Debate contribution: International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

Debate contribution by Mr Matthew O'Toole on 12 May 2025.

MLA

Mr Matthew O'Toole

Party at the time

Social Democratic and Labour Party

Date

12 May 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4937971

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I had not initially planned to speak, but, having heard my colleague Sinéad McLaughlin and others, I will give my reflections on this important subject, given the level of public interest. I have spoken before on the issue, but it is important that we all speak up when we get the opportunity. I welcome the fact that we are speaking to this motion on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia. It is important to acknowledge the historical context that has been talked about by others. The historical context is that Northern Ireland was a laggard internationally and in the UK when it came to, first, abolishing outdated sodomy laws and, secondly, questions of equal marriage and esteeming LGBTQIA+ people in a way that looked at them as human beings and not simply as categories to be othered. We tolerated, indulged and, indeed, celebrated homophobia and other forms of prejudice based on sexual orientation or gender orientation for far too long in this society, and that is, frankly, impossible to deny. Some of those who debating today and talking about the question of trans rights are in parties that, bluntly, spent decades trying to "save Ulster from sodomy" — I believe that that was the phrase. That is part of the historical context that we should reflect upon and have in our mind. The motion calls for the speedy publication of an LGBTQIA strategy by the Department. That is sensible. Indeed, it has been awaited for some time. The previous Minister began that work; it was not published. I wish that it had been published in the previous mandate. This is a consequence of not doing those things quickly, because we now have a Minister from a different party who appears to be — perhaps he can update us on this — less enthusiastic about getting on with it, as it were. It is impossible to have this debate, which is about the broader question of homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, without acknowledging the particular context here today and, indeed, over the past number of weeks around the question of trans rights and the related issues that have been thrown up by the Supreme Court judgement. As we speak, we have upstairs in the Long Gallery people from the Rainbow Project, other trans rights activists and people who are not necessarily activists but are just trans people going about their ordinary lives. They are living as productive members of society who try to get on with their day. They live their life, use the loo when they have to, get dressed, go out in the morning, have a job and have relationships — all those boring things that the rest of us have to do. I fear that our debate has fallen into a trap where we do not just other those people but treat them as something to be talked about as though their lives are a kind of science project or a weird species that needs to be put off to one side and talked about as if they are not ordinary human beings. About 10 years ago, when I was still a civil servant in London, I had my first proper encounter with a trans person, who I got to know as a colleague of mine in a Civil Service department. That person was middle-aged before they began the formal process of transitioning, and they were someone with whom I had a lot in common professionally. Our lives and our professional lives intersected purely because we were talking about a lot of the same things on a day-to-day basis. In getting to know someone who was trans and going through the transitioning process, I did something that, I fear, we do not do enough of, which was to acknowledge and treat those people as ordinary people. Let me also say that, for many people, questions about gender identity are relatively new. Sometimes some of us have perhaps been a little too quick not to take the time to explain to people for whom questions of gender identity are new what some of those things mean and to reassure people that the questions on safety and sport can be dealt with in a way that is sensible and humane and neither jeopardises safety nor stigmatises people. That is not impossible, particularly because trans people are a tiny proportion of the population. We do not need to trade off one set of rights or one set of opportunities in order to treat trans people properly and with esteem. That is my position and that of others in my party.

I stand with them today. I do my best, but I am afraid that my time has run out. Mr Buckley has lots to say on the subject in the Chamber, and he is entitled to do so. I am saying that, if you are trans, you will be treated with respect, dignity and courtesy as we proceed through this policy debate.

I welcome the motion.

835 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:23 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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