David Norris (Independent)

Having listened to this civilised and important debate, I am glad I put down this motion. There seems to be a type of zeitgeist at play, with the Gilligan-Zappone case and the work done by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, GLEN. I honour the work done by all these people. It was pure fluke that the briefing to which I referred took place today. It was interesting that only two Senators spoke in favour of discrimination and against equality, neither of whom materialised at that briefing. Their absence was regrettable because we all have much to learn from each other.

I agree completely with what Senator Alex White said. It is time to have courage. I do not want to smuggle something in under the carpet without discussion with the people. Let us have that discussion; I will be delighted to campaign for change. We must have the courage to put the proposal to the people. I guarantee we will win.

Senators Ó Murchú and Mary White are absolutely right that if this change had been initiated four years ago, when I first put forward the Bill, I would have welcomed it as prophetic and visionary. Now, however, change is coming in dribs and drabs, parsimoniously, and there is no vision. The problem is that what is proposed does not represent equality. With the greatest respect, equality is not what Senator Mullen thinks it is when he proposes to share time equally, as he said, with Senator O'Toole but proceeds to speak for the full eight minutes, thus denying Senator O'Toole the opportunity to speak. If that is his notion of equality, I am not surprised he took the view he did. He dismissed every major international and reputable authority and report. I will not list them all again but if they do not convince him, it is a case of what might be described in theological terms as invincible ignorance. I cannot help him.

I know what equality is. Equality is 2+3=5 and not just in those cases where "2" is a man and "3" is a woman. If both are men or both are women, it is still five, not four and a half or four and three quarters. That is not equality. Even I know enough arithmetic to know that is the case. It is a cause for concern. That is why I am glad that we got through today. There will be a vote. The members of the Government parties will vote not in favour of my proposal but clearly in favour of civil partnership. That is an advance. We have done that, at least, by raising the bar. I would like the Minister of State to bring back to his Cabinet colleagues a request for us to be given details of the timing of this move.

I am glad that Margaret Gill, who gave a remarkable performance on "Prime Time", was mentioned. Mrs. Gill is from Edenderry, County Offaly, which is the heart of Ireland. I am proud to say that my family also comes from the bogs of Ireland, which is the real Ireland. The woman in question expressed her concern for her grandchild. There is clear evidence that the love of a parent for his or her child — the parent's capacity to give love to the child to help him or her to grow — is central to good parenting. It was interesting that neither of the Senators who spoke against equality mentioned the word "love", which is what we want. As gay people, we are entitled to celebrate our sexuality. We do not want it to be neutered.

I agree with Senator Ó Murchú's point that siblings must be looked after. However, we should not neuter the relationships between gay people. They should be entitled to celebrate joyfully their sexual union, express their pleasure and show their commitment to each other. It astonishes me that those very voices who used to complain about promiscuity in the gay community are now belly-aching because gay people are emphasising the importance of commitment. Such logic confuses me. Gay people were committed to each other during those evil days when homosexuality was a major criminal offence. I have been to 20th, 25th and 30th anniversary celebrations in the past year. The 25th anniversary celebration honoured my successor in the National Gay Federation, Eamonn, and his companion, Tomás. I was at a wedding in the Unitarian Church of a couple who have been known to me for many years. They lived together for five years before they were able to get married. I honour the clergyman who performed the ceremony. I do not see any reason priests should not give blessings. I have seen priests of various denominations blessing war planes, bombs, ploughs and goldfish. I do not know how the priest who blessed the goldfish knew they were not lesbian — with goldfish, it is extremely difficult to tell. We need to look beyond these things.

I urge all Members of the House to read the briefing prepared by the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, which lists the technical disadvantages faced by gay couples in areas like tax, inheritance and the giving of evidence. I honour the representatives of MarriagEquality. I have thrown myself behind what they have to say. Having mentioned Margaret Gill, I would like to mention some other wonderful people. I encourage Senators to read the article written by Terry Prone in the Irish Examiner of Monday, 18 February last. Ms Prone wrote about a wonderful, talented and committed person with whom she worked. It is only at the end of the article that one realises it is about a woman who is in a relationship with another woman. The final lines of the article read:

I still hope to attend a wedding in the not too distant future. Of my gay friend. The girl who designed a calendar in memory of her mother.

It is a tribute to love, as is a marvellous article by Róisín Ingle in The Irish Times about Orla Howard, her partner Gráinne and Gráinne's daughters. The article states:

Seventeen-year-old Clare O'Connell knew exactly the message she wanted to get across to her local TDs when she and her family met them to discuss the issue of same-sex marriage in Leinster House earlier this week. We go to school and play basketball and listen to music. We eat pasta and do our homework. It's not radical, we don't live in a hippy commune and the only difference is that we have two women as parents. I just want to know whether the politicians think it's right that my Mum and her partner are not allowed to get married. I just want them to see that our family is normal, almost boring, really.

The photograph that accompanied the article shows us that the two girls are lovely. It is clearly a happy, joyful, good and wholesome family. The final lines of the article read:

"I think people are afraid of the unknown", says Clare, while Daire says that living with two women as parents has made her and her sister very open-minded. "There are people around the country who might never have even met a gay person and so they might have concerns about us having gay parents, but look at me and Daire, we are not that bad are we?" Not bad at all.

Those who think they have never met a gay person can take it from me that they have. Every Member of this House has a gay member of his or her family. A Member of the other House who used to regularly rail against gay people approached me in the car park of Leinster House approximately two years ago to tell me that his son had told him he was gay. When I asked the Deputy what he had said to his son, he told me he had said, "I love you. You are my son and you will always be my son. You will always have my love". I think that was the right thing to say. Is it not extraordinary how things can come home to roost in such a manner?

It is important that I refer to the American Psychiatric Association's statement which states:

No research has shown that the children raised by lesbians and gay men are less well adjusted than those reared within heterosexual relationships. As the population ages, the denial of legal recognition of civil marriage has consequences for increasing numbers of older adults in same-sex relationships who face age-related health and financial concerns. Excluding these adults from civil marriage protections of survivorship and inheritance rights, financial benefits, and legal recognition as a couple in health care settings increases the psychological burden associated with aging. The American Psychiatric Association has historically supported equity, parity, and non-discrimination in matters that have an impact on mental health. APA has also supported same-sex civil unions and the right of same-sex couples to adopt and co-parent children.

I accept that I may have been slightly shrill and emotional earlier in this debate. I said that some people are mean-minded and I do not take a word of it back. The contribution made by my friend, Senator Walsh, was a classic example of what I am talking about. Is it not mean-minded to say we cannot give tax equality to homosexuals because it would cost money? Darling, I pay taxes too. If fairies were exempt from paying tax, I would forget about marriage. If the Government gets rid of income tax for gay people, I will accept Senator Walsh's position on this issue. With respect, I will not take any guff from him until he does that.