Browse content similar to Same Sex - Different Rights?. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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causing controversy in Westminster. Yearly controversy is much the same. | :00:17. | :00:23. | |
For some it is a civil rights denied. We are completely | :00:23. | :00:25. | |
second-class but pay taxes like everyone else. | :00:25. | :00:31. | |
Gay couples want the right to marry and be a riot -- allowed to adopt. | :00:31. | :00:34. | |
What would you teach your children about sexuality? | :00:35. | :00:39. | |
I would teach them very simply add a young age that some people like boys | :00:39. | :00:45. | |
and some like girls. Some churches accept gay marriage. We support the | :00:45. | :00:47. | |
full emancipation of same-sex couples. | :00:47. | :00:52. | |
There will be no shame in our home and name-macro will not have to deal | :00:52. | :00:59. | |
with shame and embarrassment. But others stand opposed. | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
It is not a matter of doubt, it is pure human reason. Just because some | :01:03. | :01:08. | |
people claim something about equality, does not mean it is. | :01:08. | :01:12. | |
We investigate if a new fault line is opening up in politics and | :01:12. | :01:15. | |
society here. There is a need for politicians to | :01:15. | :01:19. | |
leave the religious believes at home. Who does our loyalist lesbian | :01:19. | :01:24. | |
vote for? Is this a question? most important thing is same-sex | :01:24. | :01:34. | |
:01:34. | :01:46. | ||
marriage to them, I suspect the DUP Across the UK, moves to allow | :01:46. | :01:50. | |
same-sex marriage have proved highly controversial. Tonight, we meet gay | :01:50. | :01:55. | |
couples here living their lives through the debate. Gay | :01:55. | :02:00. | |
grandfathers. A couple setting up home together. A | :02:00. | :02:10. | |
:02:10. | :02:12. | ||
new mother. And a couple who want a Meet Kerry and Julianne. They are | :02:12. | :02:22. | |
:02:22. | :02:23. | ||
moving in together and doing up Hello. How are you? Thanks for | :02:23. | :02:29. | |
having us. You are doing powerful work here. We | :02:29. | :02:33. | |
have been in two weeks, the kitchen walls have to be finished and the | :02:33. | :02:38. | |
gas is going in this week, and that's us. When did you realise | :02:38. | :02:44. | |
growing up you were attracted to women and girls your age? It was | :02:44. | :02:49. | |
really gradual. Even at 11 at the age of getting boyfriends, I had no | :02:49. | :02:51. | |
interest. What about you, when did you come | :02:51. | :02:57. | |
out? Kind of the same as Kerry, I came to grips with it at 14. | :02:57. | :03:02. | |
parents did not take it as well as I would have liked, but... What | :03:02. | :03:06. | |
happened? My mum was supportive, I think it was me that could not cope | :03:07. | :03:12. | |
with it, I thought I was not normal. Shall we see upstairs? Yes, let's | :03:12. | :03:18. | |
go. Mind your head on this. This is Kerry's shrine to her shoes. | :03:18. | :03:23. | |
I have a lot of space for my shoes. I wanted to build wardrobes in the | :03:23. | :03:30. | |
front room but was not allowed. You have a whole box of shoes here. And | :03:30. | :03:38. | |
I have a suitcase of summer shoes. What size shoe are you? I am to? | :03:38. | :03:41. | |
you, Julianne? I'm a size six, unfortunately. | :03:41. | :03:46. | |
This is these secret of a relationship, to winning, not enough | :03:46. | :03:55. | |
Undercurrent read legislation, a marriage can only be between a man | :03:55. | :03:59. | |
and women conducted through a religious or civil ceremony. -- | :03:59. | :04:06. | |
under legislation. Since 2005, lesbian and gay couples have been | :04:06. | :04:09. | |
able to enter into a civil partnership. There are two main | :04:09. | :04:17. | |
distinctions. A civil partnership can only be between the same-sex | :04:17. | :04:24. | |
couple and conducted only through a civil ceremony. | :04:24. | :04:28. | |
A civil partnership confreres most of the greats of our marriage, but | :04:28. | :04:34. | |
many gay couples don't think it is enough. Civil partnership, even | :04:34. | :04:39. | |
though it is not on your agenda right now, it might be down the | :04:39. | :04:45. | |
line. If you wanted to get married that option is not there. How do you | :04:45. | :04:50. | |
feel about that? Personally, I would not want a religious ceremony, but I | :04:50. | :04:55. | |
would like to have a civil marriage. That will not be open to us and that | :04:55. | :05:00. | |
