The next GCN Town Hall Talk*, in association with Outhouse, will explore the issues that have arisen for the world with the election of Donald Trump as US President, and how LGBTs can stand together resist the global rise of the right

As Donald Trump got down to the business of eroding personal freedoms immediately after his inauguration, the French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen headlined a European gathering of far-right leaders in Germany seeking to present a united front in a year of high-stakes elections.

After the meeting Le Pen called on voters across Europe to “wake up” and follow the example of US and British voters, adding that Brexit would unleash an unstoppable wave of “all the dominoes of Europe”. And after Brexit, she added, before an audience of several hundred, the election of Donald Trump was a “second coup”.

Along with his Muslim ban and progressing plans to build a wall between Mexico and the US, Donald Trump has already begun to erode the rights of LGBT people in America, despite announcing that he wouldn’t. If the far-right take hold of Europe, can we expect the same treatment of religious, ethnic, gender and sexual minorities, here?

We must keep "evil" out of our country!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2017

At next GCN Town Hall Talk in Dublin’s Outhouse on Saturday February 18 at 2:30pm, we will discuss how the global LGBT community must respond to the growing political climate, and how we must, in solidarity with other minorities, resist. Confirmed panellists so far are Executive Director of GLEN, Áine Duggan and Executive Director of the ICCL, Liam Herrick. Tickets are free of charge and are available in advance here.

We look forward to seeing you there, and to your participation.

*This Town Hall Talk replaces the originally planned Chemsex: Fact and Fiction, which has been postponed to a later date when a full compliment of panellists is available.