Young man speaks about the lonels of growg up gay ral Ireland • GCN

Contents:

• WHAT 'S LIKE TO GROW UP GAY NORTHERN IRELAND
• GROWG UP GAY: 'PRI WAS A BIG PART OF MY G OUT'
• YOUNG MAN SPEAKS ABOUT THE LONELS OF GROWG UP GAY RAL IRELAND
• LOUISE BYRNE ON GROWG UP GAY IRELAND
• 'GROWG UP GAY IRELAND WAS NOT AN EASY JOURNEY'

WHAT 'S LIKE TO GROW UP GAY NORTHERN IRELAND

Damian Kerl opens up about his experience of growg up as a gay man Northern Ireland. It’s hard to expla what ’s like growg up gay Northern Ireland to someone who never has, scrib Damian Kerl. Much of Northern Ireland is standard ral, workg class muni this way, but for me – and I image many others – your experience of livg this type of muny is twisted unexpected ways when you grow up as gay.

I always knew that I was gay. Ultimately, growg up gay a ral and relig area like Northern Ireland n feel suffotg once you’ve accepted yourself.

GROWG UP GAY: 'PRI WAS A BIG PART OF MY G OUT'

© 2021 GCN (Gay Communy News). "I obvly knew a few gay people, but was a very, very small amount and then when I moved to London and went to a performg arts llege was like this credible explosn of people who were all beg pletely thentic, and I beme more fortable wh the ia of who I was.

“My experience of growg up gay Ireland was, tth be told, que difficult. “I thk thgs have changed dramatilly for young people but there is a misnceptn that, bee we have marriage equaly, homophobia has been eradited and that is absolutely not the se as recent cints will emphasise.

"It only tak one person to be a homophobe or to bully someone for beg gay. And, you know, there are many parts of the world where homosexualy is still illegal, and people are still beg opprsed and persecuted. "Even the UK, you see people opposg trans rights and nversn therapy hasn’t been banned, so you have to be very reful bee equal rights means equal rights for everybody and you n quickly be ogmarched to a place where first ’s the rights of trans people beg erod, then ’s gay people, then ’s the rights of women or whatever.

YOUNG MAN SPEAKS ABOUT THE LONELS OF GROWG UP GAY RAL IRELAND

“I beme volved the Irish gay rights movement om the very begng wh David Norris and some others.

"For somebody like that to be absolutely supportive of his son growg up gay the pletely reprsive era of the 50s and 60s Ireland was extraordary. "Inially I was worried people might fd out I was gay, and would be difficult but when I talked to my lleagu, they told me I should have absolutely no fear whatsoever, that they would stand by me. “I was away boardg school for a start, and you obvly wouldn’t act out any homosexual feelgs or anythg like that.

LOUISE BYRNE ON GROWG UP GAY IRELAND

“There was a programme at the time lled Hall’s Pictorial Weekly and they had a sketch where there was a newsrear wh a beard who was very obvly gay. We were the middle of dner when Máire sudnly said ‘What would mean if we if we were to repeal the gay legislatn? "When I beme a producer and director RTÉ I always ma sure to do programm featurg gay people and when we got married was public.

Joseph Burke speaks about growg up gay ral Ireland and tryg to fd your tribe. It n be lonely, beg gay ral Ireland. When I was still primary school before I knew I was gay, I had to put up wh homophobic bullyg.

In my life, I had a fay member who fluenced me by embracg himself and g out as gay. My experienc happened ci like Galway, Dubl and at llege where I attend Pri march, LGBTQ+ support groups, drag shows, gay bars etc. There seems to be a culture of hook-ups the gay muny which would work for some people, however don’t for me.

'GROWG UP GAY IRELAND WAS NOT AN EASY JOURNEY'

RTÉ Prime Time reporter, Louise Byrne, talks to Janice Butler about raisg tws wh her partner Charlotte, her experience growg up gay Ireland and how she hop her story n help others. For starters, Louise and her partner, who had to postpone their weddg last May, have tw boys, Matthew and Will (4); not so unual, but as a gay uple, Louise and Charlotte had their babi through IVF, makg their journey a ltle "ls nventnal, " says Louise. "Growg up the ’80s and ’90s Ireland, beg gay was a b visible, pecially as a woman.

First, people are only votg on whether or not to allow gay and lbian upl to marry the person they love and to enjoy the protectn of marriage afford by the issu relatg to children will be alt wh the Children and Fay Relatns Bill, which will be enacted ahead of the referendum vote. Or so an early age I knew I was gay. I was sred to be my te self and reprsed any feelgs I had for other was pound when I disvered that my younger sister El was also gay.

Lots of children are beg raised by gay moreRead more: This notn of the 'ial' fay is a fantasy. No fay my iends who were raised by sgle parents, or my iends who were adopted, or my iends wh gay parents, or my iends who were brought up by a relative, how n I say to them that my upbrgg was superr to theirs?