The Gendrification of Ireland 2.0
A new National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy is about to be launched and LGBT Ireland has its hand at the helm
There were scenes of joy outside the UK Supreme Court last week after judges ruled that the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’, and ‘sex’ in the UK Equality Act 2010 refer to biological sex. This was followed by scenes of rage at Parliament Square in London on Saturday when activists gathered to protest the Court ruling by damaging statues, chanting ‘F**k JK Rowling’, and carrying signs threatening those who believe that biology matters. Meanwhile in Ireland, the Equality Minister Norma Foley reassured people that in Ireland, the word ‘woman’ has nothing to do with biological sex.
In Ireland, Government policies relating to gender are being drawn up in consultation with activists who believe that gender identity is more important than biology. These activists believe everyone has a gender identity and that this invisible soul-like entity should take precedence over biological sex in matters of law and policy. The activists also insist that everyone adopts these beliefs.
Gender identity activists are extremely powerful in Ireland. They were instrumental in the development of the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy 2019-2021 that set in motion a series of radical Government actions embedding gender identity theory into all aspects of Irish society ranging from education to health to trade unionism and the media.
Although the LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy was due to run for just two years from 2019, it continued right up to October 2024 when the last committee meeting was held. A new iteration of this strategy is about to be launched. If reports published by the enormously influential and very well-funded LGBT Ireland are anything to go by, Ireland will be ploughing on with enforcing gender identity belief.
The list of members of the Committee responsible for the implementation of the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy gives an idea of the scope of the strategy’s influence. It includes representatives from Government Departments as well from RTE, the Irish Prison Service, Failte Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, and the Defence Forces, amongst others. Crucially, it also includes representations from at least ten LGBT lobby groups who all believe that gender identity is more important than biology.
LGBT Ireland is one of the key players in Ireland’s National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy. In January 2024, they issued a report that graded the Government’s implementation of the original Strategy at C+ (from a range that went from A to F). The summary report concluded with ten recommendations. One of those recommendations was for the Government to set up a consultation process to inform a successor LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy. That consultation process was set up by the Government just five months later, in May.
- ‘Jump’
- ‘How high?’
In May 2024, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth initiated the consultation process to develop the next iteration of the Strategy. A series of workshops facilitated by two ‘LGBT experts’ in partnership with LGBT Ireland was held with the aim to gather the views of members of the LGBTIQ+ community. It seems no workshops were held to consult with women’s groups or with individuals or organisations who believe that biology matters despite the fact that this Strategy will have implications for everyone in Ireland.
LGBT Ireland is an interesting organisation that wields an inordinate amount of power. Last week they issued a statement saying they were ‘deeply concerned’ by the UK Supreme Court ruling that defined the word ‘woman’ in terms of biology. ‘Trans women are women’, the statement asserts, ‘They always have been’.
LGBT Ireland’s January 2024 report graded every single one of the 108 actions set out in the 2019 LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy. Notably, the action demanding ‘the positive portrayal and representation of LGBTI+ identities in broadcast media’ was graded ‘E’ (the second lowest grade). The full report specifically singles out RTÉ’s Liveline programme which, in June 2022, ran three programmes that allowed people with diverse viewpoints on gender identity to speak as one of the reasons for the low grade.
The LGBT Ireland report states: ‘The Joe Duffy controversy was deeply disappointing and demonstrated irresponsibility by RTÉ in platforming anti-trans rhetoric’. It seems that anyone who questions gender identity belief or who says that biology matters is liable to be accused of ‘anti-trans rhetoric’. To my knowledge, Joe Duffy’s Liveline show has not touched the topic of gender identity since. Who is in charge? Is it LGBT Ireland? Is it the Government? Or is it RTÉ?
It’s also interesting to see from the LGBT report that the action relating to education was given the highest possible grade. The specific action: ‘LGBTI+ matters in the Relationship and Sexual Education curriculum review’ was graded ‘A’. This tallies with concerns expressed by people about gender identity theory being embedded in the Irish curriculum.
The report also notes that the Irish Prison Service plans to consult with the non-binary community in the future and that all new prison officers are required to undergo LGBTI+ ‘sensitivity training’. It’s not clear what the exact implications of all this will be for women prisoners but it is known that men who identify as women have been and are already housed in Limerick women’s prison.
In relation to sporting events, the LGBT Ireland report states that ‘there has been an active effort to restrict the participation of gender-diverse people, especially transgender women’ and that this needs to be addressed. So, whilst in the UK, following last week’s ruling, steps will now be taken to ensure safety, fairness and dignity for women in sports, there is increasing pressure in Ireland for men who identify as women to be permitted to compete on women’s teams and in women’s categories. The new Inclusion Strategy is one to be watched closely.
Another interesting action that received the lowest possible grade was the action to development transgender health services for children and adults. The criticism includes that there is a lack of access to ‘life-saving puberty blockers’ and that the model of care ‘does not incorporate WPATH and WHO guidance’. This is despite the fact that there is no evidence to suggest that puberty blockers are life-saving or that they effectively address gender dysphoria. Meanwhile WPATH has suppressed evidence on hormone use and so their guidance cannot be taken to be reliable.
In summary, it seems Ireland is rowing deeper and deeper into the sea of gender identity whilst the rest of the world is rowing back to the shore of common sense, evidence and consideration of the wider societal impact of enforcing quasi-religious beliefs on all individuals and organisations. Ireland’s next LGBTIQ+ Inclusion Strategy is soon to be launched. All indications are that it will be as radical as the previous with LGBT Ireland having a firm hand at the helm.
What can we do Colette, or commentators?
It's quite simple to me, we can acknowledge that gender identity is extremely important to some people, while recognising that sometimes sex is the mist meaningful characteristic.
That's hard to do when there is little official recognition that sex matters at all
The Dáil is packed full of EU bootlickers, and far left lunatics wrapped up in Palestinian Shemaghs because they’d rather layer up than put the gas on and up their carbon foot print.
Norma Foley is a prime example of the problem. A FF minister who preaches white privilege (to the native heirs of the island imagine) and oversaw the SPHE’s school book for children which depicted different families in Ireland with Family A being the backward, traditional, insular, and white privileged of the examples.
They would have gotten jobs with Josef Goebbels had they lived in Germany in the 1930s the bastards.