Aiteach Zine #3
Accessible version beneath the issuu slides
In Transition
Also bi column, lit, spirituality, poetry, and so much more!
Wexford Pride committee report inside.
Contributors Veronica Victor (she/her), John Cunningham-Ryan (he/him), Vic Kelly-Victor (they/them), Mx. Adam Khan (they/them), Andrei Boyd (he/him), Thomas Fitzgerald (he/him), Anonymous.
CONTENTS
Report by Vic Kelly-Victor
Speech by Anonymous
In Transition by Vic Kelly-Victor
Bi by Dorn Simon
Spirituality by Andrei Boyd
’Tis the Season
Entertainment by John Cunningham-Ryan
Lit by Vic Kelly-Victor
Poetry by Mx. Adam Khan
Poetry by Thomas Fitzpatrick
Please send all inquiries to Aiteach.wexford.pride@gmail.com
COMMITTEE REPORT
VIC KELLY-VICTOR
After Pride in the Park, your committee got together to talk about what worked and what we'd like to change next year. We also reviewed the answers to our survey, taking on your feedback. The main points coming out of that meeting were to:
Write a complaint to Wexford County Council about the lack of mains electricity, which had been promised, and the state of the public toilets
Start looking for an Irish Sign Language interpreter for next year as soon as Pride season is over
Keep the idea of the family-friendly show in the daytime with a super-queer after party in the evening!
We continued the fortnightly Tea on the Quay social event in Wexford and the fortnightly LGBTQIA+ Support Group at the IFA Centre in Enniscorthy in June, and the Book Club met to discuss Leslie Feinberg's incredible Stone Butch Blues. Arguably our most important event in June was of course the Soapbox Session on the Wexford Quays. In the spirit of Pride being a protest as well as a celebration, we took the mic in hand to talk about our experiences as LGBTQIA+ people in Wexford and to offer space for our members to speak their truths.
We heard about the need to challenge false narratives in the media, the need to support library staff when protests happen, the importance of libraries to our community, and the absolutely inhumane state of trans healthcare in Ireland. We also had poetry, personal stories of growing up queer in Wexford, personal stories about being neurodivergent and queer, and insight into mental health struggles. This event is one we want to repeat every year, inviting more people to join and share their truths.
All the committee members and several other members of Wexford Pride marched in the Dublin Pride Parade — some with the Traveller and Roma LGBT+ Action Group, some with the Bears, some as performers — and connected with representatives of other LGBTQIA+ action groups during the day. The Dublin Pride Parade felt both celebratory and driven by protest, and there were some very strong protest speeches from the main stage, especially around trans and intersex healthcare, media narratives, and education.
Reaching out to other Pride organisations is important to us, so we were delighted to spend a couple of hours talking to Pembrokeshire Pride about our approach to the day — and how Wexford Pride and Pembrokeshire Pride might support each other next year! After all, we're just a ferry ride away from each other :)
We wrapped up June ready to join the Wicklow Pride celebrations at the start of July — and that's where I'll pick up next time!
Your committee members are: John Cunningham-Ryan (he/him, Secretary), Rían Browne (he/him, Public Relations Officer), Veronica Victor (she/her, Community Liaison), and me, Vic Kelly-Victor (they/them, Treasurer).
– Vic Kelly-Victor
TRANS HEALTHCARE IN IRELAND
ANONYMOUS
The following speech was delivered by Veronica Victor at the 2023 Pride Soapbox Event on Wexford Quay, June 18. The author requested anonymity for fear of repercussions for speaking out against the current national gender service.
Over the last three decades and beyond many here have had the opportunity to witness firsthand the progression of public debate and opinion surrounding the level of influence or control over people's bodily autonomy and social inclusion by religious and state institutions. Most notable examples include the decriminalisation of homosexuality nearly three decades ago, the introduction of marriage equality and gender recognition in 2015 and most recently the decriminalisation of abortion. These progressive social changes were brought about via years of hard-fought campaigning, which challenged the grip of Conservative Catholic moral values that governed Irish society, pushing women, queer people and those that could not fit within this archaic paradigm to the margins, often to tragic consequences.
Trans and non-binary people, were and continue to be impacted by this social paradigm of control as our existence directly challenges the gender norms that structure our society. This is most blatantly represented in the current system of gender-affirming ‘care’.
