Archive for November, 2008
This evening the society heads off to the ice rink for a night of ice skating. Only those who are confirmed to be on the list for the bus are able to go, due to space constraints.
Next Monday, December 1st, is World Aids Day. Millions of people around the world are still affected by the scourge of HIV/AIDS, with the vast majority of infections occuring in the developing world. AIDS is destroying whole communities, and reducing life expectancy in many African nations to shockingly low levels.
On Monday, the UCC LGBT Society is drawing attention the plight of AIDS sufferers worlwide by organising a stand in the Boole Basement from 10am-4pm. We’ll be selling red ribbons for €2 each, and donating the money we raise to charity. Please come and support this worthy cause.
On Monday evening at 7pm in room 2.12 on the second floor of the O’Rahily Building we’ll be showing the film Philadelphia. This is one of the classic movies from the 90s, that earned Tom Hanks an oscar for his portrayal of a lawyer fired for being a gay man with HIV/AIDS. Denzel Washington also stars. This is a must-see film, and we look forward to seeing society members and non-members alike at the film showing.
November 26 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Thanks to Mark in LGBT Noise for directing us towards this. RTE broadcast a panel discussion on civil partnership on Sunday last. It was an interesting and revealing discussion, and we encourage you to listen to it yourself. The address is http://www.rte.ie/radio1/spiritmoves/1231937.html You’ll need RealPlayer to listen to the programme.
Senator Rónán Mullen, who represents UCC in the Seanad, took part in the debate- and his deeply conservative views are pretty worrying. Tom McGurk, the presenter, is pretty unbalanced himself in his arguments. Give it a listen.
November 18 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
After the rigours of last week’s well-attended and enjoyable debate, this week we’re moving into a different gear. In Electrical Engineering L3 at 8pm on Wednesday night we’re running a Wii night.
That means old reliables Wii Sports, Smash Brothers and Guitar Hero, aswell as some gems you may not have heard of- like the tense but hilarious Boom Blox.
We’ll have multiple TVs and projectors set up to play the games- and there’ll be free finger food and drinks too. You don’t need to be any good at games to enjoy these, either- all the games we’ll be playing on Wednesday can be learned in moments. However, we won’t be taking responsibility for any wrist injuries incurred by some over-zealous Wii Remote swinging!
We’re expecting an enjoyable evening- and we hope to see you there.
November 16 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Give Blood- Because We Can’t.
This is the message of the UCC LGBT Society this week, as the Irish Blood Transfusion Service comes to UCC to ask students to help replenish the blood supply, which is urgently required to save lives every day of the week.
Unfortunately, gay and bisexual men can’t give blood. This was a decision by blood transfusion agencies worlwide back in the 1980s when the western AIDS epidemic was at its height, and the disease was thought to be a ‘gay’ one. All men who have ever had sex with men were banned from donating blood- and despite the introduction of rigorous screening methods for blood (and the recognition that AIDS was a disease that affected everyone, not just gay and bisexual men), the blood ban remains in place.
We believe that this is an archaic, inappropriate and humiliating form of discrimination that is a relic of the past- and we call on the IBTS to end the ban without delay.
We’ll running a stand outside the Boole tomorrow from 10am-4pm and we’ll be handing out information and drawing attention to the issue.
But to those who can give blood- we urge you to do so. Because it’s urgently needed. Because it will save lives. And because we can’t.
November 16 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
Anyone interested in reading more about the Civil Partnership Bill should click here. This links to the Department of Justice site’s PDF file of the Heads of the Bill. Clocking in at 172 pages and written in complex legal language, it may not be ideal bedtime reading- but hey, this could impact your future!
November 13 2008 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
This week sees an important event take place in the society- a meeting to debate the Government’s upcoming Civil Partnership Bill. Dan Boyle, the Green Party Senator and former T.D will argue against the motion that ‘This House believes that Civil Partnership will create a ‘marriage apartheid’ in Ireland.‘ We’ll have another special guest to argue that Civil Partnership fails to go far enough to safeguard the rights of LGBT people in Ireland and that the Bill will create a two-tier system of inequal entitlements for straight and gay couples.
A speaker from the MarriagEquality campaign group willalso be present to inform those present on the issues and debates involved- and hand out information on their campaign to secure full civil marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in Ireland.
The night will conclude with a vote to decide the victor on the night- and in doing so will formally create the UCC LGBT Society’s official stance on the issue.
The debate begins at 8pm in Boole 1 on Thursday night- so be sure to note the change in time and location from our usual meetings. This is an important event, debating an important issue that is central to the LGBT community’s ongoing struggle for civil rights. We look forward to seeing you there.
November 09 2008 | Events | No Comments »