Ladies We Love – Panti
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Here at Gaelick we are continuing our series of articles about the “ladies we love” and no such list would be complete without the very talented and very sexy Panti. Her stage shows are a thing of legend but there’s more to this queen, she has played an integral part in raising money for HIV/AIDS through the Alternative Miss Ireland (tickets here) as well as owning and running what this blogger believes is the best gay bar in Dublin – Panti Bar, not to mention her hilarious blog.
Here’s what the first lady of the Irish LGBTQ community had to say when she was kind enough to take some time out to answer this little lesbians questions…
With Panti Bar over a year old now and doing really well, what plans have you for the future?
Well, the bar is a bit like a hamster’s wheel: you have to keep working hard on it. We’re always making changes, building stuff, adding things, looking for new ideas, new nights etc so the bar will always feature heavily in my plans, but I do have some other projects on the go. Just to keep me fresh! I’m always writing for my blog, which I find fun, more than work really. And there’s a couple of other things that are simmering on the back burner that I’m excited about but don’t want to jinx by talking about just yet!
Your post ranting about the small protest for LGBT Noise got a lot of attention within the community, is politics something that interests you and do you ever see yourself entering the world of politics eg Panti for Taosieach?
I’m definitely interested in issues, but I don’t have the patience, or the DNA, for real politics. But I do get frustrated by many of the gays lack of engagement with the important issues. I love to party and have a good time as much as the next trannie, but life isn’t that simple.
We loved In Her Shoes and All Dolled Up, are there any more plays on the cards?
Yes. I was commissioned by the Project Theatre to write a new one for later in the year, so once The Alternative Miss Ireland has been put to bed for another year, I’ll have to get my gorgeous head down and get cracking. Or at least, that’s what my producer Philip keeps shouting at me!
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If they were to make a movie of your life who would play you?
Maggie Smith!
How long does it take to look as fabulous as you do?
It takes about two hours to get my whole ‘no make-up’ look together! Anything under an hour and a half is a rush-job. I’m actually a horrible pig-dog-man-woman underneath all the smoke and mirrors.
My best friend is a massive Dolly fan but even she admits you’re an even bigger fan, and that’s really saying something, what’s your favourite line from a Dolly Parton song?
Dolly is such an amazing lyricist that there are so many! But when I’m trying to explain her genius to people, I often quote a line from ‘Jolene’: ”Please don’t take him even though you can”
That deceptively simple line is a work of pithy genius. It’s only eight words long, and yet it tells you everything about Dolly and Jolene, and their relationship: that Jolene is prettier than Dolly, that Dolly knows it, that Dolly loves her man and is afraid Jolene will take him, that Jolene could take him, that Jolene is the kind of person who might take him ‘just because’, that Dolly is insecure, that Jolene has power over men, that Dolly is prepared to beg…
Anyone who writes for a living can tell you how difficult that kind of economy is.
Would you ever think about entering the eurovison?
No. But I’d host it!
You lived in Tokyo for a few years, what was the scene like over there compared to here?
The straight club scene is huge there – and very nutty. Perfect for a huge foreign woman like myself! But the gay scene is small relative to the huge size of the city. Lots of small bars and clubs packed into a small area. I loved it. And it loved me back, lol!
Having been to a few other cities ourselves we’ve noticed that gay men and lesbians tend to separate socially, unlike here, Panti Bar for example has a wonderful mix, do you consciously try to include all members of the LGBTQ community or does it just happen naturally.
It’s a conscious effort on our part to be a ‘community’ bar, which I felt the scene here lacked because all the other bars are owned by ‘straight’ corporations. I want a stranger to be able to walk into the bar and know immediately that a real person owns it. Well, real fake!
Your Pride speech and Xmas articles are always a real treat, do you spend hours putting them together or does inspiring rhetoric just flow naturally?
I’d love to say I spend hours crafting them, but I’m a lazy, last-minute queen!
What do you think of the younger drag queens on the scene at the moment, is the future in safe hands?
Well, I love the fact that there are younger queens. There weren’t any when I was that age. It’s funny to me that it’s now seen as a legitimate career choice now, because the kids see that Shirley and Veda and I have managed to make a living from it. That’s a new development. My only criticism would be that I think too many of them are trying to be like the older queens. They need to be themselves, find their own styles and strengths. And some of them will. Some of them are already.
AMI is on again soon, what does it mean to you to know that it’s one of the highlights of the gay calendar?
I’m very proud of the AMI and my involvement in it. I think it shows the gay community at its very best: inclusive, creative, fun, energetic… And all put together by volunteers. Did you know it’s raised over a quarter of a million euros for HIV/AIDS charities? That’s amazing.
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