The transgender healthcare system as it exists in the Republic of Ireland is not fit for purpose. In 2022 the healthcare service was ranked the worst in Europe. Waiting times as estimated by the National Gender Service estimated a wait time of 3.5 years upon referral, recent freedom of information data released in early 2023 indicates a near 10-year wait. Until 2022 the HSE tendered gender identity support services for minors to the Tavistock Clinic in London. This contract has not been renewed and no service has been introduced to replace this. There is currently no access to gender-affirming surgeries, trans people are required to travel abroad via a cross-border directive (which requires being under the NGS care) or as a private patient which can be costly, requiring loans or extensive fundraising for many to access. Others have no other choice but to 'DIY' their care.
The practice model delivered by the NGS has long been a source of criticism within the transgender community, validated by both the World Health Organisation and the World Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare finding the NGS' practice approach falling outside of international best practice. The psychiatric model employed by the National Gender Service consists of appointments where individuals are intensely questioned regarding their life from birth, with a significant portion dedicated to a ‘psychosexual’ assessment with question regarding sexual history, porn habits and masturbation. Minimal time is given to exploring an individual's gender identity. Lived experiences of mental illness, neurodivergence, job or housing insecurity or family relationships are often used as a basis to delay or deny essential healthcare, with little acknowledgement of how moving through the world as a transgender or non-binary individual can impact these areas. This is in contrast to the informed consent model of care employed as best practice elsewhere which places the individual as the expert in their relationship to their gender and engages in an exchange of information and support to assist them in their transition.
After a 3.5 year wait, I recently endured my first appointment. I have been lucky to access care privately abroad during this time. Despite being on treatment for 3 years I was immediately met with warnings about regret and risks regarding childbearing, I was repeatedly pressed to share information regarding previous sexual partners, acts we engaged in and their assigned sex at birth. My attempts to move the questioning along to discuss experiences of dysphoria and my care thus far were shot down. The experience was a humiliating, intimidating and degrading process that has taken a significant toll on my mental health. As a white settled person, I possess the privilege of being able to contort and manoeuvre myself within the system, even if the cost is suffering the indignity and psychological harm caused. Without the support and insight from those within the community, I may not have survived it. For many of us, we have no other choice.
When we openly share our experiences or criticise the service we risk the threat of litigation, being denied care or being discharged from the service entirely. This is why I cannot speak publicly today. The NGS has no interest in engaging with key stakeholders. As recently as February 2023 the NGS’ lead clinician was quoted as describing LGBQTIA+ organisations such as BelongTo and TENI as ‘brainwashing’ decision makers in their advocacy. There is no accountability or trust in the community they purport to treat.
Trans existence is a source of anxiety for those who profit from the status quo - the norm that gender identity and biological sex are immutable truths. These ‘truths’ are deeply intertwined with white settler colonialism, race and class that enable the policing of gender expression and conformity which social and medical institutions go to extreme lengths to maintain. As Shon Faye (2022) writes, cisgender people have the benefit of never being thought to be mistaken deluded or deceptive about their fundamental personhood. They are automatically credited with more authority, insight or expertise on their identity and trans people.
The statistics that describe the transgender healthcare crisis paint a stark mosaic of lives put on hold, disrupted, tested and lost. Cultural debate serves as an ideological black hole of distraction. Always missing is the voice of trans and non-binary people ourselves. When we are given space, it is often a very limited representation of white able-bodied, settled voices that are not representative of the wider trans, non-binary and queer community. Within both the fight for marriage equality and abortion, we were cast to the side, required to minimise ourselves for the sake of social change, a message of ‘we’ll be there for you next’ that has yet to materialise.
The strength we possess in a fight for radical change that no medical, religious or social institution can replicate is in community building. The liberation of our community is intersectional, with our social oppression connected through ideological underpinnings of heteronormativity and gender norms rooted in settler colonialism. In building grassroots networks and connecting each other in support of our material, social and cultural needs and directly challenge those that seek to deny us our dignity and freedom to live authentically.
– Anonymous
THE QUESTIONS
VIC KELLY-VICTOR
My wife, Veronica Victor, is a trans woman. She is many other things too, of course. If you've been involved in any Wexford Pride events, you've certainly seen some of those other aspects of her character and identity. She's a sharer!
When she and I met, when we fell in love, and when we got married, her gender expression was essentially male. Now, I'm a nonbinary panromantic person, but back then, I identified as cisgender man and our relationship was seen as a gay one. Our marriage was considered a civil partnership because equal marriage rights weren’t legal yet. People saw two men and assumed they knew everything about us.
