did I think that 12 months later I would be using the same opening words. In fact, at the time of writing the IMF have arrived and the bailout is underway. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do to influence the IMF, Bond dealers, Banks or political decisions, all of which are going to affect our Country, our lifestyles and our pockets. So, what can we do to help ourselves as the powers-that-be put their hands in our pockets? Simple, we watch every cent we spend and make sure we get the best value we can. A good starting point is to look at where your money went this year and ask yourself have you done everything you can to get the best value?...This year, to save money, I changed my private health insurance provider (for the 3rd year running), my car insurer, my house insurer and most recently switched both my gas and electricity suppliers (getting 20% off my gas bill and 6% off my electricity), and all by just taking a little time and effort. In fact, each year it gets easier and believe it or not, it’s fun looking for, and landing good deals!
M P OW O D N ER O C FOR ALL YOUR
A DAY IN THE LIFE
Est. 1992
FINANCE
FEATURE
Fragrance Notes Y
Charlie Voss
From our man in London
ou know it’s time to get serious about the festive season when Chanel wheels out Baz Luhrmann’s cinematic micro-romance with Nicole Kidman demurely lowering doe-eyes as she parts ‘forever’ from Rodrigo Santoro on a Manhattan rooftop (erm, who are you kidding, Ms. Kidman?).
Because she’s a girl, the reptilian Nicole’s cold-blooded pulse points are radiating No.5’s exquisitely complex floral notes while Rodrigo, because he is a boy, just can’t get
enough of her. But the presumption still made in the advertising agencies of Soho and Madison Avenue is that boys shouldn’t smell of flowers in the same way that girls shouldn’t smell like their fathers. True, the first conventional sub-classifications of fragrance are ‘masculines’ and ‘feminines’, but isn’t this a gratuitous marketing stereotype these days - like saying that men don’t drink white wine or clean kitchen surfaces and women don’t like cars and football? Calvin Klein’s attempts to market androgynous fragrances
have given us some of the sexiest cues in recent years about crossing the great smell divide (monochromatic, Brazilian über-flesh writhing on beaches attainable only by private
yacht) and yet even this gender-bending house seems unable to com-
mit to one fragrance that crosses the great masculine-feminine divide. CK In2U Him bears little resemblance to CK In2U Her and these ultimately phoney ‘partner perfumes’ seem to widen the gulf rather than narrow it. Perhaps we’re more complicit in this than we realise. I recently encountered a fragrance called Delicious Closet Queen by the quirky and ohso-clever Pop-Art perfume house Etat Libre d’Orange. I imagined the clogging stench
GENDER 12 THE magazine
of industrial strength, unbranded hairspray on a supersize nylon wig mingling with the whiff of a weary, Max Factorcaked feather boa.
FEATURE My ridiculous prejudice (for a moment I had confused closet queen with drag queen for the first, and I dearly hope the last, time in my life) was instantly kicked into touch by the refreshing and slightly astringent burst of violet leaves mingled with subtle notes of berries drying down to a rich, complex and deeply sexy concoction of leather, cedar and sandalwood. Dispense with your preconceptions and imagine inhaling the aroma of
a fragrant, antique wardrobe in some faded royal palace and you have an entirely different take on Delicious Closet Queen. Natural cosmetics house Lush has just relaunched its old B Never Too Busy To Be Beautiful fragrance line as B-Sides and it marks a welcome return for Ladyboy (2004) which has top notes of bright, fizzy banana drying down to delicious tones of oakmoss, biscuit dough and ginger cake. Ladyboy sounds frivolous and NSFW, but this is actually a remarkably serious, totally unisex fragrance and very good indeed. Guerlain’s Jicky is reputed to be the world’s first unisex fragrance. This wonderful vanillalavender-civet concoction dates from the heady days of the 80’s – but not the era of Duran Duran and Spandau
Ballet. It was launched in 1889, the year the Eiffel Tower opened, and has been in continuous production ever since. Why? Because like the Eiffel, it is a towering landmark and it remains defiant of simplistic classification. Staying in Paris, we fast-forward 30 years to meet Caron’s Tabac Blond (1919) which was the first fragrance to recognise the emancipation of women – women as equals, women wearing trousers, women as smokers, and perhaps most importantly, women who don’t want to smell like
be the most feminine men’s fragrance of all time but the paradox is that women find this complex and outstanding floral-fougère deeply fascinating on a man. Gay men who hit the bars wearing this heart-breakingly beautiful fragrance may find themselves going home alone but carrying fistfuls of phone numbers of new and interesting girlfriends. Is it possible we are finally moving forward? Chanel’s blockbuster campaign this year sees Keira Knightley’s seductively mischievous embodiment of Coco Mademoiselle crossing
flowers. Now sadly bastardized, Tabac Blond may be one to avoid, but the dark top notes of bitter ashtray, redolent of a sexy morningafter-a-decadent-nightbefore, still remind us of the idea behind this once-great fragrance. The great Parisian house of Caron can bend both ways, though. Le Troisième Homme (1985) has to
the ultimate line and anointing her hot model boyfriend’s neck with a feminine perfume. Are the ad men finally getting the message that ‘boys are the new girls’ and vice-versa? The perfume molecules inside the bottle don’t know or care the gender of the skin they will cling to or the noses that will detect them – so why should we?
