Emma deSouza / Peacebuilder / Activist

Emma de Souza

Activist / Author / Founder of the Civic Initiative / Peacebuilder

Credit: PressEye

Emma was born in Magherafelt, County Derry, however she spent several of her early years in both Germany and Cyprus where her father was stationed as a member of the British army. Returning to Northern Ireland aged 8 Emma grew up in a multi-faith home whereby she and her siblings were given the space and freedom to establish their own sense of identity; while Emma identifies as Irish, she has siblings who consider themselves British, Northern Irish, and European. Emma spent several years living in New Zealand, and in 2014 she met Jake DeSouza, a musician from Los Angeles, California. The couple visited Northern Ireland in early 2015 and decided to start their married life there.

Jake and Emma outside court. Credit: Colm Lenaghan/ Pacemaker

Shortly after their marriage that year, Emma applied to the Home Office for a residence card for Jake so that he could remain in Northern Ireland, however this was rejected because while she had applied as an Irish citizen, they considered her a British citizen. She was told that ‘she could reapply, identifying as British or, alternatively, renounce her British citizenship and reapply as an Irish citizen.’ But as an Irish citizen, who had only ever held an Irish passport, Emma ‘refused to renounce her British citizenship (or apply as a British citizen) as she [didn’t] consider herself to be British’ and never had. ‘The Good Friday Agreement gives the people of Northern Ireland an explicit right to identify and be accepted as Irish or British or both, as they so choose. The British Government’s position is out of step with this commitment and its nationality laws are inconsistent with both the letter and the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement,’ Emma argued, as she proceeded with what would be a lengthy court challenge against the British Home Secretary.

Initially, a tribunal found in favour of Emma, however when the Home Office appealed, the first ruling was overturned in 2020. Despite this, the UK Home Office made a significant concession, changing UK immigration rules to align with the Good Friday Agreement. The changes were announced two weeks before the case was due to be heard before the UK Court of Appeal and as a result, Jake was granted leave to remain in Northern Ireland, and a route for a ‘person of Northern Ireland’, defined as an Irish, British, or a dual Irish and British citizen, was inserted into UK immigration law. These changes enabled families across Northern Ireland to access EU family reunification rights, whether they identified as Irish, or British, or both. Emma withdrew the remaining appeals as the basic foundation of her legal challenge had been removed. Even though she could not continue in court, she was successful in ‘reaffirm[ing] the identity and citizenship provisions of the Good Friday Agreement by securing legislative changes to domestic UK immigration law,’ a change that was welcomed by then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

Emma did not have a campaigning or activist background, and has often spoken of the challenge in becoming politically active in order to effectively campaign for change. During the five year court case she successfully secured support from the majority of Northern Ireland’s political parties, the Irish Government, the Labour party and SNP, the European Commission, and members of the US house of Congress on both sides of the House.

Ever since, Emma has not stopped campaigning for the full implementation of the Good Friday Agreement. In 2021 (and again in 2022) as Women’s Leadership Coordinator at the National Women’s Council, she took on the role of Chairperson of the newly-established All-Island Women’s Forum which ‘aims to address underrepresentation of women and further develop women’s role in peacebuilding and civic society.’ The Forum is made up of 28 participants - 14 from the North and 14 from the South with a view to ‘support building sustainable North South links, provide a space for marginalised communities, and build better understanding and inter-community links.’

All-island Women's Forum Credit: Niall Carson/PA

‘There is empirical data to support the benefit of women’s voices in peacebuilding. Evidence demonstrates that women in peace processes are more likely to focus on reconciliation, economic development, and transitional justice – all critical elements of a sustained peace.’ - Emma DeSouza

Credit: Allan Leonard 

In early 2023, Emma founded The Civil Initiative - a platform upon which a range of civic society organisations can come together to ‘work collectively to progress peace and reconciliation in the North.’ The goal of the Initiative is to ‘create the space for individuals and organisations to examine key challenges and make proposals on policy positions that advance peace, reconciliation, and wellbeing in Northern Ireland.’

‘...Peace has not been felt evenly across Northern Ireland, with many areas remaining disadvantaged and marginalised. [...] The 25th anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement presents us with an opportunity to critically analyse and support the advancement of peace, reconciliation, and well-being, by ensuring the agency and ownership of people and communities on proposals for progressive social change…’ - Emma DeSouza

Emma at Ulster University during the GFA 25th anniversary speech given by President Joe Biden

During the marking of the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in Washington DC in March 2023, Emma was recognised as a ‘next generation leader in peacebuilding’ and indeed throughout the course of the 25th anniversary period, was a regular contributor to discussions and publications regarding peace and the Good Friday Agreement itself. Since 2020 she has been a regular contributor to the opinion pages of the Irish Times and writes for other publications including The Irish Examiner, Byline Times, The Guardian and Open Democracy. 

At the Ireland Funds Gala in Washington DC, File picture: Niall Carson/PA

Looking forward, Emma is working on her first book ‘on the power of civil rights movements and how individuals can challenge the state and change the law.’ Emma often speaks of the power and agency that individuals have in effecting change, reflected in her own story. The book seeks to outline the underreported stories of change across several countries including the United Kingdom and United States and will set out a series of tools for the reader to tap into their own agency and build effective change. 

Thank you to Emma for working with us on this bio and for providing photos. Bio by Katelyn Hanna.

Sources:

‘Emma De Souza Takes Her Case to the United States,’ on ias, online at: https://ie.iasservices.org.uk/emma-de-souza-takes-her-case-to-the-united-states/ [accessed 14 April 2023].

‘Emma deSouza,’ on openDemocracy, online at:  https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/author/emma-desouza/[accessed 14 April 2023].

The Irish Times, 26 May 2020.

‘National Women’s Council Announces All-Island Women’s Forum Members,’ on NWC, online at: https://www.nwci.ie/learn/article/national_womens_council_announces_all_island_womens_forum_members [accessed 14 April 2023].

Audley, Fiona, ‘Civic society platform launched ahead of 25th anniversary of Good Friday Agreement,’ on The Irish Post, onine at: https://www.irishpost.com/news/civic-society-platform-launched-ahead-of-25th-anniversary-of-good-friday-agreement-247993 [accessed 14 April 2023].

‘Irish Taoiseach, Hillary Clinton spotlight women’s role in Northern Ireland’s peace process on 25th Anniversary,’ on GIWPS, online at: https://giwps.georgetown.edu/event/women-at-the-helm-the-unfinished-business-of-northern-irelands-good-friday-agreement/ [accessed 14 April 2023].

DeSouza, Emma, ‘Northern Ireland’s Civic Initiative,’ on Queen’s University Belfast, online at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/Research/GRI/mitchell-institute/news/27022023-CivicInitiative.html [accessed 14 April 2023].

EU citizenship rule takes effect after Northern Ireland woman’s battle online at: EU citizenship rule takes effect after Northern Ireland woman’s battle | BelfastTelegraph.co.uk [accessed 23 April 2023].












Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Diana Beresford-Kroeger

Pioneering Botanist, Biochemist & Author

‘Diana Beresford-Kroeger is one of the rare individuals who can accomplish this outwardly simple but inwardly complex and difficult translation from the non-human to human realms.’ 

- E. O. Wilson, Arboretum America, a Philosophy of the Forest

Born in 1944 and orphaned at a young age, Diana was taken under the wing of an uncle and the community of Lisheens valley, Cork, who raised her in the Ancient Brehon tradition of Ireland. Her uncle was an avid reader and chemist and nurtured a love and appreciation for knowledge, the arts and sciences in Diana who attended private schools during the year and spent her summers in Cork and Kerry. It was her great-aunt who taught her of the early Irish Brehon Law which was a civil rather than a criminal code in Ireland’s history. These progressive laws ‘uniformly discountenanced revenge, retaliation, the punishment of one crime by another, and capital punishment. Reparations were paid to the family of the victim.’ It was here too, that she was taught about her ‘folk lineage’ and told that as the ‘last child of ancient Ireland’ she ‘one day would need to bring this ancient Celtic knowledge to a troubled future.’ 

By the 1960s and in her early 20s, Diana understood that climate change would be ‘one of the most important challenges we face in the modern world.’ She set about studying, and went on to achieve a Masters in botany and two PhD’s - one in biochemistry and the second in biology. In 1967, she made a breakthrough and discovered genetic smearing, ‘which changed the way scientists studied microcosms under a microscope.’  She also discovered cathodoluminescense in biological systems, which is now used to detect cancer! Despite her progression in the field of science, Diana’s heart lay with the forest.

Taught from a young age about the ancient Celtic knowledge of trees, she began to collect trees from all around the world which led to another great discovery:  the significance of mother trees at the heart of the forest and the role of trees as a ‘living library of medicine that have a chemical language and communicate in a quantum world.’ Having spent years immersed in the scientific community, Diana realised that there was a gap in what those in that community knew and how that was being relayed to the public. There was an urgent need to tell the public about the significance of the degradation of the world’s forests and what that meant for future generations, so she moved into writing, lecturing, and broadcasting to get the word out. Over the next number of years, Diana published articles in the US, Canada and internationally, as well as seven critically acclaimed books on nature and specifically trees. 

In 2016, a documentary – Call of the Forest – based on one of Diana’s books, released alongside an app that encouraged its users to plant trees native and specific to where each user lived. During the filming process, Diana met Sophia Rabliauskas, leader of the Poplar River First Nations, and together the women campaigned to have the entirety of Pimachiowin Aki – ‘a massive area of virgin boreal forest’ - declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After an initial rejection, they were successful in 2018 after Diana ‘journeyed into the forest to prove the importance of its biodiversity by identifying plants that exist nowhere else.’

Now, Diana is campaigning to ‘clone and map the entire global forest’ and create a ‘living bank of tree seeds’ so that our global forests are preserved for generations to come.

DIANA’S BIOPLAN

Diana’s Bioplan is an ambitious plan encouraging ordinary people to develop a new relationship with nature, to join together to replant the global forest. 

Diana says, “All things are connected on planet Earth, from the burning eye of the volcano and the brilliant colours of a butterfly’s wing, to the chlorophyll of plants and life within the seas. In recent years the tapestry of life has been damaged.”

The Bioplan is the tool to mend the holes in the fabric – so that forests will be planted, the seas will have fish and marine life, the air will have more oxygen and less carbon dioxide.

This is the pledge of mankind to share this planet because it is our divine contract to ourselves and to all others.

How to Participate

  • Everyone needs to plant one native tree per year for the next six years.

  • If we can globally plant 48 Billion Trees over the next 6 years we can reverse the effects of Climate Change.

Other simple strategies to help:

  • Encourage your friends and neighbours to plant native trees.

  • Protect the trees in your neighbourhood.

  • Protect the native forests in your community by getting involved and writing letters to your government representatives.

Discover more about Diana’s ambitious but vitally important work here. 

Sources:

Beresford-Kroeger, Diana, The Sweetness of a Simple Life, (Random House; 2013).

‘Brehon Laws,’ on Encyclopaedia Britannica, online at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brehon-laws [accessed 14 April 2023].

‘About Diana,’ on Diana Beresford-Kroeger Global Forest Revival, online at: https://dianaberesford-kroeger.com/about-diana/ [accessed 14 April 2023].

‘About Diana,’ on Call of the Forest, online at: http://calloftheforest.ca/about-diana/ [accessed 14 april 2023].




Dr. Easkey Britton / Surfer / Author / Scientist

Dr. Easkey Britton

Surfer / Author / Scientist

Photos: Andy Hill | @troggssurfshop

For many years now, Easkey Britton has been pioneering women’s big-wave surfing in Ireland. A professional marine social scientist with a PhD in Environment and Society, Easkey’s work ‘explores the relationship between people and nature’ and more recently has revolved around ‘exploring the use of blue and green space to restore health and wellbeing.’ Her research through collaborations such as the SOPHIE (Seas Oceans and Public Health in Europe) and INCLUSEA projects, have been successful in helping to better understand the healing power of water and ‘how to restore our relationship with it, as well as exploring how we might create more inclusive ocean spaces.’

Photo: Easkey Britton

“Surfing is something that is border-crossing if we use the sea as a kind of a metaphor in terms of its boundlessness, but in a real sense, my experience is that surfing is an experience that, when shared, can transcend social or language barriers.”

Photo: Easkey Britton

Born in Rossnowlagh, County Donegal, surfing was in Easkey’s blood (and name – she’s called after her parent’s favourite wave near their home!); years before her birth, her grandmother, hotel-owner Mary Britton, returned home from California with two surfboards and the intention of offering them to her hotel guests for use in the ocean nearby. Instead, her five sons took the boards to the waves and by the time Easkey came along, ‘surfing was a regular part of her family’s life.’ At just four years old, she was taught how to surf and has been doing it ever since, becoming the first Irish person to surf the 'hell-wave' Teahupoo in Tahiti when she was just 16 (she’s also a five-time Irish national surf champion!)

Photo: Andy Hill / @troggssurfshop

It’s Easkey’s ‘intellect and her quest to learn and create change in an often-unfair world’ that drives her and defines her, more so than her many accolades in the surfing world (she was the first Irish woman to be nominated for the Global WSL Big Wave Awards!) Easkey attended University of Ulster and in 2013 she graduated with a PhD in Environment and Society. Over the years, Easkey has combined her education and passion for surfing with activism, and in 2013 she travelled to Iran to introduce the sport of surfing to women there, which was featured in the award-winning documentary film, Into the Sea. On a previous trip to Iran in 2010, she had become the first woman to surf in the country and on subsequent visits over the years she co-initiated the Be Like Water programme for women and girls with Iran’s first female triathlete Shirin Gerami.

“The Iranian women had really pushed for this project and were instrumental to it. It’s important to have local female role models. There was no surfing culture there at all, so everyone experienced it through women initially, which proved inspiring for the young boys and men too, because everyone started surfing.”

Taking lessons learned and inspiration from her time with Iranian women, Easkey went on to found Like Water, ‘a platform to explore innovative ways to reconnect with who we are, our environment and each other, through water.’ Through this endeavour, Easkey ‘draws on the sea as an active metaphor to dive deep into the power of presence and embodiment of natural cycles.’

“I look at the world … entirely influenced by that connection I have with the sea because it’s been there my whole life, literally since before I can remember.”

More recently, Easkey has been an outspoken advocate for the health of our planet and as is usual for her, tries to approach the topic in innovative ways. “I think storytelling is really important and needs to be made relative to people through lived realities,” she says, “and show it through more creative ways. There is so much more room for looking at things in a different way and seeing how it influences our lives.”

““Looking back now I can see the power of telling your story in a way that can help and inspire others, regardless of what sector or sport you are in.””

In 2021, Easkey released her book Saltwater in the Blood, ‘a hybrid between a memoir and nature writing, with a strong undercurrent of feminism.’ In it, she explores everything from starting new chapters in one’s life to the integral connection between the ocean and humans.

When last she spoke with us, Easkey was deeply immersed in mothering twin babies, keeping balanced with getting in the ocean as much as she can and plans to launch her next book in April 2023, Ebb and Flow: Connect with the patterns and power of water, a ground-breaking guide to restoring our relationship with our planet’s waters. 

