“Our work isn’t done.”

Cork’s two LGBTI+ groups, LINC, and the Gay Project will join LGBT Ireland to set out the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) priorities for the next government at a briefing for GE candidates and community members in Cork this morning.

Addressing candidates in a statement released ahead of the briefing, Pádraig Rice from the Gay Project highlighted that, while significant progress has been made over that last 30 years, there are a number of outstanding issues that the LGBTI community would like to see addressed by the next Government.

“We need hate crime legislation, full family rights, and better sexual health services. Cork is the only city in Ireland where you can’t get free access to the HIV prevention medication, PrEP. That’s a disgrace.” said Mr Rice.

‘Dedicated services are based in Dublin’

“There is the new national LGBT strategy – but we haven’t seen much delivery of that locally. A lot of the dedicated services are in Dublin which makes them hard to access. I want to see better community supports and healthcare services here in Cork.

“We also have to do more work in supporting parents and families. We need to change the culture in schools and workplaces around bullying. And we have to ensure that everyone in the LGBTI+ community feels included and supported. To do all this we need adequate support.”

Kate Moynihan, the Project Coordinator of LINC added: “It is essential that our next government address the inequalities that are still experienced by LGBTI+ people. While advances have been made LGBTI+ people still face discrimination and prejudice eg. LGBTI+ families still need to be legally recognised; hate crime needs to be introduced to address the increasing incidents of homophobic and transphobic violence and health care for transgender people is completely inadequate.”

Key issues

Ahead of the Irish General Election on February 8th, 2020, LGBT Ireland has launched a “Recommendations & Priorities for Government” Strategy Document focusing on key issues facing LGBTI+ people in Ireland such as:

• Hate Speech & Hate Crime
• LGBTI+ Family Rights
• Conversion Therapy
• LGBTI+ people in the Asylum Process
• Intersex People
• Gender Recognition
• A healthcare service that meets the needs of the entire LGBTI+ population

You can download the document in full here.