UCD’s Literary and Historical Society (L&H) are to lodge a complaint with Pulse Security after a homosexual couple was ordered to stop kissing. The incident took place last month at a Literary and Historical Society function held on campus in the Forum bar. The male couple was confronted by a member of Pulse Security, who demanded that they stop being intimate.
UCD’s Literary and Historical Society (L&H) are to lodge a complaint with Pulse Security after a homosexual couple was ordered to stop kissing. The incident took place last month at a Literary and Historical Society function held on campus in the Forum bar. The male couple was confronted by a member of Pulse Security, who demanded that they stop being intimate.
A disturbance erupted between the security member and several students attending the function, but the situation was soon brought under control without aggravated altercation.
The students involved are not UCD students but were on the Belfield campus attending a debating competition hosted by the L&H.
Manager of the Forum Bar, Declan Hyland was adamant that the security member involved was not part of the Forum bar staff and insisted that he “wasn’t under the instruction of any of the bar staff”. He affirmed that “male-female or gay couples are treated equally, if a heterosexual couple were behaving in a certain way they may be asked to tone it down also”. Mr. Hyland deemed the actions of the security as understandable, believing that the man in question “was being overcautious”. It is unclear as to what hazard or risk the security guard felt he was averting.
Ian Hastings, Auditor of the L&H society described the incident as “thoroughly, thoroughly unacceptable”. Speaking of the complaint to be lodged, Mr. Hastings said “it is probably going to be a joint [complaint] from the L&H, and the university”.
News of this incident comes as a study, Supporting LGBT Lives: A Study of the Mental Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People was published by Minister for Health Mary Harney.
The report found that almost 20 per cent of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have attempted suicide and almost all saw this as related to their sexual identity and the experiences of being abused and feeling isolated.
The research conducted by the Children’s Research Centre in TCD and the School of Education at UCD is the biggest study carried out in the Republic into the mental health of gay, lesbian and transgender people. Some 80 per cent of respondents say they have been verbally abused, while 40 per cent say they have been punched, kicked or beaten. Most bullying or verbal abuse was experienced in the education system, with almost 60 per cent reporting homophobic bullying in their schools. Equally alarming, almost one-third of respondents had self-harmed at least once.
The study also found the majority (81 per cent) of the gay community are now comfortable with their identity, with over two-thirds of respondents coming out to all their immediate families.
Launching the report last week, Minister for Health Mary Harney said she hoped the findings would help provide an evidence-base for the kind of services needed to help people in distress over issues such as sexual identity. But she also stressed that the wider society has a crucial role to play in tackling discrimination against members of the LGBT community. She highlighted the importance of the support and understanding of family members for those faced with discrimination.
One attempt to foster a more positive approach to diversity in universities is the Challenging Stereotypes intervarsity competition. The creative competition highlights the continued need to challenge stereotyping. It is being run by the 7 Irish universities and is now open to entries, which are accepted in the form of art, photography and written pieces. The equality project aims to combat discrimination in relation to the nine equality grounds, one of which is sexual orientation.