Thank you to Easkey Britton for collaborating with us on her biography. You can get a copy of her book, and stay up to date with new releases, here.

Sources:

Banner image: James Connolly

‘Easkey Britton,’ on Seas, Oceans & Public Health in Europe (SOPHIE) online at: https://sophie2020.eu/people/easkey-britton/ [accessed 21 Nov 2022].

‘About Easkey Britton, PhD.,’ on EaskeyBritton, online at: https://easkeybritton.com/bio/ [accessed 11 Nov. 2022].

Irish Examiner, 11 Sep. 2021

‘Irishwoman Easkey Britton makes surf waves in Iran,’ on BBC, online at: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-19802822 [accessed 23 Nov. 2022].

Irish Examiner, 10 Aug. 2014.

‘Easkey Britton: ‘The sea is a powerful mirror to what’s going on in society’ on siliconrepublic, online at: https://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/easkey-britton-surfing-plastic-waste [accessed 23 Nov. 2022].

Britton, Easkey, Saltwater in the Blood (2021).

‘Easkey Britton on her new book, feminism and respecting water,’ on BUZZ, online at: https://www.buzz.ie/news/easkey-britton-new-book-feminism-25102149 [accessed 23 Nov. 2022].

 

Vicky Phelan / Activist

Best known for her emotionally charged statement from the steps of the Four Courts in April 2018, Vicky Phelan unearthed one of the biggest medical and political scandal of our times.

It would emerge that, like Vicky, 220 other women with cervical cancer were not informed that a clinical audit – carried out by the national screening programme CervicalCheck – had revised their earlier, negative smear test. In many cases, their cancer could have possibly been prevented. 

Background & Career

Mother to Amelia and Darragh, Vicky originally hails from Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny and is based in Annacotty, Co Limerick. She is the eldest of five children. Vicky insisted on being sent to school a year early – she clearly knew her own mind from a young age. 

Upon graduating at University of Limerick with a Bachelor of Arts in European Studies in 1997, Vicky studied and worked at UL where she became a researcher in the Centre for Applied Language Studies. In 2001 she was appointed to UL’s International Education Division. 

Vicky joined Waterford Institute of Technology in 2006 to work in the Literacy Development Centre in the School of Lifelong Learning and Education and also completed a Masters in the Management of Education in 2011. Her capabilities and leadership led to her assuming the role of Head of the Literacy Development Centre. 

Little did she know how important her education and leadership skills would be in her fight to gain access to the treatment she and many others desperately deserved and to make the state accountable for their mistakes. 

In 2018 Vicky was awarded with a WIT Honorary Fellowship, the highest honorary award the Institute can confer to individuals who have demonstrated distinction in a field of human endeavour to such an extent as to provide motivation and inspiration to the community of the Institute and society at large.   

Campaign for Justice

In 2011, Vicky underwent a smear test for cervical cancer. Although her test showed no abnormalities, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014. An internal CervicalCheck review found that the original result was incorrect, but Vicky was not informed of this fact until 2017. Vicky went onto sue Clinical Pathology Laboratories over the incident and the case was settled for €2.5million. In speaking out, Vicky gave voice to those who had been suffering in silence.

It subsequently emerged that more than 221 women with cervical cancer had initially been given the all-clear based on smear tests carried out by the CervicalCheck screening programme. Vicky and fellow survivor Lorraine Walsh and Stephen Teap (whose wife Irene died from the disease) established the 221+ support group to help the women and their families affected by CervicalCheck scandal.

Vicky initially fundraised to pay for an experimental drug called Pembro (pembrolizumab), the cost of which is up to €8,500 every three weeks. Vicky fought to have the 221 women affected by the Cervical Screening Scandal given access to Pembro free of charge. Following an intensive lobbying campaign, the state eventually agreed to extend the treatment to all cervical cancer patients. Pembro gave Vicky almost 3 years of a quality of life she could never have hoped for on chemotherapy.

In November 2020 Vicky became aware that Pembro was no longer working for her, and she set about finding another treatment. In January 2021, she headed to Maryland in the US and is currently residing there while she undergoes an experimental treatment (Pembro 2.0); a better version of Pembro which she hopes it will give her more time with her family. After a slow start Vicky is now receiving the full dose of Pembro 2.0.

Book: ‘Overcoming’

In her memoir ‘Overcoming’, Vicky shares her remarkable, wider personal story, from a life-threatening accident in early adulthood through to motherhood, a battle with depression, her devastating later discovery that her cancer had returned in shocking circumstances – and the ensuing detective-like scrutiny of events that led the charge for a legal action which made history because she refused to be silenced.

An inspiring story of rare resilience and power, ‘Overcoming’ is an account of how one woman can move mountains – even when she is fighting for her own life – and of finding happiness and strength in the toughest of times. It’s an important part of her story but also just one part of a remarkable path of life, so far. This book is searingly honest, deeply personal, shocks at times but is ultimately uplifting.

VICKY

VICKY, the new documentary film following the life of Vicky in the wake of her cervical cancer diagnosis takes audiences behind the headlines of the CervicalCheck debacle and her journey to expose one of the greatest health scandals in Ireland's history. In cinemas 7 October 2022.

Caroline Casey / Social Entrepreneur / Adventurer

Caroline Casey

Social Entrepreneur / Adventurer / Activist

Herstory sat down and spoke with Caroline Casey, founder of The Valuable 500, a global business collective made up of 500 CEOs and their companies, innovating together for disability inclusion. It’s utterly impossible to put Caroline in one box, and that’s not where she wants to be either, so we’ll let her tell you her own story…

I’m a social entrepreneur, I’m an adventurer. I’m a businesswoman, I’m a campaigner, I’m an activist. I rode across India on an elephant when I left Accenture because I was hiding the biggest lie of my life. I rode across Colombia on a horse to find a CEO who would help me launch what I’m doing today, which is the Valuable 500. I have had some incredible highs and some incredible lows. I have been broken and happy, up and down, and inside out. I did not come from a Pollyanna Walton background and actually, that’s given me the greatest spine of all. I did a Ted Talk in 2010 and everyone thinks that’s where my story stopped, and it’s not! I think if I were to say to anyone today, I have a fierce big heart, I’m a troublemaker, I wear sparkly big wings on my back and I don’t take no for an answer. I love to dance! I love my friends and my family. I push myself sometimes too hard but I’m learning to be better. But if there was one sentence, I could leave with anyone it would be that you’re defined by nothing! You want to write your own story? You want to live your own life? You’re defined by none of it. So, this is Caroline Casey today, I’m a little bit heartbroken because I lost a very dear friend recently. But this is me.

I hadn’t a clue what I wanted to be. I had dreams at 17 that I wanted to live like Mowgli from the Jungle Book, or a cowgirl, I wanted to race cars and motorbikes. I wanted to be free. But there were no things like doctor or lawyer that I wanted to be. I didn’t know what I wanted to be, I felt different and lost. But look now! If I could, I’d tell my younger self that what matters at 17 is that you live your truth. Live your instinct and live your soul. What’s the roar from your soul? I’m 49 now and I really quite like the woman that I’ve evolved into.

My advice to my 17-year-old self? Well, I was born with this condition called ocular albinism which means that I’m registered blind, and I have about two feet vision. But my parents decided to bring me up as a sighted child. They didn’t tell me I had an eye condition because my father believed labels are limiting. They’re for packages and jam jars, not human beings. He didn’t want any of his children to have a small life. Both my parents were black sheep, we didn’t fit in. And my advice would be what their advice was, that you’re not a label. You are not defined by one thing. If I were to hold myself at 17, I’d say go out and try it all. Try not listen to the voices that tell you you should fit in. I want to belong, but I want to belong as me, not some version that others say is me. My life hasn’t been straight forward. On the outside, it looks one way, but it hasn’t been that – there’s a lot more depth and life under what one can see. So, I’d say keep putting one foot in front of the other. It’s okay to be big and take up space, just make sure you’re doing it your way as honestly as you can.

I don’t know where I’m going to be in the future. I always thought if I could make the world a better place, if I could raise enough money here, I’d be good enough … but something really strange happened a year ago. I was waiting for a taxi to go to the airport, and I was sitting outside. What I was going off to do was really big, but I remember sitting there and getting this rush all over me as if someone had knocked me down with this sense of feeling. This voice in my head said, ‘it’s not who you are, it’s just what you do.’ And from that moment I realised that the work I do isn’t who Caroline is. Who Caroline is is this woman who’s just trying to do her very best. But my worth and my value and my shadow don’t come from the work I do, it comes from me. So, I don’t know who I’m gonna be as I evolve, but I’m certainly getting better at doing what I want, rather than what I think everyone else wants me to do.  

Credit: Irish Examiner

If I could give one piece of advice, I’d say do your shit. We all come from places of pain and sadness. Some of us more than others but we all go through life and pick up as many wounds and scars as much as we pick up love, so do your shit. Whether you do it through therapy, dance, sport or whatever – just work it out. When you accept yourself you accept others around you better. You make better decisions. There’s no hierarchy to pain or trauma. We’re all here just doing the best we can, and our lives are relative to ourselves. The Valuable 500 came from the death of my father. When he died he just disappeared. The pain and the anger I felt in my heart created the Valuable 500. I own that. And it wasn’t achieved overnight. It took grit.

The transition from corporate to activist was big. When I discovered my eye condition at 17 years old, I just did not want that label. I wanted to race a motorbike across the desert listening to Led Zeppelin’s A Whole Lotta Love. And there was no way I was gonna do that if I couldn’t see the handlebars in front of me. So, I hid my condition for 11 years and that was just … so many accidents and adventures, but magic too. I ended up as a management consultant with Accenture. Excise the pub but I went in there blind. I wasn’t sure if I really wanted it. I was conforming on the outside but felt slightly crazy on the inside. I was with them two and a half years and they didn’t know about my eye condition. But because I wasn’t getting the help I needed with it, I actually ended up damaging my sight more. So, I told everyone at the end of 1999 and my life changed. It was the first time I’d asked for help. Accenture sent me to an eye specialist and the doctor told me the truth – as furious as it made me at the time. I fell apart. I’d been falling apart for a while, but I just didn’t realise it. I collapsed on a beach and cried and then I thought about my dream of wanting to be Mowgli in the Jungle Book. 9 months later I had temporarily left my job and found myself in Southern Indian with my forehead against the forehead of an elephant. After a few months I trekked across India and became an elephant handler. I was ready to start the journey of accepting I couldn’t see but I wasn’t ready for it to take me over. I wanted it to be on my terms. Through this elephant journey I came to understand the global crisis facing the disability community, of which I am one. When I came home from my elephant, I’d raised a lot of money, and Accenture wanted me back, but I said no. I couldn’t go back because I realised in not owning my own disability I was colluding in a world that was asking people to hide away because they’re different.

I’m used to being on big stages. I don’t see very well obviously so feeling energy is very important to me. During Covid I was asked to give a talk over zoom and the thought of it was terrible – I need to feel the energy of the people in the room! But I did it and oddly enough, because I couldn’t feel energy from the audience, I really had to connect in to myself. And I ended up being quite emotional! I remember thinking, what was that? And it came down to this. There’s power in the pause. I wasn’t running away on the plains and stages and whatever. In that pause there came this knowing in myself that I don’t want to forget. It was so powerful. I then got feedback from this talk and all of it was brilliant feedback bar one line, which stood out to me. It said ‘she is too emotional. It’s unprofessional.’ I threw my head back and laughed. Too emotional? Unprofessional? And I just wanted to shout out that yes! I’m emotional! Yes, I have a big heart! Because business is about people, people have hearts. Where is your heart? Where is the roar from your soul that feeds your creativity? Don’t’ be frightened of the feelings. They’re there, they’re real and they’ll move us. There’s no way we can have the inclusive world I want if we don’t genuinely accept who we are ourselves. Because then we will not turn to the other person and say if I give to you, I take away from myself. The scarcity model is the fear. Own your shadow as much as your light. And that’s hard, but it’s important.

Credit: Speakers Connect

You can change your mind. What I wanted at 22 was different to what I wanted at 24. Different to what I wanted at 30. You can grow and evolve and change your mind. If we want to have a world where we’re all authentic, we need to hold our own. We all have a role to play in creating an inclusive and just world.

My definition of success is… Somebody who I really respect once said success is loving where I am right now. Success is not when you’re sticking your neck out wanting others to think wow aren’t you great. It’s about being comfortable in your own skin and accepting where you are. At the height of my external success where you could’ve looked at me and gone isn’t she great! I wasn’t! I really wasn’t. I can look anyone in the eye and say that the greatest moments in my life have come from pain, tragedy, loss, from hurt. Because somehow in those spaces the better part of who I have evolved into has come through. I have learned so much from honouring those moments, and honouring that struggle that in a way, they have been the fireflies that light up my life. From the other side of shadow is light. We have the greatest moment if we choose to take the pain and turn it into light. For me, it’s not enough to have the heart. It’s the intersection of your head and your heart. Apply your intelligence to your heart.

Thank you to Caroline for chatting to us.

Sarah Hegazi / Queer Feminist / Activist

Sarah Hegazi

Queer feminist / Activist

TW: Homophobia, torture, suicide

In 2017, Egyptian activist Sarah Hegazi rose to prominence after she was arrested and imprisoned for flying a rainbow flag at a Mashrou' Leila concert in Cairo. Her death by suicide in 2020, following years of PTSD and exile, sent shockwaves throughout the LGBTQ+ community around the world. 

Sarah, the eldest of four children, was born in 1989. She was still young when her father died and she had to help her mother to raise her siblings, something she took very seriously. In 2010, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in Information Systems, but her education did not end there, and over the next few years she obtained certificates in everything from feminism and social justice to research methods and diversity in the workplace. 

Sarah was an activist outside of education too, and was a known supporter of the Bread and Freedom Party - a democratic socialist party in Egypt that believed in wealth distribution. She was a vocal critic of Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, the President of Egypt since 2014 who has ruled with an iron fist. Donald Trump’s ‘favourite dictator,’ al-Sisi introduced controversial constitutional amendments in 2019 which would allow him to remain in power until 2030.

“Instead of building schools or parks, the regime is building prisons and jails [...] There is no political life now, just one voice which is that of the military, the system, the regime. There are no human rights, women’s rights, refugee rights, or rights for journalists.”
— Sarah Hegazi

On 22 September 2017, Sarah attended a Mashrou' Leila concert, a Lebanese band whose lead singer, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay. 

Sarah waved a rainbow flag in ‘an act of support and solidarity… for everyone who is oppressed.’

And with that, she and dozens of others (some say more than 100 people) were arrested for what the Egyptian state called ‘sexual deviance.’ Reports say that she was the only queer woman arrested, although it’s difficult to confirm this. Her friend, Ahmed Alaa, was also arrested and charged with ‘joining a group formed in contrary to the law.’

