European Movement Ireland: Flag is celebration of Pride but also a reminder of challenges

Happy LGBTQI+ Pride from the EM Ireland Team.

Over the months of July and August, the rainbow flag will colour streets, windows and doorways across Ireland to celebrate Pride. The Pride Flag serves as an important symbol of the LGBTQI+ community; with red representing life, orange standing for healing; yellow epitomising sunlight; green reflecting nature; blue symbolising serenity and violet conveying spirit.

You may see a chevron to the left side of the Progressive Pride Flag pointing rightward, which signifies the need for ongoing progress. This newer Pride Flag also features the colours black and brown, representing LGBTQi+ people with a minority background, as well as the colours light blue, pink, and white, the colours of the Transgender Pride Flag. Additionally, if you see a yellow triangle and purple circle, this represents the Intersex community.

Parades

Over the next two months there will also be Pride parades in Kerry (July 18), Drogheda (July 20), Cork ( August 4), and Galway (August 17), to name a few.

The roots of LGBTQI+ activism in Ireland grew from the historic 1969 Stonewall Riots in the US, which are credited with sparking the rise of global LGBTQI+ liberation movements.

The last four decades have seen LGBTQI+ activists across Europe push for a broader expansion of their legal rights, and in many areas, there have been positive developments in the fight for equality.

The experiences of LGBTQI+ people across the EU varies significantly from country to country and every group faces different challenges.

Ireland ranks 14th out of 48 countries on ILGA Europe’s 2024 Rainbow Map. Ireland scores high in areas such as civil society space and legal gender recognition. Malta is the EU Member State with the highest ranking on the Rainbow Map, scoring 100% on both the Family and Hate Crime and Hate Speech categories.

Poland is the EU country with the lowest scoring, placing 41st. Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Italy, Lithuania and Czechia are among the EU countries that rank the lowest. Poland’s position is driven by the fact that Poland has yet to adopt legal measures to recognise and protect same-sex couples. Poland also does not currently have hate crime laws that explicitly cover all bias-motivated crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics.

In April 2024, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) published a report which revealed signs of slow but gradual progress in the area of LGBTQI+ rights. While discrimination against LGBTQI+ people remains high, it is gradually declining. The proportion of respondents who felt discriminated against in at least one area of life decreased from 42% in 2019 to 36% in 2023.

Rainbow Map

ILGA Europe’s Rainbow Map reports that 16 countries in Europe now have marriage equality. Legislation in countries such as Estonia and Greece came into force as recently as January and February 2024, respectively, to allow for same-sex couples to marry.

Today, schools address LGBTQI+ issues more often than before. Over one in five LGBTQI+ pupils now say that their school addressed the issue positively. In Ireland, the new Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) and Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) junior cycle curriculum, published by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment in 2023, includes references to LGBTQI+ rights throughout. Additionally, the Minister for Children and Equality, Roderic O’Gorman, has stated that he is in favour of primary school students being taught more about what it means to be transgender.

However, despite progress being made in a variety of areas, LGBTQI+ people, and in particular trans and intersex groups, continue to experience hate-motivated violence, discrimination and victimisation, despite the protection afforded by EU law.

According to FRA, even though one in two LGBTQI+ people now report that they are open about their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics, most still avoid holding hands with their same-sex partner in public for fear of being attacked. Additionally, over one in three said that they face discrimination in their daily life because of who they are. Over one in ten experienced violence in the five years before the survey, slightly more than in 2019.

Discrimination and harassment can also remain invisible as less than one in ten people surveyed by FRA say that they reported incidents.

Harassment

Intersex, trans, non-binary and gender diverse people face more harassment and violence. They are more likely to face mental health issues, with over half reporting that they have suicidal thoughts. They are also more likely to experience homelessness and struggle to access medical care. This is also true for LGBTQI+ people with disabilities, in financial hardship or of ethnic, racial or other minority groups.

In the European context, as of July 1, 2024, Hungary holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU. Hungary is an EU Member State which is currently in infringement proceedings with the European Commission regarding its anti-LGBTQI+ “Child Protection Law” which was ed in 2021. Over the past year, the stigmatising effects of that law have become increasingly apparent, notably in the restrictions placed on depictions of LGBTQI+ persons in books, cultural institutions, and in the media.

Closer to home, in Ireland, it is clear that progress is continuing to be made in the sphere of LGBTQI+ rights. A Bill which would place a ban on so-called “conversion therapy” has been listed as a priority for the Summer 2024 Government Legislative Programme. However, like in many other EU countries, civil society organisations and activists often step in to fill the absence of public services to LGBTQI+ people with basic needs.

In 2024, Ireland does not legally recognise non-binary genders, trans healthcare continues to consist of detrimentally long wait times, and there has still been no progress made on banning medically unnecessary and non-consensual surgeries performed on intersex children.

June 2023 marked the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. However, LGBTQI+ equality across Europe is at a crossroads coloured by progress and challenges.

Let the rainbow flags that you see in doorways and windows over the coming months act a reminder of this fact.

Pride’s foundation is a riot and Pride’s future is the recognition of fundamental rights for all.

European Movement Ireland (EMI) is a not-for-profit, non-political, hip-based organisation. Since 1954, EMI’s mission has been to develop the connection between Ireland and Europe and to achieve greater public understanding of the European Union.