All the things that they — and we — thought about our genders were all assumptions. Her whole life, people had assumed she was a man. She had even assumed she was a man for parts of her life, although she'd always pushed the boundaries of gender expression. People still assume I'm a man because I have a relatively masculine gender expression.
Just days after Veronica began her social transition, I was asked for the first time if we would break up. During the first six months, variations on that question came up with tiresome regularity. And I know that Veronica has been asked the same sort of thing about our relationship. When would we break up, how would it work, why was I staying? Was I straight now?
“Tiresome” might seem unfair to some people. We had some friends who did not even hint at such a question and we know that some who did ask were concerned that we might want or need to talk about a desire to divorce. They were trying to give us an opening. We appreciated the concern and the thought that we might need to be prompted to share such feelings. I can’t emphasize enough how supportive our closest friends were at the time.
However, some people definitely came from a place of sex-focused gossip because that’s what they focused on. “It can’t work because genitals.” Some people probably asked in a treading water sort of way, not knowing how to continue the conversation because they were too shocked by the news. They’re the ones who to this day, have the most trouble with pronouns. And some people asked because that’s where they assumed the conversation was going, and who doesn’t like to get a step ahead of the conversation? And some people asked because what they really wanted to know was how did we do it?
There was even a conversation with Ms. A*, whose husband Mr. A* told her that I was definitely considering divorce. When I had spoken to Mr. A*, I had told him we were definitely committed to making the relationship work. I guess he mistook me for Bizarro or mistook the day for opposite day (pick the reference that makes more sense to you).
Why do people assume the end is nigh? It comes down to this: most people saw me as a gay cisgender man and many of those people assumed there is no flexibility in that identity. Therefore, I could only be interested in a long-term relationship with another gay cisgender man. Veronica is a transgender woman. Thus, our separation was inevitable.
Despite the expectations of many and concerns of some — and in line with the support of others — Veronica and I plan to stay married. We still love each other. We still see each other as the people who briefly met in 2011, got to know each other in 2013, and married in 2015. We are working through the highs and lows of social and medical transition together. Our identities are complex and flexible enough to cope.
I hope that does not come across as judgemental of anyone who has chosen not to continue in a transitioning relationship. A myriad of factors can keep people together or push them apart: personal realities, social pressures, and other aspects of their relationship. Everyone has their own journey to go through in a relationship in transition.
That said, I reject the idea that transition always means the end of a pre-existing relationship. That’s the false idea behind many of those questions we’ve been asked. That's the idea that we need to challenge. We need to learn that so much more is possible than we think.
There isn't one narrative for transition. We all have our own paths to walk.
Identity is at the core of transition. When Veronica began her social transition, we both prepared for conversations about her identity. What I didn’t prepare for was conversations about my identity. Despite the societal obsession with labels, it didn’t cross my mind… to be fair, I was preoccupied with how Veronica was doing!
If you ask me now to define my LGBTQIA+ identity, I'll say panromantic, demisexual, nonbinary... or just queer. There was a time that I said gay, for convenience and through lack of understanding I struggled a lot to understand and embrace that aspect of my identity as a child and a teenager but I reached certainty. Queerness is part of who I am. Queer gets some confused reactions; but queer is my preference.
Straight, heteroromantic, or heterosexual aren’t on my list and never have been. But straight is what strangers (and even some acquaintances) assume when they see me out with Veronica or when they hear me talk about her. My queer identity is still a part of me, but it is not as visible. It can be challenging when I realize that our queer relationship has somehow been erased from the world and replaced with the default straightness, because, as mentioned, I did struggle to get to the point of comfort with that identity and visibility.
It strikes me most clearly when I’m running a workshop. There is sometimes good reason to mention my spouse. Veronica, she/her and wife all indicate straightness to the attendees. It’s unremarkable information to them.
Saying he/him and husband was remarkable to some people — and those moments of representation are important. On many occasions, an attendee would later thank me for that openness and come out themselves or mention an LGBTQIA+ family member. I still find ways to bring those aspects of my identity naturally into the flow of each workshop without disrespecting Veronica’s identity.
Here’s my stance on active questions about my identity — and I believe this should apply to active questions about the identity of any partner of someone in transition: whether well-meant, ill-meant or in jest, external questions about me being “straight now” don’t help me navigate our social transition. They only distract from more important conversations.