“It was a whole troop, a large number of armed officers, and all this just to arrest a single woman. We never thought that this would provoke such reactions.”
— Sarah Hegazi

Sarah spent three months in jail ‘in a solitary cell with no fresh air, no talking, and no people’ where she developed depression and ‘lost the ability to make eye contact with people.’ She had ‘almost no visitors’ and described being subjected to electric shock. Later, she recalled being ‘sexually assaulted by inmates and tortured by prison officials’ for her sexual orientation. When she was released on bail, Sarah suffered PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). 

As an openly queer woman in a country that arrested her for waving a flag, Sarah began to fear that she would be arrested again, so she fled to Canada. 

Although Egypt does not explicitly outlaw homosexuality, it frequently uses charges of "public debauchery" in order to prosecute those who do not comply with societal prescriptions of sexual orientation and gender. (Source DW)

It was not an easy move. Leaving behind her friends and family was extremely hard, and made even more difficult when her mother died of cancer just a month after she arrived in Canada. Sarah was unable to be with her siblings to grieve. While glad for the asylum Canada offered her, she longed to return home. As writer and Assistant Professor of Global Studies, Ahmad Qais Munhazim pointed out:

“Queer Muslim refugees who make it to Western countries may find that rejection has followed them in a new form: Islamophobia. Meanwhile, in LGBTQ communities, being Muslim and queer is seen as paradoxical. As a result, queer and trans Muslims in exile in the West become outsiders twice over.”

On 13 June 2020, Sarah was found dead in her home. She was 30. In a note left behind she had written:

“To my siblings, I tried to survive and I failed. Forgive me. To my friends, experiences have been cruel and I’m too weak to resist. Forgive me. To the world, you have been extremely cruel, but I forgive.”

A year later, a group of lesbian and queer feminists launched MENA Lesbian and Queer Women’s Pride Day in honour of Sarah and ‘all the women fighters we have lost on this path.’ It is also an annual opportunity to ‘shine a light on lesbian, queer, and transgender women in our societies’ - particularly those in the Middle East and North Africa - while also ‘challenging patriarchal dominions and cisgender guardianship.’

Around the world, women like Sarah, and the LGBTQ+ community at large, are being oppressed, arrested and murdered for loving who they love, and being who they are. Here in Ireland, homophobia is on the rise again and attacks on our trans sisters particularly, are commonplace. We must not give platforms to those who seek to ‘debate’ the human rights of LGBTQ+ people. We must call out homophobia in all its forms when we see it. 



Helplines:

The National LGBT Helpline: Visit Website: www.lgbt.ie  Call: 1890 929 539

Pieta House: Visit Website: www.pieta.ie  Call: 1800 247 247

Samaritans: Visit Website: www.samaritans.org   Call: 116 123

Your Mental Health: Visit Website: www.yourmentalhealth.ie

Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI): Visit Website: www.teni.ie   Call: 01 873 35 75

Lesbian Line: Visit Website: www.dublinlesbianline.ie  Call: 01 8729911

Sources:

‘LGBTQ activist Sarah Hegazi, exiled in Canada after torture in Egypt, dead at 30,’ online at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sarah-hegazi-death-1.5614698 [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘Egyptian LGBT activist dies by suicide in Canada,’ online at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/6/15/egyptian-lgbt-activist-dies-by-suicide-in-canada [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘Egyptian LGBT+ activist Sarah Hegazy, jailed for waving rainbow flag, dies at 30,’ online at: https://www.dw.com/en/egyptian-lgbt-activist-sarah-hegazy-jailed-for-waving-rainbow-flag-dies-at-30/a-53831469 [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘Suicide of Egyptian activist Sarah Hegazi exposes the ‘freedom and violence’ of LGBTQ Muslims in exile,’ online at: https://theconversation.com/suicide-of-egyptian-activist-sarah-hegazi-exposes-the-freedom-and-violence-of-lgbtq-muslims-in-exile-141268 [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘Lessons from Egypt’s counter-revolution for Sudan,’ online at: https://springmag.ca/interview-lessons-from-egypts-counter-revolution-for-sudan [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘Egypt President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi: Ruler with an iron grip,’ online at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-19256730 [accessed 21 June 2022].

‘After Crackdown, Egypt's LGBT Community Contemplates 'Dark Future’,’ online at: https://www.npr.org/2018/06/18/620110576/after-crackdown-egypts-lgbt-community-contemplates-dark-future?t=1592233234302&t=1655898819016 [accessed 22 June 2022].

‘First Annual MENA Lesbian and Queer Woman's Pride Day in Honor of Sarah Hegazi,’ online at: https://freedomhouse.org/article/first-annual-mena-lesbian-and-queer-womans-pride-day-honor-sarah-hegazi#:~:text=The%20movements%20and%20organizations%20that,Middle%20East%20and%20North%20Africa. [accessed 22 June 2022].

‘Poignant tributes for Sara Hegazy, the Egyptian activist tortured for flying a Pride flag, one year after her tragic death,’ online at: https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2021/06/14/sara-hegazy-egyptian-lgbt-activist-died-suicide-anniversary/ [accessed 22 June 2022].

Sara R Phillips / Human Rights Activist / Chair of TENI

Sara R Phillips

Human Rights Activist / Chair of TENI / Co-founder of Dublin Trans Peer Support Group / Board member of the National Womens Council / Treasurer of the International Trans Fund and Transgender Europe (TGEU)

Image by: Jules, The Stairlings Collective

In 2006, TENI (Transgender Equality Network Ireland), as we know it today, was re-activated (having been originally founded in Cork in 2004) by a small group of trans people in Dublin. In the beginning, TENI were focused on providing support and information for trans people while building an organisation that would survive into the future. Focus on attaining legal rights for trans people wasn’t a priority initially. The group was a grassroots organisation and for the first while of its existence, was funded entirely by the members themselves. In 2007, they received funding through the Equality Authority to produce an informative leaflet which was sent to every GP in the country, and with the surplus organised a personal development and capacity building weekend workshop for about forty trans people. 

Sara R Phillips, who was a co-founder of the Dublin Trans Peer Support Group, founded in 2005, almost immediately became involved as a member. At first, because she was going through her own medical transition, she did not join the first committee, but was an active member supporting the organisation’s events.

Sara had come out in the early 90s but it was much earlier on, as a small child of five when the boys and girls were being split and sent to different schools, that she began to question her identity. At 17, she had a conversation with her father and tried to explain what she was feeling, only for him to tell her that what she was experiencing was a phase (although, she would later explain that this retort was actually a ‘good result’ for the time period, when so many others were being kicked out of the house over similar conversations). 

Sara grew up, fell very in love and got married. She and her wife had three children. But the need to express herself in her true gender identity continued to grow as she moved into her 30s. She came out in 1992 amidst an atmosphere of ‘voyeurism and negativity’ towards trans people in Ireland. 

“Our identity is a fundamental part of who we are – whether it’s your nationality, your race, your religion, or your gender, and we should all be the arbiters of our own identities.”
— Sara R Phillips

Image by: Louise Hannon

In 2012, Sara was appointed Chairperson of TENI. Her team were lucky in that they could build on the structure that had already been established but it was still very much a small NGO with just two and a half staff and little funding. Sara would later state that this period of time was all about teamwork - most people working in the LGBTQ+ sector were doing it in a voluntary capacity. It was a passion because it was so important to them - not only were they fighting for the rights of their community, but also for their own rights. 

One of the biggest concerns within TENI at this time was getting the Gender Recognition Act passed through the Government. Gender recognition legislation would ‘provide a process enabling trans people to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender and allow for the acquisition of a new birth certificate that reflects this change.’ Up until this point, the lack of State recognition of trans identities was ‘a major contributing factor to the marginalisation of trans people’ and had the potential to ‘out’ those who were applying for a new job or passport, which in turn, could result in discrimination and/or abuse. 

The Act was successfully passed in 2015, making Ireland just the fourth country in the world to allow adults to self-determine their gender on official documentation (however Ireland was also one of the last in Europe to introduce any form of gender recognition laws). Despite belief in some circles that this Act was somehow rushed through or passed ‘under the radar,’ the campaign for Gender Recognition was not a new one; it had begun back in 1997 when Dr Lydia Foy began legal proceedings to ‘challenge the refusal of the Registrar General to issue her with a new birth certificate.’ And nor is the struggle over, as TENI and others continue to campaign on behalf of non-binary, intersex, and young people today. 

In 2018, the government reviewed the legislation and wide ranging recommendations came from the committee, chaired by BeLongTo director, Moninne Griffith and of which Sara was a member.

In the same year, Sara was honoured as Dublin Pride Grand Marshall and with the theme being “we are family” was delighted to have her mother and daughter join her for the parade.

“We’ve got to tell people that these histories are there and they exist [...] This community has a history.”
— Sara R Phillips

Image by: Conor Horgan

Beyond TENI, Sara also founded the Irish Trans Archive in 2016 and through her own research and archivism, has documented over 300 years of Irish trans history. This has been a lifelong endeavor for Sara, who, since the 70s and 80s, has been collecting any notes and stories that she could find on gender variant people. For Sara, the archive is ‘about more than just preserving history. It’s also about making a present day statement.’ She wants to show the wider population that trans people are not some recent phenomena, but a community with a longstanding, decorated history spanning centuries.

Sara was elected to the board of the National Womens Council of Ireland in 2020. She is also on the boards of Transgender Europe (TGEU) in Berlin and the International Trans fund, a philanthropy organisation based in Toronto.

“Everything I do is for our trans community, everything I do is for the people who have gone before me but also those who are coming after me, because currently life as a trans person in Ireland still is not good enough. [There] is still a lot more to do.”
— Sara R Phillips

Has much changed in Ireland since Sara came out? She says yes. There have been massive wins in healthcare and education, and the overall visibility of trans people is far more positive now. However, there is a huge amount of work still to be done in these areas. Healthcare has now fallen behind where it should be. ‘We should be advocating and providing healthcare based on informed consent and international best practices. There needs to be far more comprehensive education around trans issues, not only in the education system and teacher’s colleges, but in employment sectors and amongst the general public too.’ 

Sara continues to fight for improvements in trans rights, both in Ireland and worldwide.

Thank you to Sara for sharing her story with us.

Co-written by Sara and Katelyn.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Sources:

‘Oral history interview of Sara R. Phillips,’ Digital Repository of Ireland, online: https://repository.dri.ie/catalog/k356ps22c [accessed 29 Mar. 2022].

‘Gender Recognition,’ online at: https://www.teni.ie/gender-recognition/ [accessed 6 Apr. 2022].

‘The Irish Trans Archive: Taking recognition beyond the courtroom,’ online at: https://epicchq.com/story/the-irish-trans-archive-taking-recognition-beyond-the-courtroom/ [accessed 6 Apr. 2022].
‘Keynote Speakers: Intersex Mapping Study,’ online at: https://www.dcu.ie/intersex/keynote-speakers [accessed 1 Apr. 2022].

Ciara Ní É / Bilingual Performer / Writer / Activist

Ciara Ní É

Bilingual Performer / Writer / Activist

Photo by Hannah McGlynn

Award-winning TV presenter and writer, Ciara Ní É, has been a regular presence in Irish national television and literary circles for a number of years. An ambassador of The Irish Writers Centre, her work has been published extensively in journals including Icarus, Aneas, and Comhar, and the recent anthologies Bone and Marrow/Cnámh agus Smior, Queering the Green and Washing Windows Too. She has written poems for UNESCO City of Literature, The Linenhall Arts Centre, RTÉ TV, BBC Radio and TG4, and has performed them everywhere from Sweden and London to Brussels and New York. 

Photo by Hannah McGlynn

Born in Clontarf, Dublin as the middle child of five children, Ciara Ní É did not grow up speaking Irish at home, but rather was inspired by two of her teachers who taught it through music, theatre and fun when she was in sixth class. Her interest in the language was further encouraged by her parents who began sending her to the Gaeltacht (Coláiste Chamuis, Ros a’ Mhil) every summer from when she turned 12. It was here and at Trinity college where she studied English Literature and Modern Irish for her undergrad, that she developed a real grá for Gaeilge.

Ciara speaking at Listowel Writer’s Week

Following a year in London working as an Editorial Assistant for publisher Dorling Kindersley, Ciara returned to Ireland to pursue a job working with the Irish language. But first, she needed to improve, so she signed up for UCD’s Scríobh agus Cumarsáid na Gaeilge where she took classes in editing, translation, and writing. Outside of her academic pursuits, Ciara founded REIC in 2015, a monthly bilingual, and sometimes multilingual, spoken word event featuring poetry, rap, music and storytelling. REIC (pronounced 'wreck') grew from a desire to give a platform to artists who write in Irish, and to create a relaxed space where performing as Gaeilge is expected and encouraged, which inspires more performers to make use of the Irish they have.

Crowds at Dublin Castle in May 2015 when gay marriage was legalised in Ireland. Source: GCN

REIC came about the same year as the Marriage Equality referendum which passed by 62% in May 2015, making Ireland the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage by popular vote. As a member of the LGBT+ community (or, LADT+ as gaeilge), Ciara recognises how important it is to be able to identify yourself within a language. Initially, as someone who came into the Irish-language scene as something of an outsider, Ciara felt doubly ostracised by the fact that she was also queer in this space where 'queer people were not common and queer groups did not seem to exist'. But that all changed during the Referendum when she joined 'Tá Comhionannas' a group of LGBTQ+ Gaeilgeoirí and allies who got together to campaign for the yes vote.

Ciara performing in Whelan’s

Following the referendum, Ciara was involved in organising Bród events (Pride events in Irish) from 2017 onwards. From this, in February 2020, Ciara and her close friend and collaborator Eoin McEvoy founded AerachAiteachGaelach (translation: GayQueerIrish) - a collective of 60+ queer artists, writers, musicians, actors, photographers and drag artists.

Photo by Hannah McGlynn

AAG was selected by The Abbey Theatre to take part in The Abbey 5x5, their annual development series for community theatre projects that enables the 5 chosen communities to engage with their national theatre for the first time. AAG, along with the other chosen projects, received five days’ worth of space, technical assistance and €5,000 to help in the development of a theatre piece. During AAG’s 5×5 week, they developed a bilingual, multi-disciplinary piece of work across poetry, drag, dance, singing, verbatim theatre, video and mythology that sought ‘to examine the similarities between the challenges faced by LGBT+ citizens and other groups in Ireland, exploring marginalisation, minoritisation, invisibility and erasure.’ AAG made the video below during lockdown to celebrate Bród 2020:

“This pandemic is a testing and bizarre time in all of our lives. It is abundantly clear that art and creativity are crucial in providing relief. When else has a national news broadcast ended with a poem?”
— Ciara Ní É

Ciara is also a YouTuber, where she shares her popular video series What the Focal in which she answers a variety of questions on the Irish language and explores various dialects from around the country. From 2017-18 she taught Irish to students at Villanovoa University in Philadelphia as a Fulbright Scholar and just this year, she was chosen as one of the Irish Examiner’s ‘100 Women Changing Ireland in 2022.’ What can we expect from Ciara in the near future? Well, she is currently co-writing an exciting new TV series with Tua Films, and her first poetry collection is forthcoming. To keep updated on her work, go to her website miseciara.wordpress.com.

