Campaigners hail ‘milestone’ for gay marriage equality

Gay rights campaigners have hailed what they described as a “major milestone” on the journey to full equality as the Government considers a recommendation to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Conservative and Catholic groups said the recommendation by the Constitutional Convention was expected but the result of any referendum on the issue would be far less certain.

Some 79% of members of the 100 strong think-tank voted to recommend that the Constitution be amended, while 19% voted against. The issue will now be debated in the Oireachtas and the Government has four months to state how it will act on the recommendation.

During a debate on the issue at the convention, Labour’s John Lyons said refusing to allow gay marriage was blatant discrimination on the part of the State.

Clearly emotional, the TD for Dublin North West argued that this is one of the remaining institutions within society that allows discrimination of people.

“The blood that flows through my veins is the same as the blood that flows through anybody’s veins and to treat me differently because of who I sleep with at the end of the day, or who I choose to say I love is a form of discrimination,” he said.

Echoing the sentiments of his government colleague, Fine Gael’s Jerry Buttimer said the union of love between two men is no different to that between a man and a woman, adding that “the union of two people is at the heart of marriage”.

“My mum and dad’s marriage for 40-odd years was a union of love and commitment. They taught me the values of love and commitment that I see repeated every day by gay people and by straight people. Surely the love I have for my gay partner can be replicated in marriage, which is about love, commitment and partnership?” Mr Buttimer said.

Colm O’Gorman of Amnesty Ireland told the convention it is time for gay parents to be treated as equals. “I am a man who is married to a man and I have children. I love my children and my children love me and what I look for more than anything else from this republic, from my republic, is that we be treated with respect and with regard, and celebrated on an equal footing with every other parent and family,” he said.

“This is very, very simple,” noted Fianna Fáil Senator Averil Power. “Why on earth would we discriminate against good and happy families? We were asked one question: Are we favour of marriage or not? Do we believe all our citizens should be equal before the law?”

However, Breda McDonald of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said it is “impossible” to talk of equality between heterosexual marriage and same-sex marriage because only the union of a man and woman can give rise to a child.

Bishop Leo O’Reilly, also of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said to alter the nature of marriage would be to weaken it.

“The family based on marriage is the single most important institution in any society and to change the nature of marriage would be to undermine it as the fundamental building block of our society,” he said.