Writing & Commentary by Sorcha Rosa
Welcome to the Writing & Commentary archive on Simply Sorcha.
This is where I publish long-form analysis, investigative research, opinion pieces and personal reflections on the issues shaping Ireland today. My work focuses on intersex rights, transgender equality, LGBTQ+ politics, feminism, healthcare, sport, and the growing influence of organised anti-rights movements.
Drawing on lived experience alongside years of advocacy, coaching, public speaking and policy engagement, I examine both the headlines and the structures behind them. Many articles explore how legislation, media narratives, political organisations and public institutions affect marginalised communities, particularly intersex and transgender people.
Alongside political commentary, I also write about cycling, activism, public life, culture and the realities of living openly as an intersex trans woman in Ireland.
Whether analysing parliamentary debates, investigating campaign organisations, documenting community events or sharing personal experiences, the aim remains the same: evidence-led writing that challenges assumptions and encourages informed discussion.
New articles are published regularly.
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Ireland Under Scrutiny: ECRI and the Fight for Trans & Intersex Rights
By Sorcha Rosa (Simply Sorcha / Intersex Ireland) Last November, as part of a small Irish delegation, and representing Intersex Ireland, I met the ECRI delegation as they prepared their Sixth-Cycle Report on Ireland. That meeting in November 2024 offered a rare chance to press home what intersex and transgender communities have long been saying:…
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Defending Trans Health: Challenges, Responses, and Solidarity with Intersex Health
By Sorcha Ní Fhaoláin (Simply Sorcha / Intersex Ireland / ROSA) “Intersex children are operated on to ‘normalise’ us. Trans people are blocked from hormones unless they jump through humiliating hoops. Different practices, same logic: control.” Last week at the ILGA-Europe Conference, I spoke at the workshop “Defending Trans Health: Challenges, Responses, and Solidarity with…
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When Misogyny Marches in Uniform: The Case of Terence Crosbie
There is a rot in our culture – a rot that disguises itself in uniforms, flags, and “protect women” slogans. That rot is misogyny – and it has no problem walking hand-in-hand with transphobia and far-right nationalism when it serves the purpose of controlling women’s bodies and silencing survivors. A guilty verdict — and a…
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Bodies in Motion: Why Inclusion Must Mean Everyone
When TENI launched the Transgender & Intersex Sports Inclusion Policy Guide, for the first time, intersex inclusion was not an afterthought, not a side note, but named. That word alone, intersex – appearing in a national policy on sport is a small act of defiance in a country that still hides behind silence when it…
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Resisting Control, Reclaiming Care — ILGA Europe 2025
Comrades, friends, siblings – whose bodies are seen as worthy of care? That’s how I opened my solo session at the ILGA Europe Conference, and the question still hangs in the air. Because in Ireland, and across Europe, the truth is brutal: not all bodies are treated as worthy. My workshop, Resisting Anti-Rights Attacks: Inclusive…
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Why So Many Trans Women in Ireland Are Going DIY
In 2024 representatives of Irish LGBTQIA+ Organisations met with their Grassroots counterparts for a weekend of talks behind closed doors. A Trans activist used her talk to highlight the prevalence of DIY Trans healthcare across the island. She grabbed attention by applying HRT Patches, rubbing on Gel, taking estrogen pills and then injecting EEN on…
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Who Should Queer Ireland Vote For? Why Catherine Connolly Represents Us, and Heather Humphreys Does Not
By Sorcha Rosa Ireland’s presidential election is already drenched in hypocrisy, media spin, and the false respectability of those who posture as moderate voices. With the withdrawal of religious extremist Maria Steen and the disgraced rapist Conor McGregor – legally found liable for rape in a civil case – you might think the biggest threats…
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Ten Years On – Ireland’s Gender Recognition Act Still Leaves Us Behind
Ten years ago, the Gender Recognition Act (GRA) was heralded as a landmark. It was won in the shadow of Dr Lydia Foy’s long legal battle – a victory forged in courts, not in communities. For those who had the privilege, the time, and the medical resources to transition in ways the State deemed respectable,…
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BEYOND THE BINARY
In recent months, the definition of sex as biologically male or female has been used in a bid to restrict the rights of trans people. However, as Intersex Ireland explains, sex is not binary, and defining it as such leaves out a significant portion of the population. GCN Magazine Feature Intersex — Activism — Healthcare We…
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Ireland’s First Intersex Cycling Champion
Long before intersex visibility entered public conversation, there were bodies already surviving inside elite sport. This reflective piece from Sorcha Rosa explores cycling, secrecy, identity, resilience and what it meant to grow up intersex in Irish sporting culture.