'The UK Government must act now to end discrimination against LGBT people in Northern Ireland' - Clare Moore, Love Equality
'There is huge cross party support in Westminster for marriage equality in Northern Ireland' - Conor McGinn MP
Campaigners from Northern Ireland are to tell a London event that the UK Government must extend marriage equality laws to bring an end to discrimination against same-sex couples in the region.
Speaking at the Irish in Britain/London Irish LGBT Network conference on 1st November, campaigners will highlight the overwhelming popular and political support for marriage equality in Northern Ireland and call on the Prime Minister to act.
'Northern Ireland is still the only part of the UK where LGBT+ people cannot get married', said Clare Moore from Love Equality, the campaign for marriage equality in Northern Ireland. ''The majority of Northern Ireland's MLAs now support marriage equality but In the absence of a functioning Northern Ireland Assembly, we are calling on the UK Government to right this wrong and introduce marriage equality legislation. It is simply unacceptable that loving couples who desperately want to get married in Northern Ireland are unable to do so.'
Also speaking at the event will be Conor McGinn, MP who has been campaigning to introduce marriage equality to Northern Ireland via Westminster.
'Just last week MPs voted in their hundreds in support of marriage equality for Northern Ireland. The Government urgently need to clarify how they intend to ensure that the right to equal marriage in Northern Ireland - which has the support of the Assembly, Parliament and the public - becomes law. Equality can't wait.'
Background:
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK or Ireland which still bans marriage for same-sex couples, despite majority support among the public and in the Northern Ireland Assembly. In November 2015, a majority of MLAs in the Assembly voted to support equal marriage, but the measure was blocked by the DUP using a Petition of Concern, a voting mechanism designed to protect the rights of minorities in Northern Ireland.
An April 2018 Sky News poll showed 76% support for marriage equality amongst the Northern Ireland public.
At least 55 out of 90 MLAs in the Assembly have publicly voiced their support for marriage equality legislation.
The Love Equality campaign for equal civil marriage in Northern Ireland is led by the Rainbow Project, Amnesty International, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Cara-Friend, NUS-USI and HereNI.
LGBT Equality and Ireland, Past and Present conference will take place on 1st November http://www.irishinbritain.org/whats-on/863/equality-and-ireland-past-and-present
