The marriage equality referendum 2015

In passing the Marriage Referendum 2015, Ireland became the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in its written constitution and the first to legalise same-sex marriage through national referendum. Turnout was high and the result decisive, illustrating the extent to which the Irish public embraced the proposal to adopt marriage equality on a constitutional basis. This is notable, given Ireland’s record of having maintained a criminal ban on homosexual acts until as late as 1993; as such, the recent advancements made by this once socially conservative state in the field of LGBT rights demands the attention of scholars. This report provides an account of the historic Marriage Referendum beginning with an overview of the historical development of the gay and lesbian rights movement in Ireland, the role of the Irish Convention on the Constitution in bringing about the Referendum, and details of the proposal itself. It then progresses with a brief description of the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ campaigns, an overview of opinion poll figures in the period leading up to the Referendum, and finally concludes with a discussion of turnout and voting on referendum day.