Several weeks ago, Irish drag queen and LGBT rights activist Rory O'Neill (a.k.a. Panti Bliss) ruffled some feathers during an appearance on the RTE (Radio Television Ireland) Network's Saturday Night Show. During his interview, Rory called out several journalists and the Iona Institute - a Catholic based lobbying group for conservative political ideals in Ireland - which actively campaign against equal rights for LGBT communities as homophobic. While this portion of the interview was ultimately edited out of the show, the controversy caused by Rory's interview was far from over.
Since the controversy has begun, Panti Bliss and the RTE have been threatened with legal action, which was put to rest after the RTE paid a €85,000 settlement to The Iona Institute. Since then, however, the debate over this controversy has continued to gain momentum and grow ever larger. People around the world - from journalists and politicians to organizations and activists - have sounded off on the issue.
Despite the threats of legal action for speaking out and the heated debate which has emerged, Panti Bliss isn't backing down from her stance on any of these issues! Nothing provided more proof of this than a recent appearance she made at the Abbey Theatre (The National Theatre of Ireland) in Dublin. During this appearance, Panti made an impassioned and beautifully crafted speech regarding homphobia. Over the past few days, the 10 minute speech has gone viral, finally providing her with an uncensored voice on this controversy. In just a few short days, that voice has been heard around the world, making her, as Dan Savage put it, "an international superstar!"
Since the controversy has begun, Panti Bliss and the RTE have been threatened with legal action, which was put to rest after the RTE paid a €85,000 settlement to The Iona Institute. Since then, however, the debate over this controversy has continued to gain momentum and grow ever larger. People around the world - from journalists and politicians to organizations and activists - have sounded off on the issue.
Despite the threats of legal action for speaking out and the heated debate which has emerged, Panti Bliss isn't backing down from her stance on any of these issues! Nothing provided more proof of this than a recent appearance she made at the Abbey Theatre (The National Theatre of Ireland) in Dublin. During this appearance, Panti made an impassioned and beautifully crafted speech regarding homphobia. Over the past few days, the 10 minute speech has gone viral, finally providing her with an uncensored voice on this controversy. In just a few short days, that voice has been heard around the world, making her, as Dan Savage put it, "an international superstar!"
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For the last three weeks, I have been lectured to by heterosexual people about what homophobia is, and about who is allowed to identify it. Straight people have lined up - ministers, senators, barristers, journalists - have lined up to tell me what homophobia is, and to tell me what I am allowed to feel oppressed by.
People who have never experienced homophobia in their lives, people who have never checked themselves at a pedestrian crossing, have told me that unless I am being thrown into prison, or herded onto a cattle truck, then it is not homophobia. And that feels oppressive.
And so now, Irish gay people, we find ourselves in this ludicrous situation where we are not only not allowed to say publicly what we feel oppressed by, we’re not even allowed to think it, because the very definition - our definition - has been disallowed by our betters.
And for the last three weeks, I’ve been denounced - from the floor of the Oireachtas [the Irish parliament], to newspaper columns, to the seething morass of internet commentary - denounced for using hate speech because I dared to use the word ‘homophobia’, and a jumped-up queer like me should know that the word homophobia is no longer available to gay people. Which is a spectacular and neat Orwellian trick, because now it turns out that gay people are not the victims of homophobia, homophobes are the victims of homophobia.
This is an absolute must watch for anyone who has ever faced homophobia in any way! Check it out here:
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