Grey Area | Pocketmags.com
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386
In this edition
FROM THE TEAM
Welcome, dear reader, to the Pride edition of GCN for 2024!
Leading the charge
Earlier this year, Stefano Pappalardo was appointed the new Manager of GCN. Having been with the organisation since 2017, he traces back through his journey so far and explains why he remains committed to serving the LGBTQ+ community.
The Next Chapter
The NXF and GCN are proud to announce Alice Linehan as the magazine’s new Editor.
OUR RAINBOW COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU
Before you know it, Pride month is upon us and we find ourselves in a sea of rainbow flags, events, celebrations, protests and awareness initiatives.
THE PRIDE POLITICAL DEBATE
The annual Pride Political Debate returns again this year!
PREPARE TO SHINE
As Dublin Pride gets ready to take over the Irish capital for its 2024 festival this June, find out what you can expect from the historic celebration.
INTERSEX IRELAND
We at Intersex Ireland were overjoyed in April of this year by the United Nations’ declaration at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council to combat discrimination, violence, and harmful practices against intersex persons.
RESILIENCE AND PRIDE: Our Stories, Our Strength
In 2024, Pride will mark the second anniversary of Queer Asian Pride Ireland (QAPI) since its formal announcement in 2022.
Forty & Fabulous
This year, Gay Project is commemorating a remarkable milestone: its 40th anniversary since its grassroots beginnings. This milestone is a time to reflect on the organisation’s journey, celebrate its achievements, and introduce two individuals poised to lead the charge into a new era of empowerment.
Dear Strangers...
While growing up in a small town can cause challenges when it comes to finding the confidence to live out and proud, Beth Healy shares how one stranger’s random act of kindness helped her accept her sexuality.
Digging up the past
Together with their podcast partner Oran Keaveny, Iarf hlaith O’Connell is rethinking his relationship with Irish queer history as their identity has evolved. While previously they felt represented by iconic lesbian figures, are the trans-masc heroes they discover as equally affirming?
Sites of Dreaming
Shia Conlon is an Irish writer and artist based in Helsinki whose work has been centred around marginalised voices and growing up in the landscape of workingclass Catholic Ireland. His current research is focused on non-linear time and how to use the power of archives, language and memory as tools for queer representation.
Modern Love?
A fascinating and exciting upcoming play looking at modern romance in the queer community is about to hit Dublin’s Project Arts Centre. Elliott Salmon sat down with its writer and star to get the lowdown on its inspiration.
Queer as bans
Beatrice Fanucci describes how for many queer people who don’t see themselves represented in mainstream media, fanfiction is a way to reclaim their rightful places in the story and write their queerness into their favourite characters.
Read with Pride this year
At Children’s Books Ireland we champion diverse and inclusive books that best reflect the world, with characters of all genders and sexualities, families of all kinds.
WHAT MAKES A PERFORM … ANCE SHINE?
As we gear up for Dublin Pride, performers across Ireland are putting their finishing touches on their sets. This year, the theme is ‘Shine’, so Sarah McKenna Barry caught up with a number of artists to determine what makes a Pride performance pop.
A Prom for all
Prom – or ‘the debs’ as it’s more commonly referred to in Ireland – means different things to different people. For some, it’s a chance to be crowned king or queen, for others, it’s a chance to get dressed up, and for most, it’s a last chance to party with school friends. But for many queer people, it wasn’t that simple, which makes the Bealtaine Festival’s queer prom all the more special. Han Tiernan gets the lowdown on one of the festival’s highpoints.
PRACTICING POLYAMORY
Involved in a polyamorous relationship herself, Nicole Lee clears up common misconceptions and breaks down the different types of relationships that fall under the poly umbrella. She invites readers to combat stigma and any feelings of shame
Proud and Prepared: A Community Collaboration
To ensure everyone has a healthy and safe Pride, LGBTQ+ organisations including Gay Health Network, Man2Man.ie , Gay Men's Health Service, Belong To, LINC and Dublin Pride have launched the Proud and Prepared initiative.
Bród!
An Queercal Comhrá is a group of LGBTQ+ Irish speakers who meet on the third Thursday of every month. The group is now gearing up for their annual Bród celebrationAn Bál Aiteach. Ciara Ní É shares the joy in celebrating queerness and the Irish language.
