OUR RAINBOW COMMUNITY NEEDS YOU

Before you know it, Pride month is upon us and we find ourselves in a sea of rainbow flags, events, celebrations, protests and awareness initiatives. This always gets me thinking about the people behind the scenes pulling all this together. 

I never underestimate the effort that goes into giving us, whether in the community or the workplace, all these moments. The reality is that so many people are volunteering their time, and without this, I know Pride month wouldn’t even exist. I’m grateful that people love our community enough to go the extra mile for us. When you think about it, it is the massive global movement of generous volunteers who make the world a better place, in all spheres of life, and not just for us within the LGBTQ+ community.

I’ve been volunteering within the LGBTQ+ community for many years. For me it started nearly 30 years ago when I saw an opportunity to start a support group for LGBTQ+ Christians who had experienced hurt and rejection from their church communities. Not only was this my experience but I knew that this was the experience of many others, and a safe space to talk, share and be together was so important. In fact, for some it was lifesaving.

I remained involved with this group until my move to Ireland in 2005. It delights me to know that this group still exists, supporting LGBTQ+ people of faith, but it saddens me that in this day and age it still needs to. Our work is not finished until all LGBTQ+ people, the world over, are equal and included.

In 2007, I applied to become a volunteer board member with the National LGBT Federation (back then it was the National Lesbian and Gay Federation -NLGF), the publishers of this amazing magazine.

During this time, we undertook the first ever Burning Issues survey, which identified key priorities for our community, and in 2009, the GALAS Awards were launched. We also got behind the Marriage Equality campaign which was launched in 2008.

I rejoined the board of the NXF again in 2015 on my return to Ireland, after a stint living in Australia, and on the back of the progress we had seen in both the areas of gender recognition and marriage equality. Again, I am reminded that it was volunteers and activists who delivered these changes for us.

I wanted to share my experience of volunteering because I see the impact we can have in our community. Every one of us has something to offer. I know that LGBTQ+ organisations across this country, including the NXF, need someone like you to consider volunteering your time to support the efforts and initiatives that go towards helping our rainbow community to flourish.

For me, this comes alive at each GALAS LGBTQ+ Awards event, which I’ve been involved in since the beginning, when champions of our community are recognised for their work and contribution. I love seeing the joy and surprise when nominees are told that someone, somewhere, has recognised their contribution. In fact, the next GALAS Awards will take place on Saturday, October 5, 2024 and nominations will open soon. Check out our website www.galas.ie for updates.

For this Pride month I wanted to, on behalf of the whole volunteer Board of the National LGBT Federation, acknowledge and say a BIG thank you to all the incredible volunteers across our community for all you do and the difference you make. I hope my story has inspired you to consider volunteering your time with one of our amazing LGBTQ+ organisations. If there was ever a time for this, it is now.

Pride is a time for us to celebrate our community, all that we have achieved, and a reminder that complacency is our enemy and there is still much more to do. Keep going everyone!

Happy Pride from all of us at the NXF.