Let this be the definitive statement: I’m not straight. I’m a queer nonbinary person in love with and married to a queer transgender woman. Her womanhood does not redefine me as straight. My queerness does not diminish her womanhood. Everything about how those aspects of our identities interact within our relationship is for the two of us to negotiate. What counts is how we see each other and ourselves.
Regarding passive perception of my identity: I’ve never had any control over how people perceive my identity. Most strangers on the street assume I’m straight because that’s the default assumption. I’ve never had much control over people’s assumptions about my identity, so why worry about it now? Other people will always think something I can’t control. Other people have always erased my queerness.
I’m proud of myself and my identity, and I’m proud of my relationship with Veronica. When I need to make any aspect of my identity known, I can. And while the erasure of the overt queerness of our relationship still strikes me, I’m coming to terms with this loss and finding new ways of showing me.
– Vic Kelly-Victor
POSTER
Trans-guess the NGS protest at Loughlinstown
Saturday 22 July at 2pm
We will not rest until we have self-determined trans healthcare.
I HEAR YOU!
DORN SIMON
How many Bisexuals are there in Ireland?
This was my first thought for this article.
Research and Google were surprisingly lacking in the details in order to answer said question.
It would appear there are little known facts on the subject and even the Census of 2021 could not help estimate the numbers.
Naturally, we can never gain an accurate count, due to the ‘in-the-closet’ percentages or the otherwise ‘unknown’ factors.
There are those who are still querying whether they are in fact Bisexual, or merely Questioning - there are those that are actually Straight who fall in love with a same-sex individual on a one-time basis, though still identify as Straight, and there are those who are confused by the labels or do not quite fit into one or the other; Pan did that to me personally, after identifying as Bi for decades, Pan as a terminology then crossed my path, and it was like... “Oh, Hello” as it too could easily describe my attractions.
On occasion, you will find an individual who believes they are Bi when it is merely a carnal fantasy they wish to fulfil, so are they Bi?
Then there is the Celibacy factor....uh-huh, it is a thing, and one that I, since my previous partner, have yet again fallen into adopting; does this make me less Bi or Pan, that would be a hard NO, but it does mean that my sexuality is not ‘active’ in the sexual sense.
So, with so many variants, even if one were to have every Bi ‘come out’ and line them up for a count, I dare say we still wouldn’t gain an accurate tally, not here in Ireland nor anywhere else for that matter.
However, to give us a wee glimpse, I did find some material leading in the direction of a calculation.
– Taken from:
https://www.ipsos.com/en/pride-month-2023-9-of-adults-identify-as-lgbt
“A survey was conducted by Ipsos on its Global Advisor online platform in February and March 2023 among more than 22,500 adults under the age of 75.
Across the 30 countries surveyed, 3% of adults identify as lesbian or gay, 4% as bisexual, 1% as pansexual or omnisexual, and 1% as asexual.
In The LGBT Ireland Report:
“In total, 2,264 people were included in the final sample of module one...”
“...The next biggest group was bisexual participants (14.4%), the majority of whom were female...”
“...53% are now often or always open about being LGBT in Ireland. For the EU-28, it is 47%.”
The article states, “Drawing on national surveys other than the census, the report states that roughly 2% of the Irish population self-identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual.”
From a Health Statistical Model, we find: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/publications/topics/sexual/lgbt-health.pdf
“Lesbian and Bisexual Women: higher incidence of cardiovascular disease, polycystic ovarian syndrome, ovarian cancer and possibly breast cancer. Lower use of gynaecological services.
Low awareness of STIs spread by woman-to-woman sex.
Barriers to accessing assisted human reproduction (AHR) services.
Gay, Bisexual Men and MSM: homophobic abuse and violence, stress, substance misuse, and sexual health risks (including HIV and syphilis).”
Finally, from: https://www.rcni.ie/central-statistics-office-data-on-adults-experiences-reveal- how-sexual-violence-sustains-systemic-inequality/
“Bisexual people reported almost double the level (37%) of sexual violence as an adult with a partner compared with gay/lesbian people (19%).”
“55% of people subjected to sexual violence in adulthood are bisexual.”
The latter I found unsettling to learn, though having experienced this myself, it is also oddly validating.
It does beg the question as to why?
Is it primarily the sexual orientation, or that the trust level is higher with persons of bisexual nature?
