In the midst of ‘ongoing instances of homophobia and transphobia in society’, local People before Profit candidates, Adrian Curran, Denman Rooke and Masie McMaster, have called on ‘all Galwegians’ to attend the city’s upcoming Pride march gathering taking place at City Hall on Saturday, August 12.
“Pride traces its origins to the riots in Stonewall in New York in 1969, when LGBTQI+ people fought back against state harassment. At the forefront of those protests were trans women such as Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Riviera, demonstrating the harassment trans people have always faced from conservative forces in society. This event lit the spark for a militant global movement that has forced real, significant change. The vast majority in Irish society recognise that there is no LGBT without the ‘T’ and that trans rights are all of our rights. The legacy of Pride is more important than ever in 2023 given ongoing expressions of homophobia and transphobia in our society,” said Galway City Central candidate, Curran.
Furthering the topic of Trans inclusion, City East Candidate, Rooke said that there is a rising intolerance for LBGTQI+ people in Ireland, referring to a series of library protests across the country.
“One recent survey found that 87% of Irish LGBTQI+ people have experienced hate online in the past year. The year 2022 was the most violent year for LGBTQI+ people in Europe in a decade. The recent protests calling for the banning of LGBTQI+ books in our libraries across the country are examples of how the far-right is driving harassment against LGBTQI+ people. These protests are not only deeply damaging to those in our community who avail of these resources; they are unacceptable intimidation against library workers who unfailingly do excellent work in our communities. A successful Galway Pride will be a strong message of solidarity with LGBTQI+ people against those sowing disunity in our society.”
In March this year, An Garda Síochána released its annual report on ‘Hate Crime and Hate Related Incidents’ for 2022, revealing that hate crimes had risen by a third in the space of a year, going from 448 in 2021 to 582 in 2022. The ‘Discriminatory Motives’ outlined in the report list ‘race’ as being the predominant motivation, with ‘sexual orientation’ coming in second place. There were 22 cases of ‘Hate Crime and Hate Related Incidents Reported in 2022’.
Candidate for City West, McMaster, called for improved healthcare for LGBTQI+ people in Ireland, stating, “Ireland was recently ranked lowest in the EU for the availability and accessibility of trans healthcare by advocacy organisation Transgender Europe. The waiting list for the National Gender Service is six to ten years. In contrast to this outdated, highly prohibitive model, People Before Profit supports free, readily accessible gender care for trans people based on informed consent. We would properly fund resource centres for the LGBTQI+ community; the loss of Galway’s previous resource centre, Teach Solais, due to the HSE declining to fund it was deeply damaging to Galway’s LGBTQI+ community in general and trans community in particular. March with People Before Profit at Galway Pride to demand genuine Trans Liberation and a healthcare system that affirms trans identities.”
