Irish in London – Page 17 – London Irish LGBT Network

Postponed: In Conversation with Conleth Kane

Update: 23rd July 2021

Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflicts and there not being enough hours in the day, we’re going to have to postpone our chat with Conleth on Monday. We’re hoping to re-arrange the date as soon as possible. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.

~~Join London Irish LGBT Network for our monthly virtual meet-up on Monday July 26th at 8pm. This month we’re joined by Northern Irish singer-songwriter, Conleth Kane.~~

Conleth has just released his new single ‘Proud’, which has been remixed by remixers to the stars, 7th Heaven.

Described by OK Magazine! as ‘the breath of fresh air we all need right now’ and QX Magazine as “an infectiously energetic, refreshingly cheerful Singer/Songwriter”, Conleth Kane recorded his debut album ‘Proud – Live in London’ at a sold out show at The Crazy Coqs in London’s West End in Oct 2018 seeing him shoot to Number 2 on the iTunes Singer/Songwriter Charts in Feb 2019.

Originally hailing from Northern Ireland, Kane trained at the prestigious Arts Educational Schools in London and went on to perform roles on screen as well as in Musicals in the West End and all over the UK/Ireland before becoming a Singer/Songwriter.

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Our Life Stories

Conleth’s Story: Proud

For Pride month, we asked our members if they would like to share their stories about their lives and what Pride means to them. The response has been amazing and we may continue these after Pride month has ended. If you would like to contribute your story, please send your story to londonirishlgbtnetwork@gmail.com

Thanks to Conleth’s for sharing his story.

Proud

By Conleth Kane

I will never forget my first non-uniform day at my secondary school – St Paul’s Junior High School in Lurgan back in 1997. It was an all-boys Catholic School in a working-class town in Lurgan in N. Ireland. I emerged from my bedroom wearing a Spice Girls T Shirt and my parents looked at me with fear all over their faces. They were always terrified on my behalf but I honestly didn’t give a s**t. I adored the Spice Girls. The band was the only display of diversity I had seen and they made it very clear that it was perfectly acceptable to be in a group scenario but be individual. I suppose that’s why I saw 60,000 other gay people at their 2019 reunion shows at Wembley Stadium. I guess they also identified with the very loud and clear message the girls generated.

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Our Life Stories

Lee’s Story: Pride is Fcuking Fun!

Thanks to Lee for sharing his story.

Pride is Fucking Fun

by Lee Brophy

I’m very fortunate to have parents who accepted me for my queerness no questions asked. One caveat, I had to come out to my dad twice because the first time he thought gay and bi were the same thing (if he only knew!)

It took me until I was 19 to come out as bisexual due to chronic shyness. I had been bullied for being fat by so many people that it completely destroyed my self esteem and expression. It took years of sarcasm, reverse psychology, and a really big mirror for me to undo the self sabotage. Now I separate the feedback into ‘useful’ and ‘that’s funny, I wish I thought of that’.

I don’t begrudge anyone who was horrible to me growing up. I am who I am today because of everything that has happened to me.

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