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DUBLIN — Irish citizens in places as far-flung as Australia and California were flying back to their home country on Friday to cast ballots in a referendum that could make Ireland the first country to adopt same-sex marriage by a popular vote.
DUBLIN — In the final hours of a political campaign that could make Ireland the first country to adopt same-sex marriage by a popular vote, support for the measure trickled in from overseas and from an even more unexpected place: some of the clergy in this Roman Catholic country.
A social media campaign in support of same-sex marriage and aimed at Irish citizens abroad urged them to come home for the vote, and a stream of expatriates answered the call in airports around the country. Voting is allowed only in Ireland; it is not possible to mail ballots from abroad.
Irish citizens in places as far-flung as Australia and California flew back to their home country on Friday to cast ballots in a referendum on a constitutional amendment that would make it legal for gays to marry. And some in the clergy went public with their decision to vote yes.
A carriage filled with supporters of same-sex marriage and adorned with balloons with the word “love” made its way from London to Holyhead, Wales, where would-be voters then journeyed by boat to Dublin.
Father Gerry O’Connor, a priest in the Cherry Orchard area of Dublin, said that notions of the traditional heterosexual nuclear family were changing, and he saw it as a moral imperative to advocate for same-sex marriage, even if the church does not agree.
Younger voters, in particular, said they were enthusiastic about casting ballots on what has become one of the defining civil rights issues of the era. The referendum campaign has exposed a generational divide, as well as a breach with a national past that was deeply conservative and influenced by the Roman Catholic Church.
“I live in a disadvantaged area where every family structure exists, and when you sit down with those families your preconceptions can be challenged,” he said. “I feel strongly for these families and I see no evidence that a vote for equal status that would help end the present stigma is to the detriment of the common good.”
The referendum on whether same-sex couples should be able to legally wed comes amid a global shift toward increased rights for gay men and lesbians, but one that has often been halting and divisive. Countries including the United States are grappling with how quickly to address thorny questions like the definition of marriage and the nuclear family, biology, tradition and the extent to which courts and legislatures should act as catalysts for social transformation or cleave to mainstream public attitudes.
The referendum, part of a widening social trend to extend civil rights to gays, had the potential to be historic, as the first electoral endorsement by a country of the right to same-sex marriages. The fact that the vote was taking place at all seemed significant to many, given Ireland’s conservative past.
In the Irish referendum, the question before voters is whether to amend the Constitution with an article stipulating that “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”
In Dublin, the capital, supporters were out on the streets, handing out leaflets to motorists at major crossroads. Campaigning in rural areas appeared more subdued. But in County Kildare, outside of Dublin, clusters of signs near polling stations declared: ”Two men can’t replace the love of a mother.”
The polls opened at 7 a.m. on Friday and are expected to close at 10 p.m. An official result is not expected before Saturday.
Turnout was reported to be higher than usual, especially in urban areas like Dublin, where voters are seen as more likely to cast votes in support.
Roughly 3.2 million citizens have the right to vote on the referendum. In a sign of the significance of the issue, 60,000 more people have registered to vote for the first time since the general election four years ago, many of them in the past few months.
Polls closed at 10 p.m., but results were not expected to be available until Saturday morning, and would not be official until later in the day.
While the Catholic Church and other conservative groups have mobilized to defeat the measure, the movement has been less robust than some expected, and gay-rights campaigners see the vote as a sort of barometer for how global attitudes toward the issue are shifting.
In Dublin’s gay pubs, the mood was celebratory, but tinged with caution. After the British elections this month defied both polls and pundits, no one was taking anything for granted.
The Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, a church-attending Catholic and a member of the center-right party Fine Gael, has voiced support for the amendment, as have parties across the political spectrum, including conservatives.
Inside the Pantibar, one of the most popular gay bars, people checked their cellphones more frequently than usual, looking for any news.
While supporters of the yes campaign have been enthusiastic and resilient during the polarizing campaign, and opinion polls showed them with a lead as they headed toward the vote, approval is far from assured. Analysts say turnout could sway the result, including among older voters in rural areas who are more inclined to vote against the amendment.
Brian Ward, 26, insisted his confidence hadn’t wavered throughout the campaign, but that a loss would be just a setback.
And while voters may want to appear progressive when answering opinion polls, experts note, they have been known to shift their views in the privacy of voting booths.
“If we’re not singing from the rafters tomorrow because the result hasn’t gone our way, I will stay and fight because I am an Irishman and I love this country,” he said.
Ireland’s conservative streak runs deep in some quarters. Homosexuality was not decriminalized until 1993, and abortion is illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk. The right to divorce passed narrowly in a referendum in 1995, but only after going to a second vote.
The Catholic Church in Ireland officially opposes legalization of same-sex marriage and has been the chief adversary of the effort to add the proposed amendment to the Constitution, which declares, “Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex.”
Yet attitudes have been gradually shifting as the once-overwhelming influence of the Catholic Church has waned after a series of sex-abuse scandals that rocked the church.
While bishops recently issued a pastoral letter urging parishioners to get out and vote no, they have, for the most part, waged their campaign through Catholic groups, apparently out of concern that a too-harsh public stance could push some wavering voters into the yes camp.