You can follow Ciara on Twitter: @MiseCiara

You can check out An Foclóir Aiteach / The Queer Dictionary, developed by the USI, BelongTo and TENI, here.

Herstory by Katelyn Hanna.

Thank you to Ciara Ní É for providing information and photos for this biography.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Sources:

‘DCU Music and poet Ciara Ni É look to the future for project celebrating the end of COVID-19 crisis,’ online at: https://www.dcu.ie/news/news/2020/04/dcu-music-and-poet-ciara-ni-e-look-to-the-future-for-project-celebrating-the-end [accessed 13 Apr. 2022].

The Irish Times, 13 Mar. 2018.

‘5×5 2020,’ online at: https://www.abbeytheatre.ie/5x5-2020/ [accessed 13 Apr. 2022].

‘Ciara Ní É’, Seal le Dáithí, S4 E19, ar TG4, ar líne ag: https://www.tg4.ie/en/player/categories/entertainment-shows/?series=Seal%20le%20D%C3%A1ith%C3%AD&genre=Siamsaiocht [accessed 12 Apr. 2022].

‘An Foclóir Aiteach/The Queer Dictionary,’ online at: https://usi.ie/focloir-aiteach/ [accessed 13 Apr. 2022].

‘Pride2020 Video by AAG,’ online at: https://miseciara-wordpress-com.translate.goog/2020/07/08/fisean-brod2020-le-aag/?_x_tr_sl=ga&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc [accessed 13 Apr. 2022].

Taryn de Vere / Bisexual Fashion Activist / Performance Artist / Writer

Taryn de Vere

Bisexual Fashion Activist / Performance Artist / Writer

Taryn de Vere is a Bisexual fashion activist, performance artist, and writer living in County Donegal. Originally from Australia, Taryn first moved to Belfast in early 1998 and later settled in County Donegal, where she has lived since 2004. Taryn comes from a family of activists and recalls going to school with a 'No nukes' sticker on her lunchbox, aged six. Her family was involved in Indigenous rights, women's rights, and environmental issues, all subjects which remain important to Taryn. "My goal is to tread lightly on the earth and leave little trace that I was here," says Taryn. "I was shocked that no one recycled when I first came to Ireland, and that people didn't seem to know much about the environment or climate change. Thankfully that's all changed and there is much more awareness now." 

Taryn was one of the founding parents that set up Donegal's first multi denominational school, Letterkenny Educate together National School. The school now has over 300 students and has been running for over 15 years. Taryn says, "Being involved in creating the school was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. Every time I see people dropping their kids off there, I feel a huge sense of pride. It's one of those things that has affected the lives of thousands of people, I was so fortunate to be able to contribute to it happening."

Taryn has been involved in various campaigns for social change, including the repeal referendum, decriminalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland, the fight to make the National Maternity Hospital publicly owned, housing rights, disability rights and migrant rights. One of the ways that Taryn becomes involved is by the creation of activist headpieces and outfits. "I jokingly say that I started making these because my arms got too tired holding signs," laughs Taryn, "however with my background in PR I know what will appeal to a photo editor so I knew that the quirk-factor of a headpiece would make it into the papers and thus further the cause that I believe in. It was never about me being in the papers, it's always been about the cause. I'm delighted that some other people are now doing similar things and it's not just me in the papers all the time." Taryn calls these creations 'fashion activism'. "I use how I dress and the pieces I make to tell a story visually. Sometimes I add a performance art aspect, like with the Pro-choice Princess, who handed out cards granting the bearer bodily autonomy." Some of Taryn's fashion activist pieces are now in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland. 

Taryn came out as Bisexual aged 40. "I had had a lot of sexual experiences with women but I never put two and two together until I was talking to a friend and she said it sounded like I was Bisexual. I felt silly for not realising it sooner. I think it was the internalised biphobia, that I just assumed I was heterosexual, as I grew up in a heteronormative society. I've always been attracted to women, I just never examined it very closely. Now I'm out and proud." Taryn is involved in LGBTQIA+ rights, especially trans rights as she is the mother of a trans child. "In all the activism I take part in, I'm trying to build a fairer world for those of us in it now, and those to come. I want a better world for my children."

Taryn has been married eight times. "The first time was a conventional marriage, the last seven times I've married the same person. Our first wedding was a surrealist themed wedding ceremony. All the guests had to wear a surrealist head. We basically wrote a piece of surrealist theatre, with an Irreverand who married us, a Responsorial Salmon hand puppet and a Eucharist of cheese singles. Following that we wrote vows based on equality and freedom, removing all obligation and we now get married in front of strangers. We put into our vows a commitment to grow as people, and so when we have both grown and changed we ask ourselves and each other if we still choose the relationship, and if yes, do we still choose the marriage. If it's yes then the new 'me' marries the new him. We walk the streets of a town or city, dressed as a bride and groom and we invite people to our ceremony. We get married somewhere public, like a gallery or a park. At the ceremony, we work at communicating the sense of love we have for each other. People tell us they find our weddings very moving. Some people cry. It's always really beautiful."

Taryn describes herself as 'probably the most colourful woman in Ireland' and is especially known for her colourful and outlandish attire. Her creative projects and outfits have appeared in media around the world including tv appearances in Hollywood and on Iranian TV. Taryn is currently working on her first book and her project #365daysOfJoy, where she is dedicating a year of her life to joyful practices.

You can find Taryn as @TaryndeVere on all platforms.


Thank you very much to Taryn for taking the time to share her story with us.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan / Writer / Performer / Cultural Consultant

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan

Writer / Performer / Cultural Consultant

Image: Tristan Hutchinson

Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan was born in new Delhi in 1988. Her mother, Chitra Narayanan, is a career diplomat who later became an Ambassador of India to a number of countries, and her father Prasad Chandra Mohan worked in the World Bank for many years. Chandrika moved to the US as a child for three years before spending a longer time in New Delhi. During this time, she lived with her mother’s parents, former Vice President and former President of India KR Narayanan, and Usha Narayanan. All the people who brought Chandrika up had roots in art and literature: her parents both worked in publishing, her grandfather studied literature, and her grandmother translated Burmese short stories. Chandrika’s father’s side of the family includes renowned art historian Krishna Chaitanya.

In 2001, her mother was appointed Ambassador of India to Sweden and Latvia, and so they lived in Stockholm from 2001 to 2004. There, Chandrika attended international schools with students from many other countries, and this remained the case when Chitra was made ambassador to Turkey in 2005. About thirty years previous, her grandfather had been posted to Ankara, living in the same residence. Despite only spending a few years there, Chandrika felt embedded in Turkish culture, from how it influenced her mother and grandparents from before, and while she was there herself. To this day her closest friends are Turkish and still live there. It has been harrowing for her to watch a country, and people she loves, regress and suffer under a dictatorial government that destroys so many people’s lives and human rights.

Following secondary school, Chandrika moved to the UK where she graduated with a BA in Art History and English Literature from The University of York. Subsequently, she and a group of college friends moved to London together where she attained an MA in Art History from University College London. She began working in the arts sector there, through internships in places such as Christie’s Auction House and The Victoria and Albert Museum, before working at the Jonathan Cooper Park Walk Gallery and the Be Smart About Art Academy. Through these roles she realised she enjoyed working in the space between business development and the arts, supporting arts organisations that both supported artists while providing an impactful experience for the general public.

In 2012, Chandrika began the process of applying to do a second Masters, this one in Arts Management, but a change in immigration regulations across the UK meant that a new student visa was not eligible, and so she was forced to leave the UK at very short notice. Within a few weeks she found a similar course in Dublin, and by the September 2012 she moved to Ireland, to study Arts Management and Cultural Policy in UCD.

Image: Basil Lim

After graduating from UCD, she realised that she wanted to continue working in business development in the art world. She worked at Business to Arts, and was appointed fundraiser for the Irish Architecture Foundation. However she once again hit immigration-related barriers, and was forced to leave her role as, like most arts jobs, it did not meet Ireland’s restrictive work permit requirements. She was offered a role eligible for a Work Permit as Arts and Culture Manager of The Liquor Rooms, where in addition to programming cultural events in the venue she produced a talk series which was shortlisted for an IDI (Institute of Designers in Ireland) award, and co-founded the Irish Craft Cocktail Awards. After three years in the drinks industry, she was offered a role eligible for a work permit back in the arts sector, and worked in marketing and fundraising for Fishamble: The New Play Company until 2021. Over the years she participated in two RAISE fundraising training programmes run by the Arts Council, and was also part of the Business to Arts Fundraising Fellowship Dublin training programme.

During her years in Ireland, Chandrika was also building up a writing career. Upon arrival in Ireland in 2012, she applied to write for LeCool online magazine, and so was able to attend a variety of events such as Milk and Cookies, spoken word events and theatre festivals. Her introduction to Ireland, and Irish history, was largely through art. Up until October 2019, when she secured a Stamp 4 permission (meaning she could live and work freely in Ireland without work permits), it was illegal for her to do any paid work outside of her full-time job, meaning she actively could not pursue a writing career or be paid to write or perform.

In 2019, her poems were published in Dedalus Press’ Writing Home: The New Irish Poets anthology, which like a number of other migrant poets, launched her writing career. Since then she has also been published in Local Wonders from Dedalus Press, the Irish Chair of Poetry’s Hold Open the Door anthology, Banshee, Honest Ulsterman, and Poetry Ireland Review amongst others. As a queer writer, she also has had poems published in anthologies such as Queering the Green by Lifeboat Press, and Green Carnations, Glas na Gile: 25 Young LGBTQ+ Poets from Ireland. Chandrika was been selected for the Irish Writers Centre’s XBorders programme twice, she has been featured on The Moth and Mortified podcasts, with work aired on NPR and RTÉ radio, and regularly performs at literary and cabaret events in Ireland. In 2020 Chandrika won 3rd place in the Fingal Poetry Prize, and was editor of Poetry Ireland’s Trumpet issue 9.

In 2021, Chandrika was a Poetry Ireland’s Introductions participant, and a Science Gallery Dublin’s Rapid Residency Artist. Before her career in arts fundraising, her passion was to work in the space between arts and science. Since leaving her role in Fishamble and becoming a full-time freelance artist and cultural consultant in 2021, she has been awarded Arts Council Agility Grant twice, to create a multidisciplinary installation that brings together poetry and solar flare research, and to begin a collection of essays. As a big fan of writing for children and YA readers, and speculative fiction, she is also a book reviewer for Children’s Books Ireland’s Inis magazine, and now regularly interviews authors at festivals about their books, particularly poets, debut authors, and writers who blur the boundaries between magic, dystopias, and reality. She hopes to one day be one of those authors.

You can follow Chandrika on Twitter @chandrikanm and find out more through her website here.

Many thanks to Chandrika for sharing her story with us.

Rebecca Lively / Mixed Media Artist

Rebecca Lively

Mixed Media Artist

My name is Rebecca Lively and I was born in Belfast in 2001, although I grew up outside of a small village in Newry in the countryside. My family is small and very supportive of the arts, with my brother Jordan being a talented musician and my mother showing me all she knows from her days of teaching art. 

When I was younger, I loved reading and I idolised writers like Jacqueline Wilson, R.J. Anderson, and Derek Landy, and so I thought that I wanted to be a writer too. I always got lost in the illustrations while I read and eventually, I tried drawing scenes from my favourite books. Once I discovered my love of art, I knew that I wanted to spend every hour doing it. My childhood was spent drawing, stitching, sculpting – anything I could do to be creative. Although it took me a while to make anything that looked good, my parents would proudly hang my pictures on the fridge, some of which are still there a decade later! 

My mother has had a huge influence on my art, as she has always been my role model. Not only is she an amazing woman, but her skill and knowledge about art is something I’ve always admired. It was my mother who introduced me to my favourite art movement, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, which influences all my work. She showed me postcards that she had kept from her teaching days, featuring ethereal red-haired women surrounded by nature. I remember being enveloped by the beauty and serenity of those paintings, and I strived to incorporate it into my own work.

Another aspect of Pre-Raphaelite art that appealed to me was how the women looked like me – they were pale gingers with white eyebrows. Although I felt insecure about how I looked, I looked at these women like they were the epitome of beauty. I realised then the power of representation in media, because if you can appreciate the beauty of someone who looks like you, then you can learn to appreciate yourself too.

Although I had learned to like my hair, I struggled to accept myself when I realised I was gay. It took me a while to discover this about myself, as I didn’t know you could be gay when I was younger. I had never seen a gay couple on TV or read about one. Everyone in my class was straight, with all the girls having crushes on boybands and actors, which I never understood. I was also raised Catholic, so it was never discussed in church and very rarely in school. My first introduction to the LGBT community was through a news report, which featured a flood of homophobic signs at a protest that read “God Hates F*gs” in bold black letters. I could not understand the concept of God not loving someone because they loved someone of the same gender, or that a whole group of people could be so angered by love that they would brandish signs with slurs painted on them. Later, when I took my Religion GCSE, I had to memorise homophobic quotes and explain why it was wrong to love someone of the same gender. It was just a small part of the module, but for my fellow LGBT classmates and I, it was very infuriating and hurtful. I grew distant from the Church for these reasons, as I personally couldn’t remain in an organisation who did not love it members unconditionally, despite claiming they would. 

I wonder how different my journey to self-acceptance would be if I had seen myself portrayed positively in media. I was so terrified to come out to my family (even though they had never been homophobic) because I had seen so many instances of people’s lives being ruined by being their true selves online. I If I had seen that a happy ending was possible for people like me, perhaps I would have had more hope for the future. I also wonder how it would affect my straight classmates and friends if they had grown up seeing gay people in media and were able to better understand the LGBT community and our struggles. If they could truly understand how difficult coming out can be, perhaps my straight classmates wouldn’t have casually outed my LGBT friends. If they understood the origins of the homophobic slurs they used so carelessly, perhaps they would not say them so often.

Rebecca’s illustration of early LGBT+ activist Marsha P. Johnson, 2020

Representation is something that everyone can benefit from, even if you aren’t part of the community being depicted in media. An opportunity to learn about another community is an opportunity to respect people, which I don’t think has any downsides.

In my artwork, I want everyone to feel represented and that their identity should be celebrated. As I worked with Herstory across different projects, I discovered how art can be used to tell stories in a way that really connected with people and made them understand other’s experiences in life.

I realised that the art I made could have a real impact on people and that I had an opportunity to provide the LGBT representation in media that I needed when I was younger, which is an aim of my current work.

‘Icarus’ - 2021

I also aim to keep exploring the experiences of women through my art and to shed light on the work of female activists throughout history. In the future, I would like to create books for children that have LGBT characters and stories, so that children could grow up normalising being LGBT and hopefully accept and embrace different identities more easily. Helping people to understand and love themselves and others is important to me, and I hope to achieve this goal throughout my career as an artist. 

