Atheist Ireland is hosting a public debate on the Marriage Equality referendum at 7.30pm this Wednesday, 29 April, in Wynns Hotel on Abbey Street in Dublin.
The motion for the debate is “Would a No Vote be Good for Irish Society?”. The debate is open to everyone to attend and we look forward to a respectful but robust discussion on the night.
Admission is free.
This is the Facebook Event page.
Arguing for a Yes vote are Max Krzyzanowski and Brendan Butler. Arguing for a No vote are Susan Philips and Tom Carew. The debate will be chaired by Ashling O’Brien, the Chair of the Dublin Regional Branch of Atheist Ireland.
Max Krzyanowski is an organizer with the group LGBT Noise who campaign for the equal treatment for LGBTQIA people in all areas of life, in Ireland and abroad. Max was born and grew up in Dublin, with an Irish mother and a father of Polish extraction, and was introduced to activism in his teen years, helping with his mother’s campaigning in Divorce Action Group. Since winning the Mr Gay World title in 2009, he has committed to advocating for legal and social change on issues ranging from gender recognition to policing reform, and has filled the role of public spokesperson for LGBT Noise.
Brendan Butler is part of the group ‘We Are Church Ireland’. ‘We are Church’ is a global organisation founded in 1996 and is dedicated to the reform of the Catholic Church . Presently he is a joint Co-Ordinator of We are Church Ireland . Brendan has been active in Solidarity work for Latin America since 1979 , founded the Ireland Algeria solidarity group, and is the co ordinator of the NGO Peace Alliance.
Susan Philips is a Political Correspondent. She was an Independent member of the Wicklow County Council for fourteen years up until 1999 when she then went into academia.
Tom Carew was formerly a full-time trade union official – Secretary of Post Office Group of Unions, former Union President, on Executive of Dublin Council of Trade Unions, and former Treasurer of both the Peace Train and STOP-96, which both campaigned against terrorism in Ireland, as well as active in the Anti-Amendment Campaign against the anti-abortion 8th Amendment to the Constitution, and in the Divorce Action Group. Tom is a member of global networks, SPME [Scholars for Peace in the Middle East ] and TULIP [trade unionists linking Israel and Palestine]. And a life-long critical student of Ethics and History.
Remember, those same-sex couples who want to start a family are not waiting for marriage equality in order to do so. When opponents to marriage equality claim “a child does best with their mother and father”, ask them what they suggest same-sex couples should do with their children, or how they think not being able to get married will stop same-sex couples from starting families. Also ask them for the evidence to substantiate their claim. At best they’ll turn up debunked junk-science nonsense.