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GAY BELFAST NEWS FOR JULY 2004
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Belfast group Ash promoted as rent boys (29 July 2004)
Ash's former manager first promoted the band as gay prostitutes when they started out in Belfast. Frontman Tim Wheeler describes the un-named man as a "gay svengali" who he claims used sexual innuendo to advertise the rockers in their native Northern Ireland. Wheeler explains: "Our first manager was our gay svengali, and he used to market us as rent boys around Belfast. "He was a genius. We'd have posters with our pictures on, actually advertising our demos for sale, but the posters were totally comprised of snippets from gay chatline ads. "One even made it onto our first mini-album - 'Guaranteed Real Teenagers'. "And there were t-shirts, 'Too young to drink, smoke and marry - but not too young to sell their bodies for sex.'"© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2004.
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Death threat hits Northern Ireland gay couple (26 July 2004)
The spate of homophobic attacks in Northern Ireland took a sinister turn this week, when two members of the North West's gay community living in the Waterside area following threats made against them, allegedly by a loyalist paramilitary group. The PSNI are currently investigating the incident. In the early hours of Monday morning the young couples home was vandalised and a threatening letter was left on their doorstep. The letter contained the chilling threat that all gays from that address must get out, this threat was also reiterated in the homophobic graffiti that was daubed on their property which stated 'get out gay bastards', 'get out or else' and '2 weeks or bang bang'. Gay Belfast has reported in the past of, a man was beaten up because of his sexuality, and more extreme attacks have included one man having excrement smeared on his house. A spokesman for the Rainbow Project said "This is an extremely worrying development leaving two young men living in fear for their lives. Both these men have suffered continuous homophobia and hate when all they wish for is to live in peace. We call on anyone with influence on the ground in this area of the city to help put a stop to the continuous intimidation, vandalism and harassment of these two young men. We also call for politicians in this area to end their silence on homophobia and publicly condemn these threats" Earlier this month, the Rainbow Project's Sean Morrin warned that it is only a matter of time before someone in Londonderry is killed in an attack.Discuss this article on the Gay Belfast Forum
PSNI Plan Raids on Belfast Public Toilets
Ryan O'Neill from the Rainbow Project has been informed by the PSNI that a number of raids will be carried out in public toilets in Belfast. Raids will be conducted by undercover officers in response to complaints received from members of the public. Police will be targeting all public toilets in Belfast City Centre. Anyone Committing an offence of a sexual nature will be arrested. If you require any help or information please contact Ryan on 90319030. Please tell others of this.Discuss this article on the Gay Belfast Forum
Another Homophobic Violent Assault (19 July 2004)
A young man (aged 21) has been viciously attacked in the Waterside area of Derry in a homophobic incident. The young man was attacked by the assailant who preceded to punch him, kick him and finally inflicted severe bite wounds to the young man’s face. The police were called to the scene and arrested a man. The victim attended hospital were he has been treated for facial wounds and received 5 stitches. David Mc Cartney, Development Co-ordinator for the Rainbow Project in Northern Ireland said "The nature, severity and regularity of homophobic attacks in Derry and the trauma that they cause make it quite clear that there needs to be a robust response from the community. That response needs to have the support of community, church leaders, politicians as well as those involved in the Criminal Justice System."Discuss this article on the Gay Belfast Forum
Teenagers jailed for homophobic murder of Ian Flanagan (01 July 2004)
Two teenagers received jail sentences for the murder of gay man Ian Flanagan in Belfast, with the judge slamming their crime "despicable" and "atrocious". Raymond Taylor and Trevor Peel received 13 and 14 years in jail respectively for their part in the death of Flanagan. He died after the boys beat him with a wheel brace and stabbed him with a kitchen knife. Whilst giving the sentence, judge Mr Justice Coghlin said the pair had deliberately targets a gay man as they believed their crime would go unnoticed. "I have no doubt that you both set out to deliberately target a member of the gay community, confident in the belief that the social vulnerability of your victim would enable you to carry out your 'queer bashing' expedition without any real risk of your activities being brought to the attention of the police," he told the boys. He also agreed to allow the 16-year-old Peel to be identified, claiming that exposure of the murder would be beneficial to the general public and could act as a "potential deterrent". "Your acts degenerated from despicable in its inception into becoming atrocious in its consummation," he added. His comments have been praised by gay rights groups in Northern Ireland, where homophobic attacks have seen an increase in recent years. "I am glad the judge took into account the circumstances of this case and I am pleased these two were given good long sentences," P A MagLochlain of the Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association (NIGRA) told the Belfast Telegraph. However, he said delays in the implementation of hate crime legislation in the province meant the sentencing was shorter than it could have been. "Had our legislators hurried up and passed the hate crime bill, sentencing would have been longer, for if ever there was a case of hate crime, then this was it. Unfortunately, I do no think prison will rehabilitate them but I hope the sentencing will deter other people from acting in this way towards an innocent man."Discuss this article on the Gay Belfast Forum
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