Effective immediately, Dublin Pride has announced the termination of their media partnership with RTÉ in the wake of the RTÉ Radio 1 Liveline programme hosted by Joe Duffy broadcasting what listeners and community activists have described as transphobic hate speech.
The statement released to social media this evening outlines that Dublin Pride is “angered and disappointed by a series of harmful anti-trans “discussions” broadcast in the past few days.
Dublin Pride further explains that it has worked with RTÉ over the past three years “to increase the positive representation of LGBTQ+ people on TV, radio and online, and to see the good work of so many people undone is saddening in the extreme and negates much of the efforts made to date”.
Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride's statement on termination of media partnership with RTÉ. pic.twitter.com/8yfu1rIiQt
— Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride (@DublinPride) June 14, 2022
Dublin Pride said it is terminating its media partnership with immediate effect demanding a response on how RTÉ plan to make amends for this situation explaining that “RTÉ is our national broadcaster. LGBTQ+ people and our allies make up the majority of people in Ireland. We are the majority shareholders in RTÉ, and we have the right to hold it accountable for its actions.”
They say that at the request of the new community coalition, Trans Equality Together, of which Dublin Pride is a member, they have not made a statement until now.
However, they say they have remained in close and constant contact with the group to ensure any actions taken by Dublin Pride “respect the voices and feelings of the trans people in the community.”
LGBTQ+ activist Dr Ailbhe Smyth commenting on the Liveline controversy stated “It is not the role of our national broadcaster to enable or encourage hate speech of any kind. If it comes up on the programme I can understand but that it is allowed to crop up again and again, that is a step too far.”
She added that it was “not right that people are dragged down and treated like muck on the radio,” and that she did not believe “that there is broad transphobia in this country. There’s a small group and it disturbs me that a small group of people is given such oxygen.”
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