Soft Touch
Dónal Talbot is a photographer and artist based in Dublin, Ireland. His work is predominantly based in portraiture and uses its intimate qualities as a tool to showcase and empower the LGBTQ+ community through representation in art.
HOMOPHOBIA IN AFRICA : ITS LEGACY AND PREVALENCE
In an in-depth report, Daniel Anthony unveils the complexities of homophobia, pre-colonial attitudes towards same-sex relationships and drivers of homophobia in contemporary African societies
Stars Rising
Earlier this year, the ‘Being the Artist I Am…’ competition was launched in celebration of the life of Northern Irish trans artist, Jordan Howe, who passed away 10 years ago. Young trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people from all over the country entered, with James Hudson speaking to the winner and two shortlistees about their art and how creativity impacts their lives
Happy Pride from GCN!
To all the wonderful members of our rainbow family: you are loved and deserve to be celebrated.
A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS
Ireland’s national LGBTQ+ youth charity Belong To has been named the Grand Marshall of this year’s Dublin Pride Parade. Ahead of the march on June 29, Chris Rooke spoke to five young activists who will be at the forefront about the importance of community and how they hope to impact the future. All photos by Babs Daly.
IGRM: A Movement in Name and Deed
As the IGRM (Irish Gay Rights Movement) marks its 50th anniversary this year, Tonie Walsh looks back on the people that made it happen, alongside momentous and tumultuous times in the battle for equality.
WHAT TO FIGHT FOR THIS PRIDE SEASON
In 1974, a small group of people gathered in Dublin to protest the criminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. Nowadays, Amazon, Google, and Facebook claim to be allies, while LGBTQ+ people deal with unaccepting families, environments, and barriers to accessing healthcare. Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce discusses how Pride has become less radical while there has never been more at stake
REFUGEES WELCOME!
In 2022, Rainbow Refugees NI led the Belfast Pride Parade with the powerful message ‘Refugees Welcome’, proudly challenging a rising homophobic and racist anti-immigration rhetoric across Ireland and England. In conversation with Oisín Kenny, researcher and learning officer Chougher Maria Doughramajian speaks of the joy in hearing her first language in queer spaces
Queen Mother
A flurry of rose petals cascade over a bald head as the beat drops for the first chorus of Whitney Houston’s ‘So Emotional’. This is was the moment that changed the course of RuPaul’s Drag Race and made a global star of Sasha Velour. In advance of her performance at the Mother Pride Block Party, the iconic queen spoke to Ethan Moser about what to expect
Royal Welcome
Known for her eclectic style that blends hip-hop, electronica and punk rock influences, American rapper and DJ Princess Superstar has been a fixture of the international music scene for roughly three decades. Alice Linehan spoke to the artist ahead of her takeover of the Mother Pride Block Party stage on June 29, it promises a set that crowds won’t soon forget
Grey Area
Galway raised and now based between Cork and Berlin, Maclaine Black is a photographer, filmmaker and visual artist. Their work focuses mostly on portraiture and events in the techno scene; shot almost exclusively in black and white.
Welcome to your LGBTQ+ Centre
Photo by Anna Mello Allow us to reintroduce ourselves, Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre is coming out again this Pride!
THE GREEN IN THE RAINBOW
For many Irish people throughout the generations, leaving Ireland was inevitable. From the mid-19th century to now, emigration is a distinctively Irish trait. It is something many Irish people have in common, but for queer people, leaving Ireland for pastures new can be a vastly different experience. In advance of Pride, Brian Dillon checks in with queer groups making communities for those who have made new homes overseas.
FROM BAD TO WORSE
The past year has seen sharpening conflict and contradictions over trans healthcare in Ireland, with the government dropping any commitment to improve the healthcare situation, alongside growing protest and mobilisation over the issue. Fiadh Tubridy shares an urgent call to arms.
FROM THE SHADOWS TO THE SPOTLIGHT
The Irish Queer Archive at the National Library is Ireland’s most extensive collection of LGBTQ+ materials. As if the community needed reminding, Shaun Lavelle, the Library’s Communications and Marketing Executive, describes just why this essential archive matters. All images courtesy of the Christopher Robson Collection, the National Library of Ireland.
