Fi Connors (right) lives between Kentucky and Texas with her partner Tina (left).

Why did you move away, Fi?

I think that everyone who voluntarily moves country, it’s always for work or love. For me, my partner and I had been together long distance for a million years, and it was time for one of us to finally move. I drew the short straw (or was it the long one?).

What do you miss about Ireland?

I am living in the Southern states of the US for the last four years… Think – Tenessee Williams humid, Mint Juleps (virgin) on the lawn, and the like, so what I miss most about Ireland as I think about it here, is a good stiff cold breeze- like the one that you get walking over the two lakes, hike in Glendalough, or getting out of the 40 foot salty and shivering… the bracing air, glorious nature and the absence of people in nature, is what I miss most acutely.

What do you not miss?

I don’t miss pining for my partner. Missing key events without her; Christmases, christenings. The daily banal and magnificent connection of being in the same place at the same time. It’s incredible to think that after 18 years together, we’ve only lived under this same roof these past two years (I lived in Dublin these past 15, she lived in Houston Texas).

I fall out of bed, and read the Irish Times online to see what’s going on, and then I see what’s happening in the New York Times. Ireland feels very close, (thank you Facetime and Skype ) and at the exact same time a million miles away. There is tough stuff happening in Ireland, of course, there is tough stuff happening here. Be grateful Ireland is so educated and wonderful. Makes the tough stuff easier to assimilate.

What do you love about where you live now?

Truthfully, it’s taken me a while to find my feet here. I was so used to the cosy life I had created for myself in Dublin that it was jarring for a while to integrate the huge geographical move. And at the same time, it was the very best thing I could have ever done for myself. In hindsight, I realise I had become complacent about the fabulousness of my simple life in Dublin, taken so much connection for granted. Nothing like an identity shake-up to get you on your toes! The US is a completely different world – amazing and incredible and powerhouse unpredictable. The difference in the energy here, on a daily basis, is intensely palpable. Think – chamomile tea = Ireland, quadruple espresso = US.

What I love here now is that I am getting to find my NEW identity without all the supports that constantly shape us; family, long term friends, familiarity. I’m getting to experience a whole new version of the exact same Fi. 

Rate your queer scene.

The queer scene is really the same the world over, I mean any queer scene I’ve connected to, from Buenos Aires to Milan to New York- it’s all really familiar. Fun people wanting to have a laugh and/or hook up. The Houston gay scene is HOPPING of course. The last big lesbian bar in the city, Chances, closed a few years back. We now pop into Sue Ellens (not kidding) gay girls club in Dallas Texas when we are visiting. 

God now that I think of it, maybe I’ve just become gay “settled”…shriek…better head to my barber tout suite and get my weekend ON.

Love to everyone in Ireland, Fi.

Look out for more Postcards From Home featuring postcards from the Irish LGBT+ community abroad and from new members to our queer family who have made a new home in Ireland inside the current issue of GCN.