The Minister said: “Bullying is not, and never will be, acceptable in our schools, nor in our society as a whole. By law, all schools must have a discipline policy which includes anti-bullying measures. The culture of silence that often accompanies this issue is so oppressive and negative that our young people need to know they are not alone and that support is always available. We need them to know where, how and who they can get support from.

“I congratulate Shimna Integrated College for providing invaluable support to their pupils through the formation of the Gay/Straight Alliance. I also welcome the fact that organisations such as The Rainbow Project, Cara-Friend and GLYNI are working with schools to address homophobia.”

The Department of Education continues to work in close partnership with statutory and voluntary organisations to address bullying in all its forms. It is for this reason that it plays an active role in and funds the local Anti-Bullying Forum (NIABF) which has established a number of working groups, one of which specifically considered the issue of homophobic bullying. The working group produced a fact sheet for teachers which is available on the NIABF website.

There is a YouTube project: youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject where parents, friends, gay people, have all posted about how no matter how bad it is now, it gets better!

A Rutgers University freshman posted a goodbye message on his Facebook page before jumping to his death after his roommate secretly filmed him during a “sexual encounter” in his dorm room and posted it live on the Internet.

Items belonging to 18-year-old Rutgers student Tyler Clementi were found by the George Washington Bridge last week, according to authorities. Clementi’s freshman ID card and driver’s license were in the wallet.

Clementi’s post on his Facebook page, dated Sept. 22 at 8:42 p.m. read, “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry.”

Clementi’s body has not been recovered, but police have pulled an unidentified male body from the Hudson River just north of the bridge.

Paul Mainardi, the attorney representing the Clementi family, released a statement confirming Clementi’s suicide.

“Tyler was a fine young man, and a distinguished musician. The family is heartbroken beyond words. They respectfully request that they be given time to grieve their great loss and that their privacy at this painful time be respected by all,” Mainardi said.

Two students, Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei, have been charged with two counts each of invasion of privacy after allegedly placing a camera in Clementi’s room and livestreaming the recording online on Sept. 19, according to a written statement by New Jersey’s Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce Kaplan.

A Twitter page that appears to have been operated by Ravi but has since been taken offline shows messages in which the accused student takes credit for the alleged videotaping of Clementi.

On Sept. 19, Ravi appears to tweet, “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”

Ravi faces two additional counts of invasion of privacy for allegedly attempting to use the camera to view and transmit another sexual encounter involving the same student just two days later, said Kaplan.

On Sept. 21 Ravi posted, “Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it’s happening again.”

Clementi’s lawyer said the family is cooperating with the ongoing criminal investigation into Ravi and Wei’s alleged actions.

“The case is being investigated by the Rutgers University Police Department. The students — like all who are accused of a crime — must be presumed innocent until proven guilty,” said Rutgers President Richard L. McCormick in a statement. “The case is also being investigated by the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs under the code of student conduct.”

“Rutgers is a community that is extraordinarily proud of its diversity and the respect its members have for one another.”

A Facebook memorial group created in honor of Clementi already has hundreds of members, many of whom are fellow graduates of Ridgewood High School in New Jersey. Clementi had graduated Ridgewood this past spring.

One of Tyler’s friends, Courtney Ayukawa, posted to the group’s wall, “I will always remember everything from our preschool’s Halloween party to your amazing musical talents. When you picked up the violin and began to play, it was as if everything just paused until you put it down again. We will never forget you Tyler. May you rest in peace.”

Strangers have also contributed to the memorial page, one writing simply, “R.I.P from a stranger.”

Michael Zhuang, a friend of Ravi’s for six years, describes the suspect as someone into computer programming and video games.

Zhuang told ABC News he believes Ravi was excited to go to Rutgers and believes the media portrayals of Ravi as possibly homophobic or a serious prankster are not true. “I’m in shock, I didn’t expect this to happen and I am just speechless. He’s normally very nice and I don’t think that this is a representation of him,” said Zhuang. “He’s very very open minded and he, like if it had been a girl in the room it wouldn’t have been any different,” he said.

Jim O’Neill, the public information officer for prosecutor’s office, declined to comment on the case.

Both Wei and Ravi surrendered to police. Wei has been released on her own recognizance and Ravi posted $25,000 bail.

