We had great attendance and amongst many others, we were graced with the dulcet tones of our General Secretary, a romantic duet by Ged Nash & Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, and as was quoted in the Irish Times: “some dodgy renditions of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5”. The fundraiser was a great success and may well become a staple of future Party Conferences.

Labour LGBT also submitted three motions to Party Conference. The first, reaffirming the Party’s commitment to Trans rights and calling for the recommendations of the GRA review to be enacted. The second, to make Labour LGBT a full Party Section with representation on the Executive Board. And finally, an emergency motion decrying the bigoted and dangerous anti-LGBT+ legislation recently passed in Uganda, as well as calling on the government to provide asylum for those fleeing. All these motions passed unanimously.

Our community may have made great progress in recent years, but by no means is our fight over. Not in Ireland and especially not abroad. We must continue to fight for our queer siblings, no matter where they live. Labour LGBT is no less relevant today than it was when we were founded, 20 years ago.

On that note, I would like to encourage anyone who wishes to join the Labour LGBT committee to do so at our next AGM/Conference on the 6th of May. More details will follow via email. We hope to see you there!

James Joy

Chair of Labour LGBT