Taking place at the Dáíl on March 31, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin have called for the Irish public to “mourn for the dead, fight like hell for the living”.

Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin, who has previously issued a number of demands to improve the lives of trans and intersex people in Ireland, has announced a memorial/protest to take place in Dublin next week.

In a statement on Twitter, the advocacy group for Twitter explained their reasons behind the demonstration at the Dáil: “The last few years have been some of the deadliest on record for trans people and queer people as a whole. We saw the brutal murder of Brianna Ghey in England, a 16-year-old trans girl who was relentlessly bullied over her trans identity in the months leading up to her death, as well as the horrific and tragic death of Eden Knight, a 23-year-old Saudi woman who committed suicide after being forced to detransition.”

“Back home, we’ve seen the brutal attack of a trans woman in Cork as well as a survey from LGBT Ireland saying that 75 per cent of queer people have been verbally assaulted and 20 per cent physically assaulted. None of these incidents happen in isolation and none can be separated from the wider trans moral panic constantly hammered by both the media and political establishment. Only recently, Leo Varadkar dog whistled to TERFs and the far right, claiming he doesn’t believe “biological males should be in women’s prisons”.”

“On Friday, March 31 at 18:00, join us at the Dáil to demand [change] and to remember and mourn all those affected by transphobic violence and all violence by the far-right as a whole. Bring flags, banners, signs and candles if you wish.”

It was revealed in November by Transgender Europe (TGEU) that Ireland ranked the worst place in the EU for accessing trans healthcare. The network of more than 200 trans-rights organisations, found of 27 EU member states, Ireland had the worst healthcare provision for trans people.

Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Greece joined Ireland in the bottom five. On the flip side, Malta, Spain, Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands were in the top five countries for providing trans healthcare.

The countries were ranked by six criteria, with Ireland scoring just one point out of a potential twelve.

The countries were ranked on the types of trans healthcare available if a psychiatric diagnosis is required before hormonal treatment or surgery, waiting times, if any group is excluded or made to wait longer to access trans healthcare and the ages of those allowed hormones and puberty blockers.

Ireland’s one point was given for providing trans healthcare, but it scored worst in the EU on waiting times.

TGEU claimed that in Ireland, trans people could expect to wait “between two-and-a-half and ten years from requesting to see a specialist in trans healthcare to seeing one”.

Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin will be hosting their Trans Day of Visibility demonstration outside the Dáil on March 31 at 18:00.

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