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• Posted By Irishgayrights 27 Jul 2009 16:26

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejbOsu3Z_Bw Brenda Versus Panti

• Posted By Simon Murphy 09 Jul 2009 22:32

  Her email seems to be working again. I just sent her a mail and it didn't bounce. Here it is: To: brenda.power@sunday-times.ie Dear Brenda, Re your article last Sunday on the matter of gay marriage can I just say that you should probably research your facts better. Although I suppose seeing as you are just a hack looking to incite hatred against a minority community, normal journalistic standards don't apply. Whatever your motivation is, is irrelevant. What is indisputable is that you are a really appalling journalist as well as a nasty, bitter human being. Yours sincerely

• Posted By lisadom 08 Jul 2009 11:50

  we get a lot of this in the autism community, in the British Daily "used piece of toilet paper" but occasionally in the Times. And basically it is allowed past editorial for exactly the reason you are responding - it gets a response. People talk about it (remember Oscar Wilde) they blog it, link it and get a whole bunch of publicity for their ailing little rag. The fact that it hurts a lot of people doesn't stop it selling papers. What can you do? let it pass? (let them get away with it? NO!) respond and feed the flames? My solution is to blog and link but ask everyone who reads the link not to buy anything advertised. And to denigrate the journalist at every possible opportunity. Then go back to trying to dispel all the negative myths. I support you whole heartedly Panti. xx

• Posted By TeresaC 08 Jul 2009 00:00

  There is so much wrong about that article, its horrifying, and I can't believe it made it past the editor. One thing that really struck me was her reference to the behaviour of those in the parade last week. Having attended myself, I don't see what awful, despicable "carry-on" we were involved in - it was no Love Ulster parade, thats for sure. So what the hecks is she referring to??? As for implying that the gay community's fight for the right to marry would be unsuccessful for as long as we have Panti lead the way is utter bull. There I few people I have encountered that are as witty, intelligent and inspiring as Panti, I I don't mean in just the gay community. As for her opinion LGBT families - what rubbish. Because they are subject to infidelity and domestic unrest, thats a reason to deny them the right to love and raise a child, to give them a home, make them a good person? If thats a basis for not letting someone have children, then why not sterilise everyone in the heterosexual community, eh? Just as everyone hetero or homosexual is capable of infidelities and finding themselves in ruined relationships, they are equally capable of maintaining a strong, loving and solid relationship and perfectly able to provide a safe, loving, nurturing home in which to raise a child. What a horrendous being Brenda Power is.

• Posted By Laura "Shoegirl" Farrell 07 Jul 2009 23:51

  Power more or less shatters her own argument against gay adoption by pointing out that not all straight relationships are ideal and the child's best interest should come first. Well what if the best couple available are a gay couple and we are acting in the child's best interest? Doesn't it logically follow that a stable gay couple are better than a very dysfunctional straight couple? What worries me is a lot of gays (one of two comments above even) are giving in to this idea that "we must be nice for the straights." Like hell will I be nice to the straights. They beat the shite out of me at school, scared me into silence, and turned so many great gay folks into passive-aggressive versions of their former selves. THEN they have the cheek to tell us to "tone it down lads." Like hell should we tone it down? Has nobody winced as yet another hen night stutters accross city steps or another Bridezilla starts barking on about MMMAAAAAAAAYYYYY wedding? If straights are so trivialising of marriage when don't straight conservatives do anything to save it from themselves? (At least we've some respect for it).

• Posted By Stephen 07 Jul 2009 15:50

  Oh dear, Brenda's email seems to have been deactivated... pity she wasn't though

• Posted By Alison 07 Jul 2009 12:36

  I felt the need to congratulate Declan on his fine writing, particularly bringing attention to the high suicide rate amongst gay and lesbian people. It's horrific that such ignorant journalism could have the ability to make people feel so low in themselves and so alienated. It's obvious that this woman is a product of Catholic Ireland social conditioning and repression. I have wriiten a blog myself critically picking apart her article (http://alisonnidhorchaidhe.blogspot.com/ ), I wonder if I should send it to the Times... I want to sicken her as she sickened me.

