After Iris Robinson’s controversial comments about homosexuality, what is it really like being gay in Northern Ireland? Ahead of Gay Pride week, which starts tomorrow, Jane Hardy and Kerry McKittrick talk to some of the people who are out and about

‘That poor lady, Iris Robinson, has a view. We have our lives’

Robert McCready (36) is better known in Belfast as the notorious drag queen Titti Von Tramp, hostess of various gay club nights throughout the city. He says:

Pride is a celebration for me. It’s a time for the gay community to unite and celebrate their sexuality in such a way that they don't have to be afraid. I'm really looking forward to the Pride march. It's such a carnival atmosphere, the biggest parade in Northern Ireland outside of the Twelfth of July marches, and we get support from so many people.

You can definitely see how times have changed and how tolerance has increased. I went to my first Pride when I was 17, it was on an open-topped double decker bus as we were too scared to actually march. Nowadays literally thousands show up.

What I hope is that this year's march doesn't get too politicised. That poor lady (Iris Robinson) has her views and we have our lives. Pride is about us, it shouldn't be about her.

The scene in Belfast has got so much better over the years. There are more pubs and clubs, more sexual health organisations. There's help for young people in the country who don't live in Belfast and don't get to be with lots of like-minded people. The real issues now are human rights issues. As the world gets smaller, we can see the struggles that gay people in other countries have, and we should be focusing on those, not battling with people like Iris Robinson over here.

I spent seven years in England and moved back here eight years ago. Back then, the differences in the two places were huge, but now Northern Ireland has caught up with England. The scene over here hasn't become overly commercial yet — big companies aren't chasing the pink pound. There's a real sense of community and organisations really work with each other.

Over the next week my life is just going to be an explosion of gayness. One of the things I'm looking forward to is a documentary that's being shown in the Black Box on the night of the launch.

It goes behind the scenes of Belfast Pride, and I'm really looking forward to the unsung heroes getting a bit of acknowledgement. Everyone knows about me and the other drag queens, but for the volunteers and organisers, it's good to put faces to names.”

‘It’s tough growing up gay in a small town’

Sean Maxwell (27) plays in the second row of the Ulster Titans, Belfast’s gay-friendly rugby team, and lives in the city. He says: "The Titans have two straight members — the rest are gay or sexuality not disclosed. We’re going to be at the parade on Saturday in full kit, with supporters. Interest has grown since we started last year, and when we won the Bingham Shield in June — the gay rugby teams’ international world cup — it exploded."

To me personally, Gay Pride means celebrating the diversity of our community, with gay people not put down as behaving in a certain way. We all have the same goals, we’re just the same. I have been involved with Pride since 2005. Before, I just didn’t realise the need and the first time I was amazed at how much it meant to the people there. So every year I’m there, lending support.

It was difficult being gay in Armagh, the country town where I grew up.

It wasn’t the norm. I realised I was gay when I was 19, but didn’t come out until I was 21. I’d been seeing a bloke for two years, and when I finished studying at Queen’s University, Belfast, I knew it had to be done. I didn’t want any secrets and had to tell my parents and friends.

I went home one weekend, sat mum down and told her. She cried a little, then went to bed.

The next day we had a chat, and she told my sisters and brother. She also told my dad, as I was a bit scared.

But he was great, and said that it was my life to live.

There’s definitely been a change in Northern Ireland, with people more out and proud of themselves, and a good club scene.

The Kremlin, for example, is one of the best gay clubs in the UK. People now come over from the mainland for weekends. Belfast is a good city to be in.

Iris Robinson is entitled to her opinions, whether she quotes the Bible or not, but what she says as a representative of Parliament is different. I don’t think many people share her views.

The rugby community has welcomed us. We played Derry City team last autumn and we’d heard some scare stories about them. They killed us on the field but off it were gentlemen through and through.”

‘We met at Pride and will soon be married’

Michael Bell (36) is publisher of FATE magazine, lives in Belfast and is marrying his partner, Tim, next year. He says:

I’ll be marching on Saturday and have marched every year since I came back from London six years ago. I think Gay Pride is a time when the whole gay community unites to pay respects to those who brought the cause on. We’re lucky now that, with the exception of a few bigots, gayness is more accepted, and this is due to the people in the late 1970s and early 80s who campaigned when it wasn’t so easy to live a gay life.

Saturday will be a day when you can hold your partner’s hand, which is something you still can’t easily do. Funnily, one part of me thinks Gay Pride is a great idea, the other part of me thinks it has had its day. The important thing is to reach equality, and hopefully one day we shouldn’t need a Gay Pride. I knew from about the age of 11 that I was gay. For a long time I tried to fight it and it’s one of the reasons I moved away from Northern Ireland. Twenty years ago, it was totally taboo and you felt an outcast. Gayness was never discussed. People would just have said: “You’re a pervert.”

