The Community Foundation for Ireland believes in equality and fairness for all citizens in Ireland and is proud to have supported LGBT+ rights since we were founded in 2000. In just a quarter of a century, we have seen a seismic shift in attitudes towards LGBT+ in Ireland, from the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 to the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum in 2015, we have come on leaps and bounds in this country. However, there are still serious issues around the inclusion of all members of the LGBT+ community and we work with organisations and groups throughout Ireland to change this.
Through our own fund and the generosity of our donors, we have provided almost €1million to LGBT+ groups. This includes significant support for Marriage Equality and funding for setting up the first National Gay and Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Helpline. Other grants provided include BeLonGTo Youth Service, Rainbow Support Service, National LGBT Federation, TransParenCi and many more.
Two fantastic projects from this year’s funding were a research project from Dublin Lesbian Line and a Pride event through National Youth Federation at Youth Work Ireland.
From our Impact Grants 2018 Women's Fund (Sexual Harassment) the Dublin Lesbian Line (DLL) were provided with €5,000 to support them in producing the first ever Irish research project into the sexual harassment of LGBTQIA+ Women*. There were extensive findings from the research with some examples of key discoveries being 71.5% of respondents said they have felt uncomfortable or unsafe holding hands with an LGBTQIA+ partner because of the reactions they get and 47% of respondents said they have felt uncomfortable or unsafe dressing a certain way to express their gender identity. When discussing the key findings of the research Laura Louise Condell, principle researcher of the Empowering Change Research Project, said, “These results show that fear and concern for safety is a huge barriers for LGBTQIA+ Women* when it comes to expressing their identities; whether it be in public, in the workplace, and even in places which are supposed to be safe for our community such as LGBT+ bars and nights. We hope that by drawing attention to this issue we can start empowering people to name and safely challenge sexual harassment when they witness or experience it.” You can see a full report of the findings here.
One of our Donor Advised Fund ‘Sharegift’ also supported Youth Work Ireland with €7,500 to fund one of their annual events, the Pride Breakfast. This positive event in its 4th year is for LGBTI+ young people from all over Ireland to support them in travelling up to Dublin with their youth workers and youth club volunteers. Over 500 people attended including An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, they gave them breakfast and a safe space to meet others and get ready to march in the Dublin Pride Parade. For many it is a key milestone in building their confidence around their gender identity and in meeting their wider community. You can read more about their work and events on their website here.
We are proud to support the changes in attitudes towards LGBT+ but much more needs to be done if you are passionate about human rights and the rights of all members of our society to be treated equally, then think about giving strategically to our fund focussing on LGBT+ rights. Visit our Giving section to explore how you can strategically fund the advancement of LGBT+ rights in Ireland.