It is more than ten years since marriage equality was achieved. It is an achievement of which we all can be proud but it is important that we continue to strive forward until equality is achieved in every aspect of life for LGBTQI+ citizens. As we make statements on Pride in this House and as thousands take to the streets for Pride festivals around the island, it is easy to miss how much inequality still exists. It is important that we remind ourselves every June of where Pride really again, which was on the streets of Greenwich Village in New York. In Ireland today, in places like PantiBar and The George, gay communities are free to host and curate in spaces that are run by them and for them. That was not the case in New York city in the sixties. It was after the police raids at the Stonewall Inn in Lower Manhattan in 1969 that members of the LGBTQI+ community took to the streets to fight back against the persecution of sexual minorities and to affirm their rights as human beings in a world that was trying to marginalise and repress them. That is a burden that continues to be borne to this day with the rise of fascism and the far right and the efforts to erode rights that were hard fought for and won by the LGBTQI+ community. Those reactive elements also look to discriminate against and marginalise people of colour, women and anyone who comes from abroad. Marsha P. Johnson, a key activist for LGBTQI+ rights in New York city, once said, "No Pride for some of us without liberation for all of us". While Ireland may be progressive on LGBTQI+ rights in comparison with some other countries, we are far from perfect. Last month, a constituent of mine in Kildare contacted me to tell me about an ordeal she and her wife faced when seeking passports for their young twins. While both mothers are listed on the children's birth certificates and both are recognised in law as the parents of their children, the Passport Office sought court orders to explain how it is possible for two women to be on the birth certificate, asking invasive questions about the circumstances of the children's birth despite their mothers' legal parenthood. When I asked the Minister for foreign affairs to confirm whether this is standard practice for same-sex parents, the response I received from her officials was that they simply did not know. A system of institutional suspicion and shame surrounding same-sex parents in this State still exists today, just as it did historically. Caithfidh muid, mar shochaí, a bheith i bhfad níos tuisceanaí ar an bpobal LADTIA+ sa tír seo. Tar éis na mblianta fada a bheith ag troid ar son chearta pósta, sláinte agus fostaíochta, tá gnéithe den eite dheis ag iarraidh fáil réidh leo. Tá siad ag iarraidh fáil réidh leis na cearta sin ní hamháin don phobal LADTIA+, ach do mhná, daoine le dath agus imircigh chomh maith. Seasaimis go léir an fód ina gcoinne le chéile.

Sentiment score: 0.04