Tag Archives: human-rights

Activism and Agitation

Gender Recognition Act and those who are 16.

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This is a really good read on the issues with the Gender Recognition Act as it stands in relation to those aged 16 to 18.

https://www.irishlegal.com/article/stephen-kirwan-pitfalls-and-uncertainties-in-ireland-s-gender-recognition-laws

The current #GRA does allow for those who are 16+ to apply, but there are considerable hurdles.

What if the person who is 16+ is estranged from their parents?

What if they have the support of their parents, but can not afford to pay privately for the consultation and paperwork?

It means we have in place laws which say a person aged 16+ can consent to medical procedures and see medical professionals with out parent/guardian permission, but can’t apply for the #GRA

Why is #GRA important for a person who is 16+? I’ve had people say sure they can just wait until they are 18. Well firstly 16 is when we sit our first state exams, it is when our legal and public Id which we will use for our professional life starts.

It is just not possible to have your leaving cert results issued under a different name at a later date. Also for people are in non gender mixed schools, it’s frankly hellish and if the only other local option is also non mixed, school policy often won’t allow a transfer.

If 16+ were allowed to self ID the same way as 18+ are, then it removed the barriers which can take over 2 years anyway. It means they can sort out all the paper work to live authentically as themselves, and not have to always explain.

A person does not have to undergo surgery or hormones to apply for their gender to be acknowledges by the State under the #GRA
16+ plus can already legally consent to any surgery or treatment currently in our healthcare system, if they meet the criteria for it. Extending the #GRA to allow them to self ID will not change that.

What it will do is frankly save lives and save the quality of someones life. Given the high rate of young trans people ending their lives and the impact tranphobia can have on a person’s mental health, extending the #GRA fully to 16+ can only be a good thing.

What it will allow is for those who are 16+ to wear the school uniform which aligns with thier gender, where a school has gendered uniform policies. #GRA

Another failing of the #GRA is that it is very Binary. It does not take into account people who are #NonBinary, #Agender or #GenderFuild. Trans people are expected to fit into a very binary system of gender conformity and gender expression.

This mean that these trans people are left with out legal recognition under #GRA and often access to services. The trans healthcare we have also is stuck in this binary mode and those who discover they are non binary are considered to have dropped out or failed to transition.

Which means they don’t have access to the medication which adjusts their body to what is optimal for them. They face hurdles when it comes to work and don’t have the support they need. #GRA should include #NonBinary people and those who are 16+

I do my best to be an Ally, I am cis and I have trans people in my life. If you are a cis person who has genuine question, I am happy to answer them the best I can.

Activism and Agitation

Age of Consent in Ireland

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Ireland’s Age of Consent does need to be reviewed along with the standardization of sexual health and sexuality education in our secondary schools.

Ireland’s #AgeOfConsent is out of step with other EU countries. ageofconsent.net .We do have somethings right, that there is no difference in the #AgeOfConsent for homosexual and hetrosexual sex.
17 is too old as an #AgeOfConsent, in my opinion, it should be 16. We how ever should have age bands, as some countries do, a close in age exemption, which are often refereed to as a Romeo and Juliet clause. Ireland does not have one.
Maturity is many faceted, and young people mature physically, mentally and emotionally at different rates. Which is why it is an impossible bench mark to set, but in setting #AgeOfConsent too high we ostracise teenagers. We put in place barriers, which prevent them from getting the information and services they need to keep themselves safe and make better choices.

Ireland is still dealing with the hangover of the Roman Catholic Church being the moral authority. We have shaken it off in many ways but it still remains in our education and healthcare.

In lowering the #AgeOfConsent we are facing the reality that many teens are sexually active at that age and we remove the stigma. However I am in favour of having an age band, so that it would be still illegal for those over 20 to have sex with a 16 year old.
Lowering the #AgeOfConsent would not be about giving free reign to pederasts.

I know many people are not comfortable with the idea of their 16 to 20 year old who still lives at home having sex. But they will, and if you ignore it, you make it harder for them to get help when they need it.

Ireland does not have an #AgeOfConsent close age exemption. ageofconsent.net/world/ireland
To have a law on our books which means two 16year old can both be done for statutory rape if they have sex is absurd. Which is why our #AgeOfConsent needs to be revised and looking at revising the #AgeOfConsent is something a Minister for Children should be looking at as well as a proper national age appropriate sexual health education for all children.

 

When something is criminalised it causes all sorts of stigma and other issues, so young people hide it and so don’t access services or get the help they may need.

Resource links:
https://b4udecide.ie/
https://spunout.ie/

https://www.healthpromotion.ie/publication/fullListing?category=Sexual+Health&searchHSE=

https://www.scarleteen.com/

Activism and Agitation

No Going Back

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Updated!

NO Going Back!

Our post #Repeal legislation will be up for review and possibly changing, we can not have agents of the State who will restrict and refuse our human rights.

Dear @greenparty_ie WTAF

This legislation needs to be improved as couples dealing with TFMR Ireland are still denied healthcare here.

The 72hour waiting time is not legally or medically needed, it is a restriction which needs to go.

With it looking like a FF/FG+ ind coalition I was already concerned about the review of this legislation.

We will have to keep reminding TDs and political party that ProChoice Ireland has not gone back to sleep.

