Donegal ambassador Noel Cunningham has called on all communities to be allies to the LGBTI+ community.
The hotelier and presenter has often spoken about the challenges of growing up gay in 1950s Ireland.
“It was a very different world,” Noel said.
“We were very much influenced by church and by sport. If you didn’t fit in to that particular mould, you kind of ended up isolating yourself somewhat and it wasn’t easy.”
Ahead of Pride month, Noel has lent support to the ‘looking back, moving forward, together’ campaign for LGBTI+ equality.
Great strides have been made in recent years to promote LGBTI+ equality, but LGBTI+ people continue to face significant barriers to full participation in public life and face unacceptable levels of stigmatisation, discrimination and harassment in their day-to-lives.
Noel is among a group of well-known people who have sat down to start a conversation, highlighting their own experiences and perspectives on equality and acceptance.
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He said: “Great strides have certainly been taken, but it’s very hard to change something that is so entrenched in our background.
“We have to start in the home. Parents will make a most disparaging comment by way of light-hearted conversation, forgetting that the children and the young people in that room may well be battling with the whole area of their sexuality, the person who’s looking for affirmation or acceptance or inclusion, that I’m not really included, I’m not really part of the gang, I’m not really part of this wonderful society that tells me we are so liberal, we now accept everything. ‘Isn’t gay marriage fabulous? Isn’t it wonderful that you can walk down the street holding your boyfriend or your girlfriend’s hand?’ Let me tell you something, you wouldn’t dream of doing it in most cases.”
Noel says the idea that young people in the LGBTI+ community are having a fabulous time being who they are in our modern Ireland is far from the truth.
“Believe me, never were allies needed more than they are today,” he said.
He called on people in all communities to support everyone who’s a little bit different.
Noel’s message has been published by the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth as part of an online public awareness campaign #forwardtogether #araghaidhlinn.
Leading the conversation are Noel Cunningham, poet Felicia Olusanya (FeliSpeaks), activist Rebecca Tallon de Havilland, media leader Anna Nolan, influencer Paddy Smyth, and cultural curator and Irish Traveller Oein DeBhairduin.
Launching the campaign, Minister Roderic O’Gorman said: “As my department commences work on identifying priority areas for inclusion in the new successor LGBTI+ Strategy, this conversation is more important than ever. We, as a government remain committed to the promotion and protection of the rights of LGBTI+ persons. I want the new Strategy to be representative of everyone in this community, and to be ambitious in its goals. Ireland is a diverse, colourful, creative country and our LGBTI+ community are an essential part of that.
“It is now time to move forward together as a country, and work to achieve equality for all.”
