Trans & Intersex Pride has announced that the theme for their block at the Dublin Pride Parade will be a political funeral, inspired by the protest actions of ACT UP during the AIDS crisis. The action aims to draw attention to what organisers describe as the ongoing mistreatment of trans and intersex people by the National Gender Service (NGS), the Irish government and the growing influence of far-right politics.
At the centre of the Trans and Intersex Pride block will be a symbolic funeral procession highlighting the consequences of lengthy waiting times and barriers to gender-affirming healthcare. Organisers point to reports that the current NGS waiting list stands at approximately 18 years.
“Waitlists have often been called a ‘death sentence’, and the waitlist and gatekeeping carried out by the NGS is no exception,” organisers said.
The block’s main banner will carry the slogan “Death to the NGS”. Participants will also wear black and grey, and carry gravestone-shaped placards displaying waiting times experienced by members of the community, alongside memorials to those who have lost their lives to transphobia and related harms.
Organisers are calling on supporters, community groups and allies to take part in the action by marching under the theme, assisting with leafleting during Pride events, and attending a sign-making preparation evening at Outhouse on June 25 at 6pm.
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To conclude the announcement, organisers cited the words of trans activist and author Leslie Feinberg: “Trans liberation has meaning for you – no matter how you define or express your sex or your gender….And if you do not identify as transgender or transsexual or intersexual, your life is diminished by our oppression as well. Your own choices as a man or a woman are sharply curtailed. Your individual journey to express yourself is shunted into one of two deeply carved ruts, and the social baggage you are handed is already packed.”
The Dublin Pride Parade is set for Saturday, June 27. Trans and Intersex Pride will take place soon after on July 11. Last year, 10,000 people took part in the largest-ever Trans & Intersex Pride march in Dublin.
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