28 Apr 2010
Homosexuality = Bestiality says Ian O'Doherty
Brenda Power may have had a point when she said that the likes of Ian O'Doherty or John Waters would never have come in for the kind of reaction she did on the publication of her column last July dissing gay marriage.
For instance, but for a letter to GCN, the following would have gone completely under my radar, and it barely registered a blip on Twitter on publication. What follows is the letter to GCN and then the offending piece, in which the Irish Independent's Ian O'Doherty indirectly compares homosexuality to paedophillia and bestiality.
Dear Editor,
On Tuesday April 21st 2010 The Irish Independent printed a segment by Ian O'Doherty in his Ispy column. That Tuesday was the morning after RTE 1's absorbing 'Growing up Gay' documentary debuted.
O'Doherty has received many warning over the years about subject matters in his Ispy column. But I strongly feel that he has crossed the line and something must be done to deal with him - firstly - and then Irish Independent for printing his extremely homophobic piece. Given that the Irish Indo is the biggest selling daily newspaper in Ireland, it has a responsibility to its readers and the public to insure it does not print hateful and discriminating articles.
On April 21st O'Doherty states that gays are "sexual deviants", and links homosexuality with 'pedophilia' and 'bestiality'.
The Irish Indo will claim that the Ispy segment is an irreverent look at life and not to be taken seriously, but I do not agree with this. LGBT people face extreme discrimination each and every day, both physical and mental abuse, reports and surveys show that mainstream youth is very negative against LGBT people and that homophobia is widespread. LGBT people are easy targets for homophobia, while O'Doherty considers himself clever for writing such a piece, I see nothing remotely brave about him as he is employed within a safe-system where such opinion is part of the collective.
On April 20th 2010 I witnessed a dramatic occurrence on RTE 1 with the broadcasting of the first part of a documentary on growing up gay in Ireland. It was a unique event indeed for Irish television, because it gave a voice and face to LGBT people, their families, friends, loves and experiences. I want to see Irish mainstream Media involve and include LGBT people, it is the way to break down homophobia, exclusion and discrimination. I want people to be annoyed and shocked that O'Doherty thinks he can write as he pleases without any consequence. Given the varsity of this article one must ponder the Irish Independent's agenda on the issue of homophobia.
I am including the article in full and hope you take time to read it. I have complained to the Editor of the Irish Independent and Press Complaints Commission, I urge everyone to do likewise. Thanking you for your time.
Sincerely,
Anthony Newsome
Below is the article segment:
"We live in strange and frequently hideous times. Every form of sexual deviancy is now seen by some as legitimate and we shouldn't judge them.
Gay people have groups like Stonewall and the Terence Higgins Trust, pedophiles have NAMBLA (North American Man-Boy Love Association) and, of course, the Catholic Church.
And now there's a particularly unpleasant support group - for people who like to engage in a little bestiality.
Thirty-nine-year old Douglas Spink has been arrested for running an interesting operation in Seattle - a farm where people could go and have sex with animals.
But amidst the usual roll call of animal floozies - sexy horses, dogs with a certain glint in their eye, you know the drill, there was one particularly odd animal found: mice.
Now this column can understand someone admiring a horse's fetlocks (are you really sure that's something you want to admit to? -ed.) but, really, this is beyond the pale.
After all, have you ever gone into a pet shop, seen a mouse and thought: "Yup, I'm definitely going to get me a piece of that honey"?
In fairness, the mice were all wearing make-up and rodent lingerie, so maybe they should shoulder some of the blame.
The little tarts'."