16 December 2007
Irish Gay Rights Group Takes on Civil Partnerships
A new
Irish gay rights group called LGBT Noise organised its first protest yesterday
in Dublin in the company of Ann-Louise Gilligan and Katherine Zappone (of the
KAL case), members of the gay youth initiative BelongTo, the Gay and Lesbian
Equality Network (GLEN), the National Gay and Lesbian Federation (NGLF) and a
new initiative working for civil marriage for same-sex couples called Marriage
Equality.
Protesters displayed banners and distributed flyers to Christmas shoppers,
telling them about the lack of rights for gay people in Ireland.
"Our purpose is to raise the public's and the government's awareness of the
urgent need to provide protection and equality of status for Ireland's gay
couples by legislating for same-sex civil marriage," says Mark McCarron of LGBT
Noise.
"(We
seek to) create an awareness of the need for full equality for gay people and to
let the public know that lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered (LGBT)
people no longer wish to remain second class citizens under Irish law."
Several weeks
earlier, Ireland's Minister of State for Equality, Sean Power, had announced
that legislation allowing same-sex civil partnerships would be introduced by
early next summer. The proposed legislation is expected to be published in
March.
He was speaking at the National Lesbian and Gay Federation's (NLGF) symposium on
Full And Equal Rights: Lesbian And Gay Marriage And Partnership Rights In
Ireland. The symposium was part of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for
All 2007
John Fisher, of ARC International, told the Irish
Examiner: "Same-sex couples are entitled to the same range of relationship
options as opposite-sex couples, including marriage for those who choose it."
"Anything less is a denial of full equality. The struggle for equal marriage is
about recognising love and commitment, strengthening families and affirming the
core social values of dignity and respect."
GLEN's Chair
Kieran Rose said that only through marriage was
it possible to achieve real equality and that they would continue to ask for it,
adding that his organisation expected "principled,
equality-based and comprehensive" legislation.
Moninne Griffith of Marriage Equality said: "This bill promises to demote rather than promote equality and is an insult to
all who believe in human, civil and equal rights. Only full civil marriage can grant full equality."