Activism and Agitation

The Horrors of Direct Provision

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I had someone try and defend direct provision to me, saying it is a far cry from the Horrors of the Magdalene laundries or industrial schools.

The horror comes when people have been in such emergency accommodation for 9 + years, it is the only life some children have known.

When parents can not cook meals for children, get food when needed for sick children.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/mother-in-direct-provision-denied-food-at-night-for-sick-child-1.3684032?mode=amp

 

When there is no privacy, as adults are forced to sleep 4+ to a cramped room.

 

When the accommodation is not clean or kept up to proper standards.

When children are raping other children.

When women who happen to be trans are forced to be in men only accommodation.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/woman-buried-without-friends-present-after-death-in-direct-provision-centre-1.3917038

When women are having to consider sex work due to the lack of provision for school books and uniforms.

When curfews are imposed and unwell people are locked out after going to A&E.

When people detained there are moved, with out reason or notice to other centers.

When people raped can not access the medical care they need.
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/woman-buried-without-friends-present-after-death-in-direct-provision-centre-1.3917038

When those detained there have no idea if or when they will get to be released to have a normal life, or be sent back to a country where they will be killed; which results in them ending their own life.

The Laundries, Mother and Baby homes, the industrial schools, were all considered care carried out by those who were contracted, ie paid by the State to do so. They lacked care, compassion and were inhumane, and still people are deined thier Human Rights.

Direct provision is no different.

Want to help?

Find out what Support MASI need. https://www.masi.ie/support-us/

And get on to your TD https://www.whoismytd.com/

 

Activism and Agitation

Abortion services to be provided in Ireland from today

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https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2019/0101/1019777-abortion-services-ireland/

It’s really real.

We still have to be vigilant and make sure the services are good enough and person centered, and no one makes anyone feel ashamed for accessing this type of health care.

We need to make sure it’s properly accessible to the most vulnerable and that those who this law does not cover know that they can contact Abortion Support Network

Activism and Agitation

Thank you Pope Francis & the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church for your part in #repealthe8th.

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Yes this post is entitled:
Thank you Pope Francis & the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church for your part in #repealthe8th.

Let me explain why.

See the thing is, the Roman Catholic Church last year changed its policy in relation to excommunication in relation to abortions. It used to be if you had an abortion or helped someone have one, you were automatically excommunicated, & need to see a bishop to reconcile with the Church.

In 2016 the RC Church had a year of extraordinary mercy, and down grade the level of sin, so you could see your local parish priest to be reconciled. So many people, mostly women did this, that they down graded abortion & helping in any way (money, info ect) to a matter for your parish priest permanently.

Which means having an abortions or being complicit in someone else having one, became the same level as ordinary Sin. This was a huge shift in attitudes which is rarely spoken about.

It made it easier for many mass attending Catholics, to #VoteYes. I have devote Catholics in my life, the conversations around this have been fascinating.

And when the year was done the RC Pope (he is one of 3 popes) extended the terms permanently.

https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/as-year-of-mercy-ends-pope-extends-priests-ability-to-forgive-abortions

So your parish priest who’d you’d confess all your everyday sins to, could absolve you from your sin of abortion and reconcile you to the church. I am not Roman Catholic, but I know women who are, who use contraception, who have had abortions and this brought them ease and comfort.

I genuinely believe this helped us #repealthe8th, but I never saw it covered in our media, esp by religious correspondents, even when it happened, and it’s a seismic change.
Knowing this I had zero concerns in taking part in performances of The Renunciation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-SERRw4KcM

The Refrain in it was “People of Ireland, lift up your voices. We are all worthy of our right to choose”. And we did.
We #RepealedThe8th

So thank you Pope Francis & the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church for your part in #repealthe8th.

But honestly @Pontifex you are still wrong when it comes to LGB people & esp Trans people, protecting pedophiles, protecting abusers, wanting control of schools & hospitals & failing to make reparations. Maybe sort that before visiting.

Activism and Agitation

Tipperary for Yes

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I was invited down to Nenagh by the Tipperary for yes team. It was wonderful to meet them, some of them I have been chatting with on twitter for years.

I had never been to Nenagh before and was looking forward to the trip. It isn’t a long journey down, it’s about two and a half hours, the same as getting to many other towns and city across the country.

I was speaking with Nurse Polly from Midwifes for Choice, Arlette Lyons from Terminations for Medical Reasons and Matt Doncel from Lawyers for choice.

We had a lot of questions about what provision (services) will look like after legislation and how it needs to be Free, Safe, Legal and Local so that people don’t have to travel to far to access it, esp with the proposed 72 hour waiting time.

Also about the process via which legislation goes through the Dáil and Senand, how that process may change the proposed legislation.

After (fingers crossed) we get a Yes result on the 26th of May we need to support our TDs in bringing forward the legislation. We need to tell them the type of legislation and provision we want to see across the country.

For a very long time the other side was regularly in contact with TDs making the point they would loose vote and possibly their seat if they did not fall in line with their ideology. We need to let our TDs know how many of us are Pro Repeal and Pro Choice and that they would loose our vote for voting against healthdcare inline with best international pratice and which has a human rights framework.

Unsure who your TDs are, you can find out here www.whoismytd.com  

Again thank you to Tipperary For Yes for inviting me down to speak.