Modern family

THE traditional family is a mother and a father, and children. But current figures show that lesbian, gay, transgender or bisexual people make up 7% of the Irish population, and a survey shows that one in five lesbian couples, and one in 14 gay couples, are parents.

While civil partnership promotes equal rights and alleviates prejudice, same-sex parents still experience negativity. Paula Fagan, 42, and her partner, Denise Charlton, 47, have two boys aged six and two. Living in Dublin, they have good jobs — Paula is an accountant and Denise is CEO of a company. They have occasionally met with insensitivity. “We had a negative experience when we were looking for a play-school for our eldest son,” says Paula. “After a tour of the building, I started to explain to the manager that Denise and I were a couple and my son had two mums. She seemed shocked and ushered me quickly out of the classroom and away from the children.

“She suggested that this should not be discussed in the school, and the other children didn’t need to know about our family structure if our son went to school there. I explained that we parented together, so one or other of us would be dropping or collecting our son, and so the children would get to know us.