More Gay People

bikeman1

Hi guys,

Is it me, or are there more people that are gay? I'm in my 20s and living in Dublin. The amount of people I know who are gay or bisexual is staggering! In the last week 4 more people I know have either come out or I have heard that they are gay. Two of who I know really well and never would have suspected anything.

I would say out of the people I know, more than 10% are gay, and that comes to a lot of people! Its great that everyone is building the courage to come out.

So I was wondering, has anyone else experienced this or am I just part of a gay friendly haven in Dublin?

ongarboy

Well, being a gay person, you are more likely to know more gay people and come into contact with new gay people all the time then non gay people would (that's if you tend to socialise in gay circles or participate in gay friendly activities/clubs etc) so that would be understandable.

Furthermore, cities, which are generally more open and tolerant that rural areas will have a higher concentration of gay people. As Dublin is the only really big city (by international standards) in Ireland, the presence of gay people will probably be higher again as they may tend to move/migrate to the place with most opportunities (social, liberal as well as economic).

One thing I've noticed is the there is a higher % of non Irish on the gay scene then I would see in regular bars and clubs. Having met and spoken to Brazilian and Eastern European gay guys over the years, they say they like Dublin and are drawn to the generally liberal, accepting and non discriminatory environment that Dublin has that would be lacking back home.

But, yes I also agree there is more visibility, prominence etc in recent years but as said above, I think it's down to Dublin being a quite accepting and liberal city to live in as a gay person. I worked up to recently in a multinational bank, it has a very progressive LGBT policy, everyone who knew me knew I'm gay and I knew of about 10 others in my workplace. This type of increasingly common environment (while acknowledging maybe not every workplace is as proactive) encourages more gay visibility too.

bikeman1

Some very good points there. Its strange, I haven't been in a gay club in about 2 years. While I accept I know probably 2 people from the times when I did go to the dragon, but the lads and some lasses that I am talking about are from my area in North Dublin and are all Irish and in there late teens / 20s.

ongarboy

bikeman1 wrote: »

Some very good points there. Its strange, I haven't been in a gay club in about 2 years. While I accept I know probably 2 people from the times when I did go to the dragon, but the lads and some lasses that I am talking about are from my area in North Dublin and are all Irish and in there late teens / 20s.

Wow, that is significant and just highlights how comfortable young people are nowadays. The future looks bright!!

unfortunately

bikeman1 wrote: »

Some very good points there. Its strange, I haven't been in a gay club in about 2 years. While I accept I know probably 2 people from the times when I did go to the dragon, but the lads and some lasses that I am talking about are from my area in North Dublin and are all Irish and in there late teens / 20s.

Yes, early 20s is my age bracket and I know a lot of people come out at this age. I live in a smalltown in Donegal (away to college now, so ok) and the number of lads that I find out are gay is crazy (a lot still in the closet though).

All through my teens I was thinking how the hell I could meet a guy in a place like this but turns out I wasn't alone.

I think it is just the age bracket that people are generally comfortable and confident to come out.

nigmatron

Yes Ireland in general has been very tolerant the future is looking bright x

http://www.instagram.com/tazconway

Pai Mei

Well I'm going to college in Limerick and tbh I can't seem to find them anywhere :P I know there is a gay bar here but here but other than that walking into any other nite club you wouldn't know who was and who wasn't so it makes ya reluctant to go up to anyone and chat them up :L