As part of the celebrations to mark the International Day against Homophobia Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOBIT), County Mayor Cllr. Mary Linehan-Foley raised the rainbow flag at the Municipal Offices in Youghal.
Joining the Mayor were staff from Cumann na Daoine and its Seeding The County LGBT+ Development project; Siobhan O’Dowd, Chair of the Cork City LGBTI Interagency Steering Group and rainbow-clad members of the East Cork LGBT+ Network.
Speaking at the event, Mayor Linehan-Foley described raising the flag as an honour, and the significance of the flag’s presence in acknowledging the Council’s commitment to combating discrimination and exclusion experienced by many LGBT+ people.
She acknowledged her professional and personal commitment to the inclusion of LGBT+ people across all civic life, all of Cork County Council’s Social Inclusion initiatives and stressed the importance for both LGBT+ people and the wider community, to have this visible display. She also spoke of her pleasure to be raising the flag in her hometown of Youghal.
May 17th also marked the start of Cork’s LGBTI+ Awareness Week, with this year’s theme of Intersectionality. Siobhan O’Dowd spoke movingly about the continued need for LGBT+ visibility; the challenges of delivering supports during the pandemic, and reminded those attending of the successful effort to ensure the inclusion of rainbow flag-raising in Council protocols since 2014.
The LGBTI+ Awareness Week programme includes a wide range of online events, including two events from Seeding the County: the Queer Chronicles screening of the Outitude documentary and an online social event. This LGBTI+ Awareness Week has also seen Cork City partnered with San Francisco as part of the Rainbow Cities Initiative.
Seeding the County is a county-wide initiative funded under the LGBTI+ Community Services Fund 2020. The project is led by Cumann na Daoine Community Resource Centre in Youghal, and works with community organisations and LGBT+ people at local level across the county, helping to form sustainable community networks and supports and addressing discrimination and isolation.
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