The marriage equality referendum 2015

ABSTRACT

In passing the Marriage Referendum 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in its written constitution and the first to legalise same-sex marriage through national referendum. Turnout was high and the result decisive, illustrating the extent to which the Irish public embraced the proposal to adopt marriage equality on a constitutional basis. This is notable, given Ireland’s record of having maintained a criminal ban on homosexual acts until as late as 1993; as such, the recent advancements made by this once socially conservative state in the field of LGBT rights demands the attention of scholars. This report provides an account of the historic Marriage Referendum beginning with an overview of the historical development of the gay and lesbian rights movement in Ireland, the role of the Irish Convention on the Constitution in bringing about the Referendum, and details of the proposal itself. It then progresses with a brief description of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns, an overview of opinion poll figures in the period leading up to the Referendum, and finally concludes with a discussion of turnout and voting on referendum day.

KEYWORDS:

• Referendum
• marriage
• marriage equality
• Irish politics
• human rights
• LGBT rights
• family rights

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 No comparable law existed outlawing lesbian sexual activity.

2 This included the Sexual Liberation Movement (SLM) (1973), the Irish Gay Rights Movement (IGRM) (1974), the Campaign for Homosexual Law Reform (CHLR) (1975) and Irishwomen United (IU) (1975) (Rose, 1994).

3 Examples of which are the IGRM’s Gay Centre in Dublin’s Parnell Square, Cork’s Quay Co-op in 1982 and Temple Bar’s Hirschfeld Centre, opened by the National Gay Federation’s (NGF) and ‘the first full-time lesbian and gay venue in Ireland’ (Rose, 1994).

4 Sections 61 and 62 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861 and section 11 of Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1885.

5 Norris v. Ireland, no. 10581/83.

6 The Netherlands, 2001; Belgium, 2003; Spain, 2005; Canada, 2005; South Africa, 2006; Norway, 2009; Sweden, 2009; Portugal, 2010; Iceland, 2010; Argentina, 2010; Denmark, 2012; Brazil, 2013; France, 2013; Uruguay, 2013; New Zealand, 2013; United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland), 2013; Luxembourg, 2014; Finland 2014; Slovenia, 2015 (Yes Equality, 2015).

7 Dr Zappone was later nominated by the Taoiseach to become a member of Seanad Éireann in 2011.

8 Zappone and Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners [2006] IEHC 404.

9 This refers to Chairperson Anne Colley - Solicitor and Outgoing Chair of the Legal Aid Board.

10 This was the earliest point at which civil partnership ceremonies could take place under this law as the Act was commenced on 1 January 2011 and it stipulated a three-month waiting period between application for a civil partnership license and the holding of the ceremony.

11 This includes Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party, the Anti-Austerity Alliance, the United Left Alliance, United Left and the Green Party.

12 Established by the Gay and Lesbian Rights Network, Marriage Equality and the ICCL with partners including: Belong To Yes, Doctors for Yes, Epic, Face2face, FIME, Gaze, GCN, ICTU, Impact, INMO, Intertech Ireland, Lawyers For Yes, Libraries For Marriage Equality, Mens Development Network, Mayors For Marriage Equality, National LGBT, NASC, NWCI, The Outmost, TCDSU, Teachers for Marriage Equality, UCDSU, USI, Vote Left Ireland and Vote with Us (Yes Equality, 2015).

13 This coalition encompassed 14 organisations including: ISPCC, Barnardos, Foróige, Youth Work Ireland, the Migrant Rights Centre, Headstrong, Yes Equality, the Children’s Rights Alliance, Pavee Point, EPIC, Start Strong, National Youth Council of Ireland and BeLonG To (Belong To, 2015).