Leo Varadkar comes out as gay

DeanAustin · 18-01-2015 08:30PM

cnoc wrote: »

Leo being gay is now the main headline in the media. There is much more happening in the country that deserve headlines.

Main headline on the rte site is about a five year old girl dying in a car accident. That's as it should be and as Varadker himself, I'm sure, would want.

cnoc · 18-01-2015 08:32PM

DeanAustin wrote: »

Main headline on the rte site is about a five year old girl dying in a car accident. That's as it should be and as Varadker himself, I'm sure, would want.

Leo was the main headline on the 6 o'clock RTE news.

DeanAustin · 18-01-2015 08:32PM

rolliepoley wrote: »

I'd say he did come out to family and friends alright.

Transparent my arse, luck him being gay or not, dose'nt or wont have any bearing on any refererndum, why come out now when he hand plenty of time to go public.
The man is using his position to gain something other than him just being gay, thats what i'm on about.

ono.

If you don't get the point then there is no point debating it with you.

I'd hate to live in a world where I'd view everything with such cynicism.

thror · 18-01-2015 08:33PM

Leo Varadkar cannot get married to his choice of partner in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot give blood in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot walk through the streets of his capital city innocently holdng hands with his partner.

And people are saying it's no big deal that he's coming out?
It might be no big deal to you, but it might be a big deal to your son or daughter when he or she is coming out in 20 years.

To those of you who say 'this isn't news - who cares' - you have no idea what it's like to be gay in a heteronormative world. Shame on you.

DeanAustin · 18-01-2015 08:34PM

cnoc wrote: »

Leo was the main headline on the 6 o'clock RTE news.

Maybe but he's now not the main headline on the same national broadcaster's webpage. Take a look if you don't believe me.

nokia69 · 18-01-2015 08:39PM

thror wrote: »

Leo Varadkar cannot walk through the streets of his capital city innocently holdng hands with his partner.

he can if he wants

Asarlai · 18-01-2015 08:40PM

Jessica Brave Fashion wrote: »

I don't care about his sexual orientation or any other politician... just do your f**king job Leo and fix the damn health system.

Me bad. I was skimming through the posts and thought you wrote "I don't care about his sexual orientation or any other politician... just polish your nob Leo and fix the damn health system."

Although that would be OK too.

thror · 18-01-2015 08:41PM

nokia69 wrote: »

he can if he wants

Thanks for the permission. Until you and your mates slag him and his partner off for being "queer" is it?

Anita Blow · 18-01-2015 08:42PM

nokia69 wrote: »

he can if he wants

I can tell you as a gay person, no he can't.
Some people today are tripping over themselves to show how liberal they are and how they 'don't care', completely forgetting the inequalities and obstacles that gay people still face today

nokia69 · 18-01-2015 08:45PM

thror wrote: »

Thanks for the permission. Until you and your mates slag him and his partner off for being "queer" is it?

i have never slagged off anyone for being gay

efb · 18-01-2015 08:49PM

This is why we can't have nice things

conorh91 · 18-01-2015 08:53PM

thror wrote: »

Leo Varadkar cannot get married to his choice of partner in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot give blood in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot walk through the streets of his capital city innocently holdng hands with his partner.

I was with you until your third point. Plenty of gay people walk down Grafton Street holding hands with their partners, be they of different sexes or otherwise.

I work in the city centre and I see it regularly. Who cares?

efb · 18-01-2015 08:54PM

conorh91 wrote: »

I was with you until your third point. Plenty of gay people walk down Grafton Street holding hands with their partners, be they of different sexes or otherwise.

I work in the city centre and I see it regularly. Who cares?

I can't even do it in London is not safe in Dublin

RoadhouseBlues · 18-01-2015 08:54PM

I think there is still a lot of prejudice out there towards gay people. It might be different in the cities, but just go to any small town and you will hear the snide comments at some stage. I'm straight myself but am fairly mild mannered and I have often been asked am I gay. But more times I have been accused. So people still think there is something wrong with it. I defend people for being gay, not because I'm trying to follow the herd, but because as someone mentioned in the thread already, there are people harming themselves and taking their own lives because of backward thinking that still exists in this country. The announcement today has no bearing on my life. But it might help someone somewhere feel that they are not alone, and there is nothing wrong with them. And they might sleep easier tonight because of it. That might have been worded a bit wonky so I hope it made sense.

thror · 18-01-2015 08:55PM

"Grafton Street" does not equal "the city centre"

Sobko · 18-01-2015 08:55PM

thror wrote: »

Leo Varadkar cannot get married to his choice of partner in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot give blood in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot walk through the streets of his capital city innocently holdng hands with his partner.

And people are saying it's no big deal that he's coming out?
It might be no big deal to you, but it might be a big deal to your son or daughter when he or she is coming out in 20 years.

To those of you who say 'this isn't news - who cares' - you have no idea what it's like to be gay in a heteronormative world. Shame on you.

