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When you think of the gay community around the world Dublin, Ireland is not usually the first or even one of the top 20 places that comes to mind. That is of course unless you live there or have been fortunate enough to pay the lovely city a visit, then it makes perfect sense. The fact is that over the past several years Dublin's gay community has experienced unprecedented growth and is actually becoming an LGBT tourist destination as well.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that in the past being an LGBT person in Dublin was not always a good or safe thing given the religious and political climate. Going back to around the late 1980's however things began changing when the Gay Community News first hit the scene as a free monthly paper, which was government subsidized, that began giving LGBT people a forum of their own which presented news that concerned them specifically. The change in the perception of the gay community was not an overnight sensation, but rather about a fifteen year process in which things slowly changed.

Gay Pride festivals grew bigger, a gay bar or two popped up here and there, and along the way community based LGBT organizations began springing to life. The Gay Community News even became so succesful it began charging and turning a profit. The most significant thing however was that the incidence of hate crimes, those reported at least, began to drop. It was not a drastic change and the decreases did fall within the margin of error, but it was none the less a good indicator that things were changing for the better.

A visitor to Dublin these days will find a lively and thriving LGBT community with several LGBT bars and clubs populating the city centre area. Beyond that many otherwise straight venues offer "one nighters" in which they open their doors to specifically cater to LGBT persons which is a massive step forward to melding all people together. Hotels, restaurants, and businesses have begun going out of their way to make sure everyone knows they are gay friendly. Many of these operations report business in fact has improved since courting the gay community and their supporters.With all this in mind it is easy to see how Dublin has become a great destination for the LGBT traveler.

For the residents of Dublin and its neighboring towns and cities the change has been great. They now can walk the streets feeling far less risk than in previous years, they face less discrimination, and community based LGBT projects and organizations have done a very good job of educating everyone as to the similarities between gay and straight people rather than the differences. Dublin has far to go still so far as full, or as close as it will ever be to full, equality and representation, but they are well on their way. Being gay in Dublin is no longer something to hide, in a sense the LGBT community in Dublin is officially out of the closet!

Learn more about this author, Amanda Fox.
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