#queer dublin

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"Love is for Everyone"

Rammstein flew the rainbow flag from their drumkit at their massive show in the RDS arena, Dublin two days ago, to the delight of 38,000 metal fans!

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“...from 1974 onward, students would talk and write about “the Gay Society”.”

Info from the Trinity College website on Q Soc, Ireland’s oldest LGBTQ student society.

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The rain didn't dampen our shine at Dublin Pride last weekend! And while there was lots of music, dancing and drag, Pride is first and most importantly a protest for:

The urgent passing of hate crime laws

A ban on conversion therapy  

Simplified gender recognition for 16- and17-year-olds

LGBTQ+ inclusive schools and subjects

A safe, accessible holistic national gender service for under 18s, and

Safety for the LGBTQ+ community online and offline

Until next year!

Pictured: Belong To marching in the Dublin Pride Parade, 29th June, 2024 despite the heavy rain. Belong To and all its members were the Grand Marshal this year. Pictured on the far right of the photo is the Lord Mayor of Dublin, wearing a nice "Shine" Pride t-shirt under his blazer! Photo: Evan Treacy/PA Wire

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This charming book has a small chapter on same-sex relationships and tells of Georgian-period terminology (mostly regarding gay men and women, in that order!) and people of note. What the Georgians got up to is of interest to us here, as Dublin was a Georgian city and of course, the laws made in London during the Georgian period affected Ireland. Therefore, if you could be hanged for "sodomy" in England, you could be strung up in Ireland too.

But the book goes into the nuance of everyday life in the period versus what may be written in the law books. For example, in 1822, the Anglican Bishop of Clogher in Northern Ireland had been caught in the act with a guardsman - the Bishop was dismissed from his position, but from the public's point of view, he became a figure of fun and jokes. And so same-sex activity was "semi-known and semi-secret"; very serious and dangerous on one hand and part of the furniture and a source of amusement on the other.

Another hint at the Georgian's attitude toward queerness is the sheer number of terms used to refer to it! For the gay men we had "mollies", "back-gammon players" and "catamites" (a Classical reference to the mythologically handsome adolescent boy, whose beauty caused Zeus to steal him away to Olympus to serve him). For the lesbians we had "flats", "tommies" and "rubsters". In fact, it is semi-jokingly stated that lesbians did not exist before 1870, because the more euphemistic terms were in use instead!

These terms for same-sex love and identity shows an emergent social awareness for the LGBTQ community in the Georgian era. Albeit mostly for the L and the G!

And of course we know that lesbians existed in Ireland before 1870, just one example being "The Ladies of Llangollen", two upper-class ladies who lived together (with only one bed in the house!) for 50 years. While numerous Georgian ladies lived together as companions, Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby declared their loving relationship openly in upper-class society.

It seems that historical relevance and the holding of a powerful position in society both protected queer Georgians/Anglo-Irish aristocrats from punishment and encouraged historians to record their lives for our historical interests today. Therefore, there are no mention of everyday, "lower-class" Irish queers in this chapter of The Georgians. This is certainly a sad oversight in our LGBTQ+ history. But it's fun to read about 18th and 19th century queer people of note, especially the tommies and "female husbands" who I always picture dressed up like Gentleman Jack!

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The first Pride protest/parade took place on the 27th of June 1974, when a tiny group protested the existence of old Victorian legislation that criminalised any form of intimacy between men. There were only 10 brave protesters who picketed the British Embassy and the Department of Justice. One member was David Norris, a great hero of the story of Queer Ireland.

This year in 2024 we celebrate 50 years of Pride in Ireland! Happy Pride yall!

Image Credit: Gay Pride Day Protest outside the Department of Justice. Photo by Gareth Miller courtesy Irish Queer Archive/National Library of Ireland.

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A page in issue #9 of Gay Community News (1988) detailing Halloween events, with the main attraction of course being the Annual Halloween Ball hosted by the former staff of Flikkers Dance Club of the Hirschfeld Centre. The 6th iteration of the legendary ball would be held at the Irish Film Institute, 6 Eustace Street, Dublin 2.

If you're searching for costume inspiration this year, look to the photos from these incredible balls - my favourite image is of a man dressed as a gin and tonic, complete with bubbles and a lemon wedge!

Happy Halloween!

More info here: https://archive.gcn.ie/spotlight/sin-and-sleaze-at-halloween

Publication: Gay Community News

Date: October 1988

Issue Number 9

Copyright © GCN.

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The poet with his friends in the orchard at night, from Prince Baysunghur's Rose Garden (Gulistan) by Sa`di

The poet with his friends in the orchard at night, from Prince Baysunghur's Rose Garden (Gulistan) by Sa`di

This hand fan shows a small section from the painting "The poet with his friends in the orchard at night", from Prince Baysunghur's Rose Garden (Gulistan) by Sa`di.

Sa’di is widely recognized as one of the great masters of classical Persian literature, and Rose Garden is one of his most famous works. There is a rich body of Persian art that celebrates same-sex love and attraction, and a few works from the great Sa’di which leave nothing at all to the imagination! Although his more explicit depictions of male homosexuality tended to be purged by editors of his work in later years.

And now a note on hand-fans - folding fans have become popular within the LGBTQ community recently, most notably among drag performers. Fans made their way to North America, from Europe via Japan, where they served the same purpose whether they were being held by an affluent straight woman or a gay man: to convey opulence and elegance. They also keep you cool in a nightclub!

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The Queen of Ireland - Miss Panti - after her opening speech at the Diceman Exhibition 2019. She said that seeing the Diceman on Grafton Street when she was younger inspired her.

The Diceman was a street performer, artist and proto-Drag performer.

At the Little Museum of Dublin. Also pictured is Aiden Murphy and Bosco's handler, Susie Kennedy