LGBT creative media coverage

deasyd

We are a popular national radio show that deals with social inclusion and acceptance of diversity in Irish society etc.

We are currently looking to delve more in to LGBT issues and we would like some suggestions form the LGBT community.

Past issues dealt with include:

· Coming out
· Parents of gay children
· Gay rights
· Gay marriage
· Gay adoption
· Homophobic bullying in schools and the workplace

However, we are now looking to be more creative with the issues that we deal with. We are looking for suggestions of issues that the LGBT community face that might be taking for granted or over-looked.
We would also like to deal with more transgender issues. However, issues that are more hidden and not what is already know e.g. the social stigma of transgender people.

So for example, as a transgendered person have you ever found you were called for a job interview based on your strong CV, but then felt you were turned down for the job after the interviewing process because you were an obvious transgendered person? Should that fact that you are a transgender person be stated on your CV or is that irrelevant if you can do the job just as good as someone who is not transgender? What are your views?

We are not just looking for transgender issues, but also any other LGB stories that are very much alive but brushed under the carpet. For example, are you taken seriously as a bisexual or are you considered selfish or on the way to gay town? Would you ever date a known bisexual?

So we are looking for people to “think outside the box” on this one and please share any personal experiences.

Please remember that the above are just example and suggestions. All ideas will be considered.

Unfortunately, will not be giving the name of the radio station or the name of the show as we believe it might jeopardise the quality of the replies.

L.Jenkins

Your not with Openfm by any chance? I don't know of too many stations that would approach such an issue. I volunteer as a presenter myself and it can be a tough subject have anyone speak of publically due to personal or privacy issues.

deasyd

ItsThatManAgain wrote: »

Your not with Openfm by any chance? I don't know of too many stations that would approach such an issue. I volunteer as a presenter myself and it can be a tough subject have anyone speak of publically due to personal or privacy issues.

As I said we are a national station. I think you will find that Open fm is not national. That's all I will say on that issue.

At the moment we are just looking for ideas. I'm not to worried about having people come live on air. If we put the topics out on air I think the anonymous calls and texts that will follow will generate debate. Obviously, this will all fall on the presenter's competence in dealing with such issues.

Annasopra

I've a few ideas but one that springs into my head is the upcoming Transgender legislation - should it include mandatory, sterilization and divorce?

L.Jenkins

If it werent to include divorce then provisions would have to be made, like implementing gay marriage.

gmale

Purely for selfish reasons I think Tax is a big issue for gay men and women. I know that society as a whole needs to be catered for but so much of my tax money goes towards supporting the aspects of other peoples lives that I will never get to enjoy because I am not equal in the eyes of the state.

The most recent instance of this that I noticed was a news piece on RTE about the cost of school books. They took a look at all the countries in Europe where the Governement buys or subsidises the cost of school books. Only Ireland and Portugal do not. There was a represntative of some parents association saying that the Govt. needs to help families out because books are so expensive.

It annoys me to think that tax money, my money, is being spent on something that I am not capable of participating in, not because of biological or physical reasons but because of "constitutional" and legal reasons. If I was allowed adopt with my partner then I would not have a problem.

As I said, I appreciate that there is a "greater good" and that is the welfare of children. But the only people preventing me from truly enjoying equality are the legislators and it is the legislators that insist I pay equal (if not more) in taxes.

Chuchoter

When you're doing bullying in schools make sure you cover teachers bullying as well. For example in my school, we've been told that its not allowed to be gay in our school, 'that's not done here',plays have been cancelled for gay charachters, and class projects regarding youth lgbt issues have been deemed "unsuitable" and its also ok to say f@ggot in front of a teacher. Sexuality is not covered under SPHE.

And don't make everything just about gay men. Sorry, but I always find everything is about gay men.

Just because I like guessing, you're not Newstalk's other voices are you? :P

You could easily do an entire show just about trans issues, but some good things to cover might be actually explaining what it is to be TG and the havoc it can wreak on peoples lives if they can't do anything about it. For example a lot of people would say its a cosmetic/non essential surgery that shouldn't be done on the medical card, but it should because its horrible to be forced for economic reasons to live in the wrong body.
It might be interesting to cover genderqueer issues, but maybe thats kind of irrelevant.

