Castleblayney and Monaghan town to host Pride events
Róisín McManus
Two Pride events will be taking place in Co Monaghan this July, following the success of last year’s inaugural Pride event in Castleblayney.
Organised by Outcomers; a Dundalk-based LGBTQ+ support service for the North East, Castleblayney Family LGBT+ Pride Weekend will run from Saturday July 18 - Sunday July 19, and Monaghan town’s first ever LGBT+ Family Pride Day will take place on Saturday, July 25.
The events are also being supported by Monaghan County Council and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.
From 2-6pm on Sunday, July 19, Castleblayney’s Family Pride Day will turn Hope Castle and the grounds of Lake Muckno into a hub of music, circus, food and community, free for all ages. A separate free ‘Meet the T’ event featuring members of the local trans community will run from 7-9pm in the Gatelodge on Friday, July 17, and there will be a Sip’n’Paint event for those aged 18 and above in Crafty Coffee from 6-8pm on Saturday, July 18, at a cost of €10 a head.
Monaghan Town’s first LGBT+ Family Pride Day will take place from 2-6pm at Monaghan Courthouse with free admission and a mix of circus performers, face painting and special guests including local singers and musicians.
Talk
Outcomers will also be supporting a talk by Dr Tom Hulme on Ulster’s LGBT+ History, taking place in Clones Library today (Wednesday), July 1, at 7pm.
Bernie Quinn, Social Inclusion Officer with Outcomers, told The Anglo-Celt that the idea for Castleblayney’s first Pride came following the provision of an outreach worker in the south Monaghan town in recent years.
Last year’s event, which was held outside the Royal Jade restaurant on the main street, was well attended by around 250-300 people, and gave them a “great boost” to go ahead and organise another celebration this year.
“It turned out to be an absolutely super event,” Bernie reflects.
“Leading up to it, there was a little bit of concern about some posts on social media but nothing more than, I suppose, what we’ve grown to expect in the LGBT community in the last number of years since, really the rise of the far right.
“We do find ourselves in the firing line for a lot of negativity and nasty comments so there were a few of those but actually nothing that said we wouldn’t do it.”
This year marks Outcomers 20th year hosting Pride events and the format has stayed much the same since then when family days were initially organised for young gay people to bring their parents to meet the group.
“Twenty years ago when we started doing Pride, there weren’t too many people to walk in a parade with you,” Bernie explains.
Following a launch event for last year’s Pride in Castleblayney, a number of Monaghan county councillors expressed an interest in bringing a similar event to Monaghan town.
Hugely important
Regional Pride celebrations, Bernie feels, are very important as LGBTQ+ people shouldn’t have to move away from home to find a sense of belonging.
“I believe LGBT people have the right to grow, work and live and have a full life in the towns they were born in,” Bernie says.
“People are coming out younger and younger now, and I think that they should be able to see themselves represented in their communities,” she continues.
“I think that’s hugely important for older people who have lived their life in Monaghan Town or Castleblayney and have never been able to come out and never been able to tell anybody who they are and have never seen their life represented anywhere in their community.”
Outcomers are encouraging people to bring along family and friends from far and wide to Monaghan’s upcoming Pride events.
“You don’t have to know somebody that’s gay, you don’t have to be gay. We would just love to see people come along to celebrate people in their town who are LGBT and let them see that they’re accepted and embraced as part of the community.”