Hi peoples, I'm a school leaver living in Ireland and I've just received my finals results, which were way better than expected. As a result I received an offer to study in both Glasgow and Dublin. While I'm really excited about starting the next part of my life, I'm weary of starting it in Ireland. We can be very catholic, and our laws are fairly discriminatory (I plan on working in healthcare and/or education, which means I can be fired for being gay. We will however be voting on marriage equality in a year's time:eusa_danc). That being said, I really don't know if far away fields will be any greener. In Scotland, I'd at least be able to get a decent, stable job and start a family of my own. I would however have to leave my current family (none of whom know I'm gay). My folks come from families that have seen at least half of each generation move abroad for as far back as the eye can see, and I feel really bad even thinking about leaving them. Gay people in Ireland are usually accepted, but in the kind of aww look at the same-sex couple aren't they so cute now lets stare until they feel really uncomfortable way. Is it like this everywhere? And more importantly, is it like this in Glasgow? I'd really appreciate some advice from people in similar situations. Anyone who has lived in either cities (Dublin or Glasgow), your input would also be invaluable as I'm really going mad wondering what my next step should be.
I think should give it a shot. You never know what a new location can bring into your life is there any way you could test drive it? Maybe stay 2-3 weeks in the area you were planning to move to?
Not really. College starts in a few weeks and I have plans. It's also worth noting that I'm only 17 and I'd be committing to a 5-10 year career path if I did move
I've never been to Glasgow or Dublin, but I can offer a UK perspective (at least while Scotland is - and hopefully remains - part of the UK). Although the UK is by no means perfect, we have made huge strides forward in terms of equality over the last twenty years. We have civil partnerships and same sex marriage, it is illegal to discriminate against people on grounds of sexual orientation (so you cannot be fired) and any remaining barriers to equality are constantly being challenged. Attitudes have softened greatly and in a large city like Glasgow there will be opportunities for you to live freely and openly. As I understand it, there is a large Irish community in Glasgow and if you decide to move it's only a short flight back to Ireland. Your choice, of course, but hope this helps a little.
Thanks for pitching in. This is really helpful! I was wondering if you could shade some light on how people view LGBT folk. In Ireland, it seems to me that everyone is accepting in theory, but can really be very ignorant (despite what are usually very benevolent intentions). For instance, I recently came out to a friend of mine, and while she was very supportive, some of the crap she came out with was incredibly narrow minded. For instance, she told me that I should get a girl to give me a BJ just to make sure I'm not straight. And while that may seem like a very isolated incident, I've heard of worse. So, are people in the UK any less ignorant, or should I just get used to it?
It would be wrong of me to say there is no ignorance, because there are still die hard homophobes and people who are blinkered to reality, but their attitudes and ideas are being consistently challenged and it's making a difference. I think the UK has a more secular outlook and the Catholic Church holds little sway over the decision making process and public attitudes. Here the Church of England/Scotland has more influence, but even then, it's on the wane.
