Adam & Andy

I’ve been reading the Adam & Andy comic strip for about a decade at this stage, after first coming across it when the strip was hosted in the same place as my very first website (Fortunecity.com – circa ’99 / ’01 kinda time). It’s always made me smile, and the old longer format version of the comics were published as a book by the strip creator James Asal Jr. I bought a copy of the book back when it was first on sale, and my copy now sits comfortably well read in the shOUT! lgbt youth group bookcase where those two wonderful characters can bring a smile to the face of whatever young LGBT person flicks through it.

But, randomly enough, James namechecked me in one of the recent strips, for no particular reason other than my name being in his head after some recent photos I put up on my Flickr. But it really made me smile, and made me want to share the comic strip with you lot. I’ve been reading the little short strips about Adam & Andy for longer than I’ve ever read any other comic. Only A Softer World by the talented duo of Joey Comeau and Emily Horne comes close. While I enjoy a softer world for the dark humour, wit, and zombies (amongst other things), what I love about Adam & Andy is the fact that they’ve been the longest running gay couple in my own personal media consumption. They’re a same sex couple I’ve been reading about for about a decade or so, and I like to check in and see how they’re doing. The utterly normality of their existence is a very simple, clear message, and there’s something about the strip that just works for me. Dig into the archives and root around in the older stories. The website archive only goes back to 2006, but you can see the style of the old format comics in the previews for the book.

Homotruths interview

I’m interviewed in “HomoTruths” column of the current issue of GCN, which also happens to be the 250th issue of the publication! It’s only a wee short piece about being a gay man in Galway which was formed from a phone interview, but I think Jeanette Rehnstrom got the gist of what I was saying pretty well.

You can read it online if you don’t have access to any of the places around the country where you can get GCN (which is a free publication, and seeking donations to keep going at the moment.)

GCN is a not for profit publication and registered charity that exists for one reason: to give LGBT people access to information about everything that is happening for them across Ireland, both politically and culturally and give them access to a sense of community.

Cynthia Nixon: gay people have no desire to redefine marriage

Perfectly put, and spot on.

“I want to say to the gentleman to my left, gay people who want to marry have no desire to redefine marriage in any way. When women got the vote they did not redefine voting. When African-Americans got the right to sit at a lunch counter alongside white people, they did not redefine eating out. They were simply invited to the table… We have no desire to change marriage. We want to be entitled to not only the same privileges, but the same responsibilities as straight people.” – Cynthia Nixon

Here’s the clip from New Yorker Festival’s panel discussion on “Love and Obstacles: The Case for Gay Marriage.”:

(via towleroad)

Thank you, President Mary McAleese

The President of Ireland has turned down an invitation to be the Grand Marshal at the 250th St. Patrick’s Day march in NYC, because gays can’t march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade there.

I love this woman.

President Mary McAleese declines St. Patrick’s Day NYC Grand Marshal invite

Irish President Mary McAleese has turned down an invitation to be grand marshal of the New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade in 2011, the historic 250th anniversary of the event.

The turn down is said to be connected to the issue of gays being refused the right to march in the parade under their own banners, and McAleese’s strong relationship with gay and lesbian organizations in Ireland.

As she will also be in the last year of her term in 2011, officials in the president’s office were reluctant to become embroiled in a major controversy about her taking part in the parade which has excluded gay organizations for over 20 years.

[…]

Despite a reputation as a conservative Catholic when she took office, McAleese has become a firm advocate for marginalized groups in Irish societies including gay groups.

She is very popular with such groups and was risking putting one of the signature accomplishments of her presidency at risk if she accepted the New York invite to lead the parade.

“This was a no win for McAleese,” said one official.

“Becoming embroiled in a huge controversy on Fifth Avenue on St. Patrick’s Day with gay groups protesting her presence is not what her legacy is all about.”

I still get goosebumps when I re-read the speech she gave to a forum of LGBT youth and youth workers working with LGBT teenagers that was held here in Galway back in October ’08, and had lgbt teenagers from all over Ireland attending it.

This is my favourite part of that speech:

The job that you are doing is about the business of creating a better world. An open world, a world free of homophobic bullying and bias. A world where people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, at whatever time of their lives they discover that about themselves that they can feel, ‘So what? So what? That’s the world. I live in a world where that’s everyday. Where nobody passes a remark on it. Nobody comments. This is how life is.’ I feel very strongly that what you are doing is such an important step by step by step growth, helping not just yourselves but actually at a much bigger level, helping all of us as community, as society, as Mums, dads, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, cousins, friends, colleagues to one another to be a loving caring community. You’re helping us to grow and to go that journey.
So, thank you for your courage and thank you for going that journey and thank you in particular for growing that journey. Go raibh mile maith agat.

– President Mary McAleese. October 2008

It still brings tears of pride to my eyes. <3 The full speech is equally fantastic. A lot of the youth in attendance were a bit glassy-eyed before her speech, as they'd been listening to a lot of speeches already. But they were all so rapt and engaged by her. She didn't speak about them, she spoke to them and she really has a fantastic understanding of what life is like for an LGBT person, so it's completely understandable that she would take the stance that she has regarding the NYC Paddy's day parade, and I applaud her, and thank her deeply for it.

a little recording session

The wonderful Anna Lee was around Galway yesterday, so she came and joined the family dinner I was having with two of my siblings. After a post-lunch walk on the prom, we came back to my house and listened to some music and caught up a bit. But she offered to work the desk for some recording work that evening too, which was wonderful, as a fresh pair of eyes sorted some of the random things I’d set up badly and helped iron out some of the wee quirks with my recording setup.

Being able to just relax into the role of the performer, instead of trying to do two things at once, was a really lovely feeling. I got to chill out and just focus on giving a good performance of the tracks we were going to lay down quickly. Ended up working on three tracks in total – just vocals and piano takes of The Best Of Me and Maria, and re-taking the lead vocals and the piano line on Take Me Away. I was keen to keep all the work that Meadhbh had done on the latter track, as her vocals are just beautiful on it, but I really wasn’t happy with the guide piano and vocals I’d laid down for her to sing off.

Maria I’d never recorded before, and I’m really pleased to have a nice little demo of it done at this stage, as I can go to the other arrangements I’d sketched out for various instruments, and see if those lines will fit the way I think they will. As it turns out, re-recording The Best Of Me in the key and tempo I now play that song in was really helpful too in terms of further instrumentation, as when I was listening back to the best of the takes, I could hear the other parts I wanted in the track. I have some arrangements for that to sketch out on some manuscript paper, but I think it’s a ‘cello and viola I’ll need. I’m not sure – I’ll need to tease it out a little bit more.

I’ve not listened to those takes again yet after last night, but I’m going to leave them to listen again fresh later this evening after I go and play some Samba drums with some kids from Youth Work Ireland as part of their fundraising day. The LGBT youth group I’ve been volunteering with for the last few years, shOUT!, are under the umbrella of YWI, so helping out the main body helps keep the LGBT youth group going.

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