07:57:00
Shola Alade
Friday, May 22, 2015
Vote on same-sex marriage has exposed divisions between communities in the traditionally Catholic country.
Ireland is set to vote on whether to allow gay marriage in a referendum that could make the once deeply Catholic country the first in the world to adopt the policy by popular vote.
The reform is backed by all major political parties, championed by big employers and endorsed by celebrities. Polls indicate that Friday's referendum will be passed by a margin of as much as two-to-one.
Opponents, including noticeably low-key church leaders, have raised concerns over parenthood and surrogacy rights for gay couples.
Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993.
Across the border in Northern Ireland, gay marriage is banned even though it is legal in the rest of Britain.
Pollsters say a ratification may hinge on whether younger voters, tens of thousands of whom have registered to vote in recent months, actually turn up to cast their ballot.
Results, which will be declared on Saturday, will also be closely watched for an urban/rural split. When voters legalised divorce by a razor thin majority in 1995, only five of the 30 constituencies outside Dublin backed the proposal.
Source: Agencies
Vote on same-sex marriage has exposed divisions between communities in the traditionally Catholic country.
 |
| All major political parties are backing the 'yes' campaign [AP] |
The reform is backed by all major political parties, championed by big employers and endorsed by celebrities. Polls indicate that Friday's referendum will be passed by a margin of as much as two-to-one.
Opponents, including noticeably low-key church leaders, have raised concerns over parenthood and surrogacy rights for gay couples.
Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Ireland in 1993.
"The stories that I've heard over the last number of years from ordinary people, in ordinary jobs, this burden and pressure that's been on them, living in the shadows - that can be removed on Friday by voting 'Yes'," Prime Minister Enda Kenny said this week.Referendums in Croatia and Slovenia both resulted in "No" votes, although in Slovenia, parliament went ahead and approved gay marriage in March.
"We are saying here, in a world first, that the people of Ireland can extend the right of civil marriage to all our citizens," Kenny said.Currently there are 18 countries who have legalised gay marriage, most of them in Europe but also including South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, Brazil and Argentina.
Across the border in Northern Ireland, gay marriage is banned even though it is legal in the rest of Britain.
Pollsters say a ratification may hinge on whether younger voters, tens of thousands of whom have registered to vote in recent months, actually turn up to cast their ballot.
Results, which will be declared on Saturday, will also be closely watched for an urban/rural split. When voters legalised divorce by a razor thin majority in 1995, only five of the 30 constituencies outside Dublin backed the proposal.
Source: Agencies
0 comments:
Post a Comment