It's a great day to be Irish. A great day for human equality, a day when love defeated hate.
Ireland became the first country in the world to adopt same-sex marriage by popular vote as 62 per cent of the electorate backed a referendum, official results showed on Saturday.
Somewhere the spirit of its gentle poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, who was broken by bigotry, must be smiling.
As are so many gay people...
And their straight friends all over the world.
And of course today's victory should encourage the millions and millions of LGBT people who are still fighting for the right to be free...
In the face of the most savage oppression.
I'll have more to say about this historic day in Ireland, and what we in Canada might learn from the Yes movement and the way they mobilized the young, in another post.
But for now I'll leave you with this.
One day over the rainbow.
Like this one over Dublin...
Way to go Ireland.
Long live LOVE!!!
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How wonderful.
ReplyDeletehi e.a.f....yes it was. I've always loved the Irish, and they've never looked more beautiful. It's amazing how that referendum has lifted the spirits of that country, and given it a whole new and modern image....
DeleteWhat I couldn't help thinking about while i read of Ireland's great triumph was that many many people returned to the Emerald Isle to vote, overwhelmingly the "Yes" side, and that the turn out was huge...
ReplyDeleteBeing the eternal pessimist, I couldn't help but feel embarrassed that in our country we can't even have that sort of turn out for a Federal election, never mind people spending thousands to return home and speak their minds.... Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could mobilize our youth like Scotland and Ireland, here in Canada, to get out the vote and emulate their victories?
hi mizdarlin...as you know I am totally dedicated to trying to improve the turnout here, by helping to get more young Canadians to vote. My next post will be about what I learned from that campaign and how we can apply some of those lessons to help defeat the Cons...
DeleteGreat day for the Irish who have broken the chains of the past.
ReplyDeletehi anon...it is indeed. They have broken the chains of the past, and given themselves a bright new progressive image. It couldn't happen to a nicer people...
DeleteWhile I personally embrace all aspects of marriage equality and feel pride for what the people of Ireland have achieved for themselves, I have also had my mind opened to a different take on gay marriage from a militant queer friend of mine. Without trying to voice his opinions outright, I'll post a small piece of something he linked to on his Facebook -- "I do not want equality, with its demand that those of us on the margins must assimilate to norms that remain unquestioned, rather than transforming those norms altogether. I do not want to achieve social recognition for my family if that recognition hinges on my willingness to restructure my relationships according to the narratives and norms presented to me through conventional legal marriage. I do not support the further fracturing of queer communities such that only two-person monogamous relationships are granted validation (because those relationships are familiar enough to a dominant norm that the oddity of their same-sex-ness can be excused). I certainly do not want the pressing concerns of the most vulnerable members of my community (employment, housing, access to physical and mental health care, immigration protections, and so much more) to be sidelined in pursuit of the much more luxurious interests of people like me. Equity? I’m on board. But equality, and specifically equality signaled by access to marriage? Not so fast." -- This is an aspect of the gay marriage debate that I was unaware of, but I believe carries weight. Is it a minority position within a minority group? Probably. But it's good to be familiar with all perspectives of a societal issue.
ReplyDeletehi Omar...I'm familiar with that argument, but although I'm not married myself I don't share it. It is a measure of human equality, and it simply provides a choice that others have even if they don't exercise it.
DeleteSo people who don't want to get married can instead of saying "I do" just say "I don't." I should also say from one gay guy to another, that many of those who are most opposed to marriage are the ones who just
want to sleep around a lot. Good for them. But they should also remember that as the laws are written now being common law in a place like Quebec, does not provide you with equal protection, so that's another factor to take into consideration...
The Irish Church bends a knee:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/24/ireland-same-sex-marriage-dublin-archbishop-catholic-church-needs-reality-check
That didn't take long, eh?
hi Mound...it certainly didn't. But I can understand his concern. When 80% of the young don't share the Catholic Church's views they don't have much of a future. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing happens in Ireland as happened in Quebec, where the so-called Quiet Revolution broke the long dominance of the Church and made that province the most secular one in Canada...
DeleteSomething like this should never have come to a vote in the first place, but since it did, I'm pretty stoked that the good guys won. :)
ReplyDeletehi Mark....how great to hear from you. I miss your beautiful blog a lot. I hope everything is going well and that you are very happy. As for your point, it's a good one. The human rights of minorities shouldn't be a voting question. It should simply be the right and decent thing to do. But I think I read that there's something in the Irish constitution that made that necessary, And I think you'll agree that millions of slaps in the face, or slaps upside the head, for the Catholic Church, can only be a good thing... ;)
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