Northern Irish LGBTQ+ organisations to celebrate milestone anniversaries at special event
Three Northern Irish organisations are teaming up to celebrate a collective 100 years of supporting LGBTQ+ people in the North. The Rainbow Project, HERe NI, and Cara-Friend will host a grand gala dinner at the iconic Titanic Building in Belfast on March 8, 2025.
The event will kick off with a champagne reception and a four-course meal, followed by interactive entertainment featuring cabaret performances, live game shows and bingo. Adding to the significance of this occasion, it will also host the prestigious Tolerantia Awards, presented by the European Alliance Against Homophobia.
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The veteran charity will be Cara-Friend. This LGBTQ+ organisation has spent 50 years supporting the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of the LGBTQ+ community in Northern Ireland.
Alongside this event, Cara-Friend is also hosting an exhibition throughout February in The Linen Hall called Founding Cara-Friend, which tells the story of the establishment of the charity and features a series of moving portraits of founding volunteers of the organisation.
Steve Williamson, Director of Cara-Friend, said, 'Having reached our 50th year of support for LGBTQ+ people in Northern Ireland, we're so proud of the work we've done and continue to do in support of our communities. We hope that our service users, past and present, who have grown up through Cara-Friend's youth service and other services across the sector feel the same pride in being part of our collective story'.
Second in line is The Rainbow Project, celebrating its 30th anniversary. Its dedicated staff, seasonal workers and volunteers located all across their offices in Belfast work devotedly for the cause. They offer services which mitigate the impacts of discrimination, and they also provide training, campaigning and policy work.
Scott Cuthbertson, CEO of the Rainbow Project, stated, 'We've come a long way since Rainbow was founded as a health and wellbeing organisation for gay and bisexual men: we have grown and shifted into a service provider and campaigning organisation for all LGBTQ+ communities, and we look forward to progressing LGBTQ+ equality for the next 30 years.'
Last but not least, HERe NI will complete the total sum of 100 years as it marks 20 years of advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, especially with lesbians and bisexual women.
Cara McCann, Director of HEReNI, said, '20 years ago, Northern Ireland's first organisation for lesbian and bisexual women was founded in response to a lack of support and space for those women to connect and build community'.
Currently, a remarkable aspect of their work is engaging with LGBTQ+ women on the issues that matter to them, and then raising these issues at government level.
If you are interested in attending the event to celebrate these magnificent collective 100 years of achievements, dedication and advocacy for the Northern Irish LGBTQ+ community, tickets are available at The Rainbow's Project website.
The post Northern Irish LGBTQ+ organisations to celebrate milestone anniversaries at special event appeared first on GCN.
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