Marriage referendum debated live on UTV Ireland

13/05/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

IRELAND LIVE 11 MAY 2015 Story by UTV Ireland Staff, Dublin

Representatives of both sides of the marriage referendum coin discussed the issues live on UTV Ireland on Monday in the first of a series of referendum debates this month.

Videos (3)

09.03

Marriage referendum debate one

08.58

Marriage referendum debate two

02.33

Gay community divided over marriage referendum

News anchor Alison Comyn explored both Yes and No vote arguments from representatives of Mothers and Fathers Matter, Yes Equality, Stand Up for Marriage and Labour LGBT from UTV Ireland’s Cork studios on Monday.
On May 22, the electorate will be asked to vote on the proposal to add a new clause to Article 41 of the Constitution: “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”

Mothers and Fathers Matter spokesperson Margaret Hickey and Stand Up for Marriage chairman Barry Jones represented the No side on Monday’s debate.
Ms Hickey said: “Marriage in Article 41 is described as the foundation on which the family is structured, so if you change the definition of marriage which you are doing in a very fundamental way by taking it from a gender-based instruction to a gender-less institution, you are going to obviously profoundly change the constitutional understanding of parenting and family.”
Mr Jones added: “If it does go through, what will happen is that the definition of marriage will be changed and if that is changed, because of the way the Constitution is written, then family will be changed.
“The definition of family, or what it means, will be changed and if it is changed that means the fundamental building block of society, society will change but if it changes artificially it has to give rise to trouble,” he added.

Yes Equality’s Joe Noonan and Catherine Clancy from the Labour Party’s LGBT group were proposing a Yes vote.
Mr Noonan said: “Civil partnership is something that is understood by family lawyers. Marriage is understood by everybody and everybody should be entitled to marry subject to the law and that is what we are voting on.”
Ms Clancy added: “This referendum is a one liner and all you are being asked is do you agree that same sex couples can marry. In Ireland alone we have 220,000 gay or lesbian citizens – the population of cork is 120,000 people – so that is near double the population of Cork city.
“What we are saying is on May 22 to go out and give those 220,000 people, if they wish, the right to marry the same as you or me and anybody else and to have that recognition for their relationship.”
Meanwhile, former Cork Hurler Conor Cusack said a Yes vote would send out an important message.
“I just think that we had the decriminalisation of homosexuality some years ago and I think this referendum is another stepping stone on that long road to equality, because it is not about wanting to be treated as less than or more than anyone else. It is about wanting to be treated equally,” he said.

In recent years, both Conor and his brother Donal Óg came out as gay.
“I know for people out there there is a load of fear and worry around this but ultimately what this comes down to is the things that bind us all as human beings. It is a desire to be loved and to be able to love,” Conor added.
However, First Families First argue that a Yes vote will radically change the legal meaning of family and parenthood. Their concerns centre on the wording of the referendum.
“Judges can only work with what they are being given and what they are being given is a complete change in the landscape of family law which is going to result with sadness. It is going to play out in a lot of tragedy for children and for their biological parents in the future,” said First Families First representative Kathy Sinnott.
Two gay couples also told UTV Ireland about their differing views on the upcoming referendum.
Paul Dalton, who entered into a civil partnership with his partner Des two years ago, said he is still unsure what to call his other half, which he says makes his relationship feel less important.
“For a lot of people, introducing him as my civil partner doesn’t make any sense. That language doesn’t translate. Not being able to introduce Des as my husband is very strange and very limiting.
“Our relationship is different and inferior. My father said recently, ‘when this is passed will your civil partnership be upgraded?’ He is 78 years old. He didn’t really knows what he was saying but I think it captures it,” explained Paul.
However, Keith Mills who is about to celebrate a one year anniversary with his partner, has a completely different opinion on the referendum and will be voting no.
“Ireland has transformed completely in the past number of years. We have gay ministers, business leaders, sportsmen, journalists, judges and it is terrific and we don’t need gay marriage.
“We have to think of the issue of surrogacy – giving same sex couples the right to marriage gives them the right to surrogacy. I look at the situation like Elton John and his partner bringing children into the world and excluding the mother and I’m very uncomfortable with that.
“I hope that the referendum fails and I will then campaign to put civil partnerships on an equal standing with the constitution so we have that diversity recognised forever and ever,” said Keith.
Monday’s discussion will be followed by a live debates on the Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum in Dublin on 12 May and in Galway on 18 May.

