https://internationalviewpoint.org/ International Viewpoint, the monthly English-language magazine of the Fourth International, is a window to radical alternatives world-wide, carrying reports, analysis and debates from all corners of the globe. Correspondents in over 50 countries report on popular struggles, and the debates that are shaping the left of tomorrow. en SPIP - www.spip.net https://internationalviewpoint.org/local/cache-vignettes/L144xH25/siteon0-da713.png?1745245334 https://internationalviewpoint.org/ 25 144 https://internationalviewpoint.org/Ireland-s-victory-for-marriage-equality-the-birth-of-a-new-political https://internationalviewpoint.org/Ireland-s-victory-for-marriage-equality-the-birth-of-a-new-political 2015-08-05T07:49:55Z text/html en Sinead Kennedy Ireland Women LGBT <p>The Irish electorate's recent <a href="http://www.referendum.ie/results-summary.php?ref=10" class="spip_out" rel="external">resounding “yes”</a> to the question of marriage equality for LGBT people (62% of the electorate, approximately 1.2 million, voted in favour the proposal) briefly turned the international spotlight on Ireland for reasons other than its imploding economic and banking system. Ireland is the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage by popular vote. This is a significant achievement in and of itself, made all the more remarkable by the fact that it occurred in a country that did not <a href="http://www.referendum.ie/results-summary.php?ref=10" class="spip_out" rel="external">decriminalise (male) homosexual activity until 1993 (after it was compelled to by the European Court of Human Rights)</a>, and which only legalised <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifteenth_Amendment_of_the_Constitution_of_Ireland" class="spip_out" rel="external">divorce in 1995 by the narrowest of margins</a>. The Irish and international media were quick to proclaim the referendum result a victory for the forces of <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/fintan-o-toole-ireland-has-left-tolerance-far-behind-1.2223838" class="spip_out" rel="external">social liberalisation</a> that put Ireland at the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/world/europe/ireland-gay-marriage-referendum.html?_r=1" class="spip_out" rel="external">“vanguard of social change”</a> and a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/world/europe/ireland-gay-marriage-referendum.html?_r=1" class="spip_out" rel="external">defeat</a> for the Catholic Church and its once dominant hegemonic position in Irish society.</p> - <a href="https://internationalviewpoint.org/-IV487-August-2015-" rel="directory">IV487 - August 2015</a> / <a href="https://internationalviewpoint.org/+-Ireland-+" rel="tag">Ireland</a>, <a href="https://internationalviewpoint.org/+-Women-+" rel="tag">Women</a>, <a href="https://internationalviewpoint.org/+-LGBT-+" rel="tag">LGBT</a>