BENDERS THE magazine 13
OPINION
A NOT-SO-PERFECT CHRISTMAS Riyadh Khalaf
I
t’s that time of year again. So cold outside I feel my man-hood could drop off at any moment. I have to secretly start wearing my old mans thermal leggings under my skinny jeans in the hope that nobody notices. Yep Crimbo is here! Already bombarded with blinding fairy lights, intoxicating cinnamon scented candles and painfully cheerful music that forces us to grin and get over the shitty weather and darker nights. Putting all that aside, for me there is no better holiday than Christmas. Year upon year without fail it gets shamelessly more commercial and tacky but I love it.. There’s nothing like the Christmas festivities to drag you kicking and screaming back to you’re childhood… It uproots vivid memories of being awoken on Christmas eve by a load crashing noise down stairs as Mom and Dad tipsily try to play Santa, then shove presents left right and centre under the Christmas tree until eventually knocking it over. Or how at age nine I dramatically fell to my knees and broke down in tears discovering I had been given Furby. Or the utter disgust that my uncle had gotten me an action man instead of the Ken doll that I asked for… I know
what you’re thinking, how did they not guess that I was a fairy? We’ll leave that one for another day! I feel like I should hate this time of year through and through, but as much as I try I can’t bring myself to be a scrooge. Everything’s so damn colourful and camp that it really is a winter wonderland for us gays, no? The following is stereotyping at its best. So if you’re one of those self hating gays maybe turn the page, otherwise enjoy! We’re all in our element when given an excuse to shop till we drop. Frolicking around town blaring “All I want for Christmas” on repeat through our earphones overly content that summer is over and that we can finally get down to some serious layering, starting with ten cardigans in various tones of the same grey topped with twenty eight scarf’s and those gorgeous gloves you’re Ma got you last winter. I ask you to really embrace this truly gay season and all the pros and cons that come with it. Treat it like you would you’re partner. Sure they have a nice face but there’s nothing you can do about that annoying mole, just accept it’s not perfect and that it is what it is. I hope you all have a fabulous notso-perfect Christmas and get everything you asked for! Riyadh.
I ask you to really embrace this truly gay season and all the pros and cons that come with it
14 THE magazine
THE EQUALITY MAGAZINE
Our New Sister Publication covering the 9 grounds of Equality IN PRINT...
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available on line at www.theequalitymagazine.ie
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LAST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH ON NEWSTALK 106-108 FM, 7-9pm WITH DIL WICKREMASINGHE
PULL OUT LISTINGS
PULL OUT LISTINGS SPACE ‘N’ VEDA @ The George: Wednesday night gay club featuring alternative drag, cabaret and music show with Veda Beaux Reves & guests from 10pm followed by DJ til 2.30am
THURSDAY
HOUSE PARTY @ The George: Club night hosted by Davina Devine from 10pm with fun tunes til 2.30am
Bar & Club 65 South Great George’s St. Ph: 01- 478 1590 www.thedragon.eu Open: 8pm daily til 2.30am (Mon), 11.30pm (Tue/Wed), 2.30am (Thur/Fri/Sat), 11pm (Sun)
THE PANTI SHOW @ Panti Bar: Cabaret & comedy with Panti & guests from 10pm til late.
FRONT LOUNGE
BAR 33 Parliament St. Ph: 01-670 4112. Open: 2pm daily til 11.30pm (Mon/Tues/Weds/Thurs), 2.30am (Fri/Sat), 11pm (Sun)
MONDAY
A Bear, A Bull and A Chicken walk into a Bar Stand-up & improv night @ Panti Bar from 9pm Bar & Club 89 South Great George’s St. Ph: 01-478 2983 www.thegeorge.eu Open: 12.30 (Old Bar)/5pm (New Bar & Club) daily til 11.30pm (Mon/Tues), 2.30am (Weds/Thurs/Fri/ Sat), 1.30am (Sun) OUTHOUSE Community Centre 105 Capel St. Ph: 01-873 4932 www.outhouse.ie PANTI BAR Bar 7 Capel St. Ph: 01-874 0710 www.pantibar.com Open: 5pm daily til 11.30pm (Mon/Tues/Weds), 2.30am (Thurs/Fri/Sat), 1.30am (Sun)
DOLLY DOES DRAGON @ The Dragon: Monday night gay club hosted by Dolly Grip from 8pm, with DJ Lee from 10pm til 3.00am
TUESDAY
CASTING COUCH @ Front Lounge: Karaoke show hosted by April Showers from 10pm til 11.30pm GLITZ @ Dandelion, St. Stephen’s Green Centre: Tuesday night gay club hosted by April & Victoria with DJ Fluffy and regular guest music acts and special events from 11pm til 2.30am www.queerid.com/glitz THE HUTCH @ Pantibar, downstairs, with Bunny and Guests from 10pm
WEDNESDAY
BANG BANG @ The Mezz, Eustace St., Temple Bar, Dublin 2 www.stereovibe.net
16 THE magazine
MOTHER @ Copper Alley: Retro, Modern and Synth club, hosted by Will St. Leger. From 10.30 till late. Strictly over 21’s.
