BelongTo, TENI & USI Launch Irish Queer Dictionary/Foclóir Aiteach

Today BelongTo, TENI and USI have released the Irish Queer Dictionary which adds over 100 queer terms to the Irish language increasing queer representation and inclusion as Gaeilge.

News . Written by Katie Donohoe.

TENI, BelongTo, USI and Minister at the launch of the Queer Dictionary

This morning BelongTo, TENI and USI launched an Foclóir Aiteach (Queer Dictionary) where lots of LGBT+ words have been translated as Gailge for the first time ever.

The event was held in Dublin City University where Minister for Gaeilge and Gaeltacht, Joe McHugh was in attendance along with representatives from USI, TENI and BelongTo.

During the launch, Minister McHugh spoke of the importance of keeping the Irish language alive.

Cearbhall Turraoin from TENI spoke about the need for more intersections between the Irish language and LGBTI+ people’s daily lives and the importance for queer Gaelgeoirí to be able to discuss their identity as Gaeilge as a result of Foclóir Aiteach.

Sinead Keane from BelongTo also spoke about the importance of words in your own language echoing Cearbhails sentiments about the importance of expression through language.

Over 100 terms have been translated in this project and include more modern terminology such as Gan inscne (Agender), Dá-rómánsach (Biromantic), Banríon Draig (Drag Queen) and Neamh-Dhénártha (Non-Binary) plus many more.

Speaking of the launch, USI’s Vice President for Irish, Laoighseach Ní Choistealbha, spoke about the process of creating the Queer Dictionary:

“USI is delighted to launch this dictionary today, alongside the Transgender Equality Network of Ireland (TENI) and BelongTo. We began this project as we believed that it was right that everyone would be able to recognise themselves in any language, and that they would be able to describe themselves in any language.

“The Irish language showed us that she was up to this challenge, and it gives us great pleasure to say that we succeeded in putting The Queer Dictionary together. As language changes, and as people change, however, the Dictionary will change in the future. It is a working document.

“But thanks to my colleagues in TENI and BelongTo, we have begun this project, one that will create links between Irish language and queer discourses. I hope that you will enjoy it.”

The Irish language is one of the top 100 most used languages online. Users can choose Irish as the language on Facebook, Gmail, Twitter and many other platforms.

The use of Irish online is growing consistently and it is hoped that the addition of the Queer Dictionary will encourage young people to engage in learning the Irish language.

To see the full list of terms in the new Queer working dictionary, visit USI’s website: http://usi.ie/focloir-aiteach/

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