Marriage, Civil Partnership: What are the issues?

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Marriage:

What is Marriage?

Marriage is a public expression of deep commitment between two people.

It is a promise to love and care for each other; it is a legal contract; and it is a unique legal status conferred and recognised by the State. It is also currently the only basis on which our Constitution protects and recognises families.

For some it has a religious meaning; for others it does not. Marriage, despite the different forms it takes around the world, is a statement of love and unity that is universally understood - so much so, that it is considered a fundamental human and civil right.


Civil Marriage:

Civil Marriage is how the State recognises the decision of a couple to join their lives together.

It conveys a host of vital legal privileges; it places responsibilities on the couple toward each other and toward any children they may have; and - because it is a public act - declares to the world that two people love each other, cherish each other, and promise to remain faithfully together as long as they live.

A couple getting married in a civil ceremony takes their vows before a Civil Registrar (an official of the State). The ceremony can take place in a Civil Registry Office or in some other suitable place chosen by the couple. They declare that they are legally eligible to marry, and sign their names on the Civil Register in order to be recognised as married.

Indeed, these last two steps are compulsory for all marrying couples - whether they marry in a religious ceremony or a purely civil one.

Religious Marriage:

Religious Marriage is an optional blessing that many faiths grant to marrying couples.

Various churches and faith communities bless the commitment of couples who are getting married. There are many different forms; not all communities recognise the ceremonies of others, and many groups (such as the Catholic Church) tightly restrict who is allowed to participate. In spite of commonly-held belief, there are also faith communities who bless the commitments of gay and lesbian couples.

Despite the many different forms, all religious marriage ceremonies have one thing in common: they are not legally valid until the couple makes the legal declaration of eligibility and signs the Civil Register.

In Ireland today, 20% of couples opt for a civil ceremony without any religious blessing.

The Constitution:

Article 41.1.1

The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law.

Article 41.3.1

The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack.

These are the sections of the Irish Constitution which set out the special protection granted to the family based on marriage.

The Government claims that, because of these provisions, they are prevented from granting gay couples the right to marry. They also claim that these provisions mean any status (such as Civil Partnership) granted to gay couples cannot be equal to marriage.

For these reasons, the language of the Civil Partnership scheme makes it clear that gay and lesbian couples are to be regarded as inferior to married straight couples. A petty, but telling, example is that the partnership scheme will refer to the home of a gay couple or family as a ’shared home’ - in the case of a married opposite-sex couple, however, the home would be called a ‘family home’.

Civil marriage, the Constitution and gay couples:

Noise believes that gay and lesbian people in Ireland should be able to get married, if they wish, in a civil ceremony.

The Irish Constitution does not, in any way, define marriage as being only between a man and a woman - the language of our Constitution does not prevent or forbid same-sex marriage. Under our Constitution, being allowed to marry represents the gold standard of dignity, respect and legal protection for couples and families.

The continued exclusion of gay couples and families from the protections granted in the Constitution is grossly unjust and discriminatory - something that is acknowledged by the majority of Irish people: in a March 2009 nationwide poll conducted for MarriagEquality,
61% said that denying marriage to gay people is a form of discrimination.

Civil Partnership:

The Civil Partnership Bill will contain a two-tiered system of recognition for unmarried couples: ‘civil partnership’ for same-sex couples only; and ‘domestic partnership’ for both gay and straight couples. The outline of the Civil Partnership Bill can be downloaded from the Justice Department website (www.justice.ie).

Civil Partnership:

Civil Partnership will be a limited set of rights for gay and lesbian couples only.

Our current (and previous) Government have promised to introduce a registration scheme called ‘Civil Partnership’ for gay and lesbian couples. An outline of the scheme was published in June 2008, but a completed scheme has not yet been released.

Civil Partnership will be limited legal status open to gay couples only. It will grant certain legal rights such as next-of-kin status and property rights; it will also grant certain tax and social welfare benefits currently unavailable to same-sex couples.

Domestic partnership:

This is a limited ’safety net’ scheme being introduced for long-term cohabiting couples who do not marry (if they are a straight couple) or obtain a Civil Partnership (if they are a gay couple).

It is separate from Civil Partnership, and will be open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. It will provide certain basic protections for cohabiting couples who break up without marrying/obtaining a Civil Partnership - such as in the area of common assets and property division.

Why Not Civil Partnership?

Civil Partnership does not provide equality for gay and lesbian couples and their families. This is simply unacceptable in a modern republic.

Tax and Social Welfare:

In practical terms, the Civil Partnership proposal contains no details on the tax and social welfare benefits to be granted to gay and lesbian couples.

These will be dealt with in separate pieces of law. We have no way of knowing if these will be the same as, or different from those granted to straight couples. Will gay couples have to pay more tax? Will they be included in Social Welfare benefits like pension transfer? Considering the fact that the Social Welfare code has already been amended once (in 2005) to explicitly exclude gay couples from benefits granted to straight married and unmarried couples, there is little reason to hope the Government will treat gay couples equally if and when the partnership scheme becomes law.

Families and Children:

Civil Partnership will not recognise families headed by gay or lesbian couples.

One of the most outrageous aspects of the partnership scheme is the complete lack of any rights for - indeed, any mention of - gay parents and their children. Our Constitution states that, for the purposes of Irish law, family life is based in marriage.

The language of the partnership scheme completely and deliberately ignores the existence of families headed by gay and lesbian couples. It offers no way for parents to create protected legal bonds with each other or with their children, and offers children no right to a legal relationship with their two mums or two dads.

This complete lack of recognition of gay families causes serious risks to their well-being.

Civil Partnership denies parents the right to make educational and medical decisions for their children; it denies them the right to visit their children in hospital; it denies them custody and visitation should the adult relationship break down.

It denies children of gay parents the right to maintenance, hospital visits and inheritance from their parents; in the tragic event of a biological parent dying, a child could end up in State care as his second mum or dad is seen as a legal stranger; as adults it can deny them the right to make vital medical decisions for elderly or infirm parents.

Separate and Unequal - Second Class Citizenship:

Civil Partnership excludes gay and lesbian people from a fundamental civil and human right - the right to marry the one they love.

It is a second-rate registration scheme which reinforces the view that gay people do not belong at the heart of society, but instead should be kept on the margins. Noise believes that, even if partnership offered all the benefits of marriage, it would still be discrimination - we, as gay and lesbian people living in Ireland, should have access to the same recognition, dignity and respect that is afforded by right to our straight brothers and sisters.

Let there be an end to such apartheid - we call on the Irish Government to take the same brave, fair step as their counterparts in Spain, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands and Canada: pass a law opening the choice of civil marriage to gay and lesbian people in Ireland.

Separate is NEVER EQUAL and NEVER FAIR.

GAY CIVIL MARRIAGE NOW!