Pride and Progress in Ireland

Remembering the powerful 2014 speech by the country's most famous drag queen

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Ten years ago, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage. The decision came through a nationwide popular vote: 62 percent of the country voted in favor of marriage equality, a decisive victory. The referendum prompted numerous other countries to make similar changes. Just two years later, Leo Varadkar was elected the first openly gay Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland.

Before the referendum, in January 2014, Panti Bliss, one of Ireland’s most famous drag queens, had appeared on the Saturday Night Show—a featured program on RTÉ television, Ireland’s national broadcaster. After the performance, Panti, as her alter-ego Rory O’Neill, appeared in conversation with the show’s host and began to discuss the challenges of homophobia in Ireland. During the interview, O’Neill named two columnists and a conservative think tank as examples of homophobic forces in the public realm. Almost immediately, RTÉ and O’Neill faced accusations of defamation, and RTÉ immediately backpedaled, first issuing an apology and later offering payments in an effort to appease those offended.

But the backlash was swift, as politicians, pundits and people on the street took issue with the payment and RTÉ’s cowardice. Panti Bliss became a household name and some proclaimed themselves “Team Panti.”

Soon after, Ireland’s national theater invited O’Neill to come address the subject on stage after a production, a tradition called the “Noble Call.” There Panti Bliss appeared and began an oration that captivated the audience and soon garnered hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. The dress Panti wore while giving the speech is now displayed in the National Museum of Ireland.

Eleven years later, the speech stands as a striking example of courage in speaking truth to power, and the unpredictable paths of progress.

Below is an excerpt from the speech—but it’s worth watching in its entirety.

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Excerpt from Panti Bliss’ Noble Call at the Abbey Theatre, Delivered February 1, 2014

Have you ever gone into your favourite neighbourhood café with the paper that you buy every day, and you open it up and inside is a 500-word opinion written by a nice middle-class woman, the kind of woman who probably gives to charity, the kind of woman that you would be happy to leave your children with. And she is arguing so reasonably about whether you should be treated less than everybody else, arguing that you should be given fewer rights than everybody else. And when the woman at the next table gets up and excuses herself to squeeze by you with a smile you wonder, "Does she think that about me too?"