Mammies For Trans Rights are marching to turn fear into joy

Irish Examiner

a day ago

Today, across the globe, we see not only trans kids being attacked, but the entire LGBT+ community under attack. History shows us that when the rights of one vulnerable group are undermined, everyone's rights are vulnerable.
We remember the Ireland of the 1970s, '80s, and '90s and the homophobia that was directed at gay men and lesbian women. We remember the insidious shaming and punishing of women and anyone who didn't conform to the rigidly-imposed rules.
As President Michael D Higgins said last week: 'We will not go back!'
Fear is being weaponised
Whether your child is trans or not, it is frightening to be a parent right now, in a time of enormous uncertainty, with the fear of minorities being weaponised to distract from the huge issues we face — housing, health, cost of living, climate, genocide, and war.
To kick off Dublin Pride week, we teamed up with TENI and TransParenCI for a story sharing event last night - is there anything more powerful than a room full of Mammies ?
Love always wins 🏳️‍⚧️❤️🏳️‍🌈@DublinPride #translivesmatter #Pride2025 #Pride #Dublin pic.twitter.com/sRvQEBq4Ki — Mammies for Trans Rights (@Mams4Trans) June 24, 2025
There are powerful forces attempting to drive a culturally conservative regression internationally, and this is a worrying time.
We're told that people from different places, people with different accents or skin colours, people different gender identities or sexual expressions, shouldn't be in our countries, our communities, our sports teams, our schools, our bathrooms. We are encouraged to scan the people around us for differences we should find threatening.
For your child to be demonised in the media can feel suffocating and utterly removed from the real experience of family life, which is filled with the same parenting dilemmas everyone faces — how to make them eat more vegetables, spend less time on screens, and wear jackets on cold days — but also the unbridled pleasure of watching children blossom into their beautiful, authentic selves.
A parent's role
We are the adults in charge of today's world, so it's our responsibility to try to shape the conversations that are happening around us — nationally, in our communities, and in our families. Let's talk about how our role as parents is simply to create a safe and supportive space for our kids when they close the door behind them.
We know that if they feel loved and secure now, they'll figure out much of what their future looks like for themselves — and we will share the rare privilege of being part of the glorious unfolding adventure of that young person's life.
Isn't that what every loving parent wants?
What if we say no the fearmongering? What if we decide to love people as they are? What if we refuse to be afraid of each other? What if we share a cup of tea and a slice of cake and have a chat, as mammies do?
When the mammies march, it's a call to all the people who don't want to be afraid any more. You don't have to be a trans mammy, a mammy at all, or even have the capacity to give birth to join us. Ours is a call to care, to love.
Caring for all young people
We are starting conversations about how we can care for all the young people in our communities, and about how all of us are responsible for looking out for young trans, intersex, non-binary, and queer kids.
Everyone has the right to bodily autonomy, to make their own medical decisions in private with their doctor, and to access the lifesaving, person-centred medical care they need, in their community.
It takes a village to raise a child, but our villages can seem more fragmented now and many of us feel isolated, frightened, and alone. It's not too late though. We can rebuild those communities and invite everyone to join in. A global village built on love is not a 1960s hippy pipedream. It is a vital, joyous aspiration we all need.
Trans joy is the simple human joy of being seen, loved, and valued as your true self and that is something every one of us yearns for and every one of us can experience in the village we can build together.
This world can be a scary place, but it's far less overwhelming when you have good people by your side to share the journey.
What started out as two Limerick mams wanting to support their own kids has become Mammies for Trans Rights, a group of hundreds of allies across the island of Ireland and further afield in Scotland, England, France, Canada, and Australia.
Every year we have teams of mammies marching in Pride parades and, last week, the Mammies were invited to Áras an Uachtaráin by President Higgins for a garden party to celebrate activism across the community.
There is enormous power in community. Let's do this. Let's share the love. March, write letters, organise in your community, or simply give us a big cheer when you see us passing at Pride — we are all together in this.
Karen Sugrue and Bernie Linnane are members of Mammies for Trans Rights, @mams4trans
Dublin Pride parade begins at 12.30pm on Saturday on O'Connell St