*Jamie Walsh sharing his story in Shannon. Photograph: Joe Buckley
HOMOPHOBIC AND TRANSPHOBIC ABUSE must continue to be called out while a Shannon mother has admitted that she regularly fears her transgender son is going to be attacked for just being himself.
In the wake of the brutal killings of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee in Sligo, vigils have been organised in their memory across the country including in Co Clare. Quare Clare held a memorial in Killaloe on Easter Sunday while a day later Shannon Town Park remembered the men and a walk organised by Jean O’Grady took place in Tim Smythe Park also on Easter Monday.
Both men died violently in their own homes. A male has been charged in relation to their deaths. The aftermath has seen conversations begin in relation to the treatment of the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland.
Speaking in Shannon, Jamie Walsh said it is high-time actions of homophobic and transphobic abuse were called out consistently. “LGBT persons are frequently targeted by hate speech and violence towards them, too often I’ve heard the terms unnatural, diseased, deviant, linked to crime, immoral or socially destabilising when I am being described. Discrimination, homophobia and transphobia affect the lives and choices of a LGBT person in all aspects of our social lives from the early years, the derogatory words used for LGBT at school or out on the streets teach us to remain invisible.
“Invisibility is used as a survival strategy because of the fear of being exposed to discrimination, rarely seen positive LGBT reporting on social media also makes us want to remain invisible, reports show that one in three have been threatened with physical violence, one in five have been hit or attacked, this is happening in our homes, communities and schools, there needs to be more done for our youth services across the board, particularly in rural areas, we need to stand up and speak out when we hear homophobic or transphobic speech”.
Up until his teenage years, Jamie was known as Saoirse and has since embraced transgenderism. The Dublin based student came out as a lesbian at the age of sixteen, at the age of nineteen he became transgender.
He quoted the former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie on Monday evening, “Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most that has made it possible for evil to triumph”.
Jamie’s mother, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) expressed her pride after her son’s address in the Town Park, “I can’t tell you how proud I am of my son Jamie, I’ve only one child but how lucky am I to be able to have experienced a son and a daughter”.
Cllr McGettigan admitted she is fearful of regular attacks on her son. “As a mother I worry is Jamie going to be attacked, I know Jamie has had words thrown at him, threats thrown at him, that is not the life any mother or father wants for their child. Hate is taught to children, they are not born hating, it is taught to them, we as parents, as a community, as teachers need to teach our children to love, to love no matter who or what you are, it doesn’t matter, you are you and we love you, that is the way life should be but unfortunately it is not the way it is”.
At Killaloe, Seán Hewitt’s poem ‘An Saol Éile’ was read aloud at their gathering. A spokesperson for Quare Clare outlined, “We stand together against transphobia & homophobia and for inclusive communities”.
