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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
38 — village July - August 2012
K
ATHERINE Zappone and Ann Louise
Gilligan have begun a new legal chal-
lenge in their fight to be married under
Irish law. The couple, who married in
Canada in 2003, are set to test provisions of
the Civil Registration Act, 2004 and the Civil
Partnership Act, 2010, which prohibit marriage
for same-sex couples.
“It became clear to us that even if we succeeded
with our original case, the provisions within the
Civil Registration Act and the Civil Partnership
Act would remain. So it was imperative to shelve
our Supreme Court appeal and proceed to chal-
lenge these Acts before the High Court”, Senator
Zappone said.
Their original case involved a judicial review of
the Revenue Commissioners’ decision not to rec-
ognise their foreign marriage for tax purposes. The
High Court upheld the Revenue Commissioners’
decision and the couple took an appeal to the
Supreme Court. Late last year they attempted to
widen the grounds of their appeal, but this effort
was rejected by the Court.
The Civil Registration Act, 2004 is the statute
Öʽ®ã®Ý
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Coming
Out
Enda Kenny
should follow
Éamon
Gilmore and
come out for
marriage equality
39
that, in laying out where civil registrations can
take place, states that marriage is between a man
and a woman. They will also challenge the Civil
Partnership Act, 2010 which states that foreign
same-sex marriages are recognised under Irish
law as Civil Partnerships. The Act prevents the rec-
ognition of their marriage and effectively insists
that they have civil partnership status, despite
their being legally married and wanting that sta-
tus to be recognised.
“We have been at this for almost ten years,
looking for the right to marry the person we love.
All we want is the right to marry under the Irish
Constitution,” Senator Zappone added.
Since Zappone and Gilligan took their original
case, much of the context has changed. The Oxford
English Dictionary (used as part of the Revenue
Commissioners’ case to defend the marriage
bar) now includes same-sex marriage in its defi-
nition of marriage. In the Irish context, Marriage
Equality, which is working to achieve civil-mar-
riage rights for same-sex couples, highlights that
the percentage of people in surveys who said they
would support changing the Constitution if neces-
sary to afford same-sex couples the right to marry
has risen from 56% in 2008 to 73% in 2012.
The forthcoming Constitutional Convention
will examine same-sex marriage options and
it is hoped that this
topic will be part of
the second round of
deliberations by the
Convention in early
2013.
“Missing Pieces” by
Paula Fagan (2011)
outlines more than 169
differences between
what is envisaged by
the Civil Partnership
Act and the rights and
responsibilities given
to married couples.
The most serious omis-
sions concern the lack
of recognition of fam-
ily rights, especially the
lack of recognition for children. This was criti-
cised by the Ombudsman for Children at the time
the Bill was being debated.
Meanwhile, outside of Ireland, it seems that
2012 is the year for public figures to come out for
marriage equality. President Barack Obama’s sup-
port for marriage for same-sex couples in May this
year was a major boost. French President Francois
Hollande has joined his Conservative counterpart
in Britain, David Cameron, who recently re-com-
mitted his Government to pushing ahead with full
marriage rights for same-sex couples by 2014.
In the USA, a recent Gallup Poll showed
that marriage equality is supported by half of
Americans. With some 65% of Democrats backing
it, and only 22% of Republicans, it makes sense
for President Obama to play to his core support
by coming out for marriage equality.
There has been a major push in the Courts
in the USA. The Defence of Marriage Act (which
states that marriage is between a man and a
woman and that states do not have to recognise
out-of-state same-sex marriages) is no longer
being defended by Federal courts. The Californian
ban, Proposition 8, is heading for the Supreme
Court again following the lower court’s refusal to
uphold the same-sex marriage ban.
Most political leaders in Ireland have come out
for marriage equality (Gilmore - Labour, Adams
- Sinn Fein, Martin - Fianna Fáil and Ryan - the
Green Party) and all have marriage equality for
same-sex couples as party policy. It is welcome
to see Jerry Buttimer (FG) come out recently and
be congratulated for doing so by his party leader
Enda Kenny. Jerry
Buttimer supports
marriage equality and
joins the growing group
of out lesbian and gay
Irish parliamentarians.
The new LGBT group in
Fine Gael managed to
get a supportive motion
passed at the recent
party convention.
It would be a game-changer if Enda Kenny,
standing up with other world leaders, took the
step to come out for marriage equality. It’s an
austerity-free option which will cost nothing to
implement but will make a huge difference to the
lives of same-sex parent families in Ireland. With
73% support for the move, it’s a matter of lead-
ership and courage, two traits which he showed
when he spoke out to protect the children of
Ireland in the clerical sex-abuse scandal. Ireland
has a great track record on equality legislation,
Enda could go down in the history books as the
man who added to that track record by coming
out for marriage equality.
Gráinne Healy is Chairwoman of Marriage Equality
All we want is
the right to
marry under
the Irish
Constitution
¨
For information
or to make a
donation visit :
www.marriage-
equality.ie
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE IN
EUROPE
