UCC students stand up for trans rights

“We are fighting for the living and mourning for the dead,” students proclaimed while protesting the insufficient healthcare for trans people in Ireland.

This week, roughly sixty students from the UCC LGBTQ Society came out in protest of Ireland’s treatment of trans individuals.

Vice Chairperson for the UCC LGBTQ Society, Ciara Harney, and the students protesting, called on the Government to reduce waiting times that can currently be up to a decade, by changing the model for trans health.

“We want to see a better experience provided within our healthcare system. 

"The biggest problem in Ireland is the waiting lists, which can be up to ten years from your GP referral to even begin the process,” Ms Harney said.

The long waiting list times are due to the current model requiring intensive psychiatric assessment before an individual is approved to begin the process of transitioning.

The trans rights protesters called for self-determination to be introduced for adults over the age of 18 instead of, what they believe, are transphobic mental assessments.

Despite efforts to pass this decision in the Dáil, the motion has been continuously pushed back.

“They believe that a psychiatric diagnosis is needed because they think that being trans is psychological, often as a symptom of other neurodivergences," Ms Harney claimed. 

"It's completely biased and transphobic. They see being trans as a mental illness, which was also how they saw being gay up until about 20 years ago," she added.

“We believe that you should be able to make these decisions about your own body.” 

The “inadequate” health services provided in Ireland have led to high levels of self-harm, self-medication and suicide within the trans community.

The UCC LGBTQ society, last night also held a vigil to commemorate the lives of those who have been let down by the Irish trans healthcare system or who were killed by transphobic violence.

"With this, we are fighting for the living and mourning for the dead.”