A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe 

Overview

A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe explores the turbulent events of the 1983 National Union of Students Lesbian and Gay Conference, held at Queens University Belfast.

Taking place just one year after the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Northern Ireland, and two years after the 1981 hunger strike, the events of that weekend are a remarkable chapter in the city’s LGBT history.

Met by large-scale protest from the ‘Save Ulster From Sodomy’ crusade, and mounting tensions within the NUS Executive, delegates were in danger of receiving anything but a warm Irish welcome.

That was all about to change when delegates were offered an invitation from the community in West Belfast to join them at the Martin Forsythe Social Club in Turf Lodge, an invitation that was eagerly accepted.

On that Saturday evening, a convoy of Belfast’s famous black taxis turned up to the Student’s Union amid the protests to whisk delegates away to West Belfast for an evening that became one of the most inclusive and welcoming LGBT events many of the young students had ever encountered.

Set against the soundscape of 1983 Belfast: the escalating Troubles; vocal and violent opposition to homosexuality; and a thriving punk scene, A Queer Céilí at the Marty Forsythe looks at a unique chapter in Belfast’s history and celebrates commonality and camaraderie in the face of adversity.

The world premiere of this production took place in the Trinity Lodge, formerly The Marty Forsythe where the 1983 céilí was held, and featured as part of LGBT History Month 2019 and the Imagine Belfast Festival of Ideas and Politics.