David Moane is a retired 63-year old gay man living in Dublin who remembers gay life in Ireland going back to the late 1970s.
Dublin is marking the 50th anniversary of its first Pride march in 1974, and there has been one on the last Saturday of June since then. Only in the past decade has Pride itself taken up the month of June and the following personal reflections arise from that.
Pride month of June has all got very tiresome and nonsensical. That would be ok if the aggression and intolerance of the extremist fringes (everything that is not G and L in the monstrous LGBTQT++) went their own way and left gay men and lesbian women to have a day (not a month) out with the original and rather beautiful rainbow flag 🌈 and not the grotesque distortion it has become.
Because the widespread societal acceptance of gay men and lesbian women is something worth celebrating. Especially for gay men. Many of my generation and before endured discrimination and violence. That is a point worth making. It is worth reminding ourselves that there is much in our Western civilization in its capacity for change for the better that should also be celebrated.
In my home country where I live, Ireland, we have had a gay Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar. I spotted him a couple of times in the gay bars in Dublin with his pals, and with his security detail keeping a low profile in the background. It was a wonderful experience to think how much had changed.
On Wednesday this week we had the appointment of a new Minister for Finance, 33-year old Jack Chambers and openly gay. He will almost certainly be Micheál Martin’s successor as FF party leader and future Taoiseach.
A couple of weeks ago, Ireland had its first directly elected Mayor, for Limerick. The winning candidate, John Moran, is openly gay and was happy to appear with his partner at the celebrations following the count.
These are the aspects I will celebrate this weekend during Pride in Dublin. And I will remember what it was like when I was as young as Jack Chambers, 30 years ago in 1994. Things were getting better, but no-one dared to dream then that we would have a gay Taoiseach, or a Minister for Finance or a directly elected Mayor of Limerick. 🌈
This is a guest slot to give a platform for new writers either as a one off, or a prelude to becoming part of the regular Slugger team.
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