ON THE TV, over the radio, in the newspapers and on this news site.

Homophobia has been discussed everywhere over the past month.

A Saturday Night Show interview with Rory O’Neill where he spoke about his experiences of growing up gay in Ireland - and a subsequent Noble Call at the Abbey Theatre – put the spotlight on how Irish people deal with homophobia.

However, the debate has moved in a number of different directions, taking the focus away from victims and their real experiences.

In response, TheJournal.ie spoke to a number of well-known media personalities this week who recalled some of their stories about being gay in Ireland in 2014.

But we also want to hear your stories and your experiences so they can be collected in an article to be published on this site.

If you are or have been…

• a victim of homophobia
• a parent of somebody who has suffered because of homophobia
• a teacher who sees it in their classrooms
• someone who has been homophobic to or about others

…then we want to hear from you. Please email your experience to sinead@thejournal.ie by noon Friday 21 February. A selection of responses will be published in an article next weekend.

All emails will be treated with the utmost confidence and no names will be used unless express permission is given.

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