Rory O’Neill, aka Panti, tells of hate mail and firebomb threats to Pantibar, but says Dublin isn’t Orlando

In an interview with Independent.ie he said: “We get hate mail often saying we’re going to hell, scribbled in funny handwriting and always anonymous.

“Occasionally the threats get more sinister, like firebomb threats, but we don’t take them too seriously.”

In the wake of the Orlando attack on Pulse nightclub, however, O’Neil said, “You can’t life your life worrying about threats”

“Even after Orlando there’s no point in being any more concerned. Dublin isn’t Orlando. Even if someone was disturbed enough to do something like that they wouldn’t have the same access to guns.”

Still Pantibar employs more security than most other clubs.

“We’re in the city centre, so in general we need a lot of security but we have a little more than if we weren’t a gay club,” O’Neil said.

A new report from the National LGBT Federation, Burning Issues 2, shows that hate crime legislation and bullying are at the forefront of the LGBT community’s mind now that marriage equality has been secured.

“Of course homophobia still exists,” O’Neill told Independent.ie. “There is always work to be done, in particular helping young people in the LGBT community.”

Image: (Pantibar/Wiki)