The Journal on Friday last March 1st reported
that the chairman of the Constitution Convention, Tom Arnold, had urged the
public to submit any suggestions, proposals or comments they have regarding
same sex marriage.
The call for submissions comes ahead of the convention’s
examination of the issue at its next meeting on 13 April. Arnold said one of
the central principles of the convention is that it is a citizens’ forum.
“I am calling for people to engage with the convention by
making their views known on what is a very important subject for many in Irish
society today,” he said.
“We are keen that the convention’s deliberations and
subsequent decisions are properly informed. Therefore, we want to hear from all
sides of the debate regarding the proposal to make a constitutional provision
for same sex marriage.”
He said the convention was encouraging organisations,
citizens and the disapora to make their voices heard.
Submissions, proposals and comments must be received by 19
March, 2013 and can be made on the convention’s website.
We would encourage all our Irish readers to make submissions
on this issue because the experience of legalising marriage for same-sex
couples in Europe and North America shows that such legalisation has negative
effects for real marriage and for families and it is vital to be able to access
the latest evidence for the purpose of the consultation.
The evidence for this was recently presented to the House of
Commons committee examining the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, in a written
submission by Dr Patricia Morgan, the British family policy researcher, on
behalf of SPUC. The submission can be read in full on this link
Based on research and data from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the
Netherlands, Spain, Canada and the US, Dr Morgan concluded that:
•
as marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, this reinforces the
idea that marriage is irrelevant to parenthood
• same-sex
marriage leads to the casualisation of heterosexual unions and separation of
marriage and parenthood
• Spain
saw a pronounced acceleration in the decline of marriage following the
introduction of same-sex marriage (same-sex marriage was introduced at the same
time as the ‘express divorce bill’)
• across
all countries analysed, no causal link has been established to support the idea
that same-sex marriage prevents marital decline
• in
the move to same-sex marriage, opposite-sex relationships have to conform to
gay norms rather than vice-versa
• a
publicly-professed, legal, partnership does not prevent homosexual couples from
breaking up more frequently than married heterosexual couples
• experience
with same-sex partnerships/marriage legislation tends to suggest that
availability is all, and participation more or less irrelevant to sexual
minorities
• same-sex
marriage may be the end-game of long-running anti-marriage, anti-family policy
typified by Sweden
• same-sex
marriage may begin the process of severing marriage from family in otherwise
family-friendly societies such as Spain and the Netherlands
same-sex marriage triggers dismemberment of family
structures in family-friendly societies.
