Labour marks 10 years of marriage equality
Labour marks 10 years of marriage equality - The Labour Party
The Labour Party hosted an event this evening (Monday, 19th May 2025) marking 10 years since the historic vote to legalise same-sex marriage.
Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD was joined by Senator Laura Harmon and former Labour Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, who put the marriage equality vote on the political agenda. The evening was chaired by Labour LGBTQ+ Chair James Kearney.
Due to serious threat of protest from the far right, the venue location changed from Hen’s Teeth to the Outhouse LGBTQ+ Centre.
Speaking on the threat of protests at the event, Labour Leader Ivana Bacik TD said:
“It’s a great shame that our event to celebrate 10 years of marriage equality was targeted by members of the far right. Like many groups which have been historically marginalised in Ireland, the LGBTQ+ community has had to fight for its rights, often in the face of intimidation.
“Labour has always been proud to stand with them in that fight, whether it was for the decriminalisation of homosexuality, for legal protections from employment discrimination, for the right to marry, for gender recognition laws, for access to PrEP and other prophylactics, and more. More recently, Labour was one of few political parties in Ireland to remain steadfast in our support for the introduction of stronger hate speech and hate crime legislation.
“Our solidarity is unwavering. While the safety of activists is paramount, we took a decision not to bow to intimidation. I thank Outhouse for offering us use of its venue to allow tonight’s event to go ahead and the Gardaí for their advice and support. I also want to extend my thanks to colleagues from other political parties who came in support of the event this evening.
“The far right cannot stop us from coming together to celebrate ten years of marriage equality, and they cannot stop us from asking ‘what’s next?’ for LGBTQ+ rights. The events of the last few days have only served to emphasise the importance of that question.
“This is a challenging time for politics in Ireland. Too many are well able to tell us what they are against but lack the courage to set out what they are for. We are not afraid in the Labour Party and remain steadfast in our determination to see our values of equality, solidarity and fairness for everyone in our society be realised.”
Speaking at the event, Labour Senator Laura Harmon said:
“Ten years on from marriage equality is a reminder that we have so much work to do in terms of equality for LGBTQI+ families and in terms of supporting the transgender community.
“Seeing Hungary ban Pride Parades is a reminder that rights can be rowed back on and we must protect the rights we have won.
“I led the student movement’s campaign for marriage equality and I’ll never forget the hope we felt in 2015 for the future.
“Hope can and must win over those on the far right who trade on creating fear. We must never stop campaigning for a better future and marriage equality showed us what is possible when we work together to fight for it.”