Is it that more oft than not, bisexuals end up in heteronormative relationships and marriages?
One can assume that due to the duality of the bisexual orientation and when presented with a straight partnership even when one-half is bisexual, there is always a risk factor that the straight partner (or bi for that matter) may have a substantial increase in fears, jealousies or insecurities.
As ‘bisexual’ could also psychologically be seen as a ‘polarity’, like, say for example Bipolar is a polarity across a spectrum - maybe too, the bisexual chemical make-up may slightly bleed through the same vein?
Now, I am not saying that bisexual is like bipolar, I am viewing this purely from a biochemical and psychological if not neurological perspective, that perhaps some threads of similarity may exist, not in the behavioural or affliction parts one immediately arrives at when they hear or read the word Bipolar.
So many questions are left unanswered, under-researched and unknown.
I again invite voices to the column, whether via queries, suggestions, highlights, or guest spots.
For now, bye from one bi to the others, Dorn
– Dorn Simon
THE ART OF SURRENDER
ANDREI BOYD
I have found it very difficult to take time to sit and write this month’s column. I’ve been telling myself that it’s because I don’t have time while also telling myself that I have plenty of time. You see, there are times on our path where we stand in conflict between two worlds. One is the world from which we are seeking to move and one is the world into which we are moving. This happens to everyone and anyone who sets an intention to walk towards a higher destiny, of which there are an infinite number.
The problem with setting an intention like this is that we both seek change and fear it at the same time. So when I struggle to sit down and write or I struggle to investigate new career opportunities, I know it is because I fear the potential change and discomfort that putting myself out there can bring.
The act of surrender has been at the forefront of the guidance I’ve been receiving of late. Surrender is often confused with settling for what is and doing nothing about it.
In actuality, surrender is primarily about doing. It can be a difficult concept to master and very few people truly understand it (myself included), but I have learned in my process that taking my foot off the pedal and allowing my life to move in it’s own direction has brought the most profound change.
I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to align with the reality I hold in my mind’s eye but the act of ‘surrender’ has been the most difficult teaching to apply.
I wrote, in last month’s column, about embracing the totality of our light spectrum. Honouring and loving both the light and shadow aspects within our being. This has been deeply healing and the biggest bringer of change in my life. But it didn’t happen the way I thought it would and certainly didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. I had a vision for my spiritual awakening and it absolutely was not the deeply painful path that it has ended up being. I have spent many a day looking up to the sky and asking “why?”, “What is the point of all of this?”, “why do I continue to suffer on this path that I thought would be so beautiful?”.
You see, I had been so focused on the parts of my life that were difficult and stagnant that I had completely failed to acknowledge the miracles that were all around me. I see all of the incredible relationships that have come into my life. I see the changes in my working life that have given me time, space and money to allow incredible new and exciting experiences in. I see the work that I have done on myself reflected in the people around me. I see how incredibly beautiful I am because I am surrounded by incredibly beautiful people. I see the profound effect I have on people because I am profoundly effected by the people around me. The world is a mirror and you will always see yourself in it.
I saw my path taking a different direction. In doing the work to know myself I have been taken down a path more beautiful and miraculous than I could ever have wished for. That’s not say I still don’t struggle and feel low at times. But in being open to redirection from the Universe I have stumbled across a reality so suited to something within me to which I hadn’t yet connected. I thought I knew what I wanted but the Universe knew better.
At this moment my spirit tells me that I am on the precipice of a new world but, for now, I must keep one foot in the old. I must surrender to my path whilst listening to my intuition and taking action towards my wants and desires, even if that action is doing nothing. ‘Surrender’ is listening to the whispers of the Universe and following the call. A call to action or a call to inaction. It is about allowing people, places and things to fall away knowing that space is being made for better. It is knowing that nothing happens to you and everything is happening for you.
Looking back, I see why everything had to happen the way it did. Even when I felt I was being punished by a sadistic Universe I was actually crystallising under the pressure. Now I surrender more easily knowing that, in fact, the universe really does know what it’s doing. I am creating a better world in this life and the next.
– Andrei Boyd
’TIS THE SEASON
Photos of Wexford Pride members participating in Dublin Pride, Wicklow Pride, and Trans and Intersex Pride.
WHEN DID STAR TREK BECOME SO WOKE? (PART 1)
JOHN CUNNINGHAM-RYAN
Well Darlings, being WOKE ain’t a bad thing and don’t let people dissuade you from your opinion by throwing it in your face.