On the bisexual question, it would depend on their outness and how old they were. I would not go out with a young bisexual (or still closeted) purely because I think if the pressure from outside sources ie family was there they would run off and be with a guy. I know thats what I would do if I was bi.

deirdre_dub

I would love to see a good programme which just educates as to what trans is. There is a lot of ignorance - even in the LGB community. The same goes for bi - not only are there the "bi is on the way to gay" and "bi is promiscuity" myths, there is even "bi people would 'go straight' if the right pressure was applied"!

Maybe a programme in which trans and bi people talk about the myths they have heard would be good?

Also, one of the things that really annoys me is the way a lot of LGBt organisations pay lip service to trans.

Anyway, I, too, offer myself to be interviewed.

Thanks.

L.Jenkins

It has been mentioned, but there is the issue of relationships with respect to trans people and the wider community. My experience so far has been good so far, but for some people I have read of, they have received death threats from parents even.

It not only affects us, but I can think of two trans people that I know, one personally, with two very different relationships with their families. As for myself, I wouldn't be in a place to answer any serious question given my current experience.

Pink Adoptions

deasyd wrote: »

We are a popular national radio show that deals with social inclusion and acceptance of diversity in Irish society etc.

We are currently looking to delve more in to LGBT issues and we would like some suggestions form the LGBT community.

You may want to run something about the injustice suffered by the children of LGBT people.

Since the Civil Partnership, the gvt accepts that the LGBT parents are forming a valid household for the purpose of taxation, inheritance, etc.
From the point of view of the HSE, gay couples are valid parents: they are assessed jointly.

But because they cannot be married, they cannot adopt jointly, and therefore their children do not get the constitutional protection of marriage, which the constitution grants to "families" (the Irish text says "household" without mention of gender).

It also means that if a gay couple adopts in a foreign country where the gvt is less backward, and where they are encouraged to adopt jointly, in the best interest of the child... the Irish courts are not allowed to recognize the adoption in Ireland!

The point of view of the children living in pink households, how these children are being discriminated and bullied by the gvt, has not be satisfactorily explored in the media.

baby and crumble

+1 on the 'please don't make it about guys' thing. It gets on my nerves. Most of the 'public' bits of our community are dominated by men. The George, Dragon, less so in Panti, GCN (that REALLY bugs me)... Now, I'm not too sure why that is, are men still valued more than women in Irish society? Or are the girls just content to move in with each other after 2 dates and drink tea and succumb to lesbian bed death? Is the focus of the community here in Ireland so male focussed that it prohibits women from feeling comfortable there?

I know that's probably the case for me. So many women present in gay bars these days are straight girls who are there with their gay male mates (fair enough, I have no problem with that in the slightest) but who get seriously offended when they are approached by a woman. I'd be interested to find out if in reality, gay men are more accepted than gay women, because they fits useful stereotypes- the gay best friend, great with fashion and decorating, and for bitching, whereas the stereotypical lesbian... crap fashion sense, looks angry all the time and has rubbish hair. (None of which apply to me, I dress impeccably and am of a cheerful demeanour at all times )

Gosh, I'm going all feminist in my old age...

Chuchoter

zoegh wrote: »

+1 on the 'please don't make it about guys' thing. It gets on my nerves. Most of the 'public' bits of our community are dominated by men. The George, Dragon, less so in Panti, GCN (that REALLY bugs me)... Now, I'm not too sure why that is, are men still valued more than women in Irish society? Or are the girls just content to move in with each other after 2 dates and drink tea and succumb to lesbian bed death? Is the focus of the community here in Ireland so male focussed that it prohibits women from feeling comfortable there?

I know that's probably the case for me. So many women present in gay bars these days are straight girls who are there with their gay male mates (fair enough, I have no problem with that in the slightest) but who get seriously offended when they are approached by a woman. I'd be interested to find out if in reality, gay men are more accepted than gay women, because they fits useful stereotypes- the gay best friend, great with fashion and decorating, and for bitching, whereas the stereotypical lesbian... crap fashion sense, looks angry all the time and has rubbish hair. (None of which apply to me, I dress impeccably and am of a cheerful demeanour at all times )

Gosh, I'm going all feminist in my old age...

I love your description of lesbians-we really are useless!
Anywho the are gay men more accepted than lesbians (which I think they are) would be a very interesting topic to cover.

deasyd

Don't worry it's not going to just be about guys. It's going to be a series about total LGBT integration.

I see where you're coming from by saying that most of your LGBT community is dominated by men, but unfortunately I think it's a case of 'gay men shout the loudest' rather than men being more valued in society.

