Dear friends,
When I was growing up in Dublin,
In the middle of the last century,
I was only aware of three people who were known to be gay.
Not that such an inoffensive word had yet entered our vocabulary.
A couple who were instrumental in setting up a city centre theatre.
They were an openly gay couple.
But the only person to put his head above the parapet of the underground bunker inhabited by gay people was a pioneer of the Irish gay rights movement David Norris.
On the night of the 19th of September 1982 we had a dreadful beating and killing of a 31 year old gay man near Fairview Park which is only a short distance from where I live.
This murder is seen as the catalyst for the Pride movement in Ireland.
His death followed a series of beatings meted out to gay men in Dublin who used Fairview Park as a meeting place at that time.
The following June,
The first official Pride march took place in Dublin.
At an interview in the course of the Pride Parade of 2025 David Norris described how he was present for that first march which consisted of only a handful of people.
My wife Fran,
Who is a Quaker,
Tells me a friend of hers is another person who took part in that inaugural march.
To my shame I was not one of the group,
Even though the killing of the previous September had caused widespread shock and upset.
Pride events continued each year but they seemed to me to be too flamboyant and in your face.
My feelings were,
Wouldn't it be better for the cause if gay people were to remain in the background and not be standing out in such an ostentatious way.
Ten years ago,
Ireland happily became the first country in the world to provide for equal marriage in a public referendum.
In my naivety I thought,
Great the time has arrived.
What is the need for a Pride event in Ireland anymore?
How wrong can one be?
Here we are ten years post-referendum and we still hear stories of LGBTQIA plus people being harassed and worse,
Simply by reason of their sexual orientation.
Ireland is a welcoming and peaceful country when checked off by many criteria.
It's regarded as one of the safest countries in the world and one of only a handful in which the police are unarmed.
We don't call them police.
The translation of their Gaelic title Garda Sรญochรกna means Guardians of the Peace.
Even so,
In some situations people find themselves risking their well-being and even their lives by simply walking down the street,
Holding hands with someone they love.
It's time to call a halt.
I know it's forty years too late and it might appear as if I'm jumping onto a rolling bandwagon but on it I will jump,
Standing up for the right of all people to love whomsoever they wish.
The Pride Parade in Dublin this year,
With 12,
500 registered participants,
Was watched by tens of thousands of cheering supporters.
It was a huge celebration of equal rights and a far cry from the tentative protest of forty years ago.
Our world could do with a little more love these days and the right of a person to love someone of whatever sex must be celebrated and protected.
May all feel welcome and cherished and may all of us remember that simply by virtue of our being we have a right to be here.
It's never too late to celebrate love with pride.
Namaste.
