[Shaun]

Youtube video

An impassioned speech by an Irish drag queen about what constitutes homophobia has been viewed more than 300,000 times on YouTube, promoting thousands of comments - it's even been discussed in Ireland's houses of parliament.

Panti Bliss was already an icon of Ireland's gay scene, but her profile has just rocketed. In a speech at the weekend, Panti spoke of the "oppression" she feels as a gay person living in Ireland - including her own sense of internalised oppression. "I knew we were witnessing something great - you could feel it in the room," says Conor Horgan who filmed her speech at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin and is making a documentary about Panti. "It was very, very powerful," he says. "This is a big moment for Ireland."

There have been thousands of tweets on the hashtags #TeamPanti and #Pantigate - most of them supportive, and the video has been translated into French and Russian. Stephen Fry, Lily Savage, and Graham Norton are among the high profile figures to endorse the speech. Madonna even reportedly sent a message. In a tweet, Finton O'Toole, a journalist with the Irish Times called it, "the most eloquent Irish speech since Daniel O'Connell [renowned 18th-19th Century political activist] was in his prime". Lise Hand, a journalist with the Irish Independent, predicted the speech will be debated in schools in years to come. "It was a speech about shame. And God knows that's something of a speciality among the Irish," she wrote.

The response has not been positive across the board. One YouTube comment said: "Men have no business dressing up as women, they need to be men!" And a Fianna Fail senator, Jim Walsh - who has referred to homosexuals as "fairies" in the past - on Wednesday criticised what he called "dangerous, vicious elements within the gay ideological movement".

Rory O'Neill - as Panti is known when not in drag - sparked controversy three weeks ago when he gave a TV interview to RTE, Ireland's national broadcaster. He accused two journalists and a Catholic lobby group of homophobia. They complained and RTE settled the case, paying 85,000 euros (£70,000) in compensation for defamation. The pay-out was the subject of discussion in Ireland's parliament, the Dail on Thursday. Ireland is due to hold a referendum on gay marriage next year.

[GypsyGoth]

[Nedusa]

Go Panti.... What a fantastic impassioned emotional speech telling it like it is in Ireland and Britain and probably a thousand other places.

Yes we are all slightly homophobic... Why wouldn't we be ? We have been brought up and conditioned to be that way .

I think things are changing and I think the younger generations do not carry so much of this prejudice around .

But what a great speech ... Really got to the heart of the matter...!!!

[Kizzy]

Wonderful, very inspiring!

[Jack_]

Touching and brilliant.

I also think some straight people fall victim to this kind of homophobia too, I read a column the other week which argued as much, it's an interesting point actually and one I'd never really considered properly before, but it's true.

Homophobia doesn't just oppress gay people, it affects us all
To be thought of as gay still elicits a fearful response in far too many people

A few years ago, on a trip to Vancouver, I found myself sat at the back of a sightseeing trolley tour. The driver was an amiable older man, who reeled off the history of the city with knowledge and affection: dropping in the occasional insight and story from his own life as he pointed out the famous sights and local landmarks. It turned out that he had the little finger missing from one of his hands. He explained that he had been involved in an accident, and the finger had been violently bent backwards. When healed, the finger was still bent at an awkward angle backwards. Not only was this an inconvenience, but – he chuckled – “people thought I was... ahem, you know?”

The occupants of the trolley laughed. Even I smiled. We all knew what people must have thought. If a man's pinky finger sticks out backwards, he might be gay. Eventually, the driver decided it would be easier to have the near-useless finger cut off: hence the missing digit.

The trolley tour came to an end. Its occupants disembarked, entertained and educated by our history tour and the amusing anecdotes. The driver had meant no harm. It was only later, when I reflected upon the his story that the significance of what he had said sunk in. Apparently he had had a part of his body amputated because he didn't like people thinking he might be gay. Yes, that was only part of the reason, but still, it seems to have been a factor in his decision.

I was reminded of this when I read a recent article by Graeme La Saux. In The Times at the beginning of the month, the former Chelsea football player – who, like the driver on my trolley tour, is heterosexual – reflected on how, in the early 1990s, he found fellow players and fans questioning his sexuality. The taunting began after it was discovered that he read The Guardian and had been on a touring holiday around Europe with a fellow footballer friend.

