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"Three women and six men were elected to the Administrative Council of the National Gay Federation in what was an exciting yet unsurprising contest on Sat­urday 30th January. The results in order of election were: Tonie Walsh, Walter Kilroy, Barry Byrne, Ciaran Coleman, Judith Storm, Colette O'Conaill, Jim Treanor, Ann Coughlan and Claudine Maguire. The remaining three candi­dates Alistair Bate, Edmund Lynch and John Donnelly were eliminated at various points in the counting of votes which took three hours. Half of the administrative Council is made up of first-timers many of whom will be bringing with them political skills borne outside the gay movement. A full breakdown of the elec­tion results and a look at what each Council Member has to of­fer the Federation will be carried in the March-April issue of NGF News, the newsletter of the National Gay Federation. Meanwhile at the first meet­ing of the new Administrative Council (and it's the 9th Council so far) on February 5th Tonie Walsh was appointed President for the fourth year in succession. The Council President's role is one of spokesperson for the Fed­eration. Walsh has said that it will be his last year on the Ad­ministrative Council. Claudine Maguire who briefly sat on last year's Council was appointed General Secretary. She will have responsibility for overseeing the day-to-day admin­istration of the Federation and is expected to liaise closely with the new Political Action Group. One of the people to watch this year. A surprise for many has been the appointment of Colette O'Conaill as Treasurer of the Federation. O'Conaill's previous roles in the NGF were invariably confined to social areas and she is credited along with three other colleagues for the positive turn around in the fortunes of the Hirschfeld Centre in 1986. The Administrative Council will be meeting again on Friday 19th and Sunday 21st February when it is expected to make fur­ther appointments. An examination of the per­sonalities and ideologies of the new Council appears in the next issue of Gay Community News, out on March 8th."

Clause 28 of the new Local Government Bill in the UK was passed through the House of Lords by 202 votes to 122 on Mon. 1st February. As soon as the result was announced, three lesbians swooped down on ropes from the gallery frightening the peers before being hustled out. "Clause 28 of the Local Gov­ernment Bill states ""a local au­thority shall not promote homosexuality or publish mate­rial for the promotion of homosexuality."" Nor shall the authority ""promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relation­ ship by the publication of such material or otherwise."" The church also forbids ""financial or other assistance"" to lesbian and gay groups who at present re­ceive grants from local authori­ties. In the past two months great pressure has been applied in an attempt to defeat this clause which is seen by many in Britain as the beginning of the end for gay rights there. Almost as soon as the clause was introduced by Tory MP David Wilshire, a ""Stop Clause 28"" campaign was launched which brought 7 0 0 people to Parliament to lobby MPs in protest. While some Labour MPs have been very vo­cal in their opposition to the clause, the parties' leadership has been disappointingly silent on the issue. Those on the right of the party believe that the high profile gay rights had, especially at grassroots level, lost them the last election. On Saturday 9th of January, 8,000 people took part in a protest march through the centre of London. When protestors at­ tempted to enter Downing Street, police arrested 14 people. Later, outside Harmsworth Park, two women were arrested for kissing and when onlookers attempted to prevent this, a further 28 arrests were made. At the park, the crowd heard a number of speakers including Ken Skeates, the proud father of a lesbian and Chris Smith MP for Islington South and Finsbury who is Britain's only openly gay member of parliament. Linda Bellos, Leader of Lambeth Council, said; ""If this becomes law, I shall refuse to implement it"" and Helen Dawson of the As­sociation of London Authorities said that they would take the is­sue to the European Court of Hu­man Rights if necessary. The Bill will return to the House of Commons before ulti­mately becoming law. Despite this, protest continues not only in Britain but across Europe. On February 20th, there will be a large Stop Clause 28 Festival in Manchester which is expected to draw a huge crowd. On that day in Dublin, there will be a protest picket outside the British Em­bassy in Ballsbridge to show our disapproval of this legislation." Clause 28 of the Local Gov­ernment Bill states "a local au­thority shall not promote homosexuality or publish mate­rial for the promotion of homosexuality." Nor shall the authority "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relation­ ship by the publication of such material or otherwise." The church also forbids "financial or other assistance" to lesbian and gay groups who at present re­ceive grants from local authori­ties. In the past two months great pressure has been applied in an attempt to defeat this clause which is seen by many in Britain as the beginning of the end for gay rights there. Almost as soon as the clause was introduced by Tory MP David Wilshire, a "Stop Clause 28" campaign was launched which brought 700 people to Parliament to lobby MPs in protest. While some Labour MPs have been very vo­cal in their opposition to the clause, the parties' leadership has been disappointingly silent on the issue. Those on the right of the party believe that the high profile gay rights had, especially at grassroots level, lost them the last election. On Saturday 9th of January, 8,000 people took part in a protest march through the centre of London. When protestors at­ tempted to enter Downing Street, police arrested 14 people. Later, outside Harmsworth Park, two women were arrested for kissing and when onlookers attempted to prevent this, a further 28 arrests were made. At the park, the crowd heard a number of speakers including Ken Skeates, the proud father of a lesbian and Chris Smith MP for Islington South and Finsbury who is Britain's only openly gay member of parliament. Linda Bellos, Leader of Lambeth Council, said; "If this becomes law, I shall refuse to implement it" and Helen Dawson of the As­sociation of London Authorities said that they would take the is­sue to the European Court of Hu­man Rights if necessary. The Bill will return to the House of Commons before ulti­mately becoming law. Despite this, protest continues not only in Britain but across Europe. On February 20th, there will be a large Stop Clause 28 Festival in Manchester which is expected to draw a huge crowd. On that day in Dublin, there will be a protest picket outside the British Em­bassy in Ballsbridge to show our disapproval of this legislation. In solidarity with British les­bians and gay men the National Gay Federation will be co-ordi­nating a STOP CLAUSE 28 picket in Dublin on Saturday 20th February.