“It’s a disgrace!” Make no mistake about it: Paul Walsh from Dublin band Royseven is passionate about the issue of marriage equality for Ireland’s same-sex couples.

Walsh is the brother of the legendary Tonie Walsh, DJ and gay rights activist. But this, he says, is not why he decided to get involved in the Marriage Equality campaign.
“I got involved because I am embarrassed,” he says. “I am embarrassed we’re in this situation. It’s nothing to do with sexual orientation, it’s not to do with being gay or being straight. It is a question of equality. That’s the core issue.”
Royseven are just one of a number of bands and artists taking part in ‘Just Love – A Gig For Marriage Equality’ at Dublin’s Mansion House on Sunday, October 28. Others include This Club, Heathers, Brian Kennedy, Bitches With Wolves and Shaz Oye. It is a veritable gathering of the clan, a night when people of every sexual orientation can stand four square together on an issue that affects us all. Because you either believe in equality or you do not...
The campaign group Marriage Equality was launched in 2008, originally in support of Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, the lesbian couple whose Canadian marriage was not recognised by the Irish state. At the time, public support for marriage equality stood at 56% in public opinion polls.
Four years on, and two years since civil partnership was introduced in Ireland, offering for the first time a legal basis on which same sex couples could plan their lives together, the vast majority of us, 73%, believe that all citizens should be able to access civil marriage. It is a powerful statement about the increasing maturity of Irish people in relation to issues of sexual choice.
No one is in any doubt that things have been getting better. Campaigners see civil partnership as a step in the right direction, which helped couples to formalise their relationships. However, there are 160 differences between civil partnership and civil marriage, any of which might impact on the feeling of security and belonging which is important in relationships. These include issues around immigration, the dissolution of the relationships and children.
And so the campaign for same sex is ongoing. Marriage Equality activists and supporters have been in contact with TDs across Ireland, a lobbying process which undoubtedly helped to ensure that the issue of full civil marriage was included in the terms of reference for the upcoming Constitutional Convention. It has also resulted in several prominent politicians making public statements on the issue, as well as motions being passed by a number of local authorities supporting marriage equality.
It is possible that the Constitutional Convention may recommend, in a simple and straightforward way, that the government must legislate for civil marriage for same-sex couples. However, as Moninne Griffith of Marriage Equality notes, there is a prevailing belief that a referendum to amend the constitution may first be necessary.
“That was the advice of the last Attorney-General,” she explains. “Now, not everyone is a constitutional lawyer so they have accepted that advice. But the reality is, different lawyers have different ideas, the same as different doctors have different opinions.”
While some argue that talk of a referendum is simply political heel-dragging, Griffith does not believe this is the case. “I know from talking to different politicians, the majority of them support marriage equality,” she says. It may, however, be a convenient way of avoiding political responsibility, especially by politicians in more conservative, rural constituencies – like, for example, the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, who might well like to be able to say: “Over to you, folks.”
While marriage equality is widely supported, those who are opposed to full equality for gays have certainly been vocal. Resistance has been centred on the idea that same-sex couples should not be allowed to co-parent, or that children have the right to a parent of each sex. Changing that view takes time.
“The most effective way is for us to share our stories,” Moninne Griffith argues. “We ask same-sex couples to share their stories in their local or national media, to humanise the debate. People get to know what same-sex couples are like, what our lives are like, and how unremarkable they are. We still have the same hopes and dreams – to put a roof over our heads, bread on the table and do the best for our children. Our families are like any other families. I think Irish people know that it is ultimately about having loving parents and a stable environment.
“All the research from reputable academics shows,” she adds, “that the outcome for kids growing up with lesbian or gay parents is the same for children with heterosexual parents.”
While the hearts and minds of Ireland have certainly swung in favour of supporting full civil marriage for same-sex couples, it is important to keep
the issue in the public eye, says Griffith. This is one of the aims of the Just
Love concert.
“The concert is about raising funds,” she explains, “to make sure that the campaign for marriage equality gets across the line as soon as possible. It is about changing Ireland to make it a fairer place for all families. And about taking a stand and saying it’s time... time for marriage equality.”
The issue affects a number of the artists talking part in the concert, including singer-songwriter Shaz Oye.
“As a black Irish lesbian in a democratic republic, I refuse to collude with my own oppression,” says Oye. “I believe in fundamental human rights. I believe that our democratic state must vindicate the rights of all its citizens equally. That includes civil marriage for lesbians and gay men. It is important to me personally because until the State treats me and my heterosexual peers equally before the law, I will remain a second class citizen in my own country.”
Far from being the final word on legal recognition for same-sex couples, civil partnership has helped galvanise support for civil marriage, says Oye.
“Civil partnership was a great step forward and a watershed in Irish history,”she says, “but it was never the end of the road and never intended to be the end of the road. Decriminalisation back in 1993, equal status, employment equality legislation and civil partnership, all of these have paved the way and laid the foundations for the introduction of civil marriage.”
Johnny Holden, vocalist with This Club, has been in a civil partnership since May. His husband is American, which means their relationship is not recognised across a lot of the United States.
“Obviously Obama has been talking about it recently,” Johnny says. “I think it will be a few years before America recognises gay marriage.”
Ireland, he believes, will be quicker off the mark in recognising full civil marriage because of the public support for the issue.
“Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are conservative political parties and they will reflect the views of the public, but at the end of the day they are essentially Christian right wing parties.
“I’ve been quite lucky. I came out when I was 21 and I received little or no homophobic bullying. Ireland has been a good place for me to live. Change takes time.”
“I think we’ve come a long way,” says Paul Walsh. “But civil partnership is only half the deal. It says you’re not as equal, like it or lump it. We are all human beings and we should be treated equally. People are in favour of marriage equality. It just needs a final push.”