X
    Categories: World

Ireland set to legalize same sex marriage and France could be next

Ireland set to vote to approve same sex marriage by the end of today

Al Jazeera America, BBC and France 24 have reported this morning that leaders on both sides of Ireland’s same sex marriage referendum say the “yes” side has won a resounding victory. Not all the voted have been counted but both sides of the issue say same sex marriage will be the law of the land by night fall.

Senior figures from the “No” campaign, who sought to prevent Ireland’s constitution from being amended to permit gay marriage, say the only question on Saturday is how large the “Yes” side’s margin of victory will be from Friday’s vote.

Leo Varadkar, an Irish Cabinet minister who came out as gay at the start of the government’s campaign, said Dublin looked to have voted about 70 percent in favor of gay marriage, while most districts outside the capital also were reporting strong “Yes” leads.

More than 3.2m people were asked whether they wanted to amend the country’s constitution to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry. Government ministers have said they believe it will pass, and that would make Ireland the first country to legalise same-sex marriage through a popular vote.

But it seems that France might be the next country where a national vote would embrace same sex marriage.

This week a measure, approved in the National Assembly in a 329-to-229 vote, puts France on course to join nearly a dozen mostly European nations that allow gay marriage and comes despite a string of recent demonstrations by opponents of the so-called “marriage for all” bill.

The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway and Spain, as well as Argentina, Canada and South Africa have authorised gay marriage, along with nine US states and the District of Columbia.

 

 

James Williams: Jim Williams is the Washington Bureau Chief, Digital Director as well as the Director of Special Projects for Genesis Communications. He is starting his third year as part of the team. This is Williams 40th year in the media business, and in that time he has served in a number of capacities. He is a seven time Emmy Award winning television producer, director, writer and executive. He has developed four regional sports networks, directed over 2,000 live sporting events including basketball, football, baseball hockey, soccer and even polo to name a few sports. Major events include three Olympic Games, two World Cups, two World Series, six NBA Playoffs, four Stanley Cup Playoffs, four NCAA Men’s National Basketball Championship Tournaments (March Madness), two Super Bowl and over a dozen college bowl games. On the entertainment side Williams was involved s and directed over 500 concerts for Showtime, Pay Per View and MTV Networks.
Related Post