• Drop Citibank from Belfast Pride
    Citibank is the largest foreign bank in Israel, has helped Israel buy weapons from the US, and funds oil and gas companies who are set to drill for fossil fuels off the coast of besieged Gaza. (1) They are massive funders of Saudi Aramco, the oil company owned by the state of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the most oppressive states in the word to the LGBT community and they face life imprisonment, flogging, and even capital punishment. On top of all of this, they are the second largest funder of fossil fuel companies in the world and make hundreds of millions in profit from fracking, drilling in the Amazon, and drilling in the sensitive arctic. (2) The brutality of Israel's continued attack on Gaza cannot be ignored and companies that facilitate and profit from the destruction of the people of Gaza should have no place in our society. Israel has no right to grant licenses to companies to drill for oil or gas in the Palestinian territory. Fossil fuels have always been tied up with war and to extract oil and gas from a region whose population are being starved to death and brutally murdered, is a war crime. (3) Until Citibank stops funding these oil and gas companies set to exploit Gaza, they should not be allowed promote their image by sponsoring Belfast Pride. (1) https://www.bankingonsolidarity.org/citibank-and-palestinians-a-cruel-status-quo/ (2) https://fossilfreeciti.org/ (3) https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/3/6/israel-is-pillaging-not-just-gazas-cities-but-also-its-waters
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  • Make School Uniforms Optional
    It is not natural to put children into uniforms for all of their childhood. Be in no doubt that they sap some of the light and levity out of the child and out of the school. They introduce fear and conflict because they involve enforcement, punishments, reprimands, and alienation. Schools become that bit more hostile to many children. Teachers waste enormous amounts of time enforcing and harassing and haranguing students about the clothes they are wearing and very stupid things like the colour of their shoelaces. They are expensive, restrictive, uncomfortable, oppressive and outdated. They reflect a right-wing conservative need for ultra-conformity to control children. In France it is Le Pen's neo-Nazi's who want to introduce uniforms. They are counter to modern educational philosophy which values plurality, problem-solving, creativity and self-expression. Ireland and Malta are the only two EU countries with this widespread practice, both with a British colonial past and a widespread smothering conservative, Catholic control of schools. It is a myth that uniforms protect children for bullying. In the wider European continent, out of 41 countries, uniforms are the norm in eight, and all eight of those report above average levels of bullying (Statista 2018). Rather than trying to make everyone look the same (impossible anyhow) by enforcing ridiculous dress and appearance rules, better for school to focus on developing children's ability to be resilient, accept themselves and other people for who they are in all their wonderful human diversity.
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    Created by Gearóid Ó Riain Picture
  • We want to hear Irish women and diverse artists & music on radio stations
    0% Irish female solo artists featured in the Top 50 Radio Charts songs of 2022. In 2023 only 3% 3% of the Top 100 Songs on Irish radio in 2023 included solo/lead/front Irish female artists. 3,255,000 listeners tune into Irish radio every weekday. When it comes to music, getting your song added to a playlist on a radio station can be life-changing for an Irish artist. The Irish broadcasting sector has historically not supported women or diverse artists in music from Ireland. Following a series of Gender Disparity Data Reports conducted by Linda Coogan Byrne and her team at Why Not Her?, the evidence showed that Irish radio managers consciously decide year in and year out to exclude Irish female-identifying artists, female fronting bands and diverse artists from Radio Playlists across Ireland. Of songs featured in the Top 50 Radio Charts of 2022, only 12% were by domestic Irish artists or bands (0% Irish female solo artists). This translates to 6 songs by 4 Irish artists: 1 song by Belters Only feat. Jazzy; 3 songs by Dermot Kennedy; 1 song by Moncrieff; and 1 song by Welshy feat. Nono. None were by Irish persons of colour - solo artists or groups - and none were by female solo artists or groups. Fast forward a year later and only 3% of the Top 100 Songs on Irish radio in 2023 included solo/lead/front Irish female artists: Jazzy*, Aimée and Dolores O'Riordan of The Cranberries. As the years go by, it is becoming more and more difficult for Irish people to discover and hear the music of Irish women and diverse artists. When asked why there are so few women artists played on the radio, managers said: "Men make better music than women" "Why are you feeding us to the wolves?" "We don't have the budget to be diverse" "We don't make the rules" "Women just moan" "She is too old and long in the tooth to be making music" "We actually had some women on a Special Friday Night show back in Feb" "It's the label's fault, not ours" "You should analyse the record companies. You’ll see an imbalance in what we’re being sent". "It is whatever makes the charts" "People prefer to listen to male acts, they request them on air!" "You need to be careful and stop stepping on people's toes in radio" "You need to stop asking questions" In the meantime, many new and emerging male artists are recognised and supported across the airwaves, allowing for a host of new household names to emerge in the landscape of Irish music in the past decade. It is common for white male lead/front artists/bands such as Hozier, Gavin James, Cian Ducrot, Robert Grace, Moncrieff, The Script, etc. to be heavily played during the day and evening on Irish airwaves, while their diverse and female counterparts are played in the middle of the night. The Journal.ie 13.02.24 https://www.thejournal.ie/prev/6298235/dvX7Tyf5Xocvo/
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    Created by linda coogan byrne
  • Department of Education: Create a REAL Action Plan for Integrated Education
    In 2023, 25 years after the Good Friday Agreement, only 8% of NI kids go to integrated schools despite huge demand. Right now, the Department of Education has a public consultation on their 'Action Plan' and anyone can comment. Tell the Department of Education - we want a REAL Action Plan for integrated education.
