Drag Queen Gives Impassioned Speech About Homophobia

Panti Bliss tells how it feels to be subject to prejudice because of one’s sexuality on a daily basis.

What had preceded the speech...

On Jan. 11, O’Neill went on a late-night Saturday talk show on Ireland’s state-owned RTE network, and stumbled into a freedom-of-speech furore.

When asked for his assessment of anti-gay attitudes in Ireland, O’Neill said a few Irish newspaper columnists were “horrible and mean about gays.” The host asked him to name names. He identified Irish Times columnists John Waters and Breda O’Brien and a small Catholic lobbying group called the Iona Institute.

O’Neill says he thought he was stating the obvious, since all are leading voices against gay marriage. But Waters, O’Brien and four Iona officials threatened to sue RTE for defamation, arguing they had been unfairly branded as haters of homosexuals.

RTE quickly issued an apology and paid 85,000 euros in damages, mostly to Waters, a board member of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland overseeing RTE. It said fighting the lawsuit would have cost far more. - Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press

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