Put the Queer Rep in your Netflix Binge

As we prepare to spend more time at home over the next few weeks due to COVID-19, you might be wondering what shows and movies to finally get around to watching.

We got you covered. Here’s what to watch and all of it has LGBTQ+ characters!

1) Pose

Season 1 of Pose is on Netflix now! Pose follows the lives of Black and Latinx queer folks in the ballroom scene in 1980s New York. They face transphobia, homophobia, racism and the AIDs epidemic but strive to keep their close-knit crew together through community, dancing, activism, and all-round fierceness.

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2. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

This interesting biographical movie is about the American Psychologist who created Wonder Woman and the unconventional family structure he was apart of. Showing sapphic love and poly life, this movie is all the more touching for being a true story.

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3. Sex Education

Seasons 1 and 2 are on Netflix. Sex Education is about teenage sexuality and all the nuances therein. Staring the unsure but knowledgable Otis as he provides a service of sex advice to his classmates. This show treats the spectrum of identities with such care and kindness it’s like a balm for the soul. Also, Gillian Anderson is in it, so.

4. One Day at a Time

A Cuban family and their goofy neighbour make this delightful sitcom. There are gay and non-binary characters throughout, and honestly, it’s just lovely. One Day a Time wasn’t continued for a 4th Season by Netflix and the fan outcry was so loud that another network picked it up!

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5. Paris is Burning

A documentary about the real-life people of the Ballroom culture in NYC which explores race, class, gender and sexuality. This one is a pretty sad watch so mind yourself!

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6. I’m not OK with this & Trinkets

This is a two-for. I’m not OK with This and Trinkets are both coming of age shows about troubled teens, the former with spooky powers and the later with a shoplifting habit. Both include lesbian characters! They have similar vibes but the characters are definitely different, you’ll gobble up both series quick!

7. Glow

The gorgeous ladies of wrestling! The 1980s was the golden age of perms, spandex and storyline wrestling shows. A band of misfits create a wrestling team and much drama, laughter, tears, romance and heartbreak ensues.

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8. Tales of the City

O.K. The acting is patchy, we’re not going to lie. BUT this show has enough queer delights to make up for some forced dialogue. It centres around a big house in San Francisco and the people who have lived in it over the years. The house matriarch is the trans grandmother we all wish we had.

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Not on Netflix, but honourable mentions must go to the following international pictures: Please purchase these movies to support queer filmmakers!

Rafiki

A Kenyan Drama about a lesbian couple. Rafiki was banned by the Kenya Film Classification Board due to the “homosexual content” and the director successfully sued the government!

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A Fantastic Woman

This Chilean film follows the protagonist, Marina, a singer and actress who is trans and how she deals with the untimely death of her lover.

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Happy Together

From Hong Kong, this touching and heartbreaking film about two lovers, Ho Po Wing and Lai Yiu Fai, won the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

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Stay safe folks! Happy Watching!

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Volunteering could help you land your dream job!

Volunteering can be one of the best ways to build experience and your CV in order to land the job of your dreams!  Not only that, but volunteering is a great way to meet new people and develop your skill set.

ShoutOut is a community of volunteers who deliver LGBTQ+ acceptance workshops in secondary schools. Our volunteers learn about communication, public speaking, leadership and education through our volunteer programme. 

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Meet Spencer

ShoutOut has been instrumental in my personal development – building interpersonal, leadership and organisational skills. Having my volunteer work with ShoutOut on my CV was always a great talking point in job interviews and allowed me to talk about something I was passionate about.

Most recently, I have become fully employed in a growing tech company as they believed someone who takes the time to volunteer outside of their day-to-day life was someone worth having in their company.

I have learnt so much from my time volunteering with ShoutOut, and am so grateful for all the wonderful opportunities it’s given me.

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Meet Clara

Did you know that volunteering with ShoutOut can be good not just for the soul, but for the wallet? In getting my two favourite jobs so far, I absolutely have to credit ShoutOut. 

These days there are many forward-thinking and diversity minded companies who will want to bring our volunteers in as great cultural fits.

