Ireland be first untry to legalise gay marriage by popular vote | Ireland | The Guardian

Contents:

• EXPLAER: IRELAND’S WORLD-FIRST POPULAR VOTE ON GAY MARRIAGE
• IRELAND VOT TO APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE, PUTTG COUNTRY VANGUARD
• IRELAND VOT TO APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE, PUTTG COUNTRY VANGUARD
• IRELAND BE FIRST UNTRY TO LEGALISE GAY MARRIAGE BY POPULAR VOTE
• LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

EXPLAER: IRELAND’S WORLD-FIRST POPULAR VOTE ON GAY MARRIAGE

Ireland holds world's first popular vote to ci if gay and lbian upl n marry. Y proponents say vote is about givg gay, lbian upl same rights as heterosexuals.

Ireland is due to hold the world’s first popular vote to ci whether gay and lbian upl should be allowed to marry. The Y proponents say that is simply about givg gay and lbian upl the same nstutnal rights as heterosexual upl. Legislatn passed 2010 gave siar but not equal rights and rponsibili to gay and lbian upl.

The poll may be about rights, but is also evably a tt to ci if Irish people regnize and accept homosexualy and that two men, or two women, n love each other wh the same tensy and passn as a heterosexual uple and whether the state should bls their love. At a eper level, the referendum is about whether Irish people n accept that gay and lbian upl have sex which is as pleasurable and fulfillg as is for heterosexual upl and that, when homosexual upl have children, those children are not harmed by havg two parents of the same genr. The qutn this Friday is to what extent this cultural inty embrac liberal, smopolan attus to beg gay.

IRELAND VOT TO APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE, PUTTG COUNTRY VANGUARD

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA uple at Dubl Castle on McQuillan/Getty ImagSli 1 of 10 A uple at Dubl Castle on McQuillan/Getty ImagMay 23, 2015DUBLIN — Ireland beme the first natn to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote, sweepg asi the opposn of the Roman Catholic Church a roundg victory Saturday for the gay rights movement and placg the untry at the vanguard of social the fal ballots unted, the vote was 62 percent favor of legalizg same-sex marriage, and 38 percent opposed. Ireland crimalized homosexualy only 1993, the church domat the tn system, and abortn remas illegal except when a mother’s life is at risk.

At the same time, homosexualy is illegal across much of the Middle East and gay rights are unr renewed attack Rsia and parts of rults showed wi and ep support for a measure that had domated public disurse and dner-table nversatn the months before the vote on Friday.

IRELAND VOT TO APPROVE GAY MARRIAGE, PUTTG COUNTRY VANGUARD

Supporters celebrated gathergs and on the streets, wh the rabow lors of the gay rights movement and Y vote buttons nspicuoly on display. ”ViotranscripttranscriptIreland Legaliz Gay MarriageIreland has bee the first natn to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote, sweepg asi opposn om the Roman Catholic Church a roundg victory for the gay rights movement. NaIreland has bee the first natn to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote, sweepg asi opposn om the Roman Catholic Church a roundg victory for the gay rights olr activists, the moment marked a profound evolutn for their untry.

For the world, suggted how far the gay rights movement has e, to make such a signifint step a untry wh a storied history as a relig stronghold.

IRELAND BE FIRST UNTRY TO LEGALISE GAY MARRIAGE BY POPULAR VOTE

“Throughout my youth, adolcence and young adulthood, was a crimal offense to be gay, ” said David Norris, a 70-year-old Irish senator and longtime said he had faced “total isolatn” as a young man. Though that is a formaly, the date when gay and lbian upl n marry will be termed that was support for the measure across the polil spectm, cludg om Prime Mister Kenny, of the center-right Fe Gael party, and his Labour aln partner, which had phed for the referendum. ”Gay rights activists around the world had said a victory would be an important tone.

One opposn mercial said, “You should be able to have rervatns about gay marriage whout beg lled a homophobe, ” while a mercial supportg same-sex marriage featured young people enuragg their parents to vote. Ireland’s paradigm shift om a quasi theocracy to a lear on gay rights was the rult of a staed mpaign by gay activists. “Commentators jt don’t seem to have grasped that this has been the culmatn of a 10-year mpaign to change attus this untry, ” said Colm O’Gorman, chief executive of Amnty Internatnal (Ireland) and a leadg gay rights mpaigner.

LATVIA BE 7TH NATN TO BE LED BY AN OPENLY GAY HEAD OF STATE

“The personal stori of people’s own ttimoni, as to their difficulti growg up beg gay certaly stck a chord wh people, ” said Jim Walsh, an Irish senator who opposed the marriage referendum, durg a televisn terview. He said he had been too aaid to e out as gay until his mid-20s. ”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 1 of the New York edn wh the headle: Irish Legalize Gay Marriage by Big Marg.

Mr Varadkar revealed publilly durg the referendum mpaign that he was gay. “I would like to have seen that the rights of gay and lbian men and women uld have been rpected whout changg the fn of marriage. Senator Filma Healy Eam, who also mpaigned for a No vote, said the referendum “for me was never anti-gay”.

She said she had swched her vote om Y to No simply bee of her ncerns around nstutnal change and s effect on a child’s No advocy group Mothers and Fathers Matter exprsed “warm ngratulatns” to the Y si but said that one three Irish people - the vote rat - were not reprented by the polil mpaigner and Fianna Fáil Senator Averil Power said gay mpaigners who told their stori on the doorsteps of voters had “helped to change Ireland for all of ”, not jt the gay said she had seen many of them rced to tears by the experience they had durg the mpaign. Senator David Norris, who fought om the 1970s to 1993 to have homosexualy crimalised, weled the rult. “I believe that by the end of today gay people will be equal this untry.