Legislative Changes

  • An end to discrimination around donating blood. Currently gay or bisexual men must remain celibate for 12 months in order to give blood. This discrimination has no basis in scientific reasoning. Ireland should follow countries such as Italy, Spain and South Africa by establishing full equality in this area.
  • Hate crime legislation should be introduced to deal with homophobic and transphobic attacks. This should include the recording of data on homophobic and transphobic attacks. Transphobic attacks are currently not recorded so there are no figures on the amount of attacks happening.
  • Extension of the gender recognition act to 16-18 year olds. Schools should also have guidelines/training provided for cases where they have transgender students in terms of uniform policies, bathrooms etc. 
  • Legislation to create a third gender option for non-binary people on all official forms. This is already available in Canada and Australia.
  • Legislation to make anti-retroviral drugs such as Pre-exposure prophylaxis, free. HIV infection rates have increased 35% since 2011. We need the implementation of a substantive anti-HIV campaign including making PrEp through the HSE. The current cost can run up to €400 per month as the drug is not available here. This is preventative medicine which studies published by groups such as ACTUP show can reduce the chance of infection with HIV substantially. Studies also show the cost of preventative anti-retroviral drugs is cheaper than treating increasing numbers of HIV infections.
  • Legislation to allow all LGBTQ people fleeing persecution to come to Ireland without extremely intrusive vetting procedures. Ireland should become a safe haven for those being oppressed for their sexuality or gender abroad.