Plus, by explaining at interview that you can stand up in front of a group of teenagers and give our workshop, you show off all those wonderful 21st century soft skills - confidence, adaptability, communication, leadership, teamwork, and time management all come to mind.

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Meet Ed

Working with ShoutOut has allowed me to develop a skill set necessary to thrive in a  professional environment. I have developed presentation and communication skills in facilitating workshops in schools and workplaces.

 I have lead fundraising campaigns and had the opportunity to plan, promote and execute different kinds of events. Ultimately, working with ShoutOut has given me confidence in myself that has allowed me to get to where I am today. 

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If you’d like to get involved in volunteering with ShoutOut please come to our next volunteer training session held in Outhouse in February or contact Bella at director@shoutout.ie with any questions you may have!

IGLYO AMC 2019 - Helsinki, Finland

IGLYO AMC ‘19 Conference Delegates

Hi there! Spencer here, ShoutOut volunteer and executive committee member. At the beginning of October, I had the wonderful opportunity to join queer youth activists from all over Europe at IGLYO’s Annual Members’ Conference. IGLYO is an organisation of local, regional and national LGBTQI+ European youth organisations which aims to encourage youth activism across the continent in fighting for queer rights. ShoutOut, as a queer charity working with youth, mostly by youth, applied for IGLYO membership earlier this year, which was officially approved at the conference. The Annual Members’ Conference is the member organisations’ opportunity to direct the ongoing work of IGLYO, as well as providing the time and space for activists to network, exchange ideas, share cultures and develop new skills.

This year’s three-day AMC was held in Helsinki, Finland, and hosted by Seta, a national network of LGBTQI+ organisations. 

Finnish Education Minister - Li Andersson

Day One:

The first day of the conference, we gathered in Allianssi, in the city centre. Allianssi is a network of youth community centres working to support the wellbeing of Finnish youth. The first order of business was for IGLYO’s current members to elect new members – ShoutOut included. IGLYO already comprised members from countries with varying degrees of queer tolerance and acceptance. From western states such as Spain and the UK, central ones like Poland and Czechia and the eastern countries of Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Given ShoutOut’s track record of innovative youth education and exponential growth since 2012, our membership was approved unanimously.

Once the formal procedures were out of the way, we were visited by the Finnish Minister for Education, Li Andersson, leader of the Left Alliance, who gave an empowering speech explaining Finland’s recent decision to introduce gender recognition legislation which would bring the country almost in line with Ireland’s own pioneering policies of self-determination. While she admitted that there was still work to be done to include trans minors in legislation, she was confident that organisations such as Seta would help drive home the social change needed for wider LGBTQI+ acceptance in Finland.

The day was capped off by a reception hosted by the mayor’s office of Helsinki in Kaupungintalo, the City Hall.

Day Two:

New Venue – the Porthania building of the University of Helsinki, home for the remainder of the conference. First order of business was for the new board candidates to share their proposed manifestos. Following this, members of IGLYO’s alumni, stretching back to the original founding members of 1984, shared their memories of the organisation, explaining how its remit had evolved from simply serving as a festival for queer youths to meet one another to now being a fully-fledged political organisation with the aim of fostering new queer activists to fight for social change in their respective countries.

The final activity of the day was split into workshops, of which I attended one where we discussed allies’ roles in the furthering of LGBTQI+ rights and acceptance. Two Ukrainian attendees spoke of their work in diversity education training in schools and businesses, similar to ShoutOut’s own work, but of how they had to enter under the guise of general tolerance and acceptance of all people, rather than specifically targeting incidents of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic intolerance.

Amongst other conference delegates in Senate Square

Day Three:

The final day held the most significance for the official running of IGLYO as an organisation. The new board members for the next two years were to be elected, who would carry on the work of the previous board who had organised events and studies such as the Activist Academy, LGBTQI Inclusive Education Index and thematic youth network meetings.

Emotions were also running high as for some participants, the weekend had been a taste of what life could be like if queer people were more accepted in their homelands, and for others like myself, it had been an opportunity to learn the struggle that folks still faced in less-welcoming societies. New friendships had been forged, ideas challenged, and I think everyone felt a renewed sense of determination in continuing to fight for their own, and each other’s, rights.

