IRELAND: Same-Sex Marriage Activists Turn To Irish-Americans For Support

Via Cahir O'Doherty at Irish Central:

A number of top Irish LGBT equality and civil rights groups from Dublin have been holding high level meetings with influential and supportive community leaders in New York and Washington seeking their support, the Irish Voice has learned. Ireland heads to the polls in May to vote on civil marriage rights for same sex couples. In New York this St. Patrick’s Day Out@MSNBC, an LGBT group, will march under its own banner, the first group to do so since the parade ban was first implemented over two decades ago. The aims of the various Irish equality groups may differ slightly but they share crucial goals, including raising awareness about Irish LGBT equality issues, to facilitate a conversation between Ireland and America and to fundraise for the referendum. It is understood that plans are in the works to host a major fundraiser in New York within the next couple of months in an effort to support the Yes referendum campaign.

A spokesman for Ireland's Gay and Lesbian Equality Network says he's hoping that the vast Irish diaspora in America, particularly those in the Irish-heavy New England states and New York, will work with them to send the message that society hasn't been destroyed because of same-sex marriage. Of course, you don't have to be Irish to help.