LGBTQ+ community joins together to mark Dublin Pride parade's ...
More than 400 young people from the LGBTQ+ community joined together for the Dublin Pride parade today to mark the event’s 50th anniversary.
Participants aged between 14 and 23 years travelled from as far as Donegal and Kerry to march with Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland which was selected as the Grand Marshal for this year's parade.
The charity held a breakfast event for participants in advance of the parade which was attended by Taoiseach Simon Harris. He spoke with a number of young people from the LGBTQ+ community about their experiences of growing up in modern Ireland.
Belong To was selected by Dublin Pride as the 2024 Grand Marshall in recognition of the charity’s work with young LGBTQ+ people and their families across Ireland. It delivers support services from crisis counselling and family engagement to coordinating anti-LGBTQ+ bullying campaigns and inclusion programmes in education settings and youth groups.
The charity trained 6,790 professionals across the education and healthcare sectors in 2023 with regard to providing inclusive spaces for LGBTQ+ young people.
People hold a banner to send a message in the Dublin Pride parade. Picture: Evan Treacy/PAThey also supported some 89 LGBTQ+ youth groups nationwide to create spaces to bring together people in the community, among other accomplishments.
The Belong To event was organised and produced in partnership with Dublin Pride, Avcom, Limelight Communications, and Dublin City Council to provide an opportunity for people to celebrate the day as a community.
CEO of Belong To Moninne Griffith said they were delighted to embody the Dublin Pride 2024 theme and ‘Shine’ alongside hundreds of LGBTQ+ youth.
“This is a very special day for them and for all of us — a chance to celebrate in all of our diversity,” she said.
Young LGBTQI+ people from Youth Work Ireland’s rural youth groups get a chance to shine at this year’s Dublin Pride parade. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan“For many of the young people, this is their first time being out and proud, joining the community to celebrate their authentic selves. Unfortunately, this is still not the case for the other 364 days a year, as revealed in our recently published research with Trinity College Dublin which showed a stark deterioration of the mental health of LGBTQI+ young people.”
She acknowledged what she described as a general trend “towards extreme anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric online and in public spaces.
“The recent incidents of hate here in Dublin highlight how Pride is just as important today as it has ever been. It is a chance to voice how we urgently need the Government to implement hate crime and hate speech legislation, to ban conversion practices, to review the Gender Recognition Act and to create access to healthcare for the trans community.
Eppy Mutetwa as Young LGBTQI+ people from Youth Work Ireland’s rural youth groups get a chance to shine at this year’s Dublin Pride parade. Picture: Marc O'Sullivan"We were told in 2015 that it was safe for us to walk down the aisle — now many members of our community don’t feel safe walking down the street. In this context, Pride is even more crucial as an opportunity for young LGBTQ+ people to come together in celebration of themselves and each other, surrounded by community and acceptance. We’re proud to stand with them today and throughout the year.”
