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There is very little published information about the lives of queer people in Belfast and Northern Ireland.  In an effort to fill this void, QueerSpace has published two documents, Balanced Lives in 2001 and Breaking Down Barriers in 2003.  At the bottom of this page is a suggested reading list of recent publications which shed light on these hidden lives.

Balanced Lives and Breaking Down Barriers can be downloaded in PDF format and viewed using Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. To view a PDF file you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your machine. You can download this free of charge from the Adobe website.

• Balanced Lives

• Breaking Down Barriers

• Suggested Reading (UPDATED with links to research articles)

In 2000, QueerSpace applied for funding through the Northern Ireland Voluntary Trust (NIVT - now the Community Foundation for Northern Ireland) for a series of health (well-being) workshops. The thinking behind this was that as an organization, we could provide a worthwhile service to the LGBT community. We were successful with our application and found a suitable venue in Ballynafeigh Community Centre to hold the workshops. Many played a role in the planning, organizing, publishing and delivery of the workshops.

The workshop topics included:

	Aromatherapy
	Human Rights/Bill of Rights
	Creative Writing
	Mediation Training
	Reflexology
	Self Defence
	Self Esteem
	Art Therapy

The workshops were well attended and the feedback was positive: people have expressed that they were enjoyable, interesting and informative - certainly providing a lot of food for thought.

This workshop series resulted in the QueerSpace publication Balanced Lives: A resource guide for healthier living. 

If you would like to read this pamphlet, contact QueerSpace and ask for a copy or simply download a PDF version (431KB).

QueerSpace thanks NIVT for awarding the grant which enabled us to hold this series of workshop and publish the results. 

Many thanks to Patrick Sanders for the original artwork

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Breaking Down Barriers

In 2002, QueerSpace received a grant from the Department for Social Development through the Active Community Initiative to develop an event to investigate diversity through the involvement of groups outside the LGBT community.  This event took the form of Breaking Down Barriers, a discussion whose aims were to identify barriers which prevent some LGBT people from fully participating in LGBT society and to develop strategies for overcoming these barriers.  This is a report of that discussion, held during Belfast Pride 2002 on the 31^st of August at Clanmil Housing.

QueerSpace thanks everyone who helped us to make Breaking Down Barriers happen.  This includes Patricia Bray, Terry Sargent, Karima Zahi, Sinead Tierney, Marion Hegarty, Robert May, Sean McDaid, Peter Hamill, Patrick Sanders, Janet Beck, Shane Gilchrist and Jim Pow, organisations such as Belfast Pride, Clanmil Housing, Disability Action, Gay & Lesbian Youth Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Council for Ethnic Minorities, the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, the Volunteer Development Agency, Volunteer Services Belfast and, for its financial support, the Department for Social Development.

A report of the discussion held that night and recommendations arising have been collectioned in the QueerSpace publication Breaking Down Barriers: Building a more diverse queer community. If you would like to read this pamphlet, contact QueerSpace and ask for a copy or simply download a PDF version (2000KB).

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Suggested Reading

Although the amount of information on queer lives in Belfast and Northern Ireland is severely limited, some recent progress has been made.  The following is a list (probably incomplete) of relevant publications; it includes information from outside Northern Ireland as examples of the type of research that should be carried out here.  We have tried to link to the articles directly where possible. Please contact the authors/publishers of these reports if you are interested.

1.      Equality and Sexual Orientation:  A guide to involving and consulting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community, Coalition on Sexual Orientation, 2003.

2.      Dermot Feenan, Barry Fitzpatrick, Patricia Maxwell, Ursula O’Hare, Timothy Ritchie and Caroline Steele, Enhancing the Rights of Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual People in Northern Ireland, Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, 2001.

3.      Irish:  Queer and Equal?  (a.k.a., Gaelach, Corr agus Comhionannach?), Published by Clár na mBan, Peace Watch Ireland and Falls Women’s Centre, 2001.

4.      Marie Quiery, A Mighty Silence:  A report on the Needs of Lesbians and Bisexual Women in Northern Ireland, Lesbian Advocacy Services Initiative, 2002.

5.      Katherine E. Zappone, Rethinking Identity: The Challenge of Diversity, The Joint Equality and Human Rights Forum, 2003.

6.      Implementing Equality for Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals, The Equality Authority (Éire), 2002.

7.      Rob Kitchin and Karen Lysaght, Queering Belfast:  Some thoughts on the sexing of space, National Institute for Regional and Spatial Analysis, National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

8.      Rob Kitchin and Karen Lysaght, Heterosexism and the geographies of everyday life in Belfast (requires subscription), Northern Ireland, Environment and Planning A, volume 35, pages 489-510, 2003.

9.      Sally McManus, Sexual Orientation Research Phase 1:  A review of methodological approaches, Scottish Executive, 2003.

10.      Carl McLean and William O’Connor, Sexual Orientation Research Phase 2:  The future of LGBT research—perspectives of community organisations, Scottish Executive, 2003.

11.    Neil Jarman and Alex Tennant, Homophobic Violence and Harassment in Northern Ireland, Institute for Conflict Research, 2003.

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