Ciarán Cuffe on the radio this morning spoke of the Green party needing to be “principled pragmatists” regarding the legislation recognizing civil partnerships between gay people. This is in response to Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan’s statement that the government would be publishing heads of a civil partnership Bill, providing for “a significant degree of equality” for same-sex couples, before March 2008, in contrast to the Labour Party’s Bill, listed for debate today, which refers to the rights and duties of marriage as similarly applying to parties to civil unions. Regarding the Labour Party’s bill, Lenihan said that “It is no light thing to say that this risks impugning the provisions of Article 41.3.1, which states that ‘the State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of marriage, on which the family is founded, and to protect it against attack’.

While not envious of the challenges the Greens face in government, and largely supportive of the decisions they have made so far, on this issue I believe strongly that the principle of equality is not something that can be diluted or qualified – there’s no such thing as partial equality. In particular, to extend the institution of marriage to include gay people is not an “attack” on it – it bolsters and strengthens it. This argument is effortless to support if one truly believes two things: that gay people are equal to heterosexual people, and that marriage is a good thing. If one takes into consideration what would be best for gay people – hardly a controversial position as the promised legislation is purported to be for our benefit – then encouraging gay people (and gay men in particular, who are mostly single) to form long-lasting relationships is, surely, something that would benefit society as a whole.

If Spain can introduce gay marriage, why not Ireland?