I am so thankful to IGLYO and ShoutOut for allowing me to participate in such an event, because it was inspiring seeing the activism taking place in each country and was a valuable opportunity for everyone to show one another the work they were doing so that they could possibly influence even more change across Europe.

Intersex Awareness Day

INTERSEX 101 & HOW TO BE AN ALLY!

By Clara, ShoutOut Executive Team Member and Intersex Activist

Definition: Intersex people have biological traits that aren’t easily categorized as typically male or typically female. These differences occur in one or more of the five aspects of sex - external genitalia, internal gonads, chromosomes, hormones, and/or secondary sex characteristics. As you can imagine, this means that people with a very broad spectrum of traits all fall under the umbrella term of intersex. It also means that’s it’s really normal to be intersex! We represent about 1.75% of the population - which is the same as the global percentage of redheads.

In some cases this can be described as a ‘blending’ of male and female traits. It is easy to assume that this means all intersex people have bodies which are outwardly very ambiguous, but actually there can be little to no external indication that a person is intersex (because their ‘blending’ is at DNA level). 

The Intersex Flag

Intersex Issues: In short, because it can be difficult for people to accept that intersex bodies are usually healthy ones, with some added quirks, we are at risk for medically unnecessary interventions. These are done for aesthetic purposes or to facilitate (heterosexual) sex. Unfortunately, statistically these interventions occur most commonly before the age of 2, meaning that our consent is also not obtained. 

Intersex surgeries are not by any means the only issue we face, but if I had one wish for my community it would be to end early intervention where surgeries can be postponed. It is by far the most pressing fight we are facing.

What it’s Like to be Intersex: Before they even brought me home from the hospital, my parents were told that I had an intersex condition. Of course, this being Ireland in the 90s they actually told my parents I had a ‘syndrome’, that it was nothing to worry about, they should simply raise me as a girl and ‘keep an eye on things.’

Throughout my childhood I had countless medical interventions, so much poking and prodding I can’t even quantify it. It’s only in my 20s that I’ve developed the courage to question my doctors. Nowadays, I hold them to account for mistakes that were made in my treatment, which have gone on to provoke gender dysphoria. I am more comfortable in insisting that they respect my bodily integrity and autonomy. 

It was only when I was around eighteen that I discovered that my ‘syndrome’ fell under the umbrella term of intersex, meaning there were other people like me. There was a community to find, advocacy to do. 

How to be an Ally?

• Educate yourself (learn about intersex from intersex people). 

• Use intersex-inclusive language. (If you watch your language for trans inclusivity, then you already are doing this, thank you!)

• Educate your community.

• Do not make the assumption that intersex is a medical condition.

• Include us in your discussions about human rights. Keep working on improving the GRA/ LGBTI strategy, keep demanding that healthcare improve! We stand to win when the broader community does too.

• At the same time, try to amplify the voices of intersex people when speaking about issues that effect them.

• Remember that our bodies are not a way to win arguments about gender theory! There are many other ways to prove that gender is not binary!

• Remember that being intersex may or may not be part of their identity

• Do not assume it is their duty to discuss being intersex at any time, or that they’re comfortable to discuss all aspects of being intersex

• Phrase questions broadly

• Ensure that your questions don’t serve to stigmatize or fetishize 

Key Goals

• Full implementation of human rights, bodily integrity & self-determination for intersex people

• Legal prohibition of non-consensual medical & psychological treatment; medical practitioners or other professionals should not conduct any treatment to the purpose of modifying sex characteristics which can be deferred until the person to be treated can provide informed consent

• Full protection against discrimination & the adoption of » sex characteristics « as a protective ground

• Education of society on intersex issues from a human rights perspective

Resources: If you’d like to learn more (and I really hope you would!) then you’re in luck. Thanks to wonderful intersex activists there’s now heaps of online resources. A few of my personal favourites are below: 

https://interactadvocates.org/

https://oiieurope.org/

https://www.them.us/story/intersex-allyship-101

http://4intersex.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/4intersex-Common-Arguments-from-Doctors.pdf

Intersex Ireland

You can also check out intersex ‘influencers’ like Pidgeon Pagonis and Emily Quinn on youtube, or join an open facebook group run by InterAct/OII/Intersex Ireland, just for example. If you have a question not best answered by Google, or are an intersex person looking to reach out, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the team@shoutout.ie email, or intersex.ie@gmail.com.