Bukkake @ Purty Kitchen (East Essex St.): Bank holiday Sunday gay club over several floors with several DJs from 10pm til 2.30am
SATURDAY DANCE @ The George: Beauty Spot karaoke from 9pm followed by house music with DJ Miguel and camp tunes out back with guest DJs from til 2.30am
THE FURRY GLEN @ Panti Bar: 3rd Saturday of each month for BEARS, admirers and guests
SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER @ The Dragon: House Music Club night with DJ Paddy Scahill on the main floor from 10pm and Regina George in the mezzanine from 11pm, til 3.00am
WOW RETRO NIGHT @ The Dragon: Monday night gay club hosted by April Showers from 10pm til 3.00am
Victorias DEAL OR NO DEAL @ The Dragon from 9.30pm
PRHOMO @ Base Bar (Wicklow St.): Gay club with drinks promos and DJ Ruth from 10.30pm til 2.30am
BINGO @ The George: Long-running bingo game, cabaret and comedy drag show hosted by Shirley Temple Bar and guests from 9pm followed by DJ til 1.30am
FRIDAY
CAKE @ The Academy (Middle Abbey St.): Every 2nd Friday of each month for gay girls and guests with boutique clubbing and DJ from 10.30pm til 2.30am DURTY POP @ The George: Regular entertainment from 10pm followed by DJ Karen til 2.30am PANTICLUB @ Panti Bar: With DJ from 10pm til 2.30am
SUNDAY
THE NEXT BEST THING @ Dragon, Shazwanda’s Burlesquaret Show, from 8pm HALF PRICE DRINKS @ Panti Bar: Drinks special from 5pm with admission charge THE SYCAMORE CLUB (Sycamore St.): Gay night members club from 11pm til late
SPICE @ The Dragon: Weekly residency club night with DJ Ruth on the main floor from 10pm & Davina in the mezzanine from 11pm, plus the Spice Boys & Girls dancers, til 3am STICKY DISCO @ Purty Kitchen (East Essex St.): DJs Paddy Scahill and Des O‘Leary and guests from 10pm til 2.30am.
SATURDAY
ELECTRIK DISCO @ Panti Bar: Classic House/Pop Remixes/ Disco/Synth with DJ Gerry Moore from 10pm til 2.30am (except 3rd Sat)
KISS @ The Tivoli (Francis St.): Monthly on Friday for gay girls and friends with DJ Sarah and guests from 10.30pm til 2.30am - check www.queerid.com for dates PUSSY WAGON 1st Friday of every month @ The George: Dublin’s newest and hottest lesbian night With guest DJs, hosted by DJ Karen from 7pm til 2.30am Q&A @ Andrew’s Lane Theatre: Alternative music gay club running every couple of months or so www.queerid.com/q+a Queer Notions: The Women 7th-11th December @ Project Arts Centre www.projectartscentre. ie/queernotions R.I.P. (Rock, Indie, Pop) @ The Button Factory, hosted by Eddie McGuinness, with DJ Regina George and dancers from 11pm till late. SHAZWANDA Bulresque club @ The Dragon till Oct. 24th from 8pm WERK @ The Abbey Theatre, Saturday October 9th and 16th presents FAT OF THE LAND: Performance. Art. Club.
HONEYPOT @ Copper Alley, 2nd Friday of every month for Bears and Cubs. From 11pm til late BEARS UPSTAIRS @ Nealons (Capel St.): Last Saturday of every month for bears and cubs. Music by El Styra. From 9pm til late
INN ON THE LIFFEY 21 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7. Ph: 01-677 0828 innontheliffey.com PANTI’S PADS 7-8 Capel St., Dublin 1.. Ph: 087-929 8885
THE MERCHANT HOUSE (Luxury 5 star Guest Suites) 8 Eustace St., Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Ph: 6334447 www.themerchanthouse.eu NUA HAVEN B&B Harold’s Cross, Dublin 6W Single €60, Double €80 Ph: 087-686 7062 www.nuahaven.com We also run Meditation Retreats
THE BOILERHOUSE 12 Crane Lane. Ph: 01-6773130 www.theboilerhouse.com Open: 1pm til 5am (Mon-Thur) and all weekend 1pm Fri til 5am Mon THE DOCK 21 Upper Ormond Quay, Dublin 7. Ph: 6770828 www.innontheliffey.com Open: Mon-Thurs 10am-4am, FriSun 24 hrs
BASIC INSTINCTS (Adult / Fetish Store / Cruise Zone) 8 Eustace St., Temple Bar, Dublin 2. Ph: 6334400 www.basic-instincts.com CONDOMPOWER 57 Dame Street, Dublin 2. Ireland’s oldest adult store. Ph: 01-677 8963 www.condompower.ie WWW.UBODE.IE Online urban home store, bringing a collection of leading interior brands from all over the world, directly to your home.
