“I’m Coming Out” The expression of queer identity through Irish nightclub flyers, 1980s—2000s Emer Brennan 2018 Visual Communication Design IADT Dun Laoghaire !i This dissertation is submitted by the undersigned to the Institute of Art Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire in partial fulfilment for the BA (Hons) in Visual Communication. It is entirely the author’s own work, except where noted, and has not been submitted for an award from this or any other educational institution. Signed:____________________________________________________________________ Title image: GAG nightclub flyer, Niall Sweeney, 1996 Courtesy of the Irish Queer Archive Abstract This dissertation examines the expression of queer identity through Irish nightclub posters and flyers from the Irish Queer Archive in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. It gives a cultural and historical context of Ireland and it’s relation to the LGBT community and maps out political and cultural shifs that create social change and set the basis for a more accepting society and community. Further investigation is made into queer culture and how international queer culture affects and influences Ireland at the end of the 20th century. With the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland in June 1993, the boom in club culture and the opening of super clubs in the mid 1990s, a new social scene was created in Dublin for people of all genders, sexualities and interests. The graphic design and production of the flyers and posters for gay nightclubs and events not only created the beginning of a new social scene in Ireland, but also of a new distinct graphic style that is very specific to Dublin and very specific to the time. This research is drawn from various Irish scholars writing on the socio-political history of Ireland, from academics and archivers writing on club culture, identity and flyer design, from various cultural theories and interviews I conducted with Tonie Walsh, former DJ and club promoter, and graphic designer Niall Sweeney. This provides an in-depth analysis of the first generation of queer designers in Ireland and how political shifs changed society’s perception of the gay and lesbian community, by ultimately accepting and welcoming them as consumers. Through greater acceptance of the community, people openly began expressing and exploring their sexuality for the first time and a new space for expressing queer identity was formed. !iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Linda King for her guidance and encouragement throughout the duration of completing this dissertation. I would also like to sincerely thank Tonie Walsh and Niall Sweeney for their invaluable advice and for sharing their experiences with me. !iv Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………iii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iv List of Illustrations ……………………………………………………………………….vi Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 1: The Social, Political and Cultural Context in Ireland……………………7 1.1 Irish Society and Sexuality 1.2 The Gay Rights Movement 1.3 Law Reform Chapter 2: Meaning and Expression of Sexuality……………………………………18 2.1 Queer Culture 2.2 Creation of Space 2.3 Evolution of Queer Expression Chapter 3: Graphic Design and Club Promotion…………………………………….32 3.1 LGBT Graphic Design 3.2 Audience and Distribution 3.3 Production Values Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………..43 Sources……………………………………………………………………………………47 Appendix…………………………………………………………………………………..50 !v List of Illustrations NB: All Hirschfeld Centre, Phoenix Club, Flikkers, Sides, GAG, Powderbubble and H.A.M. flyers are sourced from the Irish Queer Archive. Figure 1 - Front of flyer for H.A.M. nightclub, c 1999. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 2 - Flikkers nightclub flyer, 1979. Designed by Tonie Walsh. Figure 3 - Climax, Sides Dance Club flyer, 1991. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 4 - GAG nightclub flyer, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 5 - Flikkers Halloween disco flyer, 1986. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 6 - Advertisement for Rice’s bar, 1965. Designer unknown. Figure 7 - Fairview march re killing of Declan Flynn, 1983. Source: Out For Ourselves. Figure 8 - Yes Equality social media banner, 2015. Designed by Language. Figure 9 - Hirschfeld Centre disco flyer, 1979. Designed by National Gay Federation. Figure 10 - Phoenix Club disco flyer, 1979. Designed by National Gay Federation. Figure 11 - Tel-a-Friend advert, 1980. Designed by National Gay Federation. Figure 12 - Flikkers Green and Pink party flyer, 1986, Designed by James Desmarais. Figure 13 - Flikkers Leather and Denim party flyer, 1985. Designer unknown. Figure 14 - The Grotto, Sides Dance Club flyer, 1989. Designed by Francis Scappaticci Figure 15 - The Banana Party, Sides Dance Club, 1991. