Sexuality, media, church and suicide - speaking on on stereotypes and prejudices

national | miscellaneous | press release Monday October 09, 2006 16:22 by Admin - SpunOut.ie Youth Media

World Mental Health Day 2006 (Oct 10th) - Building Awareness - Reducing Risks: Mental Illness and Suicide

Have you ever felt completely alone?

Have you ever wanted to die?

Have you ever been stereotyped? I have.

"My name is Ian Howley, I am twenty two years old and from Athlone. I am currently a student in Letterkenny I.T and I’m also a Youth Editor with the Spunout.ie National Youth Website. I got involved with SpunOut.ie, which provides information, support and opportunities to young people, to try and make a difference so that nobody has to go through what I went through.

Recently I appeared on one of RTE’s “Three 60” documentaries and spoke at a Console Conference, which led to a short interview on RTE’s 6.ONE news (see links below). All these events were focused around mental health in Ireland and it was at these various events I spoke about my past, including my three suicide attempts.

I was aged twelve when I first realised I could be gay. From that point on I isolated myself. I became depressed. I was alone.

I tried to kill myself three times, these attempts spanned from age thirteen to sixteen. My first two attempts were on the train track and with each attempt the train drew nearer. On my final attempt I took fifteen tablets.

Soon after my third attempt. I finally admitted to myself that I was gay. That was my first step to survival. It was the first day of my life.

Looking back now, there was three factors that contributed to my issues. Those factors were society, religion, and the media.

I felt let down by society because I felt like I didn’t belong. Society made me feel like I was scum. The church refuses to accept homosexuality, thus teaching us that it is wrong.

The media portrays gay people as being either “butch” or “camp”, a stereotype that is very damaging to young teenagers confused about their sexuality. This stereotype also misleads people to believe that all gay people are either camp screaming queens or butch women.

This depiction is far from accurate, after all if there are approximately four million people in the Irish population, and figures show that one in ten people are gay. Hence there is approximately four hundred thousand gay people in Ireland. This is a high number of people to merely label the same.

Gay people are not “queer”, being gay is not weird or strange. Gay people are just as normal, or just as weird, as anyone else. A person should be defined by who they are not what they are.

It is time to realise the realities of homosexuality in this country. It is time for the media to use its role in a more responsible way. It is time to show the bigger picture and not simply the most entertaining one.

Right now the bigger picture is that if the media shed a more realistic light on the gay community they may help a person embrace their sexuality, instead of that person feeling ashamed of their true sexuality just because of a stereotype.

I was once one of those people, I did not want to be gay. I did not want to associate myself with the “camp” lifestyle I had seen on television and in the papers. I hid my true self because of a stereotype and I nearly lost my life because of this.

But I am not stereotypical, I am a beer drinking, sports watching, poor spelling young guy that just happens to be gay.

Initiatives like the SpunOut.ie National Youth Website, which was set-up by young people with the support of youth health agencies, are taking the initiative towards change. SpunOut.ie is giving young people like me an opportunity to receive information and support on sex, relationships and a whole range of issues. It provides contacts on relevant help services throughout Ireland, gives young people a chance to publish their news and views and allows young people to confidentially discuss their lives through moderated discussion forums.

The time has come for change. This change can save lives. SpunOut.ie has set a marker in responsible and innovative media. It is up to others to follow suit.

ENDS

More information on SpunOut.ie at:
http://www.spunout.ie/about.php

More information on Ian
http://www.spunout.ie/news_content.php?id=2490

Also, Ian's SpunOut.ie mini-doc is online at http://www.spunout.ie/news_content.php?id=2397

and Ian video interview on RTE 6.1 news at

http://www.rte.ie/news/2006/0922/6news.html
or for direct http://dynamic.rte.ie/av/230-2175615.smil

World mental health day 2006
http://www.wfmh.org/wmhday2006.htm