Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and thank her for bringing forward this Bill. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the response I received from family, friends, people throughout Ireland and people from far afield when I told my personal story as the parent of a gay son on a recent radio interview to the media and at a presentation I made down the country recently. Many said, "Fair play to you, Eamonn", but this was not about me. This really was not about my son. This was about civil rights.

I heard parents' stories about sons or daughters when they came out, and how those parents dealt with the situations with which they were faced. The first and most important thing they did was to embrace them with their love and care which gave them all the support necessary for the future.

I have heard people say to me that Ireland needs a wake-up, Ireland must move on and this is not Ireland of the 1800s and the 1900s where traditions and values were much different than they are now. They say Ireland is a dynamic country, with a younger generation who think much differently than their parents and grandparents. This generation's attitude towards the lesbian and gay community is completely different and is wholly accepted in this modern Ireland.

I also heard a couple of sad stories. One, in particular, was of how the parents of a girl who came out disowned her because she was a lesbian. Where was their love for their daughter, who has now been adopted by the godmother?

This referendum is all about equality. It is all about civil rights. It is all about granting equal rights to all citizens of Ireland to marry who they love regardless of their sexual orientation, and is it not great to think that Ireland will be the first country in the world to hold a popular vote on marriage equality? Other countries and states in the United States have passed legislation in this regard, but this will go to the people of Ireland to decide.

It has been a long journey for the lesbian and gay community's rights, ever since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1993 and the introduction of civil partnership in 2011, but this referendum will be monumental in Ireland. When passed, it will show how modern Ireland is.

It is only in recent weeks that I myself have begun to question what is marriage. Marriage is a unique legal status, conferred and recognised by governments throughout the world. Marriage brings obligations, rights and protections. In confirming that a person and his or her partner love each other, marriage is the ultimate expression of love and commitment. No other word has that power and no other word can provide that protection.In Ireland, the family based on marriage is protected by the Constitution from attack and must be guarded with special care. That applies to the marriage of heterosexuals, a man and a woman. It does not apply to man and man or woman and woman. The Civil Partnership Act 2010 had cross-party support. However, this referendum on marriage equality is required to alter the Supreme Court definition of marriage, currently between a man and a woman, to ensure it cannot be changed by the Supreme Court in the future. Governments referred to the Constitutional Convention on the issue and it voted overwhelmingly for the change in the Constitution that "marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex".

There are 160 statutory differences between civil partnership and civil marriage. Some of them have already been dealt with - taxation and financial affairs, for example. However, many other inequalities remain and they must be addressed. Passing this referendum will help that. It is about how the Government should treat citizens and how the laws on marriage should be enforced. People who oppose this have nothing to fear. It will not affect their lives in any way. It will not affect marriage between a man and a woman. People will have to separate in their minds religious and civil marriage ceremonies. This referendum is not about the people who may want to vote "No". It is about their friends, their family, their neighbours and people in their community. It is about giving citizens in the lesbian and gay community their civil rights. It is about their freedom to marry the one they love and giving them similar legal protection and family security to that of a married man and woman today, to love, cherish and protect each other.

My comments last week have already been a life-changing experience for my family. For my son in particular, I notice the relief from the burden borne and the guilt. I notice that the feeling that he is different has been completely removed from him. His happiness grows visibly with every passing hour because now he knows that he is who he is, that he was born this way and that he is 100% accepted by his mom, his dad, his family and his community. Only one challenge remains not for my son, but for our community, namely, for the people to decide on 22 May in this referendum to give people their civil rights, to allow them to marry and to allow them to be recognised as human beings. They deserve the right to equality and the right to love.