This month marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum. Seamus Dooley, reflects on the role of the trade union movement in that momentous campaign.
There has already been a variety of celebratory events, and these will no doubt continue in Pride month. For our part Congress will be hosting a special event in Liberty Hall, Dublin: Trade Unions & Marriage Equality: A labour of love.
The event will take place on June 17th in Connolly Hall & Cois Life bar, Liberty Hall, from 7pm, and feature speakers:
Seamus Dooley, NUJ
Ethel Buckley, SIPTU
Gaye Cunningham
Kieran Rose
Rachel Mathews-McKay
Karl Hayden, FSU as MC
Register for tickets here: Marriage Equality & Trade Unions - A labour of love.
It is an opportune time celebrate the contribution of our movement not just to the success of the marriage equality referendum, but to the campaign for LGBT+ rights in Ireland.
Kieran Rose in his recent lecture at the AGM of the Irish Labour History society made a significant contribution to developing a fuller understanding of that work.
In truth, Congress has not always been to the fore in celebrating its contribution to equality, the cornerstone of our movement, and in the area of gay rights the campaign developed surreptitiously, and at times despite rather than because of senior leadership.
It is worth reflecting on the role of the trade union movement in the Marriage Equality campaign, not least because that contribution has been ignored in many of the published narratives, columns, and documentaries on the subject, or simply taken for granted.
As a member of the ICTU Executive Council, I remain proud of the role trade union members and trade unions played not just in that campaign but in the struggle for LGBT equality, right back to the early days of the campaign for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Many unions have trade union networks, formal and informal, and trade unionists have long been to the fore in demanding equality North and South of the border.
At the launch of the Siptu LGBTQ network in Liberty Hall in 2014, that role was emphasised with the viewing of the film "Did they notice us at all", a documentary researched with characteristic attention to detail by Edmund Lynch.
Edmund, an activist, archivist, documentary-maker and former RTÉ employee died in 2023 but his legacy deserves to be honoured.
The work of pioneering trade unionists such as Kieran Rose and the late Chris Robson serve a reminder of the role of individual unions, of the Cork and Dublin Councils of Trade Unions and, more recently, the ICTU.
It is worth noting that when Congress published workplace guidelines on equality on the workplace for LGBT workers gay workers were still criminalised in this country. In a sense the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, GLEN, had its origins in the pioneering work.
Likewise, many of the activists involved in Marriage Equality came from a trade union background had worked for change in the women’s movement.
The work of Patrcia O’Donovan, Assistant General Secretary and activists such as Gaye Cunninham cannot be underestimated. As General Secretary Donal Nevin was cautious and conservative while within many affiliates there was an undoubted nervousness and in some cases hostility to the issue of gay rights, including decriminalisation of homosexuality.
It took a long time to overcome the resistance to placing gay rights onto the mainstream agenda but with persistence and perseverance support grew.
I was therefore enormously honoured to propose the Congress motion supporting the concept of civil partnership on behalf of the Executive Council and in 2014 proud to have helped secure Executive Council support for the Yes campaign in the referendum.
That support was consistent with our workplace campaigns going back to the early 80s and with the history of the labour movement.
Yet it has to be said that referendums present difficulties for many trade unions.
Public service unions, including unions involved in representing those who administer elections and counts, exercise extreme caution when it comes to elections and referendum campaigns. My own union, the NUJ, has very specific constrains in this regard, representing media working including those in the public service broadcasting sectors, who have significant contractual obligations.
It was with that in mind that in the run up to the referendum campaign it was decided to form Trade Unionists for Civil Marriage Equality while simultaneously encouraging trade unions to come on board.
Our first meeting was held on January in the Teachers’ Club, and I must acknowledge the work of my co convenors David Joyce and Ethel Buckley and the indefatigable Dan O’Neill.
INTO, IBOA, CWU, CPSU, IMPACT, Mandate, TEEU, IFUT, Unite, INMO, NUJ and SIPTU all sent representatives. The atmosphere was very positive and productive and focussed on winning support for turnout and a yes vote across the TU movement.
We decided to launch the campaign on the eve of Valentine’s Day in Liberty Hall, lit in the rainbow colours.
Symbolically we chose to mark the launch with a viewing of Pride while naming our campaign Love and Pride.
There is a defining moment in the film Pride, after the bookshop window is smashed in an attempt to break the spirit of the gay collective supporting the striking miners.
During the discussion they decide they will not take the language of the homophobes and turn it around and organised a fund-raising campaign under the banner “Pits and Perverts.” Similarly in emphasising the importance of marriage we in some respect stole the language of our opponents by declaring ourselves as the family values campaign.
What we did was to build on our network of contacts.
We wrote articles for a range of trade union magazines and websites, receiving cooperation and goodwill from all affiliates.
SIPTU organised a massive phone bank.
IMPACT, now Forsa, ran a bus advertising campaign.
Committed groups such as teachers and doctors worked tirelessly within their own unions, as they have been doing for years.
We ran coffee mornings, launched by the indefatigable Pauline McLynn and Mundy.
We took a deliberate decision that we were not the fund-raising arm of anyone else’s campaign but that we would run our own campaign, in harmony but independent of other campaigns. Many trade unions invited us to address their conference, and I recall especially a spirited endorsement of the campaign at the CPSU.
Separately I worked in the campaign HQ, taking leave from my day job, and was on the Yes Equality steering committee.
There was a high level of co-operation with Congress,– and we were able to provide modest financial assistance while David Joyce served as a formal liaison with the campaign and helped created an awareness of the broader Congress agenda.
The Congress centres were an ideal vehicle for the distribution of literature and provided a welcome for the Yes Equality Bus. As the bus arrived in towns and cities the mainly Dublin based crew were welcomed by local union activists.
The volunteers, sometimes apprehensive appreciated the friendly faces and the local input made a significant impact on the reception in town centres. Word also came back that the trade union centres were surpassing all expectations with lavish hospitality – Longford and Letterkenny being singled out for special mention.
We secured the formal support of the Executive of Congress but also the enthusiastic support of trade union leaders. Patricia King, then Congress General Secretary even canvassed the three choirs in her own parish.
In terms of promoting social change trade unions have always been to the forefront and are natural allies with progressive causes. The late Noel Whelan, who directed the political campaign for Yes Equality, stressed that the difference with the marriage equality referendum was that trade unions forged public alliances and worked with likeminded organisations, bringing a level of cohesion and discipline which he felt was a vital ingredient.
On May 22, 2015, Ethel Buckley , David Joyce and I, as the convenors of Trade Unionists for Civil Marriage Equality stood together in the Ballsbridge Hotel with the Yes Equality teams. and I have to say I was never prouder of our movement. Former president Mary McAleese made a point of being photographed with the trade union group.
It is worth noting that 2025 is also the 10th anniversary of another legislative landmark.
On July 15th, 2015, the Oireachtas passed the Gender Recognition Act. That legislation provides a process enabling trans people to achieve full legal recognition of their preferred gender and allowing for the acquisition of a new birth certificate that reflects this change
In the context of the recent UK Supreme Court case and the attempt of Far-Right groups to fan the flames of hate we should also celebrate that landmark and remind those who suggest otherwise that the Act did not undermine the family or threaten the health and welfare of any other group.
