Why county ’s first ever Pride march on August 24th matters so much

When I was growing up in Roscommon, I could never have imagined that we would one day have our very own LGBTQIA+ Pride march.

It’s still surreal to me that it’s finally happening: on August 24th at 2 p.m., the people of Roscommon will march through our county town with a giant rainbow flag to show that we love and support our LGBTQIA+ community.

This matters because myself and so many other LGBTQIA+ people grew up feeling unwelcome and sometimes unsafe in this county.

I was around 11 years old when I started to realise that I was gay. Looking back now, aged 30, it breaks my heart to remember just how devastating a revelation this was for me. I struggled to imagine any kind of a future for myself, and it felt like my world was collapsing in on itself.

This was made so much worse by all the homophobic bullying I endured while growing up in Roscommon. Even before I knew I was gay, homophobic abuse was a common fixture at school. Children would call each other ‘gay’ as an insult, and some even worse homophobic slurs — which I won’t repeat here — were also a common fixture of the schoolyard.

It wasn’t long before I became a target. Despite my best efforts to hide who I was, other children must have picked up on something about me that I believed was invisible.

The bullying worsened significantly when I went to secondary school. Other kids taunted and tormented myself and others with violent homophobic language because we were perceived to be “different”.

Social media was also a problem. I still remember the dread that coursed through my body when I logged onto one platform, aged around 13, and saw somebody had anonymously called me a homophobic slur on my profile. Even outside of school, the homophobic bullying was there. It almost always came from boys my own age. I would often go home from school “sick” or refuse to go in at all because it felt so unbearable.

Unsurprisingly, I became depressed. I internalised so much of the homophobia that was thrown at me that I started to hate who I was too. Eventually, I decided that I wouldn’t come out until I was old enough to leave Roscommon. It didn’t feel like a safe place for me to be gay.

Despite all of this, I know that I’m lucky. I had, and continue to have, an incredibly supportive family who love me unconditionally. When I did eventually come out, they made sure I knew I was loved not just regardless of my identity, but because of it too.

I moved to Dublin aged 18 for college, and I did a lot of healing in the years I spent away from Roscommon — but then the marriage equality referendum came along. The months leading up to the referendum were horrific. Every day, LGBTQIA+ people like myself would have to walk past posters telling us that we didn’t deserve the same rights as everybody else because of who we were. We were greeted with the same message every time we turned on the television or the radio, with commentators routinely debating our validity and our existence.

My feelings of frustration were further exacerbated when Roscommon became the only county in Ireland to vote against same-sex marriage. The sense of rejection was bewildering and upsetting.

After the marriage equality referendum, I don’t think I ever really thought I’d live here again — but sometimes, life takes you in funny directions, and I ended up living back here in 2018. Six years later, I’m still here, and I’m genuinely glad I am.

What I’ve discovered is that the people of this county are, for the most part, open-minded, kind, accepting people who believe that we all deserve equality and respect, no matter who we are or who we love.

Most of us want the best for our loved ones, for our neighbours, and for ourselves. As more LGBTQIA+ people feel emboldened to live their lives openly, our county can only become a safer, happy and more harmonious place for us all.

I believe that things can only keep getting better for LGBTQIA+ people in Roscommon, and this first ever Pride march is a crucial step on that journey.

That’s why I’m asking anyone who reads this to join us at Roscommon Pride on Saturday, August 24th. All are welcome, including those who don’t identify as LGBTQIA+. It’s so important that those who support equality come out and show their support on the day. There’s strength in numbers.

Together, we can build a better future for LGBTQIA+ youth and make sure that nobody has to go through the bullying and discrimination that those who went before them endured.

So, join us — and help us create a better, safer, more inclusive Roscommon for us all.

Roscommon Pride’s first ever march will take place in Roscommon town on Saturday, August 24th at 2 p.m. and will start at the Quad. There is a full line-up of events for the weekend, and tickets can be purchased at roscommonpride.ie.