To all my lovely intersex people out there, happy awareness day, I hope to meet you soon. This one’s for us. 

ShoutOut at Pride flying the Intersex Flag

ShoutOut is Recruiting!

ShoutOut is recruiting! We're looking for dedicated individuals to join our executive team. The executive team helps oversee the daily running of ShoutOut's activities and plays a part in the charity's strategy and decisions relating to policy, fundraising, and volunteer training/recruitment. This is a great opportunity to give back to the LGBTQIA+ community, gain voluntary experience, and make some great friends!

We will accept applications until the 7th of October 2019 at 5pm

The ShoutOut executive team requires a commitment of an average of 4 hours a week. We are hoping to expand our fabulous current team so we can achieve even more this year! To find out more about what we do, read our 2019 annual report!

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The Team

Here is what some of our current team members have to say about being involved!

Being a member of the ShoutOut executive team has been a really rewarding experience. It’s varied and exciting work that can range from improving our resources, to heading off on a road trip somewhere to train a new group of volunteers - just for example! What’s more, it’s not all giving, you get to build your own skills (in presentation, communication etc) and have loads of fun at the same time. 10/10 would recommend.

- Clara

Táim bródúil agus fíorshàsta a bheith ag obair le ShoutOut. Tá ár gcuid oibre fíorthábhachtach do dhaoine óga - bíodh siad LADT+ nó eile. Bíonn roinnt deiseanna agam mo chuid Gaeilge a úsáid freisin- i gceardlanna, ag aistriú agus ar na meáin shóisialta!

Volunteering with ShoutOut has been some of the most enjoyable and fulfilling work I've ever had the pleasure to be a part of. I've travelled around Ireland doing workshops, have gained invaluable experience and skills and learned a lot! I couldn't recommend volunteering with ShoutOut more highly if I tried!

- Lisa

Being on the executive team over the last year has been one of the most fulfilling things I have done. The opportunity to effect change on the running of the charity is hugely beneficial because as an active volunteer I can see the fruits of the exec team's labour.

- Spencer

Any questions please email team@shoutout.ie

ShoutOut 2019 Annual Report

SHOUTOUT VOLUNTEERS DELIVER LGBTQ+ EDUCATION TO 12,000 YOUNG PEOPLE

In the past school year, ShoutOut volunteers have delivered more than 400 workshops in LGBTQ+ awareness and inclusion to 12,000 young people in schools and youth groups around Ireland. Seeking to make up for the lack of LGBTQ+ education in the Irish curriculum and to address the issue of homophobic and transphobic bullying in schools, members of the LGBTQ+ community and their allies volunteer with ShoutOut to spread a message of acceptance and empathy. 

ShoutOut’s school workshops challenge students to consider the difficulties their LGBTQ+ peers still face in the classroom. Volunteers begin each workshop by explaining how they came to terms with their own identity, and their experiences of being LGBTQ+ in an Irish secondary school. Students then take part in a series of exercises designed to educate them on the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ identity, and to prepare them to support their classmates who may be struggling. Many have a perception that Ireland became a fully equal country following the 2015 marriage equality referendum, but as recently as 2018, 77% of LGBTQ+ young people reported coming out at school as their main source of anxiety. 

ShoutOut’s annual report, released today, details the number of workshops delivered and the organisation’s operations in full from July 2018 - July 2019. Working with just one part-time staff member, the Dublin-based charity has had a national impact in those 12 months, with 70% of workshops delivered outside the capital, including 126 workshops delivered in the North of Ireland by their partner Cara-Friend. In addition to working in schools, ShoutOut delivers in-depth training to teachers, social workers, youth workers, parents, and guardians to ensure these key figures are adequately prepared to support the LGBTQ+ young people in their care. 