"The homophobic taunting and bullying left me close to walking away from football. I went through times that were like depression. I did not know where I was going. I would get up in the morning and would not feel good and by the time I got into training I would be so nervous that I felt sick."

Le Saux stuck things out, but the memories of his experiences – in particular, the vicious taunting he received from some other players on the pitch, have not dimmed.

"The abuse I had to suffer would be multiplied a hundredfold for a player who was openly gay. The burden would be too much."

This weekend, London's Southbank will be hosting a three-day cultural festival entitled 'Being a Man'. I have been invited to participate in a panel discussion on 'Being a Gay Man', in which one of the subjects for discussion will be ‘the level of oppression felt by gay men.’ That gay men – and women – continue to be oppressed is without doubt. Were this event to take place in Russia, I could be arrested for publicly discussing my sexuality. Was it Uganda or Nigeria, I could face a lynching or several years’ imprisonment. I consider myself fortunate to live in the UK, where laws exist to protect me from such persecution. However, although homophobic oppression may be less visible in the United Kingdom, like environmental pollution, it remains in the atmosphere. And, as the examples I offered at the beginning of this piece, I don't believe homophobia just oppresses gay men: it affects straight men too.

You think those examples were extreme? Have ever modified your behaviour – perhaps opted to wear something different, or chosen not to reveal you like a certain song or film – purely because you didn't want people to think... 'Well, you know'. If so, then you have reacted to – and become a victim of – homophobic oppression. To be revealed as gay, or thought of as gay, still elicits a fearful response in far too many people. It's a fear that we pass on to the next generation when we tell our children what toys they can or can't play with, or what colour possessions they can own. When little boys are told to ‘be a man’… there is only one type of man that the rebutter has in mind.

When so many gay people are the victims of truly vicious homophobic oppression, why should I be bothered to highlight that suffered by straight people? It’s because the 'them' and 'us' mentality around homophobia is part of the problem. Homophobia affects everyone – not just gay people.

Those who introduce homophobic laws believe such laws affect only ‘them’ – the LGBT community. If you are heterosexual, it can be so easy to think that such laws are nothing to do with you – that they’re something happening to other people in another country. But the suffering faced by a section of society will inevitably affect society as a whole.

Three years ago, I interviewed Roger Crouch, who had just won a ‘Hero of the Year’ award from Stonewall, at the LGBT charity’s annual Equality Awards ceremony. Roger’s son, Dominic, aged 15, killed himself after experiencing bullying at schools – some of it homophobic in nature. In the months after his son’s death, Roger talked at schools about the dangers of homophobic bullying, but he remained devastated by his loss. A few days after our interview, he took his own life – a double tragedy for his surviving wife and daughter.

If you think homophobia and homophobic oppression have no effect on you, think again.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/...l-9088207.html

[Tom4784]

What a powerful speech. I hope this video continues to get the attention it deserves.

[the truth]

Listened to this as believe it or not I do have an open mind and I was disappointed
this is a speech of many worng assumptions and is riddled with self pity too. he seems to be denouncing anyone else who dare have an opinion of homosexuality yet he himself demands the rights to talk about it more, as he is doing here? major double standards.

he is saying that those many people are debating baout giving him less rights? how? in what way? he says that these people who discuss homophobia and issues of discrimiantion have never been victims of it? how does he know? hes making enormous accumptions and generalizations himself and pigeon holing people too...politicians and people will always discuss and debate moral questions and laws, thats what theyre paid to do.....how does he think blind people sick people, disabled people, dying people feel when these same politicians debate their rights to live or die, to work or not to work, to have carers at home or electric wheelchairs to get around, or foreign people who get targeted etc
we all suffer discrimination at some stage of our lives, all of us....even if its a kid being bullied fo rhaving glasses or ginger hair or an over weight kid, or a kid who cant read, or has shabby clothes, or has a funny accent, anyone who appears different at any stage will be singled out and mocked.
that incident he repeats here about kids driving past and shouting some abuse and chucking a carton, thats bad. but thats been done to all sorts of people, fat people, bald people, disabled people, asian people etc its horrible and disgusting. but to see that as purely homophobis is over simplified

also being a drag queen guess what you will get attention , far more attention. if i walked down the road in a mankin id get attention, so for me to then in turn complain about the attention is plain stupid.

