Five thousand gays and lesbians and supporters marched in the streets of Dublin, Ireland yesterday in opposition to a civil partnership bill being introduced by the government. Why? The government should be offering full marriage, they say.
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Irish Times reports: "The crowd, which had earlier marched from Dublin's City Hall, wascampaigning for an outright lifting of the ban on same-sex marriages. It included gay and lesbian groups, representatives of Amnesty International, the Union of Students in Ireland and others. Anumber of speakers gave personal testimony of their bid to get equalrights, and two women, introduced as Mia and Shani, spoke of having to“validate” their relationship to officials of the Department of Justice. Theform of validation was a written testament to their commitment to eachother. Mia told the crowd she had felt insulted and demeaned by havingto make such a validation to 'a bureaucrat with a stamp', but had doneso to ensure residency permission for Shani. The women said they feltthe process was unequal in that heterosexual couples did not generallyhave to go through such a process. Heterosexuals could confercitizenship rights on their partners by marriage, they argued. 'Whyis my citizenship overshadowed by my sexual orientation. I am either anIrish citizen or I am not. It really is that simple' said Mia."
Watch a news report from RTE Ireland, AFTER THE JUMP…
