The Union of Students in Ireland is horrified by the escalation of violent homophobic assaults against the LGBTQ+ community in Ireland, the latest being an attack against a lesbian couple in Dublin last week.
These attacks show yet again the work that remains to be done in Ireland for LGBTQ+ equality and the need for incidents like these to be treated extremely seriously.
USI Vice President for Equality and Citizenship, Bukky Adebowale said: “This horrific assault is just the latest violent incident perpetrated on people peacefully going about their lives. Homophobic violence is all too common, and work needs to be done to eradicate it from our society. Those who perpetrate these offences intend to send a message; it’s time for civilised society and Ireland’s criminal justice system to send a message in response – this behaviour and these attacks play no part in our society. All at USI send our solidarity and love to the two victims of this awful crime and to the victims of other recent incidents.”
USI has zero-tolerance for any violent acts of homophobia or transphobia and calls on anyone with any information on this or other homophobic attacks to contact An Garda Siochána.
If you have been affected by these incidents, please reach out to support services.
LGBT Helpline: 1800 929 539
Samaritans: 116 123
Rape Crisis Helpline: 1800 77 8888