‘Enhanced’ listings €50 please call
087-621 2491
THE magazine 17
HEALTH
PULL OUT REGIONAL LISTINGS
DIGNITY SHOP STREET Monday: Student Night with Drinks Promos Tuesday: Student Night with Drinks Promos Wednesday: Half price sale. €5 in. Thursday: X-Factor with Sara O’Kane Friday: DJ Shaz Saturday: Camp Attak Sunday: Open Dusty’s Box with Dusty and Jane
CHAMBERS Washington STREET Wednesday: Sinners with DJ Dave. Drag Race Friday: Pre-Ruby’s Saturday: X-Factor and Chamberman Club Sunday: Chill Out INSTINCT SullivAn’s Quay Tuesday: Kelly Klitts Deal Or No Deal Wednesday: Half price drinks THURSday: DJ Emer Friday: FMen Only Night. DJ Mr M Saturday: Half Price Drinks Sunday: Caberet with Miss M. Half Price Drinks LOAFERS DOUGLAS STREET Wednesday: Free juke box Friday: Live DJ Saturday: Mojito night Sunday: Big Sunday THE OTHER PLACE CAFÉ 8 SOUTH MAIN STREET RUBY’S HANOVER STREET Friday: Rubys €5 18 THE magazine
DIGNITY JOHN STREET Monday: Student Night with Drinks Promos Tuesday: Joanna’s Big Quiz, raising money for charity. €5 a head. Drinks promos Wednesday: €3 drinks. Charmin Electric on the decks Thursday: Dignity’s X-Factor. Drinks promos Friday: Free Cash Friday. Joanna Ryde gives away prizes on the big wheel game Saturday: Pop Eletrik - drag show Sunday: Charmin’s Deal Or No Deal and Half Price Sale UPCOMING IN DECEMBER 3rd Spice Girls Tribute 4th Pop Eletrik Glee 10th Tina Turner Tribute 11th Pop Eletrik Girlbands 14th Dublin City Ramblers 19th Boy George Tribute 20th Pop Eletrik Broadway 31st New Years Ball
& RESPONSIBILITY What do you think your chances are of catching HIV if you are a sexually active gay man in Dublin?
The number of diagnoses amongst MSM* in the first half of 2007. The number of diagnoses amongst MSM in the first half of 2009. The number of people in any gay club on a busy night.
La Boutique ‘Upstairs’, in Dolans, Dock Road, Limerick. Twice-monthly event, on alternating Saturdays. Next: December 11th
If you would like us to include your venue or business in our new regional listings
Please call 087-621 2491
1 2 3
Don’t assume that you are HIV negative. Don’t assume that your sexual partner is HIV negative. Don’t assume that your sexual partner knows if he is HIV positive or not. *males who have sex with males
It is your responsibility to protect yourself. Prevention = Preparation + Protection
magazine 31 Thomas Street THOMAS STREET THURSday: Karaoke with Fada FRIday: Frances Healys Frightfully Eclectic Quiz Night SATURday: X-Factor
The majority of new HIV cases are passed on by people who don’t know that they are HIV positive
prevention campaign 2010
Gaydar UP presents White Party – Saturday 4th December 2010 @ The Dragon, 64/65 South Great Georges Street, Dublin 2 Free admission until 11pm €8 after
THE magazine 21
Fixed fee of €995.00 & VAT & outlays (up to €550,000) E-mail or telephone for a free personalised quotation
HOUSE PURCHASES SALES RE-MORTGAGE
20 THE magazine
THIS IS ONE PARTY YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS!
T: + 353 (0)1 45 45 000 F: + 353 (0)1 45 45 004 E: info@anthonyjoyce.ie www.anthonyjoyce.ie
I
t’s only a few weeks to go, the BT Christmas windows look great and the lights are on. The halls of Arnotts and Cleary’s are decked with boughs of holly and lots of tinsel, M&S fridge shelves are a-brim with clementine’s and walnuts. ‘Tis the season to be shopping. Shop. Shop. Shop. Shop until your eyeballs pop or your credit card stops – whichever happens first. ‘Hi Mom, what now’? Is she ringing to check if I’m wearing a tie, had my M&S ready meal today or do I want yet another pair of Homer Simpson slippers from Santa? No. She’s ringing to give me the seasonal blast of glacial common sense from the South. ‘It’s about Christmas, dear’, she enthuses. ‘As a family we have reached a decision’. ‘Go on, mom, I’m intrigued’. Go on. ‘This year we’ve decided to economise. It’s getting silly, especially in these hard times. There are so many of us now. So for the adults, we are setting a €10 limit on presents for each other.’ That’s hilarious. That’s very, very funny. Because, to be honest, I thought my family had being doing exactly that for decades.
G
aydar, the website that brings you over 6 million men worldwide is proud to join forces with Dublin’s top gay venue The Dragon to bring you its second event ‘Gaydar UP presents White Party’. Following on from the huge success of our first event back in September ‘Gaydar Up’, Gaydar.ie returns to Ireland’s capital for what is sure to be a night to remember. Pure, elegant and bold, the White Party will transform the venue as it takes on a new identity for one night only. The Dragon will be blanketed in pure white with the city’s top UV cannons making a debut appearance. White Party will also be bringing you the hottest dancers in town and as always, sexy staff will be on hand to give out the Gaydar goodies! Once more The Dragon is pleased to present GaydarRadio’s favourite dance DJ Phil Marriott who will take centre stage from 12am, bringing you the biggest upfront and current anthems with an uplifting feel to take you into the early hours of Sunday morning.
