Catalysing LGBT Equality and Visibility in Ireland

From 2004-2013, The Atlantic Philanthropies provided grant funding to support equality and visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the Republic of Ireland. Atlantic focused its funding on four organisations with the objective of improving LGBT people’s access to rights and services.

The funded organisations were the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), Marriage Equality, the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI), and LGBT Diversity, a project brought into being for the purpose of strengthening the LGBT sector in Ireland.

An independent review of the work found that Atlantic’s long-term funding model had provided grantees with the space to plan and act strategically, catalyzing substantial steps forward towards equality for a minority community.

The grantees had the following key accomplishments:

• Passage of a landmark 2010 civil partnership law
• Secured public referendum on civil marriage, which is scheduled for 2015
• Government creation of a Gender Recognition Advisory Group, the role of which is make recommendations on how to proceed toward legal frameworks for gender recognition for transgender people
• Secured numerous significant changes in public policy and services to better reflect the needs of LGBT people in areas such as mental healthcare provision and bullying in the education system
• Increased capacities of the LGBT sector.

The report concludes that the multi-year investment created enduring LGBT organisations with highly-respected and skilled staff and a more cohesive sector.

The review includes learnings from Atlantic’s eight-year investment that can be useful to other funders.

Gay and Lesbian Network (GLEN), Marriage Equality and Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) are Atlantic grantees and members of the Atlantic-funded LGBT diversity collaborative.