“It will be great to see what stories come out and what new perspectives people get to hear because of that”
As Alice Linehan approaches one year since being appointed Editor of Gay Community News (GCN), it’s safe to say she’s already done her bit in creating something that will leave a lasting impact.
And as highlighted in her guest lecture at UL on Tuesday, March 11 – providing a platform to those who don’t receive one is an integral part of GCN and how they work.
After all, as a community, they’re coming from a place where they’ve had to fight for basic human rights, like so many more fight now.
One man who was determined to support that fight was the late Joe Drennan, a GCN contributor and UL Journalism student.
So much so, that a competition has been established in his name here in UL, with the objective being exactly that. To platform those unheard voices.
Telling stories that need to be told. Pointing to struggles that deserve the spotlight.
While his loss is one of tragedy and immense sadness, the legacy he leaves behind is one of hope, something that Alice Linehan believes will see other young journalists continue what Joe had hoped to accomplish.
“Joe was such a great part of the team,” she begins. “We have a lot of volunteers come and go, but everyone always talked about the impact he had.
“He was such a presence, he was so charming but so smart, so funny.
“He was really compassionate and caring. His passion was around giving a voice to the voiceless, or those who are not heard enough,” she explains. “You could see that in the work he did for GCN.
“I think if every young journalist could have the same passion for journalism and telling news stories, lesser heard stories as Joe – we’d be in a great place.
“I’m really proud of him for influencing that. I’m sure he’d be really proud of that legacy he’s left behind. I’m sure people will honour it, I hope they will.
“It will be great to see what stories come out and what new perspectives people get to hear because of that.”
Only one story can win the competition outright – some excellent pieces of work are going to miss out, that’s just the way it is. While they may not make the pages of The Irish Times, Linehan will be watching closely to see what can be published at GCN.
“Definitely, if we’re allowed to do that I’d definitely be interesting in looking at them,” she adds. “We’re always interested in new voices, new people, new stories.
“GCN can be a really great place for emerging and starting journalists to be published, especially at the start of their careers.
“We’re really open to young talent and there’s a lot the young people of Ireland have to say and we’d be really interested in that.”
The desire to platform voices that deserve to be heard it is an integral part of what GCN do, whether an LGBTQ+ angle exists or not. That’s no accident.
Given the historic and ongoing challenges the LGBTQ+ community face – they’re always willing to lend a hand to other marginalised communities in the face of adversity.
“I think with LGBT rights movements there’s always been intersectionality and reliance on other communities to come and help us, this idea of ‘stronger together’,” Linehan explains. “We saw a big push on that solidarity message with the recent rise of far-right.
“There’s been an emphasis on different minority groups coming together to be stronger than the forces that are trying to push you down. I think there’s aways been a reliance on people coming in to help a cause, I mean you can’t do it on your own.
“In the way that other people come to support us, we want to support them as well.
“Within the LGBTQ community we’ve seen a lot of progress. From same sex relationships being illegal in 1993, we got decriminalisation, there were civil partnerships, we’ve got marriage equality, gender recognition, hate crime legislation.
“Obviously, we’ve been doing something right along the way. We can offer other groups information and help in how to make change happen.
“We’ve had a lot of struggles, we’ve been through a lot.
“Ultimately we want a better a society for everyone, so it is a big part of what we do.”