Anthony Joyce & Co. Solicitors 75 The Coombe Dublin 8 Ireland
This year Tom Prenderville has been set a €10 Christmas spending limit
How else to explain the individually wrapped, cubed, seasonal bath salts, which I use as wardrobe fresheners, the jumbo bottle of Old Spice in a box, the 100 per cent pure polyester and nylon underwear and the trio of winter fruit mini-pickles that I have received over the years? Not to mention the ten denier rainbow pop socks that I bought for mom, one year. Followed a year later by the lily-of-the-valley talc and matching body lotion box set. Cringe. And a year later by soap on a rope and a 4711 ‘gift set’. One year, bath confetti brought me out in a rash. I’ve never forgiven or forgotten any of it, never. Just like my sister-in-law has never forgiven me for - I thought it was fab! – her butterfly-shaped hot water bottle. So after years of giving each other fleece dressing gowns, fake-fur slippers, imitation champagne, overpriced perfumes, industrial strength aftershaves, end-of -the line books, dodgy branded radios, assorted electric equipment, Wii games, hideous wine racks and accessories in endless rotation, my family are calling a stop to the gift-giving sham. For us, it is an experiment that takes us into new and unknown gift territory. It is frightening, but rather exciting at the same time. Exactly what kind of gift can you get for a tenner these days? Low in a windswept bog, far away from the tinsel cathedrals of commerce and fake plastic Christmas trees with eveything flashing , one family is about to find out. Merry Christmas to you all.
WHITER
OPINION
ADVERTORIAL
STRAIGHT UP
A
MUSIC mountain like reserves of acorns. Who I do know are the people who can’t afford to pay their Mortgages, their Management Fees, their ESB, their Gas bills, their phone bills, their TV bills, their Child Support, their Insurance, their Rent, their Loans, their Credit Cards, their Food Bills. TD’s, Ministers, Top Level Civil Servants, High Ranking Academia, the Medical Profession and others have no idea of how difficult it is to
A VERY RETRO CHRISTMAS It will be far from a Happy John O’Donovan
Christmas for many in our unequal society
22 THE magazine
survive from week to week, so why don’t they truly experience cuts to their massively over inflated pay? Because this is an unequal society, where the marginalized, the pensioners, the unemployed, the low paid and those who did not benefit from the boom are expected to spend money to stimulate the economy and are expected to do so whilst also seeing their income be slashed in the common good. We need to realise that the marginalized are always the ones targeted by the upper echelons in society who will never truly experience poverty and penury! Its time they stopped talking Turkey, but alas, they will let us eat cheese!
T
Mark Power talks music
Millennium walkway, Dublin 1 Ph 8735161 www.lemonjellycafe.ie
bout fifteen years ago I spent Christmas Day alone in a friends house in the North West, and I vividly remember watching The Lyrics Board, drinking a bottle of Dark Rum and tucking into a healthy meal of Beans and Sausages! That was an Ireland where things were tough for many people but things were starting to turn the corner, quickly for many, but slower for others. In the interim, this country has seen unprecedented building growth and infrastructure throughout the country, but also a legacy of greed and materialism. A house of cards economy was built upon speculation, political ineptitude and drastically over inflated property. As headlines about Bank bailouts, Recovery funds, NAMA and the odd billion here and there dominate the media, these news stories mean nothing in real terms to the people trying to make ends meet, huddled masses grumbling in corners of near empty pubs whilst doleing out shrapnel of 10 and 20 cents, to pay for maybe one more pint! Those in the media and those economic geniuses tell us that people are hoarding their money and squirreling it away. The Taoiseach has warned us against this, and has pointed the finger of blame at us for not putting money back into the economy. Maybe I hang around in the wrong circles of society, but I don’t know who these people are with their butter
iz the season to be jolly, the season when even the most unattractive of us can pull a cracker, the season that ensures that we lock our musical snobbery away for at least five days and replace it with songs that sound like jingles. In fact, some years the public take leave of their senses altogether and go out in their droves to buy a record by a big pink and yellow spotted foam ball to make it number one, anyone for Mr Blobby? Thought not… The UK Chart has been running for 58 years now. That means 58 Christmas Number ones! Except of course only 6 of these actually mention Christmas (or Xmas) in their
title.And the first number was waaay back in 1952 from old crooner Al Martino and that was number one for 9 weeks! Since then there have been 57 Christmas number ones including four from The Beatles (1963-65,1967),three from The Spice Girls (199698) three appearances for “Do They Know It’s Christmas” (1984, 1989, 2004), two from Cliff Richard (1988, 1990), Two times number one from Queens’ Bohemian Rhapsody (1975, 1991), two appearances for “Marys’ Boy Child” (Harry Belafonte 1957, Boney M 1978), four X Factor Number Ones (2005-8 Shayne Ward, Leona Lewis, Leon Jackson and Alexandra Burke). Whitney Houston was the first solo female to top the chart at Christmas time and she has, to date, had the longest stay at the top with a Christmas number one with “I Will Always Love You” in 1992 for 10 weeks. There have only been two females to top the chart since. In 1980 people bought a school choirs single sung by a toothless 8 year old Dawn Ralf which paid homage to her Grandma (St. Winfreds School Choir 1980) and before that a nine year old Jimmy Osmond topped the chart in 1972 with “Long Haired Lover From Liverpool”. Wham’s “Last Christmas” and Mariah Careys’ “All I Want For Christmas” never actually topped the chart
but both have appeared in the top 40 every year since downloads were invented as has “Fairytale of New York” from the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl which has been in the top 3 three times in separate years. The last decade started off with Bob The Builder as the best seller and ended a backlash against TV show winners - number ones that effectively did away with the competition that was always the battle for Christmas Number One. Rage Against The Machine was the choice of song that prevented Joe McElderry from topping the chart, replacing Joe with “Killing in the Name” a song that was even more misplaced at the top than 2003’s depressing “Mad World” from Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. And so to this year, with campaigns running against X-Factor in a sinister plot to vote Wagner as the winner we may have an even bigger muppet topping the chart this decade than we did last… Merry Christmas every one!
