Gabhaim buíochas le gach ball a bhí páirteach sa díospóireacht thábhachtach seo. Guím Bród sona ar gach duine. Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCeann Comhairle as ceannaireacht a thabhairt do gach Ball den Teach an tseachtain seo caite mar gheall ar cheiliúradh Bhród. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for her leadership as the custodian of the Chair of the House, for being impartial and for being a leader in building an equal and inclusive Houses of the Oireachtas. It does mean something and it is important. I thank all Members of the House for their participation in this important debate. It is not just a debate; it is an opportunity to participate in a discussion and look at where we have come from and where we are going to move to. I was struck by the varied contributions of the debate. Those people who know me will know that Harvey Milk has been a hero of mine. I was struck by these words of his: It takes no compromise to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression. As we celebrate Pride and reflect on some of the contributions made in this debate, I am not being nostalgic in saying there are some key moments where we have jumped and made significant progress. This is Pride month, but not for everybody in the world, as we just heard. Just 12 months ago, in the European Union, people in Budapest were fighting a battle to have the right and ability to march, celebrate and protest. I thank Deputy Roderic O'Gorman and the former Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, for their leadership, and the Mayor of Budapest for having the bravery to have that parade. I was in Budapest recently and people were looking forward to Pride this year. Deputy Byrne mentioned Kyiv as an example of a place where people do not just want to celebrate, but to advocate and protest too. That is what this month is about. It is about that opportunity to shine a light on the aspiration of equality for all people that was spoken about at our coffee morning and the diverse, rich lives that our Proclamation speaks about, of cherishing all of us equally. As we heard today, not everybody feels they can inhabit that space and be free to be who they are. I thank the activists in the Gallery, those who are watching online and those who are back in the offices working to ensure we have people who will campaign, raise issues and hold us to account. I ask all Members of the Oireachtas to read this wonderful document by Transgender Equality Network of Ireland, TENI. I thank Daire Dempsey for putting it together. I also thank the Library and Research Service, which put together a comprehensive document for today's debate as well. I will come back to both those documents in a moment. I read an article in the Irish Independent during the week by Kevin Penrose, a footballer from Tyrone. He spoke passionately about his life. He said that for a long time he resented the sport as he never thought he could truly be himself, whether it was his sexuality or a GAA player. If we take the example of sport, look at the transformative change that has taken place in our country. There is acceptance, progress and inclusivity in the GAA, soccer, rugby and athletics, and they are just examples of some sports. That shows us the progress we have made. I also thank members of the Oireachtas equality caucus, which is led by Senator Laura Harmon, and our allies and friends. Deputies Devine and Byrne are here. These are meetings of people where there is little rancour. We have a lot of debate, we seek change and we work on a cross-party platform to deliver for people. The backdrop to this debate has been against some of the briefings and engagements we have had. One of the questions posed in this discussion today was why we still have Pride. TENI speaks about the outstanding gaps in the law, policy and services that prevent people achieving full equality, and that is the tenor that has come through some of the debate here. Many people who do not understand and do not necessarily read about the issues think the marriage equality referendum put a roof on the house but, of course, it did not, as we all know. It was an important milestone and an extraordinary result, but we still have significant work to do. For many of us in the community, and we heard it in the debate today, it feels like the world is in fire. Deputy Byrne listed a number of countries where no progress has been made and there is no recognition in any shape or form. I have had the privilege of being the Cathaoirleach and Leader of the Seanad, a Minister of State and a Member of the House. I have travelled the world raising matters and have been met with a frosty silence. In many ways, it reminded me of Bertie Ahern's image of playing handball against a haystack. However, in the despair that we heard in some of the contributions, we have to be optimistic. We have to continue with our statements, which have the support of so many. If we are honest about it, there has been monumental progress and a sea change in opinion in all our political parties, which allows us to have that person-centred approach so that we can have the gender-affirming healthcare service we need to have for our trans community and friends. Deputy Byrne is right. We cannot and should never pull the ladder up. We must fight, advocate and stand with our family members, colleagues and friends because if we do not, we will fail them. Building on the Gender Recognition Act 2015, it is clear that we need to reform and review our healthcare system, and inculcate the need not just a real pathway, but also the delivery of gender-affirming healthcare. We owe that to our trans friends, colleagues and family members. We are thankfully in a Parliament where the majority of us are on the same page. We may be on different lines but we are on the same page, and that is a positive. We have all met and spoken to representatives from End Discrimination in Inheritance Tax, EDIT, the reform group looking for a change to the inheritance tax. I pay tribute to James Sexton and his group on their campaign. It is an important point that it raises. Many of us who will not have children will be faced with that inheritance issue at the end of our lives. What we have or do not have is not the point. The issue is equality in the treatment of people. I hope the families EDIT represents will see a change in the policy around inheritance tax. Reflecting on today, the theme of love, acceptance and inclusion has come across very much. I will single out two people before I conclude. Bishop Paul Colton has retired as the Church of Ireland bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross. At a time when it was not popular, he led. He brought people and his church along. Deputy Carthy made reference to the church earlier and I think he may have been reflecting on the leadership of the Catholic Church. Bishop Colton made a hugely positive contribution. I ask all of the churches to reflect upon their attitudes and doctrines. As a former seminarian and someone with a degree in theology, I hope they do so because language and words matter. I also pay tribute to Kate Moynihan, who has retired as the chief executive of LINQ in Cork. A Kerry woman living and working in Cork, she did huge work building an inclusive and empowering society for women and all of us in the community. I thank her and wish her well in her retirement. As we head towards Pride at the weekend, the flying of the rainbow flag is about visibility. It shows that we have come from Stonewall, where oppression was the order of the day, to liberation today. To the Members of the House and staff, thank you. To our friends watching and listening at home, have a good Pride. Without our friends in the Gallery, who have worked so hard and are working every day, we would be a poorer society. As we have said, Pride is a day of celebration and protest. It is a day to be enjoyed and to walk with pride. To everyone, I say "Thank you". Gabhaim míle buíochas, a Cheann Comhairle, for your leadership.

Sentiment score: 0.24