Amnesty International Ireland to join Pride celebration
Members of Amnesty International Ireland will join thousands of Irish people on the streets of the capital tomorrow for the 27th Annual Dublin Pride parade.
As a celebration of the rights of LGBT people around the world, the theme of this year’s parade will be “We Are Family Too”.
Only six weeks ago, authorities in Lithuania banned a planned LGBT pride parade set to take place in the capital, so Amnesty International members will be hoping to send a message of solidarity out to the rest of the world.
"Amnesty International is delighted to have a presence at Dublin Pride this year,” said Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland.
“Our supporters recognise that LGBT people are entitled to the same rights as everyone else in society. The parade is, among other things, a reminder of this for the rest of society.”
Family tree
Amnesty International members will march with a display of the family tree, which is symbolic of activists from Ireland and abroad who have contributed, often at great personal cost, to the pursuit of equal rights for LGBT people.
A recent poll carried out by Amnesty International Ireland on Facebook named Senator David Norris and former President Mary Robinson as the LGBT activists of the year, while voters also recognised international icons Harvey Milk and Peter Tatchell.
“This year, as we celebrate the theme of family, we wanted to mark the contribution of the family of activists from around the globe that have inspired the LGBT movement,” said Mr O’Gorman.
Problems remain
"LGBT people in Ireland have come along way in terms of equality but many problems remain. Access to civil marriage is one, but there are others including inequality in health and education,” he added.
"The very chance to walk openly down the street as an LGBT person is a right denied to people all over the world. We should not consider ourselves lucky that we can do it here, but outraged that it cannot happen in other countries."
Amnesty International Ireland stands in solidarity with LGBT rights activists around the world. Many Pride parades have been challenged or banned, while in certain states LGBT people still face the death penalty.
Up to 5,000 people are expected to attend the 27th Annual LGBT Pride parade on Saturday 26 March in Dublin city centre.
Amnesty International welcomes all those interested in participating in the parade and has asked its members to gather at the Garden of Remembrance, Parnell Square, Dublin at 1.30pm.