THE magazine 23
FOOD
FOOD
Food by John Poole O •–O •
A
las, my recipe for Turbot à la NAMA, to mark the end of the recession in August, proved somewhat premature. As we face into yuletide it seems rather that our goose is cooked! Goose is an expensive option for the Christmas table, and as such might be deemed singularly inappropriate to these impecunious days, but a cursory investigation of the etymological origins of the idiom makes it irresistible to those who like living on the edge. One explanation attributes the expression to the beguilingly named, sixteenth century, Swede, Eric the Mad (read the bond markets) who was laying siege to a town (read the Irish economy). In a defiant gesture the feisty inhabitants (read the long suffering Irish people) hung a goose over the town gates to show they were not starving. (Sovereign debt crisis not withstanding, we are forecast to be Europe’s second highest per capita spenders this Christmas) Living up to his name, Eric went berserk, promptly burnt the town to the ground and thus their goose was cooked! Not the most consoling of outcomes, I admit, but if you do splash out on a goose, think of it as your death row meal, a delicious last supper. Until the Second World War, goose was the traditional fare for Christmas Day both here and in the UK, but by the 1960s
24 THE magazine
it had been usurped by turkey. Leaner, but infinitely blander, turkey was perhaps more to the taste of people recovering from rationing and becoming accustomed to processed food, while for the housewife, turkey had the irresistible attraction of providing days of eating and a few days’ escape from the stove.
Eric went berserk, promptly burnt the town to the ground and thus their goose was cooked! However, the last two decades have seen a revival in the popularity of goose and rightly so. It is richly satisfying and well worth the expense and no, it doesn’t have to be greasy. Few British cookery writers, extolling its virtues, can resist a reference to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol but of course Irish literature has its own celebrated goose scene in Joyce’s The Dead. Make its “clatter of knives and forks” your benchmark. Encountered on a farmyard in a bad mood, furiously hissing and flapping its outstretched wings, a goose is indeed an intimidating bird, but
plucked and trussed in the kitchen, there is no need for trepidation, as long as you follow a few basic rules. Queen Elizabeth I was rather exaggerating when she declared the goose “a poor thing, too much for one, not enough for two”, but it is important to be aware that the amount of meat, in proportion to the bird’s weight, is quite small. The cavity is very big compared to a chicken or turkey. In addition, there is no meat on the wings. (Richard Corrigan recommends cutting them off with a scissors before roasting and using them along with the giblets to make the stock for your gravy.) A 12lb bird will serve a maximum of eight. Nigella advocates roasting them in pairs, but if you don’t happen to be married to a Charles Saatchi, then limit your table to a half dozen appreciative guests.
Goose for Christmas To prepare your goose First remove the little gobbets of pale fat attached to the skin just inside the cavity. Place the goose on a rack in your largest roasting tin and puncture the skin in several places with a thin skewer. Pour a kettle of boiling water over the bird, then drain off the water: this helps remove a lot of the fat during roasting. Next, it is essential to get the skin thoroughly dry so that it will crisp up in the oven. If you are in a rush, get out the hair dryer! In the meantime, prepare your stuffing-you could settle for one but given the size of the cavity it’s
my co-host had neglected to mention that the olives we were nibbling had been stuffed with hashish! worth the effort of making two: one for the neck flap end and one for the cavity. Having tried several combinations, it’s hard to beat Delia’s pairing of forcemeat stuffing and apple and prune stuffing (recipes on line) Preheat the oven (gas mark 7/210˚C) Rub salt into the skin and season with a good grinding of black pepper. Still on the rack in the roasting tin, place on the middle shelf. After 30 minutes turn the heat down to gas mark 4/180˚C and pour off the fat that has run into the tin. (If you forget to do this, you will have a spluttering, fuming oven fire on your hands, as once happened to me at a New Year’s
Eve dinner where my co-host had neglected to mention that the olives we were nibbling had been stuffed with hashish!) You may have to drain off the fat a few times during the roasting time but make sure you keep it for frying and roasting potatoes. A 12lb, stuffed bird will take about a further three hours. Test by piercing the thickest part of the leg with a skewer. If the juices run clear, the bird is ready. Leave to rest for 15 minutes before carving. As soon as the goose is in the oven, prepare your goose giblet stock exactly as you would a chicken giblet stock. Use the stock to make a light gravy. Keep the accompaniments simple. Fruit is much favoured, especially prunes soaked in Armagnac. My friend Grainne serves delicious pickled pears, but my own favourite is a lightly dressed fennel, black olive (no hash!) and orange salad. You certainly don’t need a panoply of vegetables. Some potatoes sautéed in your goose fat would be perfect. God jul och gott nytt År as Eric the Mad might have said (though he probably wasn’t a great one for seasonal greetings).
