Reflections

A poem titled 'Bad Lesbian Sex' appeared in the centre of page 6 in issue 60 of GCN (March 1994). A bold, black block in the upper left corner of the same page asked, 'Why Women’s Pages?' Next to this, read the heading, 'Lesbian Lives in Ireland'. And so it was that the Lesbian Pages were born.

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In February 1990, GCN featured its first phone sex line advertisement. The advert, featured on the rear cover of GCN Issue 15, promoted a business known as Gay Line. Nestled between adverts for two Dublin bed-and-breakfasts, the Gay Line ad offered GCN readers a phone line to ring where “guys listen to guys.”

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GCN's 'Dear Dorothy' revolutionised LGBTQ+ advice columns in 1988, providing sensitive and factual guidance on coming out, relationships, and support, overseen by trained members of Tel-A-Friend.

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For issue 40, May 1992, Anthony McGrath penned ‘Postcard from the Closet’; a 400 word op-ed piece deliberating whether or not he should come out to his nearest and dearest. He equated the ordeal to being more stressful than a first hangover, the leaving cert or visits to the tax office, believing these to “all pale in comparison.”

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"On Wednesday, July 7, 1993, the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary Robinson, signed into law, the bill which decriminalised homosexual acts between adults of 17 years and over".

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“Big frocks on hoydens with lipstick and lashes, Fuck-happy butches with dash (and moustaches) Wild women in leather or tied up with string These are a few of my favourite things…”

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