Abortion, gay rights, and the national gay federation in Ireland, 1982–1983
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1043-4070; 1535-3605
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Journal of the history of sexuality, 2020, Vol. 29, No. 1, OnlineOnly
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MCDONAGH, Patrick James, Abortion, gay rights, and the national gay federation in Ireland, 1982–1983, Journal of the history of sexuality, 2020, Vol. 29, No. 1, OnlineOnly - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/65627
Abstract
In the period between 2015 and 2018, the Republic of Ireland held two seminal referendums: the 2015 same-sex marriage referendum and the 2018 referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment, which had placed a constitutional ban on abortion in 1983. Both referendums, which passed by large majorities, signaled the dramatic transformation that had taken place in the Republic of Ireland in the preceding years, allowing the country to leave behind the image of a socially conservative society dominated by the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The 2015 same-sex marriage referendum was all the more remarkable considering that it was only in 1993 that the Republic of Ireland decriminalized sexual activity between males—the last country in the European Economic Community to do so. Speaking after the 2015 referendum, Enda Kenny, then Ireland's taoiseach (prime minister), declared that "today Ireland made history. With today's Yes vote we have disclosed who we are—a generous, compassionate, bold and joyful people." In a similar vein following the 2018 referendum, Leo Varadkar, Ireland's first openly gay taoiseach, emphasized the historic nature of the vote, noting that "a quiet revolution has taken place and a great act of democracy a hundred years since women got the right to vote. Today, we as a people have spoken. And we say that we trust women, and we respect women and their decisions.