A Happy Yuletide to you all!
THE magazine 25
GAY NATION
Joe Kearney
J
anuary 2011 will see the first civil partnerships in history become realised. Delighted engaged gay couples are planning a new year filled with public displays of loyalty, security and love. The message is simply, I am here for you and I will be here for you always. This can’t help but stir romance deep within me and a warbling resonance of joy is tipped to expel from my lips at any moment. Though I have not told my special man how strongly I feel for him, the day
is fast approaching that I will. Knowing that I mean it is my first step, finding the courage is next. All too often media hysteria and mass measures can whisk me away and I find myself saying and feeling things that may not really reflect me. Fr. Ted perhaps said it best when he mocked protest rallies with slogans such as, ‘mind now’ and ‘down with this kind of thing’. People need to examine protests, slogans, the people’s needs and wants and see if you as an individual actually feel the same. Do you disagree? You are allowed to. The very notion of democracy and freedom would hope individuals do express their personal wants and needs. The vote allows us to execute our individual decisions. Secret ballots allow us to be ourselves. I am all for equality, I want love to fill my life and my partners life. I don’t want to get carried away and tell him my feelings or ask him to commit to me until I know the time is right for him and for me. If he reads this it might be a case of letting the cat out of the bag but I think the point is worth the risk. Yes I support Civil Partnership and for all those
taking advantage of the new service in 2011, congratulations. I also feel it’s not enough and want full marriage. That said I may one day try to get civilly partnered prior to realising full marriage equality. If anything it’s an extra reason to acknowledge and celebrate love and unity; a dress rehearsal for a minority with no marriage legacy outside the heteronormative sphere. Perhaps having this stepping stone will better prepare a gay community for a 2011 or 2012 with full equality. All I want for Christmas is to know we are there for each other, now and always.
CHRISTMAS 26 THE magazine
TheCivil Partnerships Directory Page A new page for advertisers who would like to reach LGBTQ couples planning a Civil Partnership ceremony
LEGAL ADVICE ON ALL ASPECTS OF CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS Anthony Joyce & Co. Solicitors 75 The Coombe Dublin 8 Ireland T: + 353 (0)1 45 45 000 F: + 353 (0)1 45 45 004 E: info@anthonyjoyce.ie www.anthonyjoyce.ie E-mail or telephone for a free personalised quotation
This year the Irish Government passed legislation allowing same sex partners to have their relationship legally recognised in a Civil Partnership, finally giving thousands of couples the opportunity to celebrate their love with family and friends the way their straight counterparts have done since time immemorial
YOU COULD ADVERTISE ON THIS PAGE FOR AS LITTLE As €100 IN THE NEXT ISSUE If you wish to place an ad in our next issue Call Derek on 087-621 2491
HEALTH
ONE WOMAN’S CHIN QUIVERING ACCOUNT OF HER LEITRIM COME-UPPANCE
Y
ou can make an online donation at the following to raise funds for Action Prostate Cancer. All donations however small, greatly appreciated. Online at: http://ie.movember.com/donate/your-details/ team_id/88096/ Cheques Can Be Sent payable to Movember, c/o Aine Murphy, Lowes Bar & Lounge, 27 Dolphins Barn Street, Dublin 8.
“Anal Cancer in Gay men is as common as cervical cancer was before the use of the pap smear” Anal cancer in gay men is rising fast. In most cases it is associated with infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV), the same virus that causes genital warts. The virus can also cause cervical cancer in women. But although screening using pap smears is routinely done on women it is rarely offered to men, despite the incidence of anal cancer being higher than that of cervical cancer. Most anal warts are caused by “low risk” strains of HPV which do not lead to cancer. That’s caused by a “high risk” strain that can be detected with a test where a swab is inserted into your bum and sent to the lab. If caught early before the cancer has a chance to develop it can be easily treated. When pap smears became widespread in the 1960s they cut the incidence of cervical cancer, previously thought unpreventable, by 80% and the hope is that a simple early screening procedure for HPV induced anal cancer would lead to a similar drop.
28 THE magazine
The prostate is that small walnut shaped gland near your bladder that makes getting shagged feel so good and it’s one of the top ten most common forms of cancer. The cause is uncertain though family history and a fatty diet are thought to contribute. It tends to affect older men rather than young guys. One of the first signs of prostate cancer is problems peeing - having to go a lot, or not being able to maintain a good stream. Other symptoms are pain when you pee or cum, blood in your pee or cum or pain in your lower back, hips or thighs. The simplest way to check for prostate cancer is for your doctor to insert a finger up your bum and feel the gland, though blood tests, ultra sound and x-rays may also be used. The good news is that if caught early, before it has a chance to spread, the chances of survival are excellent.
