Trans+ Pride rally set to light up Cork city centre on Saturday

Cork’s second Trans+ Pride Cork will take place on Saturday afternoon and this year will see a march through the city centre as well as a rally on Grand Parade.

Saoirse Mackin, who is co-founder of Trans+ Pride Cork, told The Echo that the rally and march will assemble around 2pm at the Central Library on Grand Parade and will welcome “all transgender, non-binary and gender non-conforming individuals and their allies”.

“After the march, we will come back to the Grand Parade, by the National Monument area, and we will then have a rally with a number of speakers and performers, some of whom have spoken at our events before, but then there’s also some people who have not spoken at our events before,” Ms Mackin said.

Among the confirmed speakers are Ms Mackin, Louise O’Donnell, Ailsa Spindler from the Cork Gay Project, Kiera Barbara, Miranda Stewart from Trans Event Sex Pride Dublin, and Julka Taylor.

Meanwhile, Socialist Party TD for Cork North Central, Mick Barry, said in the Dáil this week that the rally and march were “first and foremost a protest against the increase in hate crime against our Trans community”.

He stated that Ms Mackin had told him she was hearing reports of an increase in violence towards of the Trans community in recent months. 

Mr Barry added that the decision to meet at the Central Library for the rally was “a defiant choice of venue, given that it has been the scene of anti-LGBTQ+ protests including the ripping up of books by far right activists this year”.

Incidents 

The northside TD was referring to an ongoing series of incidents at the Central Library involving protesters objecting to the availability of what they term “pornographic” books related to LGBTQI+ matters.

During the incidents, many of which have been recorded and streamed on social media, library staff have been subjected to intimidation and “paedophile” slurs.

During an incident in early March, which was subsequently streamed, a copy of Juno Dawson’s This Book is Gay was ripped in half by a protester in Cork’s central library.

A spokesperson for the gardaí said: “An Garda Síochána attended a number of incidents at a premises in the Grand Parade area of Cork city throughout February and March 2023. There is a constitutional right to the freedom of assembly and freedom of speech, subject to statutory provisions. An Garda Síochána respects the right for citizens to exercise their constitutional rights.” 

The spokesperson stated gardaí are investigating one incident of alleged criminal damage that occurred on Saturday, March 11, 2023.

'Harassment'

Meanwhile, Forsa, the union representing the majority of civil and public servants, is threatening industrial action against Cork City Council for what it says is the council’s failure to protect library staff against “harassment and intimidation”.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council told The Echo that “libraries are centres of learning at the heart of communities and have no role as censors.

“Cork City Council has been to the fore nationally when it comes to social inclusion and the diversity and inclusion agenda.

“Cork City Libraries fully recognise the right to peaceful protest and has informed An Garda Siochána of recent activity. There are no plans to remove material from the library,” the spokesperson said.

The Trans+ Pride Cork rally and march will assemble at the Central Library on the Grand Parade at 2pm on Saturday and Ms Mackin said all allies are welcome.