Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent)
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I call the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Norma Foley, to make her statement. Under Standing Order 56, she is sharing time with the Minister of State, Deputy Jerry Buttimer, and Deputy Keira Keogh. They have 25 minutes in total.

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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It is my honour to address the House today on Pride. It is a particular honour to be here this year as we mark what is a significant year in terms of LGBTIQ+ equality.

As many in the House will be aware, the Dublin Pride Festival took place on 28 June. The streets of the capital were awash with vibrant colours, enjoyment and, most importantly, pride. As the summer moves on, there will be many more events taking place across the country to mark Pride. It is significant to see the expansion of Pride festivals across Ireland, especially in rural areas. I welcome their continued growth year on year. However, Pride month is more than just a festival or parade; it is a powerful statement about love, acceptance and resilience. This year marks a milestone anniversary for the LGBTIQ+ community and for wider society. It is ten years since the people of Ireland voted in their millions to say "Yes" to equality and to dignity. It was undoubtedly one of the most significant moments in the history of this State. On that historic day ten years ago, Ireland became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. With 62% in favour, the people of Ireland made a clear, proud, and compassionate choice to enshrine in our Constitution the equal right of same-sex couples to marry. It was a moment that changed our laws, but more than that, it changed lives.

The annual marriage statistics from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, show that hundreds of LGBTIQ+ couples are proudly getting married each year, including 688 last year. The success of the marriage equality referendum changed Ireland in so many profound ways. There is so much to celebrate in terms of the path to equality for the LGBTIQ+ community since that remarkable day. However, we must be mindful that equality is not a single destination. It is a continuous journey and one that we must remain committed to with the same spirit that defined that extraordinary day ten years ago. Pride is a moment to look forward, not just back, including: to reflect on the work still to be done; to combat discrimination; and to show the LGBTIQ+ community we stand in solidarity with them. Progress can be achieved when we collaborate and renew our efforts to advance equality for all. As Malala Yousafzai said, "We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back".

The new national LGBTIQ+ inclusion strategy 2024-2028 is a manifestation of the Government’s commitment to meet the challenges the LGBTIQ+ community continue to face. I am pleased to inform the House that I launched the strategy and its accompanying first two-year action plan last month. It was developed following an extensive consultation with the LGBTIQ+ community. One of the key messages that emerged is that it should be focused on making the biggest impact on the key priority areas that mattered most to the LGBTIQ+ community. That means there is a reduced number of actions compared to the previous strategy, but with the aim of achieving meaningful progress.

There are four pillars on which this strategy is built, including safety, health and well-being, participation and inclusion and equality and non-discrimination. The strategy will aim to promote and respect the right of LGBTIQ+ people to live their lives safely and free of harassment and violence through several prevention and protection measures in these key priority areas. This will include: addressing misinformation relating to LGBTIQ+ people; developing effective approaches within the criminal justice system towards addressing the safety issues experienced by the LGBTIQ+ community; enhancing awareness of the occurrence of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence within the LGBTIQ+ community because there is evidence to suggest that LGBTIQ+ people are afraid of reporting for fear of not being believed; and improving safety for LGBTIQ+ people in public spaces.

There are commitments in this cross-departmental strategy to invest in mental health services to improve access and provide tailored and specific supports for LGBTIQ+ people. This is essential because research has shown LGBTIQ+ people can face significant health issues, including high levels of depression, anxiety and stress. Another important commitment in the strategy is continuing to address and prevent LGBTIQ+ bullying in schools. I know from my time as Minister for Education that providing an inclusive education for our young people through fostering respect and understanding, promoting respect for diversity, reducing bullying and ensuring students feel a sense of belonging is of utmost importance. Our updated curriculum and anti-bullying measures in schools are working to create classrooms where students feel more included, more understood and more valued. The Irish word for kindness is "cineáltas". The Cineáltas: Action Plan on Bullying in schools is a key tool in tackling behaviour or language that intends to harm a student because of their membership of the LGBTIQ+ community.

Community-led organisations across the country have been supported with crucial funding to promote inclusion, protect rights and improve quality of life and well-being for LGBTIQ+ people. Many of these organisations open their doors and their phone lines to listen, to welcome and to offer support to members of the community. Particularly in more rural areas, these spaces and organisations play such an important and central role. We must continue to nurture and support them. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has a LGBTI+ community services fund which has provided €5.46 million in funding to 138 projects since 2020. I acknowledge that the former Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, is in the Chamber. I acknowledge also his work in this regard and, indeed, in terms of the strategy. The fund supports the establishment and enhancement of safe spaces in their many forms across the country. The importance of these safe spaces for LGBTIQ+ people cannot be underestimated in creating connections, solidarity and a sense of belonging.

For example, Youth Work Ireland with the support of the LGBTI+ community fund launched a new online youth cafe in January this year. It is held monthly for young neurodiverse LGBTQI+ people aged 18 to 24 years old to connect safely with peers and be supported by trained youth workers. I recently launched the funding call for the 2025 version of the community services fund with €1.4 million of funding being made available.

The increased levels of harassment and persecution of LGBTIQ+ people globally make many of our LGBTIQ+ citizens feel unsafe. We cannot stand by and let such sentiments take hold in Ireland. Kindness, understanding, solidarity and hope are the values and beliefs that must remain central to our work as we continue on the journey of equality. As the old Irish saying goes "Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine" - "We live in the shadow of one another".

Ireland has increasingly become seen as an emblem of equality, democracy and inclusion. It is a country with a proud record as a champion of human rights. The European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs recent report on the European Commission’s LGBTIQ equality strategy highlighted the current challenges to LGBTIQ+ safety across Europe. In particular, the report noted that the rise of far right political forces has motivated an increase of the harassment and persecution of LGBTIQ+ persons in Europe.

Each year, the Rainbow Europe annual review ranks all 49 European countries on the basis of their legal and policy situation regarding LGBTQI+ rights. In this year’s Rainbow Europe report, Ireland placed 14th out of 49 countries in the general ranking. This represents an improvement from previous years, when Ireland placed 16th.

However, despite all the progress that has been made in making Ireland a more tolerant and welcoming place to live for the LGBTQI+ community, it is troubling to see that homophobic attacks are still taking place. Statistics published by An Garda Síochána show that there were 70 hate crimes and hate-related incidents recorded last year where the motive was hatred of a person’s sexual orientation. That is a reduction on the 109 hate crimes and hate-related incidents in 2023 where the motive was hatred of a person’s sexual orientation, but one such incident is one incident too many. We need to send a clear message to those who wish to inflict suffering on our LGBTQI+ citizens that this will not be tolerated.

In celebrating Pride, we recognise that equality is measured not only in laws and policies, but in the existence of spaces for joy, expression and inclusion. As Minister for disability, I highlight that July is also Disability Pride Month. I was impressed by the article written by Dr. Margaret Kennedy, a disability activist, in the Irish Independentthis week. She highlighted the need for disabled people to be accepted by society for who they are. She wrote:

We have a month of Disability Pride, because we who are disabled and you who are not, need one. It is OK to be deaf. It is OK to be in a wheelchair. It is OK to have cerebral palsy, or a speech ... [impediment], or autism. There is nothing bad or wrong about you having these conditions.

What has happened is that the world has still not accepted who we are. That is their loss.

Disabled people have many gifts to bring. Wisdom. Joy. Successes. We are proud of who we are. And [of] all [that] we achieve.

That is a powerful message and one that is well worth amplifying.

Pride is both a celebration and a protest. It is also a promise that Ireland will continue to be a place where equality grows and where no one is left behind. I reiterate that the Government remains committed to working with and for the LGBTQI+ community as we continue on our journey of equality.

Jerry Buttimer (Cork South-Central, Fine Gael)
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I begin by thanking the Minister, Deputy Foley, for her leadership and stewardship of the Department. Her last remarks clarify her position in terms of her commitment to equality. I thank her for that. I also pay tribute to the former Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, who is in the House this afternoon, for his leadership and courage as a Minister, but also for going to Budapest Pride. He sent a clear message on behalf of us all about the need for strong leadership. I thank him for that and déanaim comhghairdeas leis.

