The case was finally heard in April 1988, and the following October the Court found by a vote of eight to six that Irish law violated Article 8 of the Convention on Human Rights. The onus was then on the Irish parliament to pass corrective legislation, a process that dragged on for another five years. It was not until June 30, 1993 that homosexuality was decriminalized. The age of consent for all people was set at seventeen. David Norris, by then a senator, had led the campaign, and Mary Robinson as President of Ireland signed the bill into law.

Sponsor Message.

The 1990s

By coincidence the ratification of the legislation came just days before Dublin's annual pride march, which consequently was a particularly jubilant event in 1993. Journalist Mary Holland wrote, "one would need a heart of stone not to have been moved by the great waves of happiness that surged through the centre of Dublin last Saturday afternoon as Irish gays and lesbians took to the streets. They threw pink carnations into the crowd, walked hand in hand and chanted 'We're here, we're queer, we're legal.'"

Another victory was scored that October when the parliament passed a law forbidding discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

Current Challenges and Opportunities

As important as these developments were, the challenge of overcoming long-embedded homophobic attitudes is still daunting. Change has been gradual and is far from complete. Violence against gay men and lesbians remains a problem, and, particularly in conservative rural areas, the lack of a supportive network can cause lesbians and gay men to feel isolated and alone. One result is a tragically high suicide rate, especially among young men.

Larger cities like Dublin and Cork offer a somewhat more gay-friendly environment. The social scene is still rather limited, but the glbtq community now has more options and a greater visibility than ever before.

Several cities host annual pride parades. Dublin's, which drew only about 400 people when it began in 1992, has grown into a two-week festival. In 2003 approximately 6,000 glbtq people marched proudly through the streets of the capital.

Technology has brought new opportunities for communication for Irish glbtq people, with chat rooms and on-line dating services. Television programs, some produced in Ireland and others imported, feature gay men and lesbians in increasing numbers.

At present, issues of parental rights and domestic partnership are of prime concern to the glbtq community in Ireland. Gay men and lesbians are now able to foster children but do not yet have the right to adopt them.

Because there is currently no legal recognition of unmarried partners, same-sex couples are denied tax and inheritance benefits enjoyed by married couples. Neither can gay men and lesbians name their partners as their next-of-kin or guardians nor obtain permission for a partner from outside the European Union to immigrate to Ireland. Senator David Norris is sponsoring a Domestic Partnership Bill to end these discriminatory practices.

It is to be hoped that the positive steps taken in recent times will continue and that the culture of Ireland will grow more accepting of all citizens.

Although there are frequently social and legal barriers to overcome, adoption is an important way in which lesbian and gay male couples create families.

Compulsory heterosexuality is the assumption that women and men are innately attracted to each other emotionally and sexually and that heterosexuality is universal, a view that leads to an institutional inequality of power that privileges heterosexual males and denigrates women, especially lesbians.

"Domestic partnership" is the generic term for a variety of forms of legal and institutional recognition of same-sex couples that fall short of same-sex marriage.

Homophobia was originally defined as a "dread of being in close quarters with homosexuals," but it is now sometimes used to describe any form of anti-gay bias.

Those countries that allow the immigration of glbtq persons based on persecution in their home countries often raise difficulties or apply the existing laws inequitably, especially in the case of glbtq couples who apply for entry as domestic partners.

Both parades and marches have served to render the glbtq community visible; whereas marches typically attempt to effect political change, parades and pride events affirm identity and community.

Historically, the Roman Catholic Church may be the institution most responsible for the suffering of individuals involved in same-sex sexual relationships.

The United Kingdom has a rich and vibrant legacy of queer cultural expression despite a long history of severe legal sanctions against male-male sexual acts and other manifestations of sexual and gender deviance.

Known as the Ladies of Llangollen, an enduring emblem of female romantic friendship, Butler and Ponsonby eloped to Wales where they lived together for over fifty years and entertained several important writers.

Irish patriot Roger Casement was executed by the British, who also used his diaries to expose him as a homosexual.

The European Commission on Human Rights was the first international human rights organization to condemn homophobia; the European Court of Human Rights, which replaced the Commission, has also helped enforce glbtq rights.

The Labouchère Amendment criminalized all sexual contact between men in Great Britain in 1885 and remained on the books until 1967.

Literary scholar and senator, David Norris is Ireland's most effective advocate of glbtq rights.

The popular and critically acclaimed Irish playwright and novelist Kate O'Brien includes lesbian characters and relationships in some of her novels.

Admired through the ages as one of the greatest lyric poets, the ancient Greek writer Sappho is today esteemed by lesbians around the world as the archetypal lesbian and their symbolic mother.

The confrontations between police and demonstrators at the Stonewall Inn in New York City the weekend of June 27-29, 1969 mark the beginning of the modern glbtq movement for equal rights.

In addition to the general risk factors for suicide, such as depression and substance abuse, glbtq people also face stressors such as discrimination and harassment, which put them at an increased risk for suicidal behavior.

Oscar Wilde is important both as an accomplished writer and as a symbolic figure who exemplified a way of being homosexual at a pivotal moment in the emergence of gay consciousness.