No: 7 HIV In Ireland And GCN | Pocketmags.com

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No: 7 HIV In Ireland And GCN

Last year marked the 30th year for HIV Ireland (formerly Dublin AIDS Alliance and AIDS Action Alliance), the 25th for the GMHS clinic, and 21st for Outhouse. This year will also be the 25th since the decriminalisation of homosexuality and of course the 30th for Gay Community News (GCN), while 2019 will mark 25 years for Gay Health Network (GHN).

It’s no surprise that all these significant birthdays are happening around the same timeframe, reflecting community action and the continuation of these groups and services. It also highlights how AIDS, HIV and sexual health have become intertwined with these events, and especially with GCN.

Having a community-led, free magazine has made it possible to reach out to the base, which was badly needed, helping promote actions and developments in challenging the climate of homophobia, stigma, discrimination, and fear. After all, GCN came into being soon after the Supreme Court dismissed the Norris case for decriminalisation of homosexuality, the defeat of the abortion and divorce referendums, and the developing AIDS crisis, a time of discrimination and death when condoms were only available legally by prescription. A darkness had enveloped the island, leading to further marginalisation and cultural, gender and social emigration.

The community fightback relating to AIDS began in January 1985, when a meeting of NGF (now NXF), the Cork and Dublin Lesbian and Gay Collectives and Gay Switchboard Dublin led to the establishment of Gay Health Action (GHA). This, in turn, led to Lesbian Health Action, AIDS Action Alliance (later Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Letterkenny alliances), CAIRDE and the AIDS Helpline. Later on, the Eastern Health Board established the Gay Men’s Health Project (now the GMHS), the Lesbian and Gay Health Caucus, the AIDS Forum and the National AIDS Strategy Committee (NASC). All the above along with GLEN and ACT UP campaigning led to the decriminalisation of homosexuality, and condoms, in 1993.

Gay Health Network (GHN) was established in 1994 to organise and share resources in relation to HIV and sexual health aimed at gay and bisexual men and to challenge HIV-related stigma. GCN was involved especially through the late Noel Walsh, GCN’s Health Editor through the 1990s and 2000s, who helped develop the HIV page (and is sorely missed). In the following years along with the GHN members Outhouse, ‘Johnny ‘ (Peer Action Group), and Dublin Pride, GHN has led in promotions, publications and events such as the Safer Sex Guerrillas (from Amsterdam), Sister Syphilis; the onsite syphilis-testing saunas and bars and at Dublin Pride. There have also been the Annual Gay Health Forums, Personal Development Courses (PDC) and research such as Vital Statistics, Real Lives, EMIS 2010, MISI 2015 and the recent EMIS 2017.

GCN is an important community communication resource, especially in this time of digital media. For GHN and other HIV and sexual health organisations, it remains a key platform to promote health messages and research. For instance, in 2009 GHN developed a partnership with the HSE and over the last three years along with the Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SCHPP) has run the www.man2man.ie programme and promoted one-page monthly adverts in GCN.

So happy birthday to GCN, and here’s to loads more. We look forward to working with GCN on continued partnership promotions. This article couldn’t cover all the history, so hopefully, next year GHN will hold dedicated events and also create a historical archive at www.ghn.ie.

This article appears in 340

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