Submission on the National LGBTI Inclusion Strategy The Irish Refugee Council (IRC) provides direct support to asylum seekers and refugees at every stageof the Irish international protection process. These services include advice and information provisionthrough a free drop-in service; early legal advice through the IRC’s Independent Law Centre and holisticintegration supports through dedicated programmes on access to education, housing andemployment. Through these services we encounter and assist international protection applicants from a diverserange of backgrounds, each person presenting with complex issues and particular needs. Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) asylum seekers and refugees face a significant gap in protection andfulfilment of basic needs, both in the context of reception conditions and throughout the internationalprotection decision making procedures. In our work with LGBT asylum seekers, through both individualcase work and involvement in other policy and advocacy activities such as facilitating the Identity Peer Support Groupand consultation with LGBT asylum seekers for research projects, it has become clearthat LGBT asylum seekers and refugees are an excluded group in both the asylum seeking and IrishLGBT communities. This submission aims to highlight some areas of concern that should be incorporated into the NationalLGBT Inclusion Strategy if the strategy is to be genuinely ‘inclusive’ of all members of the LGBTcommunity in Ireland. The examples and recommendations provided herein are by no means anexhaustive overview of the issues, nor do they purport to be representative of the needs of LGBTasylum seekers and refugees as a whole, but rather reflect trends emerging from the IRC’s caseworkand direct engagement with people in the asylum process. Download Submission Manage Cookie Preferences