Senator Rónán Mullen has blasted comments made by Leo Varadkar in which the Taoiseach claimed that there has been an ‘alarming pushback’ against LGBTG rights abroad as well as in Ireland.
Speaking at a United Nations event which was held in New York yesterday, Varadkar said there is an “alarming pushback against LGBTI rights and the rise of violence and hatred towards LGBTI people at home and abroad”,
On the topic of human rights issues faced by lgbtq people internationally the Taoiseach said, “Ireland also continues to face challenges, and we are not so naive to think that LGBTI people don’t continue to face significant barriers to full participation in public life.”
The Irish Times reported the Taoiseach as saying, “I sincerely hope that our story can be a source of some optimism at a difficult time.”
“I can vividly remember an Ireland shaped by shame, conformity and fear, where my election as Taoiseach, as prime minister, as an openly gay man would have seemed an impossibility,” Varadkar said.
“To those who argue that marriage equality, or recognition of gender diversity, threatens to undermine society, our experience has been quite the opposite.”
Calling the comments “rubbish” Senator Mullen said, “Most of what Leo is saying here is rubbish, but he never has to debate it with anybody, so he can keep saying it, I suppose,”
Speaking to Gript, Senator Mullen said, “It is not clear what the Taoiseach means by rights. He needs to debate his vision for Irish society at home instead of trumpeting his rather peculiar ideas abroad.”
“His view on family is based on ‘queer theory’ in my view and doesn’t reflect the views and values of most Irish people I would say and certainly not those of ordinary Fine Gael voters,” he said.
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