As diverse as the lesbian and gay community in Ireland has become since decriminalisation, there is one significant development that those involved in the movement universally agree on. It is that statutory bodies now recognise that the health and well-being of our community is a priority.
Through the Departments of Health, Social Welfare and Enterprise and Employment, the Irish state has unconsciously embarked on a number of initiatives that are increasing the capacity of our community to become a powerful force within Irish society.
"While decriminalisation was not the be-all and end-all, the whole purpose was to allow us to play our part as equal citizens for the first time and to give the gay community the standing it deserved," says Chris Robson of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN).
To this end, the first major government grant to a lesbian or gay group came in 1995 with Lesbians Organising Together (LOT) receiving #50,000 from the Department of Social Welfare. Since then, statutory involvement in Ireland's lesbian and gay community has escalated. The most significant development has been the funding of Dublin's Lesbian Education and Awareness (LEA) project. This year, it received almost #400,000 from the Department of Enterprise and Employment, under the EU's New Opportunities for Women employment initiative.
The money will facilitate the creation of an All-Ireland Lesbian Network. It will also allow LEA to develop a policy agenda, to ensure that national economic and social policy recognises and addresses lesbian issues.
"The funding of LOT and LEA signified a recognition from the State that lesbians exist," according to Shaz Oye, a lesbian community activist. "This, in my view, was the single most significant development since 1993. It will be very difficult to close the door on that recognition now."
Anita Thoma, PR and Communications Officer at LEA, has been employed to resolve the biggest problem facing lesbians in Ireland: invisibility.
"We have yet to see the fulfillment of equality in people's lives," she believes. The inclusion of lesbians and lesbian concerns in health care provision is needed, for example. "It's time to put in place a funded lesbian outreach and health care worker, through the health boards," Anita asserts.
A similar development occured in 1982, with the establishment of the Gay Men's Health Project (GMHP) by the Eastern Health Board (EHB). This partnership subsequently produced what some view as the most important advance in HIV prevention for gay men in many years.
A new EHB initiative to combat HIV in the gay community costing #50,000 was instigated last December at a meeting with gay community and commercial sector groups.
"The fact that Pat McLoughlin (Acting Chief Executive and Drugs/AIDS Programme Manager of the EHB) has called gay community groups into the process of developing policy is of great importance, as we now have the commitment of senior EHB management," says Kieran Rose, director of Gay HIV Strategies, the organisation which instigated the meeting. Most gay groups in Dublin will benefit from the EHB initiative and it has also set a positive precedent for other health boards.
The major development in terms of health in the south of the country has been the appointment of Dr Mary Horgan as Infectious Diseases Consultant at University Hospital Cork. "This means that people who are HIV positive no longer have to travel to Dublin," says James Walsh, an outreach worker with the Southern Gay Health Project, "and that the services will continue to improve."
Outside the health area, gay community centres are springing up all over the country. Gays in Dublin, Dundalk and Belfast have all realised that if there is a central site for meetings, discussion, socialising etc., it acts as a catalyst for gay creativity.
The success of Dublin's Outhouse, situated in a vibrant four-storey building on South William Street, is an example, giving rise to rumours about a "Pink Street" or a gay village in that part of Dublin. A burgeoning gay scene exists in the vicinity, with hitherto straight clubs all vying for the so-called "Pink Pound".
In the South-east, Waterford Assembly will soon receive a grant of #5,000 from the Waterford City Area Partnership. The Assembly operates a telephone helpline and runs gay events in the area, and the funding will help in the restructuring of the organisation.
The lesbian and gay community in Derry is also benefiting from outside funding, with its lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) organisation, Foyle Friend, receiving Stg#90,000 from the Forum for Peace and Reconciliation in May 1996. "This has catapulted the organisation forward in terms of what it wants to do," according to Foyle Friend treasurer James Grant.
Pride North-West has also gained a positive profile. Last year's Pride rally was held very visibly in Derry's Guild Hall Square, rather than behind the city wall, as it had been in 1996. 150 people attended the rally and it was filmed and broadcast on BBC's GayTime TV.
Nationally, one of the significant developments is the developing partnership between the gay community and the Garda Síochána, with a joint submission from LEA, GLEN and Gay HIV Strategies on an approach to combating attacks against lesbians and gay men being given the thumbs up by the Garda Head of Community Affairs, Supt. P.J. McGowan.
The past five years hasn't all been a bed of roses, though. Homophobia and bigotry is still endemic in certain areas of Irish society, and this can have a direct impact on the lives of people in the gay community.
For example: the worrying issue of lesbian and gay suicide is being ignored by the State. This was witnessed in the final report of the Suicide Task Force, which failed to mention the issue despite having received written and oral submissions from GLEN; the community recently suffered at the hands of the Union of Students in Ireland when a decision to down-grade the LGB Rights Officer to part-time voluntary status was passed, much to the delight of ex-president Colman Byrne, who felt the position was "passé" and did not deserve full-time status;
Poz Ireland, the publication providing information and advice on treatment and other HIV-related issues for HIV positive people, has been prohibited from open distribution in St. James's Hospital GUM Clinic and while successful community centres are appearing around the country, the opposite is happening in Cork, where The Other Place community centre has closed. In their attempt to find alternative premises, James Walsh says they are coming up against a lot of homophobia. "Once they hear we're a lesbian and gay group, the message is coming loud and clear 'you're not wanted here'," he says.
Clearly, safe and modern spaces are required to enable the many people in Ireland who want to take the delicate and often precarious step towards coming out as lesbian, gay or bisexual, but who cannot because of isolation, poverty or low self-esteem to begin the process, by meeting other members of the community and sharing their experiences and concerns. However, the push for community development over the past few years has meant that these issues can now be addressed.
"Socially, more peole are confident about coming out," says Mick Quinlan, an outreach worker with GMHP. "There's also a lot happening around diversity within the community, between lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgendered people. People are empowering themselves to make decisions around community issues, because it's community that got us where we are."
Providing the resources are still forthcoming and the development and training of individuals and groups continues, it is likely that lesbian and gay communities around the country will continue to grow strong and be well-equipped to deal with the future issues - whatever they may be. n