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 16 - Alternative Miss Ireland poster, 1987. Designed by Niall Sweeney Figure 17 - Alternative Miss Ireland poster, 2012. Designed by Niall Sweeney Figure 18 - GAG nightclub flyer, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 19 - GAG nightclub flyer, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 20 - Powderbubble nightclub flyer, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 21 - H.A.M. nightclub flyer, 1998. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 22 - ‘Cake Hole and Candle Wax’ GAG nightclub poster, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 23 - Powderbubble nightclub flyer, 1996. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 24 - H.A.M. nightclub flyer, 1997. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 25 - Cowgirl H.A.M. nightclub flyer, 1997. Designed by Niall Sweeney. Figure 26 - Cowboy H.A.M. nightclub flyer, 1997. Designed by Niall Sweeney. !vi Fig. 1 - H.A.M. nightclub flyer, 1999. Introduction The late 1980s and 1990s saw the beginning of the crossover between Irish design and the LGBT community. Graphic designer Niall Sweeney was the prominent figure behind this crossover, as he designed almost all of the visual identities for queer nightclubs at this time. He describes himself as “a big old gay, and a big old designer”1, and his work is not simply about designing for the LGBT social scene, but it is about doing the best work possible for the people and places that it is about. During the 1980s through to the 2000s, club flyers were an integral part of bringing visibility to the LGBT community in Ireland, and were the most popular form of visual communication and promotion for nightclubs. This dissertation will examine how queer identity was expressed through nightclub flyers and posters in Ireland from the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Queer in this context is being used as an umbrella term to describe a member of the LGBT community. This refers to people that sexually identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, or identify as transgender, and it also 1 Interview with Niall Sweeney, Emer Brennan, 9 January 2018. !1 includes people who fall between sexual and gender binaries, such as pansexuals2 and people who are gender non-conforming (essentially all non-heterosexual people). The word ‘queer’ has experienced many changes over the last few decades, and it was initially used to describe something odd or eccentric. The word received homosexual connotations during the middle of the 20th century, and has been used by heterosexuals as an offensive or slang word since then, and can be used synonymously with dyke or faggot. However, in recent years the word queer has been reclaimed by the LGBT community and re-appropriated to be used as a positive word that many find very empowering to describe their sexual or gender orientation. Today, the word queer is embraced in Ireland, as the annual art festival Queer Notions has been running for the last decade and is the best platform for showcasing new queer art, film, drama and literature. The word was first embraced publicly in Ireland on posters and flyers for queer nightclubs, the first being Flikkers disco (fig. 2), which ran from 1979 to 1987 in the Hirschfeld Centre in Temple Bar. Flikkers was the first gay venue in Dublin, and also the first venue to play disco and house music. Dublin writer Ian Maleney states in The Irish Times in 2017 “Flikkers was where it all started… Disco blurred into house over the speakers, and the foundation for nightclubbing in Dublin was set in glittering, multi-coloured stone.”3 Fig. 2 - Flikkers nightclub flyer, 1979. 2 Pansexuality is the sexual attraction to a person of any biological sex, gender, or gender identity. 3 Maleney, Ian, Rave on: When underground dance parties ruled Dublin, The Irish Times, 24 February 2017. !2 The Hirschfeld Centre was badly damaged in a fire in 1987 and the home of Flikkers closed its doors for good. Club promoter John Nolan opened Sides Dance Club on Dame Lane in 1986, which was a nightclub for both gay and straight people and hosted the best DJs in Dublin at the time. The flyers for Sides at the end of the 1980s start to become more expressive, and the text and visuals contain cheeky sexual references (fig. 3). A lot of flyers from the 1990s have a raunchy hilarity about them, particularly the ones made afer 1993. On the 23 June 1993, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill was passed in the Dáil and homosexual relations between men were decriminalised. Gay rights activist Kieran Rose describes how, for many lesbians and gay men, “the law reform had a powerful liberating effect on our sense of ourselves. It was like a great burden being lifed from our shoulders, a burden we had grown up with and had hardly realised existed”4 in his book The Evolution of Lesbian and Gay Politics in Ireland (1994). Afer decriminalisation, gay people could finally openly express and explore their sexuality without the fear of prosecution. One way that this was possible was through dance clubs. In 1994, a group of young talented promoters formed Ham Productions to organise new and diverse queer club nights in Dublin. Ham Productions was made up of Niall Sweeney, Miss Panti Bliss creator Rory O’Neill, DJ Tonie Walsh and Karim Rehmani-White.