Rainbow Connection

Coming on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, The All Island LGBTQIA+ Forum was launched to improve north-south cooperation between Irish organisations. Keev Ní Bhaoill gets the lowdown from those involved on what is promising to be an inspiring team-up.

With support from Community Foundation Ireland, the All Island LGBTQIA+ Forum is sure to be a significant organisation for the whole of Ireland. Aisling Playford, Policy and Advocacy Manager with The Rainbow Foundation, and Pádraig Rice, Policy and Research Manager for LGBT Ireland, shared the aims and hopes for this first-of-its-kind collaboration.

In speaking to the forum’s aims and purpose, Pádraig explained, “The All Island LGBTQIA+ forum is a partnership between the Rainbow Project and LGBT Ireland. The partnership started last year when working on a campaign around banning conversion practices, North and South of the border. We developed from there, inspired by the online Women’s Forum. Our idea for the project is that we’ll have three gatherings over the next year to bring together people from different organisations and [activist] groups, North and South.” He added that their aim is “to bring LGBTQ+ community organisations together for dialogue and discussion. To share information, create contacts, build greater understanding and awareness, and share information on the campaigns and issues we are working on.”

At the first of these meetings, Pádraig explained: “We had our first online gathering, where we gathered together a large collection of Pride festivals, from ones that have existed for decades to some that are just starting for the first time this year. We spoke about upcoming protests and some of the challenges we are facing, and shared some learnings and understandings.”

“It was a really great discussion,” he added. “We will have two more gatherings later in the year, hopefully in person, with a different focus on different themes and groups of people.”

Aisling discussed the future of the forum, and what those upcoming meetings might look like, expressing, “This is almost like the pilot year of this All Island LGBTQIA+ forum. So, we’re really being flexible in terms of what works and how we can progress it going forward.

“Again in Northern Ireland, in terms of conversion therapy, [the situation] is pretty much fluid at the moment. We have no assembly here in the North. Even though we have research that is due to be published in the near future, and the Republic’s research has been done as well, there is no progress in the North here. So, a lot of our focus is looking to Dublin in terms of working with LGBT Ireland [for example] around conversations to #BanConversionTherapy in Ireland, making sure that we [in the North] are included in that effort when it comes through in terms of the legislation.”

Speaking to the significance of the launch coming on the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, Aisling expressed that: “There is no future if we are not working in partnership and in collaboration with one another going forward. There are so many challenges that we face, both North and South, and it is hugely important for us to highlight that across the border — North, South, East and West — working together allows us to bring groups together. We had Pride, and we have obviously looked at conversion therapy before. We will look at hate crime as well.”

Aisling added: “Speaking personally, another project that is certainly something that I’m in support of is a United Ireland. So I very much fight for that cross-border work. Making sure that there is no divergence of rights, whether North or South, and the protections are there for all Irish people across this island.”

Pádraig added that, “For me, the significance of the Good Friday Agreement and the launch of this All Island LGBTQIA+ Forum is that this was the recognition that we have to keep working at this. It’s an ongoing process. A lot of the reflections around the anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement were looking back and reflecting on the past, but I think we need to also look to the future. And part of that for us was announcing a new initiative that was forward-looking.”

He continued to highlight, “For the first time, [this is] all of the LGBTQIA+ groups on the island coming together. It is about the future on this island and how we are cooperating and working together.”

Both Aisling and Pádraig’s work with their respective organisations, The Rainbow Project and LGBT Ireland have been instrumental in having this island-wide LGBTQIA+ forum come about.

Aisling spoke about her work with The Rainbow Project: “We were established in 1994 in Belfast by a group of volunteers. We are a mental health organisation. So, we are working to improve the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people and their families right across the North. We provide counselling, sexual health services, advocacy, support for housing, hate crime, and domestic and sexual violence.

”There are so many battles that we still need to face. And it is about being united against that...

“We also provide arts and culture events. We are a big organisation. When I say big, I mean a big organisation within Northern Ireland.” She added lightheartedly, “Which is actually quite small, about 35 members of staff across three different sites in the North. So, we’re pretty busy. We have two centres in Belfast and one in the Foyle in Derry. So, we have our services split right across the North.”

Speaking about the specifics of the work they undertake, Aisling expanded, “We also provide professional training, and development through our training programs and through our partnership with Stonewall UK as well. And then our campaigning and lobbying work. We have been involved in Love Equality, the marriage equality campaign, and I was the lead partner on the back of our #BanConversionTherapy Northern Ireland Consortium as well.”

In terms of Pádraig’s work with LGBT Ireland, he described how things started in 2010 “when seven different regional helplines came together to form a national organisation, to jointly run the national LGBT helpline. From there, we have grown and added other services and supports over a range of peer support groups, including dedicated groups for asylum seekers, refugees, migrants, Traveller groups, and other kinds of peer support groups as well.”

He elaborated on specific areas of support and advocacy, “There is a training department that provides [LGBTQ+] training to different organisations. A lot of our focus is on health care as well. I’m dedicated to our Champion Program. We are working with healthcare workers, to be champions for older LGBTQ+ people in their services and to improve their services. We work on policy, research and advocating for key issues. At the moment we are working on our hate crime and #BanConversion practices and on family rights, together with Irish Gay Dads and Equality for Children. Then we’re working together with Belong To and TENI as Co-Directors of Trans Equality Together as a key campaign.”

When asked about what they have both learned in launching the All Island LGBTQIA+ Forum, Aisling offered, “In a lot of ways, we have achieved so much in terms of equality. The fight is still not over in regard to that. There are so many battles that we still need to face. And it is about being united against that. Showing support and solidarity for a range of organisations right across the island, who don’t have the capacity, like ourselves within The Rainbow Project or within LGBT Ireland. Those conversations, those partnerships, and those connections that can be made through this forum can have a huge impact. Specifically when we look at Inishowen, who are able to develop links with Dublin Pride, with Belfast Pride, to learn and develop. That has value and it has value in terms of the discourse, the narrative that we have around trans identities, and non-binary identities in Ireland. Having that solidarity with our trans and non-binary colleagues, and those smaller volunteer-led organisations is going to have a huge impact going forward.”

Similarly, Pádraig spoke about what he has learned through this process, “From my perspective, even in this short period of time, I’ve learned a lot about the differences and similarities between organisations, North and South. Some of the challenges we are facing are the same, but there are some differences as well. Particularly in the gathering of Pride organisations, I found the inputs really powerful. To hear about how the different groups are expanding. Hearing about that expanse from organisations’ initial, first-ever Pride festival and, you know, talking about ‘Is Donegal ready for this?’ and then there’s been a really great festival and huge turnout to support it. That was really heartening.”

Speaking to communities North of the border, he expressed that, “Listening to reflections on the impact The Troubles have had, and the role of Pride within the healing process was really interesting and enlightening.”