The Civil Partnership Bill addresses many of the problems faced by gay people in long-term relationships, and should be welcomed
TODAY THERE are thousands of lesbian and gay couples living in committed and loving relationships all over Ireland. Like in any other family, these relationships span many years, with couples looking after each other, caring for their children and their families, and actively contributing to all aspects of Irish society. Yet the law has rarely recognised these relationships.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen) strongly welcomes the publication of the Civil Partnership Bill, which will for the first time provide recognition of and comprehensive protections for same-sex couples under Irish legislation.
This is a reform which has extensive political and public support. All political parties in their general election manifestos in 2007 committed to giving legal recognition and protections to same-sex couples, and the programme for government was committed to bringing forward civil partnership.
Opinion polls over the last number of years have consistently shown more than 80 per cent of the public have supported legal recognition for same-sex couples.
The Civil Partnership Bill follows extensive public discussion and analysis on the issues in the media, in both houses of the Oireachtas and by a range of policy bodies, including the Government Working Group on Domestic Partnership (the Colley Group), the Law Reform Commission and the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution.
Some of the most striking aspects of the 2007 Dáil debate on civil unions for same-sex couples were the personal stories which politicians from all parties told about the importance of legal recognition for individual lesbian and gay people. The dominant theme of same-sex partnership ceremonies, noted one TD, was happiness, joy and celebration, not just for the couple but also for their family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues.
There were, however, other stories, such as that of a funeral which another TD attended in his own constituency, at which the long-term partner of the deceased was seated in the side aisle of the church, relegated to the status of a bystander.
The contrast of happiness and celebration with the serious difficulties that arise for couples due to lack of legal status and protection is familiar to most lesbian and gay people and their families. Grieving partners can find themselves unable to stay in their shared home if their partner dies suddenly, without having left a will.
Irish emigrants have been unable to return home with their same-sex partner because their relationship is not recognised in immigration law and regulations. Partners who have supported each other financially throughout their lives often have no means of passing on to their surviving partner the pension they have contributed to all their lives.
Lack of status, as noted in the Dáil debates, can have a particular impact at times of illness or death, as partners find themselves excluded from hospital visits or from the funeral of their partner.
Civil Partnership will address these and many other urgent and pressing issues which lesbian and gay couples now face. It will establish a legal status and standing for same-sex relationships and a comprehensive set of supports, protections and enforceable obligations on the part of civil partners that are comparable to those available to married couples.
A major area of concern for Glen, however, is the lack of progress made in providing legal recognition for the large number of same sex couples, especially women, who are co-parenting children. For example, dissolution of a civil partnership can be obtained without the legal requirement to make any specific provisions for the children being parented by the couple.
Nor will a child being parented by a same-sex couple – unlike a child being parented by an opposite-sex couple – be able to claim maintenance from a partner who is not their biological parent. This will seriously disadvantage children living in these situations, and we strongly urge the Government to address these gaps as the legislation is progressed.
Lesbian and gay people have a legitimate aspiration to civil marriage. This was acknow-ledged by the Government’s working group, the Colley Group, when it stated that civil marriage for same-sex couples would achieve equality of status with opposite-sex couples and underpin a wider equality for gay and lesbian people. This is Glen’s position.
The Colley Group also recognised the need for immediate progress to meet the urgent and pressing needs of same-sex couples, which could be delivered through full civil partnership. The Civil Partnership Bill and the associated Finance and Social Welfare Bills will address many of these urgent and pressing issues, with the very critical exception of legal recognition and protection for children and parents.
Civil Partnership is a historic reform that will quickly deliver positive, concrete change in the lives of many people. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform Dermot Ahern, and the Government are to be congratulated on getting us to this point.
Anyone who was in the Dáil and Seanad for the debates in 1993 on gay law reform will agree that the sense from our legislators was that they were celebrating a national achievement with delight.
This Bill is a similarly powerful and historic law reform measure. To quote Mervyn Taylor, the minister for equality and law reform in 1993: “What could be more important for us as legislators than to create a climate and space where two people who have chosen each other can express their love?”
Eoin Collins is director of policy change at Glen, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, and a member of the Colley Working Group