North Belfast at the time of the Troubles was a very heterosexual place to grow up and I was bullied at school.

I couldn’t live the life I wanted to live. But when I returned to Belfast, I was astonished at the change.

Northern Ireland has moved on massively in terms of having a gay scene. When I have friends over from Paris and London, they can’t believe it’s so prevalent.

The reason there remains some anti-gay feeling is partly due to religion, but there’s also a small-mindedness, a fear factor and the fact we’re a very traditional society, with the highest number of people getting married and having children early, which is fine, too.

Being gay was never an issue for me. But if I was 17 and didn’t live in the city, it would be a great thing at Pride for me to see like-minded people, particularly with all the destructive comments made recently. I’m loath to give her more publicity but all I want to say about Mrs Robinson is that she’s an idiot and intelligent people take no notice of her.

I have to say Gay Pride has been very good to me. Two Prides ago, at a discussion forum in the Black Box, I met my partner, Tim, and we’re getting married next year.”

‘It’s easier for young ones to come out today’

Ruth McCarthy (37) is originally from Limerick and lives in Belfast. She is co-ordinator of Outburst, the Queer Arts Festival in Northern Ireland.

She says: "I think for me Pride is the celebration of visibility. Things have changed because we're showing that anyone can be gay, your neighbour, teacher or doctor. There's been a huge change in the scene in Belfast over the years.

When I first arrived there were a couple of voluntary organisations, with no money coming in and one bar. Now, there are plenty of places to go, lots of bars and clubs.

I think what the scene needs today is diversity. Gay people can go anywhere straight people can, but we need places for people to meet like-minded people that aren't necessarily centred around alcohol.

That's where projects like Outburst have come from. It's about creativity and telling our stories; a means of support for when you're coming out, which is really important.

We spent so many years campaigning for basic human rights. Now that we have those, we need to focus on special needs and minorities within the community.

For instance, older gay people may not have family support but still need to be cared for. There are also issues such as young people coming out and being bullied in schools. We can now focus on questions like that rather than worrying about losing our jobs because we're gay.

I marched in the very first Belfast Pride in about 1990, and there were only about 30 of us, it was exhilarating but terrifying at the same time.

I get emotional to see it now, we've come so far. You see the young people in the parade and how it's easier for them to come out now. I was 15 when I came out in Limerick, where attitudes were much the same as in Belfast.

The media was negative, stereotypes were negative. You find strength in other gay people and with them you can feel good about who you are. I think that because gay people have to fight for who they are, it makes them very strong inside.

I'm looking forward to Pride this year because Iris Robinson has stirred up a lot of emotions.

Gay people who weren't very active or politicised are now standing up and getting involved. Straight people are too.

This year will be a celebration by both gay and straight people, declaring that we are no longer the kind of society that will tolerate hate crimes through language.”

For more information on Gay Pride week go to www.belfastpride.com

EVENT GUIDE

Queerspace Under Exposed Photo exhibition, Central Library runs until August 31

Belfast Pride: My Pride exhibition Black Box runs Pride Week

Pride Launch Black Box, July 26 July 7.30pm

A night with ... Outburst! Black Box, July 26, after launch

Out'n'About Lagan Valley Pride Walk Mynt/Malone House, July 27, 12pm/12.30pm

The Gathering, Pride Prayer Service White Box, July 28, 7.30pm

Pride Recruitment Evening Black Box, July 27, 8pm

Belfast Pride, Parade Workshop|Black Box, July 28, 7pm

Pride Talks Back, Black Box, July 29, 7.30pm

Pride Film Showing Stonewall, Black Box, July 29, 9pm

NIGRA Meet the Police Black Box, July 30, 6.30pm

Queerspace Presents — Life After Queens Black Box, July 30, 9pm, £6

Pride Jumble Sale Little Donegall Street, July 26, 11am-4pm

Big Gay Outing, Picnic & Games Pride Film Showing, Get Real Black Box, July 31, 7pm

Lesbian Line: Wine Women and Words Black Box, July 31, 8.30pm, late (women only)

The Magic of Musicals Black Box, July 31, 10pm

Rainbow Project: Apollo Group Safe Sex Night Outside Sauna, Donegall Lane, July 31, 8pm (men only)

Men of the North: Black Leather Night Black Box, August 1, 10pm £6 (men only)

Annual Pride March Custom House Square, August 2, 12pm

Party in the Square Custom House Square August 2, 12pm -7.30pm, Men of the North — Pride Party, Black Box August 2 10pm £6 (men only)

Rainbow Project: Safe Sex Night Outside Sauna , August 3, 4pm (men only)