• Posted By Conor Pendergrast 07 Jul 2009 09:24

  I've written a response to Brenda's letter over on my blog (http://conorpendergrast.wordpress.co...-brenda-power/) but her Sunday Times e-mail address bounces, if anyone has it could they e-mail it to me: conorpendergrast [at] gmail [dot] com? Or Twitter: @conorp Regards, Conor P

• Posted By Jason Byrne 07 Jul 2009 01:17

  Declans words are so eloquent . I know who I'd rather be reading in the Sunday Times.

• Posted By Declan Hayden 07 Jul 2009 01:02

  To The Sunday Times Dear Editor I am writing to you in relation to the Brenda Power article in the Sunday Times 5th July 2009. This is lazy, nasty journalism, and the type of opinion and thought that I find utterly disgusting and hurtful to the core. It is beyond bit rich and hypocritical to see a 'journalist' who deliberately sets out to provoke and criticise people for what she says is deliberately provocative behaviour. Ms. Power was obviously nowhere near the Dublin Pride parade and her "get up and carry on" attitude is beyond archaic. Yes there were some mad, wildly colourful and amazing personalities celebrating Pride. I believe that the extremism and uninhibited expression in part of the gay community is in truth, creative release and celebration of repressed sexual and cultural difference. This comes from the underground nature and world that developed and was caused by the very repression of a natural human design, forced upon many for so long by a part of the straight community. Any repressed natural design will find an alternative way to grow and celebrate this diversity. Including odd shaped turnips! Thank God we do celebrate it in all its forms. The majority of the 12,000 marchers on Sat 27th June were ordinary, average, every day dressed people, brothers, sisters, fathers, daughters, sons, cousins, mothers, aunts, uncles, disabled, Irish, Polish, Chinese, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, whatever.... PEOPLE. The walked together exhibitionist and introvert alike, with respect and care for each other. And there were so many more Irish gay men and women who didn't march, who weren't even in Dublin. They don't all have to be. If those of you who were straight had only a handful of pubs and clubs in the whole country (No cafes, restaurants, parks, beaches, streets, Tescos, Spars, churches, public places etc) to hold their partners hand, hug, kiss in SAFETY without worrying will you be stared at, shouted at or beaten up later on the street home, then you might express some love and freedom on one single bloody day of the year too. My mother made Irish stew with stewing beef, dumplings, and any vegetables that were available and put whatever was leftover into it including rice. Not always lamb and turnips. She did the best she could on very little like many a mother did and it was good enough for my family and me as I'm sure the many versions of Irish stew in other families were too. Crucially, it was made with love. The same love and respect I was taught to have for every human being no matter who they were naturally. Ms. Power's elitist recipe for marriage, life and Irish stew is beyond narrow and she insults the Irish in doing so. Only two human beings who love each other can truly marry and commit to each other. Due to the society and humanity we unfortunately need laws and a host of paper work to protect this. But each marriage be it recognised or not is as varied as the stews cooked around this country. The only similarity to a good stew and a good marriage is that they need to be made with love. It is this type of 'journalism' similar to Mary Kenny and her crew that made me ashamed, terrified and self-loathing of my sexuality in my teenage years. It was the courageous people who stood up for gay rights as Panti does today that helped me accept and love myself for who I am. This type of journalism hurts scares and leads to serious depression and mental health and often suicide in young gays and lesbians in our country today. Irish children of the Irish state. Perhaps the journalist might think of this in her passion for protecting children. Why the debate is always about sex, procreation and children is so irritating. It is about two people who love each other. And these attitudes show clear insecurity in the author’s own sense of love and sexuality if they take so much offence to two men or two women loving each other. Brenda Power insults my straight friends and family, and deeply offends my gay friends and community. By printing her personal opinions as journalism, by paying her a wage to write this homophobic ranting, by allowing it pass in the editing process and on to final print, you "The Sunday Times" in turn do so. I enjoy and respect The Sunday Times as a paper very much, but if there is no apology or removal of this so called 'journalist' I won't be buying it again. I urge you to follow the wisdom of News talk Radio, state clearly what position your paper takes on homophobia and take the appropriate action in employing a professional journalist with some respect and humanity.

