Poignant new video highlights discrimination facing children of Irish LGBTQ+ parents

Ahead of the six year anniversary of Marriage Equality on May 22nd, CEO of Equality for Children Ranae von Meding has teamed up with Gerard Walsh remind us that children of LGBTQ+ families are #stillnotequal.

Despite the groundbreaking marriage referendum, equality has still not been achieved for many.

Walsh's powerful video is set against the backdrop of Dublin Castle, accompanied with a voiceover by von Meding. The visuals portrays the joy of family life and the anguish of rainbow families who are still not seen as equals by their country.

"Considered a single mother and yet / Our girls have two parents / And don’t you forget...That we voted for marriage equality / But what we have is not equal / Not really you see," Von Meding says, speaking about a situation that their family found themselves in when they applied for passports for their daughters.

"Something so simple, a passport application / Should have been easy, but for a small stipulation / That I sign away my wife as though she doesn’t exist / My entire life with a single signature dismissed / She finishes the piece with a call to action to all the people of Ireland who voted Yes six years ago," Von Meding continues, focusing on the bureaucratic paperwork that dehumanises rainbow families.

"My family is equal though my country doesn’t see / All the hurt and humiliation it’s been causing me / And countless others who are in the same boat / Come on Ireland we can do better. Didn’t we already vote?"

Equality for Children is a not for profit organisation which was founded in 2019 by a group of LGBTQ+ parents who came together to fight for equality for their children.

The majority of LGBTQ+ couples require Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) treatment in order to be able to conceive a child. However, most children born through AHR treatment are left in an uncertain legal position without any functioning legal framework to establish a legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents.

This has many practical impacts for the children of these families, such as with birth registration, citizenship provisions, childcare and/or educational provisions, access to social welfare, and succession/inheritance rights.

The introduction of the Children and Families Relationships Act (CFRA) last May meant that, for the first time, same-sex female couples who met the criteria could go to court and both be recognised as thier childs’ legal parents. Going forward from May 2020, any female couple who conceive and birth their child in the way set out in the CFRA, will have automatic recognition of both parents from birth. The progress was welcome, but legislation is needed to recognise all remaining LGBTQ+ family units for what they are - families - and give equal rights to both parents.

In recent months, the Irish Government published a report on children’s rights and best interests in the context of assisted human reproduction. If adopted, the recommendations contained in this report would address numerous legislative gaps that exist for LGBTQ+ families in Ireland.

“Professor Conor O’Mahony’s report represents another crucial step forward in our campaign," Ranae von Meding, CEO of Equality for Children says. "By adopting all of the recommendations in Professor O’Mahony’s report, thousands of children in Ireland will finally be able to have a legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents, something that has been denied to them to date.”

Equality for Children have set up a petition calling on the government to act swiftly and adopt all of these recommendations into legislation governing assisted human reproduction. Sign that petition on their website here.

Watch Gerard Walsh's moving video alongside Ranae von Meding below: