First-ever Dublin Trans Pride attracts hundreds

July 30, 2018 On Saturday, hundreds of people reportedly attended the first-ever Transgender Pride in the Irish capital Dublin. Different from last month's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Pride, this Pride focused on issues concerning transgender people.

Participants advocated for improvements in the healthcare system for transgenders and for action against violence against non-binary people. Reportedly, some also called for separation of church from state. Some participants carried placards which read "Respect my existence or expect my resistance".

The Pride Parade started at 2 PM, local time, at and ended at. In 1982,, a man, was killed by five men in an attack against gay people at Fairview Park. Cearbhall Turraoin of the Sex Workers Alliance Ireland said, "It's appropriate that we are here in Fairview Park where Declan Flynn was murdered many years ago, that we talk about hate crime and the impact these hate crimes are having in Ireland [...] Three years after the marriage-equality referendum we’re still seeing very high rates of violence."

According to reports, organisations including and the  supported the event, and organisations including Trans Pride NI, United Against Racism, the, and Siptu LGBT Network participated in the march.

One of the Pride organisers, Thomas White, said, "Pride is a protest that celebrates who we are, and our survival against the system. People are still facing huge discrimination and oppression in this world, it's not something we are willing to accept any longer".

Another organiser, Ollie Bell, said, "Trans healthcare is underfunded and understaffed. We want to highlight the levels of violence against trans-people and call for victims of such violence to be treated with respect and dignity."

Ireland passed the gender recognition bill in 2015 allowing people above the age of eighteen to receive an official recognition from the state of their self-identified gender. For non-adults, they required consent from both their parents. In the same year, the country legalised same-sex marriage, and another reform took place two months ago, when a majority of the Irish people voted in favour of repealing the constitutional ban on abortion in the country.