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All €300,000 allocated from autism fund spent in Reilly’s north Dublin heartland
Minister approved funding for Beechpark Services because of waiting list problems read full article
irishtimes.comIrish public to vote on same sex marriage in 2014
The Daily Shift
The topic of gay marriage has become increasingly prevalent worldwide, and with several US states and the UK having passed laws to allow gay marriage, the Irish public will now have a chance to vote on the subject. The Constitutional Convention – a …
See all stories on this topic »
Minister pledges to address ‘crisis’ in mental health services in Roscommon area
Nurses say understaffing and lack of investment has resulted in serious incidents read full article
Catholic Bishops ratchet up pressure on Government over abortion legislation
Leaflets assert that lives of both mother and unborn baby are sacred read full article
Coveney in Luxembourg for key negotiations to secure EU farm deal
Irish delegation hoping to secure sign-off on biggest reform of Common Agricultural Policy in a decaderead full article
Proposed law not sufficient, say Savita Halappanavar’s parents
‘They must change the law to save women’s health, not just her life’ read full article
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Gay Divorce yet to be legalised
Parliament passed the bill that legalised gay marriage in the UK, albeit with some stumbles along the way. News of the bill’s passing was greeted by high-pitched cheers from the assembled, and well dressed, crowd outside the Houses of Parliament.
A stereotypical image of the congregation at Britain’s first gaymarriage (C) The Daily Male.
This was immediately followed by over a hundred proposals of marriage between gay members in the crowd, some of whom had only just met.
“It’s amazing,” said Evan Stephens, a forty-four year old gay man of thirty-seven years.
“I was so excited that when Damien asked me to marry him, I said ‘Yes!'”
This was followed by squeals from the crowd.
There is a downside to the situation that has not yet been fully realised by the LGBT community. Although Gay Marriage is now legal, Gay Divorce still hasn’t been passed as a law.
“Call it an oversight,” said a rather smug Julian Bedfellow, chairman of the Conservative Oversights committee. “I’m sure at some point Gay Divorce will become law, but currently, there is no legislation in place to allow gay people to get divorced.”
This ‘oversight’ has disturbing ramifications. With an estimated seven thousand gay marriages lined up for the remainder of the year. and three times that proposed (‘scuse pun) for next year, and with the divorce rate in the UK currently standing at one third of all marriages, over nine thousand people will suddenly find they are incompatible, have grown apart, cheated or snore, and will be unable to do anything about it.
“I expect,” said Bedfellow, snidely, “that we’ll pass a Gay Divorce bill in fifteen, twenty years? Maybe longer. I mean, let’s face it, the Gay Marriage bill only passed because most MPs don’t realise what ‘gay’ means now, and thought they were voting to force people to have happy marriages.”
via The Spoof : Gay Divorce yet to be legalised funny satire story.
Topless Nuns Spray Jesus’s Sperm In Paris Protest
Topless nuns were seen hosing down anti-gay marriage demonstrators with “holy sperm” last Sunday in Paris.
Go ahead. Read that sentence again.
Of course, these weren’t real nuns! FEMEN, the breast-baring Ukrainian women’s movement, is famous for spreading awareness about a cause through nudity. When FEMEN found out that more than 100,000 Catholics would be protesting against France’s legislation to allow gay marriage and adoption, they got their weapons ready. With various slogans written across their chests, including “In Gay We Trust” and “Fuck God,” Femen members got creative with baby powder, spraying the mist on protesters, calling it “Jesus Sperm.”
In both photos and videos, the women of FEMEN are shown being shoved by both protestors and policemen, with one activist losing a tooth and another with a broken nose. Sounds a bit scary. Alas, as the gay rights movement begins to gain acceptance in more countries throughout the world, protests on both sides of the debate are sure to spark some fire … and spread some more cleavage.
Majority backs same-sex union, poll indicates
There is broad public support for same-sex marriage and for most of the other constitutional changes backed by the Government, according to an Ipsos MRBI 50th anniversary poll. Most of those proposed changes will be considered by a constitutional convention which will hold its first meeting next weekend.
The only proposed change that does not meet with public approval is to reduce the voting age to 17.