FILM AS COMMUNITY
As GAZE finalises its packed 2024 programme, festival director Greg Thorpe considers queer cinema in Dublin, discusses being at the helm of three festivals, and teases what lucky audiences can expect this year.
Access All Areas
As companies dust off their rainbow logos and products for another round of Rainbow Capitalism, it’s time to reflect on the true meaning of Pride. Pride started as a protest and while corporations want to pretend they’ve been supportive the whole time, they haven’t. Ollie Bell writes about how Pride is becoming more about making a profit to the detriment of isolating genuine radical activists, especially queer disabled activists.
WHY PALESTINIAN LIBERATION IS A QUEER ISSUE
“In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.” This familiar chant, which can be heard at the national marches for Palestine in Dublin, is a demonstration of solidarity.
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Grey Area

Galway raised and now based between Cork and Berlin, Maclaine Black is a photographer, filmmaker and visual artist. Their work focuses mostly on portraiture and events in the techno scene; shot almost exclusively in black and white.

Maclaine is inspired by the beauty of abstraction, skewing the verisimilitude of life. They have worked with some of the biggest DJs in Europe and gained widespread recognition for capturing the underground and illegal rave scene in Cork, seen particularly through their solo exhibition Faoi Thalamh, unveiled last year. Their work has also been showcased in exhibitions including Connection, Abstraction, Distortion, which was shown in Limerick and Dublin; Skin Deep, which explored the tattooed individual; and Faoi Choim na hOíche, a large-scale music and arts production developed as part of Cork Culture Night.

In early 2023, they unveiled a collaborative exhibition I Know The Sun Must Set in Galway, dealing with grief and the grieving process. The year prior, they self-published a body of work titled ANXN, a deeply personal project exploring their own mental health and identity.

Maclaine believes everyone has a story to tell and hopes to document these stories wherever and whenever they appear in our uncertain futures. Self-taught until now, they are moving to Berlin to study filmmaking from September.

Royal Welcome
Known for her eclectic style that blends hip-hop, electronica and punk rock influences, American rapper and DJ Princess Superstar has been a fixture of the international music scene for roughly three decades. Alice Linehan spoke to the artist ahead of her takeover of the Mother Pride Block Party stage on June 29, it promises a set that crowds won’t soon forget
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THE GREEN IN THE RAINBOW
For many Irish people throughout the generations, leaving Ireland was inevitable. From the mid-19th century to now, emigration is a distinctively Irish trait. It is something many Irish people have in common, but for queer people, leaving Ireland for pastures new can be a vastly different experience. In advance of Pride, Brian Dillon checks in with queer groups making communities for those who have made new homes overseas.
Go to Next Article >
THE GREEN IN THE RAINBOW
For many Irish people throughout the generations, leaving Ireland was inevitable. From the mid-19th century to now, emigration is a distinctively Irish trait. It is something many Irish people have in common, but for queer people, leaving Ireland for pastures new can be a vastly different experience. In advance of Pride, Brian Dillon checks in with queer groups making communities for those who have made new homes overseas.
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FROM THE TEAM
Welcome, dear reader, to the Pride edition of GCN for 2024!
Leading the charge
Earlier this year, Stefano Pappalardo was appointed the new Manager of GCN. Having been with the organisation since 2017, he traces back through his journey so far and explains why he remains committed to serving the LGBTQ+ community.
The Next Chapter
The NXF and GCN are proud to announce Alice Linehan as the magazine’s new Editor.
OUR RAINBOW COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU
Before you know it, Pride month is upon us and we find ourselves in a sea of rainbow flags, events, celebrations, protests and awareness initiatives.
THE PRIDE POLITICAL DEBATE
The annual Pride Political Debate returns again this year!
PREPARE TO SHINE
As Dublin Pride gets ready to take over the Irish capital for its 2024 festival this June, find out what you can expect from the historic celebration.
INTERSEX IRELAND
We at Intersex Ireland were overjoyed in April of this year by the United Nations’ declaration at the 55th session of the Human Rights Council to combat discrimination, violence, and harmful practices against intersex persons.