Under New Jersey’s invasion-of-privacy statutes, it is a fourth degree crime to collect or view images depicting nudity or sexual contact involving another individual without that person’s consent, and it is a third degree crime to transmit or distribute such images. The penalty for conviction of a third degree offense can include a prison term of up to five years.

Lawyers for both Wei and Ravi did not respond to messages left by ABC News.

ABC News’ Aaron Katarsky, Shimon Prokupecz and Ayana Harry contributed to this story.

There is a YouTube project: youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject where parents, friends, gay people, have all posted about how no matter how bad it is now, it gets better!

Peace, out!
- Matt

The documentary covered the history of Belfast Pride, and I was particularly impressed with some of the old footage from years gone by. With contributions from many members of the Pride committee past and present, as well as high-profile political leadership views from former Mayor and current MP for East Belfast Naomi Long, as well as current Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, the documentary covered all aspects of Pride, from the reasons, to the organisation, to the protestors, to the fun and events… it really is not to be missed!

It is getting a second showing on Tuesday at the Northstar Science Fiction Night Pride Event, which is at The Roost bar on Tuesday 27th, at 8pm, where you will also get to watch a science-fiction triple feature of Doctor Who, Star Trek: Voyager and Family Guy Star Wars!

Pride 2010 has begun!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-10673475

The bill, which grants almost all of the rights of marriage, passed in the Dail last week and was approved in the Seanad last night after two days of debate.

It passed with the support of 48 senators, with just four voting against, and will be sent to President Mary McAleese, who can approve it or refer it to the Supreme Court if she believes it may be unconstitutional.

All parties strongly welcomed the Bill in their closing statements in the debate.

Senator David Norris in his closing statement: “I am proud that this day has come. It is a massive, overwhelming victory. It is a victory, not for gay people nor for Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Green Party, Labour or the Independents; it is a victory for decency and for this country.”

The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network has welcomed the change in law, although it has repeated concerns that there is not enough recognition and support of children whose parents are gay.

The rights the bill will give include protections and obligations across areas such as protection of the couple’s shared home, domestic violence, residential tenancies, succession, refugee law, pensions, taxation, social welfare and immigration.

All parties supported the bill, although some individual politicians attacked it.

The first ceremonies are expected to be held in January.

Ireland decriminalised homosexuality 17 years ago.

The worldwide eradication of smallpox may, inadvertently, have helped spread HIV infection, scientists believe.

Experts say the vaccine used to wipe out smallpox offered some protection against the Aids virus and, now it is no longer used, HIV has flourished.

The US investigators said trials indicated the smallpox jab interferes with how well HIV multiplies.

But they say in the journal BMC Immunology it is too early to recommend smallpox vaccine for fighting HIV.

Kill no cure

Lead researcher Dr Raymond Weinstein, from Virginia’s George Mason University, said: “There have been several proposed explanations for the rapid spread of HIV in Africa, including wars, the reuse of unsterilised needles and the contamination of early batches of polio vaccine.

“However, all of these have been either disproved or do not sufficiently explain the behaviour of the HIV pandemic.”

Dr Weinstein and his colleagues believe immunisation against smallpox may go some way to explain the recent rises in HIV prevalence.

Smallpox immunisation was gradually withdrawn from the 1950s to the 1970s, following the worldwide eradication of the disease, and HIV has been spreading exponentially since then, they say.

Now, only scientists and medical professionals working with smallpox are vaccinated.

To test if the events may be linked, the researchers looked at the white blood cells taken from people recently immunised against smallpox and tested how they responded to HIV.

They found significantly lower replication rates of HIV in blood cells from vaccinated individuals, compared with those from unvaccinated controls.

The smallpox vaccine appeared to cut HIV replication five-fold.

Immune boost

The researchers believe vaccination may offer some protection against HIV by producing long-term alterations in the immune system, possibly including the expression of a receptor called CCR5 on the surface of white blood cells, which is exploited by the smallpox virus and HIV.

Jason Warriner, clinical director for the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “It’s impossible to say whether the withdrawal of the smallpox vaccine contributed to the initial explosion of HIV cases worldwide, but it is a plausible explanation.

“This is an interesting piece of research, and not just as a history lesson. Anything that gives us greater understanding of how the virus replicates is another step on the road towards a vaccine and, one day, a cure.

“Further studies into the role receptor cells play are needed, and even then any discoveries are likely to be just one part of the solution.

“Until we find a way to eradicate the virus from the body, the focus should remain on stopping it being passed on in the first place.”

