by Danielle Mc Mahon
Last weekend my wife and I attended the launch of Amnesty International's 'Let's make history, vote yes' campaign in Dublin City. This campaign has been launched in support of the upcoming referendum here in Ireland in which the citizens of this little country will have the option to vote Yes or No for marriage equality.
As it stands homosexual couples in Ireland can be legally recognised through civil partnership but not civil marriage.
I realise that for many people this may not be a big deal but for the homosexual community it is. This is just one more thing which tries to set us apart, which tries to brand us as being different, which discriminates against us and our human rights, in a legal fashion.
Standing in front of the GPO on Dublin's O'Connell street surrounded by people from all walks of life I felt safe. I kissed my wife, held her hand and enjoyed the moment. In the past number of weeks we have been shouted at in quite an aggressive manner whilst holding hands as we walk down the street. This is not okay. Being verbally abused in any situation, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race, is not okay, it is frightening and frustrating.
Since Sunday I have been thinking about this referendum constantly. I have been reading all of the news, following all the news feeds across social media and starting the conversation with family, friends and colleagues about the upcoming referendum.
Yesterday as I took my break at work I sat down with my coffee and flicked through the newspaper. The following headline caught my attention immediately; 'I am a liberal but I will be voting No in referendum'. Already annoyed by the contradiction in the headline I read on. I am almost certain that any of my colleagues who saw me reading must have thought I was loosing my mind. I shook my head, tutted and laughed at the idiocy of the article. This article is one of hypocrisy, the writer claims to be a liberal and avid supporter of women's rights and those of 'the gays'. I am sorry, Sir but any body who supports 'the gays', as you so flippantly put it, would not even contemplate coming out and voting No for marriage equality in May. If you are such a supporter of ours, but cannot get your narrow mind around the difference between civil marriage and partnership, stay home, do not vote.
An excellent point was made last Sunday, those who are voting No in the referendum will come out to vote. For those who are voting Yes there is no room to be complacent, do not sit back and think 'Oh sure everybody else is voting Yes, I don't need to go'. You absolutely do, every single person who is ready to stand up and say Yes to equality for all Irish citizens needs to get up and go to vote on May 22nd.
I will be voting Yes not just for myself but for future generations. My wife and I hope to start a family in the future and it saddens me to think that at this moment in time I could not even contemplate raising my children in this country. This saddens my greatly as I love the Irish culture, the language, the beauty of this Emerald Isle, but I would not feel accepted or recognised as a family in my own country as this point in time. I hope that a Yes vote in May will help Ireland take the step in the right direction that it so desperately needs to take. This referendum is not just about marriage equality, it is about human rights, it is about protecting all of Ireland's citizens and putting an end to discrimination and inequality.
I am hoping that my family and friends will join me on May 22nd 2015 and vote Yes, this refernedum represents so much for so many, for me it is representing hope, the hope that finally my wife and I will be accepted and legaly recognised in this country.
Saturday 28 March 2015
Monday 2 March 2015
Have a Little Character!
By Danielle Mc Mahon
I am a character person, from books to movies, television shows to phone calls, to everyday acquaintances, I love characters.
For me the most important part of any story are the characters. When I read a book or watch something on the silver screen I become completely attached to the people around whom the story is centred.
This applies for television shows also, it has been a more than common experience in the past number of years to find me in floods of tears staring at my computer because something traumatic is happening to my favourite characters on a television show.
About a month ago I was heartbroken when I finished reading an amazing book, I had become so involved with the characters and their lives that I was devastated when I read the last word and realised that I would never hear how the rest of the story played out.
Last weekend we started watching a relatively new series, I had seen trailers for it and different fan videos but I really wasn't sure if I would like it as it is set in a women's prison and I guess I'm just not that tough. Despite this we decided to delve in and take a chance. The chance paid off and the delve was worth it. In seven days we watched a total of twenty-five episodes and today I found myself at a loose end, devastated by the fact that there would be no new episode until June!
The characters in this show are amazing, even-though they are criminals you want to be their best friend, when you are having a bad day at work their portrayal of being in jail makes you actually think about whether it is really all that bad, which is a pretty powerful affect to have over an audience!
It is not only the characters as individuals which draw you in, but the cliques. The roles are played so well that you can actually picture which clique you would belong to, how you would manage to survive, how you would relate to all of these women, something which is hard to do if the characters are not written and played well.
Over the past couple of weeks the idea of characters, how they are created and why, has become something pretty central to my thought pattern. Aren't we really all just trying to create our own characters? Everyday we dress and behave a certain way, we make conscious decisions about how we appear to others, we choose what to speak about and how these themes reflect on us and how we are perceived by others as a result.
So what happens when you have created a character which is not really you? It is not as simple as deleting a paragraph in your word document, or asking the director and costume designer to change the attitude and appearance of the actress or actor who is playing the role. How do you fix what you yourself have created in your own real life situation? Do you get a haircut, go on a shopping spree? What about the rest? How do you take a step back, re-imagine and recreate a character when the character is you?
I am a character person, from books to movies, television shows to phone calls, to everyday acquaintances, I love characters.
For me the most important part of any story are the characters. When I read a book or watch something on the silver screen I become completely attached to the people around whom the story is centred.
This applies for television shows also, it has been a more than common experience in the past number of years to find me in floods of tears staring at my computer because something traumatic is happening to my favourite characters on a television show.
About a month ago I was heartbroken when I finished reading an amazing book, I had become so involved with the characters and their lives that I was devastated when I read the last word and realised that I would never hear how the rest of the story played out.
Last weekend we started watching a relatively new series, I had seen trailers for it and different fan videos but I really wasn't sure if I would like it as it is set in a women's prison and I guess I'm just not that tough. Despite this we decided to delve in and take a chance. The chance paid off and the delve was worth it. In seven days we watched a total of twenty-five episodes and today I found myself at a loose end, devastated by the fact that there would be no new episode until June!
The characters in this show are amazing, even-though they are criminals you want to be their best friend, when you are having a bad day at work their portrayal of being in jail makes you actually think about whether it is really all that bad, which is a pretty powerful affect to have over an audience!
It is not only the characters as individuals which draw you in, but the cliques. The roles are played so well that you can actually picture which clique you would belong to, how you would manage to survive, how you would relate to all of these women, something which is hard to do if the characters are not written and played well.
Over the past couple of weeks the idea of characters, how they are created and why, has become something pretty central to my thought pattern. Aren't we really all just trying to create our own characters? Everyday we dress and behave a certain way, we make conscious decisions about how we appear to others, we choose what to speak about and how these themes reflect on us and how we are perceived by others as a result.
So what happens when you have created a character which is not really you? It is not as simple as deleting a paragraph in your word document, or asking the director and costume designer to change the attitude and appearance of the actress or actor who is playing the role. How do you fix what you yourself have created in your own real life situation? Do you get a haircut, go on a shopping spree? What about the rest? How do you take a step back, re-imagine and recreate a character when the character is you?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)