IRSCNA: Against Homophobia & Transphobia

antrim | gender and sexuality | press release Tuesday May 17, 2011 00:09 by Danielle Ni Dhighe - IRSCNA danielle at irsm dot org

IRSCNA's statement for the International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

17 May 2011
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America

Against Homophobia & Transphobia

On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America stand in full
solidarity with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people on the
International Day Against Homophobia & Transphobia.

The International Day has been celebrated since 2005, with May 17th
chosen because it marks the anniversary of the World Health
Organization's 1990 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of
mental disorders.

For thirty-six years, the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the main
political component of the IRSM) has supported equality for gays and
lesbians, beginning with the party's first convention in 1975, when it
became one of the first political parties in Ireland to support gay
rights.

The IRSP became the first political party in Ireland to explicitly
include bisexuals and transgender people in a motion passed at its
2000 convention, which stated, "The IRSP affirms its commitment to
full equality for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people."

On behalf of the IRSM, the IRSCNA demand full equality for lesbians,
gays, bisexuals, and transgender people in all spheres of life, in
America, Ireland, and worldwide.

Full equality in all spheres of life means we support the rights of
LGBT people to adopt children and to marry, rights which are taken for
granted by heterosexuals.

Further, we demand that rights and privileges ultimately be detached
from marital status, and that family relationships be defined by the
people in them, not the state. People's rights should not be
determined by their willingness or ability to participate in state
sanctioned arrangements.

We condemn all physical and legalistic attacks against LGBT people,
and we stand in solidarity with the victims of homophobic and
transphobic violence. We demand an end to all violence and
intimidation against LGBT people, including mistreatment by police and
other authorities.

We demand that all people regardless of age have free access to
information about their bodies and sexual health, unfettered by
political and religious doctrines that transform natural human bodily
functions into matters of "sin" or disease.

We demand that the medical and psychiatric establishments stop
enforcing sex/gender apartheid through the creation of false diseases
and the denial of medical care. We oppose so-called "reparative
therapies" which propose to "cure" sexual and gender diversity, seeing
them as another form of violence against LGBT people.

We believe each human being has an inherent right to define their own
sexuality, whether it's lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual, or
whatever label they choose to apply to themselves, and we believe each
human being has an inherent right to define their gender and to make
decisions about their bodies based on those definitions.

These rights are non-negotiable. No concessions should be made to
bigots, no matter how they cloak their prejudice. Equality is the only
way forward.

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Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 5174
Champaign IL 61825
USA
irscna@irsm.org
http://www.irscna.org/
http://www.irsp.ie/irscna.html