HOME. Although I’ve lived off and on in Scotland for the best part of 40 years now, that word still makes me think of a council house in Coleraine in County Londonderry. Three bedrooms, two sisters, Radio 1, Spacehoppers and football on the green. An eternal 1970s of the mind. Like WB Yeats, “I am of Ireland.” But the northern bit. I am Northern Irish or so I consider myself even though I’m not sure what I mean by that particularly. In my head the term triggers a reel of fuzzy images: family, friends, the Giant’s Causeway, Mary Peters, Georgie Best, Gerry Armstrong scoring against Spain, the Undertones, Dana, Kenneth Branagh in the days he still had an Ulster accent, Barry McGuigan and Tayto crisps (the ones from Tandragee not the ones from County Meath)
Arlene Foster. (Dan Kitwood/Getty)
Arlene Foster has resigned as first minister of Northern Ireland and as leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), leaving behind a fractious legacy.
Her resignation comes six years after she was first elected leader of the ultra-conservative political party. In that time, Northern Ireland’s LGBT+ community has been forced to fight relentlessly for equal rights while Foster and her party repeatedly blocked change.
Notably, Arlene Foster threw what were ultimately the smallest of crumbs to the LGBT+ community during her time as leader of the DUP. While some politicians made a name for themselves among queer people for their wildly offensive remarks, Foster was ever-so-slightly more moderate in her approach. Much was made of her decision in 2018 to speak at a
Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph
Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph
RAF’s Red Arrows fly over Belfast to mark VJ day on August 15
Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph
Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press E
A plain clothes detective draws his pistol and takes aim at a man attempting to attack police during a security operation in west Belfast
Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph
Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph
11th night celebrations at Pitt Park in east Belfast
Kevin Scott / INM
Belfast; pupils from Dominic’s Grammar School, Belfast, reunite while wearing masks as over 300,000 schoolchildren here returned to school for the first time in September since lockdown began
Moments to celebrate for the LGBTQ+ community in 2020 newschain.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from newschain.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It has been a difficult year for everyone, but for people within the LGBTQ+ community the past 12 months have also provided some moments of joy.
From changes to the law, to happy moments during lockdown, here are some of the highlights of 2020.
– Northern Ireland held its first same-sex marriages in February
Same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland has been legal since January of this year, with Belfast couple Robyn Edwards-Peoples and Sharni Edwards-Peoples becoming the first same-sex couple in Northern Ireland to legally marry under the new law on February 11.
“We fought so long and hard for this opportunity to be seen as equal and now we are here and it’s just amazing,” Robyn Edwards-Peoples said at her wedding.