Tom Murphy was inspired to come out by those who fought for equal marriage in the same-sex marriage referendum last year

Tom Murphy took over the @Ireland Twitter account last week and used his time as its manager to come out as gay to the account’s 45,000 followers.

The @Ireland Twitter account is managed by a different guest editor each.

The Irish forty-six year old co-founder of Boards.ie took to Twitter to come out as gay after “hiding it for forty-five years”.

Murphy hoped to use his access to the account and its followers to highlight LGBT issues to @Ireland’s tens of thousands of followers.

Soooo.

I'm gay. >.>

— Ireland / Rohana – LeCheileDND (@ireland) October 21, 2016

Murphy came out to his parents and friends in 2015 following the same-sex marriage referendum in May 2015. He said that he was inspired to do so by those who fought for equal marriage.

Murphy, who lives in the UK, told The Huffington Post that “most people will be finding out today,” about his sexuality, “unless they were friends and family”.

Mental Health

By highlighting his sexuality Murphy, a sufferer of depression and anxiety, intended to use his access to @Ireland’s 45,000 followers to draw attention to mental health issues.

This is me. I'm saying loud and proud I've struggled with mental health.
I *struggle* with them.

Call me weak. pic.twitter.com/Dxi79MoamN

— Ireland / Rohana – LeCheileDND (@ireland) October 19, 2016

“Hiding my sexuality definitely fed depression. Coming out (last year) was part of a bigger fight back against it. But yeah a little anxious,” Murphy admitted via Twitter.

“When I was growing up, homosexuality was a crime. Imagine being fourteen, realising the ‘awful truth’ and it making you a ‘criminal’.”

“Imagine how scared I was. My fantasies made me ‘one of them’ but I didn’t look ‘gay’ or act ‘gay’ but if anyone found out, I dunno what? jail?”

Hiding my sexuality definitely fed depression.Coming out (last year) was part of a bigger fight back against it.But yeah a little anxious 🙂 https://t.co/VOA6mkWzN8

— Ireland / Rohana – LeCheileDND (@ireland) October 21, 2016

Coming out can have a significant positive effect on the mental health of gay men, with one study indicating that subjects’ wellbeing increases when they verbally disclose their sexuality, and this effect is particularly noticeable amongst gay white men.

When asked about how he felt about the responses to coming out via Twitter he said: “So far pretty good! I feel good about it, very cathartic too.”