Isn't it great that we have some new active Jellies and things are livelier around here again?

Newbies, feel free to introduce yourselves with a brief bio either here or on your page. Or tell us anything that you want us to know. And welcome!

Yes, I am enjoying several new peeps and their contributions. Welcome to the pod newbies!

I just love that new jelly smell!

I think the influx of new jellies, as well the return to active duty of some of the older ones, has given the site a much-needed lift

Yes. It’s very nice!! If only Auggie would come back with her whip, we’d be back in heaven!

@thorninmud that’s just a little bit squicky. :-)

@janbb I’ve been spending too much time in dog parks

Clearly.

Yeah, I’m thrilled!

Awe thank you. I’ve been here a few weeks now at this point.

But just to give some of you somewhat of re-indtroduction to myself. My name is Keith, I’m 31 years old from Dublin, Ireland.

I’m quite liberal on many social and political issues. I’m also humanist and gay; so I tend to be very active on the internet world with promoting equality. I’m also very active on Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr. You can check links to any of those on my profile page.

I’m very interested in reading (fantasy, sci-fi, philosophy, theology, science), video games, movies, new media entertainment, technology, human rights and writing.

I used to be very active on Yahoo Answers. But there has been a growing decline of quality and maintenance on Yahoo Answers ever since Marissa Mayer became CEO. I won’t get too much into that. But suffice to say, I’m making Flutehr my new Q&A home and have been slowly revisiting a lot of my classic Yahoo Answers content that I have accumulated over the years.

You will notice that the topic of religion does come up quite a bit in my questions. So if you are curious to where I stand spiritually. I was raised a Catholic and remained Catholic for 18 years, then was an atheist for about 11 years; then finally a deist. I’m still self teaching myself a lot about deistic beliefs and the history of deism.

Anything else anyone wishes to ask me, you can ask me live on the site if you wish. Or you can send me a private message.

@NerdyKeith Thanks for the bio. Great to get to know you better!

Yes, great news for Fluther. Hi, everybody, welcome to the lagoon!

You are very welcome @janbb; my pleasure to share a little more about myself

Well hi @NerdyKeith. Anyone tell you you talk funny? ツ ;) ツ ;) ツ ;) ツ ;) ツ ;) ツ

@Dutchess_III Yes ;)

Welcome from a Y!A fellow. Y!A was just too contaminated by trolls and bullies that it drove me faster than when I register. Why don’t you drop by the chtaroom sometime? You are even freer to talk about yourself there.

@Mimishu1995 Thank you and I will do so, as soon as I have some more free time :D

@NerdyKeith You’ve gone from the cesspool of Y!A to the lagoon of Fluther. Welcome! We’re fortunate to have you here.

Is that your own photo as your avatar? If yes, I hope you’ll forgive me for being cheeky and saying that you’re a good-looking fellow.

@Love_my_doggie
Yes its almost as if the trolls have trashed Yahoo Answers and damaged all the furniture.

This is a picture of me in my avatar. Haha thats very sweet of you to say, I’m very flattered.

Lovely to see your face Keith. As you can see, I’m a squirrel, but don’t tell anyone, it’s a secret.

Great to have you here too. We’re enjoying your questions and responses.

Love it.

Okay…I have to say that @NerdyKeith is my favorite new jelly. I mean, c’mon…Nerdy Keith…how could you not love that?! haha

Awe @Coloma you are making me blush. Thank you, thats very sweet of you :)

Yes, I love all the various newbies which have been popping up lately but Keith is my fav.

There is something I’ve been wondering about when you mentioned living in Ireland. Perhaps you don’t have that much experience of the US to make a comparison but I’ll ask anyhow.

Since Ireland is so overwhelmingly Roman Catholic in population, is it more oppressive for gay people in your country as compared to here (USA) ? Can you be as out as you want to be or do you have to be more cautious about it ?

Obviously a place like Russia is a whole lot worse, and dangerous while the US finally seems to be getting their act together with the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing same sex marriage (long overdue IMHO)

So, how would you describe Ireland regarding their attitudes towards LGBT folks in general ? Obviously there’s probably a range of attitudes depending upon whom you’re dealing with. But since the RCC is so prevalent, I’m curious about how things are for gay folks in such an overwhelmingly RCC country?