This is a very important debate because through celebrating pride, we recognise that we are ten years on from marriage equality at one level and have made significant progress, while recognising that significant challenges remain. As the Minister said, it is not just about laws; it is about our attitudes, our words, our spaces and our commitment as members of civic society.

On behalf of Cork, I wish all Members of the House a happy Cork Pride, which begins next weekend. I thank Deputy Rice, who was a former chief executive of the Cork Gay Project. Cork Pride is different in that it happens at a different time to other parts of the world. It will be held during the August bank holiday weekend. It is an important visible piece on what we do as a city as part of the rainbow city. It would be remiss of me not to pay tribute to the late Siobhán O'Dowd for her Trojan work and leadership as an advocate, activist and human rights champion. She was a person who strove to do what the Minister said, to make our world a better place for all of us, whether it was the most vulnerable LGBT people, or the people she met in every part of her daily work.

For many of us who were part of the campaign for marriage equality, it is probably still hard to believe that we voted in a plurality in the way we did. We are also very fortunate that in the Houses of the Oireachtas we have a Members' LGBT caucus and a staff representative association. We fly the rainbow flag and hold a coffee morning, which in themselves are not major things, but they are symbols of the inclusive, diverse Parliament we all represent and that we park our political ideology. I also pay tribute to our great friends, who are no longer Members of the House, former Senators Fintan Warfield and David Norris, who, along with me and Deputy Malcolm Byrne, started the campaign for the Houses to hold those two simple but effective and positive symbols of inclusivity and diversity in our Houses.

We will never forget the scenes in Dublin Castle. Stepping back to where we came from to marriage equality to now, I am conscious of the fact, as David Norris said recently, that there were only six or seven people at the first gay pride parade in Cork, including Kieran Rose and Arthur Leahy. They were champions on an arduous journey to lead to political change. We did it incrementally. Many people disagreed with us and thought we should have gone full throttle, but history will judge and the Irish people were generous. We have made significant progress, while recognising that we have challenges. That is why Pride is still important. That is why it is critical that we do not just celebrate and commemorate the past but that we challenge each other about the future and the world we live in today. It is about defending where we are, but is also about shaping a more inclusive future.

The European Parliament's review and ILGA-Europe's annual review highlight situations where people cannot be free to be who they are and who are not in a position like ours in this Chamber, whose allies and friends support us and raise the issues of anti-hate speech and discrimination and speak about violent attacks on the streets. While more people are free to be out and be open, many people are seeing an increase in violence, harassment and bullying against them. That is why, as the Minister said, we cannot have any tolerance for harassment and violence. I also make the point that we, as parliamentarians, have an obligation and responsibility to challenge those who have a different view to ours and to call them out for what they say in these Chambers, be it in the Dáil or the Seanad.

Today, the Emerald Warriors, a gay rugby team from Ireland, are champions of the Union Cup. The Cork Hellhounds won a competition. Next Saturday, on the eve of the All-Ireland Hurling Final, two gay teams from the North and South of our island will play a match in MTU in Cork. I thank Cork's Na Laochra Aeracha, for its wonderful work under the leadership of Aaron Kelly. I thank Richie Fagan of the Emerald Warriors for what they have done. They have encouraged inclusivity in sport and diversity. Aeracha Uladh coming to Cork shows the power of sport in uniting and raising the rainbow flag.

We have come a long way, but what does it really mean to be free to be who you are and to belong when people around the world are trying to take away the rights we won and campaigned for? These people are in parts of the world where one would imagine they should know better. They are meant to be the champions of democracy. We can never take the progress we have made for granted. That is why Pride, role models and tonight's statements are critical. We need campaigns and visibility. We must also recognise that marriage equality did not put the roof on the house. It was a key moment that we will never forget. I can wear this ring because of the generosity of the Irish people and I will never forget that. We must do more. That is why it is critical that we listen to and understand each other in this debate. As Charlie Bird said in his book, it was "Some Day in May".

The progress we have made is one we will continue. That is why I have made the commitment in the Department of rural and community affairs, along with the Minister, Deputy Foley, to always be that champion. We will always be the advocate and work with every Member of this House because there is very little that divides us on the matter of Pride and equality. I look forward to working with all Members to ensure that we continue to allow people to live safely, to be free in their workplace, to be free to be who they are and, more importantly, that we stand up to those who want to row back. We stand with our friends in the trans community, conscious that we have to take a journey there as well and we must do that.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Keira Keogh (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Ministers agus a chairde go léir, it is an honour to stand before you today as an ally and a proud supporter of the LGBTQI+ community. Over the month of June, we celebrated Pride around the country and around the world. Pride is a powerful expression of identity, resilience and love. I had the pleasure of walking in the 2025 Dublin Pride Parade alongside the Tánaiste, Deputy Harris, and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, as well as attending the Pride parade in my hometown of Westport. I really can attest to this expression. However, we must remember Pride is not just simply a parade; it is also a protest, a history and a journey. It serves as a reminder of how far we have come but also of the hard truth that progress, particularly continued progress, is never guaranteed. In Ireland, that journey to progress has been both painful and profound.

One of the most poignant stories in the history of LGBTQI+ rights in this country is that of Declan Flynn. Declan was killed in Fairview Park in Dublin in 1982 by a group who were all part of "the team to get rid of queers in Fairview Park". His death coincided with a series of beatings that were being dished out to gay men in Fairview Park at the time. His killers were not jailed, with the group given suspended sentences for manslaughter. This drew surprise and concern from many people across the country. The response to the verdict was the largest gay rights demonstration that had ever been seen in Ireland. It was a defiant show of strength in the deeply conservative Ireland of the time. That June, the first gay pride march would take place in Dublin. Many regard the sad case of Declan Flynn as the catalyst for the Pride movement in Ireland.

It is in our living memory that simply being gay in this country was a crime. Silence and stigma loomed over Ireland until 1993, when homosexuality was finally decriminalised. This was a change driven by people who fought relentlessly - often against the tide - for equality. From that moment, we saw massive changes. The year 2010 saw the introduction of civil partnerships and 2015 saw the historic moment as Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage by popular referendum. As we celebrate that decade, I congratulate the almost 80 couples in my home county who got married. We also saw the Gender Recognition Act coming into force in 2015. That legislation allows transgender people to have their gender recognised by the State. While this was a step in the right direction, we must continue to be aware that the journey for true equality for trans people is far from over.

These are just three examples of the progress that has been made in Ireland, but Pride also serves as a reminder of the work we still have to do. We have LGBTQI+ youths who are growing up in fear in this country. There are trans people who are waiting years to access healthcare in this country. We know of many attacks on the community in the context of a landscape at the moment that too often provides a platform for hate. Rights for the LGBTQI+ community are under attack, with 676 hate crimes and hate-related incidents reported to An Garda Síochána in 2024. That was an increase on the previous year. Research published by Trinity College Dublin and BelonG To, namely Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland 2024, found that 45% of the community in Ireland feel unsafe holding hands with a same-sex partner in public and that over half of trans and non-binary people feel unsafe expressing their gender identity in public. The research further found that one in four members of Ireland's LGBTQI+ community have been punched, hit or physically attacked just as a result of their identity. A 2024 report, LGBTIQ equality at a crossroads: progress and challenges, by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found that more than one in three faced discrimination in their daily life because of who they are and more than one in two were victims of hate-motivated harassment.

I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government to improve and protect the rights of the community in Ireland. In recognising the threat to the community here compared with other jurisdictions, we must continue to make progress for this community. I support the implementation of the national LGBTQI+ inclusion strategy, which focuses on safety, health and well-being, participation and inclusion, equality and non-discrimination and which also includes those online. I also note the commitment to improving access to health services for LGBTQI+ people. Importantly, I really welcome plans to advance legislation to ban conversion practices and look forward to going through this at the Joint Committee on Children and Equality, which I chair.

