Across Ireland, LGBTI and other civil, political and faith groups organised a variety of events in at least five different cities in celebration of the IDAHOT 2014. Actions included religious services, online panel discussions, music events and a campaign to stop homophobic and transphobic bullying in the workplace.

The Stand Up at Work Campaign

Together with ICTU, BeLonG To Youth Service launched a campaign against homophobic and transphobic bullying in the workplace. The Stand Up at Work project encouraged people to Stand Up! Against Homophobic and Transphobic Bullying, as part of BeLonG To’s annual awareness campaign in schools, amongst youth services, and – now – in workplace settings. BeLonG To and ICTU produced a video and developed print materials which were launched on Friday 16 May in Dublin, to coincide with International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Local activists highlighted that non-discrimination is a fundamental right at work as defined by the International Labour Organisation. Equal treatment is reflected in Irish Law by the Employment Equality Act 1998 – 2012, which outlaws discrimination on nine distinct grounds, including sexual orientation. Despite this, the experience of both BeLonG To and ICTU indicate that LGBT young adults can face significant discrimination in the Irish workplace.

Speaking at the launch, Michael Barron, Founding Director of BeLonG To, said:

Irish research has established that there is a serious problem with homophobia and transphobia in schools, leading to a devastating impact on the mental health of LGBT young people. LGBT young people have told BeLonG To that they face similar issues at work. These range from feeling silenced and excluded as staff in religiously maintained schools and hospitals as a result of Section 37.1, to losing jobs because of prejudice, to harassment and bullying at work. We are delighted to work with ICTU to bring the Stand Up! Don’t Stand for Homophobia or Transphobia campaign, which we have been running in schools for many years, into the workplace for the first time. In doing this we aim to empower even more young people to take a stand against homophobia and to make Ireland a safer and more equal place for all.

You can watch a video of the event here:

Panti Bliss video sends a Global IDAHOT message

BeLonG To also put together a video message with Panti Bliss, the famous drag artist, performer and activist from Ireland who reached thousands of people internationally with her successful anti-Homophobia speech of February 1, 2014. The video was released 9 days before the IDAHOT and highlights the importance of the day as well as the fight for LGBTQI rights in general.

You can find the video here.

Religious IDAHOT Services

Changing Attitude Ireland (C.A.I.), a Church of Ireland organisation with ecumenical friends arranged services in commemoration of IDAHOT in several cities in Ireland and Northern Ireland, including Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford.

IDAHOT Service in Cork, 2014. Source: C.A.I.

Changing Attitude Ireland (C.A.I.) is a Church of Ireland organisation with ecumenical friends, heterosexual and gay, lay and ordained, working for the full affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons within the Churches in Ireland. C.A.I. is dedicated to celebrating and maintaining the traditional inclusivity and diversity of the Anglican Communion.

Online IDAHOT Forum

Front Line Defenders, together with the Irish LGBTI organization Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), hosted a live Web Forum with leading LGBTI rights defenders from India, Russia, Uganda and Peru on Friday 16 May. The forum discussed recent legislative efforts to restrict LGBTI rights in those countries and explore the risks that human rights defenders (HRDs) face in their work to combat homophobia.

The panel featured:

• Clare Byarugaba, Coordinator of the Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law in Kampala, Uganda, and a 2012 recipient of a US Department of State Human Rights Defender Award.
• Sonal Giani, Advocacy Manager at the Humsafar Trust in Mumbai, India, who works on the ground dealing with crisis situations facing the LGBTI community.
• Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes, President of MHOL, Movimento Homosexual de Lima, Peru, the oldest LGBTI organisation in South America.
• Manny de Guerre, Founder of the Side by Side Lesbian and Gay International Film Festival, based in St. Petersburg, Russia, which has come under attack since it started in 2008.

You can watch a video of the IDAHOT Forum here.

Freedom of Expression event in Dublin

The LGBTQ Network of the trade union SIPTU, marked the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia with a Freedom of Expression focused event which took place on May 16 at the Liberty Hall Theatre in Dublin. The event was focused on making noise against Homophobia and Transphobia and celebrating IDAHOT. It included guest speakers from INTO LGBT Teachers’ Group (on #Section37), and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (on equality in the workplace), as well as music from various artists, slam-poetry from Julie Goo, comedy from Breda Larkin and a *One Minute Noise Memoriam*.

Freedom of Expression event in Dublin. Source: SIPTU LGBTQ Network

IDAHOT 2014 in Galway

Joining Amnesty International Galway and Amach LGBT in celebrating IDAHO, G-Bar in Galway hosted an evening of music by Lunatic Spoons, Grounds for Invasion, Steven Sharpe and Tara Stacey, as well as a fundraising raffle for the Amach LGBT Resource Centre Project in Galway. Before the event, the local Amnesty group and Amach LGBT held a bake sale in commemoration of IDAHOT.

IDAHOT Event at G-Bar, Galway. Source: Amnesty International Galway

IDAHOT 2014 in Galway Ireland.

