SAME SEX MARRIAGE – DOES THIS MAKE YOU FEEL UNCOMFORTABLE?

I would like to share with you the following short video. It does what all really powerful message are all about. It’s short, it absolutely gets its message across and it really make you stop and think. I hope you enjoy it.

Kevin Brophy,

Brophy Solcitors

EVERYONE (I MEAN EVERYONE!) HAS HUMAN RIGHTS

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.

Kevin Brophy,

Brophy Solcitors

GAY MARRIAGE AND THE EX-ARCHBISHOP

Lord Carey is the former Archbishop of Canterbury. He recently complained about the fact that he was called a bigot by supporters of gay marriage. In response, he compared this to what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany. He said that what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany started with people calling Jews names like this (‘bigots’) and it progressed on  a full holocaust. Lord Carey said, “same sex relationships are not the same as heterosexual relationships and should not be put on the same level”. I have just read an extraordinarily powerful and graphic article by Martin Robbins and I would urge you to read this article. It is headed, “Gay Marriage ‘Nazis’  and the disgrace of Lord Carey”. You can access it at www.mjrobbins.net  We are Irish so it won’t persuade you to protest in the streets about the same sex marriage question, but it might fire you up.

I hope you also heard Mary McAleese’s comments on RTE on Tuesday night on the subject of same sex marriage. She gave a very passionate and logical argument in favour of same sex marriage. Watch it on your iPlayer. Someone should nominate her for President.

Kevin Brophy

SAME SEX COUPLES SAVE THE WORLD

They talk about same sex marriages destroying the family unit. Here are few statistics – they are maybe a little misleading but I think they are quite entertaining.

1. 100% of all divorces stem from heterosexual marriages.
2. 100% of all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual children come from heterosexual couples.

It is not the gay community that is ruining marriage, it is straight people. And they say statistics never lie!

Kevin Brophy