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"There's still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture," he said.

Of course racism, misogyny and homophobia exist, but expressing such views is generally seen as socially unacceptable; in broad strokes, Ireland has become one of the most open and tolerant societies in Europe.

Lord Cashman says "it was a weird and dark time," adding "there was rampant homophobia".

That behavior – namely, hetero dudes needing to affirm that they’re straight, and nothing like the queer person in their midst — is often a core driver of homophobic humor and homophobia, Becker said.

“But our existence is not a DEI initiative. Our existence is not ‘woke’ or whatever word of the week we’re using right now to hide brazen homophobia.”