In the wake of the referendum on the eighth, we should remember that Pride is about celebrating our autonomous queer sexuality, instead of whitewashing our sex lives in order fit in.

OPINION:

Before the referendum result there were calls for muted markings of a potential Yes to preclude celebrations like those following the gay marriage referendum. How typical of male traditional privilege, to oblige a bowed head and sombre refl ection as we crossed the darkened door into a repealed Ireland; to fail to value the true import of this referendum against a shame-fi lled and shaming Irish history which has repeatedly not only denied, but repressed, imprisoned and destroyed women, their sexuality, and their bodies.

Both referenda are similar in that they were about more than either gay marriage or access to pregnancy termination. Both were about bodies, sexuality, autonomy and a momentous opportunity to reclaim back decades, if not centuries, of repression and shame from the dominating hold of state, church and society over, most especially, women’s bodies. This is why both referenda were opposed so viciously with such huge outside funding.