22 February 2015

Irish Same-sex Marriage referendum 22nd May 2015 thoughts and THAT leaflet

I just spotted posts about this leaflet - http://www.her.ie/life/they-will-still-contract-cancers-earlier-in-life-the-anti-gay-leaflet-circulating-in-dublin-today-opposing-same-sex-marriage/219789 it's making the rounds in Dublin at the moment, stating that same-sex couples "will still contract cancers earlier in life" and that their life expectancy is 60 and such.

Funny the things you can do with numbers, like only 0.03% of Irish people will actually avail of this legislation. That may be true I'm not sure how many LGBT people there are in Ireland. (1300 people? Doesn't sound right) I think all will benefit; there was a great video put up recently after Alabama passed similar legislation wherein a guy walked about with a camera and showed that everything was still intact, the countryside wasn't in flames or anything. There has been so much benefit and cultural catharsis from just letting go of old hatred and fear. This country would be terribly scarred if a bunch of American-funded fundamentalist Irish Christians attacked an LGBT group while campaigning for this referendum (or vice versa, which I doubt, given the good performance in NUI Galway recently at the sit down protest of the Christian Society's hate campaign).

This leaflet also claims that they suffer from higher rates of depression and suicide, certainly not helped by the oppression they face every day, real or imagined. I think I can understand the anxiety they must be facing before they leave the house alone or with their partner. Numbers again: if as the paper says there are 1300 LGBT people in Ireland and half suffer depression say, that's 650 people, how does that compare to the thousands who suffer across the island? I am not trying to diminish the plight of LGBT people but the logic of the people behind this pamphlet is weak.

Oh, 8 out of 10 children in male-female parent households are successful? Is this information taken from the studies that go back as far as 1993 when homosexuality was decriminalised in this country, or based on other countries which only ended such legislation in recent decades? There is very little data gathered on same sex parents I assume in the last century, and given the liberalisation of the last few decades it will be another few years before a study is made. I am guessing it will show something similar: 8 out of 10 same sex parent households raise successful children or whatever, but there will still be a small and weirdly organised minority in this country who will produce leaflets demonising same sex couples for that 2 out of 10 fail rate.

I am an Ally, an Atheist, a supporter of legalising drugs to kill the black market and defeat the dealers, pro-emigration, pro-EU, pro-choice, social democracy supporter and a number of other things besides. And that leaflet makes me ashamed to be Irish.

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