This article is from page 20 of the 2009-07-14 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
A CLARE gay and lesbian group had criticised sections of the new Civil Partnership Bill, describing it as “upsetting” and reinforcing the idea that gay people are outsiders on the margins of society.
The bill, which was proposed last week by Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, aims to create a limited form of civil partnership for both same-sex and heterosexual couples. The Gay
Clare Group last week welcomed the bill in general, describing it as a good first step, but raised serious questions about some aspects of the proposed legislation.
“An upsetting aspect of the civil partnership legislation is that the Government has totally ignored les- bian and gay parents and their chil- dren,” said a spokesperson from the Gay Clare Group.
“In reality all children should have equal access to their parents and
vice-versa, and should have the same rights as all children in Ireland. Fur- thermore, a same-sex couple will not be eligible to be considered to adopt a child under civil partnership, not even the child of their registered civil er Dunas
“The bill reinforces that belief that we are outsiders on the margins of society.
“The fact that through this bill the Government has given us ‘some’ rights but not equal rights, and en-
sures that lesbian and gay relation- ships will be regarded as inferior to married couples.
“Lesbians and gay men should be entitled to the same rights and re- sponsibilities as their straight coun- terparts. We are calling on the gov- ernment to provide lesbians and gay men with equality by providing ac- cess to civil marriage.”
Meanwhile, new figures released yesterday show that 80 per cent of people in Munster believe that every-
one living in Ireland should receive equal treatment from the State re- gardless of whether they are straight, lesbian or gay.
Indeed, 59 per cent of Munster people surveyed felt that denying same-sex couples the right to a civil marriage 1s a form of discrimination. The survey was carried out by the MarriagEquality Group – an organi- sation which is working for equal marriage rights for lesbians and gay men in Ireland.