The Colley Report is a 2006 paper on same-sex marriage and civil partnership produced for the Irish Government. Formally known as the Options Paper on Cohabiting Couples (2006), the report was named after its chair, Anne Colley.
On 20 December 2005, the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, announced that he was creating a working group in the Department of Justice to provide options for government consideration. [1] This announcement came the day after Belfast in Northern Ireland held the first of the new UK Civil Partnership registration ceremonies. The Government said that it would legislate following the report, but Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also said there might not be time to do so before the then upcoming election.
Chaired by former TD Anne Colley, this working group included the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN), the gay rights lobby organisation, who said they expected a recommendation for civil marriage. The group facilitated a conference on the topic in May 2006, as input to its reports which was attended by experts from other countries which have introduced civil unions and gay marriage. During his speech, McDowell was interrupted by members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians opposed to the Government plans. [2]
Initially to report by March 2006, the group presented its report [3] to Government in November 2006. [4] They recommended that a civil partnership scheme would resolve most of the issues for same-sex and cohabiting couples, while providing fewer benefits than marriage. Offering civil marriage to gay couples would be open to constitutional challenge. They also recommended a legal presumption of partnership for couples which have lived together for three years or have children together. No recommendations were made for couples in non-conjugal relationships due to lack of research. The cabinet reviewed the report, but no legislation was introduced before the 2007 General election, and in the intervening period the Government rejected opposition legislation, saying that legislation should await the KAL Case Supreme Court challenge.
The Report was welcomed by GLEN, the Irish Human Rights Commission, and other rights organisations. Ógra Fianna Fáil also called for full implementation of the Report. [5] At the same time, a number of LGBT groups, including GLEN, LGBTNoise, and MarriagEquality, criticised Civil Partnership as "a separate and unequal institution". [6] [7] [8]
Same-sex marriage in Ireland has been legal since 16 November 2015. A referendum on 22 May 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that marriage is recognised irrespective of the sex of the partners. The measure was signed into law by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, as the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on 29 August 2015. The Marriage Act 2015, passed by the Oireachtas on 22 October 2015 and signed into law by the Presidential Commission on 29 October 2015, gave legislative effect to the amendment. Same-sex marriages in the Republic of Ireland began being recognised from 16 November 2015, and the first marriage ceremonies of same-sex couples in Ireland occurred the following day.
Jim Walsh is an Irish Fianna Fáil politician and member of Seanad Éireann between 1997 and 2016.
Greece recognizes same-sex cohabitation agreements, which provide several of the rights and benefits of marriage. Legislation allowing such unions was approved by the Hellenic Parliament on 23 December 2015 and published in the Government Gazette the following day. In 2022, the opposition SYRIZA party submitted a bill for same-sex marriage and adoption.
Anne Colley is a former Irish politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin South constituency from 1987 to 1989.
Attitudes in Ireland towards lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are among the most liberal in the world. Ireland is notable for its transformation from a country holding overwhelmingly conservative attitudes toward LGBT issues, in part due to the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church, to one holding overwhelmingly liberal views in the space of a generation. In May 2015, Ireland became the first country to legalise same-sex marriage on a national level by popular vote. The New York Times declared that the result put Ireland at the "vanguard of social change". Since July 2015, transgender people in Ireland can self-declare their gender for the purpose of updating passports, driving licences, obtaining new birth certificates, and getting married. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in the state since 1993. Government recognition of LGBT rights in Ireland has expanded greatly over the past two decades. Homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, and most forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation are now outlawed. Ireland also forbids incitement to hatred based on sexual orientation.
