A chat with the schoolgirl activist who sparked a thousand-strong LGBT rally

She’s 17, she’s obsessed with Phantom of the Opera, she’s studying for her A Levels – and she’s also a gay rights activist who managed to bring thousands of people together to support LGBT rights and campaign for equal marriage in Northern Ireland earlier this year.

Padraigin’s event went viral in the days following the equal marriage result in the Republic of Ireland

When Padraigin Mervyn decided to organise a demonstration for equal marriage in Belfast in May 2014 she was shocked at the colossal level of support she automatically received. With 4.5k supporters online, over 1000 protesters in person, six political representatives and multiple guest speakers from a range of organisations, before she’s even been to uni. We chatted to the pint-sized activist about her early success.

Padraigin going about her daily business

What originally inspired you to organise the demonstration?

I organised the protest because the Republic of Ireland had just passed their same sex marriage referendum, momentum was high, and I believed it was the perfect time. The ‘yes’ campaign in the South were victorious in their campaign, which was run by the movement of the people on the street, why couldn’t we create the same kind of movement in the North? We wanted to challenge Stormont and show them LGBT rights would not be something that could be easily dismissed on their parliamentary floor.

How did it feel to gain such a massive amount of supporters for a demonstration you planned?

When I had set the event page up I was hoping 200 people would select attending, but that target was surpassed within an hour. In the run up to the demonstration, figures reached up to 4.5k. I was totally amazed at the the amount of support I had received, I had individuals volunteering to help out, messages on Facebook of those who wanted to have their voices heard, my event was shared over 300 times. The day of the rally just over 1000 people attended, I was absolutely delighted with the turnout and I was on an absolute high after leaving such an impact on social media, where thousands committed to change, they wanted to fight back against oppression and inequality just as much as I did.

The crowds at the marriage rally back in May

So there was obviously a lot of support, but did you face any backlash during the demonstration?

There was a pretty small counter protest from a religious group, but it wasn’t big enough to disrupt us — which is great. But when I am holding stalls for LGBT equality its pretty common to have people give me a bit of bother. Some people tend to be a bit ignorant in their views and unable to keep a genuine debate going, so most of the time I’m just getting shouted at with no real chance to have my say. Hopefully over time people become more accepting of everything and willing to lend their support, but for now backlash is still pretty prevalent in Belfast unfortunately.

Do you have any other plans for Belfast in terms of the LGBT rights movement?

The LGBT question in Northern Ireland is one that I’m always trying to tackle — after my rally there was an even bigger event with 20k reported to have attended, and Pride this year was incredible with its attendance-hitting record-breaking figures. It was my first year participating in the parade, and there was a massive sense of pride that day. It was great that everyone came together to march and celebrate afterwards. I continued doing regular stalls in the city centre in attempt to collect signatures on a petition in favour of same sex marriage, but I’ve stopped those for a while because there’s more urgent political issues to focus on — Greece, Calais, the crisis at Stormont.

I would like to see another demonstration called in the upcoming months, we shouldn’t just wait until a politician or a business make homophobic remarks and let this blow up. We must display a continuous fight if we’re to put any sort of pressure on the government. I believe the best way to achieve LGBT rights is through the movement of people on the streets, whether it’s leafleting, stalls, meetings, or demonstrations.

Padraigin at the Pride parade this year

So considering the fact you’re still legally a minor and have managed something this great, do you have any advice for others who want to make some kind of social statement at such a young age?

You’re never too young to make a political statement, it’s easily done today, especially when people are able to easily express their views social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. If you want to become involved more with activism, events are constantly being shared on Facebook, and are often held around the city centre which means they’re usually accessible. Although I don’t recommend you create an event around exam season, because it’s very stressful.

So after all of this what are your plans for the year ahead?

I’ve a very busy upcoming year ahead of me politically and personally, I’m finishing my A Levels this year in school, and hoping to go to Queens next year to study a Joint Honours in History and Politics. Next weekend I will speaking at my first conference in Dublin, so I’m very excited but nervous about that. I’m very much into German history, particularly from 1930-45, so I’m travelling to Munich this February as a school trip to learn more about Nazi Germany, and am hoping to go to Poland this summer.

And I’m turning 18 very soon, so I’m preparing to fuck shit up in the city centre when I can actually get into clubs.

Padraigin and I before painting the town red