Ireland: first country to approve gay marriage

Mark Matassa Jul 1, 2025

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Ireland: first country to approve gay marriage</h1>
                <h2><p>In the end the vote wasn’t even close: 62 percent in favor of legalizing gay marriage, and 38 percent opposed. As The New York Times reports, not long ago such a development would have been unthinkable.

“Ireland decriminalized homosexuality only in 1993, the church dominates the education system, and</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mmatassa-mac-com/">Mark Matassa</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://dev.cascadepbs.org/content/images/sites/default/files/images/article/gallery/enda-kenny1.jpg" class="kg-image" alt="Enda" loading="lazy" width="300" height="200"></figure><p>In the end the vote wasn’t even close: 62 percent in favor of legalizing gay marriage, and 38 percent opposed. As <em>The New York Times</em> reports, not long ago such a development <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/world/europe/ireland-gay-marriage-referendum.html?_r=1&ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">would have been unthinkable</a>.</p><p>“Ireland decriminalized homosexuality only in 1993, the church dominates the education system, and abortion remains illegal except when a mother’s life is at risk,” the Times wrote. “But the influence of the church has waned amid scandals in recent years, while attitudes, particularly among the young, have shifted.” Said Prime Minister Enda Kenny, “Today Ireland made history.”</p>
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In the end the vote wasn’t even close: 62 percent in favor of legalizing gay marriage, and 38 percent opposed. As The New York Times reports, not long ago such a development would have been unthinkable.

“Ireland decriminalized homosexuality only in 1993, the church dominates the education system, and abortion remains illegal except when a mother’s life is at risk,” the Times wrote. “But the influence of the church has waned amid scandals in recent years, while attitudes, particularly among the young, have shifted.” Said Prime Minister Enda Kenny, “Today Ireland made history.”

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