The Ryan Line - Random Musings on Law and Life

For some years now, Northern Ireland has been debating the introduction of marriage for same-sex couples.   Polls show strong support for such reform amongst the public.   A majority in the Assembly now supports change but, due to the lack of sufficient cross community support in the chamber, equal marriage currently remains elusive.   England and Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and the Republic of Ireland have all extended marriage to same sex couples. This may be a persuasive factor.  That said, the fact that ‘everyone else is doing it’ is not a compelling reason in itself to follow suit.  Northern Ireland must decide for itself. While the prospect of same-sex couples marrying may seem radical to some, I suggest that it is in fact a relatively modest proposal.  Same-sex couples in Northern Ireland may already enter into civil partnership, and have been able to do so for 11 years now.  Civil partners enjoy virtually all of the same rights ...

Many states offer asylum to people who claim that they are likely, if returned to their home country, to suffer persecution on the grounds of their sexual orientation. As exhibited by recent events in Malawi and Uganda, many countries still view homosexual identity as anathema, and seek to criminalise even private, consensual adult expressions of affection between persons of the same sex. (Before rushing to condemn such states, it is worth recalling that it is less than 20 years since Ireland removed similar laws from its statute books.) Happily, the Refugee Act 1996 expressly mentions 'sexual orientation' as one of the grounds on which a person may plead that they will be persecuted if returned to their country of origin. The Irish Act expressly defines "membership of a particular social group" as including membership of a trade union as well as "membership of a group of persons whose defining characteristic is their belonging to the female or the male sex or h...