Focál Up!

Water Cooler Chatter ‘Celebrity’ Big Brother

Anyone watching this year’s Celebrity Big Brother – well, the first CBB of the year (there will be another one in September) – will be aware of that issues of sexual and gender identity have been at the forefront of the contestant’s minds.

In perhaps the most unlikely twist yet, former RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, Courtney Act (also known as Shane Jenek) has become the house’s font of all LGBT+ knowledge – and both Shane and Courtney are doing a bang-up job.

There was immediate tension between Courtney/Shane and trans former newsreader, India Willoughy, who was the first evictee, as India claimed she had a phobia of drag queens (a claim derided by Twitter users who were quick to circulate images of her posing with several drag queens).

It was an extraordinary situation: India is a trans women who does not feel any affinity with the wider LGBT+ community. “I do feel women like me have been sort out drowned out by the LGBT narrative,” she said. “This is part of the problem with being hitched to LGBT, it’s the confusion element.”

Courtney/Shane pointed out that had it not been for LGB and T activists campaigning so ardently for so long, the freedom for a trans person to be a newsreader may not exist.

Indeed, for his part Courtney/Shane has been more than considerate, explaining to other housemates why a trans woman might have a problem with a cis man in drag, and making efforts to increase the group’s understanding of the trans experience. Shane’s approachability and eloquence on the subject has in effect made him the hetero housemates’ queer glossary.

Many viewers have suggested that India’s dislike of Courtney is less about the latter’s career as a drag queen, and more about jealousy, which seems like a valid criticism. For India, the sight of a carefree, cisgender man, easily jumping between genders without being burdened by issues related to gender identity must be grating to say the least.

As always, there are also several rather generic ‘lad’ charcters – a former Love Island contestant, a former comedian desperate for redemption after making career-ending rape jokes, and former Apprentice contestant, Andrew Brady. On more than one occasion during the men’s ‘lad’ chats Brady has referred to both India and Courtney as “it”, without being challenged by Big Brother.

However, viewers and housemates have been quick to point out that Brady and Shane/Courtney have been flirting up a storm. It’s a complicated bromance in a house where all the gender and sexual buttons are being tweaked. Stay tuned!

Celebrity Big Brother airs daily at 9pm on 3e

Lingo Nature

We can’t get enough of smooth sound of queer band, Wyvern Lingo’s new single, ‘Maybe It’s My Nature’. The trio made it to 2FM’s Rising 2018 list of the best Irish music to watch for this year, and it’s easy to see why.

Lead singer on the track, Karen Cowley, also wrote the lyrics with a sexually empowering message in mind. “I find that female characters in a lot of popular media still seem to lack sexual agency or fall into age old stereotypes,” says Cowley. “I wrote this song at a time when I was particularly fed-up of hearing and seeing the same depictions that don’t resonate with how I feel.”

We won’t get fed up of listening to Cowley’s crystalline vocal on this track, and we can hardly wait for Wyvern Lingo’s debut album, which gets a release on February 23. Watch this space for tour dates!

Gender Play

Our curiosity has been piqued by a new play exploring sexuality and gender runs this month at the Dublin’s Project Arts Centre.

Inspired by gender politics as well as recent court cases dealing with ‘gender fraud’, Scorch by Belfast playwright Stacey Gregg tells the story of a teenager, Kes, who is struggling with their gender identity.

Kes explores their sexuality and gender by presenting as a boy who embarks on an intimate relationship with a girl, an act that leads to devastating consequences both legally and personally.

At its heart, Scorch delves into the complexity of love, through the eyes of a gender-curious teen, examining how the human story often gets lost amidst the headlines.

‘Scorch’ runs at the Project Arts Centre from February 13 to March 3, 7.45pm. Tickets €16 - €18 from projectartscentre.ie

Nelson’s Tour

We sat down with one half of jazz duo Zrazy, Carole Nelson, last month to talk about her first album fronting her new outfit, The Carole Nelson Trio, and this month we’re delighted to report she’s out and about, bringing her music to the people.

We were particularly charmed to hear that idea for her sumptuous album, One Day in Winter, came to her one night while driving to a gig just after hearing the news of Leonard Cohen’s passing. “I knew too how I would structure it, from pre-dawn to sunrise, to the moon rising over the Blackstairs Mountains,” she told us.

You can catch Nelson’s trio at the following venues: on January 27 at the Wexford Arts Centre (Jan 27), Billy Byrnes, Killkenny (Feb 1), Arthur’s Blues and Jazz Pub, Dublin (February 15), The Courthouse Arts Centre, Tinahely, (Feb 17), and finally on February 21 at the Limerick Jazz Society. Find out more at carolenelsonmusic.com

The Write Stuff

For any burgeoning or aspiring writers out there seeking assistance in crafting believeable and authentic LGBT+ characters, a one-day course offered by the Irish Writers Centre is just the ticket.

