Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

I thank the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion and the opportunity to speak to this incredibly important issue. I will use three slogans to shape my contribution. The first is "Trans rights are human rights." The reason I wish to delve into this a bit more is the Minister referenced equality a lot in her contribution. As a professional in the human rights and equality sphere, I have thought a lot about how human rights and equality interact. The reality is that until everybody’s healthcare needs are met, we cannot say that healthcare is a right that is realised in this country. That is what we mean when we say that equality, as the Minister said, is broad. It has to reach everyone. If we want to say that healthcare is a right, it has to be provided for every single individual group. The reality for trans people in Ireland is that outcomes are worse compared with everyone else in the cis population across a multitude of areas. For healthcare, it is absolutely crucial because for so many trans people, healthcare provides the actual self-realisation of their identity. We are ten years on now from the Gender Recognition Act. When I was working in the human rights space, we were heralded as so progressive to do that but, unfortunately, all of the other areas that helped to realise the rights of trans people have not been met.

The second slogan I wish to talk about is “nothing about us without us”. There are five words I want to imprint on the Minister’s brain, namely, patient-led, informed consent model. That is what the community and trans people are looking for to allow them to access their healthcare in a dignified way that does not push them into the grey market because of the difficulty of getting drugs or cause that indignity of the questions that are asked of people in those sessions. We need to make that shift mentally as a society, as we did with abortion. When abortion was seen as a part of healthcare, it meant that it was no longer weaponised on a moral battleground. Similarly, for trans healthcare, we need to do the same thing because that is what it is; it is healthcare. It is ridiculous, for example, that, as a menopausal woman, I can access the hormones I need but the very same product is not provided to a trans woman because she is a trans woman.

The final slogan I wish to mention is simply “trans pride”, because so often in these debates – debate is the wrong word when we are talking about rights, as others have said – but trans pride says to me is that we need to celebrate our trans community. I hosted a public meeting recently in my constituency, which I framed as a trans appreciation and information evening. I did that for two reasons: first, to celebrate diversity and inclusion in our society and, second, because it cannot be weaponised. If someone were to come out and say that trans appreciation is wrong, just like we hear people say trans healthcare and trans people’s participation in sports are wrong, then that person is simply transphobic and I will not tolerate that. We need to be political leaders. It is not an easy area. It is divisive and I appreciate and recognise that. The Minister is proving to be a Minister who is not afraid to ruffle feathers, so I urge her to be the same in this area and show the political leadership that the trans community needs.

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