And it's important to remind people of this. He is a politician why has it taken him so long to make it public? What has he been doing in his years in the Dail to improve things for he fellow gay community? How can he align himself with such a conservative party?

bb1234567 · 18-01-2015 08:56PM

To the people saying you knew he was gay, you didn't. Because he didn't say it. You might have thought he was camp, in your opinion, but you didn't know he was gay.

My name is URL · 18-01-2015 08:57PM

thror wrote: »

Leo Varadkar cannot get married to his choice of partner in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot give blood in Ireland.
Leo Varadkar cannot walk through the streets of his capital city innocently holdng hands with his partner.

I don't see why the bolded bit should be included in the post. It's not based on some homophobic notion or something that's exclusive to Ireland.. it's based on the scientific fact that gay men are far more likely to contract HIV and other STDs, and the most feasible way to protect the overall blood supply is to either disallow or put time restrictions on men who have sex with men donating.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/gender/msm/facts/

jonnny68 · 18-01-2015 08:58PM

who cares, this vile man is a minister for one of the worst governments in the history of the state, how many people are currently on hospital trolleys, how many people have died on hospital trolleys,how much austerity,cronyism,lies,deceit not to mention water charges have they imposed on Irish people, i couldn't care less if he announced he was transexual it changes nothing, he along with the rest of the parasites have to be removed from office as soon as possible.

Nomis21 · 18-01-2015 09:00PM

Banjo String wrote: »

I can't help feeling though, this revelation will seriously hinder him from ever taking the FG leadership reigns.

Quite the opposite I think. This will almost guarantee him the leadership.

Do you think Barack Obama would have been elected president if he was white?

bb1234567 · 18-01-2015 09:01PM

My name is URL wrote: »

I don't see why the bolded bit should be included in the post. It's not based on some homophobic notion or something that's exclusive to Ireland.. it's based on the scientific fact that gay men are far more likely to contract HIV and other STDs, and the most feasible way to protect the overall blood supply is to either disallow or put time restrictions on when men who have sex with men donate.

http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/risk/gender/msm/facts/

And the amount of people with HIV is so ridiculously small in Ireland that it makes it stupid. Why don't we ban black people from giving blood then? A person of sub saharan african descent, and particularly actual sub saharan africans are several times more likely to be HIV positive than a gay Irish man. But yeah that would be racist

Sobko · 18-01-2015 09:02PM

Nomis21 wrote: »

Quite the opposite I think. This will almost guarantee him the leadership.

Do you think Barack Obama would have been elected president if he was white?

The leadership of FG? If it were Labour maybe.

Retrovertigo · 18-01-2015 09:04PM

thror wrote: »

"Grafton Street" does not equal "the city centre"

Hate to break it to you buy it actually is.

thror · 18-01-2015 09:06PM

Retrovertigo wrote: »

Hate to break it to you buy it actually is.

I feel quite sorry for you that you think that.

bb1234567 · 18-01-2015 09:08PM

thror wrote: »

I feel quite sorry for you that you think that.

Where is the city centre then?

catallus · 18-01-2015 09:09PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

Where is the city centre then?

Supermacs, obviously.

floggg · 18-01-2015 09:10PM

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

The people who think it is as big deal to come out as gay are the problem.People being completely indifferent about his sexuality are what society should be striving for and making a big deal about it by having to make a public announcement (to people who have no business knowing anything about his personal life) is kind of admitting that its a big deal when it really isn't.

I don't really give a toss about his announcement or Donal Og Cusack,Valerie Mulcahy etc and thats the way it should be and it shouldn't and wouldn't be a big deal if a professional soccer player came out as gay only idiots would have a problem with it and they are best ignored.

Thats great, and I would love if you were right and it wasnt a big deal.

I can tell you though as somebody who has had to come out, I can tell you unfortunately that it is still a big deal, and an ordeal for those who go through it.

I can only imagine what it would be like for somebody who has to do it in the public eye.

thror · 18-01-2015 09:14PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

Where is the city centre then?

No gay couple (including me) would hold hands on O'Connell street, Henry Street, Abbey Street, Jervis Street, Parnell Street or along the quays - which I would all consider as city centre. You are of course entitled to your arbitrary definition of thr city centre as "Grafton Street" though.

My name is URL · 18-01-2015 09:17PM

bb1234567 wrote: »

And the amount of people with HIV is so ridiculously small in Ireland that it makes it stupid. Why don't we ban black people from giving blood then? A person of sub saharan african descent, and particularly actual sub saharan africans are several times more likely to be HIV positive than a gay Irish man. But yeah that would be racist

As far as I know there are restrictions on people from Africa donating blood. I'm not sure if they're simply not allowed to or if they have to have lived here for a certain amount of time and be tested beforehand.

token101 · 18-01-2015 09:18PM

Nomis21 wrote: »

Do you think Barack Obama would have been elected president if he was white?

Yes, and he would have achieved a HELL of a lot more because he would have had a far more cooperative Republican opposition.

Leo Varadkar comes out as gay

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