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2 mins

Shirley’s Burn Book

Gunner Eye Fidelma McKenna has lovely blue eyes. One blew north and one blew south.

We’re The Worst

Speaking of Netflix: haven’t been chill since watched David Attenborough’s Our Planet documentary. We humans are a manky species and we have the place ruined for animals, from the deepest jungles to the melting ice caps. This is why we can’t have nice things!

Because icebergs are disappearing, Mr Attenborough explained that walruses have to live on land now. But because they’re not used to being away from the sea, they keep throwing themselves off cliffs thinking that the sea is beneath them. It’s not anymore and the poor things get mangled. #splat If you’ve ever seen Dolly Grip performing ‘This is Me’, you’ll get the picture!

Netanyoohoo

Next month will see gays from all over Europe arriving into Tel Aviv as Israel hosts the Eurovision Song Contest and the Holy Land will become the Hooley Land. (“Good Evening Jerusalem, may we have the votes of the Palestinian people?”)

Israel likes to remind us of its tolerant attitude to LGBT+ people – and it’s true that Israel has much better protections for LGBT+ people than most Middle Eastern countries. But under Benjamin Nethanyahu’s watch things are getting WORSE not better and Israeli LGBT+ organisations say there was a 50 percent increase in homophobic incidents there last year.

And even though the Israelis have just re-elected Netanyahu, the gays shouldn’t despair. Madonna will be performing at the Eurovision and that’s bound to make everything better!

Hair Brained

Remember Michaella McCollum? She was one half of the Peru Two, who were busted smuggling nearly €2m of cocaine out of Peru. With her massive dark hun-bun and badly drawn eyebrows, Michaela also inspired a million Halloween costumes back in 2013.

The Peru Two were banged up until 2016 and, since she got out, Michaella has been trying to og her story to anyone who will listen. Apparently, she’s now written a book and is bragging of a potential movie about “the stupid mistake that would change my life forever”.

Okay bbz, but if made a movie every time that had a stupid hairdo, could start my own Netflix.

Céad Míle Fáilure

It’s not just Leo’s letter to Kylie or Direct Provision that show how weird we can be about welcoming people to Ireland. We give tourists mixed signals too. Most of the time we’re all ‘Céad Míle Fáilte and that’ll be 50 Euro’, but if a group of Spanish tourists gets in our way on Henry Street, then we’re shouting at the ‘poxy foreigners’ like rabid Brexiteers.

I know we have history with ‘visitors’ who ‘overstay’ their ‘welcome’ but there’s a limit to how suspicious we should be of newcomers. For example, a family visiting from New Zealand recently learned that Irish hospitality wasn’t a very trusting kind of hospitality when they discovered their AirBnB host had installed hidden cameras to watch their every move.

Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi

Poor Leo Varadkar got into fierce trouble for using the office stationery for his letter to Kylie but nobody seemed to notice that Kylie’s immediate response was to call in sick and cancel her gig.

That got me thinking... If Leo tells the Brits that he’s a ‘huge fan’ of Brexit, the whole thing will be off quicker than one of Kylie’s engagements.

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FROM THE TEAM
Welcome, dear reader, to an issue where, amongst other things,
NXF: Progressive activism and global perspectives
By Adam Long, Advocacy And Communications, NXF.
ACTING UP AROUND THE GLOBE
ACT UP Dublin member Noel Donnellon looks at the origins of the direct action movement and its impact across the globe
It’s Our Fight Too
Here, two activists from diferent generations speak of how the LGBT+ community has a vital role to play in the ight for climate justice
Rise Up
On May 1, GCN will team up with Extinction Rebellion Ireland (XR) for ‘Mayday: The Fight To Save Our World’ - a night of information, conversation and action on climate change. Here Oana Marion speaks about her own journey with XR
Culture Club
Ten years ago it was hard to picture a mainstream reality show getting drag right or even centring drag in a way that wasn’t a joke, yet the continued rise of RuPaul’s Drag Race has been a roaring success. But as we enter into a new decade of the show, is it possible we’ve reached peak Drag Race?
the artist speaks
With the opening of an intriguing and startling new exhibition in IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art). Seán Kissane, the exhibition’s curator, speaks to one of the featured artists, Brian Teeling, about his own contributions to the show. All images by Brian Teeling
The World is a Stage
If we’re being honest, there’s nothing most people like more than a bit of drama, so with that in mind could there be anything more anticipated than this year’s International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival? With such a global glut of talent on ofer Peter Dunne speaks to some of the teams coming from across the world to bring their shows to Ireland
CHANGE ONE THING CHANGE EVERYTHING
While the fight against climate change can seem overwhelming, making a relatively small change in your life can have an effect. As the centrepiece of this issue, we speak to people who made achievable changes in order to make our planet a better place
A Resilient Spirit
Visiting Ireland in connection with Amnesty International, the inspiring LGBT+ and women’s rights activist, Vitalina Koval, spoke with Peter Dunne about the fight against homophobia and an ineffective government in Ukraine
A SECOND CLOSET
Current reigning Mr Gay Ireland, Guilherme Souza, speaks as a survivor of abuse about finding the strength within to move forward
A timely occurrence
A book by Angela Doyle, about the relationship between two women in the west of Ireland in the ‘90s, is soon to receive a reading in Books Upstairs. The novel’s journey to being published is a story in itself
post provision
Speaking to Lamin, an asylum seeker directly affected, Chris O’Donnell looks at how the housing crisis hits people exiting the Direct Provision system
A CLOSER LOOK
Winners of the Best Voluntary Group at the 2017 Gala awards, the fine folk at LOOK have been providing invaluable support to the families and friends of LGBT+ people for years. Here we highlight some of the incredible team and ind out why they do what they do
Correction
In our last issue (352, April 2019) in a piece
HIV Ireland
Adam Shanley has joined HIV Ireland in the newly created
Sports News
In huge news for the Irish LGBT+ sporting community, Dublin
GLOB’AL FAMILY"
Ranae von Meding and her wife, Audrey, live in Dublin. They have two daughters, Ava and Arya, conceived through Reciprocal IVF. Ranae is a blogger and campaigns for same-sex parental rights. Here she speaks about the difering situations for same-sex parents worldwide
Shirley’s Burn Book
Gunner Eye Fidelma McKenna has lovely blue eyes. One blew north and one blew south
Looking for back issues?
Browse the Archive >

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