Seeding the County – a needs assessment report for LGBTQ+ individuals living in County Cork is set to be launched on March 4th at 2pm. The launch will include the shared experience of LGBTQ+ people and the needs, thoughts, and ideas of queer individuals in Cork.

The report will be launched through the Seeding the County Facebook page. Following this, there will be a questions and answers and information session on March 11th at 2pm through Zoom. The report will be available to view at www.cumannnadaoine.com.

Seeding the County is an LGBTQ+ development project funded by Cork County Council to help support the inclusion and participation of queer people within the community. The report, which was put together by Cumann na Daoine and East Cork LGBTQ Network, is only the beginning of what Seeding the County has planned for the year ahead. It will allow the research compiled in this report to inform the actions and campaigns that the project will run through online initiatives and events, given the current circumstances.

At the time of research, as writer Hayley Fox Roberts described, “Cork city has two long established LGBTQ+ organisations: LINC (Lesbians in Cork) and Gay Project (supporting gay, bi, trans and queer men). Both have targeted outreach into rural areas but with limited budgets and staff, their primary focus has to be on the high urban population and those coming in and out of the rebel capital. So deep down in West Cork, or up at the fringes of the Blackwater, there is still little on offer for a country-living queer.”

The project originally started as a three-month pilot scheme funded by the Department of Rural and Community Development, but thanks to further funding under the LGBTI Communities Fund which is supported through the Department Of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the project will continue into 2021. The actions from this project will be delivered in partnership with LGBTQ+ people within the community and the organisations that support them.

For more information or for a link to the information session happening on March 11th, please email [email protected] or text on 0879890336 for a link to the zoom. You can also visit their Facebook page for more information.