Church attacking gays as parents, says TD

The hierarchy of the Catholic Church has been accused by a TD of trying to link marriage equality with adoption and parenting issues in a bid to portray gay people as potential paedophiles.

People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said elements in the No campaign, including the Church leadership, want to push the message that gay people “can’t be trusted” with children. Mr Boyd Barrett said the linking of the May referendum on extending civil marriage rights to same-sex couples with separate legislation in the Children and Family Relationships Bill on adoption and parenting was intended to create a link with paedophilia in the public mind.

“There is a nasty undercurrent of bigotry. They are trying to establish an association that, somehow, gay, lesbian and bisexual people can’t be trusted with kids,” Mr Boyd Barrett told the Irish Examiner.

“That is the nasty implication of what is being said. I find it deeply ironic that this sort of prejudice is coming from the same organisation that did more damage to children in this country than any other. I am not sure if it is an unconscious prejudice that they just can’t stop, or if it is actually a deliberate tactic. There are brave individuals in the Catholic Church and I do not want to tarnish them, but what the hierarchy is involved in is nasty and disgusting.

“I take some confidence from the fact the No side have to try and distract and divert attention, because they cannot engage in a substantive argument.”

A spokesperson for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference insisted the Church had deliberately tried not to offend people in the debate.

“The Bishops’ Conference has placed great emphasis on using a respectful tone, as well as language which does not offend, during this debate,” the spokesperson said.

“The pastoral statement The Meaning of Marriage, and the statement Marriage Is Important, Reflect Before You Change It, both highlight this positive approach.”

Mr Boyd Barrett said evidence pointed to children being in greater danger of abuse from heterosexual people than gay people.

“There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that there is any greater likelihood or propensity for children to be abused by gay and lesbian people than by heterosexual people or in heterosexual family circumstances,” the TD previously told the Dáil. “In fact, if anything, it is probably the latter more than the former in terms of the history of abuse, sexual abuse, and child abuse in this country.”

The Church has been prominent in the No campaign, putting the issue of children at the forefront of its opposition to the May 22 referendum.

Kevin Doran, Bishop of Elphin, was forced to express “regret” after his remarks on gay parents provoked uproar.

When asked on Newstalk about gay people who are already parents, Dr Doran said: “They’re not parents. They may have children — but that’s the point — people who have children are not necessarily parents.”

Some Yes camp TDs have expressed unease that the Government did not ensure the Children and Family Relationships Bill had passed through the Oireachtas before the referendum date was announced.

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