Politics
Friday August 4, 2006
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Irish Lesbians Using Canadian “Marriage” to Impose Same-Sex “Marriage” on Ireland
By Peter J. Smith
DUBLIN, August 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A court hearing has been set for two Irish women who are attempting to force the Irish government to recognize their Canadian same-sex “marriage”.
The Irish case comes on the heels of a UK High Court decision that denied a similar petition to a British couple.
Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan, both homosexual activists, used Canada’s same-sex “marriage” laws in order to “marry” on September 13, 2003.
Dr. Zappone is a public policy research consultant and member of the Human Rights Commission, while her partner Dr. Gilligan lectures at St. Patrick's College, Dublin.
This week Zappone and Gilligan, who yesterday opened up the 14th Dublin Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, were informed by the Irish High Court that they have a hearing scheduled for October 3, 2006.
Drs Zappone and Gilligan have claimed that the government and the State and the Revenue Commissioners have violated their rights under the Irish Constitution and have breached the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to recognize their Canadian “marriage“, and by failing to apply the tax law provisions otherwise enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
Should the Irish High Court refuse to recognize their Canadian “marriage”, Zappone and Gilligan will seek a declaration that they have a right to “marry” each other in Ireland. Zappone and Gilligan, undaunted by Britain’s High Court decision to uphold traditional marriage, remain confident about their case, since Ireland has no civil-union law, unlike the United Kingdom.
“While civil partnership might allow same sex couples a broad range of marriage-like privileges, it does not confer equality of status and equality of rights on all Irish citizens,” the couple said in a statement. They pointed out that marriage has been changing in Ireland, since the once staunchly Catholic nation legalized divorce in 1997.
See related LifeSite Coverage:
UK High Court Refuses to Recognize Canadian “Marriage”; Lesbians Will Appeal to EU Court
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06073105.html
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