Markus Feehily calls for marriage equality

Embarking on his solo career two-and-a-half years after the end of Westlife, Markus Feehily opens up in the 900th issue of Hot Press.
As well as talking about finding his voice as a solo artist, recalling his discomfort being a "pop star" in the early days of Westlife and discussing their old feud with Ash, the Sligo artist discusses the impact of coming out a decade ago.
"I was never myself until I did come out," he tells our own Craig Fitzpatrick. "It was that anticlimactic thing where I thought everything was going to change and then a week or two later everybody stopped asking about. So everything for me changed, but nobody else. Everybody else stayed the same. A lot of people before they come out fear that their whole world's going to fall apart. That they're going to lose their friends and family. It's a big part of why people struggle to come to terms with it and struggle to come out. One thing I always try to share with anybody who might be in that situation is that actually, you'd be very surprised at how little changes, if anything changes at all. Apart from your happiness. It changed my life."
Now in a new relationship and in a "good place" in his life, he is calling on everyone to vote "yes" in the same-sex marriage referendum in May.
"I feel very excited and positive about the fact it could be about to all happen. It's all well and good if everybody outside the LGBT community are supportive and – I hate the word 'tolerant' because what's there to tolerate? – accepting. Moving forward in a positive way about things. But... The important thing is to actually vote. It's everyone outside the LGBT community joining in that is the mass support that will push it through."
For more with Feehily (on pg. 70!), pick up the new, bumper edition of Hot Press, on sale now.
To purchase your copy of Hot Press 39.04 - The 900th Issue with HamsandwicH on the cover online direct from hotpress.com
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Markus Feehily plays The Olympia Theatre, Dublin, on Sunday March 8