Unfortunately, when you mention 'gay' to the public they seem to automatically associate it with men rather than women for some reason and this is something I discovered on the streets when making previous documentaries.

In previous studies conducted, it was discovered more common for lesbians to commit to relationships much quicker than men and have more troublsome break-ups. Furthermore, it found that women have very strong emotional and physical realtionship with their same sex partner. Coversely, it found the opposite was in existence with gay male same sex relationship. For example, casual sex was more frequent and high levels of promiscuity. If I can get my hands on this study I shall post it here.

I certainly take your point when you say, "Is the community here in Ireland so male focussed that it prohibits women from feeling comfortable there?" I have heard a number of lesbians say this to me in the past and I think this is a valid point to make and a good issue to raise on the show. I feel everyone should feel part of a wider community free of intimidation.

I also take your point of the straight person in a gay bar and then getting offended when appraoched by a gay person. This is something that was also expressed to me in the past and something we are definately going to cover in the future. It seems to be a growing issue since the wider acceptance of gay people in society. If high numbers of straight people are attending gay bars is it a good or bad thing? Does it show integration and aceptance? Opinion is often divided. I have often heard gay people say "leave us gays have one gay place to ourselves".

You raise another very valid point when you ask which is more acceptable in society gay men or women? Definately another issue to raise. At the moment, I would be inclined to say that it's more acceptable for men. Back at the early 1900's it was considered impossible for women to be gay or have any sexual feelings towards the same sex due to no penetration taking place. I think it stems from this and the fact that men might have difficulties accepting the fact that some women want nothing to do with them so, therefore, it must be impossible.

Tackling gay sterotypes is something we will continue to do once this series takes off. I think Donal Og Cusack broke the mould for this last year, but it will remain a struggle until others like him "come out".

Another issue that worries me the the feminist/anti-man lesbian. I think that this is a developing trend that's quite worrying. You will often find that some lesbians have a hatred for men for no valid reason. You also mention the angry demeanour of lesbians which is all to often very common. However, the same cannot be said in reverse. Gay men often have many female friends as you pointed out yourself.

This reply is getting awfully long-winded. However, I would like to finish by thanking you for making such an excellent contribution to this thread. These are exactly the types of issues we are looking for. Issues that do exist, but are never talked about. By covering all these issues it will bring us one more step closer to full integration in Irish society. Keep them coming!

zoegh wrote: »

+1 on the 'please don't make it about guys' thing. It gets on my nerves. Most of the 'public' bits of our community are dominated by men. The George, Dragon, less so in Panti, GCN (that REALLY bugs me)... Now, I'm not too sure why that is, are men still valued more than women in Irish society? Or are the girls just content to move in with each other after 2 dates and drink tea and succumb to lesbian bed death? Is the focus of the community here in Ireland so male focussed that it prohibits women from feeling comfortable there?

I know that's probably the case for me. So many women present in gay bars these days are straight girls who are there with their gay male mates (fair enough, I have no problem with that in the slightest) but who get seriously offended when they are approached by a woman. I'd be interested to find out if in reality, gay men are more accepted than gay women, because they fits useful stereotypes- the gay best friend, great with fashion and decorating, and for bitching, whereas the stereotypical lesbian... crap fashion sense, looks angry all the time and has rubbish hair. (None of which apply to me, I dress impeccably and am of a cheerful demeanour at all times )

Gosh, I'm going all feminist in my old age...

baby and crumble

deasyd wrote:

I also take your point of the straight person in a gay bar and then getting offended when approached by a gay person. This is something that was also expressed to me in the past and something we are definitely going to cover in the future. It seems to be a growing issue since the wider acceptance of gay people in society. If high numbers of straight people are attending gay bars is it a good or bad thing? Does it show integration and acceptance? Opinion is often divided. I have often heard gay people say "leave us gays have one gay place to ourselves".

My point was more to highlight the discrepancy between acceptance of gay males and lesbians in Ireland. In my experience women in gay bars tend to be more straight than gay, and become offended and in some cases aggressive when being chatted up. Why is that? I personally think anyone should be free to come and go anywhere they please, whether that is straight people in a gay bar, or gay people in a straight bar. I just become concerned when it is clear that there is a double standard.

deasyd wrote:

You raise another very valid point when you ask which is more acceptable in society gay men or women? Definitely another issue to raise. At the moment, I would be inclined to say that it's more acceptable for men. Back at the early 1900's it was considered impossible for women to be gay or have any sexual feelings towards the same sex due to no penetration taking place. I think it stems from this and the fact that men might have difficulties accepting the fact that some women want nothing to do with them so, therefore, it must be impossible.