The course, hosted by Hilary McCollum whose debut novel, Golddigger, won the Golden Crown Literary Society Award for historical fiction in 2016, will focus on how to research LGBT+ lives and how to avoid clichés and stereotypes.

“There are many issues to consider when representing LGBT characters,” McCollum says. “How are LGBT people viewed in the setting the writer has chosen? Are they accepted or are they stigmatised? What is the character’s attitude to their identity? Is the character’s LGBT identity explored in the storyline or is it incidental? For example, JK Rowling has said that she always considered Albus Dumblesdore, headmaster of Hogwarts, to be gay but this is not hinted at until the final book of the seven book series.

These questions in more will be explored in depth on the course, during which participants will explore LGBT+ characters across different genres. And if McCollum could be one queer fictional character for a day, who would it be?

“Virginia Woolf’s Orlando,” she says, “so that I could experience life over many centuries and many cultures while falling in love and perfecting my craft as a writer.”

Writing LGBTQ Characters With Hilary McCollum runs at The Irish Writers Centre on Dublin’s Parnell Square on March 3, from 10.30 to 4pm, tickets €80 (€70 for members)

Leather Pride

Vegans, look away now: Leather Pride is hitting Dublin city from January 26 – 28. There’s a smörgåsbord of events crammed into the weekend, with a mixture of paid and free events to entice the leather-lovers out there.

The weekend eases attendees in gently with cocktails on Friday January 26 from 6pm at The Blind Pig, followed by a Meet and Greet at Street 66 from 9pm. On Saturday 27, the day kicks off with a cultural tour at 11am, followed by ‘Pints and Platters’ at the Galway Bay Brewery on Newmarket Square. Later on it’s time to dust off the old leather tuxedo for a formal Leather Dinner at WUFF, followed that evening by GEARED Ireland’s Mr Leather Ireland contest at Fibber Magees.

The next day is all about chilling and kicking back in your most comfortable chaps, kicking off at 12pm with Leather Brunch at Oscars and followed by a Fireside Chat and look at the Leather Archives in the Central Hotel Library Bar. Then there’s a Fetish Dinner at 7.30pm at Viva in Portobello, before the weekend finishes with a dungeon chill-out called ‘Sounds and Sleaze’ at 9.30pm, downstaris in the same venue.

For more information about Leather Pride, visit leatherpridedublin.ie

Q+A With Michelle

For this month’s Q+A podcast, we sat down for the fat chats with Michelle Visage, who just happened to be here to film Ireland’s Got Talent. She wanted to talk to GCN from the outset, and she had things to impart, especially in the light of Trump’s America.

“What I loved most about Michelle was the way she focused all her attention on getting her message about inclusivity across,” says editor, Brian Finnegan, who sat behind the mic. “In her role on RuPaul’s Drag Race she’s a mentor to many queer men who’ve been rejected by their families, and as that show is broadcast across the world, she’s become kind of beacon to LGBT’s who don’t have the privilege of being safe in their communities and countries. It’s a role she takes very seriously.”

In between the serious stuff, there’s plenty of laughs, though. We wouldn’t have expected anything less.

You can listen to this episode of Q+A, and all our other episodes, at Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast fix.

A Quickie with…

Mr Bear Ireland, Eoin Dolan

Hey Eoin, tell us, what did it mean to you to win Mr Bear Ireland in 2017?

I tried out for the first time in 2015 and came second to my best mate. So I waited a while and gave it another go, because I really wanted it. I thought that I could be a good representative for Ireland’s bear community.

What’s the one burning issue that you think is most important for gay men right now?

We can all see that our society grows healthier and more open as the years go by, but for others – people of all ages – peer pressure, self-confidence, insecurities and fear in general keeps them in the dark about themselves and stops them from wanting to come out. Seeing the crap that’s going on around the world, particularly in Chechnya, I know if I were coming out in that type of climate, it would surely be fearful.

Why do you think bear culture is important for gay guys?

As a titleholder and visiting different bear scenes throughout the year, I’ve noticed there is a lot of exclusion when it comes to types, preferences and labels. We deal with enough childish behaviour and ignorance outside, and I think we shouldn’t forget what bear culture really stands for. Dublin Bears is very much a community-focused bear group, and together we try to promote the positive side of bear culture.

If you could have five fabulous and famous bears to dinner at your place, who would they be?

I were to choose off the top of my head, Kevin James has always been one of my favourites. Alex Matthews, who plays Brett in ZNation’s first season. Ride! Chris Sullivan who plays the big bear in the diner in the first few episodes of Stranger Things. RIP Benny! And, of course, I can never leave out poor aul’ Baloo.