You can follow Rebecca and her art on Instagram @rj.lively_art


Thank you so much to Rebecca for sharing her story with us.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Denise Charlton / Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland

Denise Charlton

Chief Executive of The Community Foundation for Ireland

I've been very lucky in my life to have had the opportunity to pursue a career and work in social justice. This was always my dream and thankfully, I had the opportunity to go to college and study social science which was the start of my journey into this work.  I was so privileged to be part of campaigns and movements where I got the support and benefited from volunteering and working with leaders who challenged the status quo and achieved incredible, progressive change.

Every day I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to campaign side by side with some of the most inspirational changemakers in the country. None of this would have been possible without the tremendous support of my family at home, in the first place from my parents and siblings, and then of course my partner Paula and our two sons.

In earlier years, growing up in Dalkey and going to school in Bray, I was interested in the subject of Social Science. It really was where it all began. Taught both at home and at school to question the status quo, to interrogate the impact of policy and to challenge inequality, it really was a very formative period in my life. This was also all from the perspective of being a member of the LGBTQ community which was in a completely different space than it is today.

In terms of starting a career my first choice was to pursue social work, which led to a placement in London. Like many people at that early stage of their working life I did feel pulled in several directions and maybe it was the bright lights, but I landed a position in marketing and communications. Working with some of the biggest household brands and bringing their messages to life was an important learning curve about communications and its ability to inform, increase awareness and ultimately, at its most powerful, to change people’s hearts and minds.

However, the pull towards that early interest in social issues and equality was always there and after many enjoyable years I opted to take the long passage home to Dublin, via a volunteering stint in Tanzania.

Dublin was changing with some early signs that the power of the establishment was beginning to slip. While working in PR I was also volunteering for Women’s Aid, one of several support groups who were not just providing frontline assistance but were determined to bring issues which had been hiding in plain sight for too long into the spotlight.

My volunteering evolved into a newly established communications role – I never knew then that it was the beginning of a stint which would see me rise to the Chief Executive Role. All of us involved in civil society know that you can have many roles, often at the same time. It was extraordinarily busy, sometimes frustrating but also inspiring to be playing a part in shaping a society which you could see slowly emerging from the grip of conservative powers.

What was to follow were opportunities to stand side by side with some of the leading campaigners of our time, Monica O’Connor at Women’s Aid, Sr Stan at the Immigrant Council of Ireland, Dr. Grainne Healy and the late Noel Whelan who were there every step of the way on the road to Marriage Equality, former President’s Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese who brought their own perspectives and insights to a country which was now undergoing rapid change. They have all given us a legacy of strong and robust voices across civil society – I believe we are a better country as a result.

And now at the Community Foundation for Ireland, which is at the very centre of it all. The passion, commitment and energy of the team ensures that not only are we a significant source of funding but we offer insights, knowledge and research on some of the most pressing issues of our time. Every day we are in touch with organisations across the country. This engagement with more than 5,000 partners gives us the ability to see emerging challenges, to identify solutions and then to see how they can be implemented. This proved invaluable in keeping vital lifeline services going through Covid-19 and we see it again as communities rally to support refugees from Ukraine.

Denise was honoured as part of the 2020 Herstory Light Show. Her image is seen here illuminating Galway Museum

The Pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the inequality of poverty and all against the backdrop of climate change can seem overwhelming. It would be foolish to under-estimate the impacts of each of these individually let alone when you step back and look at them collectively. Once again families on low income, communities like Travellers and immigrants, minorities like sections of the LGBTQ community, are all being unfairly asked to shoulder the burden. It can seem daunting.

Yet against that I am fortunate to see the generosity of donors, their commitment to positive change and how together we face these challenges. To be part of diverse partnerships with amazing organisations and communities who are making a difference every day is such a privilege. This positivity, this partnership approach, gives me huge hope for the future.

I look also at my sons, Benan and Cian, as they grow up in a campaigning household. They were our inspiration for involvement in Marriage Equality and many other issues that have and will affect their future. They are not afraid to ask questions, to challenge and hopefully to observe, how the status quo can be challenged, and change achieved.  This new generation has a voice and is not afraid to use it. They know the actions which must be taken and are not content to be spectators. That is where the hope lies. It is certainly where I now draw my inspiration from.

 

Thank you very much to Denise for sharing her story with us.

You can keep updated with the work of the Community Foundation for Ireland through their Twitter account: @CommunityFound

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Adiba Jaigirdar / Author

Adiba Jaigirdar

Author

Adiba.

Image credit: Lia Carlotti

Shortly after The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar was published in the summer of 2020, Times included it on their list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of All Time, alongside well-known classics such as Little Women, Lord of the Flies, and The Catcher in the Rye. Adiba’s debut novel, set in Dublin, about Nishat, a Bangladeshi Irish girl who struggles with bullying and coming out to her parents and develops a crush on her childhood friend Flávia, became an instant hit on BookTok. Dealing with many themes, from islamophobia and racism to sexuality and growing up, The Henna Wars was described by Booklist as ‘a wholly uncontrived story with lesbians who aren't just brown but diverse in a multitude of ways.’

‘I didn’t know I could be queer, because growing up I only really saw white queer people.’

Image credit: Steve Humphreys

The story has some similarities with Adiba’s own life. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Adiba grew up in Dublin, Ireland from the age of 10. ‘As a Bangladeshi Muslim immigrant in Ireland’ she often felt ‘intensely alone in so many of [her] experiences’ so turned to books as a way of escape. However, none of these stories had characters who looked like her, or had experiences that she had, with her later lamenting that ‘seeing queer characters of colour whose love is not a weakness, but strength, would have been incredibly affirming…’ Because of this experience, when Adiba first started writing, she wrote herself out of the story too. She wrote about ‘white characters, straight characters, non-Muslim characters. Characters who didn’t look like me…’

‘I often write thinking of the books that I didn’t have when I was younger […] The ones that give queer brown girls their happy endings, even if they don’t always look like the happy endings we may expect.’

When she was a little older, Adiba graduated from University College Dublin with a BA in English and History, and then from the University of Kent with a Masters in Postcolonial Studies. Moving back to Ireland after university, she became a teacher, but never stopped writing. At the beginning of 2018, after a ‘rough couple of months,’ she set out to write a romantic comedy in what would become The Henna Wars. Following revisions and re-writes she secured an enthusiastic American agent by the end of the year and in May 2020, a few months into a global pandemic, it was finally published to much critical acclaim.

‘Writing as a person of colour often means writing with no blueprints set out in front of you. It means navigating new territories in writing. Navigating the responsibility—and burden—of representing not just yourself, but everyone who shares your culture, religion, language, ethnicity.’

In the months that followed, Adiba took on a mentoring role to new authors, and specifically, authors of colour, helping them with their manuscripts and the submission process. She also wrote her second novel, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating, which was described as: ‘To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets LGBTQ romance in this funny, heart-warming rom-com about first love and identity.’ Published in May 2021, Hani and Ishu follows an enemies-to-lovers storyline and just like in her first novel, explores themes of racism, family relationships, sexuality and growing up, as well as biphobia. Once again, Adiba’s novel was a great success and was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards, nominated for Best Young Adult Fiction in the Goodreads Choice Awards and was a finalist in the 34th Lambda Literary Awards.

‘I want those who are different to me to celebrate my identity with me, because as a hijabi Muslim woman you are put in boxes both inside and outside of your community.’

2022 is set to be another big year for Adiba as she releases her highly anticipated third novel, and first YA historical A Million to One, set onboard the Titanic, in December, with a fourth book slated for release in 2023.

You can find out more about Adiba and her books on her website here. Or:

Follow her on Twitter: @adiba_j

And Instagram: @dibs_j

 

 

Herstory by Katelyn Hanna.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Sources:

The Irish Times, 5 July 2021.

Khan. Mariam, ‘Author Adiba Jaigirdar didn’t realise Asian people could be queer – now she hopes her book will help other people of colour embrace who they are,’ online at: https://metro.co.uk/2021/06/16/pride-2021-queer-muslim-author-adiba-jaigirdar-discusses-her-newest-book-14716679/ [accessed 7 Apr. 2022].

Jaigirdar, Adiba, ‘I…Have…An Agent!!!!,’ online at: https://adibajaigirdar.com/blog1/2018/11/17/welcome [accessed 7 Apr. 2022].

Jaigirdar, Adiba, ‘Pitch Wars 2020 Wishlist!’ online at: https://adibajaigirdar.com/blog1/2020/9/12/pitch-wars-2020-wishlist-zfsh6 [accessed 7 Apr. 2022].

SteveDunk, ‘Everything Is Canon: Hani And Ishu’s Guide To Fake Dating,’ online at: https://www.cinelinx.com/off-beat/everything-is-canon-hani-and-ishus-guide-to-fake-dating/ [accessed 7 Apr. 2022].

 

 

Dr Lydia Foy & the long fight for gender recognition

Dr Lydia Foy

Trans Rights Activist

TW: Transphobia

Photo by Louise Hannon

When the Gender Recognition Act was passed in 2015 allowing trans people in Ireland to apply to have their true gender legally recognised by the State, some believed it was ‘snuck in’ under the radar alongside Marriage Equality while the country was ‘distracted’ by the latter. But this is far from the truth as one woman in particular can attest to. For over twenty long, enervating years in which she undertook three court cases, Dr Lydia Foy fought for the right to have her gender recognised by the State. 

“I knew I wasn’t allowed to be myself and I couldn’t tell anyone.”

Born into a family of seven children in Westmeath in 1947, Lydia, from an early age, was conscious that she ‘should be seen as a girl’ which continued as she reached her teenage years in the ‘60s. Relentlessly bullied throughout her school days, she made it through boarding school in Kildare to move into college in Dublin, eventually graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Dental Surgery in 1971. Six years later, Lydia was married and by the 1980s, she had two children - but she couldn’t go on pretending to be something she was not. 

“The case became much more than just me looking for a birth certificate…”

Lydia c. 1997

Over the course of the next few years, Lydia lost her job, her family and her home. She was at breaking point, but by 1991 she was living authentically as the woman she is. The following year she traveled to London for gender confirmation surgery and in 1993 she applied to the office of the Registrar General for a new birth certificate to reflect her gender, but was refused. Following many years of fruitless correspondence, she initiated High Court proceedings in 1997, represented by FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres), ‘a human rights NGO that provides free legal information and advice’ in order to compel the Registrar to provide her with a new birth certificate. What followed were years of hostility and isolation for Lydia who initially fought on because she felt she ‘had nothing left to lose.’ Eventually, however, her motivation changed when she realised just how important her case was to the LGBT+ community, and to the general human rights of everyone in Ireland. 

“I was told to hide when I was coming out of court, to hide my face and everything, and to try and get out the backdoor, but I said I’m not going to do that. I decided I’d just stick my head high and wave my hand. I was called everything under the sun for that [...] but I said no, put on a brave face and try carry on.”

Sadly, the High Court ruled against Lydia in 2002 but the judge did express concern at the position of trans people in Ireland and advised the government to review the matter immediately. Just two days later, in Christine Goodwin v UK, the European Court of Human Rights held that the UK (which at the time had the same laws as were in place in Ireland) had violated the rights of two transgender women who, like Lydia, had also been refused new birth certificates. Contrary to Ireland though, the UK moved quickly and introduced a Gender Recognition Act in compliance with the European judgment. 

Lydia c. 2005. Photo: Courtpix

The following year, the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 (the ECHR Act) was enacted, bringing the European Convention into Irish domestic law which meant that Lydia could now follow the same road Christine Goodwin in the UK had gone down before her. Once again, she applied to the Registrar for a new birth certificate, arguing the obligation under the ECHR Act to respect the demands of the European Convention, but again was refused.

Lydia c. 2007

So, she turned to the High Court once more and initiated proceedings and ‘on 19 October 2007, the High Court gave its judgment, finding that the failure to recognise Dr Foy’s female gender was a violation of her rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.’ Unfortunately, this was not the end of Lydia’s struggles though, only recognition that Irish law was incompatible with the Convention. As well as that, the judge ‘expressed considerable frustration at the failure of the Government to take any steps to assist transgender persons in the five years since the European Court’s rulings on the UK cases.’

“Ireland as of now is very much isolated within the Member States of the Council of Europe … [and] must be even further disconnected from mainstream thinking.”
— Justice McKechnie

Lydia with Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton at the launch of the Gender Recognition Advisory Group report, 14 July 2011. Photo: Damien Eagers Photography

In 2009 the State appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court but by this time, with considerable work by groups such as TENI, public opinion was beginning to change and by October, the Government ‘promised to introduce legal recognition for transgender persons.’ The following year, an inter-departmental working group - the Gender Recognition Advisory Group (GRAG) - was established to advise on the best course of action. 

The Advisory Group report was published in July 2011 and while it did call for legislation and advised against making gender reassignment surgery a pre-condition for recognition, it was otherwise very cautious and conservative. It proposed a psychiatric diagnosis of “Gender Identity Disorder” as a basic condition for recognition, despite the fact that transgender persons felt this suggested that they were mentally ill or disordered, which they are not.

It also proposed ‘compulsory divorce’ – that married trans persons must divorce before they can be recognised in their true gender – to avoid the possibility of same-sex marriages. This had been opposed by all submissions dealing with this issue and was particularly problematic in Ireland, given the exacting conditions to be satisfied when seeking a divorce.

- FLAC

Lydia in 2014 following her legal victory

By 2013, despite numerous promises from Ministers that gender recognition legislation was a high priority and on the way, there was little to show for it, so Lydia - along with FLAC - returned to court and settled the case in November 2014. Finally, 22 years after she first requested a new birth certificate, the Gender Recognition Act was passed in July 2015 and commenced that September, with Lydia becoming the first person to be legally recognised by the Act.

“Sometimes people who don’t like to see a change or a difference are quite reluctant to be properly informed.”

In the end, the requirement for ‘supporting evidence’ from a psychiatrist was removed and replaced by a self-declaration approach, however the Act, as passed, did include ‘the requirement that applicants for Gender Recognition Certificates must be single, with the result that married transgender persons would have to divorce to secure recognition.’ All this to avoid the creation of same sex marriages. Following the majority Yes vote to Marriage Equality in May 2015, this aspect of the Act was dropped by the time it commenced in September, making it ‘one of the most progressive regimes for legal recognition of transgender persons’ anywhere. But there is still a ways to go, however, as the Act does not provide adequately for those under 18, and in fact makes the process far more onerous. 

But thanks to Lydia’s perseverance, an incredibly hard-fought foundation has been set for activists and trans people today. A week after the commencement of the Act in September 2015, she received her birth certificate, and on the very same day received the honour of becoming Ireland’s only recipient of the European Citizen’s Award. 

“This is a great day for me and for the trans community in Ireland. With this piece of paper and after 22 years of struggle, my country has finally recognised me for who I really am, not for what other people think I should be.  I am especially pleased for young trans people – that they will not have to go through the pain, the isolation, the lack of understanding and the abuse that my generation had to endure.”

Listen to Lydia discuss her journey in this 2021 episode of ShoutOut’s ‘Know Your Queer History’.




