GAY RIGHTS:"FUNDAMENTALIST" GROUPS in Ireland are opposed to the Lisbon Treaty because it protects the rights of gay people and other minorities, it was claimed yesterday.
The Labour Party’s Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (Labour LGBT) said the Charter of Fundamental Rights included in the treaty sought to prevent discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Speaking at the launch of Labour LGBT’s campaign for a Yes vote in Dublin yesterday, Labour’s Joe Costello said the European Union was founded on the values of respect for minorities.
“It is because of these human rights commitments for gay men and women in the European Union treaties and in Lisbon, in particular, that the fundamentalist group Cóir is so vehemently opposed to the Lisbon Treaty,” Mr Costello said.
Cóir spokesman Brian Hickey rejected the suggestion that Cóir was fundamentalist. “There are many people of different denominations and religions involved,” he said.
The group was concerned “the Charter of Fundamental Rights would be interpreted openly by the European Court of Justice and that could lead to a situation where the right for same-sex couples to marry is declared a fundamental human right. The charter says that everyone has a right to marry but they do not define who is meant by everyone,” he said.
“Cóir would be opposed to same sex marriage,”
Co-chair of Labour LGBT Niamh Hayes said provisions in the charter relating to the prevention of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity, and the guarantees regarding the rights to assemble, represented “major steps forward” for the LGBT community.