In less than four weeks Ireland will vote in what is one of the most contentious and controversial referendums since the 1995 Divorce Referendum. The vote on marriage equality has the opportunity to change how this country views and treats its LGBTQ citizens.<\/p>\n
Whatever the outcome, a strong message will be sent to the entire nation and to countries around the globe. A \u201cNo\u201d vote will tell Ireland\u2019s LGBTQ citizens they are not equal; their love is of a lesser value than heterosexual love. It will, worryingly, send a clear and unequivocal message to the LGBTQ youth of Ireland that they cannot grow up in an equal Ireland.<\/p>\n
A \u201cYes\u201d vote on the other hand will send a resounding message that LGBTQ people, although often bullied and marginalised, are equal and that their love is equal to others. A clear message that homophobia is not acceptable that will be enshrined in the minds of Ireland\u2019s populace.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the other queer, Please to not return, you are not welcome in this house! Your lifestyle is a sin and I do not wish to be tainted by association. Do not touch anything, I don\u2019t know where you\u2019ve been or what you have but would not like to risk catching anything.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A \u201cYes\u201d vote will ensure messages such as this, left to me by a former student, are never seen as acceptable again.<\/p>\n
I grew up knowing very few for things were certain. However I was never in any doubt I would go to university, fall in love and one day get married. I didn\u2019t know I was gay but I knew I would one day walk down an aisle with someone and promise to love them forever.<\/p>\n
I was raised by a single father. He did his best with help from extended family, neighbours and friends. He did what all parents do after bringing a child into the world: they ask for help from those around them. A child is never raised by two people. A child is raised by a community and in reality all a child really needs is love, safety and security.<\/p>\n
You might say all children need a man and a woman to give \u201cbalance\u201d to their lives but when you actually boil that down to its real meaning, there is nothing left to the theory other than sexist gender roles. A man is needed to make sure boys are strong and not emotional. A woman ensures girls know how to be overly emotional ladies, so that in the future they can bake, cook, clean and mind children.<\/p>\n
If you believe a child requires a mother and father, past the point of conception, you unwittingly, or otherwise, buy into the above gender stereotypes. These are gender stereotypes which tell boys and men they should not talk about their feelings. These are the damaging labels which lead to high male suicide rates.<\/p>\n
Despite the referendum having little, if anything, to do with children, it is crucial to understand the real needs of children rather than those imagined by 1960s cereal commercials.<\/p>\n
Over the past number of weeks the \u201cNo\u201d campaign have taken a step further than hanging the debate solely on children. Now the posters from \u201cMothers and Fathers Matter\u201d stretch the referendum issue into further irrelevant areas.<\/p>\n
One poster attacks single parents for not providing a second opposite-sex parent for their child. They also attempt to reinstate the idea of illegitimate children with children of single parents being portrayed as of lesser value to society.<\/p>\n
A second poster brings the matter of surrogacy into the debate. This is more irrelevant than adoption rights and displays either deliberate ignorance of the referendum topic or a sinister attempt to scaremonger.<\/p>\n
The third appears to say nothing more than \u201cAh sure aren\u2019t civil partnerships good enough for the gays? Civil partnerships go far enough. We really shouldn\u2019t give them the same rights as other people in Ireland.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are offences Ireland\u2019s LGBTQ community faces every day. We face insults and slurs for looking a little different. We can hardly walk outside UL\u2019s campus in the evenings without a group of \u201clads\u201d in a car driving past and screaming \u201cqueer\u201d at us. Homophobia exists, even among students.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll be voting \u201cYes\u201d in less than four weeks from now. I\u2019ll vote for my future, for my children\u2019s and grandchildren\u2019s futures. I\u2019ll vote for the sixteen-year-old me who considered taking his own life when someone found out he was gay. I\u2019ll vote for my friends, for my single parent, and for Ireland.<\/p>\n
People keep telling me students will be the driving force behind a \u201cYes\u201d vote and that we will carry this referendum. I hope those people are right – I pray they are. However I urge all students, regardless of opinion polls, to get out and vote \u201cYes\u201d for marriage equality on Friday, 22nd<\/sup> May.<\/p>\n
Bring your family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues with you. Tell the world you\u2019re voting \u201cYes\u201d and why they should vote with you. This is not an abstract issue – these are real lives and your vote could change them for the better.<\/p>\n
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