• Posted By robert 06 Jul 2009 20:05

  you know wat i find most disturbing about her whole article? the fact she keeps referring to the whole LGBTQ community as 'them'! i found alot of wat she said to be retarded and/or homophobic, some parts made sense or at least u could say fair enough like but she just constantly referred to us as 'them'. 'they' want marriage rights, 'they' wont be happy unless all eyes are on 'them'. its almost sickening

• Posted By Shane 06 Jul 2009 19:53

  WHAT AN IDIOT!!!i cant even comprehend a journalist for the times saying that!leave her off,she'll soon be let go for being a Dope!

• Posted By patrick ryan 06 Jul 2009 19:24

  silly cow!!!! she was dumped from newstalk 106 cause she lost them listners , she`s just a desperate old hack trying to cause a commotion and keep her lousy name in the limelight ! unlike the lovely panti who does loads for charity , the LGBT community , runs the best bar in dublin and looks a million times hotter than that silly fuckin cow .........dumb cunt !

• Posted By glitzfrau 06 Jul 2009 12:51

  I am driven mad by the way that Power and the Iona Institute are given a platform by the Irish media to provide some class of what they call 'balance' to the debate. Power and Iona don't represent anyone, but by being allowed to peddle this kind of horrid, hateful, ignorant tosh, being called onto chat-shows to provide 'the other point of view' they make the homophobic voice seem much bigger than it is. Power just churns out this kind of ill-informed crap to order: the Times should be ashamed of allowing it onto its pages. Oh, and Panti, you're an absolute bleedin' heroine.

• Posted By PJC 06 Jul 2009 12:26

  "Panti is wrong on another point — homosexuals are entirely free to marry. They just can’t marry someone of the same sex." - Aw, we forgot to look at the big picture, we can marry, just not the people who we love. GLEN are "enthusiastic" about the bill, but aren't they refering to it as a stepping stone, thus that bloke Panti is right - “all agree that [it] does not go far enough”, as even those who are happy to see it still want to see more, a point lost on Brenda, which seemed to be the theme of the day. Poor old Penny is in for a long walk if Panti wants to clear her (or should that be his!) head before posting on this again...

• Posted By barrydumonde 06 Jul 2009 11:49

  Well I't like to thank Brenda for pointing out what clearly needed to be said. I have thought for years that the Pride parade needed to be toned down and all sexually ambiguous items removed. In keeping with this I propose that for the march year everyone wears black suits with "THEM" in big white letters on our backs. That should make it easier for Brenda because imagine the embarassment of making a pronoun faux pas for a journalist.....morto. I also enjoyed reading Brenda's views on the best environment to raise children. Being the mother of 5 ,what can only be described as "bigots in training", she is most definately in the position to decree that a family of heterosexuals who hate eachother but stay together for the children is a far healthier environment that a loving same sex couple......sure come on how could it be a loving same sex couple.....I mean "Not all homosexual couples are pillars of fidelity and cosy domesticity" So very true. Finally I'd like to thank her for finally standing up to that "bloke in a dress" that has the audacity to try to inspire a spirit of positive outrage in a community that has been made sit at the kids table (not literally of course Brenda, there will be no "strife or trauma" caused) at the wedding for far too long. Get off yer holes people! This article should be the best possible rallying tool for Noises march this August!

