I acknowledge the presence in the Gallery of representatives of many of the LGBTQ+ groups around the country. I thank them for their work and I recognise that I, and queer people all over our country, enjoy rights as a result of their efforts. Pride remains an empowering expression of community, visibility and celebration. It is a chance for LGBTQ+ people to gather openly and proudly. However, as many of the speakers have noted, while it is an opportunity for us to reflect on how far Ireland has come in recent years, it also has to be a truthful recognition of the challenges our communities still experience. I have made the point in this Chamber and elsewhere that the trajectory of progress in Ireland has not all been one-way. In particular, the level of abuse that gay, lesbian and particularly trans people receive online, and now regularly in person as well, has spiked in recent years. Most gay people have had to deal with homophobia at some point in their lives. We learn how to deal with it, we learn how to overcome it and sometimes we learn how to ignore it. That can be a very deeply personal journey for each person involved. For a time in the afterglow of the marriage referendum, it was felt that we had turned a corner and that Ireland had settled a fundamental question about dignity and equality. I believe, as I know many in the community do, that there has been a change, and a change for the worse, in recent years. The biggest driver of that change is the poisoning of our online spaces. It is not right that harmful and hateful content can be posted and shared so widely. It is not right that an innumerable amount of bot accounts can spread this type of hate. It is not right that a person struggling to come to terms with their own sexuality or their own gender identity is bombarded with that content. In the past, at least you could be safe from verbal homophobic abuse in your own home space, but now through the ubiquity of platforms that abuse feel inescapable. It is not because there is suddenly more hateful people in our society but because social media platforms have built systems that reward outrage, division and fear. This is not a question about simply offensive comments online; this is a question about who feels safe participating in our public life. There are bad actors out there who would like nothing more than to stigmatise us and drive us back into the closet. We will not allow that to happen. As Dublin celebrates Pride this weekend we mark how far we have come. Let us also be clear that we will not accept any push-back on our LGBTQ+ rights; not internationally and not here in our own country.

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