The Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire
In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire
UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović
US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire
Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović Anti-Empire >>
Indymedia Ireland is a volunteer-run non-commercial open publishing website for local and international news, opinion & analysis, press releases and events. Its main objective is to enable the public to participate in reporting and analysis of the news and other important events and aspects of our daily lives and thereby give a voice to people.
Julian Assange is finally free ! Tue Jun 25, 2024 21:11 | indy
Stand With Palestine: Workplace Day of Action on Naksa Day Thu May 30, 2024 21:55 | indy
It is Chemtrails Month and Time to Visit this Topic Thu May 30, 2024 00:01 | indy
Hamburg 14.05. "Rote" Flora Reoccupied By Internationalists Wed May 15, 2024 15:49 | Internationalist left
Eddie Hobbs Breaks the Silence Exposing the Hidden Agenda Behind the WHO Treaty Sat May 11, 2024 22:41 | indy Human Rights in Ireland >>
Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? Fri Jul 26, 2024 17:00 | Toby Young A new edition of the Equal Treatment Bench Book instructs judges to avoid terms such as 'asylum seekers', 'immigrant' and 'gays', which it says can be 'dehumanising'.
The post Judges Told to Avoid Saying ?Asylum Seekers? and ?Immigrants? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
The Intersectional Feminist Rewriting the National Curriculum Fri Jul 26, 2024 15:00 | Toby Young Labour has appointed Becky Francis, an intersectional feminist, to rewrite the national curriculum, which it will then force all schools to teach. Prepare for even more woke claptrap to be shoehorned into the classroom.
The post The Intersectional Feminist Rewriting the National Curriculum appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech Fri Jul 26, 2024 13:03 | Toby Young The Government has just announced it intends to block the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, effectively declaring war on free speech. It's time to join the Free Speech Union and fight back.
The post Government Has Just Declared War on Free Speech appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Ei... Fri Jul 26, 2024 11:00 | Tilak Doshi On July 18th, Dr Tilak Doshi wrote an article for Forbes defending J.D. Vance from accusations of 'climate denialism'. 48 hours later, Forbes un-published the article. Read the article on the Daily Sceptic.
The post I Wrote an Article for Forbes Defending J.D. Vance From Accusations of ?Climate Denialism?. Forty Eight Hours Later, Forbes Un-Published the Article and Sacked Me as a Contributor appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday Fri Jul 26, 2024 09:00 | Toby Young Tickets are still available to a live recording of the Weekly Sceptic, Britain's only podcast to break into the top five of Apple's podcast chart. It?s at Lola's, the downstairs bar of the Hippodrome on Monday July 29th.
The post Come and See Nick Dixon and me Recording the Weekly Sceptic at the Hippodrome on Monday appeared first on The Daily Sceptic. Lockdown Skeptics >>
Voltaire, international edition
Netanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en
Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en
Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en
Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en
Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en Voltaire Network >>
|
Sexuality, media, church and suicide - speaking on on stereotypes and prejudices
national |
miscellaneous |
press release
Monday October 09, 2006 16:22 by Admin - SpunOut.ie Youth Media
![Report this post to the editors Report this post to the editors](../graphics/report.gif)
World Mental Health Day 2006 (Oct 10th) - Building Awareness - Reducing Risks: Mental Illness and Suicide
Have you ever felt completely alone?
Have you ever wanted to die?
Have you ever been stereotyped? I have. "My name is Ian Howley, I am twenty two years old and from Athlone. I am currently a student in Letterkenny I.T and I’m also a Youth Editor with the Spunout.ie National Youth Website. I got involved with SpunOut.ie, which provides information, support and opportunities to young people, to try and make a difference so that nobody has to go through what I went through.
Recently I appeared on one of RTE’s “Three 60” documentaries and spoke at a Console Conference, which led to a short interview on RTE’s 6.ONE news (see links below). All these events were focused around mental health in Ireland and it was at these various events I spoke about my past, including my three suicide attempts.
I was aged twelve when I first realised I could be gay. From that point on I isolated myself. I became depressed. I was alone.
I tried to kill myself three times, these attempts spanned from age thirteen to sixteen. My first two attempts were on the train track and with each attempt the train drew nearer. On my final attempt I took fifteen tablets.
Soon after my third attempt. I finally admitted to myself that I was gay. That was my first step to survival. It was the first day of my life.
Looking back now, there was three factors that contributed to my issues. Those factors were society, religion, and the media.
I felt let down by society because I felt like I didn’t belong. Society made me feel like I was scum. The church refuses to accept homosexuality, thus teaching us that it is wrong.
The media portrays gay people as being either “butch” or “camp”, a stereotype that is very damaging to young teenagers confused about their sexuality. This stereotype also misleads people to believe that all gay people are either camp screaming queens or butch women.
This depiction is far from accurate, after all if there are approximately four million people in the Irish population, and figures show that one in ten people are gay. Hence there is approximately four hundred thousand gay people in Ireland. This is a high number of people to merely label the same.
Gay people are not “queer”, being gay is not weird or strange. Gay people are just as normal, or just as weird, as anyone else. A person should be defined by who they are not what they are.
It is time to realise the realities of homosexuality in this country. It is time for the media to use its role in a more responsible way. It is time to show the bigger picture and not simply the most entertaining one.
Right now the bigger picture is that if the media shed a more realistic light on the gay community they may help a person embrace their sexuality, instead of that person feeling ashamed of their true sexuality just because of a stereotype.
I was once one of those people, I did not want to be gay. I did not want to associate myself with the “camp” lifestyle I had seen on television and in the papers. I hid my true self because of a stereotype and I nearly lost my life because of this.
But I am not stereotypical, I am a beer drinking, sports watching, poor spelling young guy that just happens to be gay.
Initiatives like the SpunOut.ie National Youth Website, which was set-up by young people with the support of youth health agencies, are taking the initiative towards change. SpunOut.ie is giving young people like me an opportunity to receive information and support on sex, relationships and a whole range of issues. It provides contacts on relevant help services throughout Ireland, gives young people a chance to publish their news and views and allows young people to confidentially discuss their lives through moderated discussion forums.
The time has come for change. This change can save lives. SpunOut.ie has set a marker in responsible and innovative media. It is up to others to follow suit.
ENDS
More information on SpunOut.ie at:
http://www.spunout.ie/about.php
More information on Ian
http://www.spunout.ie/news_content.php?id=2490
Also, Ian's SpunOut.ie mini-doc is online at http://www.spunout.ie/news_content.php?id=2397
and Ian video interview on RTE 6.1 news at
http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0922/6news.html
or for direct http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/230-2175615.smil
World mental health day 2006
http://www.wfmh.org/wmhday2006.htm
|