Vote Early - Vote Often - Vote YES For Marriage Equality
Today will see voters in the Twenty Six Counties vote on the issue of same-sex marriage, making them the first electorate in the world to do so. Today's referendum is a once in a generation opportunity for ordinary people to make a really meaningful advance in the battle for inclusion and equality.
A YES vote will send the clearest possible signal to our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens that they are as valued as any other member of Irish society. That while we are all different we are also all equal. A YES vote will help bring an end to centuries of discrimination, exclusion and persecution based upon sexual preference. Those who have been deemed as 'abnormal' and 'unnatural' by preacher and politician alike will finally be able to take their place as full citizens alongside the rest of the population.
The last few decades have seen dramatic advances in the battle for equal rights for the LGBT community. The decriminalisation of homosexuality and civil partnership were important steps on the road to today - a road which has seen an ever growing number of Irish people come to realise that the love between two men or two women is the same love that exists between a man and a woman. Our gay brothers, uncles, sons and our lesbian sisters, aunties and daughters love the same love as the rest of us. They are able to perform any role in society, including the rearing of children, as well as the rest of us. The time for exclusion and discrimination based upon spurious, false divisions is past. Let the light of equality replace the darkness of prejudice.
It is easy to grant equality to your own homogeneous group, to people who have the same skin colour, religion, language and sexual preference as you do. It takes courage to grant equality to people who are different to you, to people who have different sexual preferences to you. If you have a vote in the referendum, please use it and have the courage to extend equality to your fellow citizens. Vote YES!