In previous years, the parade has ended with an event that included political speeches from various representative groups within the gay community. This year, LGBT Noise and Marriage Equality, two of the largest queer campaigning groups have been told that they will not be speaking from the stage.
The organisers of Dublin Pride, who I have no doubt are committed, passionate and well-meaning people, who give large amounts of time and effort voluntarily to the event, say that they have taken this decision in response to feedback on last year's event. Apparently, last year, people stated that the event could be improved by cutting down on the speeches from the stage. I suppose the people wanted less politics and more Brian Kennedy.
And it's undeniable that politics is not cool. Irish people don't listen to speeches any more. We don't join trade unions, political parties or action groups. We don't protest. We don't march. Politics is not cool.
I was at last year's Pride. The part with the speeches did drag on. But it doesn't matter. Politics is important. We deserve the boring speeches because we need to be political.
We need politics. Homophobia and transphobia are real and they affect members of the LGBT community every day. There are still too frequent reports of public violence and abuse against LGBT people. Dublin is still not a city where we can feel comfortable being publicly queer. Holding hands with your partner, kissing them goodbye, dressing as you please are all risky activities on the streets of Dublin. They are safe at Pride. What will make it safe the other 364 days of the year? Public engagement, community work, community activism, education. In one word: politics.
We need politics. The jobs of LGBT people working in schools, hospitals and other institutions protected under the religious ethos provisions of the Employment Equality Act could be threatened until the law is changed. How do we change the law? Politics.
We need politics. Between 2005 and 2012, there was a fourfold increase in the number of gay and bisexual men, aged between 25 and 34, who were diagnosed with HIV. Is there any more obvious display of a discourse within the LGBT community that isn't working than that the public health message is failing? This calls for more politics, and not less.
We need politics. Transgender people struggle for recognition and are forced to jump through any number of hoops on a daily basis just to prove their identity, facing open discrimination from the public and from the institutions of the state. The fight against discrimination and for recognition is a political fight.
We need politics. The Tánaiste has more or less promised a referendum on equal marriage next year. The entire nation are going to decide on our rights. And the polls are in our favour. But I can only assume that media coverage of the referendum campaign will be "balanced". This means that for every person on the news speaking in favour of equal marriage, there will be someone on the other side, someone arguing against. 50% of the coverage will be against us. This will be a real fight. And we need politics. And we need to rally the troops. And when better than Pride?
Even without the speeches, Pride is a political event. Walking down O'Connell Street, coming out to all of Dublin, in community with our LGBT sisters and brothers is a political act. And there are still two excellent speakers scheduled for the day. But we need to join the political dots.
RTE will come. They will film a drag queen, a good looking young man with no shirt on, an older man in leather and a lesbian couple with children. Just like on Chinese New Year, when RTE find and film a dragon dance. Ireland's Chinese community is largely invisible for the other 364 days of the year. The LGBT community fares better than that, but we still need politics.
We need a politics of equality, a politics of diversity, a politics of personal safety and security, a politics of health, a politics of non-discrimination, a politics of recognition. There is still a "Gay Agenda" that needs to be achieved and, for this, we need politics.