Irish community divided as Obama backs same-sex marriage

THIS IS FROM WIKIPEDIA IRISH GAY MARRIAGE JUST GOOGLE IT AND SEE FOR YOURSELF SEAN THE MOUTHY YANK .. SO DONT CONFUSE WHAT WE IRISH THINK AND WHAT YOU AMERICANS THINK.. '''A poll in March 2011 (by the Sunday Times/RED C), showed that 73% of people supported allowing same-sex couples marry (with 53% 'agreeing strongly' with the idea), while 60% felt that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children.[38]'''' .. SOURCE WIKIPEDIA FOR ... I REST MY CASE ;-)

Seanskelligs, majority in Ireland support it regardless of your homophobia and majority also supported divorce and still do. How does that stick in your throat?

@@@seanskelligs | May 16, 2012, 05:30 PM EDT He lost seven votes in our house because of this. There is not a snowballs chance of it being legalised in Ireland-it is ludicrous to suggest 73% of Irish people support amending the Constitution....is this the same 73% that reportedly supported divorce in 1984 when the actual vote was nearly 70% against it when it came to actually voting.Eleven years later divorce was passed by 50.9% for and49.1% against. Marriage is between one man and one woma>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT 73& OF IRISH PEOLE DO NOT AGREE WITH GAY MARRIAGE ... THE ABSOLUTE ARROGANCE OF YOU .. TYPICAL AMERICAN .. GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BECAUSE IF YOU LIVED IN IRELAND AND READ IRISH NEWSPAPERS YOU IGNORANT YANK YOU WOULD BE WISE TO THE 'FACT THAT 73% % OF IRISH PEOPLE VOTED TO ALLOW GAY MARRIAGE IN IRELAND AND THERE IS ALSO A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF PEOPLE IN FAVOUR OF PRIESTS MARRYING .. DO YOU SUMS BEFORE YOU COMMENT ABOUT WHAT HAPPENS IN MY COUNTRY BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR SILLY LITTLE LOUD MOTH COMMENTS AGAIN !!!

@@@MURPHY KNOW IT ALL Murph46 | May 16, 2012, 10:26 AM EDT HEY STEVEN IF YOU ARE SO RIGHT WHY IS GAY MARRIAGE STILL ILLEGAL IN IRELAND?>>>>>>>>>> GAY PEOPLE HAVE CIVIL PARTNERSHIPS IN IRELAND AND EQUAL RIGHTS AND ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MARRIAGES COMES INTO IRELAND LIKE IT IS LEGAL IN ALOT OF OTHER COUNTRIES IN EUROPE LIKE SPAIN AND SWEDEN ... ANYWAYS THATS NOT MY POINT MY ISSUE IS WITH THE HEADING OF THIS ARTICLE THE PROBLEM OF GAY MARRIAGE IS NOT WITH IRISH PEOPLE ITS WITH AMERICANS ....... THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY IS DIVIDED ... I TAKE GREAT OFFENSE TO AMERICANS CALLING THEMSELVES IRISH AND I TAKE OFFENSE TO THIS HEADING AS IT DOES NOT REPRESENT IRISH PEOPLE WHO ARE IN IRELAND ...... IF THIS NEWSPAPER WAS PUBLISHED IN IRELAND OR IF MORE IRISH CITIZENS OVER HERE IN IRELAND KNEW IT EVEN EXISTED AND WHAT IS BEEN SAID ABOUT US IRISH PEOPLE I THINK THERE WOULD BE ALOT OF ANNOYED IRISH PEOPLE HERE IN IRELAND ...

Some of you are a bit confused about marriage laws in the US. This is not surprising as it is confusing. Yes the majority of regulation comes from the state level, but for a marriage between a same-sex couple to receive all the legal protections granted in the United States, it must be approved on the Federal level. Without this, gay people cannot grant immigration permission to their foreign partners, they cannot receive Social Security Survivor benefits should their partner pass and there are hundreds of other permissions that are not granted. So this means YES, what the office of the President, Congress and the Supreme Court say about marriage on the Federal level makes a BIG difference.