The meaning of WOKE is being aware of and actively attentive to important societal facts and issues especially issues of racial and social justice (Merriam-webster)
And secondly Darlings … Star Trek has always been WOKE.
When it started all the way back in 1966 it wasn’t bringing attention to the issues of our community but it was speaking to other social issues of the time. Gene Roddenberry (GR) privately told friends that he was modelling it on Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, intending each episode to act on two levels: as a suspenseful adventure story and as a morality tale. He and the other writers didn’t always get it right (who does) but I still think it’s important to acknowledge the sentiment.
The shipping* of Kirk and Spock is widely believed to be the first male-male fan fiction phenomenon and it has irrevocably changed the way that fans interpret and interact with characters and franchises. If that isn’t phallic …
Yes, James T. Kirk ended up snogging the face off the lady in lots of episodes but I think that was more to do with the heartthrob status of William Shatner rather than misogynistic writers. Star Trek’s audacious act of placing a BLACK woman centre screen on the bridge was ground-breaking at the time.
Near the end of season 1 of The Original Series Nichelle Nichols (NN) was telling GR of her intention to leave the show, she had been offered a role on Broadway. GR asked her to take the weekend to think about it. She attended a party that weekend ran by the NAACP and was told a fan wanted to meet her.
I thought it was a Trekkie, and so I said, 'Sure.' I looked across the room and whoever the fan was had to wait because there was Dr. Martin Luther King walking towards me with this big grin on his face. He reached out to me and said, 'Yes, Ms. Nichols, I am your greatest fan.' He said that Star Trek was the only show that he, and his wife Coretta, would allow their three little children to stay up and watch. [She told King about her plans to leave the series because she wanted to take a role that was tied to Broadway.] I never got to tell him why, because he said, 'You cannot, you cannot... For the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day—as intelligent, quality, beautiful people who can sing, dance, and go to space… who are professors, lawyers… If you leave, that door can be closed, because your role is not a black role, and is not a female role; he can fill it with anybody, even an alien."
Role on to a young black actor called Caryn Elaine Johnson; According to an anecdote told by NN in Trekkies (1997), “a young actress was watching Star Trek, and on seeing Nichols's character Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!” This spawned her lifelong Star Trek fandom. She lobbied for & was eventually cast in a recurring guest starring role as Guinan. Her name … Whoopi Goldberg of course.
TOS pushed the boundaries and was allowed to do so by the TV executives as the concept of Star Trek was in the future, merely suggesting the ideas of equality and a society of no hunger, war or hatred. Be this in the form of the much fan-fared interracial kiss but for me it’s the other concepts that were explored (and episode banned from being aired by the BBC).
In Miri (S01E08) Captain Kirk comes across a Lord Of The Flies-type society of children where all the adults have died from an unknown disease. While the episode teeters on the edge of being a full-blown Battle Royale with some segments of violence, it’s more unpleasant because of its emotional punch of lonely orphaned children facing disease and starvation.
Whom Gods Destroy (S03E14), on the other hand, ups the ante and there is a legitimate claim that the episode contained elements not suitable for a family show. It features Kirk, Spock and several supporting characters being tortured in a mental asylum, brings to mind the 1975 movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
And finally …
Empath (S03E12) still has the power to disturb. In an underground laboratory, Captain Kirk, Spock and McCoy are brutally tortured by aliens. From start to finish the episode is a cerebral exploration of the themes of sacrifice and loyalty. As any horror aficionado will tell you, what is implied is more brutal to the imagination than looking at fake blood. Off-screen shots are limited to seeing characters dangling from chains, torso stripped (Shatner’s scene, naturally) and writhing in agony. There is no gore, few screams and no focus shots on wounds. But it’s still a disturbing episode, originally aired in 1968 smack bang in the middle of the Vietnam War.
These concepts are still prevalent today: Children facing disease and starvation - Syrian & Ukrainian children fleeing war, Tortured in a mental asylum - Gay Conversion Therapy & war & the torture of prisoners
Now, hold on to your horses … or rather Wagon Train to the Stars, I know it’s not all rainbows and flowers, Star Trek didn’t get there quickly enough and particularly they really made a half-assed attempt in The Next Generation episode The Outcast (S05E07). It took decades before we got the meaningful representation we deserved and longed for but today Star Trek in all its incarnations are boldly going where no other sentient being has gone before. We are currently going through an amazing Renaissance for Star Trek and who knows where we will be brought.
