It’s been a busy past few weeks — a trip to Manchester UK a the end of August for Pride weekend there, multiple office social events, and various get-togethers with friends. It feels like today has been the first day I’ve been able to relax in awhile. The weather has turned rainy once again — a good excuse to stay in and write a blog post — after a stretch of dry days last week and temperatures in the low 60s F / high teens C.
This Saturday marked 40 years since the murder of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park in Dublin in 1982. Declan was a 31 year-old gay man who, like everyone else in Ireland at the time, was closeted due to the fact that homosexuality was still a crime. The five teenagers charged with the murder, despite admitting to “queer bashing,” were allowed to walk free when their sentences were suspended by the judge who infamous said “This could never be regarded as murder.” The ruling caused public outrage and led to one of the earliest and largest demonstrations in support of gay rights in Dublin, which galvanised the LGBT movement in Ireland.
Hundreds of people gathered at Fairview Park in memory of Declan at an event organised by Dublin Pride. There were several speakers including one of Declan’s brothers and various representatives from Ireland’s LGBTQ+ organisations, some of whom had known Declan personally and were early activists. The event carried even more significance given the multiple acts of violence committed against members of Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community this year, the most recent having occurred in mid-August when a 26 year-old gay man was attacked on a bus when heading home after a Saturday night out with friends at The George. There is currently no Hate Crime legislation in Ireland, although the Dáil (Irish parliament) is slated to debate the introduction of new hate crime laws this autumn.
On Friday night, I participated in the first-of-its-kind community patrol organised by a new volunteer group in Dublin called the “Pink Foxes”, inspired by the Pink Panthers who patrolled the streets of Manhattan, New York in the 1980s in response to increased “gay-bashing” incidents. The Pink Foxes are committed to non-violence and de-escalation with the aim to be a visible symbol of reassurance to the community, act as a deterrent to intolerance and queerphobia, and assist victims of violence by administering basic first aid and helping to contact the police or emergency responders as needed. I had attended a volunteer training session earlier in the week, and five of us committed to the first patrol on Friday from 10:00pm to 1:30am. Donning “high viz” pink vests, we walked together as a group up and down Capel Street, Parliament Street, Dame Street and S. Great George Street, where Dublin’s gay bars and clubs are located and conveniently very close to where I live. It was a pleasant evening, with relatively warm weather and clear skies lit up by near-full moon, which passed by without incident. The only thing that was out-of-the-ordinary was the number of people walking around in cowboy hats, thanks to a Garth Brooks concert at Croke Park — the first of his multiple sold-out performances over two weekends (there are lots of country music fans in Ireland). My feet were rather sore by the time I got home.
Until next time….