RESILIENCE AND PRIDE: Our Stories, Our Strength
In 2024, Pride will mark the second anniversary of Queer Asian Pride Ireland (QAPI) since its formal announcement in 2022.
Forty & Fabulous
This year, Gay Project is commemorating a remarkable milestone: its 40th anniversary since its grassroots beginnings. This milestone is a time to reflect on the organisation’s journey, celebrate its achievements, and introduce two individuals poised to lead the charge into a new era of empowerment.
Dear Strangers...
While growing up in a small town can cause challenges when it comes to finding the confidence to live out and proud, Beth Healy shares how one stranger’s random act of kindness helped her accept her sexuality.
Digging up the past
Together with their podcast partner Oran Keaveny, Iarf hlaith O’Connell is rethinking his relationship with Irish queer history as their identity has evolved. While previously they felt represented by iconic lesbian figures, are the trans-masc heroes they discover as equally affirming?
Sites of Dreaming
Shia Conlon is an Irish writer and artist based in Helsinki whose work has been centred around marginalised voices and growing up in the landscape of workingclass Catholic Ireland. His current research is focused on non-linear time and how to use the power of archives, language and memory as tools for queer representation.
Modern Love?
A fascinating and exciting upcoming play looking at modern romance in the queer community is about to hit Dublin’s Project Arts Centre. Elliott Salmon sat down with its writer and star to get the lowdown on its inspiration.
Queer as bans
Beatrice Fanucci describes how for many queer people who don’t see themselves represented in mainstream media, fanfiction is a way to reclaim their rightful places in the story and write their queerness into their favourite characters.
Read with Pride this year
At Children’s Books Ireland we champion diverse and inclusive books that best reflect the world, with characters of all genders and sexualities, families of all kinds.
WHAT MAKES A PERFORM … ANCE SHINE?
As we gear up for Dublin Pride, performers across Ireland are putting their finishing touches on their sets. This year, the theme is ‘Shine’, so Sarah McKenna Barry caught up with a number of artists to determine what makes a Pride performance pop.
A Prom for all
Prom – or ‘the debs’ as it’s more commonly referred to in Ireland – means different things to different people. For some, it’s a chance to be crowned king or queen, for others, it’s a chance to get dressed up, and for most, it’s a last chance to party with school friends. But for many queer people, it wasn’t that simple, which makes the Bealtaine Festival’s queer prom all the more special. Han Tiernan gets the lowdown on one of the festival’s highpoints.
PRACTICING POLYAMORY
Involved in a polyamorous relationship herself, Nicole Lee clears up common misconceptions and breaks down the different types of relationships that fall under the poly umbrella. She invites readers to combat stigma and any feelings of shame
Proud and Prepared: A Community Collaboration
To ensure everyone has a healthy and safe Pride, LGBTQ+ organisations including Gay Health Network, Man2Man.ie , Gay Men's Health Service, Belong To, LINC and Dublin Pride have launched the Proud and Prepared initiative.
Bród!
An Queercal Comhrá is a group of LGBTQ+ Irish speakers who meet on the third Thursday of every month. The group is now gearing up for their annual Bród celebrationAn Bál Aiteach. Ciara Ní É shares the joy in celebrating queerness and the Irish language.
Soft Touch
Dónal Talbot is a photographer and artist based in Dublin, Ireland. His work is predominantly based in portraiture and uses its intimate qualities as a tool to showcase and empower the LGBTQ+ community through representation in art.
HOMOPHOBIA IN AFRICA : ITS LEGACY AND PREVALENCE
In an in-depth report, Daniel Anthony unveils the complexities of homophobia, pre-colonial attitudes towards same-sex relationships and drivers of homophobia in contemporary African societies
Stars Rising
Earlier this year, the ‘Being the Artist I Am…’ competition was launched in celebration of the life of Northern Irish trans artist, Jordan Howe, who passed away 10 years ago. Young trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people from all over the country entered, with James Hudson speaking to the winner and two shortlistees about their art and how creativity impacts their lives
Happy Pride from GCN!
To all the wonderful members of our rainbow family: you are loved and deserve to be celebrated.