Ireland is a country that voted for love. We were the first to legalise it by popular vote. It is a country where community matters. This does not happen by chance; it happens because people speak out and do the hard work necessary to build a more equal society, whether that is in Fairview Park in Dublin or Stonewall in New York where suits of equality were led by the bravest of individuals who refused to be silenced in the face of injustice. That is the legacy that is ours to carry on. Now is not the time to roll back rights for LGBTQI+ people. It is not the time for rights to retreat. We are seeing instances of this rollback in Ireland from people who wish to frame inclusion as a threat and treat difference as a danger. Now is the time that all of us who are allies of the LGBTQI+ community must be loud in our support. Pride remains a political act. It demands bravery, not only from those in the community but also from those of us who are allies.

As I said at the beginning of my address, I had the pleasure of walking in the Dublin Pride Parade in June. My support should not and will not end there, however. It will continue for the other 364 days of the year as a TD, as chair of the children and equality committee, and, more importantly, as an ally of the LGBTQI+ community. I want to make it clear that I will call out and challenge hate wherever it happens, in public or political discourse in media and in our communities. I will continue to push for protections against hate crimes and hate speech. I will continue to push for inclusivity in our schools, healthcare and communities, because every person has the right to live free from fear. While those of us here today in this Chamber may hold different views on various things, it is my hope that we can be united on this, namely that the politics of hate have no place in Dáil Éireann or in our constituencies or communities.

Máire Devine (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I grew up in a very republican household. I was taught well by my father the values of service to the community and inclusion. I see parallels with Pride and the LGBT community in our country. Our queer comrades were oppressed by means of unfair laws, church doctrine and social stigma. The first Pride march in Dublin took place in June 1983 amid a culture of violence perpetrated against vulnerable segments of Irish society and emphasised by the murders of Charles Self, John Roche and Declan Flynn in the few months prior. On 21 January 1982, Charles Self, an openly gay man, was brutally murdered at his home in south Dublin. He was found dead at the foot of the stairs having been stabbed 14 times and strangled. His murderer has never been found. John Roche was also stabbed to death in a frenzied attack Cork city because he was gay. The judge who handed down the sentence in that case said he believed John enticed the killer to take part in homosexual acts and stated, "After engaging in these acts you were likely to feel hostility and revulsion". The day after Mr. Roche's killing, Declan Flynn was killed by teenagers in Fairview Park in north Dublin, who specifically targeted him and others because of their sexuality. It was queer-bashing. Declan was not their first victim that summer; not by far. They had beaten as many as 20 men in the previous six weeks, but Declan was their first killing. In their statements presented in court in 1983, they described themselves as vigilantes and indicated that they believed they were serving justice for the good of society. Mr. Flynn's killers received suspended sentences. The ruling caused public outrage and led to one of the earliest and largest demonstrations in support of gay rights on the streets of Dublin. The Flynn family described the decision as an insult. Declan's father stated, "They walked out of court free but my son cannot walk out of Glasnevin."

It would be ten years after these murders before homosexuality in Ireland was decriminalised following Herculean efforts on the part of and led by the then Senator, David Norris, and the former commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, my friend Kieran Rose. However, the legislation introduced at the time did not expunge convictions. Research by the Irish historian Diarmuid Ferriter shows that hundreds of men were jailed for homosexual offences.

The laws to which I referred at the outset were also used to imprison our very own Oscar Wilde.

This was the background to the first Pride march in Dublin in June 1983. Society at that time was largely fearful of people it did not understand and victimised them through the use of dehumanising laws inherited from Britain. Beyond these archaic laws were families, friends, colleagues and employers who may have spewed the hateful rhetoric that terrified people into remaining quiet and closeted or suffering self-loathing at being unable to change who they were. This is precisely why Pride is both a protest and a celebration. It is a protest at the unjustness of centuries of persecution, horrific violence and hatred. It is also a jubilant celebration of how far we have home that our queer community members are free to love and marry who they wish without fear of persecution by means of laws that would render them unequal members of our society and to have the intrinsic right to live authentic lies.

Sinn Féin unequivocally condemns attacks on the LGBTQ community. We wholly reject hateful rhetoric in Ireland and overseas. We are proud to have presented early gender recognition legislation in May 2013 and to have introduced in the Thirty-fourth Dáil a Bill which would exonerate all who were convicted under Ireland's unjust anti-homosexuality laws. We urge all TDs to support Deputy Ó Snodaigh's Bill, which is currently on Second Stage. We must fight relentlessly for people's right to be respected and stand firm to ensure that the damaging discourse which has prevailed and which is rearing its ugly head across the world does not become mainstreamed in our society. We celebrate Ireland's progress towards a more accepting and compassionate society, but we must redouble our efforts to stamp out homophobia, biphobia and transphobia whenever and wherever they arise. Sinn Féin will continue to stand against those who seek to marginalise, undermine and divide people's solidarity.

Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to these statements on Pride. I am proud to be an ally of the LGBTQI+ community. I am glad that in voting for marriage equality ten years ago, we did not just stop at that point and say "Job done". It is important that we continue the conversation and face head on the challenges that remain for those in the LGBTQI+ community. The inequalities that community faces endure and the battle to overcome these inequalities continues, so we must also continue to break down those inequalities and ensure that every person who lives on this island, no matter who they are, feels equal and safe in being who they are and never feels like they have to answer for, explain or battle for it.

As my party's spokesperson on children, I am particularly mindful of young people and the challenges they face as part of the LGBTQI+ community as they grow up. Every child deserves to grow up feeling valued and safe. That is not always the case. Our world can be especially cruel online. I acknowledge BelonG To, particularly its youth groups, and the work it does to raise awareness of the challenges young people face in their communities. Its Block the Bad campaign raised awareness of online bullying and the nasty rhetoric most of us are used to seeing in the online world. I wish to use the following as an example of the part we can all play. Roscommon Community College in my constituency, in partnership with Roscommon County Council, unveiled the first Pride rainbow crossing in Roscommon town in 2022. This was done on foot of a request from the school's student LGBTQI+ and allies group. They wanted it to be a visible symbol of inclusivity in their town. That goes to show the part young people and people of all ages can play in their communities and in schools in particular, which is important.

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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We can measure the success of any society's progress on welfare, well-being and inclusion by looking at how it treats its most marginalised groups. We are failing our most vulnerable miserably here in Ireland. Last night, we heard no shortage of horror stories about women suffering as a result of poor treatment for endometriosis in this State, with an average wait of nine years for a diagnosis. At the moment, transgender people are waiting ten years for a first appointment with the National Gender Service, the only clinic that serves gender non-conforming people in the entire State. This poses the question as to whose lives we value in this State and whose health matters. There is no doubt gender has a lot to do with the answer. I cannot put into words how much I am upset by how badly we are failing our trans boys and girls and trans men and women. All they want is to be allowed to be themselves and to be recognised and loved for that. As the mother of four kids, I find this heartbreaking. I hope to be the kind of mother who listens without judgment, hugs without hesitation and stands by them without fear. I empathise with and commend all the proud mammies and daddies of trans kids who are fighting so hard for their kids to have decent lives. We would all do well to put ourselves in the shoes of those mammies and daddies. Perhaps then we would have a system that looks a whole lot different than the one we have today.

In 2022, Transgender Europe found that Ireland had the worst transgender healthcare in all of Europe. There is solid evidence showing that reliable and open access to gender-affirming care is essential to improving outcomes for trans people. We are inflicting immeasurable and necessary trauma by denying trans people basic healthcare and security. We are forcing trans people to seek surgeries abroad and self-medicate, thereby putting their lives in danger. We need to take a step back, look at the National Gender Service and ask if it is fit for purpose if many trans people are coming out of there feeling worse off than when they went in. We need to listen to the trans community and have their voices at the centre of these conversations. At the moment, far-right ideology based on misinformation is steering this conversation on a serious human rights issue. The political establishment is without a peep on this matter. One would wonder why. Shame on all of us. We need to do better.

Tá stair na hÉireann lán le scéalta de ghrúpaí imeallaithe ar cuireadh ina dtost. Ná bíodh an deireadh céanna i ndán do phobal eile. Ireland's history is full of stories of a people silenced. Let us not repeat that history with another community.

Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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Pride is about continuing solidarity with the members of the LGBT community we are lucky enough to call friends, privileged enough to call family and also the wider community. It is also about remembering how far that community has come, how we got here and why we, as a collective, must never take the progress made for granted. The LGBT+ community has in the past been a painful contradiction, with warmth and acceptance from that community and their families but silence and cruelty from the State. The latter meant that it was 1993 before being gay was finally not considered a crime. Even after the law changed, much else remained the same. I refer to the fear, the stigma and the inequality.

I commend my colleague Deputy Ó Snodaigh for introducing the Disregard of Historic Offences for Consensual Sexual Activity Between Men Bill 2025 recently. When Declan Flynn was murdered and his killers walked away with suspended sentences, the message to the LGBTQ+ people was chilling, namely "Your life is not worth the same". That can never be forgotten. Declan's memory inspired a new generation of campaigners who organised protested and refused to be invisible.

Ireland has changed. When the people voted proudly and decisively for marriage equality, that moment told LGBTQ+ people that they are equal and that they belong. The work of equality did not end with the vote; it is what comes in the weeks, months and years since and to come. What has happened in recent years give me some cause for concern. The rise of anti-LGBTQ+ crimes and rhetoric is alarming. The brutal murders in Sligo three years ago are a heartbreaking reminder that violence is not in the distant past. Our LGBTQ+ community, though strong and resilient, needs the remainder of us to be allies not just for one day but every day and in every space. We must not let imported culture wars distract or divide us. Our future path must be based on equality. Pride is not performative, it is powerful. It is built on the memories of those lost and the hope for those today and in the future.

Let us make future generations look back at us and say that, in our time, we had the courage to stand up, the strength to speak out and the unity to move forward to equality together.

Conor McGuinness (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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Pride is about equality, solidarity and community and as an Irish republican, these principles are fundamental to me. I am very proud to stand here as an ally. Pride is also about love, acceptance and the joy of acknowledging and celebrating every person's authentic self.

Tá cearta agus comhionannas ríthábhachtach ach tá sé chomh tábhachtach céanna go dtógaimid pobal inar bhfeictear gach duine, ina gcloistear iad, agus ina bhfuil grá, cineáltas agus meas glactha mar chroílár na beatha. Visibility matters. It matters just as much in rural areas, towns and villages as it does in our cities and the media. Across Waterford, I have seen the power of Pride to build connection and belonging. I was proud to walk this year in Pride of the Déise in Waterford city, and over many years to support local initiatives in Dungarvan and across the county. The message from young people, families and older members of the LGBTQ+ community has always been clear: representation matters, and seeing yourself in your community matters.

Pride cannot just be about waving a flag or adding a splash of colour to a website. Its roots lie in protest and in Stonewall, where people rose up against discrimination and brutality. That radical spirit still matters because we must not only celebrate the gains, but defend them and challenge the inequalities that remain. From youth homelessness to mental health, we know LGBTQ+ people still face systemic discrimination, especially outside urban centres. Rural LGBTQ+ people deserve the same services, safety and visibility as anyone else. That includes safe housing, inclusive healthcare and properly resourced community supports.

Let us not forget how far we have come. It has been nearly a decade since the marriage equality referendum. It has been over 30 years since the State decriminalised homosexuality. These gains were not gifted. They were won by people who refused to accept silence or shame.

Tá cumhacht ar leith ag baint le saol a chaitheamh le bród, le bheith mar chuid de phobal, le glactha le daoine eile agus a bheith glactha tú féin. Is é sin croílár an Bhróid. We cannot stop at civil rights and equality before the law. We must keep fighting for full lived equality, and for the right to be seen, safe, supported and celebrated. Pride is protest, solidarity and community. No matter where you live, in a rural area, town or city, Pride belongs to us all.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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I start by welcoming two very good friends of mine, Jacinta and Geraldine, who are visiting the House today in the week they celebrate their ninth wedding anniversary. I also welcome friends from our own Labour Party LGBTQI group, who are with us in the Public Gallery this evening as well.

In many regards, Ireland has led the way to social progress for members of the LGBTQI+ community. I am pleased to say that the Labour Party has been behind much of this progress. It was the Labour Party that gave the first ever legal protections to gay and lesbian people by amending the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act. In 1993, we delivered on our promise to abolish the criminal offences relating to homosexual acts. I also want to use this opportunity to commend former Senator David Norris, who was a leading campaigner around the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

In 2018, on the 25th anniversary of that decriminalising of homosexuality, the Labour Party secured an official State apology for gay and bisexual men. We have yet to see any real, meaningful steps by the Government to disregard these convictions, however. All through our history, the Labour Party has been and continues to be a party committed to achieving equality for our LGBT+ comrades. We were the first political party to propose legislation to recognise same-sex couples in the law through the former Deputy Brendan Howlin's Civil Unions Bill. In 2015, we delivered on our promise to hold a referendum on marriage equality, which passed by a landslide. We also introduced the Gender Recognition Act, marking for the first time in Ireland transgender men and women being allowed to self-declare their own gender identity.

It has been said here many times today that Pride is not just a celebration. It is also founded on a base of activism and protest. We can never forget that. We can never forget the pivotal points in history that bring communities together to fight for equal rights, like the death of Declan Flynn in 1982, a 31-year-old gay man who was brutally attacked in Fairview Park in Dublin and later died from his injuries; John Roche and Charles Self, who were killed that same year; or the recent murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee, who were killed just because they were gay. We must continue to put these deaths to the forefront of our minds when we speak about Pride.

These changes do not just happen. They are a result of years of hard work and campaigning. They are about being bold, brave and proud. However, we have seen in recent years that far right governments across the world are trying to row back on any rights for the LGBTQ+ community. We saw this recently in Hungary. I want to stand with the Minister of State, who acknowledged Deputy O'Gorman's presence there, and also members of our own Labour Party who made a trip to Hungary in the last number of weeks as well.

There continue to be attacks by far right groups on LGBTQ+ people, and I am particularly concerned about the impact this is having on young people. According to BeLonG To, there has been a significant decline in the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people in Ireland since 2016, with even more significant challenges for younger age groups. We need to continue to fight hate in all its forms and ensure we can be a more equal Ireland so that young people know that things can and will get better.

While Ireland has had strong rights in place for many LGB people, the same cannot be said for our trans community. It is now a decade since the passage of the Gender Recognition Act. Despite this, transgender health in Ireland is consistently ranked as the worst in Europe. My Labour Party colleagues and I have met a number of trans rights groups regarding issues impacting them, access to basic health, issues with the National Gender Service and the major challenges highlighted. I know my colleagues will talk more on this in the coming minutes.

I will hand over to the rest of my colleagues, if that is okay with the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach.

Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal East, Labour)
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Speaking to members of the community who were around in the first Pride and subsequent Prides, the movement was rooted in protest, demonstration and anger. We are here tonight in that spirit with regard to transgender healthcare.

I want to read two things. My colleague, Deputy Wall, referred to how we were bottom of the list in Europe with regard to transgender healthcare. In the 2020 programme for Government, the Government's commitment was to:

Create and implement a general health policy for Trans people, based on a best-practice model for care, in line with the World Professional Association of Transgender Healthcare (WPATH) and deliver a framework for the development of National Gender Clinics and Multidisciplinary Teams for children and adults.

That was good and was going in the right direction. The current Government, in its programme for Government, has a commitment to ensure "a transgender healthcare service that is based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion." This commitment is almost meaningless compared to the commitment in 2020. We are not making progress in this area for the trans community. The trans and intersex Pride march in Dublin and Cork at the weekend demonstrated that. We are actually going backwards. This Government's own messaging is going backwards. That is why we in the Labour Party are today tabling a trans healthcare motion on the Order Paper, which my colleague will talk about in more detail, to bring the Government back to where it should be going.

Conor Sheehan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Pride is political and Pride is protest. It is a reminder of how far we have come but how far we have yet to go. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the marriage equality referendum but also the passage of the Gender Recognition Act. In that time, we have seen a deliberate and provocative attempt to marginalise, undermine and dehumanise trans people. As has been said by my colleagues, we have the worst system of trans healthcare in Europe. People have come to me and told me that the wait time is 13 years at the moment, and there are 2,000 people waiting for care.