• Posted By jobyred 06 Jul 2009 11:49

  ANITA BRYANT IS ALIVE AND WELL AND WRITTING FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES!!! I am sick and angry and what she wrote. Is it any wonder they took her show off NEWSTALK fm. She is the most ill informed, i use the word very lightly, reporter. She tends to go off on rants on anything from single mothers to old age pensioners with the littleist of information. The holes in her arguments are huge. It makes me very angry to see the lies she had printed this sunday. She talks of 'role models, a rounded self image and social excepance in their fromitive years' This is something i would have loved growing up but unfortunatly i got staright parents and grew up around straight peers so that was someting i would never have until i became an adult and had to work through with the help of councling to unravel the lifetime of brainwashing, bulling and abuse i suffered at the hands of straights to find acceptance within the gay and straight world and most inportantly myself. Her kind of old fashioned attitude reminds me of a time of curtain twitching, women who wore head scarfs, relouis fear and where child molesters were abundant in socity. An ignorant time, an ignorant people. Igonrant to the the facts. Happly awiting the end of the world with glee. People who are fearfull of anyting outside their own neighbourhood. Articles like this lay the groundwork for homophobia in the press, in government, on the streets and in the home. And she and they are getting away with it! To quote "95% of child molestations are hetrosexuals and usually family" "All child abandonments are hetrosexuals" "98% of rapes are commited by hetrosexuals" "30% of hetrosexual marriges contain domestic violence" Suffer little children. Shame on you Brenda Power your ingnorant barn upbring betrays you when you set out your standards and try to impose them on Panti or any of us who are gay. Let me say this, and i quote: yours are "the standards of Rapists, Wife beaters, Child abusers, the people who ordered the bomb to be built, the people who ordered it to be droped, the people who pulled the trigger, the people who built the gas chambers, the people who built the concentration camps, the jew baiters, the corporate thiefs and the hitlers, the people who carried out murder in the name of jesus christ and glorify themself in it" Some standards Brenda "how much more blood do you want, how many more lives." Wake up brothers and sisters evil is among us. Bringing penny for a walk maybe good to clear your head but dont just ignor it, fight the homophobia and crap that she spouts.

• Posted By ckdotcom 06 Jul 2009 08:39

  PLEASE respond. Take the high road and de-construct her baseless argument without resorting to petty swipes as she had.

• Posted By Jason Byrne 06 Jul 2009 04:47

  Oh dear, I just noticed my own poor diction and typos. Perhaps Brenda and I are long lost sisters. LOL

• Posted By Jason Byrne 06 Jul 2009 04:40

  Via email to brenda.power@sunday-times.ie Brenda, Your recent article on the topic of Pride, the proposed Civil Partnership Bill and Miss Panti made for interesting reading. Your narrow mindedness and lack of empathy, I’m delighted to say are views that are not shared with the majority of Irish society or that of society at large. Every citizen of Ireland should and will be treated in exactly the same way as his or her neighbour. This should be the case for both the good and bad that our society has to offer. Taxes, inheritance, love and marriage included. The proposed Civil Partnership Bill may not be welcomed by every section of Irish society. (Gay and straight in equal measures) But overall, most agree it is a step in a positive direction. Perhaps you should keep in mind is that the word marriage is not exclusively the preserve of a religious ceremony. Marriage can be the joining together of any items, objects or people. Your article was ill thought out and poorly written. I could go the usual route and counter your arguments. However, I suspect you would relish my justifications. Thankfully I and the rest of my community don’t require or want your brand of respect, nor do we need to justify our lives or how we choose to live them. If you had difficulty with Miss Panti at Pride, I’m sorry for you, however it was Pride, it was a day for celebrating LBGTQ people and it was not designed for the amusement or education of heterosexuals. So don’t go in future, don’t read the articles and don’t watch it on the news. It is a celebration of how far life has come since Judi Garland’s death and what happened that day in Stonewall. As LBGTQ people life handed us legal lemons and thankfully most of us are turning them not into lemonade and some even margaritas. I ask that anyone who feels outraged by Brenda’s article, simply ignore her. We all know she’s wrong and ill informed. I’m unsure of her family situation; however I always smile to myself in these sorts of comments. Life is short and always returns to full circle. One day her progeny or a loved one will require this bill or some bastardisation of it and think how she’ll feel then. Don’t let Brenda’s article cloud the important issues. Contact your TD, voice your issues, make the best we can of this Bill and push for more. Jason, Sydney - Dublin

• Posted By Kat 06 Jul 2009 02:46

  That article made me so so angry. Panti your speech was so powerful it fired up even the most apathtic gays. What you said would have had the same impact - and spoken the same truths- had you been wearing a dress or a jumpsuit (which i'm sure you'd have carried off fabulously) Can you even imagine the uproar if equivilant comments had been directed at the disabled, or black people, or any other marginalised group in society. I hope that as a community we do not let this issue lie until The Times have printed a correction and panti you have some sort of reply. lets remember black people did not get equal rights in the US by waiting for it, women did not get the vote in the UK by writing polite letters to their MPs alone, and we will not get full equality unless we fully support the rallies that NOISE organise. Roll on Aug 9th.