NANCY FERMANAGH gay magazine
Get yerself a landline for Christmas
I
answer my mobile. ‘Where-areya?’ a male voice yells. ‘I’m here’ I yell back (sure why not?) ‘How-do-we-get-ta-ya?’ I bellow directions to the house and slam the phone down. Later, a fleet of spanking new Eircom vans grunt to a halt outside. A greenish, eighties, duffel-coat ejaculates from the first, informing me loudly that I’m the lassie he just ‘spoketa’. He and his colleagues drift more or less in my direction with their hands in their pockets and their heads swivelling. They spend an hour telling me how they won’t be able to do any work today for various technical reasons. The duffel-coat takes the opportunity to walk the length of the house pressing his beard intimately to each window. ‘There’s a good lassie’ he says. I raise an eyebrow in an expression of incredulous disdain. It is as water to the dorsal area of the duck. Eventually the posse leave as they came, heads swivelling under their hard hats, hands in their pockets. Some weeks later we spy the Eircom fleet outside our window.
‘Will you deal with them?’ whimpers Agnes. I reply that I’d sooner jog a marathon with a kilo of masonry nails in my bra, but go to the hall nonetheless. I fling the door wide as the swivelling hard hats materialise outside and I shout something to the effect that there they all are. The herd perambulate past me, all speaking at once at full volume. They move about the room, the duffel-coat fingering everything. The biggest one (with, I can’t help but notice, the truly enormous head) takes a truly tiny screwdriver from his High Viz jacket and pokes it into a hole in the wall. The others come and inspect the hole, shaking their heads and pointing. Three of them escort the tiny screwdriver to another hole in the wall. After a hundred years of muscular debate, and having worked out how to screw one bit of plastic to another, they appear to be finished, and begin to drift toward the kitchen. The one with the enormous head has begun to smack his lips thirstily. I position myself between him and the kettle, lest he become distracted by the whiff of tea. To ensure that there is no obstacle to their exit, I fling open all relevant doors. The posse leave the building. ‘There’s a good lassie’ says the duffel-coat in passing, ‘call us if yee’ve any trouble’. I cock a quizzical eyebrow at him and as I slam the door behind their broad, departing backs I proclaim to Agnes that I’d sooner toboggan down Croagh Patrick with a cheese grater and an angry weasel ensnared in my drawers. THE magazine 29
YOU COULD ADVERTISE IN THIS SPACE FOR AS LITTLE AS PLUS FREE DESIGN IN THE NEXT ISSUE If you wish to place an ad in our next issue Call Derek on 087-621 2491
FASHION
Don’t be shy about the
Please dispose of this magazine in a way that is kind to the environment
I
Marcio Norberto
CHRISTMAS WISHLIST ts that time of the year where the whole world gets transformed in light, its time for celebration. But one thing that just drives me crazy this time of year is when I ask someone what they want for Christmas and they respond with, “Oh, anything is just fine.” I realize that their intent is to be congenial and easy-to-please. But it would be so much easier for me if they would just go ahead and tell me something they want and save me the puzzlement of deciding what to get. I often think of a super-smart older lady who shared a terrific holiday tip. She writes down gift ideas all through the year, whenever they occur to her. She keeps two pieces of paper on her fridge. On one, she jots down things that she needs or wants, as she thinks of them. “I wish I had a nice, clean, new potholder in my kitchen,” or “I sure would like to have a small flashlight that I could carry in my pocket.” Nothing too exciting, but things she would actually use. On the other sheet, she writes down things she thinks or overhears people on her list
30 THE magazine
mention as needs or wants. Listening is the key with people, but if someone does just come out and ask you what you want; why not have some things in mind? You know you’ll get something good under the tree and you’ll save them the time and expense of an unfocused and maybe wasteful gift hunt. And, if you really don’t have any good ideas, you can always ask if they’d make a charitable donation in your name. My top tips for Christmas preparations and gifts are;
•
Get started on those Chirstmas cards. (I know it would be cheaper to e-mail holiday greetings, but to me it’s just not the same.) I carry cards and stamps in my bag so that when I’m stuck in a doctor’s office or other waiting place, I can knock out a few notes.
•
Make a few double batches when you’re cooking these days. Pop the extra dish in the freezer to feed the family on one of those “too busy to cook” nights that inevitably crop up during the holidays. That will help curb the expense of unexpected meals out.
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And start making that list of things you want for yourself and listening carefully to people on your list for hints that will make your shopping easier.
And here is some ideas that can make your family and friends happy. Tuscan leather perfume by Tom Ford Heaven to hell by David Lachapelle The Married Man by Edmund White Total Body Grooming System by Philips Gymbody Plus by Slendertone Silver Acorn Cufflinks by Simon Carter Bleu de Chanel perfume by Chanel Chiffon Skull Scarf by Alexander McQueen Solid PVD watch by Calvin Klein i-Pad 32GB by Apple
Happy Holidays!
GAYDAR UP PRESENTS
WHITE PARTY PURE.ELEGANT.BOLD
PRESENT THE ONE AND ONLY PHIL MARRIOTT PHENOMENAL UV LIGHT SHOW FREE GAYDAR UPGRADES & OTHER GOODIES SATURDAY 4 DECEMBER 8PM - 3AM FREE ENTRY BEFORE 11PM - €8 AFTER
SOUTH GREAT GEORGES ST. DUBLIN 2. TEL: + 353 (0) 1 4781590