The priest at Lyras funeral

Thank you! Will see if I can find it online.

Gonegirl - the Guardian has an article today abut Lyra McKee which mentions the Ceasefire Babies. Her article was first published for an online scientific outlet Mosaic. Then by the Atlantic magazine and then by Belfast Telegraph, Private Eye and Buzzfeed. Have yet to look them up but hope this helps you. I think that play was 2018. Can't think how I missed it as I tend to go to all the Irish themed ones.

Gonegirl

I started the thread and completely get your posts but I also get the posters who are highlighting the hypocrisy of religion.

I think the priests speech was inspiring but we can also look at double standards and how religions need to change.

Lyra was a journalist who seemed a very humane lovely woman and journalists by nature always examine all the facts and opinions on all sides and try to understand all pints of view and report in that.

I think by doing this on this thread it’s shoeing her respect not denying her respect.

But what a terribly tragic loss of a beautiful life.

Putting two fingers up at the church isn't an option for many LGTB people who have a faith. I have a lesbian friend who became a vicar a couple of years ago. I hope that her presence within the church will go some way to minimise the evangelical anti gay group within the C of E.

I don't understand why they don't just put two fingers up at the church. Why do they care?

Thats not an option in places like NI where church and state remain too intertwined, and churches dictate your healthcare and legal status options.

Posters who said that her sexuality was a private matter for behind closed doors, and that talking about sexuality = talking about sex, watch that TED talk...

I don't understand why they don't just put two fingers up at the church. Why do they care?

Yes I have read the letter matyeliza and?

A friend just sent me this. I just thought I would share it although some I'm sure have already watched it.

m.youtube.com/watch?feature=share&v=5ymU-5Y3rkY

FFS ab you just don’t get it do you? Or do you and you just can’t stomach the truth about the hypocrisy of the church. Have you even read, let alone digested, her letter ?

Thank you Devorgilla. I'll have a look.

She was gay before she met and fell in love with her partner. It affected her life, her feelings towards society and the church, her family relationships. It was a big part of who she was. A part that some posters deem not appropriate to be remembered for.

No gonegirl, she wrote very specifically about the challenges of being gay. Not just a person in love.

Gonegirl - there is a play at The National Theatre called 'The Ceasefire Babies' by Fiona Doyle. Perhaps she reviewed it for the Belfast Telegraph. I'd try there first.

notanan, I think it might be love rather than sexuality that would have influenced a lot of her life. I'm sure she loved her partner dearly.

Perhaps you're right Eleothan. But the thread does seem to concentrate on one comparatively small aspect of her life.

I would love to read the articles she wrote on the "ceasefire babies". Anyone know anything about that?

"palatable"???

Explain please.

Gonegirl these are issues that SHE was moved to write about so I think it is fitting to acknowledge that it was an important part of her life, and therefore should be remembered not hushed in favour of the more apparently palatable aspects of who she was. She was more than one thing and should be remembered for all that she stood for.

It is the height of disrespect IMO when a new persona is invented for someone upon their death. Her sexuality affected all aspects of her life and her relationships with family and the wider community. It influenced her work too. It is all intertwined and Im sorry but you cannot just pick n chose.

Thank you for the link Gonegirl , good to read she is recognised for more than her sexuality

Gonegirl The issues that have been raised relate to the original post and are, I think, entirely appropriate People are allowed to express differing opinions even if others, such as yourself, do not wish them to do so. I think it is presumptuous of you to assume the right to tell people to "shut up" and to describe other people's input on the subject as "disgraceful".

more to who she was

GG that’s unfair - in fact the OP came back and said she found my views thought provoking and defended me against accusations of hijacking. I was very moved by Lyra’s letter and the suffering she endured through her teenage years because of the church’s teaching. It seems to me that how a young( or not so young) gay person reacts to the church’s teaching will depend on many factors - family background, community , intensity of religious belief , personality - some will easily be able to cast it aside and be sexually active whilst feeling they are still good catholics. Some will be tormented and feel they are sinning, may give up their sex life or the church. Really suffer like Lyra did. All I’m really saying is it acceptable for the church to be apparently in some places preaching one thing and accepting another regardless of the problems this might cause. And I haven’t hijacked this thread at all - Lyra’s sexual orientation was a fundamental part of her and her work and relevant to discussions on what her legacy might be. I think the DUP accepting same sex marriage woukd be a wonderful testament. The RC church won’t change in the foreseeable I’m sure but if NI legislation did it would send a message that gay people really were equal in society even if not in the church. That’s all really. I don’t think I’ve snything more to add .

You're right Gonegirl and I apologise for being drawn into this particular off beam conversation.

I think this young woman who was a journalist, who presumably believed in free speech and who lived through the trauma of her teenage years, but found a partner and happiness, would be delighted to know that her death and her funeral has triggered such debate.

Especially as the thread was opened by a poster who did not seem to have the subject in mind. The thread has been hijacked.