The elevation of an openly gay person to the office of Taoiseach should be seen as a positive development in its own right.

OPINION:

The election of the first openly gay man to the most powerful political office in the state has evoked mixed reactions within the LGBT+ community. For some, it heralds an historic watershed and a stark rejection of the kind of institutional homophobia that has served as a barrier to generations of LGBT+ people from realising their full potential. Yet for others, Leo Varadkar is a right-wing ideologue whose politics couldn’t be more out of sync with a (LGBT+) movement defined by progressive activism and a broader solidarity with other traditionally marginalised groups.

No one anticipates an LGBT+ voter surge to Fine Gael simply on the basis that the party is now led by a gay man. We are a politically savvy community and the vast majority of us will continue to base our voting decisions on the policy offerings of the various political parties (note to politicians: the Burning Issues 2 report, published in 2016, confirms that a party or candidate’s stance on LGBT+ equality issues is extremely important in determining the voting choices of most LGBT+ people.)

And yet, the elevation of an openly LGBT+ person to the office of Taoiseach can, and indeed should be seen as a positive development in its own right, without it necessarily conferring any kind of endorsement on the policies of the individual concerned. As LGBT+ equality becomes increasingly accepted and mainstreamed within Irish society, we can forget just how recent those hard-fought for gains have been. Within Leo Varadkar’s lifetime, the state branded gay people as criminals. Now, just over 20 years after decriminalisation, that very same state is being led by a gay man. That alone says something profound about social change in Ireland.

According to the aforementioned Burning Issues 2, there exists a clear community desire for greater LGBT+ political visibility. An openly gay Taoiseach certainly makes a powerful statement in that respect, but we also need to see more LGBT+ people elected at all levels of government and from across the political spectrum. To that end, a cross-party LGBT+ parliamentary group has been mooted along the lines of the recently established all-party women’s Oireachtas group. It’s a positive initiative that deserves support from all the political parties.

As for Leo Varadkar, he is a good symbolic representation of a changing Ireland and that is important. But ultimately it will be his record in office that will determine his electoral support. And that is how it should be.