infuriates us. People who are sinners in the eyes of the Bible can | :05:00. | :05:04. | |
get their marriage accepted in the eyes of God, yet because we are | :05:04. | :05:14. | |
:05:14. | :05:15. | ||
Northern Ireland Ireland was the first place in the UK to hold | :05:15. | :05:20. | |
same-sex civil partnerships. But it had been the last to decriminalise | :05:20. | :05:26. | |
homosexuality. On the day the most recent census was carried out in | :05:26. | :05:34. | |
2011 there were 766 people living in civil partnership households here. | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
John O'Doherty is among a new generation of campaigners. He is | :05:38. | :05:42. | |
director of the Rainbow Project, a gay rights organisation. He has done | :05:42. | :05:47. | |
living with his partner, shame, for three years. For them a civil | :05:47. | :05:53. | |
partnership would not be sufficient. -- his partner, Shane. What is your | :05:53. | :05:58. | |
definition of marriage? I always took it like my mum and dad | :05:58. | :06:02. | |
being married, they loved each other and brought up a family and are | :06:02. | :06:07. | |
still going strong. That is what it meant to me. I would like to think | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
me and John are on the track to be like that, too. Would you like to | :06:12. | :06:19. | |
get married at some stage? Yes, I would. I do! Is a civil partnership | :06:19. | :06:24. | |
not enough? It is not the same. People don't | :06:24. | :06:28. | |
grow up and say I want to have a civil partners someday, you want to | :06:28. | :06:36. | |
be married. It is a commitment.It is, but it is not seen as equal. | :06:36. | :06:40. | |
Just last month, Sinn Fein urged MLAs to legalise same-sex marriage. | :06:40. | :06:45. | |
People do not want to see citizens discriminated against. They are | :06:45. | :06:49. | |
changing because our lesbian, gay and transgender communities have | :06:49. | :06:54. | |
said enough is enough. The move to legalise same-sex marriage mobilised | :06:54. | :07:00. | |
churches to intervene. We believe the current legal definition of | :07:00. | :07:05. | |
marriage, as between one man and one women, with his fist -- its historic | :07:05. | :07:11. | |
and Biblical basis, is a fundamental building block of society. | :07:11. | :07:16. | |
The Presbyterian Church and the Catholic Church both petitioned all | :07:16. | :07:23. | |
MLAs to oppose the motion. We say that homosexual acts are | :07:23. | :07:27. | |
inconsistent with the Christian life, they are inconsistent with | :07:27. | :07:33. | |
natural law and the intention and purpose of our sexual capacity. | :07:33. | :07:36. | |
Proponents of gay marriage have framed much of the debate as an | :07:36. | :07:40. | |
issue of equality, but those are against argues same-sex marriage can | :07:40. | :07:46. | |
never be equal to marriage between a man and a woman. You cannot say | :07:46. | :07:50. | |
these two things are the same. While it is a very powerful and emotive | :07:50. | :07:55. | |
word come equality, and important, it does not apply. With respect, the | :07:55. | :08:00. | |
word does not apply in this case because it does not suit your | :08:00. | :08:05. | |
dogma. It is not a matter of dogma, it is pure human reason. Just | :08:05. | :08:09. | |
because people claim something is about equality it does not mean it | :08:09. | :08:14. | |
is. We don't argue this simply as a matter of religion. Irrespective of | :08:14. | :08:19. | |
religion, marriage has always been recognised by society as a | :08:19. | :08:24. | |
fundamental institution on which the state and society is based. When one | :08:24. | :08:29. | |
looks at the continuum and the social justice and God 's love... | :08:29. | :08:34. | |
But gay marriage is not opposed by all churches here. Chris Hudson is a | :08:34. | :08:40. | |
Unitarian minister of all souls Church in Belfast. It is obvious we | :08:40. | :08:48. | |
support refill emancipation of same-sex couples in society. -- we | :08:48. | :08:52. | |
support the full emancipation. By law he is unable to marry a gay | :08:52. | :08:56. | |
couple but offers blessings to those who have entered a civil | :08:56. | :08:59. | |
partnership. Today he is holding a naming ceremony for a lesbian | :08:59. | :09:06. | |
couple's baby. We give to you the name Maya Tabakin. | :09:06. | :09:11. | |
Are you preaching from the text of the Bible? I believe that I am. | :09:11. | :09:17. | |
