Laura Harmon (born 26 November 1986) is an Irish

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

campaigner and candidate for

Cork City Council Cork City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Chorcaí) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Cork in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Prior to the enactment of the 2001 Act, ...

for the 2024 local elections. She previously contested the Seanad NUI Panel elections in 2020 and 2016. She is a former president of the

Union of Students in Ireland The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) ( ga, Aontas na Mac Léinn in Éirinn) is the national representative body for third-level students' unions in Ireland. Founded in 1959, USI represents more than 374,000 students in over forty colleges acr ...

(USI). She was the first woman to fill the role in twenty years. In 2018, Harmon was Mobilisation team lead for the

Together For Yes Together for Yes (TFY) is an abortion rights campaign group in Ireland. It campaigned successfully for a Yes vote in the 2018 referendum to ratify the Thirty-sixth Amendment, which removed the Eighth Amendment's constitutional ban on abortion ...

campaign to repeal the

Eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1983 was an amendment to the Constitution of Ireland which inserted a subsection recognising the equal right to life of the pregnant woman and the unborn. Abortion had been subject to criminal penal ...

Political career

A graduate of

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

, Harmon served as vice-president for Equality and Citizenship of the Union of Students in Ireland (USI) from 2012 to 2014. While in this role she co-signed a letter sent to Russia's ambassador to Ireland Maxim Peshkov, titled "Re: Torture of Russian LGBTQ* teenagers". Harmon would go on to become President of the USI and, in what was described as an "unprecedented move", USI later endorsed her 2016 candidacy for the Seanad. During her tenure as USI president, Harmon played a prominent role in the campaign to legalise same-sex marriage. She was also a board member of the Higher Education Authority (2014–15) The Labour Party appointed Harmon as its Women and Equality Officer in September 2015, ahead of the 2016 general election. She used this role to work on repealing the

. During the

campaign to repeal

, Harmon was the lead of the Mobilisation team. This work included organizing a national conversations tour which traveled across Ireland, co-ordinating the Get out The Vote phase of the campaign, organizing regional launches and working on the register to vote campaign.

Seanad campaigns

Harmon was an independent candidate for the NUI constituency at the 2016 Seanad election. She announced her decision to contest the election on 2 March 2016. She polled 1,477 votes or 4.1% of first preferences but was not elected, coming in fifth out of thirty candidates. Harmon decided to seek election to the Seanad NUI constituency again in 2020. She polled 2,187 first preference votes or 5.8%, increasing her first preferences since the 2016 election. She polled 11.4% of the overall votes, but wasn't elected.

Personal life

The eldest of five daughters born to Ted and Mary Harmon in the

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

Ballyvourney Ballyvourney ( ga, Baile Bhuirne , meaning 'Town of the Beloved', also spelled ) is a Gaeltacht village in southwest County Cork, Ireland. It is a civil parish in the barony of Muskerry West, and is also an ecclesiastical parish in the Roman Cat ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns are ...

, Harmon is openly gay. She was educated through Irish and currently lives in Cork City.

References

External links

* Harmon, Laura.
After Crucial Steps Forward, Students Cannot Afford to Sit on Their Laurels
, The University Times, 2 October 2018. *Harmon, Laura.
We need to ensure all citizens have their say
, ''Evening Echo'', 12 October 2018. *Harmon, Laura
"Yes to marriage equality would show that LGBT lives are valued"
''The Irish Times'', 30 March 2015. * Harmon, Laura
"The Next Steps for LGBT Equality in Ireland"
''The Times'', 20 October 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harmon, Laura 1986 births Living people Alumni of University College Cork Irish LGBT rights activists Irish lesbian politicians Irish women activists People from Ballyvourney Irish women's rights activists Irish political people Irish activists Irish socialist feminists 21st-century Irish LGBT people

Political career

Seanad campaigns

Personal life

See also

References

External links