I’m happy to see new jellies. Welcome to one and all!

The new ones get kitchen duty. We judge you by the quality of your pancakes. You’ll find the ingredients in the frizzer with a recipe in @janets’s handwriting.

Oh, I almost forgot. We also have a couple of gay people here, and the most notable being @Hawaii_Jake, so you aren’t alone here.

It’s fabulous to meet you, doll.

Now, bring me a pancake with extra butter.

@Buttonstc Ireland is not oppressive for gay people at all. It used to be. We only recently legalized marriage equality last year, by public vote. Generally the people of Ireland got fed up listening to the Catholic Church.

Even though there are still a lot of Catholics in Ireland, many still don’t identify with the church. There is also a growing non-religious community in Ireland. We have a great humanist association (HAI) and another organization called “atheist Ireland”, these organizations tend to do a lot of campaigning for secular and LGBT rights. Not to mention GLEN (Gay and Lesbian Equality Network), who has done amazing work for the LGBT over the years including aiding in the campaign for marriage equality.

That’s not to say that homophobia doesn’t exist in Ireland, there are still areas in Ireland that have less likeminded attitudes. But all in all Ireland has made great progress in promoting equality for the LGBT. Especially in Dublin.

And it only took 1700 years.

I wasn’t aware that Ireland had so recently legalized marriage equality. That’s terrific.

And, as you point out, there are still pockets of homophobia in certain places (and it’s the same here) but overall the country is going in a much more progressive direction and ignoring the RCC dictates toward gays. It’s encouraging to hear.

@Buttonstc Yes I was so happy that we finally legalised marriage equality, it was a long time coming.

Its a step in the right direction alright :D

@NerdyKeith, Ireland still got there faster than Australia. So you’re country is way more progressive than mine and well done to you all. Our politicians are still arguing about whether it’s ‘real’ marriage. The right-wing fools are now bitching about whether we should have a ‘Safe Schools’ program to help kids being bullied because it gives guidance on homosexuality. We apparently need a plebiscite to indicate whether we want the idiots to pass same-sex marriage legislation. They need this expensive vote despite many surveys showing more than 70% of the population are in favour. Makes me so cranky.

@Earthbound_Misfit Thanks very much.

I really hope Australia gets marriage equality soon. Luckily most of our politicians did actually support it. It was mostly representatives of the Catholic Church who were in opposition; along with people of a much older generation. So we simply had a referendum, 67% voted yes and a few months later it was made the law of the land.

But I don’t blame you for being cranky. Its basic human equality, it should be a no brainer. While the politicians in Ireland were very supportive (especially from the Labour party); we did have to sit through some awkward debates on RTE. A lot of “oh no they are talking our word!”

I’m sad to say though that Northern Ireland is still campaigning to get marriage equality legalised too. They are getting enormous support, but they are not quite there yet.

@NerdyKeith It took Ireland much too long to join the 20th century. Then, the country leapt head-first into the 21st century and became more modern, progressive, and tolerant than much of the world.

I’ve enjoyed poking around here the last few days. It’s nice to see jellies, new and old, so lively!

My whip no longer has power here. ;)

@augustlan But it’s exciting to think about!

@augustlan I’d say your opinion, both answers to Q’s, and regarding modding, still matters to a lot of us, whether it be official or not.

@Love_my_doggie I agree it did take too long. It was a long time coming. But so glad it finally happened. But I am so proud of my country for becoming so progressive.

Now we just need to fix our economy haha

Welcome @NerdyKeith. I’ve just recently noticed some of your questions. You seem like you will fit right in. Looking forward to learning more about you. It is nice to have fresh blood. We do need more.

Thank you @Pandora. I’m looking forward to learning more about everyone else too :)

I love the story of the modern Irish Republic. I love it when the little guy wins after 800 years under the tyrant’s boot and papal scepter. Welcome aboard, Keith.

Thank you @Espiritus_Corvus , much appreciated :)