 THE
LOT RESOURCE PACK
The
LOT Resource and Information Pack has been
developed by women involved in LOT who are
committed to providing information and resources
to people about the lives of lesbians in Ireland,
and who want to promote equality for lesbians in
our society.
The
idea for the pack emerged from a group in LOT
called the Outreach Group, who commissioned the
Resource Section and who organised for the
Health, Legal Issues and Abusive Relationships
sections to be written by the groups within LOT
who were working on those issues. The groups
within LOT who worked on the sections spent many
voluntary hours researching. compiling, writing
and editing the material so that it would be user
friendly for people wanting to explore the
various issues of equality for lesbians in
Ireland.
As
part of the first Lesbian Education Awareness New
Opportunities for Women programme, sponsored by
LOT, the LEA NOW team worked towards bringing the
pack to production. One of the aims of LEA NOW is
to generate greater awareness of the needs and
realities of lesbians, and the Resource and
Information Pack will contribute to the next work
plan of LEA NOW 3.
The
pack is published in the context of a society
which has become increasingly aware of the
discrimination and disadvantage experienced by
lesbians and gay men, among other marginalised
groups in Irish society. The context for the pack
is also that there is an active programme of work
addressing these disadvantages, with many links
being made between the various marginalised
groups. The research undertaken by GLEN and
reported in their Poverty and Lesbians and Gay
Men, published by the Combat Poverty Agency in
1995 found clear evidence of discrimination,
multiple and cumulative disadvantage for lesbians
and gay men in Ireland. This experience applied
to education, work, social and home situations.
The types of discrimination experienced included
services such as housing, insurance, health,
violences and harassment and the experience of
emigration and migration.
This
pack is a tool to address these issues of
discrimination and exclusion. The Resources
Section provides exercises covering a range of
situations for use in group work, and the
Information Leaflets provide more details of
particular situations.
We
hope the pack will be used by people in their
work addressing the questions, realities and
experiences of inequality, discrimination and
exclusion of lesbians in Ireland. We imagine the
pack being used in youth groups, women's groups,
lesbian discussion groups, community development
groups and by people working on the policy agenda
of equality for all Irish citizens.
LOT
would like to acknowledge the financial support
of the Combat Poverty Agency and the LEA NOW
programme for the development and production of
the pack.
LOT
would also like to acknowledge the contribution
of various people to the development of the pack.
Pauline Tracey, Anita Thoma, Margaret McArdle,
Caroline Mathews, Maria Power, Sheila Quinn,
Hilary Tierney, Grainne Healy, Susan Miner, Kay
Ferriter, Patricia Prendiville, members of the
Lesbian Health Group, the writers of the Legal
Issues for Lesbians section, the volunteers in
LOT, especially the Outreach Group, and the staff
of the LEA NOW project.
This
publication is an important step for LOT and the
LEA NOW programme in continuing to provide
support to the work of addressing the homophobia
and heterosexism that exist in Ireland.
Resource Pack Content
Chapter headings
are as follows...
- The
resource pack begins in its first chapter
by providing guidelines for group
leaders/facilitators. It covers:
- Designing
a session
- Questions
to ask
- What
to look for when planning a
session
- Working
with people in workshop settings
- How
to prepare for sessions
- Taking
care of yourself as a workshop
leader
From
there it moves into the heart of the
resource pack which is a curriculum for
change.
- Exclusion,
disadvantage, and being lesbian
- Heterosexism
- Attitudes,
values and beliefs
- Images and
cultural stereotypes
- What does
being a lesbian mean
- Coming out
- Employment
and workplace issues
- Abusive
relationships (choices and supports)
- Legal
issues
- Health
issues
- LOT and
other groups and organisations
- Reading and
resource material
(See
also LESBIAN
LIVES INFORMATION PACK)
LOT 5 Capel Street, Dublin 1.
Tel: 8727770
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