Blog Archives
Elton John pregnant, expecting a ‘Christmas Baby’
Musical supremo Elton John has revealed that scientists have successfully made him pregnant, using the genetically modified womb from an old bear. Sir Elton, 65, has barely suffered any signs of morning sickness, although he did feel the urge to hibernate in late November.
The pianist and his partner, David Furnish, already have one baby, born by a human surrogate somewhere in California. But the happy couple are expecting the follow up to be ‘even better than the old one’, thanks to the miracle of science, a grizzly’s second-hand lady-pocket and cutting edge techniques which have combined to produce what Elton describes as his best albumen yet.
“There’s no feeling like it, having a little human growing inside you”, explained Elton. “It’s fantastic that these days, age is no barrier to being a mum. And a Christmas baby? Well, that’s the best gift I could have hoped for. Although I’d still like that steam train and a Dubai island shaped like my face.”
Furnish explained that differing gestation periods between the species ‘Homo sapiens’ and ‘Ursa Minorus Keyus’ make it hard to calculate exactly when the baby is due, but a full medical team are on stand-by for Elton’s sell-out Christmas tour. “Obviously, it would be a dream come true for Elton to squeeze it out on stage during an encore”, admitted Furnish. “But failing that, I think we’d both quite like a water birth.”
The singer has denied media claims that he is ‘too posh to push’, and is adamant that he won’t resort to a C-section. But doctors are keeping a sharp knife handy just in case he changes his mind, and have seized the opportunity to warn other elderly men in a similar position of the risk of hernia at least, or even a full rectal prolapse.
Mumsnet have criticised the star for being ‘too old’ to have a baby, but Sir John’s team are unconcerned. “David’s found this wonderful nanny to take care of everything, and Elton will be singing songs from his back catalogue to sooth situations and ease any tension as the child grows,” said his gynaecologist. “But hormones do play an important part at times like this. Obviously we’ll move everyone away to a safe distance if he storms off to his piano starts playing ‘the Bitch is Back’.”
via Elton John pregnant, expecting a ‘Christmas Baby’ | NewsBiscuit.
via Elton John pregnant, expecting a ‘Christmas Baby’ | NewsBiscuit.
Two-thirds of Irish support gay marriage new poll shows |
A new poll shows that 66 percent of Irish adults support same-sex marriage.
According to the Journal.ie, the Behaviour and Attitudes poll in the Sunday Times found that among the 971 people who were surveyed earlier this month believe in gay marriage with legal entitlements.
The poll showed support for gay marriage is slightly stronger among women than men and is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
While the majority of those polled believe in legal same-sex marriage, 26 percent believed that current legislation should remain where it stands where gay couples can only enter a civil partnership and eight percent said they did not know or had no opinion on the issue.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has described the issue of gay marriage as the “civil rights issue of this generation.”
No timetable for legislation on gender recognition –
LGBTI RIGHTS: THE GOVERNMENT has no committed time frame to provide legislation for legal recognition of transgender people, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said yesterday.
Speaking at the closing of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (ILGA) European conference in Dublin yesterday, he said the Government was committed to developing legislation for gender recognition but that no time frame for this could be given.
“There is no committed time frame. It’s not a case of putting it off, but I’m not putting a timetable on it.”
Regarding same-sex marriage, Mr Gilmore said he was not disappointed the Taoiseach did not support his views on the topic and that from a Government perspective the issue would be dealt with in the upcoming constitutional convention.
Mr Gilmore is the highest ranking official to give a closing speech in the ILGA conference’s 16-year history. In his speech he praised lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people for their “unique insight” into the importance of human rights.
Mr Gilmore said Ireland was honoured to be chosen as a venue for the ILGA, and that it was a testimony to Ireland’s “remarkable journey” on the progression of LGBTI rights.
“There is a generation of young Irish people now for who the Ireland of 20 or 30 years ago will be almost unrecognisable,” Mr Gilmore said.
“That was an Ireland where divorce was illegal, banned by our Constitution, where contraception was banned and where less than 20 years ago, 1993, homosexuality was a criminal offence. The campaign to liberalise Ireland’s laws was at times a difficult and divisive struggle.”
He said thousands of Irish LGBTI people who would previously have felt the need to leave the country now stayed, and he praised “all the activists, civil society organisations, politicians and individuals from all walks of life who kept the dream of human rights alive and who also acted out of responsibility to change this country for the better”.
He recognised violence against LGBTI people internationally as a violation of human rights and said he hoped Ireland’s progress in legislating for the rights of LGBTI people would offer “comfort” to delegates present from countries where oppression is rife.
In 2007, at the occasion of the United Nations universal periodic review of human rights, he said there were “objection to issues in relation to sexual orientation even being raised”, but that now “it is routinely discussed and countries are engaging in a more considered exchange of views”.
He praised the United Nations for the great progress that had been made.
The four-day international conference – the theme was Advancing LGBTI Equality in Challenging Times – was attended by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday.
Some 235 participants took part in workshops and seminars from 42 countries.
via No timetable for legislation on gender recognition – The Irish Times – Mon, Oct 22, 2012.
via No timetable for legislation on gender recognition – The Irish Times – Mon, Oct 22, 2012.
Senator David Norris believes IRA hero Michael Collins may have been gay
Former Irish presidential candidate, David Norris, has claimed that revolutionary leader Michael Collins may have been a homosexual.
Collins, a key figure in Irish history, played a crucial role in establishing the Irish free state in the 1920s. He was killed in August 22, 1922 in an ambush attack at Béal na mBláth in Co. Cork.
Norris, an Irish Senator and gay rights activist made the claims in his newly published autobiography.
Norris writes in his new book ‘A Kick Against the Pricks’ about an incident where he claims he chatted to an elderly man who said he had been “one of Mr Collins’ principal boyfriends.”
“Other heroes of Irish nationalism were also less than 100 per cent heterosexual.
“If Michael Collins was gay or bisexual – so what? Who cares? It shouldn’t matter as it is just a neutral fact,” he wrote.
“It certainly isn’t a slur, and the vast majority of the Irish people no longer regard it as such.”
Roger Casement was gay and possibly Patrick Pearse.
Meanwhile, a Sinn Fein spokesman dismissed the claim as speculation.
“Speculating on what was some historical person’s sexuality is the stuff of the tabloid media,” a spokesman said.
