THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE are expected to take to the streets of Dublin today for the third annual March for Marriage, organised by LGBT Noise.
The aim of the march is to urge the government to listen to calls highlighting the inequalities of civil partnership legislation, and to lift the ban on same-sex marriage.
Organiser Max Krzyzanowski told TheJournal.ie that while the majority of people in Ireland appear to be in favour of gay marriage (a Sunday Times/Red C poll in March found that almost three quarters of Irish people are in favour), it’s “only the politicians that are holding us back”.
Krzyzanowski highlighted parenting issues as some of the most important factors separating civil partnership from marriage.
He said that a child raised in a civil partnership can only have a legal relationship with one parent, while neither partner in a civil partnership is available for consideration for adoption.
If a person enters a civil partnership with a child, their partner is not a position to legally act as a step parent. Krzyanowski also highlighted that there are issues with picking children up from school and in making medical decisions. He also said that not allowing same-sex couples to marry is simply ”transparently discriminatory”.
He’s criticised politicians, and in particular Gay Mitchell for his recent comments on RTÉ Radio during which he said he was aware of many people in the gay community who were happy with civil partnership, and said he was happy to “let the hare sit on this” and see how it works out.
Krzyzanowski told TheJournal.ie that “because of [Mitchell's] homophobia, there are children being raised who can’t be collected from school by their non-biological parent” and said that:
Letting ‘the hare sit’ is jeopardising Irish children.
Krzyzanowski is urging Irish people to press Gay Mitchell and the other presidential candidates on these matters, and that the presidential campaign is the perfect opportunity to bring the issues into the spotlight.
Today’s march will begin at City Hall on Dame Street at 3pm and travel to the Department of Justice.
Singer Brian Kennedy is among those supporting the march. He said that the Civil Partnership Act does not go far enough, reports the Evening Herald and has urged people to attend today, saying:
It’ll be peaceful, warm, welcoming and you don’t have to be gay to come along.
The organisers say they have never met any opposition to the march in the past, and don’t expect there to be an opposition to today’s event.
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