>> GLEN exists to bring about the full and equal
participation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgender people in all aspects of Irish
life, from our constitution to our schools,
our workplaces, and in all our services.
And particularly for our relationships and families.
Atlantic's commitment to GLEN allowed GLEN to
follow its strategy of building a majority from a minority
and delivering transformative change
for lesbian and gay people in Ireland.
We did that by engaging really good professionals,
by building very strong relationships with
politicians, with TDs, with senators,
with senior decision-makers in departments all
across a whole range of areas, and enabling
them to deliver on change for lesbian and
gay people.
The passing of the Civil Partnership Act was
a great achievement for GLEN, but it was also
a great achievement for all political parties,
and it was a great achievement for Ireland.
Marriage is the next step, building on the
resounding success of civil partnership
and we continue our intensive work towards
that goal of marriage in GLEN.
>> Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan stood
on the steps of the high court and declared
their love for each other as two women.
I think for anyone watching or listening to that,
it was a game-changer, it was powerful.
They became icons and really lit the fuse, I believe, under what has become the marriage equality movement in Ireland.
They really changed everything.
We got members of the community and others who
would be champions for marriage equality,
to literally go along to their elected representatives
and to say, "I don't know if you know that
this is an issue, but it's an issue for me,
and we really want you to take it up."
I don't think there's anyone in the Dáil or Seanad or anyone, very few people anyway,
in the public domain who don't now know that
marriage equality is a demand.
>> We do not believe that the state has any
right to rule over the human heart.
We support the right of gay couples to marry.
That is why the program for government included
it for consideration by the Constitutional Convention.
>> The Constitutional Convention was, I think,
a real success from a number of points of view.
One, on the issue -- there's no doubt that getting 79
per cent of that grouping to say,
"Yes, we want the government to move on this. We want the government
to introduce marriage equality," was a huge success for all of us.
It was also a success for the sector. We managed
to work really well with GLEN and the ICCL in getting that result.
The other figure that isn't mentioned much, 
but actually is just as important,
is that 81 per cent of the Convention called on the government
to make sure that our families had equality.
>> Well the transgender community, the T
is often tacked on to the LGB,
so you have the LGBT community,
but what we've found is often
that the T is a bit forgotten or 
it's pushed to the side.
And that's in large part because what you're
talking about with LGB is around sexuality,
and the T is very much about gender identity
and gender expression.
TENI's existence, and the support that we've received
through Atlantic Philanthropies, has actually
allowed us to save people's lives.
It's not in an abstract way, but if you're
thinking about a community that has been so
marginalised and invisible for so long,
to have an organisation that exists that provides
support and education, that people know they
can pick up a phone, reach out to us and know
that there's somebody there to listen to them,
and that we're there to refer them along to
other services.
The research out there shows that trans people
have some of the highest levels of suicidality,
experience regular harassment and
violence, and also systemic discrimination.
Ireland is the only country at the moment
in the European Union that has no legislation
to account for the recognition of a transgender
person's preferred gender.
We have a draft Heads of Bill, so that's really
the start of the legislative process, so that
will provide a pathway for an individual to be recognised in their true gender and have their birth certificate changed.
>> I am 16 years old and I know exactly who I am
and I have not got a disorder.
>> With TENI's formation in 2005, the trans community's
expectations changed
and, as a result, younger people's expectations changed.
They now see transition, equality,
hormone treatment, transition paths, all as
a right rather than something that they hope
to have, and they are demanding those rights now
and they're willing to stand on the streets
and shout about them.
We need to be heard. Trans people in Ireland
have been invisible, still not recognised by this state.
Trans people go through their daily lives struggling with society
that thinks it's OK
to poke fun at us and laugh.
And all we want to do is live dignified, respectful,
private lives.
>> We're filming in a kind of interesting
sort of way today, where we have a phone,
we have Skype, you know it's not the usual
stuff, and that very much illustrates
the challenges that still face the rural LGBT
population of Ireland, across Ireland.
Because the limited infrastructure prevents
us coming together.
There were two main impacts on the ground. One was 
the development of a social network,
and support groups as well, but a social network
where rural isolation was targeted,
that people actually got to meet other people.
So that was one big, big benefit. The other was
the move towards involvement in civic life.
What I witnessed over the duration of that
program was much increased number of people
who were willing to come out, who were willing
and able to identify as LGBT within their local community.
>> In thinking through how these organisations have
managed to achieve so much
in a relatively short space of time, I think it's really that they've had the capacity to think and act strategically.
So providing core funding on an annual, multi-annual
basis, allows organisations to build relationships
with those that they're seeking to influence,
and build up the expertise as well in order
to become a resource
to decision-makers and others.
>> Atlantic's multi-year commitment allowed for TENI to employ core staff, which was unprecedented in the trans community.
>> The Atlantic support in the first instance, has been a support for the vision of marriage equality.
In some ways, we've done two things: we have
unleashed that potential and that passion
that the supporters of marriage equality have,
but more than that we've been able to channel it
into political change and that's, I think, the legacy.
>> One of the most moving things about the
work that Atlantic enabled GLEN to do
is seeing lesbian and gay couples stand up in
front of their families, and commit to each other.
And to do so, to express their love
in a public way, that's never been able to happen in Ireland before.
And that's radically changing lesbian and gay
people, and their sense of who
and where they are in Ireland,
and it's changing Ireland for the better.
>> You feel the power that comes from all
of the organisations working together.
>> It's left a legacy of positive change, including that sense of LGBT organisations around the country working together.
So the inspiration of confidence and the belief that as a community we can work together, that's a big, big legacy to leave.
>> Happy Pride!
