Tim za socijalno uključivanje i smanjenje siromaštva

The Irish have declared their stance on a referendum on same-sex marriage, voting on the proposal to approve “marriage between two persons, regardless of sex”. The proposal was adopted with 62% of votes (1,201,607 citizens voted in favour, 734,400 against), thereby officially amending the Irish constitution, and the first marriages between same sex partners are expected in early autumn of this year. Registered partnerships for same sex couples have been allowed in Ireland since 2010, and after this vote they will be discontinued, although existing partnerships will not be automatically changed to marriages.

The referendum is seen as a true revolution in this country deeply rooted in Catholic culture, where homosexuality stopped being a crime only since 1993, where abortions are forbidden, except in cases where the mother’s life is in danger, over 70% of marriages are done in church, and over 90% of primary schools are under the auspices of the church. The results of the referendum also bear witness to the fall of the influence of the Catholic Church, primarily due to a number of scandals regarding paedophilia. They key argument of the opposing ranks is that homosexual marriage will weaken the institution of marriage and traditional family, enabling same sex spouses to adopt children or get them using surrogate mothers.

This vote made Ireland the eleventh EU state where same sex marriages are allowed, and this is also the first case where such a decision was made by way of referendum. Same sex marriage is legalized or is under the legalization procedure in 18 countries, 13 of those in Europe. The first European country where same sex marriages were approved was Belgium in 2003, followed by Spain (2005), Norway (2009), Sweden (2009), Portugal (2010), Island (2010), Holland (2011), Denmark (2012), France (2013), England (2014), Wales (2014), Scotland (2014) and Luxembourg (2015), where recently the Prime Minister was married to his partner. Additionally, Slovenia voted for legalization in March 2015, but the relevant law has still not been adopted, while Finland did so in December 2014, with the envisaged coming into force in 2017.

Source: Network for European Women’s Lobby