Gaylgeoirí: Walking a mile in my high heels - for Movember

One day, he might post a photo of himself in a wedding dress. The next, he could be posing in his GAA football kit.

“I like questioning what men are allowed to do in order to push the boundaries of that and bring attention to men’s mental health,” he says.

He is an openly gay man working in marketing in Dublin, but he wasn’t always so comfortable with his identity. Griffin grew up in a GAA-obsessed household. 

“GAA was our blood and heartbeat,” he says. “All my cousins played for the local club. My dad, aunties and uncles were involved. And until I was 12 or 13, I was passionate about playing football.”

Around this time he began to understand his sexuality. “Because there were no openly gay sports players then, I thought gay people didn’t belong in sports,” he says. “I stopped playing football as I thought it wasn’t for people like me.”

It took him more than a decade to return to sports. “In 2020, I was shocked to see a tweet from someone saying they were thinking of setting up an LGBTQ+ GAA club,” he says. “But I contacted them and went on to become co-captain of the team.”

Having lacked role models growing up, Griffin is determined to be one for young people. 

“I do what I do on social media and with Na Gaeil Aeracha GAA team so that young people don’t feel alone in their difference the way I did,” he says.

This is also why he has organised a fundraising event, Walk a Mile in My Shoes as part of Movember 2023, in which he plans to walk 30 kilometres wearing high heels. 

He will start his challenge at Street 66 on Dublin’s Parliament Street at midday on November 5.

“I’ll walk the first 15 kilometres and host a talk featuring gay people from the world of GAA, rugby and soccer on that day,” says Griffin.

“I hope to have a drag queen performance and raffle prizes. Everyone’s invited.” 

The only thing he’s worried about is the impact the long walk in high heels will have on his legs. 

“I’ve done some practising, and my legs were on fire afterwards,” he says, as he laughs nervously.

However, he believes his suffering will be worthwhile if it draws attention to Movember, a global charity that has been working to change the face of men’s health since 2003.

Growing a mo

Movember’s CEO, Australian Michelle Terry, explains how it began as a conversation between two friends in a bar in Melbourne. 

“The facial hair movement we have today didn’t exist back then and they joked about bringing the moustache back into fashion,” she says. 

“As the conversation continued, they decided to do it, and do it in aid of a good cause. At the time, there was a lot of talk about breast cancer in women but very little about prostate cancer in men. 

So, they got 30 mates together to ‘grow a mo’ and start talking about prostate cancer in November 2003.” 

In the 20 years since, men in 21 countries have grown moustaches, organised awareness-raising events and raised approximately €850m in the process.

Terry attributes much of this success to the fact that growing a moustache is such an effective conversation starter. “Men ask each other why they’re doing it, which leads to them talking about men’s health,” she says.

Movember no longer focuses exclusively on prostate health but has a much broader remit. “We started out telling men how important it was to get their prostate checked regularly as they got older,” says Terry. 

“We’ve contributed to biomedical research that has led to the development of eight FDA-approved treatment drugs and are delighted that prostate cancer survival rates are now going up.”

From 2005, they started shining a light on testicular cancer and from 2006, on men’s mental health.

“We know that men experience significant levels of distress, with global statistics showing that one man dies of suicide every second,” says Terry. 

“We want to do something to address that.” 

In Ireland, one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men aged between 15 and 24 and three in every four suicides is a man.

The Movember campaign has proven to be popular here since it was launched in 2008 and has raised over €16m.

These funds have been spent on biomedical research, cancer survivorship programmes and innovative community mental health programmes in Ireland.

For example, Movember has worked with the Irish Cancer Society to introduce the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcome Registry and with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland on a programme called Hugs at Home.

“Hugs at Home focuses on first responders, or the police, firefighters and ambulance workers who are usually first to the scene of accidents and emergencies,” says Terry. 

“We work with their families to make them aware of the signs of post-traumatic stress so that our first responders can be treated early before they reach crisis point or breakdown.”

Terry is particularly excited about a new partnership that will soon be announced with the GAA. “We have a programme called Ahead of the Game which builds mental fitness and resilience in young people,” she says.

 “Most mental health problems have some degree of onset by age 24 and our aim is to help adolescents develop the skills to deal with them. We have already introduced the programme to sporting organisations [in Australia] and we’re looking forward to working with young people in Ireland through the GAA.”

Movember movement

As Movember marks its milestone 20th birthday this year, the charity is eager to build upon what it has achieved in that time. One of the things Terry would like to see is more people, including women, getting involved in the movement.

She is quick to clarify that this doesn’t mean women taking on responsibility for men’s health. “Being a man has always been about providing for others, but it should also be about taking care of yourself. Women – who we call Mo Sisters – can help to spread this message.”

Terry believes the time has come for men to prioritise their health. “One of the reasons why men die five years younger than women on average is because they don’t look after themselves,” she says. “Our gender norms have to shift so that men feel encouraged and empowered to seek help when they need it. Not doing so can have a tragic outcome for men and their families.”

Throughout the month of November, events will be taking place in cities, towns and workplaces nationwide, all with the aim of starting conversations about the importance of men’s health.

Griffin hopes that his fundraising walk will add to this conversation. “For generations, men have been told to ‘man up’, which has meant bottling up their problems,” he says.

“But that’s so hard. I often compare it to coming out as gay. You catastrophise that conversation before you have it, but once you do, all you feel is relief. It’s the same with problems: sharing them with someone else takes a huge weight off your shoulders. Movember can be an opportunity to do that. It gives people an easy way to start conversations with men about how they feel.”

• For more information about Movember events, see https://ie.movember.com/en/events