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    Created by Adam McGibbon
  • No Gardaí at Dublin Pride!
    Gardaí have completely failed to protect LGBTQI+, migrant and other marginalised communities from far-right violence and intimidation - with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris even admitting this to be a tactic. We can still remember the violent policing approach used on the striking Debenhams workers, students and water charges protestors. There is only one fair conclusion to draw from this, and it should leave Gardaí unwelcome at Pride events.
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    Created by Joseph B
  • Eir, let trans people use their preferred name.
    Trans people deserve to be able to use their preferred name and don't want to feel humiliated. The bureaucracy of Eir is causing huge hurt. It is a human right to be able to use your own name.
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    Created by Jacob Sosinsky
  • Bin The Bongs!
    Insulting to those of no religious affiliation. The many others of differing religious faiths. Is broadcast at the expense of the state’s license fee payers!
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    Created by Joey Crawley
  • Rename Berkeley Library to Wilde Library
    We believe that the college ought to remove George Berkeley's name from the library as he was a supporter of both slavery and settler colonialism; and that Oscar Wilde ought to be given a more prominent role in the college due to his contributions to Trinity life, literature, and the history of LGBTQIA+ people. Berkeley was a slave owner, and he used the funds from his plantations to make profit for himself and organisations like Yale University. He wrote about his beliefs that slavery was an efficient way to Christianize Black people and that Indigenous Americans should be transported by force to missionary colleges in Bermuda. Oscar Wilde participated in many Trinity institutions like the Phil and the Foundation Scholarship while also contributing to the legacy of Dublin's relationship with Gothic literature and socially conscious theatre. He also advocated for social causes such as prison reform, gender equality, and, most famously, sexual freedom. Since Wilde deserves more formal recognition in the college (as it recognizes Beckett, Synge, and Swift) and Berkeley's name should not be given the respect it currently receives, changing the name of the library to the Wilde Library would significantly improve our campus and demonstrate Trinity's efforts towards making the college truly inclusive.
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    Created by Dublin University Gender Equality Society Picture
  • Protect Trans Women in Sports
    Everyone deserves to have passions and be celebrated for their achievements. It's unfair to exclude transgender women from being able to compete in sports that they train hard for, just like every other woman in sport. It is important that we create spaces were everyone is celebrated for their hard earned accomplishments.
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    Created by Katy-May O'Sullivan
  • Pride Crossing Blanchardstown
    To help encourage people that this day and age, everyone from any place, race, age, gender should be accepted no matter what. Especially in the area of Blanchardstown where most crime and violence occur, people have fear of coming out. It would make such a difference to display the rainbow-pride crossing on that particular busy intersection as it could make a very big change mainly on the peoples perspective on the LGBTQIA+ community.
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    Created by Philip Browne
  • Drop the charges against Justyna Wydrzyńska
    Justyna Wydrzyńska is facing three years in prison in Poland for helping someone access abortion pills. Justyna is an activist with the Abortion Dream Team and is dedicated to ensuring that pregnant people in Poland can access the abortion care they need. Helping someone have an abortion should never be a crime. It is unconscionable that Justyna is being target for her activism and human rights work. Justyna’s hearing will take place on Friday, April 8th in the Warsaw Praga Południe District Court.
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    Created by Abortion Rights Campaign
  • Ghana Consulate Ireland: Condemn Homophobic, Transphobic Bill
    Because Human Rights are for ALL. This Bill gives fuel to homophobia and transphobia and misguided ideas about Ghanaian history and culture. It: Puts non-consensual and consensual acts on the same footing; Criminalises transgender people; Specifically allows for the promotion and spread of anti-lgbti+ propaganda. Will pressure families into genital mutilation of their intersex children; Gives lighter sentences to those who attack lgbti+ people than to those believed to be involved in a consensual homosexual act. Pressures conformity to gender stereotypes for fear of criminal prosecution. Bans and criminalises "Allyship". Bans supporting lgbti+ charities. Many people rely on these for food, moral support and safety. Pushing people underground leaves them even more vulnerable and less likely to receive help when a victim of crime. Is based on misplaced fears of "lgbti+ agenda", of "Western influence", of "turning people gay", "undermining the family" and misinformed ideas of "culture" and "values". People of all gender, sex and orientation minorities have always existed and been part of the fabric of every country and ethnicity. Anti-gay laws were in fact introduced by the colonisers: something which the UK now regrets and realises was wrong. Innocent people would be criminalised for being who they are. Many non-Lgbti+ people would be criminalised too for gender nonconformity, supporting family and friends or simply based on false accusation. Therefore it is dangerous to all in Ghana and warrants condemnation even by homophobic and transphobic people and those hesitant about gay rights. This Bill has been described as among the most homophobic ever written. The rest of Africa and much of the world are watching and many will be influenced by whichever way this Bill goes. Lives are in danger. It must be stopped urgently!
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    Created by Sorcha O'Reilly