Married gay FG councillor seeks same sex unions here (Independent)

govinda

From todays Indo:

A wind of change?

A FINE Gael councillor who has married his gay partner has called for same sex unions to be recognised under Irish law.

Peter Kelly (35), leader of the Fine Gael group in Cork Co Council, married long term boyfriend Nick Dunphy (35) in Canada at the end of last month.

The Cork man says he will not be surprised if the news causes controversy, but he is unapologetic. "I don't expect everybody to agree with me, but my approach is that I have never hidden anything. People can take me or leave me."

Mr Kelly said people would have the opportunity to make their feelings known when he stands for re-election in June.

"I will be very much standing [for election] on the work I have done in the area. Whether I am married or gay will not be an issue. I am what I am and I am not changing that. If people like what I do and what I represent, they will vote for me," said Mr Kelly, a one-time PD councillor who defected to Fine Gael in 2000.

He says the ban on same sex unions here "makes it clear that gay people are the last group that it is OK to discriminate against. When you fall in love with somebody who happens to be the same sex it is a fundamental issue of human rights that you should be allowed to marry them."

The couple will shortly approach the Revenue to seek assessment as a married couple. "We already have a family drug card from the health board. It would be financially advantageous to us as a family to be jointly assessed. Obviously the inheritance tax issue as a result of marriage would also be important."

Mr Kelly said that he and Nick, from Kildare, had been thinking about getting married for some time.

In December the Cork politician had spent six weeks working on the Howard Dean presidential campaign in the US. The couple then decided to travel to Canada to marry.

"We went to the local credit union and got a marriage licence for $100 which gives you a three-month window to get married. We did have to show our passports but it was surprisingly casual. All we needed then were two witnesses, a marriage commissioner and a venue."

They stayed in The Counting Sheep Inn in Mission, near Vancouver. "It was advertised as a little sheep farm but there were only five sheep, so it sounded more romantic than it was!"

The guesthouse owner agreed to be a witness and organised a friend of hers to come along.

The pair were married by a female marriage commissioner in a "standard civil wedding". "It was quite simple really and very emotional for both of us. Afterwards we had a few bottles of champagne," he said.

Alison O'Connor
Political Correspondent

tendofan

Well good luck to both of them! :-)
I just wish people would use the term civil union instead of marriage, to avoid the religious connotations.

Tendofan
- That's "Mr. Puff" to you.

Annasopra

Yes but they did actually officially marry