Same-sex groups were full of praise for the Civil Partnership Bill but opponents said it was an attack on marriage, writes PAMELA DUNCAN
MEMBERS OF the gay and lesbian community met TDs yesterday ahead of the Dáil debate on the final stages of the Civil Partnership Bill. The Royal College of Surgeons has collected many tomes charting medical advancement since the 16th century. Yesterday it was the location for the launch of a collection of speeches made by 30 cross-party TDs in support of the legal recognition of civil partnership, marking what members of the Gay and Lesbian Network (Glen) hailed as an important step in the evolution of equality for gay people in Ireland.
The legislation, if passed in the Seanad next week, will introduce rights for civil partners in areas such as inheritance, pensions, taxation, social welfare and a shared home.
The significance of the event for those present was noted. Christopher Robson, who co-founded Glen, said he and his partner had spent half of their 33-year relationship as criminals in the eyes of the State before homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993. “Frankly, it’s exhilarating to see this huge change,” he said, his sense of achievement evident. “It’s what I’ve done with my life in a sense.”
Kieran Rose, chairman of Glen, said the final Dáil debates were comparable to the sense of excitement and achievement which surrounded decriminalisation 17 years ago. He lauded the occasion as “an historic civil rights achievement for lesbians and gay men” and “the greatest family law reform in a generation”. “We have moved from being the most reactionary to the progressive country in the world in legal terms for lesbians and gay men,” he said.
Brian Sheehan, Glen director, said that, while there was a unanimous belief in the gay community that only civil marriage would represent true equality, the legislation provided practical solutions to the “immediate, urgent and pressing problems” faced by the gay community. He cited the example of a man who had to register himself as a “stranger” to his partner following his death, despite spending 25 years of their lives together.
“As the Minister for Justice says, this Bill takes nothing from anybody but gives something that’s profound and moving to gays and lesbians,” he said. For Moninne Griffith of Marriage Equality, the day “was tinged with disappointment”. She said the Bill does not go far enough, especially in relation to the rights of the children of gay couples.
“In Ireland, only a family based on marriage is recognised as a legal family unit. Civil partnership denies us a family status, ignores our children, and will delay access to full and equal rights for years to come . . . Only civil marriage will resolve this issue.”
Ruairí Quinn said the Bill was about “equal treatment for equal citizens”, adding that the Bill was “not the final destination”. “We have to redefine the definition of marriage so that it’s inclusive, and I don’t see how such a redefinition would in any way undermine people who are in traditional heterosexual marriages.”
Dr John Murray, of the Iona Institute said that, even in its current form, the Bill attacked the special status of marriage by creating a legal form of relationship that mimics it in almost every way. “This equivalence helps to undermine the special status of marriage. Marriage is less ‘special’, has less status, if other forms of relationships, which are not equivalent to marriage, are given the benefits of marriage.”
A few doors down at Leinster House, a group of about 20 protesters gathered to oppose the Bill. Placards denouncing the legislation lined the outer walls of the houses of parliament: “My comment is measured and calm. Sodomy is evil,” one read. Richard Greene said these individuals represented the thousands of people throughout the country “enraged” by the Bill, which he said had been deliberately kept below the radar. “It’s a massive conspiracy both of the State and media,” he said.
Fidelma Boylan from Monaghan dubbed the lack of a referendum on the issue “appalling”. “With our democracy, with our Constitution, we should get a say on something that is moral; religion doesn’t have to come into it, because it is an unnatural law,” she said.
Noel Gorman from Offaly said the Bill “undermined Catholic marriage”. Seán Burke travelled from Mayo with his wife and five of his 10 children in protest. “They’re giving legal sanction to something God has forbidden,” he said. “Also, it’s making people who disagree criminals . . . a registrar would be fined €2,000 or jailed for six months if they refuse, even on conscience, to do something that they believe is wrong.”
His wife Martina said: “It’s a moral issue, it’s an intrusion into the conscience. If it was right, if it was morally just and good, of course they should have everything . . . but we don’t believe it's right. God condemns it".