One week before I volunteered with BeLonG To, the national organisation supporting LGBTQ+ young people, a teenage boy was brutally and cruelly attacked in Navan, Co Meath.
A video of the crime was sent far and wide, sending shockwaves not just into the LGBTQ+ community, but to all communities across the country.
Questions have been asked as to how a vicious and stomach churning incident could have occurred nearly exactly eight years to the date when marriage equality was legalised by popular vote here in Ireland. The first country in the world to do so.
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Sadly, some of the figures speak for themselves and it is like we have regressed as a society. An Garda Síochána reported a 29% increase in reports of hate crimes and hate-related incidents in 2022. Where are the 100 thousand welcomes, where is the craic and where is the culture of tolerance and inclusiveness?
I turned 30 last week and when I was born in May 1993 it was still illegal to be gay in Ireland. Men and women ostracised and criminalised simply because of their sexual orientation and thanks to the work of Senator David Norris homosexuality was then decriminalised one month later on June 24 1994.
New figures from BeLonG To, show high numbers of LGBTQ+ youth seeking support amid a climate of increasing fear. I was at the Mansion House last week to volunteer with them as an intern for the day when they launched their 2022 Annual Report. The organisation revealed that youth workers carried out 2,395 interventions with LGBTQ+ youth in 2022.
My skill set for volunteering isn’t exactly bulging but I managed to buddy up with Director of Communications & Advocacy Sinead Keane as she conducted the photoshoot and directed the arrivals and guest list.
While the figures are stark and disheartening, as I stood there in my bright pink t-shirt one really positive thing really caught my attention. Seven students and two teachers had travelled from Roscommon Community College, one of 57 schools in Ireland working on the “Quality mark” programme, which is teaching schools how to empower their LGBTQ+ students and their allies.
Initially, I thought they were a mix of queer students and allies, but, no, they were out and proud and the teachers even had to whittle down who attended the event on the day. Looking back at my own school experience in Rice College in Ennis, which was massively positive. I always felt safe and supported, I couldn’t imagine being in a position to be out back then, or knowing anybody else who was out for that matter. And that was only 13 years ago. Stepping back for a second, it could be even harder to come out in 2023 than 2010 given how broken and polarising our society and online world feels.
I was filled with emotions of pride (how fitting) but also envy. I would have loved to have that feeling of belonging and to have other people from my community around me. How lucky are they to have such incredible teachers, who have clearly stuck their necks out to provide a personal and inclusive experience for their pupils?
Roscommon Community College teacher Catherine Dennigan told me: “We are striving and pushing forward for the young people within our school all the time.
"We have a massive group of students and it is something that I would have loved to have had within the school myself. I know from friends and from me personally that going through school and not having those supports in place or not having the letters ‘LGBT’ is not a comfortable space to be in.”
Sharon Heron, director of education training and education practice, with BeLonG To has been rolling out the quality mark programme and she is aware of the challenges that are now there for young people.
She said: “There has definitely been a shift in the narrative. We have seen some of the more pro-conservative voices being very loud in America and the UK and that translates over here.
"There is anti-trans rhetoric. People who disagree with gay rights are very vocal whereas in the past they might have just left them alone. The young LGBTQ+ people are absorbing this and are feeling more fearful.
"Their thoughts are being formed and they are hearing all these different perspectives that are not kind or accepting or tolerant. I am not going to blame social media but it is still a pathway for all these voices to get to them.”
We are now facing our most tense and most important Pride month in my living memory in Ireland. It is a very worrying and scary time for gay people in Dublin, and Ireland, at the minute.
We need an event to share positivity, colour, and inclusivity and this colour needs to drown out the shouting from the small minority of blank profiles on social media. If you have a gay person in your life, give them a hug this month, send a text and be there for them. It is just a sexuality, we are all the same and we should all be proud of who we are.
Visit belongto.org for support and information.
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