Aidan O’Sullivan retraces Ireland’s LGBTQIA+ landscapes and invites us to retrace our steps and observe how much is left to achieve.
The development of LQBTQ+ culture in Ireland over the past century is something that has grown under both stigmatisation and oppression from a historically Catholic Irish society. Since the inception of Irish Independence in the 1920s, the early Irish state has been ideologically intertwined with the presence of the Catholic Church within Ireland. While Ireland has received much praise for being the first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote in 2015 and for implementing the Gender Recognition Act in the same year, it is worth noting the tumultuous history endured by the LGBTQ+ community in this country. For a very long time, to differ from an Irish Catholic heterosexual identity was more than just a matter of social stigmatisation but also a criminal offence.
While Ireland has received much praise for being the first country to legalise gay marriage by popular vote in 2015 and for implementing the Gender Recognition Act in the same year, it is worth noting the tumultuous history endured by the LGBTQ+ community in this country.
While the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, which criminalised gay sexual contact, was originally established under English rule, it was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993. This is more than twenty-five years after England and Wales repealed the act in the late sixties and more than ten after Scotland and Northern Ireland did so in the early eighties. Further, this act was decriminalised only due to a ruling made by the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled the law incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights. In 1983, prior to this ruling, David Norris had initially brought a case questioning the constitutionality of criminalising gay sexuality. The judge ruled in favour of keeping homosexuality a criminal offence in Ireland “on the ground of the Christian nature of our State and on the grounds that the deliberate practice of homosexuality is morally wrong.”
With private relations between members of the LGBTQ+ community being criminalised for so long in the Irish state, the initial cultural development of the LQBTQ+ scene in Ireland occurred, if not secretly, then at the very least inconspicuously. According to interviews conducted by Orla Egan, an LGBTQ+ archivist in Cork who runs corklgbthistory.com, most early LGBTQ+ large social gatherings were parties usually held privately by wealthy gay men. These informal events, however, were highly dependent on cliques and ‘being in’ with the right crowd. Many people were forced to move either to Dublin or further afield, such as London, in search of a more open LGBTQ+ space.
The development of a more public and outgoing LGBTQ+ culture In Ireland truly began to develop during the 70s and 80s. The Hirschfield Centre, founded in March 1979, became not just the home of the National Gay Federation, later the National Gay and Lesbian Federation, now known as the National LGBT Federation (NXF), but also a cultural hotspot for a burgeoning LGBTQ+ movement. The Hirschfeld Centre was home to a cinema called the Hirschfield Biograph, a telephone service which was an earlier incarnation of what would become the GaySwitchboard, as well as a support service for parents of gay children called Parents Enquiry. It would host groups for a wide variety of people within the LGBTQ+ community, including for those underage and questioning their identity. Additionally, it housed a cafe and a disco called Flikkers (the Dutch word for ‘Faggot’). As noted by Patrick Mcdonagh in his article for RTE on the Hirschfield Center, Flikkers “proved extremely popular”, and this success, according to an interview with Tonie Walsh, the founder of The Irish Queer Archive by ShoutOut.ie made Flikkers the “cash cow” of the centre, funding all their other activities, political or otherwise. This proved incredibly important, considering the Hirschfield Centre had to be financially self-sufficient as it struggled to access any sizeable public funding.
The Hirschfield Centre, founded in March 1979, became not just the home of the National Gay Federation, later the National Gay and Lesbian Federation, now known as the National LGBT Federation (NXF), but also a cultural hotspot for a burgeoning LGBTQ movement.
Ireland’s first Pride week, then known as Gay Pride set up to commemorate the Stonewall Riots of 1969 was organised by the now National LGBT Federation in June 1979 with the first National Gay Conference taking place in Cork in 1981.
However, it is worth noting that despite the growth of gay and lesbian organisations in this period, Trans issues and culture were often left unrepresented, with no Trans organisations in Ireland at all during this period. According to Sara Phillips, a founding member of Dublin Trans Peer Support, in another interview conducted by Shoutout.ie, the trans community during the 90s in Ireland was “very much in the shadows” and “trans conversations [just] weren't happening.”
While attitudes surrounding being gay in Ireland have become gradually more accepting over the years, members of the LGBTQIA community, in particular the trans, intersex, and asexual members, continue to struggle to gain recognition in Ireland. Just last year, in 2023, the SPHE program for the Junior cycle was revamped to meet the needs of students by focusing on, among other things, gender identity as a spectrum. Trans rights continue to be a severe issue, with underage self-determination still not an aspect of Irish law and waiting lists for healthcare for those transitioning being up to nearly three years long, as reported by the Irish Independent in 2022
Trans rights continue to be a severe issue, with underage self-determination still not an aspect of Irish law and waiting lists for healthcare for those transitioning being up to nearly three years long, as reported by the Irish Independent in 2022.
Even though LGBTQ+ spaces have significantly expanded in this country in recent years, including resource centres, organisations, clubs and bars, social issues have and continue to pose obstacles to developing an open LGBTQ+ culture in this country. Financial support was a prime issue with Identity Magazine (1981-84), one of the first periodicals in LGBTQ+ publishing, running for only eight issues due to a lack of funding. According to the National LGBT Federation, Easons refused to stock the magazine due to having the words ‘Gay or ‘Lesbian’ on the front cover. A lack of finances continues to be an obstacle for Queer spaces, with just recently, the local Liberties bar All My Friends having been forced to close due to the high operating costs associated with being a small business within the Irish economic system. In an article written by Patrick Kelleher for the Irish Times, various members of the Irish LGBTQ+ community shared their experiences living in rural Ireland. While some have been happily surprised by how open their rural communities have been, which is a potential signifier of progress in Irish attitudes, others still see Dublin as an ideal location due to the lack of support for the LGBTQ+ community in rural areas. However, with the accommodation and cost of living crisis, moving there proves incredibly difficult.
A lack of finances continues to be an obstacle for Queer spaces, with just recently, the local liberties bar All My Friends having been forced to close due to the high operating costs associated with being a small business within the Irish economic system.
In conclusion, the journey of the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland has been a long and arduous one, filled with challenges. From the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 to the legalisation of gay marriage as well as the Gender Recognition Act in 2015, the LGBTQ+ community has made significant strides in gaining rights and recognition. However, there is still a long way to go, especially for the trans, intersex, and asexual members of the community, and the fight for recognition, acceptance, and equal rights continues.