Ten years after the Marriage Equality referendum, LGBTQ+ parents and their children still don’t have equal legal protections. Activists from LGBTQ+ advocacy groups Equality for Children, Irish Gay Dads and LGBT Ireland have launched a petition calling on the Irish government to take action to implement full marriage equality.
On May 22 this year, the LGBTQ+ community will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Marriage Equality. While this milestone anniversary is fast approaching, Ireland still fails to give LGBTQ+ couples truly equal marriages.
LGBTQ+ couples who choose to become parents in Ireland face challenging situations, as their children are left in uncertain legal positions. The lack of a functioning legal framework establishing parent-child relationships with both same-sex parents has practical impacts on these families.
Children of same-sex parents face challenges and uncertainty in areas such as birth registration, citizenship provisions, childcare and/or educational provisions, access to social welfare, succession/inheritance rights and more. Furthermore, parents and children have to deal with the emotional impact of not having their family recognised as such.
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With the “Make Marriage Equality A Reality” petition, Equality for Children, Irish Gay Dads and LGBT Ireland are calling on the Irish government to amend the Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) Act and to immediately commence the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 section of the AHR Act.
If enacted, these vital pieces of legislation will ensure that children born through assisted and donor reproduction in Ireland have a pathway to a legal connection with both their LGBTQ+ parents.
“Thousands of children in Ireland, including my youngest child, are denied legal parent-child relationship with both of their parents,” said Ranae von Meding, CEO of Equality for Children.
“As we celebrate 10 years of Marriage Equality, we cannot help but reflect on the fact that we have not truly achieved equality until children born into same-sex marriages in Ireland are afforded the same protections as children born into all other marriages in Ireland.”
Seamus Kearney Martone, Chairperson of Irish Gay Dads, stated: “For gay dads in Ireland, the journey to parenthood is still filled with legal and practical barriers. We urge the government to amend and commence the Assisted Human Reproduction legislation without further delay.
“We’ve had positive discussions with the Departments of Health, Justice, and Children, and now that a new government has been formed we are committed to continuing these conversations to ensure that the voices of gay dads are heard and included in shaping this legislation. ”
Sign the petition now at this link.
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