The series of referendum debates will cumulate with a final debate on the Marriage Referendum in UTV Ireland’s Dublin studio on 19 May.
UTV Ireland’s Referendum Debate Schedule:
11 May: Marriage Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Cork on Ireland Live at 10pm
12 May: Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Dublin on Ireland Live at 10pm
18 May: Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Galway on Ireland Live at 10pm
19 May: Marriage Referendum Debate
Broadcast live from Dublin on Ireland Live at 10pm
23 May: Regular updates from the Ireland Live News team throughout the day, with a special edition of Ireland Live at 5.30pm

American Chuck Feeney the key backer for gay marriage in Ireland

28/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Irish Central – James O’Shea @irishcentral April 20,2015 01:47 AM

Irish American philanthropist and billionaire Chuck Feeney is the key funder of themarriage equality drive in Ireland which will come to a head with a referendum on the right to marry for same sex couples on May 22.
Current polling points to a convincing victory for the same sex marriage side, but experts warn Irish referendums can be decided very late and voters swing wildly.
Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies have committed $475,000 to Marriage Equality Ltd the main group dealing specifically with the issue.
Feeney, the New Jersey-born billionaire, is giving away all of his money, an estimated $7.5 billion, through Atlantic.
A proud Irish American Feeney earmarked over $1 billion of that to be spent on educational, human rights and other projects in ireland. He also played a major role in bedding down the Irish peace process in Northern Ireland.
In addition to funding Marriage Equality, Atlantic has funded the main LGBT lobbying group, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), to the tune of $2.5 million over the past few years.
Atlantic and Feeney identified equality in marriage as one of the key human rights issue they wished to focus on. Their funding helped pass the civil partnership act of 2010. On its website and in a video Atlantic cites other major advances including:
– Secured public referendum on civil marriage, which is scheduled for 2015
– Government creation of a Gender Recognition Advisory Group, the role of which is to make recommendations on how to proceed toward legal frameworks for gender recognition for transgender people
– Secured numerous significant changes in public policy and services to better reflect the needs of LGBT people in areas such as mental healthcare provision and bullying in the education system
– Increased capacities of the LGBT sector

Feeney, 82, a New Jersey native now resident in California, made his money as co-founder of DFS, the largest duty free empire in the world
The working class Irish kid from Elizabeth, NJ has surpassed the Rockefellers and Andrew Carnegie when it comes to charitable giving.
He invented “giving while living,” which is now all the rage. His example directly inspired Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to give it all away too.
One of his most important legacies is that he has convinced so many powerful people there are “no pockets in a shroud” and helping in the here and now is preferable to dribs and drabs over decades.
“Chuck has been an inspiration to both of us for many years and was living the Giving Pledge long before we launched this project,” Bill and Melinda Gates said recently.
“He’s a true innovator and example to anyone who seeks to make the world a better place,” Buffett said.

Even Kids Are Saying Yes To Gay Marriage in Ireland

24/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

By The Gay UK, Apr 21 2015 06:54PM

The folks behind the “YES” Campaign in Ireland’s Referendum for Marriage Equality are doing such an amazing job.

Hot on the trail of the Video we shared with you the other day comes another wee heartwarming film about what children think of it all. If this doesn’t move those voters who are still sitting on the fence on the issue, then nothing will.

Irish Pastor compares homosexuality to rape

20/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Pastor Craig Ledbetter of the Bible Baptist Church in Ballincollig, in Cork, made the comments to the Irish Examiner in an interview regarding the build-up to the marriage equality referendum taking place on May 22.
He said to the newspaper: “Homosexuality is wrong, just like rape and just like adultery.”
He argued that a sexual relationship between two men or two women could never be consensual: “We are dealing with one party believing he is right in what he is doing, so it is not really consensual.

American Chuck Feeney the key backer for gay marriage in Ireland

20/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Irish Central – James O’Shea @irishcentral April 20,2015 01:47 AM

Irish American philanthropist and billionaire Chuck Feeney is the key funder of themarriage equality drive in Ireland which will come to a head with a referendum on the right to marry for same sex couples on May 22.
Current polling points to a convincing victory for the same sex marriage side, but experts warn Irish referendums can be decided very late and voters swing wildly.
Feeney’s Atlantic Philanthropies have committed $475,000 to Marriage Equality Ltd the main group dealing specifically with the issue.
Feeney, the New Jersey-born billionaire, is giving away all of his money, an estimated $7.5 billion, through Atlantic.
A proud Irish American Feeney earmarked over $1 billion of that to be spent on educational, human rights and other projects in ireland. He also played a major role in bedding down the Irish peace process in Northern Ireland.
In addition to funding Marriage Equality, Atlantic has funded the main LGBT lobbying group, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), to the tune of $2.5 million over the past few years.
Atlantic and Feeney identified equality in marriage as one of the key human rights issue they wished to focus on. Their funding helped pass the civil partnership act of 2010. On its website and in a video Atlantic cites other major advances including:
– Secured public referendum on civil marriage, which is scheduled for 2015
– Government creation of a Gender Recognition Advisory Group, the role of which is to make recommendations on how to proceed toward legal frameworks for gender recognition for transgender people
– Secured numerous significant changes in public policy and services to better reflect the needs of LGBT people in areas such as mental healthcare provision and bullying in the education system
– Increased capacities of the LGBT sector

Irish gay couple turned down by multiple landlords

11/04/2015 By ACOMSDave Leave a Comment

Reprinted from Pink News

2^nd April 2015, 12:18 PM
Naith Payton

Ian Begley and Eric Wan have been looking for somewhere to live together for two months