• Posted By Davie 05 Jul 2009 23:52

  oh panti, this article makes me soooo angry. i insist that we retaliate ... say a bag of burning crap outside her front door? but seriously, the woman was obviously getting her info from a third party - if she couldn;t have been arsed to attend the event then she should never have written on it. and her editor is going to have a lot of emails waiting for him in the morning.

• Posted By montreal 05 Jul 2009 22:02

  This article is incredibly offensive. I'm surprised Brenda dear managed to figure what the "T" in LGBTQ means. Having a jab at our identities won't make us dress up as heterosexuals and wear stilettos to Copper Face Jacks to plead to be accepted.

• Posted By Cara 05 Jul 2009 20:23

  What a confounded bitch. I'd love to see a Panti v's Brenda Power debate. You'd tear strips off her I'm sure. Hail Queen Panti! x

• Posted By seanie 05 Jul 2009 18:01

  Difficult not to let a lot of blood rush to the head every time Brenda sets the bait from her fearful right-wing nest, whilst she keeps her catholic eggs warm. Her true colours are well known to anyone who has ever read her column, so it's not that this is anything new. Although her statement that we can get married, so long as its to someone of the opposite sex, is worth a slap. Maybe we can loan her a lesbian for a civil partnership to see how she gets on with that.

• Posted By seanie 05 Jul 2009 17:59

  Difficult not to let a lot of blood rush to the head every time Brenda sets the bait from her fearful right-wing nest, whilst she keeps her catholic eggs warm. Her true colours are well known to anyone who has ever read her column, so it's not that this is anything new. Although her statement that we can get married, so long as its to someone of the opposite sex, is worth a slap. Maybe we can loan her a lesbian for a civil partnership to see how she gets on with that.

• Posted By Laura 05 Jul 2009 17:58

  Censorship my dear CP. They didn't even publish my comment which was an extremely toned down version of what I felt. Jesus. Are we living in Communist China ?!

• Posted By seanie 05 Jul 2009 17:57

  Difficult not to let a lot of blood rush to the head every time Brenda sets the bait from her fearful right-wing nest, whilst she keeps her catholic eggs warm. Her true colours are well known to anyone who has ever read her column, so it's not that this is anything new. Although her statement that we can get married, so long as its to someone of the opposite sex, is worth a slap. Maybe we can loan her a lesbian for a civil partnership to see how she gets on with that.

• Posted By CP 05 Jul 2009 17:13

  Something odd is going on on the Times website. Earlier there were 12 comments after the article all saying how crap it was. I tried to leave a comment and it said due to the fact that there were so many comments it might no be posted. Now there are 7 comments after the article. What happened the other 5 that were there?

• Posted By CP 05 Jul 2009 17:05

  Something odd is going on on the Times website. Earlier there were 12 comments after the article all saying how crap it was. I tried to leave a comment and it said due to the fact that there were so many comments it might no be posted. Now there are 7 comments after the article. What happened the other 5 that were there?

• Posted By Sean 05 Jul 2009 17:04

  Grrrrrrrr. August 9th for the LGBT Noise rally . Lets show her a protest then!!! (p.s. No letters Panti. Insist on an op-ed rebuttal piece. It will take more than a few paragraphs to address that level of ignorance. I'm sure some of the groups like LGBT Noise/MarrigEquality have reasonable media access and could assist.)

• Posted By CP 05 Jul 2009 17:00

  Something odd is going on on the Times website. Earlier there were 12 comments after the article all saying how crap it was. I tried to leave a comment and it said due to the fact that there were so many comments it might no be posted. Now there are 7 comments after the article. What happened the other 5 that were there?

• Posted By Philip 05 Jul 2009 17:00

  I had been rather apathetic about the whole gay marriage issue, I was kind of acquiescing to the idea of civil partnership until I read that piece today. Now, that cunt's (only suitable word) article has put me quite firmly wanting gay marriage. She can fuck off with herself and her bigotry.

