Ken O'Flynn: Movement Hijacked, Tricolour for All
Ken O'Flynn addresses the Oireachtas on the legacy of violence against gay people, recent murders in Sligo, and what he calls the hijacking of the LGBT movement. He argues for the tricolour as the unifying flag of the state and criticises public representatives who treat state symbols as sources of fear.
Key points: Ken O'Flynn recalls the killing of Declan Flynn in 1982 and the 2022 murders of Aidan Moffat and Michael Schneer to show that hatred toward gay people continues. He asserts that the movement that fought for safety and equality has been co-opted and diluted by expanding identity labels.
Historical context: O'Flynn situates his remarks in Ireland's history, invoking those who died under the tricolour in 1916 and afterwards. He stresses that state symbols were won by sacrifice and should unite citizens regardless of sexuality, religion or politics.
On flags and public life: O'Flynn says state and local authority buildings should fly the national flag every day and not become stages for competing identity groups. He challenges remarks by Senator Eileen Flynn about feeling 'terrified' at the sight of the tricolour and calls that position an insult to families who buried loved ones under the flag.
Consequences and warning: He warns against reducing the courage of past activists to press releases, photo opportunities or political theatre. O'Flynn insists that lesbian, gay and bisexual people are citizens of the Republic, not props for other political uses, and urges a return to protections for those still at risk.
Key points: Ken O'Flynn recalls the killing of Declan Flynn in 1982 and the 2022 murders of Aidan Moffat and Michael Schneer to show that hatred toward gay people continues. He asserts that the movement that fought for safety and equality has been co-opted and diluted by expanding identity labels.
Historical context: O'Flynn situates his remarks in Ireland's history, invoking those who died under the tricolour in 1916 and afterwards. He stresses that state symbols were won by sacrifice and should unite citizens regardless of sexuality, religion or politics.
On flags and public life: O'Flynn says state and local authority buildings should fly the national flag every day and not become stages for competing identity groups. He challenges remarks by Senator Eileen Flynn about feeling 'terrified' at the sight of the tricolour and calls that position an insult to families who buried loved ones under the flag.
Consequences and warning: He warns against reducing the courage of past activists to press releases, photo opportunities or political theatre. O'Flynn insists that lesbian, gay and bisexual people are citizens of the Republic, not props for other political uses, and urges a return to protections for those still at risk.
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Transcript
Thank you László Konkola. 43 years ago the killing of Declan Flynn shocked Ireland, the thousands who marched through Dublin afterwards to refuse to accept violence against gay people. I speak today as a gay man and I'm proud of the history and I'm proud of the rights that the gay and lesbian community have won over those years. That violence did not end in 1982. In 2022 Aidan Moffat and Michael Schneer were murdered in Sligo tragically because they were gay men. Their deaths are proof that hatred towards this community is not a thing of the history but is indeed something of present tense. I rise and I raise this because it is not for sympathy but it is honesty about this movement and actually what this movement was built to fight and that is exactly why I will say what many gay and lesbian and bisexual men and women say privately and that many in this house are too afraid to say plainly. This movement has been hijacked. It no longer speaks for the people who built it or the people who are still at risk. We are told to make room and redefine same-sex attraction to fold into the ever expanding list of letters that has grown so broad that has become meaningless. Does anyone in this house know at this stage what the plus even means or stands for anymore? That is not progress Minister. That is to my mind the erosior dressed up as inclusion and I want to be direct about the flags and flying of flags. I truly believe that one flag should belong to all our state buildings and our local authority buildings in this country and should be flown 365 days a year. That is the tricolour. It belongs to every citizen regardless of their sexuality, religion or political belief. State buildings should be there to unite the citizen. They should not be there to divide and for competitive identity groups each waiting for their day, their month or their week or their turn. I would remind this house that men and women died for that flag. They died in 1916. They died afterwards fighting for the right to fly that flag for free Ireland. The flag that draped the coffins of Irish patriots. The flag that draped the coffins of servicemen and the defence forces alike. Minister, they did not die so that a sitting member of the upper house of the Oireachtas could stand up generations later and call it a source of terror. That is not just an insult to me. That is an insult to every member and every family who buried someone under that flag and called it a price worth paying. And I will name the hypocrisy plainly. Senator Eileen Flynn told the shanidairon that she feels terrified at the sight of the tricolour as she is a public representative paid for by this state including in being saying it in a state building that flies the flag every day. That is not principle. That is an insult to every citizen who has ever stood under that flag and I will not pretend otherwise to keep the peace. In conclusion, Kean-Cola, the people who marched for Declan Flynn did not march so gay men and women could become a government photo opportunity once a year. They marched for freedoms to live without fear, not for the right to be paraded out as proof of a progressive or what seems to be a progressive country as it claims it. We must not let their courage be reduced to press releases or photo opportunities. Their courage was not given so it could be borrowed by other people with other agendas. Lesbian and gay and bisexuals are citizens of this Republic, not props for other political uses. They marched once and let me remind this house they did not march so that their fight could be handed over to others that shout the loudest. Thank you.