Pride is not for one month of the year, it’s for 12 months of the year and for your whole life, and it’s about being proud of anything.
With the Pride parade being moved to September this year, drag queen Davina Devine and pilates instructor Dearbhla Mitchell tell us some of their favourite memories from the years gone by and what Pride means to them.
You don’t have to be on the scene to know who Davina Devine is: one of the most famous drag queens on our island. June is usually her busiest month, but this year it’s a bit quieter.
“I’ve probably done about 20 pride parades.” she tells Her. Last year, Davina hosted a sold out gig in Vicar Street, and of course since we’re in Ireland there has been some showers.
“I remember so many times getting fitted for gorgeous costumes and getting soaked in the rain,” she says.
“I always think about Pride around this time of year and about how difficult it is for people who are not as out or in different situations.” Davina says. “It’s about showing these people that it’s ok to be who you are.”
Dearbhla Mitchell is a pilates instructor from Dublin who has been out for just over four years.
“I came out a few years ago,” she says. “It was the summer I went to Florida on a J1 visa and I went on my own and I didn’t have any friends so I just remember feeling very alone in my experience.”
She laughs about the fact that her first Pride was a little different to most peoples’. “My first pride experience was spent alone in my bedroom watching the L-word on repeat!” she says. “Which isn’t a bad night in fairness!”
This year Dearbhla will celebrate Pride with her “chosen family.”
“Pride to me is a chance, a day, to feel like an “us” instead of a “them.” To be able to walk down the street as yourself and to feel like you don’t have to explain it or justify it or apologise for it.”
