Galway

businessboy

hi all.

just a quick question>

Its common theory that 1 in 10 people are gay, so im curious as to what the problem is in Galway.

A population of 70,000 so an estimated 7,000 LGBT people in the city and on a Fri night in the only gay club in Galway there is never more than a 100 people if that.

Where do they all go?

Help me find the missing 6,900 Galway LGBT people LOL.

Aard

Yes, there may be 7,000 gay /people/ in Galway, but if you take only the 18-50 year olds, that leaves about 4,000. Then only half of them are men (it's mostly gay men in gay bars, at least in Dublin), so that leaves 2,000. How many of them are actually out? Let's say 1,500 (which is being optimistic, I'd think). And how many of them are the kind of people who actually go to gay bars? Half? That leaves about 750. So I guess you're right; there should be more people on the scene in Galway. But not 6,900!

shoegirl

Well I've a similar theory for Cork.
380,000. Lets say half are adults.
If about 10% are gay that means about 19,000 people.

If its 50/50 men women it means about 9500 of each.

However, quite a lot of gay people are in relationships, whether they are out or not, and so won't feel a need to socialise on the scene. So at best you're rarely going to get 1/3 of the potential scene out and about.

I'd seen years of 100-200 dykes in a room in "bad wedding" type wimmins nights in Cork. Then I went to see Pink at the Marquee. I am fairly sure about 2000 gay women were there - out of nowhere. Every single gay bar, even ones that don't have much women in there normally, were jam packed with women - and turning more away at the door. That was a Monday night too!

It just went to show me really how poorly the current scene in Ireland caters for the community and how narrow the focus on the scene can be. Of course that said, I am hugely out, but I probably visit a gay bar locally about once every 2 months and maybe 2-3 visits in Dublin or elsewhere the rest of the year.

But that is because I choose to go travelling and spend my money on pride events, a very small number of events I perceive as quality for money, and for every night I go out in Ireland I probably spend 2 in Europe/USA/Australia on holiday trips. It sounds selfish but I'd rather spend thousands having a great time at the Mardi Gras that some little snipe insulting me in a local gay bar because they are a big fish in a small pond.

businessboy

the scene leaves a lot to be desired.

its more like a house party that leaves the outsiders feeling excluded.

but my question was where do the non scene people hang out?

JupiterKid

Well, at least Galway has a relatively stable gay venue. The same cannot be said of Limerick, a bigger city.:(

The "scene" is not really representative of the LGBT population of any given place. It tends to be cliquish and quite closed to outsiders IMO. This puts many LGBT people totally off the scene.

shoegirl

They probably go to "straight" pubs, maybe take the odd holiday in San Francisco (or substitute any gay-friendly city you know of) and in many cases have a few good gay friends who they occasionally meet up with.

Thats what people I know of do anyway.

Last year I got talking to a bunch of guys in the George on Paddys day and they were saying they come out about twice a year to the Irish scene. They save their money and go to really big events in other places. I actually do the same, more or less.

Having said that I think a lot of people who go "on the scene" still only go out a few times a year anyway. Its only a very small minority who actually go out more than once a month, but unfortunately they have tended to appoint themselves as official representation.

FuzzyWool

JupiterKid wrote: »

Well, at least Galway has a relatively stable gay venue. The same cannot be said of Limerick, a bigger city.:(

The "scene" is not really representative of the LGBT population of any given place. It tends to be cliquish and quite closed to outsiders IMO. This puts many LGBT people totally off the scene.

Galway's gay venues are completely cliquish. A few years ago, they were so closed to outsiders they turned away straight friends of mine on two seperate nights.. and I was with them! Obviously, I find it easier to go out and have a great night in the Front Lounge or The George because being from Galway, there are no familiar faces giving me dirty looks for no reason. What you get in Galway, is the same core group of people who socialise in the same bar every weekend, then complain about any new people who come in for a pint. I tend to visit the Galway scene once a month.. the majority of lesbians I know tend to go to a non-gay bar, the Roisin Dubh.. The gay guys can be found in any niteclub in Galway. If you're visiting Galway, you'd have a much better time hitting the pubs on the west bank..

azezil

businessboy wrote: »

the scene leaves a lot to be desired.

its more like a house party that leaves the outsiders feeling excluded.

but my question was where do the non scene people hang out?

In venues which aren't part of the scene...

Ashen Light

Honestly, I think it's more to do with the fact that even openly gay people often prefer to go to a "mainstream" venue. I've noticed nightclubs in Limerick (even the Lodge, surprisingly) filled with more and more gay people. The problem is, gay bars tend to try to attract a niche (either glitter-gays or "indie alternatives") or even turning away straight people (got turned away from one myself because they didn't want "straight" guys).

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that people are not "out on the scene" if they're getting accepted in the places that they do chose to go to.

KeyLimePie

Maximum capacity. Explains it all.

T_Girl

I'm a trans girl and was wondering if the stage door is the spot to go in galway? and would the crowd there be accepting of tgirls?

thx

jady88

One in ten seems ambitious. Try 1 in 20 at the absolute most.

Aurora Borealis

In reference to scenes in general many just aren't into such close knit environments.

In reference to Galways scene it's not exactly the most enticing anyway even venue wise so I can see why some would avoid it.