In post Marriage Referendum Ireland, LGBT+ issues are no longer discussed in hushed tones, and the likelihood of someone knowing an LGBT+ person in their family has increased tenfold. In fact, a huge part of the campaign for ‘Yes’ saw activists reach out to their families to have frank conversations about how a Yes vote would affect them. The hashtag #RingYourGranny caught on like wildfire.
For many LGBT+ people, this was a turning point: To ensure equality in civil marriage, they had to make their lives, and the lives of their friends, the focal point of conversation. They had to tell people, ‘This is about me.’ Some had never had to do that with their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles before.
The stories of LGBT+ people and their families (biological or otherwise) have been documented in everything from books and TV, to YouTube videos and podcasts.
However, it’s rare to hear stories from LGBT+ people who grew up with LGBT+ siblings. How do their stories differ from the expected narrative?
It was really strange to discover not only was there one other gay person I knew, but they live in the same house.