He lost seven votes in our house because of this. There is not a snowballs chance of it being legalised in Ireland-it is ludicrous to suggest 73% of Irish people support amending the Constitution....is this the same 73% that reportedly supported divorce in 1984 when the actual vote was nearly 70% against it when it came to actually voting.Eleven years later divorce was passed by 50.9% for and49.1% against. Marriage is between one man and one woman

How disappointing to see someone hasn't exercised their right to vote for 20 years. In so many countries of the world people are fighting for that right. It should never be taken for granted and the right should always be exercised. One vote can made a difference.

it should be a FEDERAL LAW, making it possible for ALL those of LEGAL CONSENTING AGE can marry those whom they LOVE...either same-sex, hetro-sexual or inter-racial marriage....we're talking about EQUAL CIVIL HUMAN RIGHTS here....LOVE IS LOVE, NO MATTER THE GENDER OR RACE OF THOSE INVOLVED. ALISA

i'm glad the president of the USA came out in support of same-sex marriage....marriage is a CIVIL RIGHT...you need a MARRIAGE LICENSE to get married even in churchs to make it LEGAL....marriage isn't about religion, it's about LOVE...and we shouldn't be making laws according to the bible. alisa

Talk about "revolving," kaydog1? You should be talking about Romney: When Romney ran for the Senate in 1994, he wrote to the Log Cabin Republicans, "I am more convinced than ever ... as we seek to establish full equality for America's gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent." In 2005, he opposed both same-sex marriage and civil unions for gays. Last year, on the Piers Morgan show, Romney answered a question about which gay rights he supported: "Equal rights in employment, equal rights in, I mean, for instance, as the Governor, I had members of my team that were gay." And last Nov. he said, "but certainly I would defend the Defense of Marriage Act which the current president has refused to defend. I believe that the Defense of Marriage Act was well constructed and should be maintained." That last comment tells me that Romney can't read the US Constitution well enough to even think about holding a national office.

Yes, BytheBay, in 2010, the GOP takeover of the state houses gave liberals, as Obama said, a "shellacking." Conservatives know that they will not be in office long, so they lose no time in enacting the most regressive legislation they can invent. But the November election will restore the will of the people in Wisconsin and some other beleaguered states (I hope). Gallup and Pew polls tell us that the majority of Americans support marriage equality and support is very strong among younger voters. The future is in the hands of the younger voters! We can only hope that they make their voices heard soon.

eiriamach, 30 of your states have legislated against same sex marriages. That's not equality at all.

kaydog1, as president, Obama lacks the constitutional authority to make same-sex marriage legal. He ended 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' for the military, and he directed the Dept. of Justice not to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. (Repealing DOMA is Congress' responsibility; nullifying its provisions comes under Supreme Court authority.) Now Obama has used the influence of his office to speak to state legislatures. That's where the battle will be waged. Perhaps Obama can do more, but he cannot accomplish national legalization of marriage equality, and gays and lesbians know that, while you apparently do not know much. Brendan Fay's words about the impact of Obama's support on gay youth state what I believe was Obama's most important contribution on the issue--and perhaps his motive as well.

Obama was FOR gay marriage in 1998. Obama was AGAINST gay marriage in 2008. Obama is now FOR gay marriage. That's not 'evolving', that's 'REVOLVING'. I do agree that this is not about getting votes - it is about getting MONEY, BIG GAY MONEY! Donations have been pouring in from gay simpletons who believe that even though Obama gave them nothing to reward their support in 2008, that this time, THIS time, THIS TIME !!! Obama will make gay marriage legal. Well my friends, OF COURSE he will. You just have to send Obama every penny you can scrape together, and then you have to just concetrate REALLY, REALLY hard. Most importantly of all, you have to BELIEVE! HAHAHAHAHA!

As I noticed in comments on the story about the L.I. Irish lad who's the only boy on his field hockey team, Obama's recent support for same-sex marriage seems to have "outed" people who get their kicks from making homophobic and sexist remarks. That effect, I take it, is evidence that Obama's words influence how people think about equality and justice. PhlutieP and Skibberrean are having hysterical fits as they realize there will soon be fewer people for them to beat up on verbally when LGBTs have full equality under the law. @STEVENSTAR, enough of your sweeping generalizations! The majority of Americans, including Irish-descended ones, support marriage equality. Don't be duped by the bigotry you read in some IC comboxes; read the stats so you won't make simple minded comments.