Pippa Hackett (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Chathaoirligh. For the month that is in it, I want to talk about Pride in 2022. I recall having an overwhelming sense of pride in my country when Ireland passed the same-sex marriage referendum. After all, love is love. However, seven years on I am prompted to reassess. It is my wedding anniversary today. I have had 21 happy years with Mark. Never once in those years, or the time preceding them, have I or we ever considered our safety while expressing our affection in public. It might even be something like holding hands, which is such a natural human gesture. However, recent EU Agency for Fundamental Rights data tell us a quarter of members of the LGBT+ community in Ireland always avoid holding hands in public for fear of being assaulted, threatened or harassed. Most will assess their environment before even taking such a decision. That puts me and my husband, and the majority of us, in a very privileged position.

Scrolling through the excellent Cork LGBT Archive, I found the report of Ireland's first National Gay Conference in 1981, which was a precursor to Pride in Ireland. It refers to a certain David Norris as a speaker and reports "David hoped that the positive note of the Conference theme would be reflected in a commitment to move forward with a strong sense of unity". I thank my colleague for his 50 plus years of advocacy for LGBT+ rights in Ireland and helping to repeal Victorian-era laws.

I am also proud of the legacy and the current role my party, the Green Party, has played in this area. There is a bright rainbow within the green and a bright green in the middle of that rainbow. I am proud to be part of a Government that will publish a scheme to disregard convictions prior to decriminalisation in 1993. Pride is clearly as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. I am excited that in my own area there is now a Laois Pride that was created in partnership with the Midlands LGBT+ Project. Yesterday, an exhibition was launched in Abbeyleix on the changes to the laws on LGBT+ people from 1860 up to today. I am also thankful that in Offaly, a sub-group of the joint policing committee is launching an online survey on gender-based violence and harassment in public amenities. We need these conversations; we cannot be complacent. Pride is an opportunity for LGBT+ people to celebrate who they are but it is so much more than a party. It is a reminder to the rest of us of what we take for granted.