GAZE International LGBT Film Festival Dublin looks back at last week’s Irish Republic referendum

May 30, 2015
David Allen

The sad aspect of this, that seems to be overlooked in all the celebration, was that the Irish referendum was that the majority was voting regarding the rights of minorities! Always a dangerous proposition.

Posted by David Allen

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Paul Powers

May 30, 2015 7:52 pm

I'm not sure how else marriage equality could have been achieved in Ireland. The High Court of Ireland ruled a few years ago that under the Irish Constitution, a marriage is between a man and a woman. An amendment to the Irish Constitution, including one to allow same-sex marriage, requires a referendum.

Also, in the U.S., it was by a _vote_ by Congress and 3/4 of the state legislaturesthat the Bill of Rights was enacted.

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Philip B. Spivey

Reply to Paul Powers

May 30, 2015 10:06 pm

Paul: I guess the Irish Constitution has embraced, and articulated, a fundamentalist Christian definition of marriage; I can see the legislative difficulty of overcoming this stumbling block in Ireland. But, if that's the only way it could come to Ireland in the foreseeable future, a popular votes makes it an even more extraordinary blessing.

My only point is that a referendum is not the most just way to justice. To wit: Prop 8 in California. We cannot put our essential freedoms to a vote of public opinion; public opinion is for the pollsters.

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Paul Powers

Reply to Philip B. Spivey

May 31, 2015 2:32 pm

Prop 8 provides an interesting contrast to the Irish referendum. Both were in response to a court ruling on same-sex marriage. But while Prop 8 involved a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, the Irish referendum was over a constitutional amendment permitting it.

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Philip B. Spivey

May 30, 2015 4:50 pm

A remarkable national spasm for social justice; a seismic shift on the Emerald Isle. I wonder what the reverberations---good and not so good---will be.

That said, as this poster states, civil rights, human rights or any other rights should not be put to a vote. I can't imagine where our nation would be if our hard won freedoms--via the Bill of Rights and the Constitution---were put to a vote. Even today!

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