It’s about equality for all people - The marriage referendum

SOCIETIES evolve by leaving behind beliefs and practices once thought eternal; by embracing alternatives that better fit the world as it is, not as it was or as is imagined.

There was a time when Western societies were confident that they were doing the right thing when they executed people for modest offences, sometimes even for not subscribing to a particular brand of Christianity. The foundations of many European economies were set on slavery.

There may even be a few people still working in our public service who remember female colleagues who had to surrender their career when they married. There are certainly tens of thousands of people who remember their parents trapped in toxic, often violent, marriages because they could not escape through divorce. There are tens of thousands of people, mostly women, still struggling with the consequences of an unplanned and secret pregnancy because they did not, on pain of a mortal sin, have access to contraception. Marital rape was not outlawed in Ireland until 1990. Just over 30 years ago a married woman’s income was automatically treated under our tax laws as “extra” income for her husband.

Yet all of these controlling structures have been consigned to history and the sky has not fallen in, despite often dire warnings by opponents of change. We were told the introduction of divorce would have apocalyptic consequences for the Irish family, but this has not happened since the 1995 referendum was carried by a very narrow majority of 0.5%.

Indeed, our world is a better place because personal freedoms were asserted and the balance between the individual and society better realised for the benefit of all.

Tomorrow we will vote on whether or not we wish to legislate to allow marriage between two people of the same gender. The debate around this amendment to Article 41 of our Constitution has been framed by some opposed to it as an attack on the family, a debasement of marriage, and a threat to children. The proposal is none of those things.

Rather, it offers constitutional protection to people who happen not to be hetrosexual should they choose to exercise a right everyone else takes for granted. Those are the facts, not as assessed by this or any other newspaper or lobbyist, but as ruled on by the scrupulously objective Referendum Commission.

This amendment is focused on the simple fact that if you are an Irish citizen you are entitled to the full protection and support of the State and that there is no such thing as á la carte citizenship. It is based on the realisation that the half-life, the suffering and discrimination — and loneliness — inflicted on so many of our brothers and sisters, cousins, and friends is no longer acceptable. Many of those opposed to the change believe deeply in their position and must be respected for that and allowed to freely express those views. That caveat is not enough though to sustain the constitutional discrimination endured by so many.

Is it not time to recognise and embrace change, to live honestly in the world as it is? And by doing so enrich our society, honour our democracy and Constitution — and do so without diminishing the rights or protections offered to any Irish citizen? Is it not time we let love, optimism, and basic decency have their day, and endorse the commitment of the founders of our Republic to equal rights and equal opportunities for all its citizens?

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