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| David Norris, hero of gay marriage vote: ‘At 71, with a liver transplant, I’m too old to wed’ | David Norris, hero of gay marriage vote: ‘At 71, with a liver transplant, I’m too old to wed’ |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| After helping to win a globally unique battle for marriage equality last weekend, Senator David Norris was basking in glory at being hailed a key architect of Ireland’s momentous referendum vote to allow same-sex marriages under the constitution. Just days later, he is rueful as he reflects that he is too old and a little bit too choosy to tie the knot at his age. | |
| “I am being realistic. I don’t think there is going to be a queue for the hand of a 71-year-old man with a liver transplant. In any case, I am quite picky. Throughout my life I have gone for quality rather than quantity. Of course, 50 years ago I would have absolutely loved to have been married but it simply didn’t enter my horizons at that stage.” | “I am being realistic. I don’t think there is going to be a queue for the hand of a 71-year-old man with a liver transplant. In any case, I am quite picky. Throughout my life I have gone for quality rather than quantity. Of course, 50 years ago I would have absolutely loved to have been married but it simply didn’t enter my horizons at that stage.” |
| He reacts with horror to the suggestion he will at least be the preferred best man at the weddings of same-sex couples tying the knot once the law is enacted by the end of the year. | He reacts with horror to the suggestion he will at least be the preferred best man at the weddings of same-sex couples tying the knot once the law is enacted by the end of the year. |
| The gregarious politician and Trinity College Dublin academic protests that he could be bad luck for newlyweds: “I would say no. I have been a best man at one wedding of a beloved Israeli friend to a Spanish policeman and it ended in divorce,” Norris says as he shelters from the rain hammering down on the front of Leinster House, Ireland’s parliament. | The gregarious politician and Trinity College Dublin academic protests that he could be bad luck for newlyweds: “I would say no. I have been a best man at one wedding of a beloved Israeli friend to a Spanish policeman and it ended in divorce,” Norris says as he shelters from the rain hammering down on the front of Leinster House, Ireland’s parliament. |
| The country is now, according to Yahoo, the favourite destination for same sex-marriages. | The country is now, according to Yahoo, the favourite destination for same sex-marriages. |
| Wearing the international symbol of the gay movement, a rainbow flag, over a pinstripe suit, Norris chortles when it is suggested his cloak makes him look like a gay version of Batman. | Wearing the international symbol of the gay movement, a rainbow flag, over a pinstripe suit, Norris chortles when it is suggested his cloak makes him look like a gay version of Batman. |
| With a Yes vote clinched, the thousands who had gathered inside Dublin Castle to hear the outcome gave Norris a rapturous hero’s welcome when he arrived last Saturday afternoon. While gay bars and clubs around the castle opened all day and night to celebrate victory, Norris confesses he stayed away from the festivities. | With a Yes vote clinched, the thousands who had gathered inside Dublin Castle to hear the outcome gave Norris a rapturous hero’s welcome when he arrived last Saturday afternoon. While gay bars and clubs around the castle opened all day and night to celebrate victory, Norris confesses he stayed away from the festivities. |
| “I was pulled in pieces by different radio and television stations on Saturday night, but at 8.30pm I went to a neighbour’s house, took off my shoes, put up my feet and had a small glass of red wine. That was it! Because I have had a liver transplant and have to take it easy these days.” | “I was pulled in pieces by different radio and television stations on Saturday night, but at 8.30pm I went to a neighbour’s house, took off my shoes, put up my feet and had a small glass of red wine. That was it! Because I have had a liver transplant and have to take it easy these days.” |
| Norris recalls a thorny conversation he had long ago with a firmly Catholic woman in the days when homosexuality in the republic was still a crime. | Norris recalls a thorny conversation he had long ago with a firmly Catholic woman in the days when homosexuality in the republic was still a crime. |
| “In the early days of the gay movement I was assailed by a fundamentalist Christian who shouted into my face: ‘You are not just about decriminalisation. You have the homosexual agenda. The next thing you will be looking for is homosexual marriage.’ I adopted a pleased expression, took out a pen and a piece of paper and said, ‘Well what a splendid idea, thank you madam. Have you got any further suggestions?’” | “In the early days of the gay movement I was assailed by a fundamentalist Christian who shouted into my face: ‘You are not just about decriminalisation. You have the homosexual agenda. The next thing you will be looking for is homosexual marriage.’ I adopted a pleased expression, took out a pen and a piece of paper and said, ‘Well what a splendid idea, thank you madam. Have you got any further suggestions?’” |
| It was Norris’s legal cases against the Irish state, which went all the way to the European court of human rights, that eventually pushed the then Fianna Fáil-Labour government in 1993 to decriminalise homosexuality. | It was Norris’s legal cases against the Irish state, which went all the way to the European court of human rights, that eventually pushed the then Fianna Fáil-Labour government in 1993 to decriminalise homosexuality. |
| “I did not envisage in my lifetime a country where every single political party would be strongly in favour of a Yes vote for marriage equality, nor did I foresee Dublin Castle yard filled with thousands of jubilant gay people, their families, friends and heterosexual supporters all cheering a major advance in gay rights.” | “I did not envisage in my lifetime a country where every single political party would be strongly in favour of a Yes vote for marriage equality, nor did I foresee Dublin Castle yard filled with thousands of jubilant gay people, their families, friends and heterosexual supporters all cheering a major advance in gay rights.” |