Herstory by Katelyn Hanna.
Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Sources:

Muldoon, Molly, ‘Lydia Foy speaks of difficulty growing up transgender in Ireland,’ online at: https://www.irishcentral.com/news/lydia-foy-speaks-of-difficulty-growing-up-with-trans-gender-syndrome-in-ireland-125520858-237399441 [accessed 3 May 2022].

‘Gender recognition - Dr Lydia Foy,’ online at: https://www.teni.ie/gender-recognition/dr-lydia-foy/ [accessed 4 May 2022].

‘Briefing note on the Lydia Foy case: The case that won recognition for Ireland’s transgender community,’ online at: https://www.flac.ie/assets/files/pdf/briefing_note_on_foy_case_2015_final.pdf [accessed 4 May 2022].

Linehan, Alice, ‘Dr Lydia Foy describes her 20 year struggle for gender recognition in new ShoutOut interview,’ online at: https://gcn.ie/dr-lydia-foy-20-year-struggle-gender-recognition-new-shoutout-interview/ [accessed 4 May 2022]. 

The Journal, 9 Jun. 2019.

‘Profiles in Pride: Dr. Lydia Foy, Irish trans-rights activist,’ online at: https://www.irishcentral.com/culture/pride-lydia-foy [accessed 3 May 2022].

‘Legal recognition of your preferred gender,’ online at: https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/birth_family_relationships/changing_to_your_preferred_gender.html [accessed 4 May 2022].

Irish Examiner, 3 Nov. 2014.

‘ShoutOut: Know Your Queer History Episode 10: Dr Lydia Foy,’ online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xzVf4Drxc0 [accessed 4 May 2022].

Casey, Jane, ‘Dr Lydia Foy Wins European Citizens Award,’ online at: https://gcn.ie/dr-lydia-foy-wins-european-citizens-award/ [accessed 4 May 2022].

Joni Crone / Playwright / Gay Rights Activist

Joni Crone

Playwright / Gay Rights Activist

Photo credit: pocketmags.com

TW: Homophobia

In February 1980, 26-year-old Joni Crone walked onto the set of The Late Late Show and announced to the nation that she was a lesbian, making her the first gay woman to come out publicly on Irish television. Another 13 years would pass before homosexuality was decriminalised in Ireland and 35 years before gay marriage was legalised.

“I was determined to make the most of this chance to speak up for lesbians and gays in Ireland who had been forced to lead secret lives in shame for too long. I wanted to […] talk about the movement to give other gay people the courage to come out.”

Joni on the Late Late Show in 1980

A year prior to this, Joni was supposed to have appeared in an interview on The Live Mike Show, a short-lived comedy, variety, and chat show on RTÉ, however the production team had ‘got nervous about having a lesbian on the show and decided to drop the interview.’ And even though she had done other radio interviews, walking onto the set of the Late Late – which had an estimated one million viewers at the time - was ‘stomach churning’ for her; and before the night was out, her relatives, co-workers and neighbours would all know that she was a lesbian. She thought at one point she might faint, but ‘a sympathetic member of the Late Late Show team’ gave her a double vodka and told her she would be ‘grand’ and to ‘just look Gay [Byrne] in the eye and forget about everything else.’ What followed was a 23-minute ‘public interrogation’ in which she was at one point asked if her parents thought of her as ‘mentally deficient, or sinful or culpably ignorant.’ (When asked about this years later, Joni maintained that despite the interrogation, she felt that ‘Gay was on my side’ and that he only asked what viewers at home were asking).

“[Gay Byrne] mirrored the ignorance and prejudice that existed at the time. I felt subjected to a public interrogation and tried to hold my head up while I endured a kind of mental torture.”

Explaining why she felt compelled to come out, Joni said that ‘I lived in Ireland in total ignorance of homosexuality, particularly female.’ Gay women have never been treated like a joke, she told him, because they’re not even recognised in the first place.

“In a way you never stop coming out. Every new work environment I go into I have to come out again because people assume you are straight unless you tell them otherwise.”

Joni had agreed to appear on the show to talk about the Dublin Lesbian Line, a confidential support helpline she hoped would help others like her, should they need it. She was a volunteer with them and had spent hours on the phone with women who were struggling with their identity or who felt that they had no one else to turn to. When she was a teenager herself, Joni had never had access to any information on homosexuality, and it wasn’t until she moved to London that she met other lesbians ‘in the flesh.’ She wanted to give out the helpline phone number on the show to give people the information and support she didn’t have then, but in the end, she wasn’t given the chance.

Joni speaking at Pride, 1983.

Photo credit: Kieran Rose

Following on from her appearance, Joni ‘suffered rejection from family, received threats of violence and experienced ostracism.’ Walking down Camden Street in Dublin one day, a trader ‘spat at her feet saying, “I would not serve the like of that”.’ RTÉ too received complaints over the segment, with one caller stating: ‘I do not pay a licence fee to see that filthy person.’ For a time, Joni considered leaving the country, but there was a bright side to it all too, and ‘twenty years later people were still coming up to [Joni] and saying: “Excuse me, are you Joni? You saved my life” or “You saved my daughter or my son’s life” and thanking [her] for taking a stand.’

Joni went on to study drama and became a Community Arts Worker before qualifying in psychodrama psychotherapy and later in equality studies. Throughout the 90s she was a successful scriptwriter for Fair City and since then, a writer of ten plays. Her most recent play, Anna Livia Lesbia, was written in the wake of the 2015 Marriage Equality referendum while she was writer in residence in Leitrim.

“Attitudes have changed so much thankfully.  It’s great now to have the marriage referendum and it’s great to have a gay Taoiseach but I’m trying to say in this play that this didn’t happen overnight, that there’s a long history here.  I’m only trying to tell a small part of it and I’m trying to encourage others to tell their story as well.”

Joni in 2017

The play is about coming out in the 70s and 80s and is semi-autobiographical as well as referring to some of the stories she heard while working on the helpline.

In 2017 – a year after she married her partner, Mary – the play toured Dublin, Sligo, Mayo, Longford, and Galway.

 

Herstory by Katelyn Hanna, 2022.

Want to read about historical LGBTQ+ women? See our photo essay here.

Sources:

The Irish Times, 5 June 2017, online at: https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/being-gay-she-was-asked-if-her-parents-thought-she-was-mentally-deficient-1.3102931 [accessed 30 Mar. 2022].

Dublin Lesbian Line, online at: http://www.dublinlesbianline.ie/ [accessed 30 Mar. 2022].

Lynch, Edmund, ‘Joni’s bravery is highlighted further, given the negative reaction to her appearance on the Late Late Show,’ in GCN (Issue 331), online at: https://magazine.gcn.ie/articles/150863?article=72-1 [accessed 30 Mar. 2022].

‘Playwright Joni Crone: "It's great now to have the marriage referendum and it's great to have a gay,’ on RTÉ Radio 1, online at: https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/stories/1220056-joni-crone-marriage-referendum/ [accessed 30 Mar. 2022].

Crone, Joni, ‘Coming out on the Late Late: 'Gay mirrored the prejudice that existed at the time,’ online at: https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/coming-out-on-the-late-late-gay-mirrored-the-prejudice-that-existed-at-the-time-3448330-Jun2017/ [accessed 30 Mar. 2022].

The Dayak Sisters: Dessy, Dewi & Delly

Dessy

Plorentina ‘Dessy’ Elma Thyana was born in the Balai Semandang village in Indonesia on 10 December 1996. Since she was kid, Dessy has always gone to the forest with her parents to gather food, traditional medicines and attend rituals. Her love of her culture, tradition, and local wisdom is what led to her and her family founding the Yayasa Arus Kualan (the customary School Arus Kualan), where traditional knowledge and values are preserved and the new generation is connected to the elders to learn about Dayak traditions, knowledge, music, games, food, medicine, rituals, and language. The Yayasan Arus Kualan also facilitates the Dayak youth in literacy classes and encourages them to make a documentary film to record the local stories of the elders and local community.

Having already established five Arus Kualan’s in five different locations with a total of 149 students, Dessy continues to involve as many people as possible in preserving the Dayak identity.

Dewi

Florentin Sry ‘Dewi’ Wulandari, the second of four children from the Dayak Simpankng tribe family, was born in Tahak on February, 24th 1999. Locally, she is known as Dewi, and her special local name is “Ragak'' which means ‘the weaving basket from the rattan.’ Put simply, she is strong and can carry a lot on her shoulders.

In 2021, she graduated cum laude with a History degree from IKIP Pontianak University. She is a writer and uses this skill to raise awareness of the stories, knowledge and wisdom of her culture and the Dayak people. She captures stories of the local community through researching, interviewing and recording. Beyond this, Dewi has contributed to academic journals, writing papers on topics ranging from “The Existence of the Millenial Dayak Generation in the Effort of Forest Conservation in Ketapang Regency’ to “The Oral Tradition of the Dayak Simpakng Community in Managing the Pandemic.’

Dewi’s degree thesis entitled “The Women’s Role in Preserving the Dayak Simpank Culture and Tradition’ received a commendation from her lecturer - she is the first person to record in writing the stories of Dayak women. Now she is helping her sister Dessy to teach at Arus Kualan, the non-formal education customary school and specifically, encourages the Dayak youth to write and record the stories of their people.

Delly

Florentini Deliana Winki or ‘Delly’, the third of four children, was born on August 16th 2001. Delly is a multi-talented Dayak artist and is currently studying tourism at university in STP TRISAKTI Jakarta, Indonesia.

Together with her sister Dessy, she started Arus Kualan, the non-formal-education customary school for the indigenous Dayak people in 2014 when she was only 13 years old. Delly has a passion for children, her culture and tradition. She plays the sapé, the traditional Dayak instrument, and also loves to dance and sing. At Arus Kualan, Delly teaches the students to write songs, play the sapé and dance to the music.

Delly is a big hit on social media: on Instagram she has 12K followers and on her Youtube channel she has 10K subscribers. She uses these mediums to introduce her culture and tradition to the world. As a Dayak Youth Ambassador, she was invited to speak at events and encourage young people to be changemakers. As an activist and educator, she also shares powerful messages through her music and songs. The songs that she wrote by herself are “Oh Inok (oh Mother), “TORUN (Forest)”, “kramat (Secret Place), “Makaseh keluarga (Thank You Family).

Discover more about the Dayak sisters work and support Arus Kualan indigenous schools:  https://www.aruskualan.org/

Art of the Dayak sisters created recently for the 2022 Herstory Light Show which focused on ‘Student Power’:

And watch the highlights of the Student Power Light Show:

Hazel Chu / Former Lord Mayor of Dublin & Irish Green Party Politician

Hazel Chu.png

Hazel Chu

Hazel Chu is a trailblazing woman of firsts; she was the first Irish-born person of Chinese descent to be called to the Irish bar, the first Irish-born person of Chinese descent elected to political office in Ireland and the first person of colour in the role of Lord Mayor of Dublin out of 937 people who have held office.

In November I sat down with the Lord Mayor of Dublin for a 2020 interview via zoom to discuss herstory from entering the world in the Rotonda Hospital to taking up residence at the Mansion House.

The formative years….

Hazel was born in Dublin to parents who emigrated from Hong Kong. She grew up in the suburb Firhouse where she lived with her immediate and extended family totaling nine in a three bed house. It was ‘tight for space but cosy and a lovely close knit community.’ Her parents worked two jobs; her mother was a dishwasher and cleaner and her dad was a kitchen porter. Aged 6, the family moved to Cellbridge, County Kildare and her parents saved up enough money to buy a chipvan. Overall, she recalls that her childhood was good, but she did encounter sporadic elements of racism and was bullied in the playground with name calling.

Hazel and her family

Hazel and her family

For a young Hazel ‘politics was very far away’, the main concern for her parents was ‘to put food in the table’. Her experience is similar to many children coming from an immigrant family; the language barrier meant her family didn’t really watch the news. Subsequently, they didn’t know much about politics and didn’t discuss it, which Hazel says, ‘is a shame in some respect because it means that the world you view is smaller.’ Any T.V she watched were typical 80s hits such as Bosco and in later years LA Law and courtroom dramas. In school the subjects she liked during her Leaving Cert were Civics and History, especially Irish History. At this time she had an interest in studying Law. However, without the points to ‘get in’ she thought ‘there must be a way without doing the Leaving Cert again.’ Hazel opted to study Politics and History at University College Dublin before completing a legal diploma and barrister-at-law degree at King's Inns. By this stage though, Hazel was €20,000 in debt and took up full time work in the non-profit sector to repay the money before continuing onto the next phase of her legal career. In the interim, like many of her generation, she planned to travel but life did not go according to plan…

A tumultuous journey of courage and resilience…

Hazel had begun travelling when one of her best friends, Jane, passed away. Hazel’s intention had been to continue working, clear her debts and go to the bar. When Jane passed, she was completely lost. She says, ‘when you have that grief you think what do I do now?’ Hazel was fortunate to have had a supportive partner, her now fiance who encouraged her to ‘do what she needed.’ Hazel set off to teach in China for several months and do voluntary work which she describes as the best thing she has ever done in her life. Whilst she is ‘not advocating for people to run away to another country when they have issues, if you need space, take it.’

Hazel returned to find Ireland 2009/2010 in the depths of recession. All career avenues presented road blocks; she was advised that further training at the bar would be a waste of time due to lack of work, fundraising jobs were in crisis due to financial cuts. She helped her mum in the restaurant and did some consultancy work but then found herself on social welfare. Despite submitting many job applications, she faced rejection after rejection and there were days where she ‘left the house on the bus and sat in town and cried’ because she could find no work. It was ‘demoralizing and stressful.’

How did she keep going?

‘Because I had to. I was living with my mum… that woman will make you go find some work whether you want to or not. So I was lucky that I had that push from my mother and I am grateful for it.’ Also, my granny had a very hard life. My grandfather was an alcoholic and so she had to carry the family. She did everything from mining rocks in a nearby quarry to selling bananas and flowers and anything she could find as a trader. For my aunts and my mum it was very hard. My mum only went as far as mid-level secondary school and would cycle an hour every day to school and then an hour back before selling flowers in the market with my grandmother. Hearing the stories of my mum and grandmother set good examples as role models for me.

 Then a friend sent though an email which changed the course of her life –

Bord Bia were advertising a coveted fellowship programme which was also a Masters in Marketing with UCD Smurfitt School. As a successful applicant Hazel spent a year in New York. Upon returning, the job application process began again but this time she secured a job in marketing; first in the Chief Scientific Advisors office, then in Communications and Marketing at the National Digital Research Centre before being picked up by Diageo as their Head of Communications for six years.