– John Cunningham-Ryan
Next month … Part 2 of the journey covers Star Trek of the 80’s & 90’s; The Next Generation (TNG), Deep Space Nine (DS9) & Voyager (VOY).
BOOK REVIEW: THE BLACK FLAMINGO BY DEAN ATTA
JOHN CUNNINGHAM-RYAN
This is just a mini review, a taster if you will to encourage you to read this amazing book. It’s the book we are currently reading for our bookclub and you still have time to read it. I have hard copies available and kindle version if anyone needs it, just send an email to wexfordprode@gmail.com.
The point of joining a bookclub is to read something you might not usually read so this book might fall into that category. For me it was the first book I’ve read in verse and I just loved it.
There is no pretense in this book, no verbose language, no imagery (that I could see anyway), no beating around the bush. Whether intentional by the author or not the style of writing in loose verse is sparse and tightly edited. If it is accidental well that’s awesome, if by design well then the editing is sublime. It allows the book to flow and what could be a long and laborious story of a young black person, half Jamican, half Greek-Cypriot from age four to eighteen instead is a joy to read, short momentous occurrences in the authors life. If you are not an avid or fast reader this might be perfect for you.
There are not enough books out there by authors of colour let alone of mixed heritage navigating our LGBTQIA+ World so I’d encourage you all to get your hands on a copy (even if you’re not in our reading club). Have a search on Youtube for interviews by the author too. I’d give this book a 10 out of 10.
– John Cunningham-Ryan
IMMORTAL
VIC KELLY-VICTOR
CW: This short story deals with death and grieving
“Did you say something? Simone?”
I stop myself from turning on the light, because I know without looking that that was the last sound you’ll ever make, but as long as I don’t look, as long as the light stays off, you’re still there, still fighting for breath. Suffering, but still there, alive.
I just need you there for another little while. The clock ticks and ticks. If I lie in the dark, perhaps I could keep you forever.
“Go back to sleep, my Lovely.”
I hear my own whisper. Then I turn on the light and try to let you go.
***
There’s a lot to do, and so many people to deal with, and then there’s all the conversations about better places, and better to go in your sleep, and how you’d suffered, and how I shouldn’t feel guilty if I feel relieved because you’d suffered, and how time heals all wounds. I go through it all, and Erica, our youngest (do I have to say my youngest now, will people correct me?) is incredible through it all, incredible with her Mam (you were Mammy and I was Mam, now I'm just Mam) and Shelley, our eldest, well, she never did so well with her emotions.
And then it’s a quiet empty house and memories. I don’t sleep in the bedroom anymore; the couch is just as comfy, and I fall asleep watching the telly more often than not. And I don’t wake up thinking I can hear you singing in the bathroom or down in the kitchen.
***
It’s been a year, and it’s high time I got out and about, and it’s not good for me to just be at home, and so many other things that people have to say. Did I say them myself? When Joanne’s wife passed away, what did I say?
Everyone knows that there are reminders everywhere, but not everyone knows that sometimes the reminders make you forget, and then you have to let go all over again.
***
“Mam, I got us tickets to a show and you’re going.”
Erica’s taken to coming by on Wednesdays, and she thinks I don’t notice her tidying up and doing some cleaning while she’s here. I don’t mind really. But a show…
“Don’t give me that look, Mam. It’s The Tempest. I really want to see it and I don’t have anyone else to go with.”
She looks so like you when she folds her arms like that. I haven’t been to a show since before you took ill.
“You could take Shelley.”
“Mam, Shelley’s not been in a theatre since before her Leaving Cert! She won’t go. Go on, say you’ll go.”
“All right, Love. I’ll go to the show.”
***
“You never said it was opera.”
“You used to go all the time.”
“Your Mammy always loved the opera…”
“So did you.”
We get to our seats and sit for a while. “Mam? Are you all right? Was this a bad idea?” She doesn’t sound at all confident now. I’ll need to make an effort.
“These seats are very good. They must’ve been very expensive.”
“My…friend got them for me. He’s attached to…he’s in the chorus.”
“You’re blushing, Love.” I smile. That makes it easier to chat.
***
Prospero’s voice is wonderful. When he hits his mark and begins…oh, Simone, you’d have loved this. I want to turn to see if you’re enjoying it as much as me. I want to have a quiet cry. I want to stay. I want to go.
