URSULA HALLIGAN COMES OUT AS GAY
Journalist and broadcaster Ursula Halligan says the same-sex marriage referendum has pointed her towards telling the truth about her sexuality.
The TV3 political editor has come out as gay in an article in the Irish Times.
She is calling for a Yes vote on May 22nd – and says she lived in an emotional prison for most of her life because she was ashamed of her feelings.
But she says comments from the No side of the campaign have forced her to speak out.
“Before this referendum came along…I suppose I was resigned to going to my grave with that secret, and I shiver to think (that) there must have been so many people who’ve done that”.
“Who have lived incomplete lives and gone to their graves quietly because they were too embarrassed or too ashamed to talk about it”.
“This referendum has changed things,” she said.
“The referendum forced me to confront the issue head on, I realised I couldn’t sit on the fence – it was just too personal, it was my life”, she added.
Ursula says she had planned to come out two weeks ago – but her brother Aidan passed away.
And she says when she returned to work two weeks later, her other brother Peter sent her a message about Aidan.
“He used to quote Martin Luther King, and the quote was: ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter'” she said.
“And Peter texted me that and I knew – I had such a visceral reaction to the text I thought I had no choice, I can’t remain silent on this”.
“And I thought if it helped even one 17-year-old girl or boy to cope with any anxiety they were feeling about their sexuality well then, so be it” she added.
