Upcoming Events

National | Gender and Sexuality

no events match your query!

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link Sex Sells. It Always Has. And the Ad Industry Has Finally Remembered That Sat Aug 02, 2025 19:18 | Lee Taylor
Sex sells, says Lee Taylor, and that is something many brands, caught up in the joyless theatre of modern virtue-signalling, could well stand to relearn.
The post Sex Sells. It Always Has. And the Ad Industry Has Finally Remembered That appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Migrant Hotel Residents Film and Laugh as Protesters Clash in Islington Sat Aug 02, 2025 17:00 | Richard Eldred
Nine people have been arrested after protests in Islington turned ugly over a hotel housing asylum seekers, with migrants seen laughing and filming from the windows.
The post Migrant Hotel Residents Film and Laugh as Protesters Clash in Islington appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Record Number of Over-60s Referred to Prevent Amid Explosion in ?Extreme Right Wing? Views, eg Likin... Sat Aug 02, 2025 15:00 | Toby Young
The over-60s are being referred to Prevent in record numbers for their susceptibility to ?extreme Right-wing? ideology, with red flags including liking the Dambusters and owning the complete works of Shakespeare.
The post Record Number of Over-60s Referred to Prevent Amid Explosion in ?Extreme Right Wing? Views, eg Liking The Dambusters appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link GB News is Now Britain?s No1 News Channel Sat Aug 02, 2025 13:00 | Richard Eldred
Just four years after launch, the People's Channel has toppled the BBC to become Britain's most-watched news channel, beating both the Beeb and Sky in key July slots.
The post GB News is Now Britain?s No1 News Channel appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Red Cross Pays For Dependents of Asylum Seekers to Relocate to Britain Sat Aug 02, 2025 11:00 | Toby Young
The Red Cross is paying for the families of hundreds of migrants granted asylum to relocate to Britain. Confronted about this by the Telegraph, Yvette Cooper blamed the Tories. Shock!
The post Red Cross Pays For Dependents of Asylum Seekers to Relocate to Britain appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Will intergovernmental institutions withstand the end of the "American Empire"?,... Sat Apr 05, 2025 07:15 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?127 Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:38 | en

offsite link Disintegration of Western democracy begins in France Sat Apr 05, 2025 06:00 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?126 Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:39 | en

offsite link The International Conference on Combating Anti-Semitism by Amichai Chikli and Na... Fri Mar 28, 2025 11:31 | en

Voltaire Network >>

A fifth of gay people tried suicide – “Step up and Speak out”

category national | gender and sexuality | press release author Tuesday June 16, 2009 16:10author by Volunteer - SpunOut.ieauthor email info at spunout dot ieauthor address www.SpunOut.ieauthor phone 091 533693 Report this post to the editors

Follow my example

www.SpunOut.ie, an independent, youth powered national charity based in Galway, is calling on young people and especially young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people to speak out and follow the example of SpunOut.ie long time volunteer and Project Worker, Ian Howley.
SpunoUt.ie lgbt homepage
SpunoUt.ie lgbt homepage

www.SpunOut.ie, an independent, youth powered national charity based in Galway, is calling on young people and especially young Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender people to speak out and follow the example of SpunOut.ie long time volunteer and Project Worker, Ian Howley.

Ian, 25, from Athlone, Co. Westmeath, is urging young people to start speaking about their problems and to seek support. In his teens, Ian had to battle with his own sexuality and faced a long and lonely path through depression and nearly lost his life to suicide three times. Ian recalls “When I first realised I was gay, I hated myself, I hated who I was and what I had become. I hated the way society looked at me and I felt like I didn’t belong. Unfortunately, I tried to take my life three times but it was only after finding an inner strength and accepting who I was that I could overcome my problems.”

This comes on the back of shocking statistics that a fifth of young gay people have tried suicide* and a report yesterday that homophobic bullying is widespread among teenagers with some teachers even accused of name-calling in class.** Some 460 people died by suicide in Ireland in 2007, up almost 50 from the previous year. Four times more men take their own life in Ireland than in the UK, with men under 35 accounting for 40% of all suicides.***

Ian is currently running a LGBT Outreach programme, which promotes LGBT support services such as BeLonG To, the Gay Switchboard and regional support services such as shOUT! in Galway. Each service provides a safe and open spaces for young LGBT people. SpunOut.ie are also offering young LGBT people information and a platform to get their opinions heard and to make personal and social change. Ian adds, “In this difficult time, it is essential for young people to feel like they have support, especially in rural areas where the lack of support services are evident. The support these services provides are essential for young people to grow and to feel like they have a place in society."

Ian is urging young people throughout Ireland, to follow his example and to speak openly and honestly about what they are going through. He adds, “Only by talking about your problems can you overcome them. Over the last 4 years I have stepped up and spoke to millions of people about what I went through as I felt it was a great way to make a real difference."

Finally Ian adds- “All it took was a small bit of courage and my life changed forever. I would love to see other young people following my example, to step up, speak out and to help other young people out there. If I can do this, anyone can.”

www.SpunOut.ie
www.BeLonGto.org
Gay Switchboard - 01-8721055

ENDS
__________

Further info

*The study was carried out by the Children’s Research Centre in Trinity College and the School of Education at UCD
**http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/study-homophobic-bul...fWl&C
***http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/report-suicide-preve...oFH&C

Related Link: http://www.spunout.ie/about/Blog/SpunOut.ie-wants-you-to-Step-up-and-Speak-out

Ian Howley
Ian Howley

author by Michael Gallagherpublication date Tue Jun 16, 2009 16:24author email libertypics at yahoo dot ieauthor address author phone Report this post to the editors

inspiring and very admirable work, we need more life savers like your good self.

 
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy