It's Your Right: Pavee Point - LGBT Awareness in Traveller Communities
John Williams is the Youth Work Co-Ordinator at Pavee Point Roma and Traveller Centre. Pavee Point have teamed up with Belong to, to produce a poster for LGBT Traveller awareness, with the help of three young and dedicated girls of the travelling community, Celine Collins (14), Dina Collins (14), and Debbie McCann (17). While John Williams tells us a little bit about Pavee Point, and the aim of the project, the girls give their opinion on LGBT issues in the travelling community, and what they think of the poster project. Below is the transcript of what John, Celine, Debbie and Dina had to say.
Pavee Point is a human rights organisation focusing on the rights of Roma and Travellers in Ireland. Pavee Point works in many specific areas, including Drug and Alcohol addiction,Youth Work, Education, Information, Violence Against Women and Health.
http://www.paveepoint.ie/
BeLonG To is the national organisation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) young people, aged between 14 and 23.
http://www.belongto.org/
Listen to Martin Collins, co-founder of the Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre, talk to Louise Denvir about children's rights at the OCO's 10th Anniversary Symposium in April.
https://audioboo.fm/boos/2148091-seen-and-heard-martin-collins-on-10-years-of-the-oco
Listen to Michael Barron, founding director of BeLonGTo talk about the Ombudsman for Children's Office and what, in his view, are the key issues and challenges for the next 10 years.
https://audioboo.fm/boos/2155118-seen-and-heard-michael-barron-on-10-years-of-the-oco?playlist_direction=forward
For more information on Children's Rights or the 'It's Your Right campaign, visit the It's Your Right website:
http://itsyourright.ie/
Text Transcript Below
00:00 -00:08 Music 00:08 - 00:23 John: Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre is a human rights organisation which focuses on the rights of Roma and Traveller here in Ireland. My name is John Williams and I’m the Youth Work Co-ordinator at Pavee Point Traveller and Roma Centre. 00:23 - 00:25 Music 00:25 - 00:35 John: We have a community development programme, primary health care education, violence against women, drugs and alcohol, communication and the one that I’m involved with which is the Youth Work Programme 00:35 - 00:37 Music 00:37 - 00:46 Dina: We do Youth groups. Celine: We talk about stuff and all. Debbie: You get to learn new stuff, meet new people and socialise with different people. 00:46 - 00:50 Music 00:50 - 01:23 John: One of my colleagues, along with other staff within Pavee Point have noticed that there was a need to engage with a process of raising awareness of LGBT young travellers so with conversations that happened with BeLongTo, we decided to explore a joint venture, using their expertise in advocacy work or LGBT young people. And then our own expertise working with travellers to comprise a piece of work that would highlight LGBT travellers within the community. 01:23 - 01:25 Music 01:25 - 01:40 John: So the initial stage was working with the youth groups of BelongTo and Pavee Point and the development of a Traveller specific poster which reach out and resonate with LGBT young people. 01:41 Celine: My name is Celine Collins, I’m 14 and I’m from Finglas. They’re doing a good thing to make the posters. They let them know that it’s alright to come out, to be lesbians or gays.
Debbie: Because you don’t really see much posters out there for gay travellers. My name is Debbie McCann, I’m 17 and I’m from Finglas.
John: There’s a couple of different approaches to the poster. One of them being that it’s to act as a support for LGB young people but also to raise the awareness within the Traveller community of LGBT people and within the LGBT community of LGBT Travellers, and, then in the wider society that there are LGBT travellers. 02:26 Debbie: Kind of have the design for the front of it. And the words. It’s going to have a Traveller family and in the background there’s a trailer, because If we put normal people in it they wouldn’t know they’re travellers. If we put a trailer in the background, they’d know.
02:39 - 02:42 Celine: We’re nearly finished now. We just have to get the pictures. 02:42 - 02:44 Music 02:44 - 02:52 Dina: Like it’s so LGBT Travellers feel comfortable. They won’t be feeling unwanted and everything. My name is Dinah, I’m 13 and I’m from Finglas. 02:52 - 03:14 John: The subject is a taboo within the Traveller Community, there’s no denying that. We find that, the younger participants, they tend to have a lot more enthusiasm about projects and this is one, that seemed to resonate with them. Because they all expressed that they knew LGBT Travellers and they wanted to use this as an opportunity to support them 03:14 - 03:19 Celine: It’s terrible like, that their families doesn’t want them anymore. 03:19 - 03:22 Debbie: They’re not wanted, they’re disowned and they’re discriminated against. 03:22 - 03:31 Dina: And when they do come out, they have to leave because they get too much slagging, I don’t know, it’s like they’re complete different people. Over just being gay, I see no harm in it. 03:31 - 03:33 Music 03:33 - 03:45 John: I think it’s vital, especially working with young people for young LGBT travellers to feel that they’re in a safe environment that they can self-identify as being LGBT. 03:45 - 03:50 Celine: They shouldn’t be like, afraid to hide it, they should come out. Not be afraid like. 03:51 - 03:59 John: But it does seem by having conversations with young people that things seem to be progressing to more acceptance within the community. 03:59 - 04:01 Music 04:01 - 04:03 Debbie: Don’t be ashamed of who you are and be yourself. 04:03 - 04:25 Music Fade out. 04:25
End
Accompanying Music: 'Train Track' by Michael Gallen, Mark Gavin and Robert Hope
© West Pole Music and Management Ltd.
Photo by Mark Henderson © Mark Henderson http://markhenderson.info/