It has been one year since we became the first country to legalise gay marriage by a popular vote.
RTÉ’s documentary on Monday showcased the amazing work that took place in the weeks leading up to the vote. When the results were announced in May last year, with 62% of Ireland voting in favour of equal marriage, the debates and arguments all seemed worth it.
Image credit: Clodagh KilcoyneA survey conducted by BeLong To and GLEN found a that record number of people have come out since the referendum passed.
This and the fact that over 400 same-sex couples have married since the referendum means that many people will agree that Ireland became a better place last May.
The country became a better place in so many ways, and yet there is still so much to be done to achieve true equality.
The blood ban
The MSM blood ban means that gay men are strictly banned from donating blood. The Irish Blood Transfusion Service has said previously that they discriminate against several groups in the community “insofar as we refuse to allow them to donate blood on the basis of perceived increased risk of spreading infections through blood transfusion”.
Several campaigns have been launched in recent years in an effort eliminate this ban. Gay Doctors Ireland have denounced the ban as “unscientific” and outdated.
The Gender Recognition Act
Only in place for those who are 18 or older. This act is to recognise change of gender for transgender people. However for those under the age of 18 this is not an option. Many organisations and people in the LGBT community have said that they would like to see this act changed so that it was open to people under the age of 18.
Hate crime legislation
Ireland, unlike most other EU countries, has no hate crime legislation.
The proposed Criminal Law (Hate Crime) Bill was drafted in 2015, but the Government has yet to take action to review and introduce it, leaving minorities in Ireland without protection.
This legislation has long been proposed to protect people who are targeted because they are part of a certain minority. Bringing this into legislation would send a message that harassment based on prejudice of any kind is not okay.
Marriage Equality in Northern Ireland
Our friends and family in the Northern Ireland still cannot marry their loved ones if they are of the same sex.
The Northern Ireland Assembly in Stormont has voted on the issue of marriage equality five times. All five of those motions were blocked by the Democratic Unionist Party through their use of a parliamentary veto called the “petition of concern.”
Now a number of petitions and groups have been set up in an attempt to get the LGBT people of Northern Ireland the same rights as those in the Republic.
General mental health
The mental health of many LGBT people is still at a low. BeLong To found that 56% of LGBT teens aged 14-18 had self-harmed and a staggering 70% of this age group had seriously thought of ending their own life. One in three LGBT young people surveyed said they had actually attempted suicide.
LGBT survey
The survey also found that only 7% of young LGBT respondents feel as though equality has been achieved, and 56% of all young people surveyed agree that homophobic or transphobic bullying hasn’t stopped since the referendum.
The marriage equality referendum is remembered as a historic mark in Irish history, but it should also catalyst for achieving a more equal Ireland.
As long as there are still rules that apply to the LGBT community that don’t apply to heterosexual people we can’t describe Ireland as equal.
A new campaign, called #iPropose, has been launched by the Union of Students in Ireland this week.
The idea behind the campaign is to highlight the fact that plenty of work still needs to be done to create equality in Ireland.
Image credit: Conor McCabe Photography.
This week in May will always be important. It is important to celebrate what we have achieved – equality and change that we made as a nation.
But now that we’ve taken first few steps in making Ireland more equal, it’s important that we don’t stop here.
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