Celtic gay pride

She was refused. In April 1997, after a number of years’ unsuccessful correspondence with the Registrar General’s office, Dr Foy initiated High Court proceedings to compel the Registrar to issue her with a new birth certificate.

Dublin also boasts iconic LGBTQ+ venues, bars and destinations. The initial outbreak of the epidemic was met with mass hysteria and the publishing of damaging information about those believed to be most at risk.

It was not until 1987, that the Health Education Bureau launched its Casual Sex Spreads AIDS campaign on television and in the press. No matter where you are or who you are, you’re very much welcome here on the island of Ireland.”

There is another reason to celebrate this year that is equally close to Irish hearts.

The Hirschfeld Centre also housed a disco (Flikkers), a cinema called the Hirschfeld Biograph, a telephone befriending service Tel-A-Friend, which would become Gay Switchboard, the secretariat of the International Gay Association, a support service for parents of homosexuals called Parents Enquiry and a café.

1st Gay Pride Week (June 1979)

Ireland’s first proper Gay Pride Week was held from June 25th to July 1st in 1979 and was organised by the National Gay and Lesbian Federation.

Her case was rejected multiple times until she began new proceedings in the High Court, seeking a declaration under the ECHR Act that Irish legislation was incompatible with the European Convention regarding the registration and issue of birth certificates. An image of those protesting in Dublin was printed in the Irish Times. 

David Norris’ High Court challenge (1977)

David Norris (now Senator Norris) took a High Court challenge against the laws which criminalised sexual activity between men in Ireland.

Dr Browne, in particular, was a steadfast supporter of the Gay Rights Movement in Ireland. From the mid-1980s onwards the priority for activists was responding to the emerging AIDS crisis in Ireland. 

Protests continue (1987)

In 1987, the Hirschfield Centre was destroyed by a fire, which many believe was an intentional hate crime. 

In 1988, lacking the resources for a march, activists hosted a kiss-in outside Leinster House.

From spending time with friends and family, attending protests or direct actions or going to parties and events. In many ways, the Hirschfeld Centre became a lifeline for Ireland’s LGBTI+ community during a time when few other venues existed that welcomed members of the LGBTI+ community. Sexual orientation was only included in the Act after considerable lobbying by LGBTI+ activists

Decriminalisation of sexual activity between men (1993)

In June 1993, Dáil Éireann passed legislation to decriminalise sexual activity between men in Ireland.

Other events included a fancy dress ball at Flikkers, a Women’s Night, and an Open Night at the Hirschfeld Centre. The Outing is the world’s first LGBTQ+ matchmaking festival, which Eddie founded in the home of matchmaking in Lisdoonvarna, County Clare, and now going into its 13th year.

“And The Outing and the Queer Arts Collective celebrated again this year in the St Patrick’s Day parade with our rainbow pageant,” Eddie says, “with nearly a hundred members from the community here in Ireland and internationally who came and performed and celebrated on our national day.

The Gender Recognition Act was passed on July 15th 2015. Thousands of people gathered in Dublin Castle to celebrate the results, which marked a historical day for Ireland. The 1981 Munster gay pride included leafleting on the streets of Cork and Waterford and sponsored advertising campaigns on local radio in both counties for the Munster Gay Switchboard.

In an editorial in the Nationalist, condemning the action, the editor argued that it “should alert the public at large to the brazen nature of the assault which is being mounted on traditional and fundamental Christian values. Maybe you would like to talk through your own situation? Named after Magnus Hirschfeld, a pioneering sexologist who championed gay rights in Germany in the early 20th century, the Hirschfeld Centre was the headquarters for the National Gay Federation (NGF) and Liberation for Irish Lesbians (LIL), Ireland’s first lesbian organisation established in 1978.

Among these groups were the gay community, haemophiliacs (a blood disease that causes the blood not to clot) and sex workers.