Norther Ireland’s DUP block gay marriage legalisation again by misusing a peace process mechanism

 
Fort the fifth time, Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, the DUP, block gay marriage from being legalised by using the petition of concern prior to Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) voting to ensure that it does not go through, even if it secures enough votes.

According to Amnesty Internationals figures almost fifty four percent of Northern Irish MLAs now support the legalisation of gay marriage in the six county country.

Director of Norther Ireland’s Amnesty International Programme, Patrick Corrigan, had this to say:

“There is now a clear majority within the Northern Ireland Assembly in favour of marriage equality. Based on our figures, even a conservative reading of voting intentions shows that there are now at least 58 MLAs in favour of legislating for equal marriage, with 49 or fewer opposed. This is a marked shift in favour of equality and brings the make-up of the Assembly significantly closer to public opinion on this issue.

“The last Assembly repeatedly failed to deliver equality for same-sex couples in Northern Ireland. The new Assembly must put that right without further delay by passing marriage equality legislation to bring us into line with the rest of the UK and Ireland. We call on MLAs from all parties to unite behind a single Marriage Equality Bill in the early stages of the new Assembly term.”

With bakeries being able to discriminate against LGBT members because of their sexuality, and no legal provision for marriage, Northern Irish LGBT members need support to force their hand to ensure the DUP block gay marriage legislation no more.

A petition to stop the DUP from using this petition of concern mechanism can be found here, with a target of twenty five thousand signatories to support the cause and over nine thousand signatures to collect at the time of writing, our Northern Irish brethren can use all the support they can get.