While no date has yet been officially confirmed for the spring’s upcoming referendum on marriage equality, viagra UCD’s political societies have all already announced their intentions to campaign for a Yes vote. The Kevin Barry Cumann, illness UCD Labour, ask The Socialist Workers Student Society and UCD Young Fine Gael have each told The College Tribune that they intend to fight for marriage equality in 2015.
The Kevin Barry Cumann, the UCD branch of Ógra Fianna Fáil, has stated that they have taken this position as a society because “as a republican party, one of our core values is that of equality”. This week the society’s chair Eden McLaughlin informed The College Tribune that, “We believe that it is a basic human right to be free from discrimination. People in this state should be born as equals, free from persecution, injustice and intolerance and this is a small stepping stone to achieving this”. This was a view that was shared by Lorcan Mellows, secretary of the Socialist Workers Student Society, who noted that “the notion of marriage equality has become commonly accepted is undeniably a positive step; however it is in no way an end point in the struggle for lgbtq liberation”.
Mellows and the SWSS have chosen to take a more philosophical view on the subject than the other parties, as he told this paper that “of course we’re in favour of marriage equality. However we would consider the institute of marriage inherently oppressive, used to reproduce the model of the nuclear family, an integral cog of capitalism”. In addition to this Mellows, whose society is the UCD branch of the Socialist Workers Party, was quick to point out that this had been a long term goal for his movement, rather than a reaction to recent national poll results. “Socialists have consistently argued for marriage equality,” he noted, “not only when it had become acceptable to do so”.
Grace Williams, chair of the UCD branch of Labour Youth, echoed the call for equality for the Irish LGBTQ+ community. “Our belief in an equal and just society in Ireland is strongly cemented by our dedication to the promotion of equal rights for all” she told The College Tribune. Williams also took the opportunity to point to how the state needed to further sever ties with Catholic doctrine. “The religious ideology which strongly influences the concept of a traditional marriage has no place in an Ireland which claims to separate church and state. We can no longer claim to be a free state while regulating the relationships of those who live, love and work in this country”, she explained, “This is why we support marriage equality”.
These views were also supported by Richard Looby, the chair of the UCD branch of Young Fine Gael. “UCD YFG is totally in favour of Marriage equality. For me the clue is in the title, it’s an equality issue. We don’t believe in judging people based on their race, class or colour, least of all their sexual orientation.” Looby chose to focus on the effect the currents laws would have on the future of those in the gay community if said laws were not changed. “For me personally, I find it unacceptable in this day and age, that some of my friends, classmates and colleagues are not afforded the same rights to marriage as I am”.
The Kevin Barry Cumann have also called on the other political societies to work together to fight for marriage equality. “We are hoping to campaign under the general Ógra banner. However, on campus, we plan on working with other political societies to ensure a yes vote”, stated McLaughlin. “This is an issue above party politics and we believe that all parties should put their differences aside to secure a yes vote”.
