Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Like others, I thank the Sinn Féin group, in particular my friend and colleague, Senator Warfield, for bringing forward this motion.

I am a gay man. I am proud of that fact. It shapes who I am. It is not my entire personality but it is an important part of who I am. Thirty years ago, however, when homosexuality was being decriminalised I was very unsure of my identity. As a teenager, I was a criminal simply because I chose to express my love or feelings for somebody else.

It is important we recognise trailblazers such as Senator Norris and those who at the time fought and went against the tide by expressing the desire that a very simple human right, the right to express love, would be recognised by the State. Tributes have been paid to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, and she did fight against the political tide, including, in fairness, in my party, in which there were conservatives.

Our politics has changed enormously since then. In every political party and none there are now people who openly identify as LGBTQ. We disagree on political issues but on the pursuit of gay rights, there is common cause and common agreement, and we see that in this House. Within my party, the levels of support I have received and our LGBTQ caucus has received have been phenomenal. I say this to the Minister of State, even though we are both based in Wexford and we have political rivalry. As everyone knows, political rivalry internally within a party can be greater but I will tell the House that the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, has done a hell of a lot to fight homophobia, racism and discrimination, not only as an elected representative but also as a Minister of State. It is so good that we see so many members of the community standing for election and involved in political parties. Senator Warfield and I were fortunate that we were both cathaoirligh of our respective local authorities in 2014 and 2015.It is great to see one of my party colleagues, Councillor Emma Murphy, as the first openly lesbian chair of a local authority, namely, South Dublin County Council. There are so many examples of people who are getting involved in politics. It is not about their sexuality; their sexuality does not define them. We have made enormous progress on all of those issues. However, we still have to remember those hundreds of men who, simply because they chose to define themselves as gay or even in some cases where they were not gay but there was trumped up evidence against them, ended up with convictions. This is a matter of urgency. It is committed to in the programme for Government and has cross-party support. It will have an easy passage through these Houses. It is important that we move on it as quickly as possible.

There are other areas where we have made progress. I am happy in respect of sex education. In the past, anything to do with being homosexual or LGBT was either taught as being wrong or was completely ignored. Whereas now, it is being taught in an age appropriate way. There is much more access to healthcare for members of the LGBT community. I accept that there is a great deal more to do. However, we have come a long way from the campaigns that Senator Ruane spoke about.

We have challenges within this country about how the trans community is being treated. We have challenges in rural areas because a lot of the support services in such areas are not as strong as in some of those in the cities. Unfortunately, we continue to hear about homophobic attacks. This morning, we talked about that attack in Meath and those men in Sligo who have been killed. A friend of mine told me at the weekend that he was simply walking home on O’Connell Street and he had abuse shouted at him. I agree with Senator Norris. The overwhelming majority of people in Ireland are decent and will not tolerate anything like this. However, there is a small fringe that is very dangerous and we need to take them on.

I also agree with Senator Gavan. The European Union is about a union of values. I do not believe that the European Union can rightly point out what is happening in parts of Africa, the Middle East and other places while there are questions around countries within the EU and how they treat not just the LGBT community but women and other minorities.

We have much to celebrate. As colleagues have said, we have come a long way. We will not be able to change the past. In this motion, we recognise the contribution of so many people who have fought along the way, but we also need to ensure that those against whom the State took horrible actions are recognised and that any criminal records are expunged.

I thank my colleague, Senator Robbie Gallagher, who has been strong in supporting this issue within our party. I commend the motion. I ask the Minister of State, when responding, to share the urgency of finally addressing this issue.