Culture

Iconic Dublin gay bar defaced with horrific homophobic slur in “premeditated” act

By Zoya Raza-Sheikh

15th June 2021

A bar in the Republic of Ireland was attacked by vandals and left with gruesome graffiti scrawled near the building.

Irish Drag queen Panti Bliss took to Twitter to share an image of vandalism sprayed near several doors away from the infamous Pantibar venue.

As the owner of the bar, the queen explained the word “pedo” had been scrawled in spray paint on the wall with an arrow pointing towards Pantibar.

Online users rallied around the queen and showed support for the venue. One user expressed their upset over the attack online.

“Disgusting and cowardly. This is why we still need pride. Interesting that they chose to place graffiti near one of Dublin’s few gay bars.”

Another shared an optimistic perspective following the event. “When Queer businesses, property and symbols are under threat of destruction or vandalism,” the posted. “At least it wasn’t up long. But sure, bigots never win – so we’ll keep on keepin’ on.”

Activist and writer Scott De Buitléir commented on the disgraceful act. “That photo by Pantibar, with *that* word, still used against gay men, is the exact reason Pride is still needed when ignorant or apathetic people questions its necessity in relatively liberal places like Ireland. For some to still think we’re sinister or corrupt is so upsetting,” he tweeted.

https://twitter.com/scottdebuitleir/status/1404431439702151173?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1404431439702151173%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinknews.co.uk%2F2021%2F06%2F14%2Fpantibar-dublin-gay-lgbt-venue-homophobic-graffiti-panti-bliss%2F

Shortly after the attack occurred, the Dublin Town team came to show their support and remove d the graffiti.

Following the repaint, the building that was defaced belongs to the American e-commerce store Etsy.

The company displayed pride flags outside their building in a show of solidarity with the bar.

Returning to social media, Panti Bliss updated her followers on the incident and its outcome.

“There is CCTV of the graffiti incident last night and it was very clearly planned and premeditated, rather than a spur of the moment thing,” she posted.

This isn’t the first time Pantibar has been targeted. In 2018, during Pride Month, the gay bar was subjected to a homophobic attack.