Gay marriage rights campaigner Panti Bliss spoke as the headliner for this year's ILGA-Europe’s Equality Gala in Brussels.

The self-styled Queen of Ireland delivered a speech in support of the LGBT community and touched on the tragic events in Orlando, Florida.

Panti delved in to the origins of the word 'homophobia' and the talked about the power it holds. She also addressed the mislabelling by media outlets that the Orlando shooting was not an attack on freedom but an attack on the LGBT community.

"For many of us, the very first time that we ever felt totally and utterly free to be ourselves in every way was the first time that we went to a gay bar," she said. "For LGBTI people, bars are more than just bars… I have never been, in my life, to Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, but that doesn’t matter because I know it like the back of my hand.

"I know the kind of people that were there, I know the fun that they were having, I know the freedom that they felt to be able to be themselves, totally… I have never been to Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and yet I have spent some of the best times of my life there."

Watch the speech in full below.

Panti Bliss at European Equality Gala 2016 from ILGA-Europe on Vimeo.