Editing Mary McAleese (section)

===Background===

In 1975, McAleese and [[David Norris (politician)|David Norris]] founded the [[Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform]]. McAleese was its legal advisor from 1975 until 1979 when she joined [[RTÉ]] as a current affairs journalist.

In a 2008 biography, McAleese explained that she first became aware of the plight of gay people as a student in San Francisco in the early 1970s.  She was 21 and studying law at [[Queen's University Belfast]]. Her job involved preparing food for airlines; a supervisor, "a charming, lovely man", told her he was gay. They had become friends. He was wounded by being rejected by his family. She recalled, "at school or university I was never aware of ever meeting a gay person, such were the taboos at the time. As a heterosexual, I had wondered what it must be like for those who are outside the mainstream, the self-discovery, when you can reveal it to no one." That man was her introduction to the reality. "When I came back to Ireland I made it my business to do something about it," she said.<ref>{{Cite news | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | title=Mary McAleese: A long-time advocate for gay people | newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] | access-date=27 November 2019 | archive-date=14 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814200111/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/mary-mcaleese-a-long-time-advocate-for-gay-people-1.1651114 | url-status=live }}</ref>