Pride Month

I'm hardly ancient at 45.. and I have plenty of memories of homophobia being expressed/performed publicly throughout my teens and well into my late 20s. I've also been on the receiving end of homophobic violence.. Irelands acceptance/tolerance of homosexuals is a relatively new thing. They've embraced it in a remarkably short period of time.. but it's easy to forget/dismiss what Ireland was like in the 80s/90s/00s, which isn't that long ago.

Who is making you responsible for others homophobic views? Acknowledging the way Ireland used to be doesn't place any responsibility on you. Nor do homosexuals having a Pride march, and celebrating that, that period in Irish culture has ended. It's not about you. It's not about the homophobes who still exist in Irish society. It's about the homosexuals who exist today. I've seen nothing to suggest any kind of guilt being extended by LGBQ people towards straight people in Ireland.

Now, I'm sure there are activists/advocates who do that.. but we both know that they don't really represent the LGBQ community, and are more interested in lording over others with their virtue.

Could you direct me to a quote of mine where I suggested any such payment for past aggressions? Cause I've gone back over my posts, and I don't see it. Not do I expect any such thing.

As for the bad egg, or Black sheep reference, I'm very aware of it, since for years I was the black sheep in my family, a family that was once very religious and traditional. I'm perfectly aware of what is entailed in that.

However, I get the sense you're going on a tangent over things that I didn't state.

Again, with throwing in things that I didn't say or even suggest even slightly. I'm from a midland town, and it had it's fair share of homophobia, but then, it was cultural. Teenagers used homosexual jokes and jibes against each other all the time, accusing each other of being gay as if it was the worst possible state of being. That it was dirty, and something to be avoided at all costs. And that it was used as an excuse for bullying and violence in schools, or elsewhere in the pubs or outside the nightclubs.

You're not gay. At least, I didn't get this from any of your posts. You've never needed to be aware of what went on, because it didn't affect you, even slightly. It was the social norm. Why would you see it as being something worth taking notice of? We all tend to focus on our own issues when we're young. It was only when society and our culture shifted to consider homophobia as being possibly unreasonable, that people would have noticed it going on around them.

Which has come from the activists that are heavily invested in the Trans aspect of LGBTQ. I've said multiple times on this thread, that I disagree with where the LGBTQ community is going, as does many other LGBQ people. You still haven't explained how you're being held personally responsible for the past behaviour of others.

And they're easily ignored. Just do what I do. Avoid most forms of social media, and minimize your exposure to RTE. I'm a member of the LGBTQ community, and even I avoid most of their publications because they're victim pieces from people who have never tried to leave the past behind them, and accept that Ireland has changed.

However, they're still a minority. A very vocal minority, but a minority nonetheless. When LGB issues were still unresolved there was a serious presence from the LGBQ community, with active participation of the general community. Since equality has been achieved, most LGB have withdrawn from active participation, except for the Pride events, and even then, it's mostly been taken over by the Queers and the Trans groups.

We have a very different appreciation of what the word literally is and how it should be used then... because you're quoting what was stated, and taking away something that wasn't said. People have become very quick to forget what Ireland was like in the past, as if it happened ages ago in the distant past, and any remembrance or acknowledgment of that past (in terms of the present) is seen as unreasonable.

You haven't insulted me or made any digs. It's a conversation.. No need to read between the lines. You're grand.

Whereas I'd say that Irish society was well behind other European countries until the early 00s. Not tolerant at all, beyond the soundbites. However, Ireland, once it started to embrace the idea of homosexuality being acceptable, jumped on to it quicker than anywhere else... remarkable change in such a short period... but before that? Not good. At all.

Polls in the UK and France of Muslims show an extremely high percentage of them retain their views on many issues, including LGBTQ, after living in western nations, but also that 2nd/3rd generations, tend to (obviously enough) match many of the views of their parents. After all, it is their religion that is anti-LGBTQ so the conditioning and reinforcement of traditional views continues.

Modern western policy on immigration is not concerned with assimilation. There is no interest in imparting the culture and values of western nations on to those who immigrate here. Rather, they are encouraged to keep their own culture and traditions... and the world outside of western nations is overwhelmingly anti-LGBTQ.

The cries of xenophobia is a way of stifling debate because those so interested in diversity and immigration, don't want to face just how weak their own position is. I fully expect ancapailldorcha not to justify or argue his claim. Would love to be proven wrong on this, but I doubt that I will be.