COMING SOON: Ed Roche - Our Unique Tales

In this special episode of Invisible Threads, recorded to mark World AIDS Day, we meet Gerard a 57 year old publican & postman from Cavan. After being diagnosed with HIV in his late 30s he was faced with a choice to remain in the closet, or to risk losing his family to come out as both gay and HIV Positive in pursuit of living an honest life. Since the first cases of HIV were reported more than 35 years ago, 78 million people have become infected and 35 million have died from AIDS-related illnesses. Almost directly after its emergence in the early 1980’s AIDS, or GRIDS (Gay-related immune deficiency syndrome) as it was initially called became inextricably linked to the LGBTQ community – for many years a diagnosis of HIV was presumed to be fatal and the shame, fear and stigma associated with the virus live on to this day. While there is currently no cure for HIV advances in available treatment mean that people living with the virus can have long & healthy lives. World AIDS day is celebrated annually to show support for those who have been diagnosed and to remember those who have been lost to the disease. This project has received funding from the Government of Ireland’s Sláintecare Integration Fund 2019 LGBT Support Services If you would like to know more about LGBT Ireland and the work which we do visit our website. https://lgbt.ie/ LGBT+ support (helplines, peer support) National LGBT Helpline 1800 929 539 [Mon.-Thurs. 6.30pm-10pm; Fri. 4pm-10pm; Sat.-Sun. 4-6pm] -all monthly peer support group meeting dates / times check- www.lgbt.ie Gender Identity Family Support Line run by LGBT Ireland & Transgender equality Network Ireland (TENI) tel. 01 907 3707 [Sundays 6-9pm; Tuesday 10am-12noon) TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland): https://www.teni.ie BeLonGTo, the national organisation for LGBT young people: https://www.belongto.org HIV Ireland: https://www.hivireland.ie/

Damian is a 66 year-old retired teacher living between Dublin and his home town of Tuam in Galway, he was a a founder member of the Irish National Teachers Organisation’s LGBT group, which started in 1979. After college he lived in Australia and London, returning to Ireland in 1992 – a year before homosexuality was decriminalised – having to conceal his identity in his workplace due to Section 37.1 of the Employment Equality Act (allowing workplaces to discriminate in terms of employment “…in order to maintain the religious ethos of the institution”) took an enormous emotional toll and resulted in him having a breakdown, since this time he has gone on to advocate for greater protection or LGBT Teachers.

Anne is a retired academic living in North Dublin, she is a teacher, poet and theologian. She married when he was 19 and had two children. In the late 90s she met a woman and decided she need to follow her heart – she left her husband and started a new journey accepting her identity. She was close friends with Anne Louise Gilligan who helped her understand the courage it took to be herself and end her marriage.

Brian is a 71 years of age and is an archaeologist, historian and author. He grew up in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. After living in Brussels and Paris for a period he settled in Derry for 24 years, he now lives in Donegal, surrounded by musicians, painters, poets and very creative people – many of whom are also gay. Brian was active in opposition to the Save Ulster from Sodomy political campaign in the late 70s. He has written a book called 'Terrible Queer Creatures: Homosexuality in Irish History' which is a history of homosexuality in Ireland, from ancient Ireland through to 2015.

Louise Hannon is a 60 year-old transgender woman from Northern Ireland, living in Dublin. Louise was the first transgender person to use the Employment Equality Act to win a case against an employer on the grounds of gender discrimination. From an early age, Louise realised that she wasn’t comfortable in the male role, at the age of 16 seeing derogatory media coverage of April Ashley terrified her and she married and had children, in the early 00s after her marriage broke down she relocated to Dublin where she began the process of transitioning.