Irish voters set to make history in gay marriage referendum
NEWS CENTER (DİHA) - More than 3m voters are invited to cast ballots over 15 hours in Ireland’s 43 constituencies, with the historic result to follow on Saturday.
Though some 20 other countries worldwide have already legalised gay marriage, Ireland would be the first to do so through a referendum. The move would mark the culmination of an improbable journey in a country in which homosexual acts were still illegal as recently as 1993. The Fine Gael-Labour government, alongside the main opposition parties, said they were confident that Ireland will vote yes today despite strong campaigning in the last few days by those opposed to same-sex marriage.
The government point to an extra 68,000 new people of voting age who have signed on to the electoral register within the last fortnight. The administration in Dublin sees this as a sign that younger voters will turn out in higher numbers than in previous referendums to back the yes side. In every opinion poll the yes camp has been ahead of the no side. In his final live televised interview ahead of the polling stations opening, Ireland’s prime minister, Enda Kenny, urged voters to vote yes “for love and for equality”.
But the no campaign, comprised mainly of lay Catholic intellectuals, writers and activists, have warned that a yes vote will create a crisis of personal conscience in Ireland. An alliance of evangelical Catholics and Protestants have distributed more than 90,000 anti-gay marriage pamphlets over the last week across Ireland urging a no vote. Paddy Monaghan, one of the co-ordinators of the alliance of 100 religious activists, issued a warning on the eve of the referendum.
In the last week of campaigning, the first female Anglican bishop in Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales, Pat Storey, has written to all her clergy in Meath and Kildare, explaining her reasons for voting no.
Focusing on fears stirred up by the no camp about children allegedly being forcibly adopted by gay couples, Bishop Storey said: “You cannot redefine marriage without including information and reference to children, family and the good of society. It is my view that, where possible, children benefit most from both genders parenting them. That is not to say that single parents who find themselves alone do not do an immensely great job in raising their children. Yet I believe that it is God’s intention that, where feasible, children should have a mother and father.”
Until this week the yes-no battle was coloured by accusations that opponents of gay marriage were misleading the public over claims about forced adoptions or same-sex couples having a supposed right to obtain children through surrogacy. The yes camp has pointed out that the commissioner overseeing the campaign has dismissed these claims and emphasised they were not connected to gay marriage.
Currently 17 countries, including Spain, France, Argentina and Denmark along with several states in the US, allow same-sex couples to marry, and two others have passed legislation paving the way for legalisation.
Ireland, however, is unique because it is the only nation to ask its electorate to endorse gay marriage in a plebiscite. The result will be known on Saturday afternoon.
(nt)
