Pink Training 2003

[amnesiac]

The USI is organising a big mad gay weekend in Galway next weekend. I'm going up with UCC LGB and I know CIT LGB are going up too. Anybody else going to Pink Training this year (or with stories of past Pink Training) or going to be in Galway for other reasons next weekend?

[Proud Mary 1980]

Oh hunny, big wheels will be turning in Galway

[redbulljunkie]

wouldn't mind a trip to galway actually(not signed up for the training though). maybe ...

[amnesiac]

Come on RBj, we can share Galways gay male popualtion 5050.

[redbulljunkie]

Is he really into the 2 people at once thing [p]. Will see what happens, might be down in cork for a friend's birthday.

[lil mizz pyx]

I'm theeeeeeeeeeeeere!


woo!

i can't wait to see you guys )

[lil mizz pyx]

(and there's no way I'll tell ya any stories of last year's Pink, since obviously I'm a good lil girl and would never have any scandals whatsoever.

[amnesiac]

Yay! We shall dance!

[lil mizz pyx]

hell yeah!

wheeee i can't wait! I was at the queer coffee morning this afternoon (yeah, us UCd types are a lil odd..) and the lot of us were just giddy as all hell.

Less then three days till PINK TRAINING! And oh my god, me in my natural hair colour, something must be done NOW!

[amnesiac]

u have hairs?

[lil mizz pyx]

uh yes sweetie. They grow out of the top of my haed. it's sort of customary around these parts..

[Proud Mary 1980]

Pink training can't wait either, will you whisper before you shout amnesiac?

[amnesiac]

Well Amnesiac is just back in Cork following the USI Pinkt Training Weekend in Galway. It will sound incredibly cheesy if I say I have returned a changed person but I won't deny I feel stronger, more empowered happier and more confident in myself than I have for a long, long time.

So the lowdown... this year's Pink Training was the biggest ever. A few years ago, Pink Training, organised by the Union of Students in Ireland had about 40 delegates. This year there were 270 people taking part in Galway. Perhaps you had to be there to realise the significance of that number. Outside of the gay scene, when can you remember being part of 260 LGBT? A gathering where the LGBT were in the vast majority and it was the straight people who were in the minority, who had to "come out" and were unsure of the language to use.

PT was a great weekend and congratulations and thanks must be paid to the USI LGBRO Tadhg O' Brien, the LGB Working Group which includes our own Teabag (auditor of the UCC LGB) Pinky (last year's auditor and UCC Society Person of The Year 2003) and Proud Mary. Cork sent a huge delegation of 26 people this year and I was on eof the PT virgins. It's a fantastic blend of the social, the politcal and the personal development. The speakers and the module facilitators were fantastic and I think all of us learned a lot of different things and took a lot of different messages from the workshops. It's not about somebody training you how to be gay, it was about sharing our experiences and learnign from each other. Personally the Coming Out Workshop menat a lot to me and has given me great strength and slef belief which I will be calling upon in the near future.

It was amazing to see so many people who are actively fighting for all our LGBT rights as opposed to drinking on the scene all night and attedning Pink Training has encouraged a lot of people to get more involved in the activist side of LGBT life.

The social side was not neglected. I gave it my all (ou of tune) in Karaoke in Zulus Saturday night, had such a laugh in a gay bar that reminded me of a 1950s Irish lviign room and Tribes. Well tribes was great... easily the best gay nightclub I've ever been to in Ireland. And I showed people why Kylie's SLOW is such a great track... I guess you had to be there! Some things stay at Pink Training and will not be spoken of again!

Met some great people over the weekend and in particular got to know members of our own delegation better. Thank you to everybody who made PT happen, particularly the Cork posse.

[Proud Mary 1980]

Ok PT is over for a year, but that doesn't mean the engery we got from PT has to stop, does it?