National Geographic

(Via - Towleroad)

Whoopsie.

The Irish LGBT rights group Noise has launched a new marriage campaign with ads appearing on Dublin's public transit.

A controversial poster claiming “Jesus had two Dads” will appear on Dublin transport today to highlight the continuing campaign for gay marriage. The gay rights group Noise, a group campaigning for marriage equality for same-sex couples, is launching the new poster campaign on Dublin city public transport this Monday. The posters highlight the difference between Civil Partnership and Civil Marriage, pointing out that Civil Partnership, which was recently legalized in Ireland is not equality. The group also unveiled its new-look website to coincide with the launch.

Ireland's civil partnerships law went into effect earlier this month.

Barry Dignam and Hugh Walsh (above) today become among Ireland's first gay couples to be joined under the nation's civil partnerships law. The law went into effect on January 1st with a three month waiting period.

Theirs is not the first civil partnership to take place here – six civil partnerships have already been registered in the State arising from court-granted exemptions to the usual three-month notice which couples must give to the General Registrar Office. Mr Dignam admitted that when the couple originally found out that they were to be the first gay couple who were to avail of the new regime without first seeking an exemption to do so, they did consider postponing the ceremony given the media attention that would inevitably follow. “We did have an opportunity to move the date but we felt that we would have been cheating [gay] people who had been through an awful lot of hardship – those who had been ridiculed and even jailed in the past,” he said.

Just launched by Ireland's BeLonG To Youth Services. Tagline: "Stand up for your LGBT friends." Lovely clip. You might want to grab a tissue before viewing.

(Tipped by JMG reader Vivian)

"What these parades are about is a celebration of Ireland and Irishness. I think they need to celebrate Ireland as it is, not as people imagine it. Equality is very much the center of who we are in our identity in Ireland. This issue of exclusion is not Irish, let's be clear about it. Exclusion is not an Irish thing, I think that's the message that needs to be driven home." - Irish Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore, speaking in NYC to Irish-American LGBT activists.

NYC's parade, the world's largest, is run by the Ancient Order of Hibernians, who in 1995 won a Supreme Court battle to exclude gay groups from participating.

Hair inspired by the late John Sex? They're identical twins.

Longtime JMG reader Vivian Cummins has announced his candidacy for Ireland's Parliament as a Green Party proponent of same-sex marriage. Via press release:

Vivian Cummins, the Green Party candidate for Kildare South is believed to be the only gay and officially recognised civil partnered candidate in the forthcoming General Election in the Irish Republic to be held on 25th February 2011. Cummins married his partner, Erney Breytenbach, in South Africa in 2009. Like other same-sex couples with a previous foreign civil marriage or partnership, their union became recognised in Ireland on 13th January of this year. Cummins said: “ The Green Party intends to introduce gay civil marriage if re-elected to Government and believes that same-sex couples should be entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. In Government, the Green Party introduced the Civil Partnerships legislation, which goes a long way to ensuring better rights for same-sex couples. But, it is not marriage, and we believe all consenting adults, should have the option to marry."

Last February, Cummins and his husband were the first gay couple to have their wedding announcement published in the Irish Times. We wish him the best of luck in the election!

(Tipped by Rex Wockner)

In a just-revealed 1997 letter, a Vatican representative for the soon to be sainted Pope John Paul II warned Ireland's bishops not to report pedophile priests to the police.

The letter, obtained by Irish broadcasters RTE and provided to The Associated Press, documents the Vatican's rejection of a 1996 Irish church initiative to begin helping police identify pedophile priests following Ireland's first wave of publicly disclosed lawsuits. The letter undermines persistent Vatican claims, particularly when seeking to defend itself in U.S. lawsuits, that the church in Rome never instructed local bishops to withhold evidence or suspicion of crimes from police. It instead emphasizes the church's right to handle all child-abuse allegations, and determine punishments, in house rather than hand that power to civil authorities. Signed by the late Archbishop Luciano Storero, Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland, the letter instructs Irish bishops that their new policy of making the reporting of suspected crimes mandatory "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."

The Vatican is refusing to comment on the letter.

Ireland's leading atheist group is asking former Catholics to be truthful on the upcoming census form. The "Be Honest To Godless" campaign is being supported on Facebook.

Think before you tick your answer to the religion question, and give an answer that matches your actual religious affiliation. If you still believe in God but you are no longer truly a Roman Catholic, please say so. If you are an atheist or agnostic or humanist and you have no religion, please tick the ‘No Religion’ box. Atheist Ireland wants to see accurate answers to the question on religion. The last Census showed 3.7 million Roman Catholics (that’s about 87% of the population) and 186,000 people with no religion (that’s about 4% of the population). We believe the true figure for Roman Catholics is much lower than 87%, and the true figure for people with no religion is much higher than 4%.

Atheist Ireland notes: "Careless answers to the question of religion will have an impact on the allocation of State resources, and on the political lobbying power of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. If you want a fair future based on accurate statistics, please answer this question honestly."

Beginning today Ireland will recognize same-sex marriages and civil unions performed abroad. However those married in other countries will have their relationships "downgraded" to civil partnerships upon arrival in Ireland.

Unions from 27 countries or states will be recognised; 17 of which currently give gay couples the right to marry. Couples will be automatically considered as civil partners and will not need to register. Brian Sheehan of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network said: “Same-sex couples who have already celebrated their relationships and made formal commitments to each other by having a civil marriage or civil partnership in another country will today have those relationships recognised in Ireland. This recognition will provide significant protections for these couples.”

Ireland begins performing its own civil partnerships in April.

Ireland's openly gay Sen. David Norris is leading the polls to succeed Mary McAleese as that nation's next president.

The Independent Senator received the backing of 27% of those surveyed by Red C in a poll for Paddy Power bookmakers. The poll found Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness in second place, with 13% support, although this is due to the Fianna Fáil and Labour votes each being split by the inclusion of two candidates each. Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern receives the backing of 12% of those surveyed, while his party colleague MEP Brian Crowley gets 10%.

The election is in October. Ireland's presidency is largely ceremonial.

(Tipped by JMG reader Vivian.)