Cllr Dermot Looney, a Labour Party representative on South Dublin County Council (SDCC) for the Tallaght Central area, has called on the Council to work with event organisers in order to bring the annual Pride festival to Tallaght and other parts of South Dublin County. The Dublin LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) Pride Festival, first run in 1983, is a celebration of LGBTQ identity as well as a focal point for activism on issues of equality.
Last year’s Pride Festival, which was launched by Labour Lord Mayor Emer Costello and Labour Leader Eamonn Gilmore TD, attracted thousands to the centre of Dublin for a variety of events, including 12,500 attendees at the Pride Parade. The 2010 Event will take place this summer. Cllr Looney has now asked SDCC to contact the organisers of Pride with a plan to organise events in South Dublin.
In a motion to February’s Council meeting, Cllr Looney asks that the “Council congratulates the success of Dublin Pride in raising awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in Dublin for more than 25 years and offers its support for the 2010 event,” and calls on the Council to “contact Dublin LGBTQ Pride Limited to offer support and assistance, with a view to holding events in the South Dublin area in this and future Pride festivals.”
“Promoting equality at all levels is the ultimate agenda of the Labour Party,” Cllr Looney noted. “Labour’s record on LGBT rights speaks for itself – from decriminalising homosexuality in 1993 to campaigning for the right of same-sex couples to marry in the present day. Now, we have a chance to promote LGBT rights locally by hosting events in our county town of Tallaght and elsewhere in South Dublin.”
“Homophobic attitudes and discrimination towards LGBT people remain a huge blight on our society. Gay Pride Festivals have done much to challenge these prejudices in a celebratory and positive way. I am delighted that the Council’s positive response to my motion and organisation of recent events for LGBT History Month in our libraries show that we are moving forward in South Dublin aswell.”
Cllr Looney’s motion will be debated at the Council’s February meeting next Monday.
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Motion and Response from County Manager below;
MOTION NO.16
MOTION: Councillor D. Looney
This Council congratulates the success of Dublin Pride in raising awareness of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in Dublin for more than 25 years and offers its support for the 2010 event. This Council will contact Dublin LGBTQ Pride Limited to offer support and assistance, with a view to holding events in the South Dublin area in this and future Pride festivals.
REPORT:
February 2010 is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) History Month. South Dublin County Library Services have organised three events as follows and an exhibition from the Irish Queer Archive to mark the month:
1. Movie Night at Tallaght Library- Screening “Milk” directed by Gus Van Sant
2. Irish Gay History: A Talk with Senator David Norris and Brian Lacey
3. Literary Evening with Jamie O’Neill, Jarlath Gregory and Denis Kehoe
In addition the Council’s Social Inclusion Officer has made contact with the Chair of the Dublin LGBTQ Pride Festival and discussions are on going in this regard. The Social Inclusion Unit is also exploring the possibility of holding an event as part of the Annual Social Inclusion Week promoting positive attitudes towards the LGBTQ Community in South Dublin County.
