On July 27, my wife and I marched in the Dublin Pride Parade as volunteers with Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI). We moved to Ireland three weeks ago from Portland, Oregon, and this weekend was our first time being immersed in the queer community outside of the USA.
Before the walk started, the TENI team met up for breakfast at the Old Music Shop Restaurant. The main dining area, usually adorned with antique decorations, was draped in Pride flags and full of people in the queer community from all walks of life.
Walking into the dining area, I immediately felt completely at ease and comfortable in my own skin, something I haven’t felt since we left Portland. I chatted with my table mates, and the conversation quickly went from introductions to sharing stories of our individual queer journeys.
By the end of the breakfast, I had the number of a doctor for top surgery, information on where to find the best clothes and tips on how to job hunt in Dublin. I had also passed on where to find the best platform heels in Portland and where to find the best BBQ.
As we walked from the restaurant to the parade and the streets filled with more and more people, we all made sure to check in with each other while navigating the busy crowd. How quickly we’d gone from strangers to community.
I saw strangers in the crowd who looked and dressed similarly to friends I have back home. I watched as people sang and danced to the same songs. I saw families, not dissimilar from my own, cheering from the sidelines.
As I rounded the corner at the top of O’Connell Street, someone flashed their top surgery scars the second they saw the TENI sign. I thought of my own friends, who fought so hard for their own top surgeries.
Crossing the Talbot Memorial Bridge, I found myself getting emotional at the sheer amount of joy that surrounded us. I choked up at the sign that read “Immigrants are welcome here”, realising that it directly applied to me and my own journey to Ireland.
I watched as kids waved Pride flags with beaming smiles. I felt the weight of the moment I was in, holding the sign for an organisation that fights hard for trans rights in Ireland.
I felt my emotions pool and wiped tears from my eyes as I watched elder trans individuals clap and cheer for us and chant with us, and I realised that was exactly what we were marching for: a future where there are more trans elders. A world where trans and queer people can safely grow old and live their lives. A future of more queer and trans joy.
On the long walk from O’Connell Street to Merrion Square Lower, I found myself surrounded by family; I was home.
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The whole day was surreal. Walking through a sea of people, tens of thousands strong, holding a massive sign for TENI, I realised that no matter where you are in the world, as a queer person, you have family, you have a home. That is the queer community and its allies.
No matter how far you travel, as long as you find other queers, you will find family. And in Dublin, your family is over 100,000 people strong.
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