• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’
  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month
  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

Is the American Right Wing Influencing Ireland’s Vote on Same-Sex Marriage?

GlobalPost October 16, 2014

Ireland
4th generation matchmaker Willie Daly chats up love seekers at the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival in Co. Clare, Ireland. This is the 2nd year the 158 year old festival has included gay people. Ireland will hold a referendum on same sex marriage next year. Corinne Purtill Instagram

 

BY CORINNE PURTILL / GlobalPost

The whole world is watching as the Irish prepare to head to the polls next spring.

LISDOONVARNA, Ireland — Willie Daly looked a little tired on a recent Saturday night.

This is the busiest time of year for the fourth-generation matchmaker, who collects lists of love-seekers’ preferences and particularities and matches them up like a human OkCupid.

For the last 157 years, his tiny west coast village has hosted the Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, a month-long mingle session created back when people were too busy toiling in the fields to find partners themselves. Although the basics of matchmaking haven’t changed much since Daly’s great-grandfather got into the business, times in Ireland have.

Since the festival opened to gay singles two years ago, the line at Daly’s table has included men and women seeking soul mates of the same gender. Depending on the result of a vote next spring, they could join the 3,000 married couples he claims to have already paired.

“All my life has been about finding love for couples,” says Daly, a gray-bearded septuagenarian with a fondness for meandering anecdotes. An intoxicated parish priest lost his birth certificate; he doesn’t know his exact age.

“I think everyone deserves to find love,” he adds. “I just never done it before with gay people and lesbian people.”

IrelandThis spring, the Irish will hold a referendum on whether the state should recognize same-sex marriages. If they vote yes, Ireland will become the 12th European country to recognize gay marriage and the first to pass it by popular vote. At the moment, the polls look good for proponents of marriage equality. Seventy-six percent of likely voters said they supported same-sex marriage when the referendum was announced in November, a number that’s remained high since.

All of Ireland’s major political parties back the referendum, the exact date of which hasn’t been set. Even a majority of farmers — traditionally a socially conservative constituency — say they favor gay marriage.

A greater percentage of people in Ireland support same-sex marriage now than did in Britain last year before equal marriage became law in England and Wales.

(Scotland passed gay marriage laws separately. Northern Ireland lawmakers have rejected several attempts to institute same-sex marriage there.)

“I’d vote for it, yeah,” said Jeremiah Murphy, 61, from the doorway of the Ritz pub in Lisdoonvarna’s village square as the matchmaking festival continued down the street. “I’m not gay meself,” the retired sugar factory worker said in a Cork accent thick as butter. “But I wouldn’t stop them. They’re not doin’ me no harm, are they?”

CONTINUED, AFTER THE JUMP…

That’s a sign of enormous social change in Ireland, where being publicly outed as gay could result in jail time as recently as the 1990s. Since Ireland decriminalized homosexual activity in 1993, it’s seen tremendous social upheaval, spurred by the economic prosperity of its Celtic Tiger years and a series of scandals in the Catholic Church that weakened religion’s claim to moral authority.

In 2011, Ireland began recognizing civil partnerships between same-gender couples, a designation offering most — but not all — the legal benefits of marriage.

WalshIn a perhaps less-consequential sign of the times, this year’s winner of the Rose of Tralee, Ireland’s 55-year-old signature beauty pageant, came out as a lesbian a few days after her coronation to a generally positive response.

“The fact that we’ve come this far is kind of breathtaking, really,” says Brian Kennedy, a pop singer who came out in 2009.

Nevertheless, it’s still not clear whether the change in attitudes will lead to change at the ballot box next year. Gay marriage opponents have the backing of an enthusiastic network of supporters around the world, particularly in the United States.

For many US conservatives, Ireland is a poster child of a Western nation that has enshrined conservative religious values into law. American pro-life groups have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting Ireland’s ban on all abortions except those necessary to save a woman’s life.

When Irish lawmakers were considering even the maternal-health exemption last year, the Washington-based Christian Defense Coalition gave out free postcards for Americans to distribute at St. Patrick’s Day celebrations calling on Prime Minister Enda Kenny to uphold a total ban.

Supporters of the referendum fear such activism could end up influencing the outcome of this vote as well.

“We are the golden boys of Catholic countries,” says Eddie McGuinness, organizer of the Outing, Lisdoonvarna’s LGBT weekend. “For a Catholic country to have same-sex marriage on its books allows other countries to know they can have it, too.”

Both supporters and critics of the referendum have expressed suspicion that groups on the other side are receiving money from like-minded American supporters, although neither has shown evidence to prove it.

Some US groups admit they’re watching the referendum with interest.

Kiska“We commend our Irish friends working to affirm marriage as the union of a man and a woman in their laws,” says Roger Kiska, senior legal counsel at Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based coalition of lawyers that advocates socially conservative positions in the US and abroad.

ADF joined the defense against an unsuccessful 2010 challenge to Ireland’s abortion ban. In February, it filed a brief in the European Court of Human Rights defending Italy’s ban on same-sex marriage.

Although ADF isn’t currently working on the Irish vote, Kiska says, it’s “prepared to offer legal assistance if necessary.”

The Catholic Church says it’s also working to ensure a no vote.

“To change the nature of marriage would be to undermine it as the fundamental building block of our society,” Bishop Denis Nulty of Kildare and Leighlin said in a statement shortly after the referendum was announced.

While the Church remains a political force to be reckoned with, the power of the pulpit is nothing like what it once was.