If they were making a movie of your life, what would it be called?

I love travelling and I am single, so I think this title would work: Continental Shift. Can the other stars be all of my listed famous bears above?

What event at Béar Féile are you looking forward to most, and why?

The main event on Saturday night! We’ve a good few special guests coming to visit. We’ll be welcoming Mr Bears Belgium for 2017 and 2018, Mr Bears Poland 2017 and 2018, Mr North American Daddy Bear, Mr Bear Gran Canaria, and Mr Bear Europe. I really think it will be a fun night, introducing the guys and partying with them again.

If the world was ending tomorrow, what would you do today?

Session!

Bear Féile takes place this year from March 23 to 25, www.dublinbears.ie for full details of events

QUEER VIEW MIRROR

#RepealThe8th

#AlPorter

#STIs

As a GP and a gay man who grew up in the ’90s, access to abortion is surely not a remote issue for Varadkar.

SAY NUTTIN’, LEO

The government continues to discuss what it should do about the Repeal the 8th referendum. Will it present the recommendation of abortion on demand up to 12 weeks to the electorate? Will it be something more restrictive? Will it be in May?

Leo Varadkar has more than once refused to state his own opinion on the matter. As a GP and a gay man who grew up in the ’90s, access to abortion is surely not a remote issue for him, but all he’ll say is that he will tell the country he leads what he thinks about it when the exact proposition for the referendum has been decided and a date set for the vote.

Is this fence-sitting? Or is he respecting voters’ ability to work it out for themselves? It might be both. Although Varadkar won the vote of Fine Gael TDs and ministers during the leadership contest with Simon Coveney, he lost the vote of the more conservative party members, a group he would need on side if the electorate ever got the chance to vote for him as Taoiseach in a general election. Polls suggest he is a popular Taoiseach, so why rock the boat by alienating the Yes or No side with a definite opinion on access to abortion?

Of course, he could be staying quiet because he believes the outcome of a referendum should be down to the individual voter and his personal opinion is not relevant at this time.

However, when the referendum is announced, will he then forcefully campaign for whichever argument he believes is the more just?

TOO ERR IS HUMAN…

As the list of male celebrities accused of everything from groping to rape continues to grow, is Ireland’s most famous example on the road to forgiveness? Al Porter lost all of his lucrative work with Today FM, the Olympia Christmas panto and a busy schedule of guest appearances just before Christmas. This was on foot of social media accusations by men that he had behaved in a sexual and inappropriate way on a number of occasions – in bars, after his shows and most seriously of all, at a psychiatric hospital where he was on a charity visit. Groping an adult man in a bar after a few drinks is one thing, but taking advantage of a vulnerable hospital patient is another and Porter’s excuse that it was down to his outrageous public persona read like a self-serving crock.

Why bring it up now though? The postponed episodes of the Porter-fronted revamp of Blind Date were the focus of interest at the TV3/Virgin Ireland spring launch (well, that and the departure of Ireland AM host Sinéad Desmond over a gender pay gap). TV3 wouldn’t say anything much about either issue, but don’t be surprised if the show surfaces in the autumn schedule.

This followed the inclusion of Porter in the Christmas message by Eamonn Walsh, the Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin with responsibility for Tallaght. The bishop appealed for justice to be allowed to take its course, rather than what has been until recently trial, condemnation and punishment of Porter by social media witch hunt.

Now however, that same social media mob is having second thoughts. Even people who find his toilet humour and ’70s-style single entendre act a bit monotonous are now uncomfortable with the damage to his career caused by as yet unfounded allegations of crime.

Is this crowd-sourced balance? Maybe many heads, innocent as well as guilty, will have to roll to clear out the rottenness of power relationships in the entertainment industry, but as new accusations appear on an almost daily basis, won’t there be a point when we’ve had enough?

A BROKEN RECORD

Writing for a queer magazine is a great pleasure. You get to spout your opinions on all sorts of topics of personal and community interest, but the one subject that is a struggle is the regular one about STIs. It’s rarely good news – access to generic PrEP was one of the stand-out good HIV news stories last year – and as every new set of statistics is released, it seems like HIV, not to mention syphilis, hepatitis, chlamydia and all the rest will never go away.

Now, hook up apps are blamed for the latest surge in infections – the alienation and isolation of a social media saturated world is inducing us to engage in riskier activities.

Maybe, we should accept our sexual and social fallibility and hold out for vaccines, given when we are babies. While we wait though, the old messages of consistent and correct condom use, getting tested regularly and taking the pills, will just have to be repeated and one hopes, be effective.