When Pantigate happened, Panti’s popularity shot through the roof. Already Ireland’s favourite drag queen and a spokesperson for LGBT rights in Ireland, she now found herself in the middle of one of the most controversial debates that has ever occurred in this country and one that us Irish cared very deeply about. Last week, we got to sit down with Rory O’Neill, the man behind the persona, and chat about the events that took place and plans for the future.
Despite the popularity of Noble Call and furious support for #TeamPanti, Rory is still one of the most grounded, down-to-earth and altogether lovely people we have had the pleasure to interview . When we first got to speak to him, it was some years ago for Dublin Pride but a lot has changed since then, particularly the success of his brilliant Noble Call and how it came about: “It came about because that happened about two or three weeks into the whole Pantigate affair and at that stage, newspapers and radio were all afraid to talk about it because of this defamation lawsuits that were going around. So, it was being talked about a lot online and it was being obliquely referenced on the mainstream media but they weren’t allowing me to give my side of the story in a sense. People who weren’t online keeping up, the average person, all they knew was that this drag queen had said something terrible on the television, so terrible that it had to be taken off the TV. There was a kind of feeling of no smoke without fire, I must have done something terrible, so that was really bothering me.
“The Abbey asked me to give the Noble Call. The show had been running for a few months and at the end of every performance, somebody spoke. All sorts of people had done it. I was asked to do it on the very last night of the show. I feel like the whole free speech thing fits in well with the narrative of the Abbey Theatre, riots over shows in the past, etc. It was also good box office, it was very topical. Here’s an opportunity to say exactly what I wanted to say. It also tickled me because the very moments I was giving that speech, on the Saturday Night Show they were having their homophobia debate, which I had been invited on to. Of course, I thought that there were 500 people who would hear this speech and then when we decided to film it, I thought a couple of hundred people who were interested in this story in Ireland would watch it. That’s what I thought.
Did I prepare it? I did in the sense that I wrote it that afternoon! I had thought about it lying in bed the night before, that’s how I do things. That afternoon I wrote it and wrote notes. I delivered the speech a couple of times in my living room! I remember saying to a friend, I think it’s pretty good, you know, because you never know!
O’Neill didn’t expect the overwhelming reaction to the piece: “It was so incredible and so fast. Friends of mine filmed it, they had a technical problem and it took them about 24 hours to upload the version that everyone knows now. Somebody had put up a fuzzy phone camera video and by the time I woke up the next morning, it was at 8,000 views! I thought, well we’ve missed our chance here because I thought that whoever has already watched it has seen it now and who the hell wants to watch a ten minute speech on homophobia? (laughs)
However, although grateful, he was in no way surprised that people cared about the topic: “I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because I’ve always really thought, without sounding too much like a politician, and believed in how tolerant Irish people actually are. I run around in drag and of course, you get the odd eejit, but it’s mostly sort of an ignorance. People can’t be expected to know everything about everything. In general, most Irish people are very live and let live. What Irish people don’t like and have never liked is judgemental, interfering busybodies.
“In the past, maybe 50 years ago, we were more afraid of them. Our fear was greater than our dislike, but that’s long ago gone. Most Irish people want the world that became represented by Panti, in a weird way, this open, forward-looking Ireland. Most Irish people have long ago rejected the kind of judgemental busybodiness represented by the other crowd. Part of what I have noticed about the other crowd since is that the other crowd have been really shocked to find out they are not universally loved. Generally, most Irish people are polite. We kind of rolled our eyes behind their backs and ignored them but this kind of caught people’s imaginations in a way and they decided, I’m not going to be polite about it anymore. I wouldn’t say I was surprised but I was gratified and delighted that people cared enough. In a weird way that Panti became sort of an avatar or a symbol for how people wanted the country to be and the way a lot of young people thought the country was and were shocked to find out that it wasn’t. I realise that that’s nothing to do with me, or even Panti really, but because she is a created character, free of baggage, you can make her a symbol.”
Since Pantigate, Rory has begun to feel a little pressure: “There’s this weird thing where people feel like you have to be this perfect gay all the time! I have never been good at that in some ways; I like to be a bit imperfect on purpose and sometimes that’s harder now! Sometimes, it can be very difficult for me to have an open conversation with people that I want to have because everything I say is given so much weight. It’s pressure, that’s not how I became Panti, by worrying about these things. Panti is a bit disrespectful, that’s what she is there for. Sometimes I make jokes online and they are taken incredibly seriously, but anyone who knows Panti knows nothing she says is serious! (laughs) She’s a drag queen! She’s an entertainer!”
Of course, we had to get in a few of our quickfire questions:
Favourite lipstick.
“Well, I mostly wear both Make-Up Forever and Mac. I like Russian Red and Ruby Woo. They’re not cheap looking!”
Favourite karaoke song.
“Well, that changes on the event! It’s hard to go wrong with Love is in the Air because if people think they hate it, halfway through the song, they’ll be like (dances in his chair). If you’re stuck, it’s a safe bet.”
How do you manage to wear heels so well?
“Practice! My foot is longer than a woman’s foot! A six inch heel on me, is probably only a four inch heel on you! I don’t do long distances in them (laughs) I put them on and I totter from one side of the stage to the other. Like anyone, I find heels incredibly painful but they’re also fabulous so suck it up, b**ch!”
Favourite dress.
“Well, that’s hard. It changes all the time. I have a lot of costumes that I have great memories about but I do have a classic Panti silhouette, it’s partly to do with style but also I have things to worry about that you won’t worry about! I always want my arms to be covered, always prefer a long sleeve and not too low cut! I like a shoulder pad! I like it to the knee, because I’m not a kid anymore and a fitted stretch because I’m performing. I always end up with that kind of dress… and then I tart them up in different ways!”
Panti has also announced a one-night only show in Vicar Street, tickets for which are on sale currently: “My theatre shows always thread a very fine line between stand-up and story-telling but what we planned to do with this one all along was to transfer the more anarchic energy of the nightclub shows into a different setting.”
“At the moment, it’s just for one night but we hope to do more shows and a very special show in October. If you keep an eye on POPBABY.com you’ll be able to check out the others!”
Panti’s High Heels in Low Places plays Vicar Street on the 13th June 2014. Tickets are €25 and are available from 0818 719 300 or www.ticketmaster.ie Doors at 7pm, show begins at 8pm