Some 8,000 people were killed at Srebrenica in 1995

(From BBC News)

Dutch officials have rejected a retired US general’s claim that its forces failed at Srebrenica because of poor morale over openly gay soldiers.

A defence ministry spokesman dismissed as “complete nonsense” the remarks by John Sheehan, a former Nato commander.

Gen Sheehan had been speaking at a US Senate hearing on allowing gay people to serve openly in the US military.

He said Dutch leaders had told him that the presence of gay soldiers had contributed to the Bosnian massacre.

Srebrenica was a UN safe haven under the protection of Dutch peacekeepers when, in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces overran the town, killing some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Gen Sheehan said the former chief of staff of the Dutch army had told him that the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch peacekeeping force were seen as “part of the problem” which contributed to the fall of Srebrenica.

He argued that since the end of the Cold War, European militaries had changed and he concluded “there was no longer a need for an active combat capability”.

‘Totally off-target’

This “socialisation” process, Gen Sheehan said, “included open homosexuality” and led to “a focus on peacekeeping operations because they did not believe the Germans were going to attack again or the Soviets were coming back”.

Gen Sheehan is a former Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic

“It is astonishing that a man of his stature can utter such complete nonsense,” Dutch defence ministry spokesman Roger van de Wetering said in response.

“The Srebrenica massacre and the involvement of UN soldiers was extensively investigated by the Netherlands, international organisations and the United Nations.

“Never was there in any way concluded that the sexual orientation of soldiers played a role.”

The Dutch ambassador to the US, Renee Jones-Bos, added in a statement on the embassy’s website that she “couldn’t disagree more” with the claims by the former general, who retired from the military in 1997.

In the US Senate itself, Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told Gen Sheehan he was “totally off-target”.

Several countries – including Britain, Canada, Australia and Israel – allow openly gay people to serve in the armed services.

Whilst it is certainly true that for a while Mynt got a bad rep due to many police raids searching for drugs. It is unclear whether these raids turned up anything to note more than I imagine you would find in any Belfast club.

A council statement given to the BBC said the licensing committee “took the view that in light of the available evidence, the applicant was unfit to hold a licence”.

A spokeswoman for Mynt said that whilst they are extremely disappointed with the decision, they will be appealing the decision and that since an appeal is pending, the club can continue to trade with its current license in the meantime.

Peace, out!
- Matt

A conservative US state senator who has voted against gay rights consistently during his 14 years in government has came ‘out of the closet’ – he is gay!

Republican Roy Ashburn came out during a radio interview in California, for KERN radio, where he said, “I am gay… those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.”

The 55-year-old divorced father-of-four has been on leave since an arrest last week on suspicion of driving under the influence. He said that his coming out was prompted by rumours that he had visited a gay nightclub before the arrest, which took place in Sacramento on 3 March, and felt he needed to address these rumours. So, I guess that means that the rumours were true :P

He insists that his voting on the gay rights bills reflected the way his constituents wanted him to vote, i.e. on their behalf, rather than him voting on his own “internal conflict”. (Pity he couldn’t make a stand, maybe stick to his own convictions, though I guess we sometimes punish politicians for doing just that as well. Hmm.)

Roy has a record for voting against gay rights measures. Last year, Mr Ashburn opposed a bill to establish a day of recognition to honour murdered gay rights activist Harvey Milk. He has also voted in the statehouse against efforts to expand anti-discrimination laws and recognise out-of-state gay marriages.

Peace, out! – Matt

Unfortunately the Californian supreme court voted 6-1 to uphold the decision made by Governor Schwarzenegger and his Californian state government. All but Justice Carlos Moreno, the only democrat on the committee, voted against the repeal of the ban, placed back in November 2008. However, the 28,000 gay marriages that took place before the ban are still legal!

America, a place most know as one of the most diverse communities on earth, espousing western liberal democracy, a democracy that fought to give its citizens in 1792, is now a democracy that has removed the rights of its citizens as of the 26th May 2009. The introduction of Gay Marriage in California, something that would’ve astounded and made Harvey Milk proud has now been removed, as have the rights to marriage of loving men and women.

A lesson to be learned in this is never to give up. Even when governments and courts rule that you do not have the same rights as your neighbour, challenge their authority, you have the same ability as anyone, challenge everything, educate people, friends, family and strangers!!!