Northern Ireland asks Santa for marriage equality
All they want for Christmas is equality! Hundreds of shoppers in Northern Ireland have signed a card addressed to Santa Claus asking for same-sex marriage.
The huge ‘Big Gay Christmas Card’ was placed in Belfast’s city centre on Thursday night.
Members of the public were asked to sign it to show their support for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.
The fun but symbolically significant initiative was the brainchild of Love Equality, the campaign for equal civil marriage in Northern Ireland.
The group aimed to enlist the support of Christmas shoppers and to spread a festive message of love through the use of selfies and social media.
“Christmas is a time for families, for celebrating the time that we spend together and reflecting on the past year,” said John O’Doherty of Love Equality.
“We want to spread a message of equality and inclusion this Christmas. That is why we are asking people to get involved in the campaign for marriage equality and make a big impact by signing our huge Christmas card to ask Santa to bring us marriage equality for Christmas,” he explained.
While gay and lesbian relationships can be legally recognised through civil partnership, Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK to still not allow full same-sex marriage.
According to a June 2016 poll, 70% of people in Northern Ireland support marriage equality.
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