“I have been a volunteer with ShoutOut for almost 4 years now and can confidently say I have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. I know how scarce information regarding the lives of LGBTQ+ people in [Irish secondary schools] can be… Simply being there as a proud gay person can be a lifeline in itself.” - Ross Hunter, ShoutOut volunteer

As an organisation, ShoutOut has grown significantly since launching as a pilot programme in 10 Dublin schools in 2012, and as of July 2019 has added a second staff member to the team in a bid to increase and diversify operations to better serve LGBTQ+ young people in Ireland. However, volunteers will always be at the heart of the charity, and it draws strength in the diversity of its volunteer force in representing the full spectrum of LGBTQ+ experience. If you’d like to make a difference for young people in Irish secondary schools, you can get involved. The next ShoutOut volunteer training will take place in Dublin’s Central Hotel on September 16th at 18.30, followed by training in Cork Gay Project on September 18th at 18.30. 

“There is nothing small about ShoutOut. In the past 12 months alone we delivered more than 400 workshops. 67 active volunteers made this happen. We reached 98 schools, trained over 500 youth workers and spread a message of acceptance and inclusion to 12,000 students, all in the past year.” - Bella FitzPatrick, Executive Director

ShoutOut at the UN!

MD of ShoutOut, Bella, has taken some time away and is currently in New York working with OutRight Action International and spent the past two weeks in the UN at the Convention on the Status of Women. Bella writes about her experiences here:

Bella outside the UN HQ

What is the Convention on the Status of Women?

I was delighted when I started working with OutRight Action International (OutRight) as they are an amazing organisation, working on LGBTQI equality across the globe, with staff in 6 countries. The convention on the status of women (CSW) is a coming together of countries and people from civil society to discuss women’s rights and within this format, we discuss the rights for LBTI women around the world. Nearly 9000 people participate in CSW every year.

How are LGBTQI rights represented at CSW?

Activists fighting for LGBTQI rights come together at the beginning of CSW and share resources and information. While we’re working on very specific issues in our home countries, here we are united in the advancement of LGBTQI rights on the global level. The first thing I did at CSW was listen to Norway speak on behalf of an LGBT core group; a group of countries committed to advancing LGBTI rights (Ireland is not, unfortunately, a part of this group). You can read or listen to this statement here.

Your country’s office is like any representative, you can contact them and urge them to take action. The side who are against LGBT people do this all the time, and try to hold back our rights so getting involved is another way to participate in the liberation of LGBT people.

Norway Speaking on behalf of the LGBT Core Group in the General Assembly Hall

OutRight held two amazing events about LGBT rights: one of Transgender and Gender non conforming people and one about LBTI people and access to public services. These events were greatly attended and it gave me optimism for the appetite for progressive policies.

OutRight Panel on LBTI people’s access to public services

Complacency and the Anti LGBT agenda at CSW

Unfortunately, often countries can gloss over serious issues and act like everything is fine for the LGBT people in their country. For example representative from the UK spoke at length at the many advances for LGBT people living in the UK with no mention of the lack of marriage equality in Northern Ireland. That’s not to mention the countries which have high levels of violence against LGBT people acting like everything is fine.

There were anti-LGBT (specifically there was more than one event which was transphobic)  and anti-feminist events held as well by far right and religious organisations which espouse an outdated and hetero-patriarchal view point. If we stop fighting at the UN then we risk the reversal of all of our hard won victories. These groups fight against marriage equality, gender recognition, recognition of rainbow families and comprehensive sex education.

The UN Secretary General & UN Women are asked about LGBTQI rights

There was a town hall with the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, and the LGBT contingent was able to ask what the UN planned to do for LGBT rights. While the reply was vague, he did speak about having to push back against the push back, and not let our rights go backwards which is very important at the moment.

LBTI Caucus meeting with ED of UN Women

We also had a meeting with UN Women about LGBT rights and were able to ask questions about trans inclusion, regional funding initiatives, intersex genital mutilation.

