Rory O’Neill, the man behind Panti, and star of new film ‘The Queen of Ireland’, pays tribute to his parents in a frank interview.

The interview with O’Neill, along with director of The Queen of Ireland, Conor Horgan, appears in the new issue of GCN, sister magazine to The Outmost. In it, O’Neill opens up about the journey his parents have been on with him over the years.

“Your son turns out to be gay and brings all that to you, then your son ends up HIV positive and brings all that to you, then he’s a drag queen, then he becomes a well-known drag queen… if you’re an older couple down in Ballinrobe, County Mayo, that is just a lot to deal with.”

O’Neill says that Panti’s Noble Call speech at the Abbey in February 2014 was a turning point for his parents. “It’s been really lovely since then for them,” he says. “A lot of people write to my parents; other older people who have gay children or whatever, sometimes even gay people.

“So, it sort of changed the whole thing. Being Panti’s parents was, I’m sure, a pain in the ass most of the time, but now it’s become something that they are very proud of and it has brought lots of nice things to them. That’s been great for me to see too.

“It’s just nice to bring something nice to them after the years of all the bad stuff.”

The Queen of Ireland is in cinemas across Ireland from Friday, October 22.  Read our review

The full interview appears in the new issue of GCN, out October 23.

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