in all sitiuations you have peer pressure and social situations into which we all have to painfully conform to at times in our lives

he also says here umpteen times he feels oppressed, so do i mate, so do we all. he says gay people in ireland are not allowed to say what they feel? guess what neither can other groups of people in the UK about all sorts of topics, why? because weve over legislated on so many things with political correctness and thousands of idiotic laws, that actual conversation now is almost illegal.he says everyone is a homophobe. great? but he says it nicely , but he patronises here. hes saying were all homophobes but are indoctrinated and helpless to change it.....sorry thats untrue. maybe he needs to listen to others too. just because a few idiots throw abuse and throw cartons doesnt make us a nation of all homophobes.


this speech may be populist and 10 trillion will watch in on youtube and madonna will kiss britny spears to show how how open minded she is, but it wont change anything. BUT I hope Im wrong. Its tragic how many people do kill themselves over all sorts of things, money debts, drugs, booze, depression, mental health, physical health, disease, broken hearts etc etc but being gay should never be a reason to kill yourself. to hell with that. live your life, and if you cant live it where you live, move away. but ultimately you can also be happy in isolation with your partner or like minded people. changing everyones opinions on sexuality will never ever happen. it can come across as too preachy. some people think its worng, thats their opinion. if more gay people are seen to be living happy lives and to be seen kissing and cuddling openly that is probably the bravest way to change perceptions. myself i like to have my relationships as intimiate and i dont care what anyone else thinks about why were together.

this is really a passive aggressive angry speech. its not a subtle speech with things you relaly carry with you always. its full of the endless cliches and buzz words weve all heard before in a million other speeches. it would be more powerful an image to simply see 2 man gently loving each other. sititng holding hands, stroking each other cheek and just enjoying their lives. this is too preachy and self pitying and bordering on attention seeking.

why does he feel this anger and who is feeding this anger. why cant he simply find a partner and fall in love? this is more a divisive speech than bringing people together. why does he feel the need to preach to crowds of people? telling them what they are (bigots) and what they think? you inspire more showing and displaying love and kindness than finger wagging at people. show us your love.

obviously ireland is different to the Uk and this is probably another easy target of the Church too....No doubt there are contradictions in the Church still....well guess what there are contradictions in everything....this speech felt populist and cliched , though he may mean well, it doesnt really affect people deeply imo BUT thats just my opinion. and unlike our dear friend here whos intentions may have been pure, I dont speak for the masses, just myself

[Nedusa]

Originally Posted by the truth

Listened to this as believe it or not I do have an open mind and I was disappointed
this is a speech of many worng assumptions and is riddled with self pity too. he seems to be denouncing anyone else who dare have an opinion of homosexuality yet he himself demands the rights to talk about it more, as he is doing here? major double standards.

he is saying that those many people are debating baout giving him less rights? how? in what way? he says that these people who discuss homophobia and issues of discrimiantion have never been victims of it? how does he know? hes making enormous accumptions and generalizations himself and pigeon holing people too...politicians and people will always discuss and debate moral questions and laws, thats what theyre paid to do.....how does he think blind people sick people, disabled people, dying people feel when these same politicians debate their rights to live or die, to work or not to work, to have carers at home or electric wheelchairs to get around, or foreign people who get targeted etc
we all suffer discrimination at some stage of our lives, all of us....even if its a kid being bullied fo rhaving glasses or ginger hair or an over weight kid, or a kid who cant read, or has shabby clothes, or has a funny accent, anyone who appears different at any stage will be singled out and mocked.
that incident he repeats here about kids driving past and shouting some abuse and chucking a carton, thats bad. but thats been done to all sorts of people, fat people, bald people, disabled people, asian people etc its horrible and disgusting. but to see that as purely homophobis is over simplified

also being a drag queen guess what you will get attention , far more attention. if i walked down the road in a mankin id get attention, so for me to then in turn complain about the attention is plain stupid.

in all sitiuations you have peer pressure and social situations into which we all have to painfully conform to at times in our lives

he also says here umpteen times he feels oppressed, so do i mate, so do we all. he says gay people in ireland are not allowed to say what they feel? guess what neither can other groups of people in the UK about all sorts of topics, why? because weve over legislated on so many things with political correctness and thousands of idiotic laws, that actual conversation now is almost illegal.he says everyone is a homophobe. great? but he says it nicely , but he patronises here. hes saying were all homophobes but are indoctrinated and helpless to change it.....sorry thats untrue. maybe he needs to listen to others too. just because a few idiots throw abuse and throw cartons doesnt make us a nation of all homophobes.