 The journey into politics

In 2016 Hazel joined her partner Patrick Costello, TD in the Green Party. Hazel stresses that politics is a tough industry whether you are male or female but she recognises that for women it is tougher. This led her to become one of the founding members of their women’s group Mná Glasa which supports the running and representation of women in the Green Party to close the gender gap in politics. She says ‘if you look at the Greens’ parliamentary party make up, it’s not amazing; there are only two women TDs and 10 male TDs. But in our management committee and leadership there is strong female representation; our deputy leader is a female, our chair of the party is a female (me), our national co-ordinator and chair of the board is a female, and our general secretary is a female.’ Mother to one young daughter, Alex, Hazel cites childcare barriers as a difficulty for women. Another barrier is having the confidence to run in elections. She chairs an electoral task force to recruit future representatives and notes that if she ‘asks a guy to run they generally respond with enthusiasm whereas a woman is usually surprised at being asked.’

Fighting off racist abuse online…

When anyone enters into politics another difficulty is taking on a public position. Hazel has faced ‘constant’ online racist harassment, especially on Twitter. She says trolls and abusers think ‘it’s as though women who are different are fair game. Unless you are on the other side of this you have no idea.’ She tells me about an Amnesty report conducted after the UK elections in 2017 which revealed that ‘women got more online harassment than their male counterparts and women of colour got more than women.’ In 2020 The Irish Independent published an article on twitter accounts of 20 politicians across the country which were analysed from March to May of this year. It revealed that politicians from a minority background were trolled the most with Hazel Chu featuring in the top two. People hurl all sorts of personal insults and it has been said that she ‘should be deported.’ Her mantra is to ‘always call these people out’ and ‘the best way anyone can offer support is to reach and say what do you need, what can I help you with? Can I report that person?’

 In June 2020 Hazel Chu became Lord Mayor of Dublin…

 Hazel describes her road to the Mansion House ‘as very surreal and hectic.’ She is not only the first person of colour in the role but only the 9th female Lord Mayor of Dublin out of 937 in office. There is a suggestion that the official title of Dublin's Lord Mayor could be changed to remove gender. As it stands, the office holder is known as 'Lord Mayor' - while their partner is called 'Lady Mayoress'.

Hazel Chu on the Campaign Trail with her daughter, Alex.

Hazel Chu on the Campaign Trail with her daughter, Alex.

Her aim in office is to establish three very simple things; the first is to fight the ongoing homelessness issue in the city. In response she has set up the homeless task force. She also aims to create a livable city with more sustainable transport. To achieve this goal she is working with the transport section. She also wants to tackle discrimination, especially racism. Between January and April 2021 she is working on a fit for purpose integration strategy that will help fight discrimination in the city. As she says ‘Ireland is a lovely country but we are not immune to racist rhetoric that other countries suffer. We can continue letting it become more polarised or we can try to fight against it, that is our job as politicians and members of the public’. She hopes that by the time her daughter Alex grows up, she will be living in a more inclusive and welcoming society where ‘people don’t call her names or don’t judge her by her skin colour first’.

We get a lot of school students reading the bios on our website. What do you want to say to them?

‘Keep the head up, I know it’s hard, it’s been a really, really tough year and I’m so sorry for all the stress you are going through. If anyone tells you that you can’t be something, don’t listen to them. You can take direction, you can ask for advice and decide what you want to be yourself. I think you can always be whatever you want to be.’

And lastly a piece of advice for all of us…we live in a very fast-paced world where there are many pressures placed upon us. Do you think that anyone can have it all?

‘I don’t think there is such a thing as ‘having it all’ but I do think there is an element of being happy with your yourself, it’s about priority and what your priority is. So if you are trying to have everything, I think you are constantly going to be chasing it and constantly wanting more. For me, it’s definitely not right but for some people, it maybe is right. I think some people want to have everything whereas, me, I’ll just be happy being happy with myself.’

 

Thank you to the former Lord Mayor of Dublin for giving of her time to participate in this interview (conducted by Fiona Lowe).  On behalf of all at Herstory we wish you much continued success.

 

Photographs courtesy of the Office of the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

 

For more information on some of documents discussed and issues raised;

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/irish-politicians-from-minority-backgrounds-suffer-more-online-abuse-39777398.html

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/online-violence-women-mps

https://www.greenparty.ie

https://www.dublincity.ie/council/your-city-council/lord-mayor-dublin/contact-office-lord-mayor

https://www.immigrantcouncil.ie/campaign/anti-racism

https://inar.ie

 

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Farah Elle / Singer-Songwriter

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Singer-Songwriter

We interviewed Farah on 6 November 2020.

Farah, can you tell me a bit about your childhood, and growing up?

We moved to Ireland when I was 1 ½ years old from Libya, from Benghazi, and we came to Dublin. We were living in Dublin for pretty much my entire childhood, until I was 11, and then we moved to Meath. I’m quite similar to my 4-year old self. I think everyone is happy by nature, especially children, and I just rolled with it. I’m the only one that my mam named; my dad named my siblings. My name means joy and happiness in Arabic.

Photo by Abe Neihum Photography

Photo by Abe Neihum Photography

I definitely saw a lot of chaos as a child and witnessed a lot of culture clash. I think everyone has a different path laid out for them, and I think mine was very apparent from a very young age, in tiny symbolic ways. Like things that are very particular to a person. For example, my mum got me a sunflower when I was like 4, and I’ve always loved sunflowers and yellow was my favourite colour since I was a child. And then when you get older you realise that colours represent different things and … I just think childhood was a path paved for how I am now.

Who were your role models growing up?

My siblings. I always looked up to my siblings. I have one sister and two brothers and they’re all really creative. Whatever music they were listening to, I would listen to. They were always drawing or jamming and they’re all a bit older than me, so when there’s that age gap … we weren’t exactly peers, I had them on a platform, so they were always my role models growing up. Then when I was 17, I was old enough to be friends with them, and to be their peer. I was also obsessed with my mom as a kid. If she liked something, I liked it!

I also really loved certain musicians and artists. I actually really loved Shakira when I was 9-years old because her first album that came out featured a lot of Lebanese artists and it was super edgy, and sort of rock music meets Arabic music. I really enjoyed her vibe.

Has music always been a big part of your life? Can you tell us about when you began to explore your own music?

I really started committing when I got a piano when I was 11. I had a keyboard before that, but my mom got me a piano when I was 11 and it couldn’t be taken away from me, I was playing all the time. Then I started writing poetry when I was 12 or 13 and I started to sing the poetry. I saw poetry as lyrics.

Photo taken in Berlin by Stephen

Photo taken in Berlin by Stephen

I wasn’t really concerned with discovering my own sound, I just knew that I had to keep doing it. I kept writing and playing and forming bands or jamming with friends and then by the time I got to college, that’s when I started discovering my own voice and exploring the depth of it. I started considering culture and background, and the role they play in our voices. The first time I sang in Arabic was when I was 18 or 19 and I realised it felt completely different, and that was a big discovery. Even now when I sing in Arabic I really feel like I’m expressing something different, like a secret! I’m still learning a lot about that.

I feel very secure in my belief in the importance of expression. I really strongly value that, I think everyone needs to sing and needs to dance and needs to create, or paint or cook, or something creative. Things that are creative need to be done as part of our wellbeing and as a way of preserving our souls. I strongly believe in that.

You love writing music. Where do you draw your inspiration from? Are there certain topics you find yourself writing about often?

For so long I wrote from a place of pain. It was cathartic for me. I used it as a tool to process painful emotions, and of course for celebration, but the reason it was a need was to process the world around me. That was my inspiration for a long time – just getting things off my chest. Now … everything is everything … nature plays a massive role in my life, and the behaviours and rituals that we would have done indigenously. Things that are at our core, and in our nature, those things really influence me. Like how everything feels different when you’re on a beach, or how chilling up in a forest is a totally different vibe than sitting in your house! I also gain a lot of inspiration from people, I really genuinely care for people, I really love people. I think listening is really powerful, and I’ve only learned to really listen in the past two years.

Your music has been described in terms of ‘alternative pop,’ ‘hip-hop,’ ‘R&B,’ and with some features of Arabian influence … is this how you would describe it? Is there one style or genre that you feel most at home with?

I got a word, me and my band found a word that works, and that word is progressive. For years people have been asking me what kind of music I make – ‘what’s your genre’ - and I just melt down inside because I’m like ‘I sing in Arabic sometimes … I sing in English sometimes …’ but it turns out there is a word, and that’s progressive. So, the music is progressive, but also the ethos and values is progress and progression.

What is the music scene/industry like for women in Ireland today? Have you come up against many obstacles/setbacks?

Photo taken in Toronto by Jerick Collantes

Photo taken in Toronto by Jerick Collantes

I find this question funny because I don’t know what it’s like to not be a woman. In order to ‘know what it’s like for women’ I’d need to know what it’s like for everyone else. I can speak from my own experience … there’s times when you might not be taken as seriously and I often thought that this was down to my personality because I’m very friendly, I can be sweet, so I thought that was the reason why people maybe didn’t take instructions as seriously or think that I needed a hand or whatever. I’m all for kindness, but I’m not okay with disrespect. But I’m going to be really honest and say that I don’t really focus on that stuff, it doesn’t really phase me. I don’t like talking badly about people.

The music industry is what it is. I don’t think Ireland is any different than the rest of the world. There is an expectation for women to be super sexy which I can tell you on a humane or cultural level is problematic and not inclusive … I was raised Muslim, I’m clearly pretty liberal, I’m not the most practicing Muslim out there, but dressing modestly is something that’s often practiced in Islam and I feel because women are so sexualised and objectified sometimes that it can be difficult to go out there and be your total self without people thinking you have to be really sexy. I’m all for sexual freedom, and that takes many forms, but it’s not the same for dudes. 

Your mother, Dr Fatima Hamroush, is an ophthalmologist and in 2011 she was made Libya’s first female Health Minister. Your upcoming debut album is called FATIMA …is this after your mother? Can you tell us about the influence that she’s had in your life and on this album?

So, my mam is obviously super rebel in her own right and in many ways. Even if we just look at it on a generational level as Libyan women, my grandmother was not allowed to learn how to read and write and then you have my mom who not only completed her education but became a doctor and then took that post as Health Minister. She also went against her social norms in Libya and divorced my dad which was very much frowned upon by the Libyan community, but she had the courage to do what was right and what was needed. She always prioritised our freedom and our safety. Nobody’s perfect, but that takes a lot of courage and a lot of strength and you can’t help but be inspired. She’s a powerful person, she has a strong presence in a room. She could walk in and not say anything, but you would feel her there. So, I’ve definitely drawn a lot of inspiration from her nature as a person. The album is named after her, but I also love the word Fatima because it’s globally very intercultural and means different things in every language and every culture. It’s also a place of sanctuary and I’d be so over the moon if people found the album as a sanctuary for themselves to go to and listen and feel seen and heard.

Your most recent single, Sunblock, is a gorgeous song which you yourself said is an exploration of ‘the emotional complexities of choosing joy over sorrow in our day-to-day lives. Making sure that we take a moment to reflect on ourselves and consider how often we ‘block out the sun’ each day.’ 2020 has obviously been so tough for so many, and now that we’re back in level 5, a lot of people are struggling. How do you personally ‘choose joy over sorrow’ in times like this? Have you advice for people who might watch this who may be ‘blocking out the sun’?

It's honestly little things. Our feelings are our feelings. If you feel like crying all day, then cry all day. It’s important not to suppress those feelings. So, by choosing joy over sorrow it’s very much in tiny behaviours. It sounds funny because this is actually quite literal but it’s little things like opening our curtains and letting light in. And I like to get very meta about everything, so when it comes to choosing joy over sorrow, there are things we can do like not talking negatively about other people. I also don’t really believe in this positive-negative thing anymore, I just think things are things and that’s okay.

Photo taken by Tara Thomas Photography

Photo taken by Tara Thomas Photography

There’s no need to rain on someone’s parade. If someone tells us good news, celebrate. If we hear good news, celebrate. When we have access to food and water and shelter, that’s also something to celebrate. That doesn’t mean we have to be like ‘oh I’m so happy’ even when we feel bad, no. I can continue to exist and to accept who I am. It’s very important that we do that, because it doesn’t work to suppress feelings no matter how hard people try, they always come back. So the reason the whole joy over sorrow thing came into fruition or was articulated like that was because while I was sitting and writing the answers to that interview I was looking out the window and a magpie came and sat on the shed and there’s this superstition that if you see one magpie it represents sorrow and two equals joy and so on. And they say if you salute it it gets rid of the sorrow. So, this ridiculous superstition got in my head and I was sitting there writing this press release and this magpie came and sat on the shed and I was like ‘oh no, where’s the sorrow? Why does it always find us!?’ but the truth is, sorrow will always find us. But so will joy. There will always be joy in the world. And joy often tries really hard to be with us and we can get so used to being drained and being upset that we actually forget about joy sometimes. Sorrow finds us and joy we have to really open our eyes to find.

I’m really not into telling people how to live their lives but I’m really passionate about people being happy because I feel like being happy is very revolutionary these days and a lot of time people try to take our joy away and you know what, that’s worth fighting for. I’m not up for crushing someone’s dreams either, if someone tells me something good, I’m like ‘yes! That’s great! Give me more of that!’ But there are people who will receive good news and will be like ‘yeah but…’ Stop doing that to each other! Can we just like be? Things are the way they are. People often think that I’m this super positive force but the truth is, it’s not about positive, negative, good or bad, I actually like to throw that stuff in the garbage and be like ‘this is the way this is and every day is different.’ Last week I cancelled all my work stuff and just cried all week, I was so sad. But I was so happy to be so sad, because I let it all out, I didn’t keep it in.

When can we expect your new album?

2021. I’m going to release some singles before then.

If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year you’ve had, what would we be celebrating?

Transformation. This has been the year of transformation. I would also like to celebrate stillness and our shadows, and you know, some people have only gotten the chance this year to stop and think and heal and consider things like health, which is everything. So, I honestly could name a million things that could be celebrated but I would sum it all down to transformation.

Thanks so much to Farah for talking with us and for providing us with the photos throughout.

You can find Farah on Facebook here. She is also on Twitter as @FarahElleMusic and Instagram @farahelle. You can find her music on Spotify.

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Eileen Flynn / Traveller Rights Activist & Senator

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Traveller Rights Activist / First Traveller elected to the Seanad

Eileen Flynn (Picture: Maxwells. Source: irishexaminer.com)

Eileen Flynn (Picture: Maxwells. Source: irishexaminer.com)

On 14 July 2020, we talked to Eileen Flynn who made history (or herstory!) when she became the first Traveller to be elected to the Seanad in June 2020. She has been an activist for many years now, speaking out on issues that affect her community, and particularly the women in her community. As she pointed out though, it took her a long time to get to where she wanted to be, and she faced many obstacles along the way in the form of societal discrimination and racism …

‘I was born and reared in a halting site. I lived in Labre Park and for me as a Traveller person, I’ve always been faced with obstacles in the form of societal discrimination directed at the Traveller community. As marginalised people it’s very difficult to reach your dreams. I was in a really bad accident which impacted my school days and I lost my mother at ten years of age. For me, as a young woman, and not only that but a young Traveller woman who was barely put together, stitched and screws in many parts of my body – I was that troubled young person in school. I was suspended eight times, but something changed for me when I was 16/17 - I wanted an education.