The survey covered a range of issues and was conducted by Ipsos MRBI to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary. Details of changing values and beliefs over the past half century on a range of issues including religion, Northern Ireland and Europe will be revealed in The Irish Times in the week ahead.
The poll was conducted among a representative sample of 1,000 voters aged 18 and over, in face-to-face interviews at 100 locations in all 43 constituencies.
The margin of error is plus or minus 3 per cent.
Voters were asked how they would vote in the constitutional referendums planned during the Coalition’s lifetime.
On same-sex marriage 53 per cent said they would vote Yes while 30 per cent would vote No, while 17 per cent have no opinion. Women were significantly more in favour of the change than men and younger voters were the most enthusiastic. Voters over 55 are solidly opposed to the proposed change.
Citizens living abroad�
On abolition of the Seanad 55 per cent said they would vote Yes, 22 per cent said No and 23 per cent had no opinion. There is an even spread of opinion on this issue across age, class and region. The Government has committed itself to holding a referendum on this issue and it will not be considered by the convention.
The most popular proposal going before the convention is the one to give Irish citizens living abroad the right to vote in presidential elections. The response here was 68 per cent Yes and 17 per cent No.
On the question of whether the reference to the woman’s life within the home should be removed from the Constitution the most striking finding was the number of people with no opinion.
A total of 41 per cent said the reference should be removed, while 19 per cent said it should not and 40 per cent had no opinion.
via Majority backs same-sex union, poll indicates – The Irish Times – Mon, Nov 26, 2012.
via Majority backs same-sex union, poll indicates – The Irish Times – Mon, Nov 26, 2012.
Vatican takes strong stance against gay marriage after US election
The Vatican had vowed that it will never stop insisting that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
Just days after three US states approved same-sex marriage by popular vote in the recent election, the Vatican has taken a stance against gay marriage with a “media blitz” that includes a front-page article in Saturday’s Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano.
There was also a Vatican Radio editorial in which the pope’s spokesman asked why gay marriage supporters don’t also push for legal recognition of polygamous marriages as well.
Along with the US, Spain has also upheld its gay marriage law and France is pushing ahead with legislation that could see same-sex marriage legalized as early as next year.
Catholic teaching holds that homosexuals should be treated with dignity but that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.”
According to RTE, L’Osservatore Romano wrote that Catholics were valiantly fighting to uphold church teachings in the face of “politically correct ideologies invading every culture of the world.”
Read more news on LGBT issues here
Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said that homosexuals can have their rights protected by means other than through legal marriage.
He added that children should be able to say they have a father and a mother.
“If not, then why not contemplate freely chosen polygamy, and naturally so as to not discriminate, polyandry?” he asked.
Polyandry is when a woman has two or more husbands.
“As a result, don’t expect the church to stop insisting that society recognises a specific place for marriage between a man and woman,” he said.
The Church has also clashed with the Obama administration over the contraception mandate which exempts houses of worship but applies to faith-affiliated employers.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has said the mandate is a violation of religious freedom.
‘Bigot’ award for UK’s most senior Cardinal – Europe, World News – Independent.ie
Britain’s most senior Catholic, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, was named Stonewall‘s Bigot of the Year last night, despite threats from Barclays and Coutts to withdraw their sponsorship of the awards over the category.
Cardinal O’Brien was “honoured” for his outspoken attacks on proposals to legalise same-sex marriage at the gay and lesbian campaign group’s annual awards. (© Independent News Service)
via ‘Bigot’ award for UK’s most senior Cardinal – Europe, World News – Independent.ie.
via ‘Bigot’ award for UK’s most senior Cardinal – Europe, World News – Independent.ie.
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.”
Dublin City Council backs same-sex marriage
Dublin City Council has thrown its weight behind the campaign for same-sex marriage after it voted overwhelmingly tonight in support of a motion calling for full marriage equality in Ireland.
Dublin City Council now joins Cork City Council and Belfast City Council, who passed similar motions in June.
The move has been welcomed by gay rights activists and equality organisations.
Dublin City Council backs same-sex marriage | BreakingNews.ie.
via Dublin City Council backs same-sex marriage | BreakingNews.ie.
