Sinn Féin has been banned from July’s Trans and Intersex Pride march in Dublin following comments by the party’s health spokesperson, David Cullinane.
On Wednesday, the Sinn Féin TD posted on Twitter in response to the UK Supreme Court ruling which found that the terms “woman” and” sex” in the 2010 Equality Act “refer to a biological woman and biological sex”.
Cullinane, the party’s health spokesperson, said the ruling was “common sense.”
The tweet was then deleted following backlash from progressives, with Cullinane tweeting on Thursday ” I want to apologise for the hurt and offence that I have caused to the Trans community following a tweet I sent last night. That was never my intention. This is a complex issue for many but we need to approach it with compassion, understanding and dignity for all.”
However, Cullinane’s tweet points to the party’s supposed left-wing stance being at odds with the trans community.
Last year, the Sinn Féin-led government in Stormont worked with the British government to implement a ban on puberty blockers for minors, a move which drew sharp condemnation from the Irish left.
Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin said, “while he (Cullinane) has since walked back his remarks, he did not say whether he still believes it should be looked at in the state, and shows the instinct and insensitivity to attack the community by a health spokesperson.”
“We have welcomed the decision by different Prides in the North to ban all Northern executive parties who signed off on the banning of puberty blockers. This pride season has to be a protest against parties who are happily attacking the trans community, and the banning of executive parties is a step forward in the fight against transphobia.”
“In response to the statement by David Cullinane, along with the banning of Puberty blockers, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin asks Mary Lou McDonald to clarify her party’s position, whether the ruling should be looked at north and south, and calls for the reversal of the puberty blocker ban,” they said.
They warned, “should this not happen, Trans and Intersex Pride Dublin has came to the decision that Sinn Féin will be banned from attending our march in July. This decision is made in solidarity with trans people up north, and to avoid the party’s pinkwashing of their record in the south.
The move follows a similar move by Belfast Pride banning Sinn Féin from the march in protest at their decision at Stormont to ban puberty blockers.
David Cullinane’s tweet
The organisation said “we have always banned government parties from joining our March, the same parties who have brought us the worst trans healthcare in Europe, and we continue to say that Fine Gael, and Fianna Fàil are not welcome, but a real alternative to Fianna Fàil and Fine Gael can’t be one that will sell out the trans community.”
Trans and Intersex Pride organiser and co-founder Ollie Bell says, “We understand that many activists in Sinn Féin may disagree with the party’s position, however, it would be a disservice to the community we represent if we allow Sinn Féin to march.”
Bell said, “we encourage all pride marches to consider our decision, in light of the ban on puberty blockers and the kowtowing to anti-trans forces with regards to agreeing with the Supreme Court decision, and join us in this decision.”
“We welcome all activists, groups, organisations who genuinely want to fight for trans rights to join us on July 12th in protest against anti-trans attacks everywhere,” they added.
Last year’s local and general election revealed that Sinn Féin’s 2020 voter base splintered, with socially progressive parties such as People Before Profit, the Social Democrats, and Labour picking up seats and votes at their expense.
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger, who won back her seat in Dublin West at the expense of a second Sinn Féin candidate, questioned, “is this (Cullinane’s comments) in line with Sinn Fein policy?”
“They’ve gone along with banning puberty blockers -in the north just so far – for young trans people, now their health spokesperson backs a ruling that’s regressive for trans people and for all women. They are leaning into far-right talking points,” she said.