ELISHA McCallion has welcomed an apology from the Irish government to members of the LGBTI community who were convicted under anti-homosexuality laws in place before 1993.
The Sinn Féin Foyle MP has said that discrimination shown towards the LGBTI community in the north must end and marriage equality should extended.
She said: “The Irish government’s apology for the state’s treatment of the LGBTI community is welcome.
“It is more than appropriate that the state should apologise for institutional discrimination and admit that it has historically mistreated the LGBTI community.
“The government should make every effort to vindicate those convicted under these laws. It is not good enough to apologise and then neglect to sufficiently investigate methods of exoneration.
“There is much more to be done to establish full equality for the LGBTI community in Ireland, beginning with an end to the denial of rights and the extension of marriage equality to citizens in the north.
“A majority of people in the north support marriage equality, both within the assembly and in wider society. The right of citizens to marry the person that they love is being blocked by the DUP facilitated by the British government.
“The two governments have a responsibility to deliver rights to citizens, in the absence of an Executive and assembly they should immediately convene the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference and deal with the outstanding rights issues,” she added.
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