'It was a very frightening time': Cork gay activist on Aids and preparing for Pride

Irish Examiner

2 days ago

Arthur Leahy will never forget the 'balloon-like' figure standing in the hospital doorway as he held the hand of a man dying from Aids.
The junior doctor buried beneath multiple layers of protective clothing was clearly terrified but it offered Arthur a moment of light relief during what was a very dark time for Ireland's gay community.
'He had so much protective gear on that he looked like a giant balloon,' Arthur said. 'People were so frightened they would catch the disease.'
Trailblazer Arthur had founded the inclusive space in Cork City known as the Quay Co-op back in 1982. The business continues to operate to this day as a vegetarian restaurant and health food store.
It opened three years after the activist made television history with an RTÉ interview as Cork's first openly gay man. He, along with his Australian partner at the time, Laurie, provided an insight into life at the time for a gay couple.
At the time, the country was pockmarked by homophobia, shockingly highlighted by the death of Declan Flynn who was beaten to death by a gang of teenagers in 1982.
Arthur Leahy says the onset of the Aids epidemic 'was a torturous situation for families.' Picture: Jim Coughlan
News of his perpetrators walking free from court with suspended sentences rocked the country. One of the attackers was just 14 at the time and could not to be named for legal reasons.
The miscarriage of justice sparked a protest 11 days later that inspired the first Dublin Pride parade that June. Nonetheless, gay people remained extremely vulnerable, with homosexuality in Ireland not decriminalised until 1993.
However, the threat of homophobic abuse wasn't enough to keep Arthur from the grim task of helping Aids victims to die with dignity.
He was a founding member of Gay Health Action and Cairde which were established respectively to address HIV and Aids and provide hands-on support to patients.
'During that time it took over our lives.'
The six houses in Cork Arthur co-founded to support those impacted by the Aids epidemic is among his proudest achievements.
Years on, as we approach Cork Pride 2025 - which takes place from July 26 to August 3 - Arthur is pleading with people not to forget what people went through.
Colour and celebration at last year's Cork Pride.
'If you're part of the gay community now, you get the sense that it never happened,' said Arthur, who turns 80 in November.
'There is a kind of denial there and not a lot of awareness and recognition around what people went through. People can take a drug for it now so there is no big drama about it. However, during the time we are talking about it was terminal.'
Arthur recalls supporting Aids patients in hospitals.
'I remember being in the hospital with one person who was actually dying at the time. I was sitting by his bed and holding his hand.
The junior doctor came in but we couldn't see him. His clothes looked like they had been blown up like a balloon because he had so many protective coverings on.
"That was just the way it was. It was a very frightening time for people. It took me by surprise how I dealt with it, because I was able to transcend the horrors of it all. I dealt with it in such way that I didn't have to live with the trauma.'
Mr Leahy recalled why some members of the gay community had little faith in medical professionals.
'In those days, on the medical front at least, it was the predominant view that gay people were mentally ill. It was something you just kind of accepted at the time.
"There was one man named Jack Coughlan who dealt with venereal diseases in Cork and he was very progressive but a lot of others were very repressive and conservative.'
He said that families were often in denial about the cause of a loved one's death.
'It was a torturous situation for families. In the beginning they didn't want to know but love usually took over towards the end. Sometimes, the control of families was very negative. It was at that point that we were pushed out of the situation.
"They wanted to deal with it in a conventional way. That's where you're kind of pushed out of this situation. The Irish solution was denial at all costs.'
He recalls how a number of Irish people impacted by Aids had returned from the UK to die.
'The great majority of Irish people with Aids were in London. If you looked in any hospital about half of the people there with Aids were Irish.
"The houses we had in Cork were paid for by the Health Board. They helped with funding but the situation wasn't acknowledged. There were some people from the Health Board who were outstanding but they weren't supported by the establishment.'
The same, Arthur recalled, could be said for the Church.
There were individuals within the Catholic community who were enormously supportive and very courageous but the establishment of the Church was very negative. It was, and still is, to a great extent, in terms of all these issues.
The trailblazer said he has lived a very privileged life in comparison to many others.
'I've been very lucky in life. My life is very privileged. I don't feel like I've suffered or done anything particularly brave. I think about the challenges that people are facing around the world right now. They are really enormous.
"We all know what is happening. I've spent a lot of time in Gaza and in the Middle East in the last number of years so I think about their struggles all the time.'
(Left to right) Cork Drag Queens Liam Bee and Lucina Schynning at Cork Pride 2024.
Arthur said that while Ireland has progressed beyond recognition, other parts of the world remain in a time warp.
'The change in Ireland is remarkable. It's hard to believe the extent of the change that has taken place. However, if you look around the world there is very little change. On the contrary, we are seeing things go backwards.
"We tend not to recognise in a sense how lucky we are. So many changes have taken place, not just with the gay issue but with regard to other issues too.'