This roundtable asks how we may work in coalition with one another and focuses on ways to deploy institutional power and analysis alongside activist goals. It acknowledges the necessary tension between grassroots organisation and institutional functions, and seeks to discuss these tensions in a productive and generative space.
Coffee & tea reception to follow.
This event is made possible with the help of UCD College of Arts and Humanities, UCD Research, and UCD CGFS.
Panelists:
Alexa Moore
Alexa Moore is a human rights advocate based in Belfast, currently working as The Rainbow Project's Policy, Campaigns and Communications Manager. She is a co-founder and former Director of TransgenderNI, a trans-led human rights organisation, and also worked in the Human Rights Consortium on the impact of Brexit on rights in Northern Ireland. Throughout this time she has been closely involved with the women's sector and has sought to develop understanding of the co-dependent nature of trans and womens' rights.
Daire Dempsey
Daire is a librarian and organiser with the Small Trans Library Dublin. The Library is a community library of 600+ LGBTQ+ books, with a focus on trans-authored books. The Library runs community events like book clubs, film clubs, radio shows, picnics, club nights, workshops and talks, and aims to bring trans people together in solidarity and community. The Library has also been running a mutual aid fund since 2020, and has redistributed €40,000 in donations to trans people in Ireland. Daire is motivated by fostering resilience, strength and trans joy in our community.
Taylor Follett
Taylor (he/him) is a PhD candidate at University College Dublin, where he researches women’s relationship to the family in Irish novels post-2010. Taylor’s research interests include contemporary Irish writing, LGBTQ+ representation in Irish literature and beyond, and queer and trans* theory. He has worked with Irish Studies organizations regarding EDI policies and is interested in fostering accessible and inclusive modes of pedagogy and research. He is the founder and chairperson of the Trans* Research Association of Ireland (TRAI).
Chaired by Dr Matt Kennedy