Northern ireland gay rights association
On 11th February , nearly a century after the partition of Ireland, the first same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland took place between Robyn Peoples and Sharni Edwards-Peoples. The Belfast ceremony followed the enactment of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act , a measure occasioned by a suspended Northern Ireland Executive, Westminster intercession, and inspired by human rights concerns.
This uniformity of standards across the United Kingdom was overdue, marking some six years since equivalent marriage had been legitimized in England, Wales, and Scotland. Marriage equality in Northern Ireland likewise lagged behind the equivalent judgment south of the Irish border, which had been provided for by common referendum in
Robyn Peoples (left) and Sharni Edwards make a toast during their wedding in Loughshore hotel in Carrickfergus. Photograph: Mark Marlow/EPA courtesy of The Guardian, 11th February
This was not the first time that ‘external’ governance would force Northern Ireland to shift its stance on LGBTQ+ rights. In , fifteen years after the Sexual Offences Act , the partial decriminalisation of male homosexuality was extended to Northern Ireland after a Be
Decriminalisation of homosexual acts Northern Ireland
When were homosexual acts decriminalised in Northern Ireland?
The Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order , No. (N.I. 19), decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men with consent, aged 21 or over. It came into force on 8 December It brought the law in Northern Ireland in line with England and Wales (Sexual Offences Act ) and Scotland (Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act ).
Why had there been change in England, Wales and Scotland?
In the Home Office asked Sir John Wolfenden to create a committee to counsel on the reform of laws around homosexuality. (There were representatives of institutions from England, Wales and Scotland but none from Northern Ireland). Wolfenden’s state in recommended that lgbtq+ sex was a confidential matter and should be decriminalised. Ten years later the Labour Government turned the Wolfenden report recommendations into law in England and Wales. Thirteen years after that an amendment to the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act brought the law in Scotland in line with England and Wales.
Who campaigned for decriminalisation in Northern Ireland after ?
Campaigning groups started much later
Ireland, Fighting Oppression- Pt IV: The Struggle for Queer and Lesbian Rights (&#;80&#;s-&#;90&#;s)
This is a part of a series of articles. Read the intro here, part I here, part II hereand part III here
In the Republic of Ireland became the first country in the earth to introduce equal marriage for gay and sapphic couples though a referendum of the whole population. In equal marriage was introduced in Northern Ireland by the United Kingdom Government after legislation was blocked in the Belfast Assembly by the Unionist parties. By this occasion Pride marches in Dublin and Belfast were attracting 10s of s. A new era had seemingly arrived.
It is difficult now to fully comprehend what went before. As recently as a worldwide survey of 40 countries demonstrated that Northern Ireland, and Greece, were the most homophobic countries in the ‘Western’ world.[1] “Homosexual acts” were illegal until the s in the North, and the s in the South. The journey to the introduction of equal marriage was foreshadowed by campaigns from the s onwards for the repeal of the odious Offenses Against the Person Act, and applied in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland,
The early camp
Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association
NIGRA was formed in , and initially concentrated on campaigning for gay male sex to be decriminalised, as had been done in England and Wales by the Sexual Offences Perform This provoked Rev Ian Paisley MP, then head of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Free Presbyterian Church, to form a group called "Save Ulster from Sodomy" to campaign for the law to be retained. In the end the European Court of Human Rights forced the UK government to pass the Homosexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order , which decriminalised sex between men over
P A Mag Lochlainn was president of NIGRA for many years.
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External links
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