Cork Councillor: Many LGBTQ+ people don’t feel safe

A MEMBER of Cork City Council has said that 30 years on from the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland, LGBTQ+ people in Cork are under sustained attack, and council staff are being harassed in their workplaces.

Labour Party councillor John Maher tabled a motion at Monday’s meeting of Cork City Council asking that the council reaffirms its “ongoing support and solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community in Cork City and with all workers who have endured bullying and harassment from a vocal minority”.

Mr Maher’s motion, which received unanimous support, comes in the wake of an ongoing series of incidents in which city librarians have been harassed by far-right protesters objecting to LGBTQ+ books they term “pornographic”.

Mr Maher said the abuse meted out against librarians had been replicated in recent months in similar attacks against members of the LGBTQ+ community, bookshop workers, pharmacy staff, members of An Garda Síochána, and politicians, all of whom, he said, had been harassed, abused, and recorded without their consent.

“People have been called ‘groomer’, ‘disgusting’, and ‘paedophile’, and while many will say that I should not repeat the stuff said, I think we must hear it and be awake to the attacks,” he said.

“I am very proud of our city, but the reality now is that many don’t feel safe, and this is something we must acknowledge and address.”

Co-founder of Trans+ Pride Cork, Saoirse Mackin, echoed these sentiments.

“Over the [last] year or more, there has been an increase in attacks on LGBT+ people in general, but in particular trans people in the city,” she said.

“I personally know a few people who have been attacked over the past year, more so than I would have over the past few years.

“Hate crime is on the rise in Ireland and across the world, and people do not feel as safe in the city as before.”

Gay Project’s Ailsa Spindler also said people in the LGBTQ+ community have become more fearful.

“I would say there has been a national increase in not only the things we heard about, like the comments and incidents, but the fear that people feel,” said Ms Spindler.

She also praised Mr Maher on his motion.

“I think people like Councillor John Maher give us hope that the world is becoming a better place,” she said.