As we Americans once again try to get over the pain of another loss in the gay marriage battle (the New York Senate defeated a marriage bill there this week that had already been passed in the Assembly and that the governor was waiting anxiously to sign into law), word comes from across the Big Pond that lawmakers in Ireland this week opened debate on a bill to grant marriage-style rights to same-sex couples there.
Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said today that the Civil Partnerships Bill would give same-sex couples the same rights as married straight couples in matters of inheritance, medical care and medical decisions and access to state benefits. The bill would also allow one partner to demand financial support from the other in the event of a break up.
There are some lawmakers in the ruling Fianna Fail party who are expected to oppose the Civil Partnerships Bill, but strong support in the opposition parties is expected to insure the measure’s passage sometime this month.
That’s really something when you consider that the Roman Catholic Church — which has been a major force in managing to slap down marriage equality here in the States — is a strong presence in Ireland, not to mention that homosexuality was a criminal offense on the Emerald Isle until 1993.
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Of course you can see how the Catholic Church is perceived as obviously bereft of moral values since the revelations in the Murphy Report showing that priests were ordered from high levels in the Church to cover up child sex abuse. They were essentially ordered to be complicit in child abuse by frustrating the course of justice through cover up and moving guilty priests from parish to parish. We are emerging from a dark time in Irish history, many people are saying it is akin to an Irish holocaust in the scope of the damage done to so many by those in power. We cannot let the Church harm further people by allowing it to interfere in civil matters like marriage.
I somehow came across this article and you’d like to assure you there is by no means popular support within the LGBT community for this bill.
Marriage in Ireland is enshrined in a very rigged constitution yet our civil partnership shall be statute law while the rights of the children of LGBT couples is completely ignored along with the fact that upon one of the partners death, if they had ever been married their former widow will have more rights to inheritence than the living partner.
Only Marriage is equality.
I live in Canada in downtown Toronto and I can tell you that whether you agree with gay marriage or disagree with it, very very few gays are actually going to get married. In Canada more than 99.9% of marriages are still traditional one man and one woman unions because only a very small number of Canadian gays actually marry. It is rare to meet a married gay couple even in Toronto and when you do, it is still rarer to meet one that isn’t in an open marriage where couples play together ( the norm not the exception). The fact is that the vast majority of gays are not in long term committed relationships and even those that are in long term relationships tend to be in open relationships where cheating is the norm not the exception. Are there committed gays? Yes Ofcourse, i know them, but 99% of the gays i know are not getting married anytime soon.
The same is true in Holland and Spain.. despite being legalized, less than 10% of gays will ever marry and marriage rates for gays are going down not up as time passes.