God's love is not exclusive and include all people in all forms. | :09:17. | :09:20. | |
it become a name honoured and respected for wisdom and good | :09:20. | :09:23. | |
deeds. We have to remember the apostles and | :09:23. | :09:27. | |
disciples and the evangelists, they were talking about God 's love | :09:27. | :09:30. | |
within the context of the culture of the new. | :09:30. | :09:36. | |
We are not of their culture. If more people agreed with your | :09:36. | :09:38. | |
interpretation of the Scripture, wouldn't there be crowds of people | :09:38. | :09:44. | |
coming here? You cannot judge people's faith by whether they | :09:44. | :09:54. | |
:09:54. | :09:56. | ||
attend church. I would love to see Maya's lesbian parents used a sperm | :09:56. | :09:59. | |
donation through a private clinic in Europe. Having a child was something | :10:00. | :10:07. | |
Paula, a Michael's birthing mother, had always wanted. Paula also wanted | :10:07. | :10:13. | |
a religious ceremony to celebrate her daughter's birth. I am | :10:13. | :10:17. | |
personally deeply religious and wanted a blessing done with God. It | :10:17. | :10:22. | |
means there will be no shame in our home, and Maya will not have to deal | :10:22. | :10:30. | |
with shame and embarrassment about to her parents are. However, her | :10:30. | :10:37. | |
partner chose to remain anonymous. There is the problem by partner, who | :10:37. | :10:41. | |
can't be identified. This is due to having an elderly family and we | :10:41. | :10:48. | |
don't want to cause any disruption there. I am going to run out of the | :10:48. | :10:55. | |
door with her, Paula! Isn't she gorgeous? Do you, the congregation, | :10:55. | :11:00. | |
promised to commit yourselves to support this family and Maya? | :11:00. | :11:07. | |
We do. A recent survey of British attitudes on gay marriage suggest | :11:07. | :11:11. | |
people of faith are just as likely to support same-sex marriage as | :11:11. | :11:16. | |
opposed it. The survey found those who identified with a religion were | :11:16. | :11:22. | |
evenly split on allowing same-sex couples to marry. 43% were for it, | :11:22. | :11:32. | |
:11:32. | :11:35. | ||
Matters of faith and public policy can collide. David Ford is a | :11:35. | :11:41. | |
practising Presbyterian. He supports same-sex civil marriage, a | :11:41. | :11:48. | |
view that is at odds with his own church. David Ford chose to step | :11:48. | :11:52. | |
aside from active duty is in his church after a number of the | :11:52. | :12:00. | |
congregation expressed unease at his stance. What I have to do as a | :12:00. | :12:04. | |
legislator and as a minister is initialled that I provide | :12:04. | :12:08. | |
appropriate services for everybody in this society, many of whom do | :12:08. | :12:15. | |
not share my beliefs. You have the same religious belief, but you want | :12:15. | :12:20. | |
marriage equality. Our I believe in the separation of church and state | :12:20. | :12:25. | |
and we need to recognise diversity, recognise the quality obligations | :12:25. | :12:30. | |
of the state are to provide services on an equal basis. The | :12:30. | :12:37. | |
state must recognise the right so faith groups. If a politician | :12:37. | :12:42. | |
belongs to upper lip -- particular faith community, it has a right to | :12:42. | :12:46. | |
assist the politician in understanding the teaching of that | :12:46. | :12:55. | |
church. As if you can extract religion from who people are, that | :12:55. | :13:01. | |
is a nonsense. His Assembly rejected the motion by Sinn Fein to | :13:01. | :13:07. | |
legalise same-sex marriage -- that the Assembly. Those who voted | :13:07. | :13:15. | |
against included unionist some members of the Alliance Party. The | :13:15. | :13:20. | |
DUP tabled a Petition of Concern that ensures that a motion will | :13:21. | :13:25. | |
only be approved if the majority of nationalists and unionists bracket. | :13:25. | :13:30. | |
So some people seem to think if you do not fall into line with their | :13:30. | :13:35. | |
line of thinking you are intolerant. We should be more respectful off | :13:35. | :13:40. | |
people who have sincerely held views on things. We should not mock | :13:40. | :13:49. | |
them. Who is mocking them?I am not getting into that. Why would you | :13:49. | :13:54. | |
say that? I have heard people describe those who oppose same-sex | :13:55. | :14:00. | |
marriage as bigots. They are not, they are people who care about the | :14:00. | :14:09. | |
society they live in. They support marriage. For this couple, the | :14:09. | :14:13. | |
