While June may be Pride Month, it’s crucial to acknowledge diversity and inclusion every day of the year. Ireland has a rich history of artists and activists who have sparked essential conversations about the treatment of the LGBTQA+ community. These discussions have led to profound changes, not only in Ireland but globally. To honour these influential Irish LGBTQA+ figures, we’ve put together a list of six individuals whose impact on Ireland’s history continues to inspire:
Tiernan Brady
The Irish-Australian was the political director of the campaign that started the path to make Ireland the first country to establish same-sex marriage by public vote, “Yes Equality”. Tiernan Brady also worked as a political and LGBT rights campaigner in Australia, being behind the victorious national campaign for Australian Marriage Equality. He is a very important name in the fight for a more equal world for the LGBTQA+ community and has influenced many others activists around the world.
Oscar Wild
One of the most respected playwrights, poets and novelists of the 19th century and definitely an Irish name that has gained the world. Oscar Wild has an important role in the queer history of Ireland and was imprisoned for having consensual encounters with men. Afraid of what could happen, Wild moved to Paris after leaving prison and spent his last years of life in exile. He has since become globally known and celebrated, seen as one of many examples of the struggles the LGBTQA+ community suffered during the last centuries.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon is a queer Irish painter, famous for creating figurative paintings that often present traces of surrealism and nightmarish themes. The artist was born in Dublin in 1909 and started his artistic path around 1930, after being thrown out of the family home by his father because of his homosexual preferences and moved to London to persuade a career as a painter. Bacon and the businessmen Eric Hall had an open intimate relationship that lasted for 15 years, which put him on the list of most influential LGBTQA+ people in Ireland’s history.
Leo Varadkar
The current vice prime minister of Ireland, Leo Varadkar, is a member of the LGBTQA+ community and has been public about his homosexuality since 2015. The Tánaiste (the Irish way of calling the vice prime minister), was one of the advocates for the same-sex referendum on 22 May 2015 and has worked for more rights for the queer population in Ireland.
Julia Grennan and Elizabeth O’Farrel
Julia Grennan and Elizabeth O’Farrell were long-time partners and activists fighting on the front line at the Irish Rising in 1916. Julia was a nurse and was trusted to treat the wounded rebels at the GPO in the famous O'Connell Street and Elizabeth had the important job of delivering the surrender flag, stepping out into the streets while bullets were still being shot. The couple lived together after that until Elizabeth’s death in 1957. They are now buried together in Glasnevin Cemetery.
These are just a few of many Irish queers who have made an impact in the country’s history and in the world. If you want to learn more about the history of the LGBTQA+ movement in Ireland you can check our other post about the topic: “Pride movement in Ireland”.
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