Marriage Equality - Please stay active on this until law's implemented

SpaceTime

I just want to open a new thread on this because I think it's really important.
Over the next few months the legislation to implement marriage equality in Ireland will pass through the Dail and Seanad and be debated.

The constitutional amendment establishes the right, but the legislation will be what controls the nitty gritty of how it is actually implemented.

While I know that it's highly unlikely that anyone's going to do anything sneaky and that in all likelihood this will be a very positive piece of legislation, it's really important that everyone with an interest in this (and that's actually a lot of straight people too) monitors it very carefully and flags anything that needs to be highlighted or brought to light.

So, please stay engaged and keep an eye on the debate, the draft bills and feel 100% free to contact TDs and ministers if there's something not quite right about anything.

It might be no harm to keep a thread rolling here with details of the bill as it tracks through the houses over the coming months.

In all likelihood it will go through rather quickly and without controversy as it's a government bill with large support beyond FG and Labour, but just just keep one eye on it.

Daith

Alan Shatters piece in the Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/alan-shatter-law-should-prevent-discrimination-against-those-in-gay-marriage-1.2237806

SpaceTime

Don't forget that there are two legal challenges going on to the results of the referendum at the moment too.

I assume that both are likely to fail. There's usually a couple of obscure cases taken against most referenda here, so it's nothing new.

Worth watching though!

lemon_sherbert

Here's hoping the challengers don't get leave to proceed today. The challenge relating to the Children's Referendum led to a two year delay in it coming into force. The grounds seem very tenuous though, so hopefully they won't get leave to challenge the result and it all gets resolved quickly.

pl4ichjgy17zwd

Rejected

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/challenge-to-same-sex-marriage-result-rejected-1.2238655

ixoy

Wilder Great Tick wrote: »

Rejected

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/challenge-to-same-sex-marriage-result-rejected-1.2238655

Ha ha! 😀

Fleawuss

"The people have expressed in a very clear way their sovereign will." Copies to Iona, the hierarchy, Cardinal Burke and that anti democratic priest in Mayo who attempted to challenge yes voters.

Ten of Swords

The judge also dismissed other arguments by Mr Lyons that those citizens who did not vote had in effect voted No and therefore the sovereign people had not approved this amendment.

pl4ichjgy17zwd

Ten of Swords wrote: »

If anything, if somebody didn't vote because they didn't care, it's more of a lean towards a yes since they don't feel strongly enough to try and hinder it. Of course it would be ridiculous to say it's for either side, since those people just didn't vote or make their voices heard.

Probably the stupidest argument to come from all of this, and that's saying something.

If anyone out there is more familiar with how the process works, do you know when the Bill will actually become law? I know it has to go through the President first but how long is it likely take from referendum result to that stage? I wonder is it likely that he will refer it to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality?

Annasopra

I am fairly certain the President wouldnt refer constitutional amendments. Laws yes but not constitutional amendments.

Hotblack Desiato

Most constitutional amendments are put to the electorate because the thing they want to permit is, until the amendment is passed, unconstitutional.

If amendments had to be constitutional then the constitution couldn't be amended. If legislation could only permit things that were already legal then we could never amend or repeal legislation.

The government took 22 years to legislate for the X case after the 1992 referendum was passed. There was a referendum on Seanad elections passed in 1979 which still hasn't been legislated for.

But there does appear to be political will in government to legislate for this one, and quickly.

SpaceTime

[Deleted User] wrote: »

If anyone out there is more familiar with how the process works, do you know when the Bill will actually become law? I know it has to go through the President first but how long is it likely take from referendum result to that stage? I wonder is it likely that he will refer it to the Supreme Court to test its constitutionality?

It's being fast tracked.

All the referendum does is remove any constitutional ambiguity about same sex marriage. The next step is to pass actual legislation to implement it.

Frances Fitzgerald is hoping to have the whole process complete and the Marriage Bill signed into law by sometime in July.

The stages are basically Dail --- Seanad --- Signature of President.

There are various committee stages etc they can go through but unless there's something controversial in the bill, it'll fly through.
The marriage equality part certainly won't be controversial anyway and I think the government deliberately has kept this very simple and avoided sneaking anything else in.

http://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR15000152

Kiwi in IE

Wilder Great Tick wrote: »

Rejected

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/challenge-to-same-sex-marriage-result-rejected-1.2238655

What a truly pathetic attempted challenge!

Did the same apply to every other referendum ever held? Those who didn't vote should all be assumed to be voting against whatever proposal? Clearly not the brightest of the three bears those two! :P

pl4ichjgy17zwd

Kiwi in IE wrote: »

What a truly pathetic attempted challenge!

Did the same apply to every other referendum ever held? Those who didn't vote should all be assumed to be voting against whatever proposal? Clearly not the brightest of the three bears those two! :P

I saw that notion being bandied around facebook in the days leading up to and day of the referendum - people had said they'd heard it on the news etc that if they didn't vote it would be counted as a no. I have no idea what started that rumour mill but it was ridiculous how many people believed it!

Hotblack Desiato

Wilder Great Tick wrote: »

I saw that notion being bandied around facebook in the days leading up to and day of the referendum - people had said they'd heard it on the news etc that if they didn't vote it would be counted as a no. I have no idea what started that rumour mill but it was ridiculous how many people believed it!

If stupid people disenfranchise themselves due to stupid rumours, it's a win for democracy as far as I'm concerned Anything that increases the average IQ of those who vote can only be a good thing.