A NEW GENERATION OF ACTIVISTS
Ireland’s national LGBTQ+ youth charity Belong To has been named the Grand Marshall of this year’s Dublin Pride Parade. Ahead of the march on June 29, Chris Rooke spoke to five young activists who will be at the forefront about the importance of community and how they hope to impact the future. All photos by Babs Daly.
IGRM: A Movement in Name and Deed
As the IGRM (Irish Gay Rights Movement) marks its 50th anniversary this year, Tonie Walsh looks back on the people that made it happen, alongside momentous and tumultuous times in the battle for equality.
WHAT TO FIGHT FOR THIS PRIDE SEASON
In 1974, a small group of people gathered in Dublin to protest the criminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. Nowadays, Amazon, Google, and Facebook claim to be allies, while LGBTQ+ people deal with unaccepting families, environments, and barriers to accessing healthcare. Brídín Ní Fhearraigh-Joyce discusses how Pride has become less radical while there has never been more at stake
REFUGEES WELCOME!
In 2022, Rainbow Refugees NI led the Belfast Pride Parade with the powerful message ‘Refugees Welcome’, proudly challenging a rising homophobic and racist anti-immigration rhetoric across Ireland and England. In conversation with Oisín Kenny, researcher and learning officer Chougher Maria Doughramajian speaks of the joy in hearing her first language in queer spaces
Queen Mother
A flurry of rose petals cascade over a bald head as the beat drops for the first chorus of Whitney Houston’s ‘So Emotional’. This is was the moment that changed the course of RuPaul’s Drag Race and made a global star of Sasha Velour. In advance of her performance at the Mother Pride Block Party, the iconic queen spoke to Ethan Moser about what to expect
Royal Welcome
Known for her eclectic style that blends hip-hop, electronica and punk rock influences, American rapper and DJ Princess Superstar has been a fixture of the international music scene for roughly three decades. Alice Linehan spoke to the artist ahead of her takeover of the Mother Pride Block Party stage on June 29, it promises a set that crowds won’t soon forget
Grey Area
Galway raised and now based between Cork and Berlin, Maclaine Black is a photographer, filmmaker and visual artist. Their work focuses mostly on portraiture and events in the techno scene; shot almost exclusively in black and white.
Welcome to your LGBTQ+ Centre
Photo by Anna Mello Allow us to reintroduce ourselves, Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre is coming out again this Pride!
THE GREEN IN THE RAINBOW
For many Irish people throughout the generations, leaving Ireland was inevitable. From the mid-19th century to now, emigration is a distinctively Irish trait. It is something many Irish people have in common, but for queer people, leaving Ireland for pastures new can be a vastly different experience. In advance of Pride, Brian Dillon checks in with queer groups making communities for those who have made new homes overseas.
FROM BAD TO WORSE
The past year has seen sharpening conflict and contradictions over trans healthcare in Ireland, with the government dropping any commitment to improve the healthcare situation, alongside growing protest and mobilisation over the issue. Fiadh Tubridy shares an urgent call to arms.
FROM THE SHADOWS TO THE SPOTLIGHT
The Irish Queer Archive at the National Library is Ireland’s most extensive collection of LGBTQ+ materials. As if the community needed reminding, Shaun Lavelle, the Library’s Communications and Marketing Executive, describes just why this essential archive matters. All images courtesy of the Christopher Robson Collection, the National Library of Ireland.
FILM AS COMMUNITY
As GAZE finalises its packed 2024 programme, festival director Greg Thorpe considers queer cinema in Dublin, discusses being at the helm of three festivals, and teases what lucky audiences can expect this year.
Access All Areas
As companies dust off their rainbow logos and products for another round of Rainbow Capitalism, it’s time to reflect on the true meaning of Pride. Pride started as a protest and while corporations want to pretend they’ve been supportive the whole time, they haven’t. Ollie Bell writes about how Pride is becoming more about making a profit to the detriment of isolating genuine radical activists, especially queer disabled activists.
WHY PALESTINIAN LIBERATION IS A QUEER ISSUE
“In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.” This familiar chant, which can be heard at the national marches for Palestine in Dublin, is a demonstration of solidarity.
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