politics of the debate has posed a particular problem. They are | :14:13. | :14:17. | |
lesbian loyalists, which causes them a dilemma when it comes to | :14:17. | :14:25. | |
decide who to vote for. What about the DUP? They are not pushing for | :14:25. | :14:35. | |
:14:35. | :14:36. | ||
equal rights. One certain things coming yes. We are 30 years behind | :14:36. | :14:43. | |
the rest of the UK. Who do you vote for? This is the question. At the | :14:43. | :14:53. | |
:14:53. | :14:56. | ||
moment, you cannot be gay and a loyalist. It depends what issue is | :14:56. | :15:01. | |
most important in their lives. I have yet to meet anybody who votes | :15:01. | :15:07. | |
on a single issue. At analysts say the single issue has revealed signs | :15:07. | :15:15. | |
of a new political religious fault line. His it is an issue that has | :15:15. | :15:20. | |
crossed religious divides. It is perhaps making for unusual | :15:20. | :15:25. | |
alliances. It is perhaps giving people a glimpse of a different | :15:25. | :15:29. | |
type of politics that does not automatically fall in to Protestant | :15:29. | :15:35. | |
and Catholic boxes. France became the 9th country in Europe to | :15:35. | :15:41. | |
legalise gay marriage. Closer to home this week, MPs debated whether | :15:41. | :15:46. | |
to legalise it in England and Wales. It is also on the radar in Scotland | :15:47. | :15:52. | |
and the Republic. The agenda of the Government in the south, Scotland, | :15:52. | :15:57. | |
Wales and England. Of course it should be on the agenda. Not before | :15:57. | :16:01. | |
time that legislation should be brought in. The North will be left | :16:01. | :16:08. | |
behind. The current stand against it may be a case of history | :16:08. | :16:14. | |
repeating itself. You will legislate perversion and immorality. | :16:14. | :16:18. | |
To spite opposition from unionist politicians in the Eighties, the | :16:18. | :16:22. | |
European Court of Human Rights forced Westminster to decriminalise | :16:22. | :16:26. | |
homosexuality head. Should gay marriage been legalised in the rest | :16:26. | :16:31. | |
of the UK and not here, a legal challenge by it for Stormont to | :16:31. | :16:37. | |
bring the law into line with Britain. We have same-sex couples | :16:37. | :16:41. | |
knocking at our door saying they want to take a case should this | :16:41. | :16:50. | |
transpired. A court challenge is inevitable. They court ruling might | :16:50. | :16:56. | |
force the hands of politicians. Assembly will be dragged to | :16:56. | :17:01. | |
legislate, what it should have been doing in the first place. Marriage | :17:01. | :17:05. | |
equality is at the top of the gay rights campaign in the UK, but not | :17:05. | :17:09. | |
every gay couple wants to be married. Vincent and his partner | :17:09. | :17:13. | |
are happy with their civil partnership. They have been | :17:13. | :17:19. | |
together 12 years. We have no intention to upgrade to a marriage. | :17:19. | :17:24. | |
It quality is important. Our relationship should not be seen | :17:24. | :17:29. | |
different from everybody else. Before Vincent came out, he was | :17:30. | :17:35. | |
married with a son. Together Vincent and his partner David | :17:35. | :17:41. | |
helped to raise him. And his wife recently gave birth to a baby boy, | :17:41. | :17:46. | |
the first grandchild in the family. What are you looking forward to | :17:46. | :17:53. | |
about being a grandfather? When he has started to walk, and he is | :17:53. | :17:59. | |
walking down the street, you go to the park. It is new to me. I | :17:59. | :18:06. | |
changed my first nappy last week. It is fantastic. I love it. It is | :18:06. | :18:11. | |
an opportunity I thought I would not have. Some people would look at | :18:11. | :18:16. | |
you with your grandchild and think there is something wrong with your | :18:16. | :18:22. | |
having a grandchild. My parents were not gay. They were | :18:22. | :18:27. | |
heterosexual. They had two children and one of those is gay and one of | :18:27. | :18:33. | |
those is straight. I have raised a child who is heterosexual. He is | :18:33. | :18:38. | |
wonderful. The issue of gay adoption runs parallel to the | :18:38. | :18:42. | |
campaign for same-sex marriage. A single person, gay or heterosexual, | :18:42. | :18:49. | |
can apply to adopt. Cohabiting couples, irrespective of their | :18:49. | :18:55. | |
sexuality, are ruled out. They heterosexual couple could marry and | :18:55. | :19:01. | |
then applied to adopt. Gay couples do not have the option. They can | :19:01. | :19:10. | |
