Bears ‘n’ Proud

FROM THE EDITOR

We couldn’t have made this brand new GCN without your feedback and suggestions

WE ASKED THE GCN TEAM:

If you were a queer icon, what one would you be, and why? And we discovered icons we didn’t even know existed

FOCÁL UP!

This month we’re having words about…

QUEER VIEW MIRROR

It was sad that GLEN felt compelled to wind down

Happenin’things to do this month

RIOT was the talk of the GCN offices last September,

THE BOOK GUY

What’s got Stephen Boylan up at night this month?

Shirley’s Burn Book

This month Amber D’Alessio made out with a hot dog, and…

The Power of Pop

Since the dawn of pop music, teenagers have been empowered in their journeys towards self-acceptance at the concerts of their idols, says Conor Behan. That’s why the bombing at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, which celebrated same-sex love, was all the more cruel

Mykki, So Fine

LGBT iconoclast, trans maverick, poz activist, queer rap originator, and soon to be international journalist... life for Mykki Blanco is going pretty well, now that he’s abandoned Trump’s America

GAYS AGAINST GUNS

Immediately after the Pulse massacre last June in which 49 people were shot dead in a gay nightclub, a group of LGBT+ activists, veteran and edgling, came together to try and do something about the atrocious gun laws in America. One year on, post the election of Donald Trump, Gays Against Guns are ghting with all their might against a cycle of death. Brian Finnegan attends a meeting

Queers are the victims of hate crimes in rising numbers, as America experiences a backlash against marriage equality and trans visiblity

In the hours after the massacre at Pulse in Orlando

From Russia with Hate

In 2013, Russia enacted a vindictive “gay propaganda law” which demonised and imperilled its queer citizens. Now in an ironic twist, Vladmir Putin faces a potential schism with one of his most ardent supporters, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, over allegations of a campaign of violence against the Russian republic’s gay men

While gay men are being tortured in Chechnya, Putin is using queers as pawns in his cold war against the West

To understand the cultural cold war, you must understand Putin’s

PEOPLE POWER

“We didn’t know we’d be forming a chapter of ACT UP when a small group of us began meeting in Dublin last summer,” says Andrew Leavitt, as a new wave of HIV activism in Ireland is taking its inspiration from the erce examples set 30 years ago

Pick of De Pride

Lesbians are a dime a dozen on The X Factor

A Word From The Chair of Pride

I would like to invite you all to join us

A word from the Pride Grand Marshal

I am deeply honoured to lead this year’s Pride parade

Our Queer Irish History

Our editor is one of 167 people who have contributed

STREET LIFE

TRUST THE GAYS TO KNOW THE BEST PLACES TO EAT!

An observer could reasonably mistake Pride for a business promotion festival

In the 34 years since a small group of queer

We’re Only Human

This savvy new campaign by regular GCN photographer Hazel Coonagh, not only promotes solidarity with people living with HIV, it seeks to educate too. With rates of infection still rising in Ireland, we think it’s spot-on

Joni on The Late Late

In 1980, 26 year-old Joni Crone, became the irst Irish lesbian to go on The Late Late Show and talk about her life. Half way through that iconic interview, she started getting pissed of, she tells Brian Finnegan

Joni’s bravery is highlighted further, given the negative reaction to her appearance on the Late Late Show

During the 1970s gay men were beginning to appear more

when you’re a boy

clothes always fit ya, life is a pop of the cherry

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE

When lauded Irish writer PP Hartnett told us he doesn’t want to be “the usual safe fag who isn’t going to gamble” in order to get his books on the shelves, we decided we wanted to hear more. Celebrated for his 1996 queer novel, Call Me, he’s since rejected the mainstream to create his own publishing company, collaborated with gay serial killer Dennis Nilsen, and formed a band called Child Rape Photos. As his latest collection of poetry, or what he calls “thought grenades”, is published, he tells Gavin Whelan it’s all in the service of wanting to tell the truth about the ip side

The Gender Recognition (Amendment) Bill 2017 will truly make Ireland a world champion of trans rights

The second anniversary of the 2015 Gender Recognition Act is

INSIDE OUT

Grainne Healy was one of the founding members of Marriage Equality in 2006. Almost a decade of tireless work later, Ireland voted overwhelmingly for equality in the marriage referendum. Now, as a book about the movement and a movie are being released, and Marriage Equality is closing down, Healy says she won’t feel adrit. Photo by Paul McCarthy

If Leo Varadkar is to be a great Taoiseach, let it not be because he is gay, but because the marginalisation and shame he has known can give him a greater sensitivity to all parts of our society

Undoubtedly, I welcome the landmark ‘achievement’ of Ireland getting its

LGBT Girls: Health & Fitness

Meet some members of the meetup.com group, LGBT Girls: Health and Fitness, and ind out what sports mean to them