The Trouble With Oliver
Water Cooler Chatter
So, impersonator Oliver Callan got our queer ire up this month, writing in the Cork Pride programme about his late coming out (aged 31), and saying that straight people can never fully understand what it means to be gay. That might be true, but never one not to labour a point to the point of offence, Ollie put it like this: “The breeders just don’t get it, even if they try.” The Facebook comments came quick and fast when we put the story out on gcn.ie, the general consensus being that ‘breeders’ is a pretty offensive term, while gay and trans people actually reproduce, so plenty of ‘breeders’ actually do get it.
It’s not the first time Oliver has been in trouble with the gays. In fact he came out amid accusations of homophobia, particularly after he impersonated David Norris saying the reason ex-GAA player turned designer, Paul Galvin was such a fashion expert was because of all his years spent in the closet. Straight man, Galvin went loco, and Callan responded by throwing open his own closet doors at last.
Despite believing straight people just don’t understand him, Oliver is such a conservative queer, he puts Taoiseach Leo in the ha’penny place. Last year he wrote in The Sun that many Repeal the Eighth supporters have “given no real thought to what they’re supporting, only that it’s the cool thing to do,” while his anti-feminist rant in the Irish Times, also last year, dragged drag queens and “their disgusting satire on women,” through the mud.
Since all this comes from the mouth of a gay man, it’s given some sort of credence, as if Oliver’s only piping up with a bit of straight-talking the rest of us don’t have the courage to do. But when did being plain offensive become courageous? And, eh, why is a drag queen hater writing in a Pride programme? Oliver Callan – national nob or straight-talker? You decide.