Following the burning of an LGBTQ+ Pride flag at Waterford City’s ‘The Mall’, and the subsequent removal of another Pride flag within the space of a week, ‘Straight Pride’ posters have been plastered across Waterford City in the most recent instalment in a series of homophobic attacks.
Attention was brought to the posters, which read “Straight Pride: it’s Natural, it’s Worked for Thousands of Years and you Can Make Babies”, when Michelle O’Byrne, member of @CATUireland, @UniteunionROI, and @TheWeekatWork, tweeted about the posters. O’Byrne tweeted: “Homophobic hate on show in Waterford City again tonight – covered the place in ‘straight pride’ posters. This follows the burning of a Pride flag and the cutting down of the replacement Pride flag in just over a week.”
Homophobic hate on show in Waterford City again tonight – covered the place in ‘straight pride’ posters. This follows the burning of a Pride flag and the cutting down of the replacement Pride flag in just over a week. #Pride pic.twitter.com/OMQdQBhhn0
— Michelle Byrne (@Michelle_Byrne_) June 16, 2021
Since then, several other LGBTQ+ people have taken to Twitter to highlight their disgust at the posters, and the other recent homophobic attacks in Waterford.
Bella Fitzpatrick, CEO of ShoutOut, a non-profit organisation that provides workshops on LGBTQ+ issues, tweeted in response to the posters: “LGBTQ+ Pride It’s natural, it’s worked for thousands of years and we can make better posters.”
LGBTQ+ Pride
It’s natural, it’s worked for thousands of years and we can make better posters https://t.co/osBflIrEdN— Bella (@Bellaknit) June 17, 2021
Dr Mary McAuliffe, Historian and Researcher at UCD Gender Studies, tweeted: “What is going on in Waterford?”
What is going on in Waterford? https://t.co/HsCxVChtS5
— Dr Mary McAuliffe (@MaryMcAuliffe4) June 17, 2021
LGBTQ+ Rights Campaigner Izzy Kamikaze also tweeted about the posters, articulating that: “Presumably somebody thinks that some of us are gay because we just haven’t seen enough advertising for heterosexuality.”
Presumably somebody thinks that some of us are gay because we just haven't seen enough advertising for heterosexuality. pic.twitter.com/vL7xZkwDcy
— 🏳️🌈 Just Izzy 🏳️⚧️🦕🦖 (@IzzyKamikaze) June 17, 2021
Kamikaze went on to joke that: “I was thinking of being gay, but then I saw an ad that said heterosexuality comes with free babies, so now it’s Straight Pride all the way for me!”
The posters are not only explicitly homophobic but also equate sexuality and its validity with the ability and desire to have children. They are just the latest instalment in a homophobic and transphobic series of attacks on the Queer community in Waterford.
© 2021 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
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