Dublin Gay Pride

The Dublin Gay Pride is an annual festival consisting of a series of events celebrating the lives of the gay, lesbian and transsexual communities in Dublin, Ireland. It is easily the largest gay festival in the Republic of Ireland. The festival ends with a pride parade usually held in the month of June.

The organization responsible for the Dublin Gay Pride consists of a board of directors and is mainly run by several volunteers with some consultant help from the outside. The sole aim of the Pride is to celebrate a professional pride festival and a Pride Day to be held annually. The Pride Day consists of a parade through the city center, a rally based politically and some free and fun filled entertainment.

The Dublin Gay Pride was started in the year 1983 as a one day festival held in June. Prior to this festival, there was a march conducted in the month of March in the same year to protest against the violence faced by the gay and lesbian members of the Republic. More importantly, this march was a reaction to the judgment in the Flynn case. The case was against a few members of the gang responsible for the manslaughter of 31 year old Declan Flynn, who happened to be gay. Quite surprisingly, the judge passed only suspended sentences to the suspects. The 1983 Dublin Gay Pride was organized by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation. The pride initiated at St. Stephen's Green, went through the Dublin city center and finally terminated at the GPO on O'Connell Street.

What started off as a single day event is now a major festival in Dublin celebrated for 10 whole days with additional features consisting of arts and cultural events as well. The parade held in the year 2008 used the slogan, "Always a bridesmaid, never the bride". The slogan was used to make the public and government aware of the fact that the land of Ireland does not have any kind of law to recognize the legality of same sex marriages. John Gormley, Minister of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, launched the festival. Some of the performers who made an appearance in the gathering that took place after the rally included Maria Mckee, Tara Blaise and Brian Kennedy.

The theme of the 2009 Pride is ‘Pride and Prejudice'. It focuses on the pride of the gay community and the prejudice of those who are unwilling to accept them as their own.