DEATH BY APATHY

Keith Manning of the Evening Press (17 September) delved into the latest book on the legendary Laurence of Arabia (T.E. Laurence). The book is "A Touch of Genius" by Malcolm Brown and Julia Cave. Manning also quoted from other sources without clearly distinguishing between other authors' contributions and his own. He was however clear in reporting the nonsense of a certain J.E. Mack, "a distinguished American psychiatrist” who suggested that "Laurence's desire to be beaten was merely a form of penance to exorcise his guilt obsession"(i.e. homosexuality). The venerable doctor was referring to the allegation that Laurence paid someone to flog him as a form of sexual gratification. Did it strike Dr. Mack that any possible guilt of Laurence's was probably due in the first place to psychiatry's own obsessive interference with our sexual orientation? I'm always amazed at a journalist's willingness to write this sort of shit without any editorialising or further analysis.

The "Lord Mayor's Interview" in Hot Press (see GCN, Issue 8) and subsequent rantings in The Irish Times continued to get milage during September with various letters in the latter paper (see especially Dermot Moore's response of 15th September). The whole furore also prompted Hot Press (22nd September/dated 6th October) to serialise an "Investigation into gay life in Ireland”. This first part included a good editorial and the highlight of the feature, an interesting and well-written piece by Kevin Barrington on Senator David Norris and the Constitutional Action.

Joe Jackson's travels on the gay commercial social scene (i.e. bars and dance clubs) was quite "superficial and sweet", to quote from the article itself. I'll reserve my critique until the series has ended. One little note to my gay brothers and sisters who sniff 'poppers' (amyl nitrite) while dancing. Beware of the policy at SIDES Dance Club as revealed by Manager Kate: ”I don't want it here".

The Irish Press (23rd September) carried a small news item on the adjournment of Fr. Bernard Lynch's court case in New York. The Irish Press is the only newspaper from this island covering the hearing into alleged sexual abuse of teenagers by Fr. Lynch.

Back to AIDS, the Irish Times (26th September) reported that a "six year old AIDS victim" travelled to the Vatican to attend the beatification of an 18 th century missionary and pray for a miracle cure. Brendan O'Rourke, the individual concerned, would have been better off praying for a change in the Hierarchy's hypocrisy towards gay people; for a miracle cure to the Church's oppression of gay people. Because there's no denying that the Church has singularly worked to keep us low down and oppressed. It's even killed us in the past and I've no doubt it still continues to kill us physically and emotionally by denying us our dignity as human beings.