Ireland

Ireland Puts the Green in the Rainbow Flag

By Charles Karel Bouley II Special to GED

What’s a nice gay person like me doing in Ireland?

That’s what I asked myself the first time I stepped of the airport in Dublin. It was the 2000 and my late husband and I had gone to broadcast our KFI AM 640 show for St. Patrick’s Day from the pubs of Ireland.

We truly didn’t know what to expect. Were there going to be any other out gay people there? Did the gays live underground? Remember this is a country that up until 1980 didn’t allow condoms to be sold and to be prescribed the doctor had to agree you had enough children already. And homosexuality wasn’t decriminalized until 1993. Yes, 1993.

However, the Irish are a warm and loving people and they’ve embraced the LGBT lifestyle full steam ahead. A recent poll shows that 73% of the country supports same sex marriage and in 2015 it is likely to become law. There are existing laws that prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation and it is against the law to incite hatred based on sexual behavior. In 2010 Civil Unions passed. Oh, and unlike America, it is illegal to fire someone in Ireland for being GLBT. In 2000 and again in 2008 I met with Senator David Norris of Ireland. It was he who led the movement to decriminalize and to get condoms sold in the country. He was a quite a character and a more fierce advocate of the LGBT movement one will never find. He is to Ireland what Harvey Milk or Larry Kramer is to the movement.

In other words, there is no reason whatsoever a member of the LGBT community should not travel to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day, or any other time of the year. And it’s never been easier. Aer Lingus, Ireland’s official airline, will be offering a direct San Francisco to Dublin route in April of this year; no stops, no layovers (it’s about 13 hours now, all in, and you lose a day basically going over, gain it coming back).

Start in Dublin. It’s metropolitan yet very Irish. It’s a port city, alive and vibrant 24/7. There’s everything from ancient hotels that feel like castles or manor houses to contemporary gastro pubs and the chicest or trendiest luxury hotels. When searching for a GLBT hotel in Dublin, the first result says, “All hotels in Dublin and Ireland welcome GLBT travelers.”

It’s the truth. Ireland is a feeling. It’s a people proud of their culture. It’s a shared heritage. Inside the cities it’s everything you’d expect and outside it’s the same: hard working people finding their way in the 21st Century as their country and the world changes around them.

Gay bars? Sure! No night is complete without a trip to the George on South St. Georges Street, Temple Bar, Dublin. Temple Bar is the ground zero party for everyone. I’ve been there at 2am on St. Patrick’s night, with thousands of drunken 19 year olds, and never one problem with me, my friends, anyone.

There’s also the Dragon on South St. Georges and The Front lounge on Parliament Street. Remember, this is a PUB culture. Big, enormous dance bars exist, but not every club is one. Dance at the Dragon and The George, drink at The Front Lounge.

In the North of Dublin there’s Pantibar on Capel Street across the River Liffe (It divides the city).

Be sure to see: Jameson’s Distillery, Guinness Factory, Book of Kells at Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, National Museum of Ireland, and Writer’s Museum

But do yourself a favor, get out of Dublin, leave the Temple Bar and the city and get out to Ireland, the real Ireland. Again, this is a pub culture. Do not fear going in to any pub (within common sense, there are still anti-gay crimes as in every country but most can be avoided). You never know where you’ll find fun. The Randall’s Court Hotel in Killarney, home to Michael Fassbender, is an incredible property. It’s right down the street from Mustang Sally’s, a nondescript dance club that had us dancing until 4am. Was it gay? Straight?  “Why not have a bloody good night and not worry about it so much…” the doorman said when I asked. Sounded good, and we did. And that’s the culture.

From the luxury of Mount Juliet (where I could die happy one day) just outside Thomastown where Jonathan Rhys Myers was discovered to the ports of Galway,; from the spa overlooking the bay of the Dingle Skellig Spa and Resort complete with leaping dolphin in the bay in the far West of Ireland to the pubs of Portmagee and a bubble bath in the spa tub at the Waterfront Hotel there; I have been to Ireland 11 times in 14 years and each time is new, unique, incredible.

And I’m the biggest, loudest, blondest queer in the world. And I’ve never had so much as a mean word said.

Is Ireland Gay Friendly? No. Ireland  is just plain friendly. It’s gorgeous, filled with culture, music, and yes, whiskey, beer and cider. It’s a warm and welcoming people in pubs with a fireplace and high rises and the tech industry of the East. It’s the land of Kings, Queens (of all kinds), Viking conquest and Gaelic love stories.

It’s the right place for anyone, especially members of the GLBT community, to feel warm, welcomed and at home.

Slaánte (schlan-che, to health!)

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