Sir, - Breda Mackey (May 29th) uses a recent letter of mine drawing attention to the alleged serious abuse of the human rights of gay men in Egypt as a pretext for putting a question mark over the existence of the Senate. Her letter is no doubt intended to be sinister in a vague sort of way, but the very vagueness involved renders Ms Mackey remarkably coy about her underlying prejudice.
To what precisely does she object? Is it the fact that there is freedom of speech in this country and that I exercise this freedom on behalf of ill-treated minorities both at home and abroad? If I am to be inhibited in the expression of my opinions, is it because I am a member of Seanad Eireann or because I am gay?
Is she suggesting that we should not be concerned about allegations of serious human rights violations if they involve gay people or "foreigners"? Do I have her permission to venture to voice my concerns about East Timor, Nicaragua, Tibet, the treatment of asylum-seekers and refugees in our own country? Or does she feel that because I am a gay man I should sit down, shut up and be grateful that I am no longer subjected to the operation of the criminal law in this area of my life?
If this is the case, then I have bad news for her. For a long time now government legislation automatically carries sexual orientation clauses protecting the rights of gay citizens. It is eight years since we changed the criminal law and we as gay people are now, apart from some slight continuing discrimination in areas such as pensions and property rights, full and equal citizens of this country and as entitled to express our opinions as any one else, especially on matters involving serious issues of human rights abuse. - Yours, etc.,
Senator David Norris, Seanad Eireann Baile Atha Cliath 2.