foster. John and Shane applied. When did you both have a serious | :19:10. | :19:15. | |
chat about having children? John said he had thought about fostering. | :19:15. | :19:25. | |
:19:25. | :19:27. | ||
I started to look into it. How did your families take it? They were | :19:27. | :19:35. | |
great. They were supportive. My sisters and my parents encouraged. | :19:35. | :19:39. | |
Shane said it never crossed his mind that he would not have the | :19:39. | :19:42. | |
option to have children. Did you think it would be rolled out for | :19:42. | :19:48. | |
you? There was no doubt in my mind I would have children. I would have | :19:48. | :19:53. | |
expected it this time in my life I would have had children. I find it | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
hard, that people who do not know me and have no idea about me, my | :19:59. | :20:05. | |
family, my upbringing, decide I am not suitable to be a parent. It | :20:05. | :20:15. | |
:20:15. | :20:16. | ||
baffles. What about you? Do you get upset? Sometimes. We have a great | :20:16. | :20:18. | |
house, a great relationship. We hope to bring other people to enjoy | :20:18. | :20:25. | |
it, as well. Northern Ireland is the only part in the UK where | :20:25. | :20:29. | |
unmarried couples are banned from applying to adopt. The Human Rights | :20:29. | :20:33. | |
Commission challenge the law and the High Court ruled that this ban | :20:33. | :20:40. | |
on gay and unmarried couples adopting is unlawful. The ruling is | :20:40. | :20:47. | |
being appealed by the DUP minister. I will act in the interests of the | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
child. It is not a human right to adopt. People need to get back here. | :20:52. | :21:01. | |
We must ensure that his human rights of the child are considered. | :21:01. | :21:06. | |
People can get on hobby-horses but they do not provide solutions. | :21:06. | :21:11. | |
Child welfare is paramount. We have to do everything to protect our | :21:11. | :21:19. | |
children. Where I part company with some of the statements by the | :21:19. | :21:24. | |
minister is that I believe some of his statements in relation to be | :21:24. | :21:26. | |
gay and lesbian community are discriminatory. That is not good | :21:26. | :21:32. | |
enough. The DUP said the Health Minister's decisions are taken | :21:32. | :21:36. | |
objectively. His department said he is committed to a reform of | :21:36. | :21:42. | |
adoption law. As a point of principle, do you think that gay | :21:42. | :21:47. | |
couples should be allowed to adopt? They are allowed to foster. Let's | :21:47. | :21:53. | |
look at what the minister comes forward in his proposals. What I | :21:53. | :21:59. | |
think is we should focus less on who is adopting and focused on who | :21:59. | :22:04. | |
is being adopted. A an equality commissions survey suggests | :22:04. | :22:09. | |
negative attitudes towards gay people are does -- are decreasing. | :22:09. | :22:15. | |
Nevertheless, 27% said they would mind having a gay person as a | :22:15. | :22:19. | |
neighbour. When asked if they would be unhappy if they close relatives | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
were to form a relationship with a gay person, the figure almost | :22:24. | :22:30. | |
doubled. 42% said they would be unhappy. I tested opinion in | :22:30. | :22:40. | |
Belfast. Should gay people be allowed to marry? Definitely. | :22:40. | :22:49. | |
disagree. Definitely not a. It says so in the Bible. People are perhaps | :22:49. | :22:57. | |
living in the olden days. people should have equal rights. | :22:57. | :23:00. | |
Family and what is best for children are flashpoints in the | :23:00. | :23:04. | |
debate. For the generation who have grown up in same-sex households, | :23:04. | :23:10. | |
they want to contribute. Conor Pendergrast was raised by lesbian | :23:10. | :23:14. | |
parents and has become an advocate for same-sex parenting and wants to | :23:14. | :23:20. | |
change what he sees as prejudice to families like his own. I am Conor | :23:20. | :23:25. | |
Pendergrast. I would like to talk to you about my family. There is me, | :23:25. | :23:29. | |
my brother and my parents, Anne and Bernadette. I do not feel different | :23:29. | :23:35. | |
because of my family. My friends have different types of families. | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
What they have in common is their parents' love them and they love | :23:39. | :23:46. | |
them back. That is important. is there an element of sexism? Some | :23:46. | :23:49. | |
