Panti Calls Out Gemma O’Doherty For Trying To Sway Pink Vote

The Dublin drag queen and activist shared a message in which O'Doherty sought support in her bid for the presidential nomination.

Panti Calls Out Gemma O’Doherty For Trying To Sway Pink Vote

Panti Bliss took to Twitter this morning to call out Gemma O’Doherty, a right-wing journalist who put in a bid for this year’s presidential election after she shared a photo criticising a Christian Brothers’ school for celebrating LGBT+ inclusion.

Panti shared an email sent by O’Doherty in which she appeals to the Drag Queen for support in her campaign. The message reads:

“Hi Rory,

I hope you’re keeping well.

I hope you don’t mind me contacting you but I was wondering if I could have a word with you at some point if you had time.

You may have heard that I am seeking a nomination to the presidency.

One of the key messages of my campaign for a presidential nomination has been freedom of expression and speech. This is why as a journalist, I have throughout my career supported the rights of minorities in Ireland including transgender communities, gay families, Travellers, Muslims and victims of state injustice.

I admire your talent hugely and found your speech about our repressive society inspiring.

If you have a minute to spare, would you mind giving me a call?”

Panti shared the message with a screenshot of O’Doherty’s tweet about the school’s inclusion day, in which O’Doherty wrote:

“Catholic schools holding LGBT days for pupils. This is CBS Nenagh. The ‘Christian’ Brothers have quite a record to be fair. Parents who tolerate this only have themselves to blame. At least there appears to be a few Yellow Vests in the crowd having none of it.”

The image shows schoolchildren wearing the colours of the Pride flag.

Xmas Qcard MPU

In her tweet Panti said:

“When trying to get support for her failed presidential bid @gemmaod1 contacted me a number of times to impress upon me her continued support for the LGBT community. It was bullshit then and it’s bullshit now.”

https://twitter.com/gemmaod1/status/1071509960155193344

In response, O’Doherty said:

“I contacted Dr Panti because the hard left refused to support my nomination as I disagree with FG’s insane proposal to let children under 16 change gender without parental consent. I was ignored. I also believe people who defend paedophiles should not be giving talks in schools.”

Additionally, Panti called out O’Doherty for conflating LGBT+ people with paedophiles, urging the conspiracy theorist to delete her account:

Other social media users were quick to highlight the hypocrisy of O’Doherty’s rhetoric:

O’Doherty attempted to seek nomination for the Irish presidency earlier this year but garnered only one nomination from the Laois County Council. During this time, O’Doherty claimed that Veronica Guerin was killed by the state. Jimmy Guerin, the brother of the murdered journalist, called O’Doherty’s claims offensive and upsetting.

© 2018 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

Support GCN

GCN has been a vital, free-of-charge information service for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988.

During this global COVID pandemic, we like many other organisations have been impacted greatly in the way we can do business and produce. This means a temporary pause to our print publication and live events and so now more than ever we need your help to continue providing this community resource digitally.

GCN is a registered charity with a not-for-profit business model and we need your support. If you value having an independent LGBTQ+ media in Ireland, you can help from as little as €1.99 per month. Support Ireland’s free, independent LGBTQ+ media.

0 comments. Please sign in to comment.