The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland have varied significantly over time.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Thailand face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in Thailand, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. About eight percent of the Thai population, five million people, are thought to be in the LGBT demographic.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in the British Crown dependency of the Isle of Man have evolved substantially since the early 2000s. Private and consensual acts of male homosexuality on the island were decriminalised in 1992. LGBT rights have been extended and recognised in law since then, such as an equal age of consent (2006), employment protection from discrimination (2006), gender identity recognition (2009), the right to enter into a civil partnership (2011), the right to adopt children (2011) and the right to enter into a civil marriage (2016).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights have evolved significantly in the past decades in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. Same-sex sexual activity has been legal since 1993 and the age of consent was equalised to 16 in 2012. The Supreme Court of Gibraltar ruled in April 2013 that same-sex couples have the right to adopt. Civil partnerships have been available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples since March 2014, and in October 2016, Gibraltar voted to legalise same-sex marriage with the Civil Marriage Amendment Act 2016 passing unanimously in Parliament. The law received royal assent on 1 November and took effect on 15 December 2016.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (GLEN) was an Irish LGB rights group based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1988 by Don Donnelly, Charles Kerrigan, Suzy Byrne, Kieran Rose and Christopher Robson. It focused on achieving change in legislation and social policy to achieve full equality and inclusion for lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people in Ireland, and protection from all forms of discrimination. Its board of directors were Margot Slattery (chair), Simon Nugent, Muriel Walls, Séamus Dooley and Dr. Fergus Ryan. In May 2017 it was announced that it would close.
LGBT life on the island of Ireland is made up of persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or otherwise.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Scotland are generally in line with the rest of the United Kingdom, which have evolved extensively over time and are now regarded as some of the most progressive in Europe. In both 2015 and 2016, Scotland was recognised as the "best country in Europe for LGBTI legal equality".
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) rights in Northern Ireland have traditionally been slower to advance than the rest of the United Kingdom, with the region having lagged behind England, Scotland, and Wales. Northern Ireland was the last part of the United Kingdom where same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised, the last to implement a blood donation “monogamous no waiting period” policy system for men who have sex with men and, after intervention by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the last to allow same-sex marriage. Compared to the neighbouring Republic of Ireland, homosexuality was decriminalised in Northern Ireland a decade earlier and civil partnerships were introduced six years earlier, but the Republic allowed same-sex marriage five years sooner.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) persons in Hong Kong, may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the Cayman Islands may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity are legal in the Cayman Islands. Despite anti-gay attitudes expressed by certain members of the government, social acceptance by the Caymanian public has been known to be some of the best in the Caribbean.
The Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 is an Act of the Oireachtas which allows same-sex couples to enter into civil partnerships. The Act also provides rights for participants in long-term cohabiting relationships who have not entered into a civil partnership or marriage. There is no difference, under the Act, in the rights and obligations accorded to opposite-sex cohabiting couples or same-sex cohabiting couples; however, there are significant differences between the rights and obligations accorded to civil partners (same-sex) and those accorded to married couples (opposite-sex). The Act marks the penultimate legal step towards the recognition of same-sex partnerships; following the Marriage Act 2015, same-sex partners had access to marriage on the same basis as opposite-sex partners, with civil partnership no longer available.
Tiernan Brady is an Irish-Australian political and LGBT rights campaigner who was involved in the campaigns to allow same-sex marriage in Ireland and Australia. He was the executive director of the Equality Campaign in Australia, the successful national campaign for Australian Marriage Equality. He was the political director of Ireland's successful "Yes Equality" campaign which saw Ireland become the first country in the world to introduce marriage equality by a public vote. He was the Director of Gay HIV Strategies in GLEN – The Irish Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, and is Campaign Director of Equal Future 2018.
The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act 2015 amended the Constitution of Ireland to permit marriage to be contracted by two persons without distinction as to their sex. Prior to the enactment, the Constitution was assumed to contain an implicit prohibition on same-sex marriage in the Republic of Ireland. It was approved at a referendum on 22 May 2015 by 62% of voters on a turnout of 61%. This was the first time that a state legalised same-sex marriage through a popular vote. Two legal challenges regarding the conduct of the referendum were dismissed on 30 July by the Court of Appeal, and the bill was signed into law by the President of Ireland on 29 August. An amendment to the Marriage Act 2015 provided for marriages permitted by the new constitutional status. The act came into force on 16 November 2015; the first same-sex marriage ceremony was held on 17 November 2015.
Zappone & Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners & Ors [2006] IEHC 404 was a High Court case which was one of the first major events in the debate on the recognition of same-sex marriage in Ireland. The plaintiffs Ann Louise Gilligan and Katherine Zappone unsuccessfully sought recognition of their Canadian marriage.
