A chance for Ireland to move forward
Ireland needs to get with the gay times and give us the same rights.
I am an Irish citizen, but I live overseas. I currently live in a country with a population three times larger than that of Ireland, yet only 250 people gathered for a recent Gay Pride celebration. This was rapidly dispersed by riot police. In another of my former countries - population of 48 million - the gay scene is underground and small. The government of this country has never passed a law against homosexuality because it claims that homosexuality is non-existent, and therefore not worth discussing! Finally, in the fourth country where I resided, gay marriage is legal, despite being widely protested, and a disturbing trend has arisen; lesbians are being targeted as rape victims in an attempt to ‘turn them straight.’
Recently, I read that 12,000 people marched in Dublin’s Gay Pride parade, and this sent shivers down my spine. My sense of pride in my nationality surged, and I thought about how amazing it was that approximately 1% of Dublin’s urban population walked the streets on the 27th of June. I remembered how good it felt to visit a gay bar that has windows, and I realised that it is a great time to be gay in Ireland. Then I read about the Civil Partnership proposal.
Issued on the Friday before the Gay Pride parade, the bill caused an uproar in the gay community because if it was signed into law, it would cement our status as second class citizens. I am extremely disappointed in our government’s lack of willingness to be progressive. How can moving forward possibly be a bad thing? To use an analogy, Ireland is like the person who agrees with everyone - tries to associate with the big players, but is afraid to stand up to the bullies. Internationally, our country will often sit on the fence over important issues.
It is time for our government to take the initiative, and to give many Irish people another source of pride in their homeland. It is incredibly frustrating to read that all of Ireland’s closest neighbouring countries have legalised full gay marriage. This strengthens my feeling that Ireland is bowing to international pressure, but only to the lowest manageable degree. Why can’t our country, for once, take a leap forward? Why is there so much reluctance to be one of the world’s leading progressive countries? This is a fantastic opportunity for our government. I just wish they would take it.
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Posted by : midlandsman - 25 days ago
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