Although more than 80 percent of Irish people identify themselves as Catholic, fewer than half consider themselves “religious,” according to a 2012 survey. Weekly church attendance dropped in three decades from 90 percent of the population to just 30 percent now.

“One of our biggest fears in Ireland at the moment is complacency,” says Andrew Hyland, co-director of Marriage Equality, the main group campaigning in favor of a yes vote. “A lot of people have said, ‘It’s a shoo-in, why do I need to bother voting at all?’”

Marriage Equality is advising referendum supporters to make personal appeals to friends and family. Research shows that a key factor in people’s support for LGBT rights is whether they actually know any gay people themselves.

“This whole referendum is a personal referendum,” Hyland says. “It’s not a political issue. It’s about real people and real families.”

Topics: LGBT Rights, News, Religion More Posts About: gay marriage, GlobalPost, Ireland, Ireland, News

Related Posts
  • Former Roommate Indicted For Murder Of Florida LGBTQ Activist Jorge Diaz-Johnston, One of the Public Faces In State Fight For Marriage Equality
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Survivor Benefits Payments For Same-Sex Partners Are Being Paid Under Biden, But Many Don’t Even Know They Qualify
  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Published by ValueWalk Guaranteed income plans have gained prominence since the COVID-19 pandemic. Several states and local governments have come up with similar programs targeting specific groups over the past couple of years. Last year, the …Read More »
  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Published by Reuters UK (Reuters) – Three men were arrested following reports of alleged homophobic chanting at the goalless draw between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield, Merseyside Police said on Tuesday. The men, aged 23, 37 …Read More »
  • U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    Published by Reuters By Diane Bartz and Moira Warburton WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee opened a hearing Tuesday on ticket industry competition issues after lawmakers raised concern about the disrupted sale of Taylor Swift …Read More »
  • Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Published by Wayarc Daily MET Police Chief Sir Mark Rowley last night admitted hundreds of officers from his own force should be “thrown out” for criminal and nefarious conduct. Sir Mark spoke of his “disgrace” after …Read More »
Previous Post: « Federal Judge to Rule on Same-Sex Marriage in Wyoming by 5 pm Monday
Next Post: Right-Wing Freaks Out Over Houston’s Subpoena of Pastors’ Role in City’s Equal Rights Ordinance Case: VIDEOS »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • DeSantis targets unions, school boards with ‘Teachers Bill of Rights’

    DeSantis targets unions, school boards with ‘Teachers Bill of Rights’

  • George Santos Proposed To Then-Teenage Boyfriend While Still Married To Wife, Shocking Report Claims

    George Santos Proposed To Then-Teenage Boyfriend While Still Married To Wife, Shocking Report Claims

  • The M&M’s controversy continues as company retires its “spokescandies”

    The M&M’s controversy continues as company retires its “spokescandies”

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Stormy Daniels Declares It’s ‘Exhausting’ To Always Be Asked About Alleged Affair With Donald Trump: ‘I Wish He Would Go Away’

    Stormy Daniels Declares It’s ‘Exhausting’ To Always Be Asked About Alleged Affair With Donald Trump: ‘I Wish He Would Go Away’

  • Sam Smith obsessed with McDonald’s

    Sam Smith obsessed with McDonald’s

  • Prince Andrew Makes Plans To Overturn Virginia Giuffre Settlement As Ghislaine Maxwell Claims Infamous Photo Is Photoshopped

    Prince Andrew Makes Plans To Overturn Virginia Giuffre Settlement As Ghislaine Maxwell Claims Infamous Photo Is Photoshopped

RSS Partner Links

  • Prince William's Joke Directed at His Wife Causes Lots of Laughter During Their Royal Visit
  • Gisele Bündchen Is Having The Time Of Her Life Horseback Riding With Her Jiu-Jitsu Instructor
  • Shakira’s Ex, Gerard Piqué, Has Gone Instagram Official With His Girlfriend Clara Chia Marti
  • Adam Schiff Tosses His Hat Into 2024 California Senate Race
  • 'Succession' Season 4 Teaser Trailer Teases the Fallout From Logan Roy's Major Blindside - Watch Now!
  • Chace Crawford's Pit Stop + Newsmax Deplatformed By DirecTV + Schiff For Senate + Adam DiMarco: WANNA FUCK? + MORE! — 6-PACK
  • 2022's Most Streamed TV Shows Revealed (& Number 1 Is Not 'Wednesday,' 'Bridgerton,' 'Grey's Anatomy' Or 'Friends')

Most Recent

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’

    Marjorie Taylor Greene: Antifa are ‘fascists’ because ‘they defend the drag queens targeting our children’

  • Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

    Guaranteed Stimulus Checks To Transgender: Checks Starting to Go Out This Month

  • Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

    Soccer-Three arrested for alleged homophobic chanting at Liverpool-Chelsea game

  • U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

    U.S. Senate panel probes competition after Taylor Swift ticketing fiasco

  • Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

    Hundreds of UK cops faces been fired as part of clean-up for misconduct

  • George Santos is living the GOP’s values | Opinion

    George Santos is living the GOP’s values | Opinion

  • Madonna Feels ‘Like The Luckiest Girl In The World’ As Fans ‘Shame’ Singer’s Pricey Tour Tickets: ‘Seriously?!’

    Madonna Feels ‘Like The Luckiest Girl In The World’ As Fans ‘Shame’ Singer’s Pricey Tour Tickets: ‘Seriously?!’

  • Tony Dungy Attends March For Life Rally – And Fans Call For His Firing

    Tony Dungy Attends March For Life Rally – And Fans Call For His Firing

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×