I went back to school and completed my LCA Leaving Cert and then did an Access course in Trinity college. I went to Ballyfermot college for two years then and absolutely loved it. I did pre-nursing and caring for people with special needs. Then I took a year out because my father was dying, but I went back when I was twenty-five as a mature student to Maynooth University where I got a BA in Community and Youth Studies, which I’m very proud of. When you’re a member of the Traveller community, that’s one thing, but when you’re a woman there’s an extra layer of societal oppression that comes with that. Today Ballyfermot is integrating much more, there’s people from many ethnic minority groups, but as a child going back over twenty years ago, it was different, you could feel that prejudice from a very young age. I remember being a child in a shop and just wondering why were people staring at me or my mam? Why were they looking at us differently?

It took me a really long time to get to where I wanted to be, I have dyslexia too and that was tough. Those challenges aren’t just there for me but for every marginalised person on the island, for people of colour, refugees, migrants and for women in those communities. It’s very tough to be a woman in these communities and be successful and by successful, I mean opportunity of success. The opportunity to go on to third level education and employment.’

How can we as a society and as individuals make sure that there is equal access and equal opportunities for everyone? In Eileen’s opinion, it’s about working with marginalised groups.

Photo via @Love1solidarity on Twitter

Photo via @Love1solidarity on Twitter

‘You don’t blow out someone else’s candle and think yours is going to burn any brighter – it’s about giving marginalised communities a hand up, not a handout. When we go into spaces and there’s discussions and decisions being made, we need to look around us and think ‘who is not here?’ In Ireland I believe we need Hate Crime Legislation that works. I’m going into my third week in this role and I’m already looking into it and I believe we need different voices around. It’s not going to be about one community of people, but many communities. We want equality for Traveller people, for the LGBTQI+ people, for Trans people… It’s about listening, and after you listen you can then take action.’

Hate Crime legislation is so important to Eileen (and to many) because up until now, people have had to rely on the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, and only a small number of people have ever been convicted under it because of ‘the requirement to prove beyond reasonable doubt that there was an intent to incite hatred.’ In addition, as Dr Patrick McDonagh wrote for GCN, ‘transgender and intersex individuals, for example, are not covered under existing legislation, yet Ireland’s transgender community are one cohort who are most in need of protection in this regard.’

As well as the Hate Crime Legislation, what does Eileen want to accomplish in her new role?

‘I’d love to see the Traveller Culture and Education Bill that Collette Kelleher has already started passed [this would introduce Traveller culture and history to the school curriculum]. I’d love to do some work around Traveller accommodation as well. The Committee on Key Issues affecting the Traveller Community was set up last year for six months but I’d love to see it set up again so that TDs and senators can sit together and have discussions on the needs of the Traveller community, and what we can do better. I’d love to work with people of colour, and other ethnic minority groups. I can’t be the voice of black people, or of Muslim people – I can’t go in and say that I’m the marginalised voice for all these people because I haven’t lived that life, but what I can do is bring these people around the table and work along with the NGOs and individuals that want to come around the table. What can we do better, how do we do it, and how do we do it together? I’m a community development worker and being a senator, I’m going to do it through the eyes of community development work, and every choice that I make will be through the eyes of human rights and equality.’

Have you any words of advice or encouragement for younger people who may be reading this?

‘For me, I was the young  person who came from Labre Park and the young Traveller woman that even some members of my family never thought would be anything because of the lack of employment and education opportunities. There was no hope in me, and I began to have no hope in myself until I was about 25 years of age. I always had a place in my heart to be a changemaker for my own community but also for women in my community. Travellers have always had an interest in politics, take Nan Joyce for example, who was the first Traveller candidate in an Irish general election in 1982. She has been an inspiration for Travellers in Ireland, I always used to read about Nan Joyce and think hopefully someday I could make a change like that.

Nan Joyce, via. RTÉ Archives

Nan Joyce, via. RTÉ Archives

I have a little girl and if I die tomorrow morning she can look back and say, ‘my mammy did that.’ Bernadette Devlin used to say, ‘we’re born in an unjust world, but we’re not meant to grow up in it.’ So, I hope that when my child is a young girl, she won’t have to grow up in the world that I did.

I would just say to have hope and keep going. My lecturer used to say it’s like a big wall, but you just keep hammering away and take down one pebble at a time. You keep going.’

 

Thank you to Eileen Flynn for taking the time to speak to us, and to John Campbell who helped to set up the interview.

 

Sources and further reading:

O’Brien and O’Halloran, Carl, and Marie, ‘Traveller history to be ‘obligatory’ in schools if new Bill passed,’ The Irish Times, 17 Oct. 2019, accessed online at: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/traveller-history-to-be-obligatory-in-schools-if-new-bill-passed-1.4053016  [accessed 15 July 2020].

‘Why Hate Crime Legislation?’ accessed online at: https://inar.ie/hate-crime-legislation/ [accessed 14 July 2020].

McDonagh, Patrick, ‘Hate Crime legislation in Ireland - The journey so far and what happens next,’ GCN (Feb. 2020), accessed online at: https://gcn.ie/hate-crime-legislation-ireland-what-happens-next/ [accessed 15 July 2020].

‘Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018: Report and Final Stages,’ Seanad Éireann debate - Wednesday, 16 Oct 2019, Vol. 267 No. 12, accessed online at: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/seanad/2019-10-16/13/ [accessed 15 July 2020].

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Razan Ibraheem / Journalist & Activist

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Razan Ibraheem

Syrian Irish Journalist / UN Speaker / Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year 2016

(We sat down with Razan on 27 Feb 2020 to interview her)

Could you tell us about your childhood and about growing up in Syria?

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My childhood was interesting, I was born in a Mediterranean town near the Turkish border. It’s open and diverse. Different religions, ethnicities, backgrounds – all living in one city. It’s also known for it’s culture, the music and tasty food. My mam and dad were teachers and became principals later, so I came from an educated background.  I was then a teacher for eleven years – I got this from my mam and dad. Syria was extremely safe at that time. We would play outside from 8 in the morning until 10 at night. I was a street child, a tomboy! I was always wearing shorts, playing football, my hair was short. As I grew up, I changed a little bit. I graduated from High School and I did English literature. That was one of the turning points in my life – it opened doors for me to learn other cultures through literature. I studied Irish culture as well, we studied the work of James Joyce, Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. On a personal level, I think I used to be a one-dimensional person but when I finished literature, I became multi-dimensional with Syrian, Arabic, Muslim, Christian cultures all in me in addition to different cultures from the West. It shaped my life. After that I did a Diploma in Education in Syria and then I wanted to continue my studies, but I had no money. My dream was to continue my studies and do my Master’s, but I needed money, so I worked abroad to save money and eventually saved my university fees to travel to Ireland. 

Were you always so outspoken?

No. I used to be very shy and self-conscious. I was conscious of my English – I didn’t want to say anything wrong.

Did you speak English as a child?

I started learning it when I was 9-years old and then I did it in college too. I was way better at writing English but then I was really shy when I started to speak it in case I said something wrong. But then I realised that people were not judging me or checking my mistakes so I began to get confidence and educate myself.

You went to university in Limerick  - what attracted you there?

Many things. I had already studied Irish literature, and I wanted to go to the best school in English Language Teaching. So, after exploring options, Limerick came back as one of the best universities doing this course. I already knew about Ireland and the culture and I had a friend who used to live in Ireland, and he had had a great experience in the country.

Do you have a favourite book?

Zorba the Greek  by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis. This novel had a big impact on my life.

Who were your role models growing up?

I’ve started to realise my role models recently. I would say I have role models and one of them is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – someone I absolutely love and respect. She is my true inspiration. What she’s doing – she started from zero and look at her now. She is a powerful speaker and her words are full of confidence and knowledge.

You’ve said before that the land is really important in Syria – the same could be said in Ireland. Have you noticed any other similarities or differences in cultures?

Yeah, definitely. Land and owning a house are important in Syrian culture. I think it is similar to Ireland. The family connection is another similarity. Many friends of mine at the weekend go back to their families. So the Irish society is somewhat family oriented, especially in rural Ireland and this is very similar to Syrian culture. There is also a love for culture, music and art which is also very similar to Syria. The sense of humour is sometimes different – but there are similarities! We welcome new people, we smile, we’re friendly like here in Ireland. I would say that Syrian culture though is diverse, you could go from city to city,  from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and it can be very different in it’s culture. This could be down to different languages, religions, migration etc. Syria has also Armenian and Kurdish cultures, different religions, so it’s very diverse from place to place. That’s why, when I look at the war, I can’t comprehend what is happening now. We had an inclusive society and we had our own problems like any country – but when I look at my homeland now, it is a country I just don’t know. A stranger.

Have you been back to Syria since coming here in 2011?

No. I haven’t been back since I left, almost nine years ago. I can’t tell you how much I dream of the day when I can go back. I never imagined I would stay in Ireland. My plan was to finish my studies and go back home and start up my own language school. When I finished my Masters, I started to give my winter clothes to charity because I thought, you know ‘I won’t use them at home for a while’ – but circumstances were against me and against millions of Syrians and things changed. So, I had to make a decision and stay. It was very hard.

You went to Greece in 2015 to hear the stories of the refugees and to help in any way you could – could you tell us about this?

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It was another turning point in my life. At that time in my life I was working in social media and 24 hours a day, at work and at home, I was exposed to these images and stories of people fleeing wars. People I recognize sometimes, people from my homeland, my neighbourhood! I was watching all the time and I felt so drained and powerless and I thought – what is the end? What can I do? At that time, one of the images I saw on social media was of a man, an Arab man, arriving in Greece holding his two children and crying. So, I knew I had to be there and helping the people there. For me, sitting and watching wasn’t helping me at all. So, a few days later I was in Greece. I volunteered for around ten days – and every day we used to wake at about 2am and go to the beach with binoculars to watch refugees arriving. If we identified any boats coming, we would straight away run to them and give the people food, clothes, water – whatever they needed. The heart-breaking thing was when they arrived, sometimes you could hear a mother screaming ‘my child! Where is my child?’ – when they would realise one member of the family was missing. That was in 2015 and at that time the refugees would arrive and continue their journey. Greece was a transitional country. But now the camps are like detention centres.

Last year I received a random message from some person, and it said ‘Hi Razan. Maybe you don’t remember me, but you gave me shoes in Greece and I wanted to say thank you. I am in Sweden now and I am learning the language of the country and I’m working as well. I’ve been looking for you since 2015 and finally, I found you!’ So that made me feel that all I did was worth it, that’s why I volunteered another year. For me, to see the reality of what was happening was important – seeing people as human beings and not just as ‘refugees.’

The media coverage of the ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015 was constant. There were reports of water canons being fired at people, this country and that country closing its borders, etc. The images coming out of these places were horrific as well. Can you talk to us about the rhetoric that was used and how this maybe influenced how western society perceived everything? And also, what is going on in Syria right now, because obviously the conflict is ongoing…

When we saw the image of the three-year old boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on a beach, we saw a turning point in refugee narrative. There was more of an emphasis on highlighting what was happening on the ground with refugees.

But then we started to see key words like refugees ‘flooding’ -a flood is something negative and danger, something that causes destruction. The media started to use these terms ‘refugees are flooding…’ and ‘crisis’ etc. If there was one negative story then that story became the focus of the media and they would neglect the other positive ones, and this was really damaging. The media dehumanised refugees and made them a category of people, not people. The media  also started using the word ‘immigrants’ to describe refugees – but they are not immigrants, they are refugees. They are different. An immigrant is someone who chooses to leave their homeland and travels to another country for work, an adventure or for education. A refugee is forced to leave for safety. They’re escaping persecution and war.

The media now is underreporting on the refugee’s situation, though their situation on the Greek islands is worse than ever. What refugees are facing now is extremely bad. What people in Syria are facing is worse than anything you would imagine. In the past two months, one million people have been displaced – half of whom are children. They don’t have food, water or heating. It’s freezing in Syria in Winter. People have no heating. There are families living in caves right now and there are women burning plastic to provide heat for their children. There’s no milk or clean water. People are hungry. There is no mention of what’s happening in the media. This is the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II.

You talked at the UN … could you tell us about this?

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The UN came after my experience in Greece. At that time there was a conference about providing safe pathways for refugees instead of taking these dangerous ways. So, it was a call to think out of the box and help refugees arrive to other countries safely. I was invited to speak at this conference at the UN in Geneva, and I talked about my experience in Greece and be the voice of the people I met.

You’ve said before that being Syrian outside of Syria and watching the devastation happening there is like watching your child die. This must be really difficult on your mental health?

Oh, it is, it’s very hard. When I came back from Greece I was depressed for a while. I lay on my bed and I looked up and I was like ‘I have a roof. I have a warm bed. But what about those people?’ I didn’t leave my room for a week. I didn’t go to work or do anything. But after that, I looked at myself in the mirror and thought ‘Razan, wake up. If  I stay like this in my room and do nothing, then what have I learned? What benefit am I to these people?’ So, I said to myself, I can’t stay silent in my bedroom, these stories should be told and heard. These stories that I’ve witnessed. I started to speak about it, and do interviews and I just tried my best to highlight what’s going on.

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You were made Irish Tatler’s International Woman of the Year in 2016. Tell us about that.

I received an email and I couldn’t believe it. It’s been one of the biggest honours of my life. But it’s not just for me, it’s for Syrian women who are struggling, who are suffering, who are neglected, who are double victims – victims of the patriarchal society and victims of the war. So, I dedicated it to the Syrian women and to their resilience and strength. They come from war and death, they watch their children dying, they pull their children from under the rubble, but they are still resilient and strong and holding the family together and trying to get a better future for their kids. It was a great honour and opportunity to speak about these women.

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Can you tell us about what you’re working on these days?

A lot of things! So, I’m an Assistant Editor and senior journalist at Storyful, a news agency. We at Storyful verify content on social media. We identify misleading information and debunk fake news. It is very interesting and challenging work.  We work with the biggest news agencies in the world. We provide, clear and verify content for them. My focus is on the Middle East and North Africa region.

I also involve myself in many projects, for example I’m on the Amnesty National Board in Ireland. I’m involved with some projects about community sponsorships in Ireland. I try to participate in fundraising for refugees, women’s issues etc. It’s very busy but this is who I am, and this is what I love to do. I have so much energy and I want to use it. I try my best.

If we were sitting here one year from now celebrating what a great year you’d had, what is it that we would be celebrating?

We would be celebrating something I’m currently working on which is a documentary on women from the middle east. I’m focusing on women who are challenging their community and are trying to make real change. It’s going to be a positive, uplifting story of these women.

We asked Razan to provide a few suggestions and links for further information on what Irish people can do to help refugees:

Community Sponsorship

 http://www.integration.ie/en/isec/pages/community_sponsorship_ireland

Also email : info@amnesty.ie

https://www.unicef.ie/donate/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqoaU2unp5wIVh6ztCh3CHgKBEAAYASAAEgJGe_D_BwE#1

https://www.trocaire.org/whatwedo/wherewework/syria

https://www.savethechildren.net/

https://www.concern.net/