• Posted By Rob 05 Jul 2009 16:50

  Oh, and I might add that there were plenty of trannies standing in the kickline, facing off against the corrupt, biggoted coppers, back when the Stonewall Riots sparked off. Frankly I couldn't think of a better representative than Panti.

• Posted By Alan 05 Jul 2009 15:31

  People like Brenda Power give journalists a bad name. She got even some basic details wrong, such as claiming you wore half a wedding dress. I would like to know where she got her information as she obviously wasn't actually there. She somehow manages to get this tripe published in the Sunday Times while journalists with real talent are struggling to even get an article in their local weekly. I would like to call the editor out on this, how was this rubbish allowed?!

• Posted By Warrior of the Light 05 Jul 2009 14:59

  Not sure I'd bother writing to the editor, it's The Sunday Times..... your reply will get twisted again if it's even published, it's hard to win with the print press anyway and impossible with the tabloids (I'd include Sunday Times as a tabloid in it's philosophy!). The opinions of Sunday Times readers won't be changed by a letter..... Save yourself the time and trouble and have a nice bubble bath instead.... x

• Posted By Robert 05 Jul 2009 14:58

  After you finish reading Brenda's lovely trash talk - have a peek at the comments. 12 there at the moment, and not one agreeing with her. Out of all the speeches at Pride, you, Panti, know how to deliver one to a crowd. You're an Irish Harvey Milk - just with better clothes! As for Steve in this comment section who didn't read to the end. She finished off her column talking about supermarket price wars. You know, proper stuff that women should talk about. :P

• Posted By Steve 05 Jul 2009 13:35

  Oh my god, what a complete fucking bitch. It has been a long time since since i read an article that has raised so much ire with me, to be honest i didnt finish the article cause it was making get that pissed off, an really i dont want to be pissed off that much 1st thing on a Sunday.. ugggh serious, woman is a fucking gowl. was there even a point to the piece? Panti, I for one am proud to have you as a voice for our community, so fuck that bitch an her pitty little comments

• Posted By Laura 05 Jul 2009 13:30

  Panti ! I hope you're not upsetting yourself about someone who compared marriage to a bowl of stew ? She's what I like to call a geeeeeebag ! I also Google Imaged her and clearly what she's really upset about is that in her wildest dreams she'd never look as good in a dress as you do ! Actually, come to think of it, neither do I. Anyway, I'm sure even a member of the bloody Phelps family can see all the holes and ill informed crap that is in this article. Grrr. Grr very much.

• Posted By Evan 05 Jul 2009 13:02

  It was difficult to eat breakfast this morning, as with every paragraph I had to pause for some verbal ranting. The piece had an unbelieveable amount of flaws and ridiculous reasoning. I think it's one of the most inept anti-gay Marriage pieces I have read so far. If my memory serves me well, I'm sure that she is also a patron of the Iona Institute? And regarding your speech at Pride...many of my hetrosexual friends came to me to say how impressed with it they were!

• Posted By Pauric Murphy 05 Jul 2009 12:55

  I think we can look at the positive of this article, this article will put it mildly annoy people that someone can be go ignorant to the views of the gay community, it will get more of a response out of the gay community, the people that never spoke up for 1, actively by talking to their mps now at they’re out rage. I for one am glad and proud of Panti speaking for our views, but this article spoke of Panti was an attack on our community. Why there was no discussion about the other people who talked. We will do what we do best chin up and look to the future. A future where we are treated as equals in society. We will not be bullied any longer. I know in my heart of hearts that this will come. Thank you Panti, for always standing up and doing it all so beautifully and as fabulous as you are. You give us hope as corny as all this sounds its true.

• Posted By Rob 05 Jul 2009 12:47

  I can't believe there are still people around who think we want a religious union. And I can't believe there are other people who will publish them.

• Posted By Tim 05 Jul 2009 12:20

  I hope you do respond. In style. She got me sooo angry this morning. Not sure why I ever read her - possibly just to raise my blood pressure.

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