May 25, 2015

Irish vote to legalise same-sex marriage

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Ireland has become the first nation in the world to vote in favour of legalising same-sex marriage by popular vote. 62% of voters were in favour, and the event was quickly hailed as a landmark success in both referendum-based popular politics and the secularisation of the country. Ireland, a nation traditionally dominated by the Catholic Church, has made many steps towards becoming more socially-liberal, and this referendum has demonstrated the electorate’s overwhelming call for greater equality.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny hailed the vote, saying that “a majority of people in this republic have stood up for [gay people]”. He said: “In the privacy of the ballot box, the people made a public statement. With today’s vote we have disclosed who we are. We are a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people who say yes to inclusion, yes to generosity, yes to love, yes to gay marriage.”

Only one of Ireland’s 43 constituencies voted no to same-sex marriage, and the landslide confounded pollsters and experts alike who had long predicted an urban/ rural divide; supposing metropolitan communities would be much more amenable to changing the law than communities in the countryside. It seems that levelling-out marriage laws is popular across the nation.

While Dublin’s gay area was alive with spontaneous gatherings and parties and social media rifled in messages of support, the same question arose in other quarters; what’s the point of legalising same-sex marriage? Even secular bloggers have been stumped by the question – if marriage is traditionally a religious institution, why would the gay community wish to participate in it? Also, what difference does it make these days; marriage doesn’t mean anything – you could just cohabit, etc.

The author proposes an answer: even if marriage doesn’t have the same significance as it (supposedly) did in times gone by, by making same-sex marriage legal, a nation accords equal status to all citizens. It recognises the full humanity of all of its citizens by enabling them to participate in the social institutions recognised by peers as somehow significant. It doesn’t matter if marriage doesn’t mean what it used to mean; it matters that it means the same thing for all of us.