Cork City’s Local Economic and Community Plan 2024 - 2029
8.5 Case Study: Cork as a Rainbow City Cork City has pursued LGBTI+ inclusion for many years and through strong partnerships and a vibrant LGBTI+ community, we have become a leader national and internationally in LGBTI+ inclusion.
Through its collaboration on the LGBTI+ InterAgency, Cork City Council was the first Local Authority to fly the rainbow flag in 2014. In 2018, Cork City Council & City and County of San Francisco signed Rainbow Memorandum pledging to work together on LGBTI+ Issues. Cork City became the first and only Irish city to have become a member of the International Rainbow Cities Network in 2020. This network pledges to protect and enhance LGBTI+ rights and inclusion. In 2022, Cork City Council installed a Rainbow Balustrade at its entrance. In the same year, the LGBTI+ InterAgency and Cork Pride came together to deliver two Rainbow Crossings on Patrick’s street, the main shopping street in the heart of the city.
These and events like the annual Cork LGBTI+ Pride Festival and the Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week, marking the IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia), show that Cork City is working towards being inclusive and being a city for everyone. It’s hugely important and symbolic. It says there’s a place for LGBTI+ communities in the city and that the city belongs to everybody. It celebrates diversity and helps to make the city more inclusive, vibrant, and safer for all of us. This has only been achieved through strong collaboration and partnership.
Watch an interview with Siobhan O’Dowd, former Chair of the LGBTI+ InterAgency: https://vimeo.com/806718654
Find out more at: www.corkcity.ie/lgbti
Figure 8.1: The Cork LGBTI+ InterAgency and Deputy Lord Mayor, Cllr John Maher, launching the Cork LGBTI+ Awareness Week 2024 at the Rainbow Balustrade outside Cork City Hall.
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