It’s hard to explain what it’s like growing up gay in Northern Ireland to someone who never has, describes Damian Kerlin.The first word that comes to mind is claustrophobic.
Not necessarily because of the geography of the area – villages and towns spread out amongst the countryside, hills connecting like threads in a web – but because of the culture of the place itself.Much of Northern Ireland is standard rural, working class communities in this way, but for me – and I imagine many others – your experience of living in this type of community is twisted in unexpected ways when you grow up as gay.