Irish Gay Marriage Referendum

[Ike Bana]

We may have our SCOTUS cases, but Ireland appears to be on the brink of passing a nationwide referendum legalising same-sex marriage on May 22. Latest polls indicate that 76% of the people of Ireland support the referendum. And guess who's fighting it tooth and nail??? The Catholic Bishops and conservative Catholics.

The alarming tendency of the 'No' side was evident last weekend. Catholic conservative Breda O’Brien, a member of the Iona Institute and a leading commentator, said that while she herself was happily married, gays should not be allowed the same right. Worse, she added that gays who are not married should not have sex. As the Irish Independent reported, “She believes if gays want to live a Christian way of life, like all unmarried couples, they should abstain from sex: ‘If you can live up to this very demanding thing, I think it will make you happy [to abstain]. It will be excruciatingly difficult. I think you will need huge support, huge help, lots of very strong, loving relationships.’" Nothing like someone trumpeting their own happy marriage while seeking to deny others the same right. And if they can't get married they can’t be Christian either if they have sex! It is such intolerance and moral superiority that probably ensures the same sex referendum will pass. The days when quasi-church spokespeople could ordain how people live their private lives is long gone. Rory O'Neill, also known as the drag queen Panti Bliss, a leader of the same sex marriage movement, said O’Brien and others like her should “get the f*** out of my life.”

http://www.irishcentral.com/news/iri...-its-head.html