A Sea of Purple at Pride 2011

28 Jun 2011

What a weekend for supporters of marriage equality!

pride1On Saturday morning we woke to the news that New York had become the 7th state to legalise marriage equality. In an historic vote, the New York Senate passed the marriage bill 33-29, meaning that for the first time ever same sex couples in loving relationships now have the option to marry in New York. The world is watching, and we hope our own politicians were watching as government representatives of a state that is home to over 420,000 people of Irish ancestry did the right thing by voting in favour of equality for same sex couples and families.

Happy Days!

Inspired by that wonderful news, we set off for the Dublin Pride Parade. Armed with t-shirts and placards, we met up with our amazing supporters who turned out for the day. And what a turnout! Couples, singles, LGBT, straight, babies and even a canine supporter of Marriage Equality! We quickly ran out of shirts AND placards, but to turn around and see a sea of bright purple Marriage Equality supporters was truly heart-warming.

And with the sun splitting the rocks, we marched, cheered and chanted our way down O'Connell Street and along Dame Street. Spectators lining the streets and leaning out of apartment windows cheered us on.Pride 5 - Workers Solidarity

"What do we want?"
"EQUALITY!!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!!"

We even made it on to the RTE News at 6pm and 9pm. (see the above still!)

From all of us at Marriage Equality, we'd like to thank every single person who came out to march with us. We couldn't have done it without you. With people like you behind us, we are able to demonstrate that equality is an important issue for same sex couples. Equality is something that we're prepared to work hard for, and we won't stop until we achieve it!

Pride 3 - Workers SolidarityWe'd especially like to thank Phil Dunlop, who designed the images on our t-shirts and placards, and to Barbara Hughes for delivering a powerful speech at the Pride after-party.

We've still got a lot of work to do before marriage equality becomes a reality in Ireland, but we're almost there, and we're making our voices heard. It'll take a lot of hard work and effort, but with supporters like you behind us, we know we can succeed.

Thank you for your continued support.

 

(photos via Phil Dunlop and Dublin Pride)