In recent weeks, the yes camp has sent campaigners to knock on doors across the country, buttressed by support from celebrities including the musician Bono, the rugby star Peter O’Mahony and the actor Colin Farrell. Gay-rights activists organized pub quizzes to raise money, and hung rainbow flags across the capital.
Though 84 percent of the Irish are Catholic, church attendance has faded, and the once-lockstep solidarity with church teachings has eroded, a result of rising secularism and reaction to the pedophile scandals that have rocked the church.
Graham Herterich, who runs The Cupcake Bloke bakery in Dublin, has been busy making rainbow spongecakes, with six layers representing the colors of the flag associated with the gay-rights movement to help raise money for the yes campaign.
But even in their opposition, many church leaders, following the example of Pope Francis, have preached tolerance, and tried to distinguish between objection to marriage and acceptance of gays.
“I hope I’ll be getting asked to make wedding cakes after tomorrow,” he said. “I was a wee bit nervous it wouldn’t pass a few days ago, but I can’t believe the level of support we have been getting. So now I’m more confident than ever.”
“Sexual orientation does not debar anyone from God’s love,” the Association of Catholic Priests said in a statement in March. “If as priests we are speaking on this matter, we need to remember that the use of intemperate language can cause deep hurt among gay people and their families, as well as doing further damage to an already ailing church.”
The no camp has marshaled its own forces, preaching the sanctity of heterosexual unions and distributing emotive posters of an attractive man and a woman kissing their baby. “Children deserve a mother and a father,” the poster says. “Vote no.”
Some Irish citizens living abroad, responding to a social media campaign, came home to vote. Voting is allowed only in Ireland; it is not possible to mail ballots from abroad.
The tactic backfired somewhat, however, when the couple pictured said that they were appalled by the way the photograph was being used and that they intended to vote yes.
A railroad car filled with supporters of same-sex marriage and adorned with balloons with the word “love” made its way from London to Holyhead, Wales, where would-be voters then journeyed by boat to Dublin.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin told the state broadcaster RTE this week that he would vote no because he wanted to safeguard the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman.
Roughly 3.2 million citizens are eligible to vote on the referendum. In a sign of the significance of the issue, 60,000 more people have registered to vote for the first time since the general election four years ago, many of them in the past few months.
But in another sign that homosexuality is gradually gaining acceptance in the Western world, he added that his was not a vote against gays and lesbians.
Graham Herterich, who runs the Cupcake Bloke bakery in Dublin, has been busy making rainbow spongecakes, with six layers representing the colors of the flag associated with the gay rights movement, to help raise funds for the yes campaign.
“I think you can have equality while recognizing difference,” Archbishop Martin said. “For me, the fundamental thing is marriage, and a family are about the complimentary gifts of a man and a woman, a mother and a father.”
“I hope I’ll be getting asked to make wedding cakes after tomorrow,” he said.
The Association of Catholic Priests has urged its members not to take a stance on the referendum.
“Sexual orientation does not debar anyone from God’s love,” it said in a statement in March. “If, as priests, we are speaking on this matter, we need to remember that the use of intemperate language can cause deep hurt among gay people and their families, as well as doing further damage to an already ailing church.”
Even at the Vatican, Pope Francis has preached acceptance of gays.
The Rev. Gerry O’Connor, a priest in the Cherry Orchard area of Dublin, is among those members of the clergy who have publicly supported a yes vote.
“I live in a disadvantaged area where every family structure exists, and when you sit down with those families, your preconceptions can be challenged,” Father O’Connor said. “I feel strongly for these families, and I see no evidence that a vote for equal status that would help end the present stigma is to the detriment of the common good.”
He continued: “I live in the messiness of people’s lives, and I think the law should reflect this.”
Father O’Connor said that many of his colleagues, particularly those who approached their faith from a social justice perspective, held similar views but that they were not as willing to express them publicly.
Laura Rahill, 17, from County Louth, said the vote had initially divided her family. “My mum was against it up until today!” she wrote on Facebook. “She was voting no because it was the teachings of the Catholic Church, and my grandmother raised her and the rest of her children strictly Catholic.”
“The topic was debated many times in our house,” she continued, “and today she said: ‘Who am I to tell someone how they should and shouldn’t live? I’ve no right to judge others; it is none of my business,’ followed by, ‘Right, I’ve decided I’m voting yes, but don’t tell granny!’ ”
More than a dozen countries in Europe, including France, Spain and the Netherlands, have legalized same-sex marriage, as have Brazil, Canada, South Africa and Uruguay, among others. Prime Minister Xavier Bettel of Luxembourg recently married to become the first European leader in a same-sex marriage.
Homosexuality is still illegal in many countries. In Saudi Arabia, engaging in a homosexual act is punishable by death by stoning. In dozens of other countries, it carries a prison sentence.
Graham Norton, a popular Irish television and radio presenter, reminded his countrymen on Twitter that their vote had global importance. “Come on Ireland! The world is watching and waiting,” he wrote. “Here’s hoping that love and common sense win the day rather than fear and misinformation.”
