Independent Senator David Norris has delivered a remarkable, blistering polemic against “rampant homophobia” to the Irish senate this week.

Watch Mr Norris come out blazing against members of the chamber who he accuses of putting down motions that “are effectively apartheid.”

The speech was prompted by the Irish broadcaster RTE paying damages to anti-gay rights campaigners that drag queen Panti Bliss had described as homophobic.

Mr Norris deserves a standing ovation for this brave and laudable defiance against Irish homophobia:

Note: In 1988, Mr Norris took Ireland to the European Court of Human Rights which led to the decriminalisation of same-sex sexual activities.