On the 24th and 25th of May, the UCD School of Sociology brought together members of civil society and academia to tackle the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes ahead of the implementation of the new anti-hate crime legislation.
The two-day conference was co-organised and chaired by Sociologist of Law, UCD Professor Alexander Kondakov, Mrs. Luna Liboni, Senior Policy Officer for Equality and Hate Crime at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Chair of Coalition Against Hate Crime Ireland, and Professor Colin Scott who serves as Vice President for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in UCD.
An Garda Síochána has reported a 29% increase in hate crimes in Ireland over the past year with 282 hate crimes having been reported for 2022.
This event comes at a time when there is a global rise in anti-LGBT hate crimes, and Ireland is no different. An Garda Síochána has reported a 29% increase in hate crimes in Ireland over the past year with 282 hate crimes having been reported for 2022. The rise is not unique to Ireland but is part of a larger European trend reported by ILGA-Europe. Indeed, 2022 was the most violent year for LGBTQ+ people in Europe in a decade. These statistics highlighted the pressing need for the discussion of the overlap of marginalisations in Ireland and the questioning of the state’s role in the enabling of prejudice through its inaction and the systemic structures it inadvertently reproduces.
When asked about the specific goals the conference and workshop sought to reach, Professor Kondakov cited a “problem that is growing in size and in complexity and therefore challenging how we understand ourselves and our identities. A productive and proactive collaboration between civil society and academia is an opportunity to discuss the conflicting opinions on the matter and evaluate to what extent legal change can translate into social change.”
Luna Liboni, Senior Policy Officer for Equality and Hate Crime at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Chair of Coalition Against Hate Crime Ireland echoes this sentiment and expresses the “inherent value there is in the cooperation between civil society and academia.” She cites the existence of a real “policy vacuum” in Irish legislation that absorbs what makes a hate crime so different from a regular offense. “The bias motivation or hate element is often lost in the meanders of jurisdiction and is rarely well transferred into the eventual sentence received by perpetrators.”
When asked about how she feels about the resistance and skepticism about the bill expressed by members of civil society and academics from the LGBTQ+ community or allies, Mrs. Liboni confides: “I understand this perspective and I think that such resistance should continue to be accounted for in the overall discussion on prejudice and legislation in the country. Frankly, it’s an understandable and fair position to have.” However, she ended her statement with the reminder that “legislation is only one of the tools we possess to address such a wide and deep societal issue.”
She remains optimistic about the long-term effects of such normative hate crime legislation: “Creating this bill would ensure consistency in the way hate crime is addressed and install a precedent so that the ways in which the crime is treated and processed is unified.”
“People have a perception of Ireland of being a very free and open country and that we accept everyone, but there’s still a lot of hidden prejudice in the country that people don’t talk about much.”
Lily Roache, an MA Criminology student at UCD also stressed the importance of this conference and the incoming bill and hopes that it will continue to shed light on the nature of the bias motivating anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime and bring awareness to the inching progress of nationwide issues regarding prejudice. “People have a perception of Ireland of being a very free and open country and that we accept everyone, but there’s still a lot of hidden prejudice in the country that people don’t talk about much.”
Associate Professor Sarah O’Sullivan from the UCD School of Sociology considers that “we have become complacent post the marriage referendum” and credits the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes across the country to this general attitude. The figures reported by the 2022 Hate Crime Data and Related Discriminatory Motives report published by An Gárda Síochána attest to this. They reveal a 29% increase in hate crimes in Ireland in 2022 compared to the previous year. The report also revealed that the LGBTQ+ community was the second most targeted group in 2022 according to the report on hate crimes in Ireland published by Gardaí.
When asked whether they had heard about the vandalizing of UCD LGBTQ+ posters that occurred in April 2023, all four interviewees revealed they had not been made aware of these events and were “shocked and appalled” by them. Assistant Professor Alexander Kondakov weighed in on the events: "Many things have been achieved, but we're not there yet."
"Many things have been achieved, but we're not there yet."
The new legislation to combat hate crime and hate speech, put forward by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee is expected to become law before the end of the year. This new legislation is meant to cover more ground than its predecessor The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act of 1989 which only ever accounted for around 50 prosecutions in the 30 years since it was enacted. Oppositely, this hate crime and hate speech legislation will capture specific elements of prejudice and take into account hate speech found in online contexts, a decision that has been both praised and condemned.
With the Irish LGBTQ+ community continuing to face immense challenges, this collaboration between the UCD School of Sociology, the Irish Research Council, and the Irish Council of Civil Liberties sets an exemplary precedent for the collaboration between civil society and academia. By exposing potential reasons for the rise of anti-LGBTQ+ hate crimes across the nation and drafting realistic and achievable strategies on how to remedy this, the conference and workshop brought up an essential point that ought to be remembered as Pride Month draws to a close.
When it comes to tangible shifts in mentalities and behaviors, the grunt work is done by citizens, civil society groups, academic researchers, charities, and community organizations. They are the basis for the government decisions that could officially ban conversion therapy, provide legal gender recognition to trans and non-binary people and secure sufficient funding for LGBTQ+ inclusive healthcare services.