Gay rights campaign breaches many barriers, but battle is far from over

NEXT Monday the National Lesbian and Gay Federation of Ireland will formally donate the Irish Queer Archive to the National Library.

An archive that documents the struggle to achieve recognition, equality and protection for gay men and women over the past 40 years, its donation coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s rejection of the challenge by David Norris to the laws criminalising male homosexual activity, and the killing of Declan Flynn in Dublin’s Fairview Park, as a result of a ‘queer-bashing’ in 1983.

A collection that includes in the region of quarter of a million press clippings, it is a reminder of a minority’s determination to challenge the harsh climate that existed for those who sought to live fulfilled lives as gay men and women, and the legal and social obstacles they faced.