The same-sex marriage referendum debate

[Hardy]

Just to kick it off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kzB6cPuQI

[seafoid]

Just to kick it off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kzB6cPuQI

When Aenghus Mac Grianna was on the front page of the RTE Guide with his beau I think this referendum became a certainty. Unimaginable even 10 years ago. This is a massive social change.

I suspect it's being driven by under 50s especially women (who may be into celebrity news),  who may know someone in the family or the wider circle who is gay and who is not a devil and that Iona etc can huff and "puff" but they are not going to be able to stop it.

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0510/616457-anne-doyle-to-give-aengus-macgrianna-away/
"Newscaster Aengus Mac Grianna has revealed that his former colleague Anne Doyle will be giving him away during his upcoming UK wedding.
Speaking to host Ryan Tubridy on last night's The Late Late Show (May 9), 49-year-old Mac Grianna said: "The lovely Anne Doyle [is giving him away]. A true legend, but she is absolutely fabulous and I am delighted."
When asked about going to the UK to marry, he added: "Civil Partnership has been a huge step forwards but it's not marriage. It's a lesser form of marriage. Now I am free to marry, but I can only marry a women so being gay, clearly that's not going to work. So I am not free here to marry the person I love, the person I want to marry and commit to and spend the rest of my life with."

RTE are just following their people.



 

[Esmarelda]

I always assumed I'd vote yes before I heard any debate. What's putting me off is the obnoxiousness of the yes side, and by that I mean the general public in social media.
If anyone with any doubts brings up, for example, that by allowing gay marriage it's the first step to allowing polygamy, they are scoffed at.

I'll still probably vote yes but maybe I need to listen to different debates.

[BennyCake]

Just to kick it off:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-kzB6cPuQI

Ryanair shares will be down today, I reckon.

[seafoid]

Most of the arguments on both sides are here in one handy video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApuOOIv9LZY

[easytiger95]

Would be in the Yes camp myself, but never underestimate the ability of the Irish liberal/left to find a foot, shoot it off, then stick it  in their own gobs. At least with the right, you know what you're going to get - a Binchy/quinn/Iona/ Youth defence composite argubot, who starts out all reasonable but you know is only one "Panti-bliss" reference away from whipping out a crozier, mouth frothing and eyeball rolling, and regulating himself a few degenerates. Given the predictability of the playbook, you'd think Yes was a shoo-in. But guaranteed, some tone-deaf D4 eejit, with a bad case of marbles-in-mouth, will undoubtedly says something stupid, which will be wilfully misinterpreted as slaggiing off  a. Catholics b. culchies or c. Catholic culchies. Thus making the referendum a lot closer and impinging on the sanity of good people from both sides for months on end.

And then it will pass, 56% to 44%.

Get yer bets on.

[deiseach]

Would be in the Yes camp myself, but never underestimate the ability of the Irish liberal/left to find a foot, shoot it off, then stick it  in their own gobs. At least with the right, you know what you're going to get - a Binchy/quinn/Iona/ Youth defence composite argubot, who starts out all reasonable but you know is only one "Panti-bliss" reference away from whipping out a crozier, mouth frothing and eyeball rolling, and regulating himself a few degenerates. Given the predictability of the playbook, you'd think Yes was a shoo-in. But guaranteed, some tone-deaf D4 eejit, with a bad case of marbles-in-mouth, will undoubtedly says something stupid, which will be wilfully misinterpreted as slaggiing off  a. Catholics b. culchies or c. Catholic culchies. Thus making the referendum a lot closer and impinging on the sanity of good people from both sides for months on end.

And then it will pass, 56% to 44%.

Get yer bets on.

This made me smile. You can also add in the habit of liberals in debates in overselling the benefits of a change. I'm cool with the idea that gay adults should have the same rights and responsibilities as straight adults and don't need another reason to vote Yes. But no, that's never enough! We'll be hearing of the benefits of the pink euro to the hospitality sector and making Ireland a better place to visit and a flowering of cultural benefits as music and poetry are created to celebrate the occasion and the weather will be better and we'll all live longer and tooth decay will be a thing of the past and . . .

It's going to be a grind.

[ballinaman]

Did a quick poll in a whatsapp group there I'm in....11 lads and 5 girls all in 26-28 age bracket.....
14 NO, 2 YES.....2 yes's were girls.

[guy crouchback]

would this whatsapp group be north mayo nazis or something?

[Milltown Row2]

Most marriages are same sex, she's on to or you're on top

[ballinaman]

would this whatsapp group be north mayo nazis or something?

Dublin, Clare, Laois, Waterford, Kildare and Mayo represented.
What can I say, the people have spoken. Cancel the referendum.

Easy on the Nazi name calling for having a difference of opinion BTW....may not help the yes cause as easytiger and deiseach pointed out.

[Maguire01]

Hardy, stick a poll on this one, would be interesting to see the split here.

[Hardy]

Hardy, stick a poll on this one, would be interesting to see the split here.

Done.

[thewobbler]

I'm guessing a referendum on this matter would see both the lowest turnout in history and a landslide for the yes vote.

Most irish people - even those with gays in the family - aren't directly affected enough to make this worth going out of your way to vote upon, and I'd guess even those who get annoye by homosexuality aren't daft enough to think that banning marriage will have any impact on a person's sexuality.

[foxcommander]

Shouldn't hold a referendum on one topic only. How is this vote being paid for?