In the weeks leading up to the referendum on whether the country should repeal the Eighth Amendment, the public has seen an influx of advertisements and promotional material from both sides. In some cases, the No side has been accused of dirty tactics and spreading misinformation. One of the pro-life groups, the Irish Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (ICBR), have travelled around the city, brandishing large, graphic posters and banners showing what they purport to be a foetus during an abortion procedure.
Last month ICBR announced they would target queer spaces due to the support of the LGBT+ community for the repeal movement, beginning with the offices of GCN. At the next queer ICBR demonstration location, Pantibar, a group of young protesters suddenly turned up, peacefully blocking the graphic imagery with their own banners and rainbow flags. These people are the core membership of Radical Queers Resist (RQR).
The support for and from the queer community grew from there. RQR continue to turn up at ICBR demonstrations, shielding the public from the disturbing imagery.
LU and J spoke to me about the movement, preferring to use initials instead of full names. As J says: “It’s not that we don’t want to give our names, it’s that we want everyone to feel like they can be part of the group. We don’t have a hierarchy. We don’t want to push our careers or anything like that. We really just want to make some change.