The fact of the matter is the Government is not following the World Health Organization's guidelines regarding trans healthcare. We need to move to a model of informed consent. That is the way we deal with other gender-related healthcare such as HRT. The fact is that, in this country, we force trans people to go through a dehumanising and humiliating process.

I want to speak about the need for much stronger hate speech law. We need the Government to clarify its position because there is a gulf between, say, the lack of legislative action and the stated commitments in both the national LGBTQI+ strategy and the programme for Government. We need to see a full assessment of the legal gaps and the Government's response to the concerns raised by the European Commission and a legislative roadmap thereafter.

In the time remaining to me, I will speak to an issue that is close to my own area of Limerick. Limerick Pride, QuareClare and The Outing have been shortlisted to host the 2028 EuroPride. This is a pan-European event hosted by a different European city every year. If this was to come to Limerick and the mid-west, what a testament it would be to the progress made in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Imagine, the year after the Ryder Cup, if we hosted another landmark event that could bring 100,000 people to Limerick and Clare. It would be transformative for the mid-west culturally and economically. I am looking for the Government and the Minister of State to place their support for this bid on the record of the House.

Marie Sherlock (Dublin Central, Labour)
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There is much to be proud of and celebrate in the ten years since the passing of the marriage equality referendum and the Gender Recognition Act 2015, but it is incumbent on us to call out and name the lived reality of so many of our friends in the LGBTQ+ community. It is terrifying to see the very real mental health crisis happening at the moment. My colleagues and others referred to the research by Belong To and Trinity College Dublin, which refers to figures as high as 75% of 19-to-25-year-olds reporting suicidal thoughts. That is terrifying. The figures are even higher for those in the trans community. That is why the Labour Party felt so strongly today about tabling a motion on the Order Paper to call for a number of specific and clear actions: to replace the National Gender Service; and to establish a national clinical programme for trans healthcare in Ireland, ensuring a key role for GPs and a major recruitment of the specialists required for gender-affirming care. There are hundreds of people throughout this country being failed day in, day out because of the lack of GPs who want to recognise, work and support young people who are trans and want that gender-affirming healthcare. We also need a clear and unequivocal ban on conversion therapies. We need to ensure there is clear guidance for transgender healthcare for under-18s. We need to implement the recommendations of the 2018 Government review of the Gender Recognition Act.

There are critical needs but two key actions can be taken now by the Minister of State in particular. First, there is one part-time counsellor in the whole country for the LGBTQ+ community. That number needs to be increased. Second, an organisation, Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre, in my own constituency provides services to between 4,000 and 5,000 every year. Its funding will be in danger at the end of this year. We need to make sure it is supported to continue its excellent work for people in Dublin and across the State.

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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As we recognise Pride week here in Dáil Éireann, I am deeply honoured to stand before Members, not just as Minister of State for mental health and the Government Chief Whip, but as a proud mother, ally and advocate for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in Irish life. I am especially proud of who I am and who my family is. My son is a transgender young man, and seeing him grow into his own identity reminds me daily of the urgent need for compassion, dignity and fairness in public policy. His story is part of a broader narrative that we must honour by continuing to build a State that cherishes all of our children equally, that truly supports all its people without exception.

Sometimes the debate in relation to trans issues rages on social media without facts or understanding. It can be very hurtful. We should all reject those nasty opinions from people who do not understand the hurt and pain for young trans people who have to navigate a difficult enough pathway in their lives.

Pride is more than a celebration. It is a declaration of our shared values: equality, respect and community. Over the past decade, we have transformed Ireland, becoming the first country to recognise same-sex marriage through popular vote in 2015 and enacting the Gender Recognition Act that same year, which allowed legal gender change through self-determination. Clearly, our work is not done. In just the past few months, we have strengthened hate crime legislation. Since December 2024, Ireland has what is widely recognised as some of the toughest and most comprehensive protections in Europe, explicitly including gender identity.

Our Department of Children, Disability and Equality has launched an updated national LGBTI inclusion strategy. Together with Belong To, we are introducing inclusive youth supports, including the “Rainbow Award" programme in schools and youth services.

On mental health specifically, we have made historic advancements. Just last month, a new guidance and training resource supporting LGBTQI+ inclusion in mental health services was launched. This comprehensive guidance and training resource was developed with the Mental Health Commission. On 9 July, I had the privilege of progressing the Mental Health Bill 2024 through all Stages in this House, a landmark overhaul that embeds rights-based, person-centred care into our mental health legislation. In recent months, we also saw the launch of our 2025-27 implementation plan for Sharing the Vision, which includes a record €1.5 billion annual budget and the largest ever capital allocation of €31 million for mental health infrastructure in 2025.

However, I stand here today to acknowledge the need to do more in one area where action is lagging, namely, gender-affirming healthcare. Our programme for Government six months ago set out the commitment to develop a transgender healthcare service that was based on clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion. I was proud to write that into the programme for Government. Those words did not come easily. Those words came from involvement with several trans organisations and working with the HSE. This is what we felt was the best way forward.

A recent EU report revealed that, for many, first appointment wait lists in Ireland are way too long, leaving trans people stranded without access to vital care. We have seen reports that confirm our trans health services are the least resourced in Europe. This is simply unacceptable. That is why our programme for Government commits not simply to promises, but to practical, evidence-based plans.

Budget 2025 invested €770,000 specifically to develop a robust, clinically grounded transgender healthcare model. We have appointed a clinical lead, established a multidisciplinary advisory group and begun a community-based pilot to better understand and serve trans young people. We are committed to a service that is rooted in clinical evidence, respect, inclusiveness and compassion, moving away from overly rigid models and towards a resilient, patient-centred standard of care.

I have met many young trans people in the last five years. They are looking for respect, compassion, appropriate counselling and supports such as endocrinology, psychology, social workers and, if appropriate because not everybody will need it, psychology. That is the multidisciplinary team that the Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, and I want to develop. We are working behind the scenes to develop it.

Every single time I list a meeting in relation to trans healthcare in my diary, freedom of information requests come in on it. Every single time I speak openly about trans, I am trolled on social media. It is extremely difficult. We talk about a recruitment process. We cannot get people to work in trans healthcare in Ireland. I had a meeting yesterday. People simply do not want to work there because of the abuse, the vileness and venom to which they are subjected. We will try really hard to deliver a service. I look forward to visiting the service in Drogheda, for example, that supports many hundreds of children and young people aged under 18 years. I agree with the Deputy in relation to the service in Loughlinstown. I am not convinced. There is a long waiting list there but I am certainly not convinced in relation to its model of care.

In the time ahead, I will continue to work with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and colleagues across the Government and the HSE to ensure that we put this model in place and it is supported by adequate funding. Supporting our trans citizens is not optional. It is and must be a measure of our shared humanity. It is also a work in progress. The funding commitments, clinical frameworks and improved access are only as strong as the promptness of their execution.

I am proud to say, as the mother of a trans man living in Ireland, it is one of the safest countries in the world to be a trans young person. There are countries you could simply not go to and we must recognise that.

I also recognise the work of the Department of Social Protection on gender recognition when people turn 18. It gives support and help to young people, including helping to access a birth certificate and passport. You have to go through the system to understand it. The Department is exceptional, with a turnaround time of ten days.

As a Government, we must monitor and reduce the wait times systematically, as we must across all health services. We must publish a full model of care as soon as possible. We must expand capacity in gender services, including examining the development of new regional hubs that have worked in other areas. We must stop exporting trans healthcare as if it is someone else's problem. We must ensure continuity of care for those referred from other jurisdictions.

I feel this responsibility personally. I have seen the distress that prolonged uncertainty brings and the courage it takes for young people and families to demand better. We must continue to meet that challenge head-on with empathy, respect, dignity, resources and urgency.

I also acknowledge the work of advocacy organisations, including BelonG To, TEN-I, ChillOUT in Waterford and others, which have driven progress, raised awareness and held us to account. There is no replacing lived and living experience in the crafting of good policy, and I thank them for their partnership.

The Pride celebrations for this year may have drawn to a close but I say to all members of the community that I stand with them, I hear them and I remain committed to action over my words today. Pride is more than visibility. It is the continuous demand for real change, and Ireland has made that demand manifest. From the ballot box to this House and the health services that serve our communities, we will not rest until equality is lived out in every interaction. As a Minister of State, mother and proud ally, I pledge that the lives of LGBTQ+ people, and especially trans children and adults, must guide the steps we take this year and beyond.

Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Hear, hear.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North-Central, Fianna Fail)
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Well done to the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. Thank you.

Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)
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As the Minister of State knows, Pride is a protest. In recent years, we have seen companies and large multinationals join Pride. In many ways, that has been welcome and positive for those who work in those companies. It sends out a positive message that they are accepted and recognised as a part of these companies, and that their workplaces are safe. That is a good thing for those people. However, in all the positivity, we cannot lose sight of the fact that Pride is a protest.

There are Irishmen walking the streets today who were previously convicted of being gay. We must protest that, and change it. When our trans brothers and sisters are attacked in the British courts and the American Parliament, we must protest. When young gay men and women are attacked on our streets, we must protest.

In recent years, I have spoken to members of the LGBTQI community in Cork. They have told me they feel less safe on the streets now, which is a shocking thing to hear. We need to tackle that.

In 2006 in Derry, there was an upsurge in homophobic attacks. The following year, the then junior minister, Ian Paisley Junior MLA, gave an interview to Hot Press in which he said he was repulsed by homosexuality. Can you imagine a junior minister saying that? In response, Deputy First Minister, Martin McGuinness MLA, launched Gay Pride in Derry. In the first year, homophobic attacks reduced by 80%. That is what political leadership can do. That is what Pride can do when people stand together. I am proud to be a part of a party for which Martin McGuinness led the way. Eighteen years ago, he stood up for his community because he believed it to be under attack. He did not do so because it would win votes. He did so because he had a vision of this island that was inclusive, welcoming and equal to all.

Republican LGBTQI activist Seán Garland from Belfast said: "You cannot just stand for a certain section of liberty. You must defend the liberation of the whole nation." Ní neart go cur le chéile. There is no strength without unity.

Pádraig Rice (Cork South-Central, Social Democrats)
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I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her speech, for her allyship and for speaking out. I know it is not easy. She has our full support. We hope to work together to progress trans healthcare and the Minister of State has the support of many of us across the House. I look forward to working with her to progress that. I thank her for her allyship and her words. They matter to many people.

I am delighted to be contributing to statements on Pride. I am proud to be a member of the LGBT community. Being a part of the community has been one of the most positive aspects of my life. The LGBT community is like a second chosen family for many of us. It is a tribe like no other. I am also proud to have spent many years working as an LGBT advocate with Cork Gay Project and LGBT Ireland, and as a volunteer. I am now proud to be an openly gay Member of Parliament. I am just one of many from the different parties in the Houses.

However, it was not always like this. It was often a lonely path for many. One person in particular who walked that lonely journey was former Senator David Norris. He was the only out LGBT Member of the Houses for 24 years. I thank and commend him. His was a powerful voice. He did Trojan work for a very long time. I often think of his words on the day of the marriage equality referendum. He said, "The message from this small independent republic to the entire world is one of dignity, freedom and tolerance. Liberté, fratnernité, égalité." I often think of those words when I come to this House.

Ten years on from the marriage equality moment, we must look back and think about what has changed and improved, and ask what we have done in the decade since. We have not done enough and have not made enough of that moment and the huge swell of support that was there. While we have won the right to walk down the aisle, many of us still look over our shoulder as we walk down the street and I do not think it is good enough. We are ranked 14th in Europe for LGBT human rights and policy protections. We have been stuck at 14th for many years and are not making the progress we need to make.

I welcome the national LGBT strategy. In a previous role with LGBT Ireland, I did a painstaking analysis of the previous Government strategy. We went through every single action and graded it. The Government got a C-plus for that strategy. The senior Minister used to be a schoolteacher. If she were giving a C-plus to a student, she would tell him or her to do better. The Government got an F grade in respect of trans rights and intersex rights. There is work to be done.

Many people in the House have talked about the progress that has been made. It is always worth acknowledging that it is rarely the politicians who make progress. It was the activists. People took cases. People, including David Norris, Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, sued the State. Lydia Foy sued in respect of gender recognition. These are the people who forced the State, kicking and screaming, to make progress on rights. Other activists, such as Arthur Leahy and Siobhán O'Dowd, who was mentioned earlier, pushed and pushed. That is why we have seen progress on these issues.

There is a lot of work to do. Some of it has been mentioned. We have talked about trans healthcare, which is lifesaving. We need to improve the Gender Recognition Act. We need gender recognition for non-binary people. We need to ban conversion practices. We need to update the incitement to hatred Act. We need to commence the assisted reproduction Act. We need to commence, in particular, the Parts relating to the Children and Family Relationships Act, which are ready to go. I do not understand why they have not been commenced. We need to pass the disregard legislation. We have not even started to talk about intersex rights, which need to be radically advanced. We also need to improve sexual health services across the country. I could go on. There is a lot of work to do and we need to work together, across these Houses, to advance rights. Collectively, we should set the goal of becoming the best country in Europe to be LGBT. It is a target that we can reach if we work together to do some of the things on the checklist.

I say to queer people across the country, particularly those who are still struggling with their sexuality or gender identity, that it does get better. Coming out is transformative. It has a positive impact on your life. As the Minister of State said, this is a good place to be LGBT. I commend the Minister of State again. I welcome these statements.

Aidan Farrelly (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister and the Ministers of State for the opportunity to speak on this issue this evening. In doing so, as a very proud dad and youth worker, I want to maintain my focus this evening on the young people of Ireland. Professional youth workers in Ireland are doing a phenomenal job in working with young LGBTQI+ people to ensure they have a safe space to learn, share experiences, have fun and develop a critical social analysis.

Speaking after this year's Dublin Pride, the CEO of BeLonG To, an organisation doing some of the most important work with young people, educators and policymakers, Moninne Griffith, said:

This year marks 10 years since the marriage equality referendum. At that time, Ireland told LGBTQI+ young people it was safe to come out and to be who they are. Today, with a small but loud minority trying to roll back on LGBTQI+ rights and inclusion, we're still fighting to make this a reality. Young people and the ... community cannot achieve this on our own.

Ms Griffith continued:

For the majority in Ireland today, we know that the values of compassion, openness and inclusivity are core. That is who we are as a nation.

That is why BeLonG To marched under both the progress Pride flag and our Tricolour, because Ireland remains a loving, caring place and that flag belongs to all of us.

However, the current situation for young people is very difficult in Ireland. The Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland study in 2024 found that young people in this community experience twice the level of suicide ideation, five times the level of suicide attempts and three times the level of severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress of the general population. These levels have increased since the last time this research was done in 2016. We know that online the hate that is fuelling this discrimination continues to grow among that small minority. That is why I use my 30 seconds to say it as many times as I can: youth workers in this country are doing a phenomenal, untold good for our society, for the young people who cannot find that space, whether they are in BeLonG To, Youth Work Ireland, Foróige or any of those small independent organisations. They are a haven. I implore this Government and all of us here to do what we can to make sure every community has a youth work service.

Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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I wish a happy Pride to everybody who is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning or intersex and anybody who has diverse ranges of sexual identity, gender expression, gender identity and sex characteristics. I would like to focus my comments on one particular community within that, and that is the trans community. I missed the Minister of State's speech but I will look back at it. I want to focus my comments on that community for two reasons. First, it is an area I know about. I was lucky enough to do some work with Transgender Equality Network Ireland in helping it develop its strategic plan a number of years ago. Second, this is one community who need more than any other our allyship as a population and our leadership as politicians. The reality is that for trans people in Ireland, although we have progressive gender recognition legislation, the outcomes for people in the transgender community are far more challenging than for those of us in the cis community. Employment is harder to access; education is harder to access; and healthcare, of course, is critical and, unfortunately, very difficult for people in the trans community to access.

