YesEquality Register to Vote Campaign launched
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A joint campaign called Yes Equality has been launched by GLEN, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Marriage Equality encouraging people to register so that they can vote in next year’s referendum on marriage equality. The campaign is being run in collaboration with the ICTU, USI and LGBT organisations across the country. It’s the first step in a co-ordinated campaign for a Yes vote and is aimed at encouraging young people, in particular, to seize the opportunity to help shape a new and fairer society.
November is registration month.
Recently Tiernan Brady, Policy Director, GLEN visited Liberty Hall and met representatives of the ICTU and SIPTU including Congress Equality Officer David Joyce, Ethel Buckley and Dan O’Neill, both of SIPTU to discuss our support for the registration campaign.
The trade union movement has a long history of fighting for gay rights, a record sometimes ignored or forgotten even by LGBT activists and organisations. Yet those who attended the public launch of the SIPTU LGBTQ members’ network last February could not but be reminded of that proud legacy as we watched Edmund Lynch’s fascinating documentary, ‘Did Anyone Notice Us? Gay Visibility in the Irish Media 1973-1993’.
It was also worth noting that the gay rights movement as we know it effectively began not “up there in Dublin” as the popular cliché would have it but in Cork, through the efforts of trade union members such as Kieran Rose, now Chair of GLEN, who used his union membership and association with Cork Council of Trade Unions, to push the equality agenda.
Justifiably proud of the union’s unique history in the struggle against injustice and inequality SIPTU can now help make history in Ireland by campaigning to extend the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage to all who wish to make that choice.
SIPTU has already identified the issue of civil marriage equality as a trade union issue, a priority for the Equality Council working with SIPTU LBGTQ network.
There are those who question whether the campaign is a trade union issue. The struggle for gay rights cannot be viewed in isolation from the wider struggle of the trade union movement. Some unions, including my own, do not take a direct role in election or referendum campaigns but as individual trade union members we can all play our part.
Social solidarity is the cornerstone of our movement. If we are to advance the rights of LGBT people we will do so with the love, respect and support of the majority of men and women in this Republic, led by the partners, brothers and sisters of gay and lesbian couples.
Irish society has traditionally viewed marriage as having a special place, as a public expression of love and commitment. By voting Yes next year – and we do not know the date yet, trade union members will be according same sex couples the right to equality.
For those who advocate a Yes vote the challenge will be to address the fears of those who are uncertain or fearful about change. We must do so with respect and I am hopeful that hearts can and will be won by informed strategic campaigning. After all no one is being asked to surrender any rights, merely to extend the rights they enjoy to others.
Yes, significant gains were made with the introduction of civil partnership but there remains an unacceptable hierarchy of rights based on sexual orientation. On a daily basis gay and lesbian workers still feel compelled to hide their sexual identify. Despite widespread acceptance of gay people the reality is that for many people the workplace can be a cold place for those who are deemed to be different. Civil marriage equality for all would be a powerful public statement not of tolerance but of acceptance.
The benefit of having experienced civil partnership is that so many of us now have first- hand experience of the joy of seeing people who love one another enter into public commitments in the presence of friends and family. It’s more than that of course. Civil partnership has also brought about legal certainty for LGBT couples but it is not full equality.
Getting people registered to vote is a critical first step in helping deliver victory. Even though the polls are showing strong support for equal status for lesbian and gay people we cannot afford to be complacent. Recent referendums have shown how quickly outcomes can change and if you’re not registered you can’t vote for marriage. Simple as that!
All of the recent polls have consistently shown high levels of support for equal marriage across society. This is most notable in the younger age groups of 35 and under. However these groups are traditionally the ones with the lowest turnout at elections and referendums. In the recent children’s referendum turnout amongst the under 25s was a mere 19%. The YesEquality campaign is aiming to significantly boost that figure and the turnout figures in general, as part of getting the biggest possible vote in favour out to the polling stations.
SIPTU members can help motivate and mobilise workers to get out, get their work colleagues, friends and family out and register to vote.
Remember, just as in your union, decisions are made by people who turn up and cast their vote.
For further details go to GLEN.ie or look up YesEquality on Facebook.
Séamus Dooley is Irish Secretary of the NUJ and a board member of GLEN.
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