House-hunting pair speak out about the constant struggle to find a place to live.
Ian Begley and Eric Wan are currently living with Mr Begley’s parents but are trying to find a place of their own.
Mr Begley points out that many factors are against them – “My boyfriend is a recent accounting graduate, he’s currently unemployed so it’s not the ideal situation to move out.” – but that they have been turned down on multiple occasions specifically because they are gay.
He told RTE 2FM: “We’ve been persistently looking, but we’ve been turned down countless times by landlords who say they don’t want to let gay couples into their home.
“The first time it was a Polish man. He seemed really nice, he was interested in getting to know who we are. On my way up he said, ‘Are you and your girlfriend going to be here anytime soon,’ I said I’m with my boyfriend. There was a pause, until he said, ‘You’re gay guys. Oh well, that changes everything. I won’t have gay people living in my house.’
“I’d be getting emails back saying we don’t let gay people into our house. A Moldavian landlord said, ‘You’re gay are you? I’m not sure if we can allow you. There’s a child in the house and I’m not sure what the parents would think about it. We’d have to get all occupants of the house together and have a vote about whether you can stay.’
“I ring up landlords and we have banter over the phone. Once I say I want to move in with my boyfriend, there’s always that long awkward silence, and an awkward laugh and then they say, ‘No unfortunately not, I don’t agree with the gay lifestyle, or we wouldn’t know what to expect.’”
“I’ve got it in writing several times. Yesterday, there was a man who emailed me back saying, ‘We don’t let gay people in here, didn’t you read the ad, we have a child.””
Mr Begley is a journalist, and he and Mr Wan have been together for 18 months – and have been house hunting for two of them. They say they spend all their free time looking for a place to live.
“I’m optimistic and confident we’ll get through it but its disheartening.”

Ireland approves same-sex adoption

06/04/2015 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

6a00d8341c730253ef01b7c772b8a8970b-200wi

In: Carousel, GLBT News
On: April 5, 2015

By John Mack Freeman
The Seanad Eireann (Ireland’s upper legislative body) approved the Children and Family Relationship Bill this week by a margin of 20-2. The bill had been the subject of day’s of discussion and over 120 amendments. This bill allows for adoption of children by same-sex couples. Via PinkNews:

The bill – which passed the lower house earlier last month – follows up on a promise to extend adoption rights to same-sex partners and co-habiting couples, ahead of the country’s referendum on same-sex marriage on May 22.
It now awaits the signature of Irish President Michael D Higgins, who will sign the bill into law as Head of State.
The bill received a standing ovation when it passed – and given the controversy surrounding the country’s same-sex marriage referendum, cleared the Seanad remarkably without incident.

Failing gay school teachers

17/02/2014 By David McFarlane Leave a Comment

Failing gay school teachers

Mon, Feb 17, 2014, 01:04

First published: Mon, Feb 17, 2014, Irish Times

A chara, – On behalf of the INTO LGBT Teachers’ Group, I wish to commend Patsy McGarry for his article which highlights the injustice of Section 37.1 of the Employment Equality Act; an exemption essentially gives religious institutions a State-sanctioned licence to discriminate (“Ireland is continuing to fail its gay teachers in the classroom”, Home News, February 11th).

Section 37.1 allows such employers to take unspecified “action” against those who “undermine its religious ethos”. This very broad statement gives no explanation as to what constitutes undermining an institution’s ethos. The lack of clarity leads to the quiet fear held by many of the teachers in the denominational schools which make up 93 per cent of our education system: “Can they discriminate against me just for being gay?”
Well, can they? It remains to be seen exactly how far such discrimination could be taken, as there hasn’t yet been a test case with regard to discrimination on the grounds of sexuality. However, the vagueness of the language in the section could certainly be open to interpretation.
A Bill is languishing in the legislative system which would amend Section 37.1 to more adequately define what constitutes the undermining of ethos. The INTO LGBT Teachers’ Group does not recommend amendment of Section 37.1, we are campaigning for its deletion. Even in its amended form, it means, as Senator Katherine Zappone stated: “the protection of religious ethos can extend beyond the ground of religion into an employee’s private life and is not confined to what she or he says or does in the workplace”.
Do denominational schools have a right to insist employees adhere to their particular ethos or philosophy? Absolutely. Section 16 of the Equality Act already specifies an employer may insist an employee carry out the duties required of them. Do they or should they, as an institution in receipt of State funds, have a broad and vaguely defined right to judge an employee based on their sexuality? Absolutely not.
The fear Section 37.1 engenders in many LGBT teachers prevents them from fully participating in their school communities. It compels them to keep details of their personal lives secret from colleagues. It prevents them exercising their employment rights in relation to their partnerships.
Our schools are special places in which individuality, diversity and self-respect are supposed to be nurtured and protected. A school is as much a community and a family as it is a workplace and it requires strong collegial relationships and friendships in order to operate effectively.
Section 37.1 is responsible for creating a climate of fear and discrimination in our schools. Rather than protecting a school’s ethos, the silencing and closeting of LGBT teachers undermines the job a school is supposed to do. Section 37.1 needs to go. – Yours, etc,
NIALL CALLAN,
INTO LGBT Teachers’
Group,
Irish National Teachers’
Organisation,
Parnell Square,
Dublin 1.

Further reading:

Ireland is continuing to fail its gay teachers in the classroom