Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that these statements are taking place. It is more than 25 years since I attended my first Pride march. It was 26 years ago, which is hard for me to believe in many ways. Much has changed in Irish society since then and much has changed for LGBTQI+ people. That said, while some things have changed massively for us, some things have remained quite the same.

The Pride march has gone from thousands of people to tens of thousands of people participating. It has become one of the largest events that takes place in Dublin, with massive mainstream buy-in and support. Of course, we have had great progress and some legal changes over the years. More and more people are coming out. We have had marriage equality, which has been significant. However, some things remain fundamentally quite the same. More of our community is now comfortable being visible and being out holding hands in public and yet, many of us at times do not feel safe being visibly ourselves in public.

As an elected representative of Dublin Bay North, my constituency has strong connections with the history of LGBTQI+ liberation in this country. The first Deputy in this Chamber to talk about gay rights was the late Dr. Noel Browne who represented parts of my constituency. He was well ahead of his time. Sadly, when he did talk about gay rights, he was laughed out of it in this Chamber. Thankfully, we have had massive progress since then.

Another strong connection with my constituency was the brutal murder of Declan Flynn in Fairview Park in 1982. That gave rise to the first LGBTQI protests and marches in Dublin and in Ireland, which then gave rise to Pride. It is all the more sad, when we think about that brutal murder that this year, people have been murdered in connection with their sexual orientation and that violent homophobic and transphobic attacks are on the rise yet again.

Considerable progress has been made. Marriage equality was a particular milestone but, it is also true to say that since marriage equality many of us in the LGBTQI+ community feel that progress has been slow and not at the pace at which we would have hoped for or expected. We are in Pride month now and with the Pride march coming up on Saturday, yes, there is much to celebrate, but it is the first time I remember in years when many of us in the community feel that this is not a celebratory moment. Many people are very concerned about violent homophobic attacks being on the rise. There is also a very strong sense that our community is under a concerted effort to try to divide us, which will not succeed. We have seen the efforts to try to attack the trans community in particular.

Before I talk about that, I will welcome the work that has been done by the Garda and community leaders, especially people such as Oisín O'Reilly in Outhouse, to work together to address violence on the streets and have a co-ordinated response to tackle homophobic attacks. It is a very sad indictment that over the past number of months, many LGBTQI+ people are questioning how comfortable they feel being visible in public places. Being violently attacked is horrific for anyone and it is all the more horrific to be attacked because of who one is or because one is different, whatever that difference is. That makes people feel more vulnerable.

In terms of the attempts that there has been to divide the LGBTQI+ community and the attacks on trans people, the LGBTQI community stands strongly united against anyone who would seek to divide it. We know, from our history and lived experience, exactly what is happening and what these tactics are. We have seen them before. We have seen them throughout our lives. We know from the darker years from which we have emerged that those who are trying and seeking to attack and pick off parts of our community will not stop there, if they get the chance. If they get half the chance, they will go further than that. We will not tolerate any attacks against people simply for having the courage to be themselves and to live their lives as themselves.

In the strongest possible terms, I express solidarity, on behalf of our community, with all of the trans members of our community. We know that an attack against any trans person is an attack against all of us. Those attacks are, sadly, all too familiar because we have seen them over the decades. The same sorts of arguments that are now being used to attack trans people have been used against all of us over the years. The attempts to sow disunity or to pick off groups of people simply will not work or succeed. The march towards equality is unstoppable, even though it comes with its challenges.

In terms of the debate that has been happening around and about trans people, it is very important in terms of public discussion that the voices of trans people are heard loudly and clearly. It is also very important that when the media frame the debate, we should be discussing issues that affect trans people. We should not be discussing issues that sections of the media have with trans people. Let us talk about issues that affect trans people and let us reject any attempts to dehumanise any group of people. That is an attack against all of us in society. It puts a considerable stress on anyone in society if one has to continually feel the need to defend one's existence, just for being who one is. We should all be very conscious of that.

When we talk about trans people and how they need our political support, we should be very conscious of what research has shown us. There is not enough research in Ireland. However, research in the UK, published by Stonewall in 2017, found that 45% of trans young people had attempted suicide at least once. It also showed that 84% of young trans people had self-harmed and that 64% of trans pupils said they had been bullied for being LGBTQI+ at school. We also know from research done by Akt, formerly the Albert Kennedy Trust, that 24% of homeless young people in the UK identify as LGBTQI+ and that trans people are over-represented in that number. We also know from research from Stonewall that 19% of trans people have experienced domestic abuse from a partner in the past year.

When we talk about trans people and the issues that are affecting them - those are the issues. How we support trans people and help them resolve and work against those issues is what we should be talking about in our public discourse. We know from research in Ireland that almost 50% of trans people in Ireland are unemployed, which is a startling figure. It shows the level of work we all need to do to address the discrimination and inequality that the trans community, in particular, faces.

As a country, we are at our best when we are inclusive, when we work towards equality and when we celebrate our diversity. That goes for everybody in Ireland. Everything that we do to support the LGBTQI+ community and Pride is supportive of us as a community. It also sends a signal to anyone who is any way different that one is supported and that diversity should be supported. We know, unfortunately, from the very dark history that we have as a country when that was not done and people were mistreated, incarcerated and locked up just for being different, how far we have come as a country. That was very much the country out of which Dr. Noel Browne was coming, but we know how very far we still have to go as a country.

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