One sentence in the constitution, decided at the ballot box
Ireland became the first country in the world to say yes to marriage equality by popular vote. Only one constituency voted against.
On 22 May 2015, the people of Ireland went to the polls to decide on a single sentence in their constitution. In future, marriage was to be possible between two persons without distinction as to their sex. Ireland thus became the first country in the world to open marriage to same-sex couples by popular vote.
The result was clear. Around sixty-two per cent voted yes; more than a million people supported the amendment to Article forty-one. Only one constituency, Roscommon-South Leitrim, voted no by a majority. All the parties in parliament had campaigned for a yes. The day after, the result was announced at Dublin Castle, where thousands had gathered. Health Minister Leo Varadkar said it had been more than a vote for him, more of a social revolution. And Taoiseach Enda Kenny called his people generous, compassionate and bold.
The contrast with the past was great. Homosexual acts had only been legal in Ireland since 1993. Senator David Norris, who had fought for equality for almost his entire adult life, said he was proud to be Irish. His colleague Katherine Zappone, who had married her wife Ann Louise Gilligan in Canada, was, in her own words, moved to her toes.
The umbrella organisation ILGA-Europe also witnessed the result on the spot, as its board was meeting in Dublin that day. It stated that human rights should not really be put to a vote. But the Irish system had made the referendum necessary, and in the end human rights had prevailed.
Only twenty-two years lay between decriminalisation and the yes at the ballot box.