‘I Was Born To Be A Mother And To Also Have A Wife’

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aliceAlice Delahunt

Ahead of tomorrow’s Marriage Referendum vote.

Alice Delahunt writes:

We,the Irish, are on the cusp of remarkable social and political change. Obviously, this referendum is personal to me and I believe the crux of its outcome will be Ireland’s acceptance of her LGBT community.

Panic attacks and bouts of depression accompanied my year long journey of ‘coming out’ to family and friends, yet I was humbled by how positively I was received. No truly negative experiences, some misunderstanding but more often than not, I was shown complete love and acceptance.

Living in London and working in an industry where diversity is celebrated, I became a little complacent about what it can really mean to be gay, and exist in a society not always welcoming to those that are different.

That complacency was shattered as I read some of the recent ‘No’ campaign articles. Through their arguments, I was reminded of why we still live in a world where people would rather end their lives than be who they were born to be, or live a lie for fear of rejection.

In light of the coming days and narrowing voting margin, I want to say this; who I am, is my very nature, therefore is in no way unnatural. I was born to be a mother and a wife. I was also born to have a wife.

I have love, loyalty and security to offer whoever she will be, as well the family we shall create. I will give this family all that I am, and all that I have. So I ask you to vote Yes and accept us.

Accept me, accept who I am, accept my future wife, and the children that I will love unconditionally, accept my hopes and dreams for my future family as equal to yours. As Ireland becomes more accepting, many more of your LGBT brother and sisters will show their faces.

As we become more visible, you will see that we are your daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and more. We were born to be who we are, and we want to live and love freely. Who is anyone to say No to that?

I look forward to a day when ‘coming out’ won’t be a momentous occasion, at times wracked with anxiety and fear. Often celebrated, too often rejected. Every single one of your Yes votes is a step towards this day.

Thanks Ruth O’Byrnes

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27 thoughts on “‘I Was Born To Be A Mother And To Also Have A Wife’

  1. Friscondo

    Stopped reading at “living in London….” She, of course, is now in a position to lecture us boggers. And that’s from someone who lived there for 10 years.

    1. ZeligIsJaded

      Took me a while to stop looking at the photo tbh.

      But yep, definitely worth a read.

    2. ahjayzis

      I live in London too. And I don’t want to be married in Holyhead and then ‘civil partnered’ in Dublin a few hours later.

      Now get back to chewing turf with your sister-wife, ya tick bleedin culchie dzzzzzzope ya ;)

        1. ahjayzis

          Yep, last flgiht out of Stansted tonight.

          And also f*pp you, people I know here for 5ish years who can’t vote anymore have as much right to lecture and hector you as anyone else!

          Incidentially, how does the state know you’ve been out of the country long enough to strike you off the register? Is it missing a few elections or something?

          1. Mé Féin

            Just asked the question. It seems there is a lot of Internet lecturing and Facebook liking going on, but it will be interesting to see how many actually vote.
            I am also in favour of giving ex-pats the vote, so thanks for your presumptuous and ill-humoured reply.

    3. Nigel

      “God knows they owe me nought,/ I tossed them to the foaming sea,/ I tossed them to the howling waste,/ Yet still their love comes home to me.”

      1. Nially

        “she wants a wife and children but that’s not possible without some manjizz”

        a) Ew
        b) The ‘wife’ bit is pretty possible without ‘manjizz’ (ew again)
        c) She doesn’t need to be married to use a sperm donor to get pregnant, so like, “WHAT ABOUT TEH MENZ?” isn’t that relevant to the marriage referendum
        d) For good measure: ew

        1. mauriac

          a,b&d : yeah sorry just keeping it real
          c : I suppose you’re right.I think I just have a problem with sperm donation/surrogacy and SSM in the constitution does seem to copperfasten and normalise these practices.

  2. Friscondo

    I’ll be so glad when this is over. Have found both sides shrill and insufferable.

    1. VoteMaybe

      I couldn’t agree more.

      I think this will pass if turnout is adequate. Filthy lazy students.

      The No side tried but their efforts fail in the face of analysis. They simply haven’t a leg to stand on.

      I could do nothing. They Yes side have done a poor job besides appeal to emotion. Why did it take Enda Kenny so long to make a decent statement.

      Parts of the Yes side have been whiney, patronising, and nearly as bigotted as the No vote. But boring family values are good for the community, but I didn’t hear that argument made, maybe I missed the serious voices amongst the loud voices.

      I still predict legislation to discriminate in favour of couples that have children.

  3. Heather

    Absolutely inspiring. I’ll be voting yes for Alice and all of my beautiful LGBT friends and family.

  4. mac

    Beautifully written Alice. Was a very proud Irishman reading this thoughtful, heartfelt piece written by someone who is actually DIRECTLY affected by the outcome of this vote. Was very disappointed with some of the shortsighted, ignorant comments from people who, when provided with an opportunity to give their compatriots the same rights as they have, at ZERO cost to themselves, would prefer instead to deprive them of it, for ZERO gain to themselves. Delighted this mean minority were confirmed as just that by yesterday’s result. Momentous occasion for Ireland – happy happy days ahead.

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