GLYNI – Gay and Lesbian Youth Northern Ireland

GLYNI has received funding to develop two new resources!

The funding is to develop a sexual education programme for LGBT youth, as well as developing a resource pack for young women.
This is a great chance for GLYNI and its members to decide how future students may be educated! It’s also a great opportunity for young women to raise their issues, have some time to discuss the differences in how women and men are treated, develop something that is tailored for them specifically, and not something more general.

This is a fantastic opportunity, no matter which you would like to be involved in! Things are still at a planning stage, so there is still plenty of time to come along and have your input, then to come along and get involved in the programme itself!

Tags: education, funding, GLYNI Events

Iris Robinson is yet again in the headlines, after comments made in the House of Commons, during a debate on the topic of sex offenders and their jail times:

“We all agree that few issues arouse as much interest or concern in the community as that of sex offenders. The sentences served and their subsequent placement back in the community cause considerable disquiet among the public. There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children. There must be sufficient confidence that the community has the best possible protection against such perverts and it is important that there be a mature public debate on the issues, but the security of our citizens must be our overriding priority.”

This has not been removed from the official transcript, and is viewable on the website of the Houses of Parliament. Since then, she has been interviewed on the issue by the Belfast Telegraph:

“Can you think of anything more vile than man and man or woman and woman and sexually abusing children? What I say I base on biblical pronouncements, based on God’s word. I am amazed that people are surprised when I quote from scriptures … I cannot think of anything more sickening than a child being abused. It is comparable to the act of homosexuality. I think they are all comparable. I feel totally repulsed by both. … I am trying to reach out to people. That is what Christ teaches us … Anything I say is out of love. I am not hate-mongering. I cannot leave my Christian values hanging at the door when I go into politics. I am speaking out more now because we are getting it more and more rammed down our throats that the minority views are more important than the majority views. I am not trying to alienate anyone … I do not turn anyone away. I would never water down anything with the scriptures and I don’t think I should. I find it amazing, if not unexpected, as these days Christians are persecuted for their views but that will not stop me. There will be a judgement day and when I am judged I want to know that I did all I could to spread the word of God.”

It is heartening that all the reports and articles on the website of the Belfast Telegraph condemn her words, with their ‘viewpoint’ article discussing some of the issues regarding free speech.

One could question her motives in saying what she did. If you read what she said, her viewpoint would not have been weakened if she had simply omitted the words ‘apart from homosexuality and sodomy’. It could be considered that this was deliberate? We all know that this is the run-up to Belfast Pride. Perhaps this is just the latest in a chain of intentional outbursts, designed to inflame a situation which is already sensitive.
Perhaps not. Perhaps, like she says, she simply wants to spread the word of God. Perhaps then she is advocating a country in which politics and laws are dominated by the teachings of Leviticus? Truth is, this is from where she seems to extract her views. I doubt, if this was the case, she would be allowed to be a politican! The out-of-touch Book of Leviticus asserts many things, few of which we still adhere to today.
And let’s not forget. No matter how much Iris asserts that it is the case, it is NOT the job of Government to uphold the Laws of God. It is the duty of Government to uphold the laws of the PEOPLE. And the laws of the people indicate that people should not be attacked, persecuted, insulted, etc etc. Whilst she compares our acts to those of sex offenders, she forgets that sex offenders are criminals, we are not. She should stop treating us as such, stop trying to ‘rehabilitate’ us.

Maybe Iris should think of the old phrase ‘What would Jesus do?’. Does she think that Jesus, who stated that the Old Testament was just that, the OLD Testament, would say the things she is saying? Hurting the people she is hurting? Maybe she does, she is entitled to believe that he would. If this is the case, then there is no hope for her. If she believes that God wants her to do these things, then only God will convince her otherwise.
If I were a smaller person, I would say I would like to be watching when she is to be ‘judged’ by God. I think she would be devastated by the verdict.

Read the Belfast Telegraph article here!

Tags: homophobia, iris robinson

Stonewall held their annual Education for All Conference in London, on Monday 7th July, attended by The Rainbow Project, Cara-Friend GLYNI and NUS-USI LGBT.

Participants from all across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland attended a one day long conference in the historical capital, focussing on Homophobia in Education, hosted by Stonewall England.

The event, opened by Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg MP and chaired by Stonewall’s Chief Executive Ben Summerskill, attracted professionals from across the board in education and youth work.

Representing the voice of LGBT Youth in Northern Ireland were our very own Liam Larmour (Project Coordinator for Cara-Friend GLYNI, and also Mental Health Officer at The Rainbow Project), Steve Williamson (Coordinator, Cara-Friend) and Chris Geddis (recently appointed as LGBT Officer for NUS-USI Northern Ireland branch).

The day’s events included workshops on engaging young people in tackling homophobic bullying, tackling bullying in primary and post-primary schools, and working in partnership with local authorities.

On the event, Liam states: “It was good to see the commitment of staff and volunteers from a vast variety of youth-service providers, sharing their experiences and offering insights into the efforts to tackle the plight of homophobic bullying in the UK.

This is definitely an issue in Northern Ireland, and we welcome Minister for Education Catriona Ruane’s commitment to tackling this prejudice, particularly in the formal education sector, head on.

Education is indeed for everyone, and we all share an equal responsibility in ensuring that it is delivered equally and fairly across the board. The mental, physical, sexual and emotional health and wellbeing of LGBT young people should not be treated any less equally than that of their heterosexual counterparts.”

Speaking on the highlight of the day: “Meeting Sir Ian McKellen, who gave the keynote closing speech as a co-founder of Stonewall, was a dream come true. He is such an inspiration, and has worked effortlessly throughout his career to promote inclusion, equality and acceptance for LGBT people of all ages. He asked questions about the experiences of LGBT youth here, and spoke of his many visits to Belfast to support fundraising efforts in the early days of the AIDS Crisis.

I had a good wee chat with him, and was thinking the whole time ‘I can’t believe I’m talking to Gandalf!’. We presented him with leaflets from the various groups in Belfast, including Family Ties – A Guide for Parents of LGBT Children and Young People, and ‘What’s In Your Closet?’, a coming-out support resource for LGBT youth produced by members of Cara-Friend’s Gay & Lesbian Youth Northern Ireland.”

He gave me his autograph and wished us all the best of luck in our efforts in Northern Ireland to tackle homophobic bullying.

The conference was a one day event, but will certainly have its impact on the three visitors to London. Despite the early wake-up call (4am) and travelling all day, it was considered to be worth every minute of it.

Tags: conference, GLYNI Events, ian mckellan, rainbow, stonewall