| His career as a politician has been marked with controversy, especially during the 2011 Irish presidential campaign. Norris had originally stood to be Irish president but his campaign crumbled after allegations over a former partner, Ezra Nawi, who had been convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in 1992. Norris came under fire when it emerged that he had sent a letter to an Israeli court, written on parliamentary notepaper, which said that Nawi had been lured into a “carefully prepared trap” and had unwisely pleaded guilty to the charges. | His career as a politician has been marked with controversy, especially during the 2011 Irish presidential campaign. Norris had originally stood to be Irish president but his campaign crumbled after allegations over a former partner, Ezra Nawi, who had been convicted of the statutory rape of a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in 1992. Norris came under fire when it emerged that he had sent a letter to an Israeli court, written on parliamentary notepaper, which said that Nawi had been lured into a “carefully prepared trap” and had unwisely pleaded guilty to the charges. |
| There was some opposition to the referendum result, not least from the Vatican, where a Holy See official last Wednesday described the result as a “disaster for humanity”. | There was some opposition to the referendum result, not least from the Vatican, where a Holy See official last Wednesday described the result as a “disaster for humanity”. |
| Norris’s shoulders shake with laughter when he is shown the quotes from Rome. “The Roman Catholic church’s views on sexuality have been a disaster for humanity.” | Norris’s shoulders shake with laughter when he is shown the quotes from Rome. “The Roman Catholic church’s views on sexuality have been a disaster for humanity.” |
| Norris, who is a practising Christian and a prominent member of the Church of Ireland, then paraphrases St Matthew’s gospel when Christ put down hypocrites and moralisers. “It shows they are out of touch. They should take the beam out of their own eye rather than looking for the speck of dust in other people’s eyes.” | Norris, who is a practising Christian and a prominent member of the Church of Ireland, then paraphrases St Matthew’s gospel when Christ put down hypocrites and moralisers. “It shows they are out of touch. They should take the beam out of their own eye rather than looking for the speck of dust in other people’s eyes.” |
| Opponents of same-sex marriage in Ireland claim that the new legalisation will end up with LGBT couples suing churches that refuse to bless their unions in places of worship. The senator is dismissive of these fears. | Opponents of same-sex marriage in Ireland claim that the new legalisation will end up with LGBT couples suing churches that refuse to bless their unions in places of worship. The senator is dismissive of these fears. |
| “Some churches such as the Unitarian church and the Presbyterian church in America do celebrate gay marriages. The referendum that was passed was about civil marriage and civil marriage alone. However, bearing in mind, as I have often said, that priests routinely bless agricultural machinery, domestic pets and bombs, I don’t think it would kill them to give a blessing to two human beings who love each other. But that is up to them,” Norris said. | “Some churches such as the Unitarian church and the Presbyterian church in America do celebrate gay marriages. The referendum that was passed was about civil marriage and civil marriage alone. However, bearing in mind, as I have often said, that priests routinely bless agricultural machinery, domestic pets and bombs, I don’t think it would kill them to give a blessing to two human beings who love each other. But that is up to them,” Norris said. |
| He defends the new generation of gay activists such as Panti Bliss aka Rory O’Neill, the drag queen and articulate unofficial spokesperson for the Irish LGBT community. | He defends the new generation of gay activists such as Panti Bliss aka Rory O’Neill, the drag queen and articulate unofficial spokesperson for the Irish LGBT community. |
| “I thought the comment of one newspaper report that the gay community would be stupid to listen to political statements from a man in a skirt pretty wide of the mark. It doesn’t matter what gender you are or what clothes you are wearing, it is the quality of your ideas that counts.” | “I thought the comment of one newspaper report that the gay community would be stupid to listen to political statements from a man in a skirt pretty wide of the mark. It doesn’t matter what gender you are or what clothes you are wearing, it is the quality of your ideas that counts.” |
| Norris tempers his obvious glee over the Yes vote, and the Catholic hierarchy’s discomfort, with a note of caution: “We have to await the legislation and make sure that elements such as pension discrimination and a section of the equality legislation that would allow religious institutions to fire people for being gay are cleared up. | Norris tempers his obvious glee over the Yes vote, and the Catholic hierarchy’s discomfort, with a note of caution: “We have to await the legislation and make sure that elements such as pension discrimination and a section of the equality legislation that would allow religious institutions to fire people for being gay are cleared up. |
| “However, much more important is the position of gay people in the majority of countries where they are harassed, persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, tortured and murdered. In the elation of our own triumph we must not forget our oppressed brothers and sisters.” | “However, much more important is the position of gay people in the majority of countries where they are harassed, persecuted, imprisoned, beaten, tortured and murdered. In the elation of our own triumph we must not forget our oppressed brothers and sisters.” |