Activists from Amnesty join local LGBTI groups in Galway Ireland for May 17 2014.

IDAHO Faith Events Held in Seven Cities

For the fifth successive year, Changing Attitude Ireland organised special church services at seven venues around Ireland to mark IDAHO, the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (May 17th) – Dublin, KilKenny, Cork, Limerick, Belfast and Derry.

On Friday May May 17, the Newry Rainbow Community held an evening of sacred song, scripture readings and reflection in St. Catherine’s Church, Dominic Street, Newry, County Down. Other services took place on Sundays and this year included for the first time, St Canice’s Cathedral, Kilkenny on May 12th where the speaker was the Bishop of Cashel and Ossory, the Rt. Rev’d Michael Burrows. The commemorations were also joined on May 12th by St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin where the speaker was Canon Mark Gardner; and by St Mary’s Cathedral Limerick. Another newcomer to IDAHO this year was St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast on May 19th. Also on May 19th will be the service in Cork at St Anne’s, Shandon, where the speaker was Jerry Buttimer TD, joined by the LGBTS Choir Choral Con Fusion. One week later in Derry the service on May 26th was in St Columb’s Cathedral.

All events were welcome to everyone, irrespective of faith or sexual orientation. For more more info see the Changing Attitude Ireland website.

Rainbow Graffiti Flashmob in Galway

ShOUT LGBT Youth Group also organised a street art flashmob, ‘Painting The Town in Rainbows’.

Organisers advised in the lead up to the event: ‘ShOUT! LGBT Youth Group, Youth Work Ireland, Galway is organising a Chalk Graffiti Flash mob Saturday 18th of May. We will be meeting in Eyre Square at 12.30, placing LGBT Rainbows in Eyre Square, then moving on down through the town placing Rainbows as we go, continuing on to Spanish Arch (for 1pm), where will draw a lot of rainbows, add some quotes and signatures and ask the public to join in. We will be photographing the whole day. Anyone is welcome to join in at the Spanish Arch.’

For more information see the ShOUT LGBT Youth Group website. Or log onto their page on facebook.

Photos from the event, more available from ShOUT LGBT Youth on facebook.

BeLonG To Events organised in Clondalkin and Limerick

IDAHOT Event in Clondalkin with Minister Frances Fitzgerald!

The LGBT Youth Network, BeLonG To, presented at the ‘Best LGBT Policy & Practice for Community , Drugs and Youth Organisations’ seminar on the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia. Organised by the Clondalkin Rainbow Alliance, David Carroll, Director of Services with BeLonG To, spoke about the issues affecting LGBT young people, and offered suggestions on ways in which professionals can enhance their work practise to be more inclusive of LGBT youth.

IDAHOT Conference on School Ethos & LGBT Identities at the University of Limerick

BeLonG To also spoke at a conference at the University of Limerick, on ‘School Ethos’ and LGBT identities. The conference was funded by the Irish Research Council and brought together Irish and international researchers, NGOs, the Department of Education & Skills, the Joint Management Board, and other education partners. Activists of the group advised in the lead up to the event ‘BeLonG To is honoured to have been one of the few NGOs invited to participate in this ground-breaking event which will provide a vital opportunity for education partners to talk about challenges and strategies related to school ethos and LGBT young people.’

For more information please see the BeLonG To website.

In Ireland, there was unprecedented mobilisation from activists from organisationsBelongTo and the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) for IDAHO this year.

As both organisations were already heavily mobilised on the issue of homophobic bullying, the global focus of the Day on this theme provided additional relevance to take up action.

As a result, a major conference on bullying in schools was organised, which included a specific focus on homophobic bullying in the Dept.of Education, with the Minister for Education and the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs.

Ireland IDAHO 2012

The organisations also jointly did a briefing for all parliamentarians (see below) which was read into the record of the Senate, and engaged with a wide range of Parliamentarians on the issues, achieving an all-Party statement of support for young LGBT people to mark IDAHO:

Ireland IDAHO 2012

“In marking IDAHO day, we stand together with all LGBT young people in Ireland. We reaffirm our determination to ensure that all LGBT young people will have a safe, supportive and affirming education,” said the joint statement by Minister for Education, Ruairi Quinn TD, Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Frances Fitzgerald TD, Fianna Fail’s Education spokesperson Brendan Smith TD, Sinn Fein’s Sean Crowe TD, and Finian McGrath TD on behalf of the Dáil Technical Group.

(See document below)

Ireland IDAHO 2012

Trans activists also took advantage of IDAHO to launch a landmark publication entitled “Touching the Surface: Trans Voices in Ireland”. It is a celebration of trans experiences from across Ireland. More than 35 people contributed to the collection, reflecting the personal, political and creative spheres of trans people across the country.

And for the fourth successive year, special church services were organized to mark IDAHO. This year’s theme was “Moving Forward Together”/”No More Them and Us”.