people are comfortable with the idea of children being raised by | :23:50. | :23:53. | |
two mothers but not comfortable with them being raised by two | :23:53. | :24:01. | |
fathers. I think there is a latent homophobia. People would expect two | :24:01. | :24:05. | |
mothers to raise children perfectly well. There is the idea that men | :24:05. | :24:11. | |
are not the caring, loving parents. Of opponents of same-sex marriages | :24:11. | :24:16. | |
say society is best served by keeping a marriage between a man | :24:16. | :24:21. | |
and woman. The it comes back to the idea of what do you make normal and | :24:21. | :24:27. | |
what is the gold standard for the bringing up of children? The best | :24:27. | :24:31. | |
place for a child to be brought up is in a marriage between his mother | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
and father. Is less than a gold standard second best? I am simply | :24:38. | :24:44. | |
saying it is what you make normal his society. The situation that | :24:44. | :24:48. | |
society has always respected as special is that between a woman | :24:48. | :24:55. | |
ants -- a woman and a man as mother and father in a marriage. Overall, | :24:55. | :25:01. | |
research into the effects on a child of same-sex parenting is not | :25:01. | :25:07. | |
conclusive. Studies are run going. A clinical psychologist believes | :25:07. | :25:13. | |
that children thrive in stable, loving families. What is best for | :25:13. | :25:17. | |
children is to have to compatible parents, irrespective of their | :25:17. | :25:23. | |
gender and sexual identity. Children of same-sex parents are | :25:23. | :25:29. | |
likely to be as successful as others at school. They are | :25:29. | :25:33. | |
emotionally well-adjusted. Families have many permutations in Northern | :25:33. | :25:38. | |
Ireland now. The if you want a family, raising children and | :25:38. | :25:48. | |
passing on, and also your heritage, that is achievable. Having a family | :25:48. | :25:53. | |
matters to these two. There reality is the majority grow up with the | :25:53. | :25:58. | |
human instinct to want to become parents. Just because you happen to | :25:58. | :26:07. | |
be gay does not mean that goes away. You may never be a father. I cannot | :26:07. | :26:16. | |
imagine it, really. It is not just about being a father, it is about | :26:16. | :26:24. | |
having a family. Having my family extended. Having that experience of | :26:24. | :26:31. | |
being a parent that my parents had bid the person I love. I cannot | :26:31. | :26:35. | |
imagine it. All the so he does not want a gay marriage himself, | :26:35. | :26:39. | |
Vincent sees the momentum behind the campaign as irreversible. | :26:39. | :26:44. | |
People will say how did the church, politicians get on the wrong side | :26:44. | :26:49. | |
of this? The generation of the future that Ethan will be part of | :26:49. | :26:55. | |
will look back and wonder what the fuss was about. That is my hope. | :26:55. | :26:58. | |
Those on the other side of the debate believe their values are | :26:58. | :27:05. | |
being attacked. Does secularism have the right to dominate? No. We | :27:05. | :27:14. | |
need genuine diversity. The new phobia is religion. That is not of | :27:14. | :27:19. | |
an equal society. The judge still minister says gay marriage is the | :27:19. | :27:25. | |
touchstone for conflicting cultural values. We probably have a culture | :27:25. | :27:30. | |
war in a number of areas. The issue about same-sex relationships is a | :27:30. | :27:35. | |
large part. There is significant social change happening. This | :27:35. | :27:40. | |
society is becoming to verse. For some people it is difficult to | :27:40. | :27:46. | |
recognise that -- becoming diverse. As it stands, same-sex couples in | :27:46. | :27:52. | |
Northern Ireland cannot marry and are banned from planning to adopt. | :27:52. | :27:57. | |
If I said you you could wake up tomorrow morning and Mari Shane, or | :27:57. | :28:03. | |
you could legally adopt as a gay couple, what would you choose? | :28:03. | :28:12. | |
have to decide? How would you feel if you were told that? If equality | :28:12. | :28:16. | |
is not brought in here and it is in the rest of the UK, would you stay | :28:17. | :28:26. | |
here? Yes, I would. It is really tough. You cannot marry me if you | :28:26. | :28:31. | |
are moving. A nation to legalise gay marriages are unlikely to come | :28:31. | :28:36. | |
before the Assembly again for at least six months. It is not | :28:36. | :28:42. |