Marriage referendum will protect children

Contrary to what Margaret Hickey says, neither the EU nor the UN has ever stated that “every child should be raised by their own father and mother, where possible”. 

Clearly, in the vast majority of cases, the biological mother and father provide a loving environment for the child but such a prescriptive approach would gravely impede the ability of childcare professionals to intervene in cases of abuse. It’s no coincidence that all the major child rights organisations in this country support equal recognition for same-sex couples. It would remove a major source of discrimination against them and, for the minority that are rearing children, give those children the same protection that all other children have. How could anyone who loves children oppose this? One voice that has so far been absent from the debate on marriage equality has been that of those children being reared by same gender couples. When the media has chosen to represent their views – such as on Ray D’Arcy’s show recently – what emerges is dismay at the attitudes being shown to their families and anger that those who profess concern for children’s rights actually want to keep them and their families in a subordinate position before the law.

Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh