I appeared on a panel on Tonight with Vincent Browne last night discussing the question “Are people who oppose same sex marriage equality homophobic?”. I was invited to be on the panel because I am acting for John Waters, Breda O’Brien and members of the Iona Institute in relation to comments made on the Saturday Night Show when they were accused of being homophobes.
Brophy Solicitors is a human rights firm. I am a human rights lawyer. I believe that every individual has the right to have their rights vindicated and protected. This protection extends to a right to express contentious views freely and a related right to protect one’s reputation from damage.
As a lawyer, my role is to represent my clients and to vindicate their rights to the best of my ability. I must do this irrespective of whether I personally agree with the views held by my clients. I believe that my clients were defamed on the Saturday Night Show and I subsequently represented and protected their interests effectively by securing a positive outcome for them.
At the same time, I am an advocate of same-sex marriage. I act for Senator Katherine Zappone and Dr. Ann Louise Gilligan in their application to have their Canadian marriage recognised in Ireland. I absolutely support their entitlement to have their marriage recognised in Ireland. If there is a referendum next year on same-sex marriage, I will vote in favour of a constitutional amendment to give effect to same sex marriage.
I frequently act for many members of the gay and lesbian community and other minority groups. My firm recently secured a very significant victory in a transgender case that will have major implications for gender-recognition in transgender cases. I support marriage equality and equality generally for the gay community.
Fundamentally, I believe that every individual should be afforded the opportunity to express their opinions freely. Individuals who oppose same-sex marriage should not fear for their lives or their reputations just because they oppose same-sex marriage.
I welcome debate on the question of same-sex marriage in the run up to the referendum next year, provided that it is a rational and civilized debate that respects individual rights. I may not be sympathetic to all my clients’ views on a particular subject, but I will always do my utmost to vindicate their rights if they are defamed and seek to defend their human rights if they are infringed.
If you were really in favour of same sex marriage surely you'd drop clients that actively oppose it? although I suppose given how litigious they are it's probably quite the gravy train for you? Great to see a human rights lawyer so motivated by greed, bravo!
ReplyDeleteHere's a hypothetical - you are a solicitor in the US prior to 1967 (when inter-racial marriage became legal in all US states) - your caucasian client is called a racist or xenophobe by an American of African origin on a TV show because your client has publicly stated that he is opposed to inter-racial marriage. Do you pursue a defamation case on behalf of your client? More importantly do you believe that your client has been defamed?
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