As Ireland marks the anniversary of its approval of same-sex marriage by referendum on May 23rd, 2015, there is plenty of reason for national pride and celebration. This 34th amendment to the Constitution brought the attention of the international news media to Ireland, noting in particular how the small, largely Catholic republic had “defied its history”.
Since Ireland made this historic decision, three more countries have joined the ranks of the 22 which now recognise same-sex marriages. It is easy to see this as tracing out a global progressive trend leading towards the recognition of the LGBT community. This trend seems all the more concrete as the Italian parliament just last week approved legislation for the creation of civil partnerships.
In light of this laudable progress, it is easy to neglect the bigger picture of how the world thinks and behaves in relation to the LGBT community. A recent report by UCC academic Aengus Carroll for the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association suggests that, in as many as 75 countries, homosexual acts remain a criminal offence. Indeed, six of these countries implement the death penalty for such conduct.
The experience of the LGBT community across the world has not been uniform, and neither is the present direction of the societal change to which they are subject. The inclusion of those who do not conform to traditional conceptions of gender and sexuality is a phenomenon restricted largely to the West, with the reverse trend evident in much of the world. Indeed, it is likely to be the case that the progress we have made in this part of the world has the unfortunate consequence of intensifying homophobic state activity, by making the prospect of change and liberalisation seem all the more scary and real to the traditionalist elements that dominate many societies. It is this backlash that is likely to have motivated North Carolina’s largely symbolic decision to restrict transgender individuals to the use of the bathroom designated for the gender assigned to them at birth.
The increasingly polarised ways in which the LGBT community are treated throughout the world invites us to look beyond the Irish experience and understand that the global picture is not one of progress, but a diverse one that still requires both attention and activism.
