The upcoming civil partnership bill is welcome – it will grant gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in many key areas. But why stop there? Last month hundreds of activists protested in Dublin to call for marriage rights.
The government claims that gay marriage is unconstitutional, but let’s not forget that our founding document of independence – the Declaration of Independence issued in 1916. I don’t think that anyone could read the Declaration and not take from it the fundamental that all people living in Ireland should receive equal treatment from the state.
This should be regardless of their sexual orientation. In Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, civil partnerships have been legal since 2005. They provide same-sex couples with the same rights and obligations as those attaching to an opposite sex couple, particularly in relation to the care and welfare of children.
We need similar legislation here. Some of my gay friends reject marriage or even civil partnership because they claim it contains within it an aspiration to an outdated and institutionalised form of heterosexual coupling. Fair enough. But the option should be there so that those who wish to avail of it have the choice – the same as heterosexual couples do.
