Draped in rainbow flags and dancing to music blasting from speakers, dozens of members of the LGBTQ+ community gathered outside Outhouse community centre on Capel Street on Saturday morning before setting off for Dublin’s annual Pride parade.
Addressing the crowd before they departed, Outhouse chief executive Oisín O’Reilly said the community was “about to spill into the city ... to join something bigger than any one of us”.
“Queer people are not marginal, not invisible, and not alone. We’re here, organised, and not going anywhere. Today is a celebration but also a statement that we exist in every part of this country and of the world,” he said.
“At a time when LGBTQ+ rights are increasingly under attack, and trans people in particular are being targeted, Pride is not just visibility, it’s solidarity and resistance.”
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Among those preparing to march was Namuyanja Sarah, who volunteers with a women’s safe space at Outhouse. She said the group meets every month and strives to ensure everyone feels welcome.
“I walked into Outhouse and found it was my home,” she said. “Today is about fun, gathering together and enjoying being proud,” she added.
Drag performer Mary Harness, who has been performing in drag for 20 years and has attended Pride events across Ireland, said Dublin Pride remained one of her favourite celebrations.
She loves touring Pride events “because it’s a wonderful way to celebrate”.
While describing Pride as a celebration, she said it was also important to remember its roots as a protest.
“Some Prides have become too commercialised,” she said. “I go to some of the alternative Prides too. I’m also very much into Neurodiversity Pride celebrations because I was diagnosed with Asperger’s years ago. It’s important we’re out and raising awareness.”
Outhouse played a vital role for Violet Brown after she came out as transgender, which was why she was marching with the collective on Saturday.
“It has been a really good community space for me, especially when I came out as trans. I learned the things I needed to do to transition well and was very supported,” she said.
Brown, who has attended Pride for more than a decade, said: “There’s a lot of hatred being spread around now. Pride for me is community, recognition and being able to express who you are.”
Dennis Fowley said Ireland’s trans healthcare system is continuing to fail many people, including him, as he had been on the waiting list for five years. He said it was important to march at Pride to highlight those issues.
“It’s important to show each other and ourselves that we’re here, we exist.”
Tens of thousands of people took part in the annual Dublin Pride parade, with the theme of this year’s celebration being “One Story – Many Voices”. Taoiseach Micheál Martin marched in the parade, while author and activist Philippa Ryder was this year’s Grand Marshal.
More than 600 LGBTQ+ young people aged between 14 and 23, from across Ireland, led this year’s parade with youth organisation Belong To. Its chief executive, Kieran O’Donovan, said seeing so many young people marching through Dublin filled him with “immense pride”.
“For many of us, we remember what it felt like to be younger, the isolation, the fear,” he said. “Today is a reminder that no young person should have to navigate this world alone.”
