The Rainbow Project is a non-profit organization based in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

that promotes the health and wellbeing of the

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

people and their families in Northern Ireland. The Rainbow Project is the largest LGBT organisation (by number of staff members) on the

island of Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially named Irelanda sovereign state covering five-sixths of th ...

and has two central offices, in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

and Foyle,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

History

The organisation was established in 1994 by a group of volunteers who were concerned about the spread of HIV infection within the gay male population of Northern Ireland. These volunteers wanted to provide information and support to

men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men (MSM) are men who engage in sexual activity with other men, regardless of their sexual orientation or sexual identity. The term was created by epidemiologists in the 1990s, to better study and communicate the spre ...

(MSM) about

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

. They carried out research within the gay and bisexual communities in order to find out what type of information and support services were required. As a result of this research, the project began to offer information on HIV/AIDS and other

sexually transmitted infection A sexually transmitted infection (STI), also referred to as a sexually transmitted disease (STD) and the older term venereal disease (VD), is an infection that is Transmission (medicine), spread by Human sexual activity, sexual activity, e ...

s (STIs), distributing safer sex materials and leaflets at commercial gay venues and

events. Although initial work was focused on HIV and STI prevention, it became clear that service-users had additional support needs related to their physical health generally as well as their mental & emotional well-being. As such, The Rainbow Project was able to offer professional counselling services to gay/bisexual men, and those unsure of their sexual orientation, as well as providing practical interventions in the form of advocacy support for those men who had been discriminated against or been verbally, physically, and/or sexually assaulted because of their sexual orientation.

Public work

The Rainbow Project has consistently worked to ensure that the needs of LGBT people are being met in the provision of services, in law and socially. In Partnership with

Irish Congress of Trade Unions The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (often abbreviated to just Congress or ICTU), formed in 1959 by the merger of the Irish Trades Union Congress (founded in 1894) and the Congress of Irish Unions (founded in 1945), is a national trade union cent ...

and

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, The Rainbow Project organised a mass public rally in support of equal marriage on 13 June 2015, with a 20,000 person turnout. The Rainbow Project has campaigned on several issues which affect LGBT individuals such as adoption, marriage, blood bans, gender recognition and social issues.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control LGBTQ organisations in Northern Ireland LGBTQ health organisations in the United Kingdom 1994 establishments in Northern Ireland