Experts from the country’s leading children’s and youth organisations will gather to highlight the vital importance for young people of a ‘yes’ vote in the upcoming marriage equality referendum on Monday, 27th April, at 9am in Wood Quay Venue (Dublin City Council Civic Offices), Wood Quay, Dublin 8.
The meeting will be hosted by BeLonG To, the national organisation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people, under the banner of BeLonG To YES, the largest coalition of children’s and youth organisations supporting a ‘yes’ vote in the referendum.
Organisations involved in BeLonG To YES include the ISPCC, Barnardos, Foróige, Youth Work Ireland, the Migrant Rights Centre, Headstrong, Yes Equality, the Children’s Rights Alliance, Pavee Point, EPIC and the National Youth Council of Ireland, as well as BeLonG To.
Monday’s meeting will focus on the impacts of inequality and negative campaigning on LGBT young people. Leading experts on youth welfare and children’s rights will contribute to the event, including Senator Jillian van Turnhout; Tanya Ward, Chief Executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance; Michael Barron, Founding Director of BeLonG To; and Dr Hilary Tierney from Maynooth University. The meeting will also be addressed by two LGBT young people, who will also speak about their experience of growing up gay in Ireland, and what the passing of the referendum would mean to them.
Speaking ahead of the meeting, Michael Barron said: “If marriage equality is not passed, we reconfirm to young LGBT people that their all too common experiences of homophobic bullying and rejection are acceptable in Ireland. This would be a devastating outcome. The very idea that LGBT people should not be granted the equal right to marry the person they love, that their love does not have the same value as everybody else’s, sends a hugely damaging message to young people who are feeling isolated because of their sexual identity.”
