Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am incredibly pleased to speak on behalf of the Labour Party in this very important debate. l am a proud LGBTQI+ ally. I always have been. I grew up in a State, as did the Minister, that was a very cold and hostile place for anyone who was considered to be "different". I use the term "different" advisedly. My party has a long and proud track record of legislative social reform. Everybody in the House, regardless of their political perspective, would agree objectively that the Labour Party has done more than most to open up, pluralise and make Irish society more tolerant, equal and therefore more decent. In doing so, we have always worked in concert and lockstep with brave, dedicated and enlightened citizens, campaigners and activist groups to make the case, as have many others in this House, for a better and fairer Ireland. This summer, as the Minister correctly pointed out in his contribution, we mark the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality. In programme for Government negotiations in late 1992 and early 1993, the Labour Party insisted on this as a price for participation in government.

At this point we must also recognise, as the Minister did, the long and difficult journey to the European courts undertaken by our colleague, now Senator, David Norris, in his quest to have his rights and the human rights of all LGBTQI+ citizens vindicated and for our discriminatory laws to change - and change they did. We as a country have made enormous progress in terms of legislating for social change over a relatively short period. I am proud to have been a member of a Government that legislated for a referendum on marriage equality, and to have worked hand in glove with so many LGBTQI+ citizens, groups and allies of all kinds to persuade the majority of Irish people to embrace the powerful idea that we should all be able to marry the person we love.

As a society, we can be proud of the progress we have made, but we have a long way to go. To face the future with confidence and to truly understand what we need to do to ensure Ireland becomes a beacon for LGBTQI+ citizens, we must also come to terms with the past. This is one of the reasons I produced legislation in 2016 to secure a State apology to LGBTQI+ citizens, which was delivered in both Houses of the Oireachtas on that historic day in 2018, to mark the 25th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality.

The second element to that legislation was the need to introduce an exoneration or disregard scheme that would set aside convictions for consensual same-sex sexual activity under a broad range of laws in place prior to 1993. In many cases, the laws predated the foundation of the State. Those laws and the social architecture and atmosphere that allowed such obnoxious and offensive laws to exist made criminals out of men because of who they were and who they loved. I thank the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Flanagan, and the current Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, for sticking with this work.

I also express my gratitude to the members of the working group, which I was happy to see established. It worked with the Department of Justice and carried out some of the very intricate work on the design and implementation of a potential disregard scheme. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, for the support he provided for that process. It would be appropriate and timely to mark the 30th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality if the Government committed to publishing that report as soon as possible and to implement its recommendations by way of legislation by the end of 2023. I do not wish to pre-empt the publication but - I hope the Minister agrees - any scheme must be informed by a human rights approach at all times and should be sensitive, appropriate and sufficiently broad in its application. Coming to terms with our past is needed. It should be an ongoing piece of restitution and - if I could describe it as such - reparations work. It should be a process, in the real sense of the word, so we can make good on our promise to the LGBTQI+ people of today and tomorrow.

As many others said, all is not well for LGBTQI citizens in this country in 2023. Legislative change is all well and good, but social change comes much more slowly. There are reasons to be concerned about the experience of LGBTQI+ citizens in recent times. Just last weekend, two of my constituents contacted me to let me know about their experience of being verbally and physically attacked in my home town of Drogheda. There is no place for homophobic-motivated attacks of any description in modern Ireland. There never was, there should not be today and there never should be. One of those men decided to go public today - his name is Ivan. He spoke to the local radio station and what he said has been covered in the national media today. He is concerned, as are many, which I know from the experience of others in the LGBTQI+ community. They are fearful of going to An Garda Síochána, even though I assure them that they will be supported, accommodated and embraced, because of potential retaliation. The kindness of many people who experience these kinds of homophobic-motivated attacks is interesting. Often, as is the case with the men with whom I have engaged over the last few days, all they want is to make sure that people are educated and fully informed and that these types of attacks do not happen again. The men in this case, who have spoken about it, do not want young people to be criminalised. They want people to learn from their mistakes and for society to learn. All is not well, as the Minister knows only too well, for LGBTQI+ citizens. I thank him for the commitments he has made on the legislation he intends to bring in later this year and the legislation on conversation therapy, which he wants to introduce next year. That is very positive progress, for which I thank him.

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