The reality is that trans people face discrimination daily. My trans friends tell me about trying to enter restaurants and other public spaces where they are routinely refused entry, shamed and stigmatised in different ways. That is simply not good enough. More than that, there is a hugely problematic toxicity around the discussion of trans rights now. People are politicising certain areas like access to public bathrooms, trans athletes and trans participation in sports, and the safety of trans women and the dangers they face. Unfortunately, what we lose in that is people's ability to simply show that leadership and allyship. People are too scared. I say to all politicians: if you do not understand trans rights, learn; if you do not know enough about this, find out, look for that information and seek the support groups and the representative groups, who will tell you. Unfortunately, within all this, when it becomes so toxic to simply discuss trans rights and their realisation, we lose the celebration of the trans community. We fail to see the joy and happiness that is experienced by a trans person who is able to be their full selves in this world and participate fully in society. As long as we lose that, we are failing that community as political leaders and as a population of allies. That is something I intend and commit to do throughout my term as a politician. At every juncture possible, including on the committee on culture, communications and sport, where I will seek to talk about trans participation in sport, I want to promote the rights of trans people and I want to remove this toxicity and stop the weaponisation and the politicisation of trans rights as a recruitment ground for far-right ideologies and get us back to a point where we treasure, cherish and nurture one of the most marginalised communities in Irish society.

Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I am very proud of what we have done as a country. That is not politics; that is people. When we look back ten years to what was done in this jurisdiction as regards the referendum on marriage equality, we have a basis on which to be proud for the fact that we recognised at that time that love is love and that equality of access to marriage was hugely important for everyone. I was part, as many people in these Houses were, of the campaign at that time, very much a civil society campaign as opposed to a political one. The friends I made during that campaign I still am friendly with and still work with. They are proud of what we did then; I am proud of what we did then. I am proud of the fact that we are for the most part progressive as regards Pride.

However, we have a long way to go, and Ireland still has major problems as to how it views the LGBTQ+ community, how it deals with them, how it treats them and how they are seen by the law. I heard the speech the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, gave. It was incredibly moving and heartfelt. I congratulate her on it. The staff in my office upstairs were watching as well. We were all moved by it. It is important, however, to look at this through the lens of people who are not treated equally by the law. Despite the will being expressed by the people ten years ago, we had this rearguard action to row back on some things. That is notwithstanding the fact that love is love and that we made this acknowledgment in 2015. Some people decided after the fact that, actually, we have gone too far and should start to undo things, or we have gone far enough and should not do any more. Both views are wrong, from my perspective.

I think, for example, of the hate speech legislation that we tried to introduce in the last session. It was shot down by people who opposed it for entirely spurious reasons, in my view. In fact, in this Chamber, I think last week, I had a disagreement with a Member about an aspect of that and the misrepresentation of the notion that within hate speech we are saying that everybody deserves certainly the right to free speech but also to express the responsibility that comes with free speech, that you do not use it to put upon other people or to do down other people or incite hatred against them.

When I talk about Pride, I also congratulate those people in Ireland who have consistently worked in this area. I have worked with many of them, but the reality is that there has been a chilling effect for those people involved in Pride. It has not necessarily come from within this country, but look at what happened in Hungary, within the European Union, and the decisions made by Victor Orbán's Government to suppress people involved in the Pride movement. I am delighted to see that people proceeded with that Pride march and that it was the best attended and the most supported one ever in Hungary, as I understand it. The power of people that comes behind that is hugely important because that is what this is all about. It is about people. It is about recognising that people are people and should have equal opportunity to enjoy their lives as they see fit.

Even in this country, however, we know that Pride was affected by decisions made in Washington DC of all places. There was a chilling effect at a corporate level for sponsorship of Pride parades. Dungarvan Pride, as the Minister of State will know, was cancelled as a result of that kind of thing. We know that many people pulled out of it because companies were afraid there would be repercussions from the Administration in Washington. How shameful is that, both for people who were afraid of doing something that is positive in every respect and for the Government in the United States that seems to have forced them to do it?

Again, however, let us not clap ourselves on the back too much because in this jurisdiction there is still not equality, particularly for families that fall outside the norm, as it is seen by the law here. The majority of children within families from the LGBTQ+ community, that part of our society, are prevented from having a legal relationship with one parent. I have raised this issue in the Chamber before. We made progress in May 2020 when the Children and Family Relationships Act was brought into law. It is a step in the right direction, but only a small number of children benefited from that. There are still many families that exist outside the parameters of that legislation, and only one parent is deemed to be the birth or biological parent.

That creates all kinds of problems for the children in relation to the other parent in terms of inheritance. Beyond that, for things like sending notes into school, approving medical appointments or vaccines and all the normal things that parents do with their children, many parents in the LGBTQ+ families in our society, who are the same as the rest of us and have the same love for their children and express the same responsibility, are prohibited, through a lack of action in this Chamber and by the Government, from being fully participative parents because we have not moved in the way we should have moved. We have not moved with the times. As good as we are here and inasmuch as we have made progress, there is so much more to do to recognise the equality of those families and to ensure they can enjoy life just as much as those families who are “normal”, as the law says.

Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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Like others, I thank the Ministers of State for being here for this very important debate and discussion. The Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, will forgive me if I single out the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, who has been a champion of the LGBT community, particularly now on trans healthcare. I am very proud to count her as a friend. On this issue in particular, she has spoken out and taken on some of the voices in these Houses who preach prejudice, and about whom colleagues have spoken. It is very important that her voice continues to be heard.

I also want to pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who spoke earlier of his instrumental role in establishing the equality caucus here in Leinster House and about working with the staff equality team. We are very fortunate that within politics now, in all parties and none, there are many role models and within political parties there are LGBT groups and supportive mechanisms in place to encourage people of all backgrounds to become involved. Having those role models is critically important. That is also important in many other aspects of society too. As we move towards the all-Ireland finals, I commend Mark Shields, an all-Ireland winner for Armagh, on coming out recently. Mr. Shields spoke very bravely about some of his personal challenges. In sport, it is often a lot harder to come out. In camogie and ladies Gaelic football there are many role models but there are not too many yet in the GAA. For individuals to come out and be those role models is particularly important.

I want to raise an issue in my constituency concerning the town of Arklow. Arklow was extraordinarily progressive in painting the first rainbow crossing anywhere in this country, yet Wicklow County Council has made the decision to allow the rainbow crossing to fade. It says the Department of Transport does not provide or allow for rainbow crossings. I have asked a parliamentary question specifically on this. The Department of Transport has said it is a matter for each local authority. I ask that the Department of Transport be more proactive than saying this is a matter for each local authority. It would be an awful pity if the crossing in Arklow, the first town in the country that had a rainbow crossing in place, were allowed to fade. I know from many in the area that it is a matter of serious concern.

I am also very proud of the role Ireland is playing at a global level in promoting LGBTQI+ rights. While not everything is perfect in this country, we have come a long way. We have further to go. Unfortunately, our gay brothers and sisters in many other parts of the world do not enjoy the same freedoms and rights we enjoy here. I am very proud that during World Pride the Irish Embassy in Washington DC hosted a reception and made very clear that Ireland's support for issues around LGBTQI+ rights were to the fore. We must do so at every international forum and that includes the European Union where we must continue to call out Victor Orbán’s disgraceful behaviour towards minorities generally but in particular, as Deputy Ward said, towards the LGBT+ community. Many Irish politicians, including Deputy O’Gorman, travelled to Budapest Pride this year. Cynthia Ní Mhurchú MEP was also there. Being able to show that solidarity is critical and the fact that Ireland continues to raise this issue at European Union level, UN level and in some of our overseas development work makes me really proud.

We need to remember that when the decriminalisation of homosexuality was brought forward 30 years ago, which is a relatively short time, by the then justice Minister, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, some of the language used in this House during those debates was pretty horrific. However, we can look at what is still happening around the world. In over 60 countries, homosexuality is still a criminal offence and in a number of countries people can face the death penalty for being gay or even suspected of being gay. These include Saudi Arabia, Iran, Yemen, Brunei, Nigeria and Mauritania. The death penalty is a horrific concept in any event but it is appalling that someone might face the death penalty simply because there is a perception that that person is gay.

I commend the Ministers of State on their work in this area and urge them to continue at a global level to preach the good news.

Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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Pride, as we know, has grown from being a small gathering in Dublin to a nationwide celebration of inclusion. It is a time when cities and towns across the island of Ireland take out the rainbow flag and welcome the progress made by the LGBTQI+ community in recent years. It is important that we recognise and celebrate the progress made but still we have more to do and we have to be vigilant. There are those who would roll back the progress and drag us back to a darker and more dangerous time.

Sinn Féin condemns the increase in attacks on LGBT+ people. We reject transphobia and homophobia in Ireland and overseas. We only have to look at Hungary to see where these reactionary forces want to take us. I commend those who, despite the bully-boy homophobic government, went ahead and organised the Pride parade in Budapest where there was a massive turnout despite the police banning it. People attended it not only to support LGBT rights but also for the country’s democratic future. It sent out an absolutely powerful message.

Closer to home, I congratulate our own Fingal Pride, which is part of the Dublin Pride group. It was launched in 2021. Its mission is to support LGBTQI+ people and their friends and families in Fingal. We organise regular events and activities throughout the county by increasing visibility and integration. This year’s Pride was held in the beautiful Swords Castle, with music, DJs and family fun. It was a real family day out. The main Dublin Pride parade was a huge success, with 12,500 on the parade and a further 100,000 gathering to support, watch and participate along the route.

It is ten years since the passing of the marriage equality referendum and the Gender Recognition Act. I ask that the Government mark this appropriately in a dignified and inclusive manner.

The decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 was a major step forward into a brighter and better future but challenges still remain. The 1993 legislation did not expunge prior convictions under the previous draconian law. An Teachta Ó Snodaigh recently introduced legislation to do so. I urge the Government to facilitate the passing of this Bill into law as soon as possible.

Other issues affecting the LGBTQI+ community that must be addressed are youth homelessness, mental health, violence and online harassment. Sinn Féin fights for an inclusive nation based for equal rights for all.

Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party)
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I am grateful to be able to wake up every morning beside the man I love, a man I am able to call my husband because of a decision of the Irish people, and we are able to enjoy wide-ranging protections across a whole raft of law and policy in our own country. I am grateful but I do not take it for granted because even though we have seen protections extended, gays and lesbians around the world have seen the erosion of their rights too. We have seen progress reversed. That reversal of progress has happened in countries not too distant from Ireland. When I visited Poland as equality Minister I met some of the local LGBTI+ groups who told me how the human rights institution of that state, something like the Ombudsman for Children, had been weaponised by the far-right government at the time as a tool to attack LGBTI+ youth groups which were working with young people under the age of 18.

In Hungary, we saw how the government attempted to suppress the very expression of the LGBTI+ community through trying to ban the Pride parade but we also saw the response 200,000 Hungarians gave to their government on the streets of Budapest.

I do not take progress for granted in Ireland either. We have seen significant increases in homophobic abuse and attacks on our streets. This is backed up by Garda statistics on hate crime. This situation is getting worse. We see increasingly a toxic atmosphere for gay and lesbian citizens online. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, spoke eloquently about the impact of that. We know it is getting worse.

We must also recognise the failure to meet the diverse healthcare needs of our trans and intersex community in the health services. We must recognise how even the discussion of the provision of that healthcare gets polluted by ideological attacks, rather than focusing on the healthcare needs of a very small and vulnerable part of our community.

As we undertake statements on Pride today, I hope we can avoid any sense of complacency in this Chamber and any sense of back-slapping but instead focus on the unfinished work: the threats to freedom of expression; the absence of the right to marry; the ever-present threat of death that millions of gay, lesbian and trans people face all over the world every single day; and in Ireland, the unfinished provision of health supports for trans and intersex people that this Government must act on in its term of office.

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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These statements are very welcome. I thank the Deputy who raised this from the floor because there had been no statements until this. The reason it is important is that it is very clear that despite the massive rights and wonderful gains that were won for LGBT+ people ten years ago and women in terms of repeal, we are in a different era now. We are in a different space It was very noticeable on Pride that fair-weather friend corporations had shrunk to a minuscule delegation following on from what has happened in the US where the tech "broligarchy" is embedded with Trump. The era of rainbow capitalism is gone and we are now seeing attacks on LGBT rights.

I will focus on trans rights because we are all agreed that trans, non-binary and intersex people are feeling the brunt of a massive and horrific onslaught. We have the demonisation of trans people. We need a secular sex education programme in our schools to challenge these ideas that are being unleashed on the Internet. BeLonGTo was mentioned. When I went back to teaching, I helped to organise a stand up week. This is done voluntarily by teachers in their own time. It is not a standing part of school. It must be made part of all schools to affirm the rights of all young people we teach and to challenge and educate people. I was at the launch of a trans pamphlet and we discussed this. There is an awful lot of ignorance out there and a lot of it is not the fault of people themselves. It has to be challenged.

I heard the Minister of State's speech, which was very genuine. There is no question about that so I am asking her to use her power to help trans young people in particular. Often when we are personally affected by something, we appreciate it even more. I also have a trans family member. She was denied a blood test by her GP. That is where we are now. How is it allowed in our health system that a human being goes to the GP and the GP will not do a blood test because she is using hormones? Part of the reason is the National Gender Service, which is not fit for purpose, as I think the Minister of State recognises. Its members are posing as specialists. As far as I know, they are endocrinologists who specialise in obesity - not in trans healthcare - but they are giving GPs the impression that one must be an expert and should not dare assist any young person who is using healthcare that has not been through their GP. We need to move to a GP-led service just like we did with abortion and every other aspect of healthcare. We do not need a big specialist monolith which people cannot access and must wait ten years. We need this to be done by every GP. It is not rocket science, to use that cliché. Hormones are provided by GPs all the time to young girls with precocious puberty and women in menopause so they are becoming far more familiar with it. It was very moving but I am asking the Minister of State to follow this up because young people have a right to healthcare and it is shameful that political parties are leaning into the far right talking points, including those in Great Britain where transphobia is the order of the day. There is no danger in young people accessing healthcare but there is a danger to their mental health if they do not access it.

It is almost as if the Cass report recommended a ban. It did not recommend a ban. People need to educate themselves and read up on this. There is no health benefit to what happened in Northern Ireland. It had no health justification; it was a political decision, and people need to change that decision to affirm the rights of young people.

I also want to mention recognition of non-binary and intersex people. When I worked in a hospital decades ago, we were coding diagnoses and I saw the diagnosis "ambiguous genitalia". I asked the nurse what happens there and she told me that surgery was done and the parents had to pick male or female. The only surgery being done on young people is that. It is being done in our hospitals because parents are forced to choose a binary. They are not allowed to have their baby - and 1.7% are born intersex - have any recognition. That has to change. I have seen it affect people's lives so much. I have been contacted by so many parents. Only this week, parents could not get their child into the school they wanted to go to because of their non-binary status. We have to recognise that. Trans healthcare is the priority.

I ask the Minister of State to back up the very emotional speech she made. I believe she is very genuine about it but please back it up by transferring the healthcare of trans young people to GPs. Take it out of the hands of consultants, challenge these wrong notions and educate people about them.

Cathal Crowe (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. Fianna Fáil is very supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. Back in 1993, it was then Minister for Justice, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, who led the decriminalisation of homosexuality. It is hard to believe that at that time, it was still illegal. I was someone born in 1982 and throughout my secondary school years, the standard insult in primary and secondary schoolyard was to call someone gay or insult people about their sexuality. It was not until years later, in 2015, when I was out campaigning with others to have the marriage equality referendum passed that I encountered someone I had been in school with. For most people, those insults were brushed and you would tell them to go take a hike in stronger language but for some people, those words hurt hugely and well into adulthood. It was good that as a nation with those tough schoolyards in the 1980s and 1990s, we grew up a bit in 2015 and passed that all-important referendum.

I agree wholly with the point made by Deputy O'Gorman that we cannot rest on our laurels. A few years ago, we saw our Olympic hero Jack Woolley badly beaten up in a homophobic attack in the heart of Dublin city. It is the most disgusting thing to hate someone for who they are. When those attacks happen, and we have had other high-profile attacks over the years, it is very important, when the moment is right, that they come out afterwards and we call it for what it is. Sometimes these attacks are just called assaults on the street but a homophobic attack is very specific. It is an act of hatred towards someone for who they are.