I was just discussing this the other day with my partner- in some ways when it comes to sex, lesbianism is less threatening and more acceptable in many ways, perhaps because it's 'always 2 women being 2 women'; having lesbian sex is not something that makes you less of a woman. However, in many people eyes the act of anal sex makes at least one of the sexual partners in gay male sex 'the woman' (I'm just using laymans terms here for ease of explanation). The role of a woman is less valued in society, so why would a man, who has a more valued role, want to lessen that? That's threatening to many people. Strangely many women can understand the appeal of having sex with a woman, but as a 'one night' kind of thing. But somehow that openness hits a block at some point.

deasyd wrote:

Another issue that worries me the the feminist/anti-man lesbian. I think that this is a developing trend that's quite worrying. You will often find that some lesbians have a hatred for men for no valid reason. You also mention the angry demeanour of lesbians which is all to often very common. However, the same cannot be said in reverse. Gay men often have many female friends as you pointed out yourself.

I have bolded the word 'worry' in your reply to highlight it. What exactly is worrying? Why is a feminist a bad thing? There is a fear around feminists that I think is quite 'worrying'. Feminists are not automatically man-haters. Most feminist theorists and writers have been heterosexual. I am not a man hater. What consititutes 'hate' anyway? In many ways one can understand a woman who perhaps works in nursing or social work, a field of work dominated by women, at least in the front lines, and who has a female partner not having much to do with men in general, therefore not really caring about them- they simply don't exist on the radar. This isn't hate, and and perhaps the view of it as hate comes from the men who think they should be taken notice of at all times? Indifference is hardly hate.

I do, however, want to ensure that people are equal. Sometimes this pushes me to speak up about the rights of people I believe are being ignored in this country. Society, whether people want to admit it or not, is geared up to respect and appreciate the traditional 'male' roles. It is also geared up to respect predominantly white, catholic (at a push Christian) western viewpoints. THAT is worrying.

My best friend in the world is a man. Most lesbians I know love men, just not in a sexual way. It is these kinds of stereotypes that need to be explored and pushed.

Also, what you say about gay men having female friends is true. However, I would question exactly what purposes these friendships serve in many cases, and whether or not the females in these friendships may be in them for the right reasons- ie liking the person who happens to be gay as opposed to liking 'the gay guy'- these are two very VERY different things.

And let's remember that women, a lot of the time, can be extremely 'cliquey', and that includes lesbians. If you're not the 'right kind' of lesbian you can very quickly be denied access to certain activities. Too butch? Not butch enough? Somewhere in the middle? Hmmm...

Annasopra

deasyd wrote: »

Another issue that worries me the the feminist/anti-man lesbian. I think that this is a developing trend that's quite worrying. You will often find that some lesbians have a hatred for men for no valid reason. You also mention the angry demeanour of lesbians which is all to often very common. However, the same cannot be said in reverse. Gay men often have many female friends as you pointed out yourself.

I disagree with you quite strongly here -
Firstly I don't think its unfair of you to equate feminism with mysandry - they are completely different. Also as a man I don't in any way see feminism as being a negative thing or something to worry about. I do also think some of what you have said is to an extent reinforcing stereotypes of angry man hating lesbians. I also don't agree with your assumption that all gay men love women. I think that there is a phenomenon of some gay men who are quite mysoginistic

deasyd

Johnnymcg wrote: »

I disagree with you quite strongly here -
Firstly I don't think its fair of you to equate feminism with mysandry - they are completely different. Also as a man I don't in any way see feminism as being a negative thing or something to worry about. I do also think some of what you have said is to an extent reinforcing stereotypes of angry man hating lesbians. I also don't agree with your assumption that all gay men love women. I think that there is a phenomenon of some gay men who are quite mysoginistic

You're completely entitled to your opinion. However, there are lesbians out there who hate men. I full accept that I should not have equated feminism with man hating. That was ignorance on my part. I suppose this is going to be the whole point of this series. Other people may make sweeping judgements like I just did, but unless with put these issue and ideas out there how will be able to educate people?

I never siad that gay men love women.