OK, but how does this impact the work of ShoutOut?

While the UN feels very far away from the work in local schools done by ShoutOut it’s actually far more linked than it seems. The way in which the UN adopts policies on LGBT people, their families, and their needs will impact the way all the UN agencies will fund issues pertaining to LGBT people. While we are relatively fortunate in Ireland compared to other countries we still have a long way to go to see full legal and social equality for the members of our community and this must be fought at local, national and international level. CSW has a large focus on access to education, and ShoutOut would argue that when schools are prejudiced against you, you are being denied your right to an education.

Reforming Our Schools

Here at ShoutOut we’ve known for a long time about the shortcomings for LGBTQ+ students in the Irish education curriculum. Indeed our very name ‘ShoutOut’ derived from the loud absence LGBTQ+ students faced about their identities in classrooms across the country.  

This is not surprising. Some parts of the curriculum have not been updated for two decades. Indeed we continue to hear this message of outdated and unfit for purpose from young people in schools every week.

That’s why ShoutOut loudly welcomes the proposed reforms from the Oireachtas Education Committee on Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) in our schools published last week. 

The report recommends that in the new programme, both secondary and primary school children would be taught about “LGBT specific sexual health issues and the presentation of LGBT relationships without distinction as to their heterosexual counterparts.” About time.

Interestingly external providers of sex education in schools should be regulated and accredited by the HSE and the Department of Education. This is “to ensure consistency and accuracy of information to students.” While ShoutOut does not focus on sex education we are very pleased to know that those who do opine on this topic must soon be qualified to do so.

These are important and welcome reforms. We thank the Committee and we look forward to continuing to work with the National Council on Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) as we have done previously so that our mission to make every school on the island of Ireland a welcoming place for LGBTQ+ youth becomes a reality. 

ShoutOut @ ILGA Europe

ShoutOut’s Managing Director, Bella FitzPatrick, and ShoutOut’s Chairperson, Declan Meehan were both delighted to be able to attend ILGA Europe’s annual conference which was held in Brussels in late October.

Declan and Bella represented both ShoutOut and Cara Friend while at ILGA Europe. The theme was Politics For Change and focused on the importance of legislative progress for the LGBTQIA+ community across Europe and Central Asia. Bella writes about her experience at ILGA Europe here:

On the first day we were welcomed to Brussels by the lovely ILGA team and we were more than ready to dive in! It was great to meet all the bi+ activists at the space for bisexual people to meet each other before the conference kicked off.

Bisexual pals at Brussels

The first meeting we went to was hosted by IGLYO where we met people doing similar work from all over Europe and Central Asia. We heard about IGLYO’s amazing work indexing the school environment in terms of LGBT inclusion which you can see here.

The next day at the opening panel, we were addressed by the VP of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans who spoke on the solidarity needed for LGBT rights from society at large, as everyone benefits from equality.

We were then treated to an amazing speech by Ireland’s very own Ailbhe Smyth as she spoke about recent journey towards equality which has taken place here in Ireland.

From left: Brian Sheehan; Co chair ILGA Europe, Niamh Cullen; European Commission, Bella FitzPatrick; ShoutOut Managing Director, Declan Meehan; ShoutOut Chairperson, Deputy Director of Cara Friend, Ailbhe Smyth; absolute hero

We attended a very interesting session hosted by GLSEN on research which has been conducted in countries throughout Europe detailing the climate in schools for LGBT students. This lead to a meeting with everyone who works in the area of schools. We met with people from Iceland, Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania and Denmark who do similar work to ShoutOut. We are now in touch and will be sharing knowledge and resources.

Meeting with people working in education

It was another fantastic year at ILGA, we learned a lot and met a lot of great people! Next year ILGA will be held in Prague and we hope to attend again!

ShoutOut 2018 Annual Report!

We've had one whirlwind of a year! Read all about it here!

We are delighted to present our 2018 annual report with all of the facts and figures from the past 12 months, along with information on how far we have come. As always have a read and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch!