Equal Future
Tiernan was executive director of Equal Future, an international humanitarian campaign which sought to advance equality for LGBT+ people within the Catholic Church.
The campaign proved high levels of support for LGBT+ people treating with dignity across the most populous Catholic countries in the world
Australia – Marriage Equality
Tiernan was the Executive Director of the equality campaign in Australia, the successful national campaign for Australian marriage equality. He led the building of the new national organisation from its inception through to the public vote. The equality campaign built a network of over 1,400 support organisations including businesses, unions, LGBTI groups, ethnic community organisations, religious groups and political parties. In November 2017 the campaign successfully won marriage equality in the public vote with over 7 millions votes in favour representing 62% of the vote, a majority in every state and territory and in 90% of parliamentary electorates
Ireland –
Marriage Equality
Tiernan was the Political Director of Yes Equality, the Irish campaign for marriage equality. Ireland became the first country in the world to introduce marriage equality for LGBTI people by a public vote. He designed and implemented the political strategy during the Irish referendum. He worked closely with political parties and leaders from across the political spectrum to maximise their impact in the referendum and develop and coordinate tactics and messaging. This strategy delivered the support of all the political parties during the referendum which passed with 62% of the vote and a majority in 43 or the 44 electoral constituencies in Ireland. In advance of the referendum, he represented marriage equality advocates at the Irish constitutional convention and opened for the yes case to the delegates. He also led Ireland’s most successful register to vote drive with over 20,000 new voters enrolled in advance of the public vote.
Ireland – Civil Partnerships
Tiernan was the policy officer for GLEN - The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, then Ireland’s leading LGBT+ organisation. In that role he devised and implemented the political strategy that built cross party support for civil partnership, focussing on making sure that equality did not become a party political issue but rather one with the broadest possible political consensus. The result was a bill which passed the Dáil (Irish parliament) with no votes against and passed the Senate with only 4 votes against.
Ireland – HIV Prevention
Tiernan led the Irish GLEN work on HIV prevention, addressing HIV stigma and improving sexual health outcomes for LGBTI people. He designed and launched Ireland’s first community based rapid HIV testing program, the KnowNow project. The KnowNow project became the most successful program of its kind in Europe. He served on the National AIDS Strategy Committee and co-wrote the 2015 national sexual health strategy.