The Green Party NI has always led the way on equality issues in Northern Ireland, advocating for the decriminalisation of abortion and marriage equality long before the traditional parties.

Much progress has been made in recent years, but much more remains to be achieved. Disabled people cannot get married or cohabit without running the risk of losing their benefits. LGBTQI+ couples struggle to access fertility treatments. And transgender healthcare is next to non-existent, with unsustainable waiting lists.

It’s time to ensure Stormont protects human rights and delivers social justice for all in Northern Ireland.

The Green Party NI will:

• Deliver a Northern Ireland Bill of Rights.
• Support a comprehensive Irish Language Act, including a strategy for the preservation and growth of the Irish language.
• Support the introduction of a Sign Language Bill for Northern Ireland.
• Ensure that LGBTQI+ relationships have access to the full rights and benefits currently enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
• Ban ‘conversion therapy’ in Northern Ireland.
• Update the Gender Recognition Act 2004 to provide transgender and non-binary people in Northern Ireland with gender recognition processes based on self-declaration.
• Update and implement the Racial Equality Strategy.
• Deliver a Refugee Integration Strategy for Northern Ireland and commit to a Crisis Fund to ensure no asylum seeker is reduced to destitution.
• Fully implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
• Ensure that all policies are fully compliant with the Istanbul Convention.
• Implement mandatory gender pay gap reporting in line with the rest of the UK.
• Ensure that the Children’s Services Co-Operation Act 2015 is fully implemented.