The singer’s name is Simon. Simon and Simone. Coincidences are just coincidences, my Lovely, you always tell me that, but there you go. I should let you go and I don’t want to let you go. I’m stuck and I’m not.
The music falls silent and Simon sings again, and I hear every word. And I understand.
***
“Mam? Are you alright.”
“…yes. Right as rain, Love. Thank you so much. That was wonderful.”
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
She starts to help me up, and I give her a glare before I can stop myself. “Honestly, Erica, I’m only 61, I can stand up on my own.”
She blushes, like you used to.
“I loved the show Erica. Really. And I’m fine.”
I fuss with my bag looking for lip balm, just to give me something to do with my hands.
“So…which one of the chorus was your fancy man?”
Her blush spreads, and I manage a smile as she protests. I gather myself, and we go out into the night. Erica drives me home and once I’ve shooed her away, I can sit down on the sofa.
I sit, and have a little cry, and dry my eyes.
The house is so quiet. Except for the sound of your voice. I listen.
I don’t have to let that go.
– Vic Kelly-Victor
Grief support: Samaritans 116 123
POETRY
MX. ADAM KHAN
A Tenfold of Trans Joy
Trans Joy is
the euphoria, within yourself feeling glorious
the validation, from trans siblings in elation
the acceptance, of your identity in prevalence
the celebration, of a new life destination
the ownership, claiming your identity with a tight grip
not conforming, to societal norms by being discerning
being visible, showing our community is indivisible
rewriting scriptures, to replace the cishet structures
your chosen family, hanging out making memories
happily embracing your authentic, true self
– Mx Adam Khan
Flux
Constantly changing shape
As fluid as water
My gender identity
Is in perpetual flux
Metamorphosising gracefully
From a solid gender state
To a blend of gender
Akin to any social construct
Each gender is temporary
As my genderfluidity is in flux
– Mx Adam Khan
POETRY
THOMAS FITZPATRICK
Queer Ireland - a history
For those 140 years we were governed thus,
To be anchored in gaols of severity and rust,
Simply put an act in 1861 was made gold,
Our peril however had merely broken the crust.
The first light in this din came from dear Norris,
A bottle waged in biased courts fought and failed,
Privacy the weapon we hung our hopes on for now,
Appeals held the hammer that kept us tired and nailed.
Declan the fellow now gone he rests in his grave,
Justice sought and given grudgingly behind locked doors,
Parades were birthed a year later from this crime,
I imagine he was there stampeding against the Dublin floors.
Norris once more lashed out and brought change,
1988 a year solemn and forever etched in collective minds,
A win is a win no matter the journey for now,
Change was brewing and we could show the law that binds.
Geoghegan-Quinn proposed a new structure of justice,
A feeling burned in the chests of many opposed and burning,
Yet passed and we sighed relieve and cried tears for those
fallen,
A moral high ground had shifted and time no longer
yearning.
A partnership in writing and on an almost even keel,
Enacted in the year 2010 for those that remember,
Significant and raw to those held back,
Yet not quite a hinge to hatch with others that December.
Five years have passed, and the Irish people have spoken,
A referendum was held and passed in pure style,
Alas fights were won and lost in the years gone forever,
This one we won with true grit and true guile.
Gender is now recognised with an act and for good reason,
Blood can be given as a ban was here by lifted,
Make noise be bold and recognise those that fought
before,
The road is long and holds fears still for the gifted.
– Thomas Fitzpatrick
RECLAIMED
AN FOCL’OIR AITEACH / THE QUEER DICTIONARY
LGBTQQIPA/LADTACIPE
Lesbian - Leispiach
Gay - Aerach
Bisexual - Déghnéasach
Transgender - Trasinscneach
Queer - Aiteach
Questioning - Ceisteach
Intersex - Idirghnéas
Pansexual - Painghnéasach
Asexual - Gan-ghnéasach
EVENTS
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Fortnightly Mondays 7pm
July 2, 16, 30
August 13, 27
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There’s always a place for you here.
A confidential, contracted space for offering and receiving peer support. Facilitated by an in-community student therapist.
Wexford Pride Montly Bookclub
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Last month: Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
This month: The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta
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at the Trough on Cressent quay
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June 4, 18
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Dean Atta
The Black Flamingo, 2018
“Remember, you have the right to be proud; remember, you have the right to be you.”
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