this speech may be populist and 10 trillion will watch in on youtube and madonna will kiss britny spears to show how how open minded she is, but it wont change anything. BUT I hope Im wrong. Its tragic how many people do kill themselves over all sorts of things, money debts, drugs, booze, depression, mental health, physical health, disease, broken hearts etc etc but being gay should never be a reason to kill yourself. to hell with that. live your life, and if you cant live it where you live, move away. but ultimately you can also be happy in isolation with your partner or like minded people. changing everyones opinions on sexuality will never ever happen. it can come across as too preachy. some people think its worng, thats their opinion. if more gay people are seen to be living happy lives and to be seen kissing and cuddling openly that is probably the bravest way to change perceptions. myself i like to have my relationships as intimiate and i dont care what anyone else thinks about why were together.

this is really a passive aggressive angry speech. its not a subtle speech with things you relaly carry with you always. its full of the endless cliches and buzz words weve all heard before in a million other speeches. it would be more powerful an image to simply see 2 man gently loving each other. sititng holding hands, stroking each other cheek and just enjoying their lives. this is too preachy and self pitying and bordering on attention seeking.

why does he feel this anger and who is feeding this anger. why cant he simply find a partner and fall in love? this is more a divisive speech than bringing people together. why does he feel the need to preach to crowds of people? telling them what they are (bigots) and what they think? you inspire more showing and displaying love and kindness than finger wagging at people. show us your love.

obviously ireland is different to the Uk and this is probably another easy target of the Church too....No doubt there are contradictions in the Church still....well guess what there are contradictions in everything....this speech felt populist and cliched , though he may mean well, it doesnt really affect people deeply imo BUT thats just my opinion. and unlike our dear friend here whos intentions may have been pure, I dont speak for the masses, just myself

I hate to say it...but reading your post above a few times I can't help wonder if you are actually proving this guy's point.

Your post comes over as slightly angry ...why ?? one might almost say very slightly homophobic...illustrating the very point Panti Bliss was trying to make...!!!!

[Shaun]

Ah, the daily reminder of why I have the_truth on ignore.

[Redway]

Genius speech.

the truth chatting shit as usual, I see.

[Iceman]

Ive met him a few times....very engaging person.

Originally Posted by Iceman

Ive met him a few times....very engaging person.

The truth?

[Iceman]

No I go to pantibar....nice club...haha

[Z]

That was really inspirational to watch

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

I hate to say it...but reading your post above a few times I can't help wonder if you are actually proving this guy's point.

Your post comes over as slightly angry ...why ?? one might almost say very slightly homophobic...illustrating the very point Panti Bliss was trying to make...!!!!

fair enough thats your opinion. I think this type of speech creates more division. theres some nice moments but hes basically claling everyone homophobic and is quite bitter. im far more inspired by a nice peaceful person who goes about their life with a smile on their fcae despite the endless bigotry and discrimination that so many groups face, not just drag artists, gay people, trangender people. but different ethnicities, cultures, disablities, capabilities, the mentally ill, the sick and needy, the poor. we dont hear enough fronm these people and we seem to have heard this speech here 1001 times. Its nothing new or original.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by the truth

fair enough thats your opinion. I think this type of speech creates more division. theres some nice moments but hes basically claling everyone homophobic and is quite bitter. im far more inspired by a nice peaceful person who goes about their life with a smile on their fcae despite the endless bigotry and discrimination that so many groups face, not just drag artists, gay people, trangender people. but different ethnicities, cultures, disablities, capabilities, the mentally ill, the sick and needy, the poor. we dont hear enough fronm these people and we seem to have heard this speech here 1001 times. Its nothing new or original.

I don't really think you paid much attention to the speech at all because you've completely missed the point.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

I don't really think you paid much attention to the speech at all because you've completely missed the point.

