Sir, – Derek Byrne's plea for compassionate understanding of those who practise homophobia ("What is behind the resurgence in homophobia?", Opinion & Analysis, April 14th) stands in sharp contrast to Kitty Holland's news report "LBBTQI+ attacks prompt calls for robust hate crime laws" in the same edition.
I would never doubt Derek’s sincerely but on this occasion, he is way off the mark.
His opinion piece, published in the shadow of vicious assaults and the aftermath of two murders, is badly timed and must make especially uncomfortable reading in Sligo or for the family and friends of Evan Somers, the victim of an undoubted homophobic assault in Dublin last weekend. We cannot grant a veto to those unable or unwilling to accept differences in skin colour, gender identity, sexual preference or ethnic origin. That includes those who “wish harm on” the LBGTQI+ community, to use Derek’s phrase, as well as those who do harm others whom they refuse to accept.
There is no evidence that marriage equality in the Republic has led to a hardening of attitudes towards gay men or that, as Derek writes, “many of those who were not in favour of marriage equality, for example, may be feeling marginalised in a diverse modern Ireland”. The figures quoted in relation to the rise of homophobia in Northern Ireland relate to a study carried out between 2017 and 2019. Same-sex marriage was legalised in Northern Ireland in 2020 so the study is not useful to his argument. The relevance of a 2010 article in the Journal of Homosexuality is likewise unclear, given the shift in public opinion in Ireland since 2015.
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Derek says that “tolerance” has its limits, but tolerance is different from equality – mere tolerance is a low bar in a republic. Likewise, he uses the phrase “the liberation in recent years of homosexual lifestyles in Ireland”.
What does that mean? Being gay is not a lifestyle choice and members of the LGBTI+ community lead diverse lives, as different, as colourful, as simple, or complicated, or as uneventful as their heterosexual brothers and sisters.
All of us have a right to live the best life we can. That does not mean plea bargaining with those who seek to deny that right. No minority should ever be placed in that position. – Yours, etc,
SÉAMUS DOOLEY,
Dublin 8.