Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister on his pioneering initiative and salute the men and women in the Gallery from Marriage Equality, GLEN and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, who have given us civil society leadership in this debate. The extraordinary transformation of this country over 20 years is culminating with the report tonight before the House of the Constitutional Convention, and of the referendum to be held in 2015. We have moved as a country from a situation where being gay and lesbian was seen in the context of shame, and where those of us who are gay or lesbian were seen as being criminal in the eyes of our State. Many of our fellow citizens had to leave their own homes and emigrate abroad or migrate to Dublin or Cork to create their own communities because of the shame and because of the burden placed upon them. Thankfully, due to the leadership of GLEN, Marriage Equality and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, and all political parties in this House and others, we have moved to a situation where we are now on the threshold of a referendum where equality will be given to all our citizens.

The only place where I, as a gay man, am not equal, is in my Constitution, due to the inability to get married. Hopefully, the Irish people will provide that transformation in 2015 and we will all be equal, cherished equally under our Constitution. It has been a remarkable journey, and I am very proud, as a member of the Constitutional Convention, of the mature debate we had that particular weekend. I also wish to congratulate the experts, such as Gerard Durkan SC and others, who gave of their time to make presentations and so on. This debate is the beginning of the referendum campaign. It is very clear that this referendum campaign will be about marriage under the eyes of our Constitution. As the Minister said, it will not be about religion or anything else; it will be about marriage.

The pictures of civil partnerships across the country show men and women - urban and rural, young and old, from all types of society - embracing their love and the sky has not fallen down. The same values, love, affection and commitment exist, no matter who we are. That is why those images celebrate love, which we all cherish in our lives. The next step is that referendum. In April, we had a fantastic debate at the convention over two days, with presentations from everybody. The debate took place. People thought about what they had to say and they thought about how they voted. Some 79% of them voted for the right to have a referendum. I hope that in the lifetime of this Dáil, we will see a plurality of the Irish people voting to support the recommendation from the Government to hold a referendum on marriage equality.

I welcome the statements by the Taoiseach that he supports marriage equality for lesbian and gay couples and that he will campaign for it. I salute the Fine Gael members across the country and in our parliamentary party, especially the Minister, Deputy Shatter, who has been supportive from the start. This is about people. This is about the love that we all have. It is about equality. I wish that this referendum will be passed, and I hope that this House will campaign vigorously for it.

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