I got the point, trust me its rammed down everyones throats ever day..
you clearly dont get mine

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by the truth

I got the point, trust me its rammed down everyones throats ever day..
you clearly dont get mine

Because your point of view is rarely worth considering and no, you didn't understand the point of the speech because you're so fixated on the part when he called everyone homophobes and not the part later when he explained that it applies to gay people as well because they were raised to think like that.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Dezzy

Because your point of view is rarely worth considering and no, you didn't understand the point of the speech because you're so fixated on the part when he called everyone homophobes and not the part later when he explained that it applies to gay people as well because they were raised to think like that.

trust me I did understand every word. You dont understand where Im coming from at all you need to open your mind to the fact there are billions of people in worse situations who suffer infinitely worse discrimination than a drag queen at a crossing or a gay person in ireland. this man and those who follow him need to get a greater perspective of life and drop some of the self pitying mentality. gay people and drag artists have more rights in ireland than many other oppressed people have in most countries in the world.

[Z]

Originally Posted by the truth

trust me I did understand every word. You dont understand where Im coming from at all you need to open your mind to the fact there are billions of people in worse situations who suffer infinitely worse discrimination than a drag queen at a crossing or a gay person in ireland. this man and those who follow him need to get a greater perspective of life and drop some of the self pitying mentality. gay people and drag artists have more rights in ireland than many other oppressed people have in most countries in the world.

Oh I really hate that view of "put everything into perspective", it's such a ridiculous way of shutting other people's views and feelings out. I think it was a brilliant speech that eloquently put across exactly what homophobia is and gives a fair and balanced explanation of how it affects us all because we're brought up in a society that condones homophobia on so many levels. I think Panti Bliss is brave and the world needs brave people with brains in order to make changes happen.

[Tom4784]

Originally Posted by the truth

trust me I did understand every word. You dont understand where Im coming from at all you need to open your mind to the fact there are billions of people in worse situations who suffer infinitely worse discrimination than a drag queen at a crossing or a gay person in ireland. this man and those who follow him need to get a greater perspective of life and drop some of the self pitying mentality. gay people and drag artists have more rights in ireland than many other oppressed people have in most countries in the world.

You shouldn't use the excuse of 'oh suck it up, other places have it worse' to not do anything about it, discrimination and oppression of a drag queen at a crossing is still discrimination and oppression. We can't personally change the situations that arise in Russia or the Middle East or Africa but we can change things in our own country.

You are exactly the kind of person he was talking about.

[Ammi]

..I listened to this the other day..his speech was really powerful and I found it quite emotional when he talked about standing at the pedestrian crossing and how he felt that he somehow had to change himself to not 'stand out' when he had spent his life struggling to be himself and then was abused for being himself and he's right, because how oppressive it must feel (no matter how well meaning..) to have people constantly talking about what rights you should be allowed just because of your sexuality because those rights are rights as a human being and should be the same as every other human being..a really inspirational guy and a very powerful and emotional speech...

[sassysocks]

Originally Posted by Nedusa

I hate to say it...but reading your post above a few times I can't help wonder if you are actually proving this guy's point.

Your post comes over as slightly angry ...why ?? one might almost say very slightly homophobic...illustrating the very point Panti Bliss was trying to make...!!!!

Just as he appears to be against male/female equality - apparently sexism doesn't even exist.

[lostalex]

i purposefully haven't watched it yet, but it sounds like i will be impressed when i do.

I'm scared to watch it though, i don't like watching things that are specifically "gay"... it feels like i SHOULD watch it just because i'm gay... and i hate doing something just because i'm expected to because i'm gay/

I'm gonna watch it though, eventually.

[the truth]

Originally Posted by Zee

Oh I really hate that view of "put everything into perspective", it's such a ridiculous way of shutting other people's views and feelings out. I think it was a brilliant speech that eloquently put across exactly what homophobia is and gives a fair and balanced explanation of how it affects us all because we're brought up in a society that condones homophobia on so many levels. I think Panti Bliss is brave and the world needs brave people with brains in order to make changes happen.

to call everyone in the audience is reverse bigotry, even if the intention was good. he is pigeon holing everyone, when is preaching not to pigeon hole people. total hypocrisy and self pity. meanwhile 25000 people died of undaignosed blood clots due to negligent nursing in the UK in 2012. yet no one says a word and it barely makes news, clearly the death of 25000 innocents is more imposrtant than the fragile ego of a cross dresser at traffic lights. pretty much sums up the basket case that the Uk has become