Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I delighted to be able to speak on the LGBTQI+ community, about our strategy and to listen to the Minister. To be fair, he spoke about many positive things. I certainly recognise that. To echo what Deputy Funchion said, we are in a much better place than we were when I went to school. A great deal of work remains to be done, though, and we all recognise this as well. I send my solidarity to the members of the trans community. I stand with them against the recent attacks on their very existence. This must be said today and I am glad that people are saying it. The members of the trans community know they have our support.

I refer to when I came into politics. I and many people in Sinn Féin have a vision for the island involving republican principles of equality, diversity and inclusion because this goes to the core of who we are. I have been lucky. I have been attending Pride in Cork for years. Sometimes my wife, Michelle, and our two daughters would come with me. I remember pushing them in the buggy when they were babies. Pride has a great atmosphere and I look forward to walking it this year with my family again, because it sends out a brilliant message to people that this is where we want to be, that we want to be inclusive and to work with people and respect them. The atmosphere can be so positive; it just lifts your heart.

I also pay my respects to all those who have campaigned over the years. In Sinn Féin, we say that we stand on the shoulders of great men and women. The LGBTI+ community does the same and all those people who campaigned for years and who fought against discrimination and for equality must be remembered for the contribution they made.

I want to say clearly that I do not want to see us regress, as we have seen happen in other European countries, something the Minister touched on. I want us to move forward. We all remember how proud we were as a nation when we passed the marriage equality referendum. It was a brilliant achievement for us as a people, but a lot more work needs to be done. While we can recognise our victories, we also have to recognise that there is more to do.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, has called for legislation on hate crime and hate speech, something we all want the Minister for Justice to fast track and deliver. People should never be allowed to promote hate crime and hate speech. That is something that we as an Oireachtas need to deliver on. We need to stand up and let that message go out loudly and clearly. The only way we can do that is to pass legislation to ensure that happens.

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