Last Saturday Labour LGBT and many other comrades from across the Party marched at Dublin Pride. Since 2020, our attendance at the various Pride festivals has been a virtual affair and so it was especially good to be back out on the streets of Dublin with comrades and friends alike. We kicked off the day with a very successful fundraising brunch in Head Office. This was done in aid of our fund for LGBT+ Labour candidates who may be running in upcoming elections. From there we set off (with our newly embiggened flags in hand) to march at our first Pride Parade of the Summer, but there’s many more to come!

While Pride for many is a celebration of how far we’ve come in such a short time, we must also acknowledge how far there is to go. In recent months, our community has faced a shocking uptick in violent assaults, with at least one occurring on the day of Dublin Pride itself, as per a message sent to Aodhán Ó Ríordáin. And we must not forget the murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee which occurred in Sligo earlier this year. Ireland has become a much more tolerant and accepting country for LGBT people, but despite this, there are still many who wish our community terrible harm. It’s incumbent on all of us who promote tolerance, love and equality, to fight back against the vitriolic othering of our community, be it online, in person or even across the airwaves of our national broadcaster.

Pride is a protest!

 

–   James Joy, Co-Chair of Labour LGBT