Brian Tobin: Eight years after marriage referendum, all is not changed utterly
Yes voters celebrate in 2015 at the Central Count Centre in Dublin Castle as the country overwhelmingly voted in favour of gay marriage. While the positive result of the referendum was undoubtedly indicative of greater societal acceptance of LGBT+ identity and same-sex relationships, eight years on there is still much more work to be done to improve the situation of LGBT+ people in Ireland. File picture: Brian Lawless/PA
On May 22, 2015, a sizeable majority (62%) of the Irish electorate voted in favour of making marriage equality a reality, and later that same year same-sex couples were able to marry each other.
Societies that embrace marriage equality for opposite-sex and same-sex couples could be regarded as having reached the apex of social and legal assimilation for same-sex relationships. However, eight years later in Ireland, marriage equality has still not resulted in equal parental rights and responsibilities for many same-sex couples (married or otherwise) who are parenting children together, and recently there have been deeply concerning, serious ‘hate-motivated’ crimes against adults, and even children, who are members of the LGBT+ community.
