Campaign jitters rise as Irish gay marriage referendum nears...

Shorn of a blond wig, outsized false eyelashes, garish eyeshadow, and high heels, the Irish drag artist Panti looked like the strain was starting to tell.

It was not the jet lag from a speaking tour of the US that he had just completed, nor the slightly frantic attentions of his pet jack russell, who was playing with a ball close to the dance floor of PantiBar, a well-known gay pub-nightclub in Dublin.

Panti’s anxiety stemmed from the vote this May on gay marriage in Ireland. Polls may put the yes campaign ahead. But this is Ireland, where the public can spring nasty surprises on the Dublin elite in referendums.

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