13/01/2025
Several hundred people rallied in both Belfast and Dublin on 26th August to protest against a ban on prescribing puberty blockers to Northern Ireland. To the surprise of many people, Sinn Fein, a party that with a strong record on LGBTQIA human rights made the ratification decision as it holds joint First Minister role at the Stormont Parliament. There was no ratification on the decision by Parliamentary debate, according to the BBC News Channel. Keighley Duffy from the ROSA Socialist Feminist Movement told BBC News NI that "we are as much a part of this country as anyone else, we deserve to have access to that healthcare. Our message is that trans youth, trans kids, they deserve access to health care the same as anyone else...puberty blocker bans that we are seeing do not match that," Keighley continued. In the Republic of Ireland, protests were held outside Sinn Féin's Dublin office. Ruth Coppinger, a Socialist party politician, said she came "to show solidarity and support" with the protest and called on Sinn Féin to reverse the ban. "Is this their policy now in the South of Ireland?...The LGBTQ+ community will want answers to these questions. "It should be the choice of the person themselves to make an informed decision, obviously with their medical practitioner," she continued. On Saturday, Green Party leader Mal O'Hara said he was "hugely disappointed by the executive parties" over the ban. Mr O'Hara attended the Foyle Pride parade in Londonderry on Saturday, where he said there was "palpable anger at the executive parties, particularly Sinn Féin, for the banning of puberty blockers". He posted a photo of a sign which read: "Hey Sinn Féin. Do you support LGBTQ+ people?" The Irish Labour Party's LGBTQ+ group also called for an "all island approach for LGBTQ+ people, with a gender-affirming healthcare system for all". Posting on X, the party said: "We must also hold parties like Sinn Féin to account in their attacks on trans youth. "We need to stand by our trans siblings and youth." they said.
