Gay conversion therapy re-enters public discourse in the USA after a draft of the Republican Party’s official platform seems to support its implementation and practice: “We support the right of parents to determine the proper medical treatment and therapy for their minor children.”
The barbaric practice, although long discredited in most circles, is still prevalent across much of the USA. Following a survey of 100,000, the UK government in 2018 announces proposals to end the practice. In the Republic, Senator Fintan Warfield, with cross party support, moves a bill to outlaw the practice. The legislation has yet to be enacted.
2017
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service replaces its lifetime blood ban for men who have sex with men with a one-year deferral period. The ban was initially imposed as AIDS ran rampant in the 1980s. Long considered arbitrary and discriminatory, the rule was challenged in 2015 when 23-yearold Galway student Tomás Heneghan took a High Court action. He dropped his action when changes were announced, on foot of considerable, long-term lobbying by frontline HIV activists and sexual health advocates. A growing body of evidence around the efficacy of PrEP and anti-retroviral therapies would also help inform public opinion. In the same year, Donald Trump is inaugurated as president of the USA. The White House promptly removes all LGBT references from its website.
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Pride Guide 2019
2016
Rainbow Revolution
MP