Cork project will 'breach the historical invisibility of LBQ relationships and sexual lives' 

Groundbreaking sexual health resource p deolevedwith the HSE for lesbian, bisexual and queer women

(Left to right) Catherine Kennedy, manager, Sexual Health Centre, Cork; Ciara Mulcahy, LINC Community Health Worker; and Kate Moynihan, LINC Coordinator, at the national launch of the Sexual Wellbeing Intimate Relationships for Lesbian, Bisexual & Queer Women (LBQ Women) in partnership with LINC, The Sexual Health Centre and Sexual Health & Crisis Programme HSE, at LINC, White Street, Cork. Picture: Jim Coughlan.

Two Cork-based organisations have developed a groundbreaking sexual health resource with the HSE for lesbian, bisexual and queer women.

Cork’s Sexual Health Centre and LINC (Lesbians in Cork) worked in tandem with the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme (SHCPP) to develop ‘Sexual Wellbeing & Intimate Relationships for Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Women’.

The booklet, the first of its kind in Ireland, addresses a range of topics in relation to lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) women’s relationships and sexual activity. The content of the resource will also be of interest to the trans and non-binary people who don’t identify as LBQ, but for whom the information is relevant.

The booklet is designed to “encourage, signpost and empower” readers to seek advice and information about sexual health and relationships, as well as ageing and menopause, what a healthy relationship looks like, the law around sharing intimate images, and useful contacts.

The resource will “breach the historical invisibility of LBQ relationships and sexual lives”.

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Catherine Kennedy, centre manager at the Sexual Health Centre said they were delighted to have led the working group in developing the new resource.

“The idea for the resource originated from the two Cork-based organisations; partnering with the HSE SHCPP has enabled us to produce a nationally-relevant booklet which deals with some of the issues that can come up in LBQ intimate relationships. It will be a useful and empowering source of guidance for LBQ women,” she said.

Feedback from LGBT Ireland, Dublin Lesbian line and Dublin Pride also contributed to the final product, which is available online.

Printed copies of the resource can be ordered through the Sexual Health Centre (021-4276676) and LINC (021-4808600).

Ciara Mulcahy, Community Health Worker at LINC, highlighted the often narrow representation of the LBQ population in Ireland.

“Lesbian, bisexual and queer women deserve to be supported and represented in their varied forms, abilities, shapes and sizes. Until LBQ diversity is acknowledged and welcomed - both inside and outside of our own community - we will continue to face stigma when it comes to our relationships, our pleasure and our health,” she said.

“This resource will hopefully contribute to the ongoing efforts of LINC, our LGBT partner organisations and of our statutory and non-statutory sexual health partners, to make LBQ relationships more visible and to promote LBQ sexual health and well-being,” she added.