Gay London Life | April '26 Edition - Magazine - Page 48
Topher Taylor
and in terms of my DNA, I consider
That’s not something I expected to
myself Irish. There’s a little Scottish
be writing.
in there, too, but Ireland is where the
Topher
Talks
We visited during the summer as
roots go deepest. I can’t honestly
kids. I’ve always loved being around
say that I’ve ever felt British - but I’ve
my big family. My grandmother was
definitely felt like a Londoner. If that
a child of 8, not unusual for Ireland
makes sense.
in the 1930s, so there was always
People seem to love being
a sprawling mass of aunts, uncles,
Irish or having a proximity to it in
cousins, and family friends to fold
2026. In a way that would have
yourself into.
baffled my younger self - because
Her baby brother Carl was
being Irish in a South-East London
paralysed from the waist down
school wasn’t exactly a social asset.
after a workplace accident, but
There was some name-calling and
you’d never have known it defined
stereotypes. My friend Catriona
him - because it didn’t. His constant
had it worse - she carried her
good nature, warmth, and grace are
parents’ accent, and that made her
something I carry with me to this
a target in ways I was spared. Our
day. The happiest, jolliest, kindest
parents stuck together, and I spent
man you’d ever meet. He used to
my childhood in an Irish diaspora
let me fly around the garden in
spread out across the corners of
his wheelchair while he sat there
South London.
giggling at the absurdity of it. I think
I don’t begrudge anyone their
about that image a lot. Mum talks
Irishness, adopted or inherited.
about him the way you talk about
Sometimes all it takes is 72 hours
there’s a feeling of safety and ‘home’
As long as the history - the real
someone who changed how you
somewhere else entirely. I’ve just got
in Ireland that we both immediately
history and the brutal weight of it - is
see things.
back from Cork for St Patrick’s Day
feel upon arrival.
understood, what’s the harm? Ireland
Carl represented Ireland at
earned its moment and I love seeing
the 1972 Heidelberg Paralympics,
people love it.
competing in para athletics
- and despite the short turnaround,
Most people assume I’m British.
something in me has quietly reset. I
The accent does that. But I come
was talking to my Mum about it, and
from a very big Irish family - culturally,
Most people’s idea of Ireland
throwing events, part of a growing
is still rolling green hills, catholic
Irish delegation quietly building
churches, and a permanent, misty,
something to feel triumphant about.
soft drizzle. Father Ted country.
He didn’t let his wheelchair get in
It’s an image that’s never quite
the way of living - and I understood
gone away.
that even as a child. He represented
But spend a few days in Cork
something bigger than himself
(which I recommend), and that
without ever making a fuss about it.
version of the country starts to
In March 2026, he was honoured by
look not just outdated but almost
Paralympics Ireland.
inverted. This is a place that
On this trip I met his son Brendan
legalised same-sex marriage
- a mini Uncle Carl in every way. That
by popular vote before the UK
same warmth, all over again. I feel
had even finished arguing about
lighter for having seen him.
it. Walking through the winding
I’m home now. Back in London.
roads and lanes of the city
London has spent decades telling
centre, you’re met with anti-racist
itself it’s the progressive one - the
artwork, LGBTQ+ progress flags,
open city, the tolerant one. But
Palestinian liberation murals –
tolerance and progress aren’t the
which aren’t tucked into corners
same thing, and Cork, a city most
but painted big and bright. Many
Londoners couldn’t point to on a map,
pubs and bars proudly display
is making that distinction visible.
messages of inclusion at the bar.
Meanwhile, Britain feels like
Some shop windows do too. And on
it’s moving backwards. Racism,
Sullivan’s Quay, a mural stretching
homophobia, transphobia - all of it is
some 50 metres carries a quote
harder to ignore than it was.
from James Connolly, written in
I came back with my senses
1908: “Let no Irishman throw a
refreshed and my allegiances
stone at the foreigner; he may hit
confirmed. Some countries earn
his own clan.” Anti-xenophobia,
their reputation the hard way.
attributed to a socialist republican
Ireland earned it, and I’m incredibly
executed by the British.
proud to be Irish.
I’ll say it plainly: Ireland, culturally,
feels miles ahead of the UK right now.
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@tophertaylor
