Update: Paul Gogarty has left his version below, which I believe and I’m altering the post to reflect this.
Via email from Deputy Gogarty:
I would suggest that the so-called quote be altered as it is factually incorrect and maliciously slanted. I never said keep putting pressure on the Green Party. ‘They’ refers to Fianna Fail, although the rest of that passage was not what I said.
It’s a bit like Peter Pan isn’t it? Apparently Paul Gogarty of the Green Party told someone that gay people need to make more noise if they want equal rights. He complained not enough gay people have been contacting the Green Party Fianna Fáil conservatives to beg and grovel for equality.
they (Fianna Fáil) as a party have had little input from members of the gay community, and that there has to be pressure from all of us in order for any changes to be made.
So we all clapped harder and louder to help tinkerbell so maybe all the gay people have to work that little bit harder for the hard of hearing Green Party Fianna Fáil. I know LGBT Noise are useless but they do what they say on the tin and Christ almighty David Norris never shuts up. How exactly should the begging letters be addressed to the Government? Glitter envelopes? Fabulous handwriting?
Oh, the Greens are just trying to justify their pathetic subservience to their Fianna Fail masters to their voters; I shouldn’t worry much. It’s terribly naive, in my view, to expect anything of them.
Glitter? Did someone say glitter? Maybe a My Little Pony?
Are we required to have fabulous handwriting now? I’m dyspraxic, I can’t form the same signature twice in a row let alone handwrite something, where do I resign my gay-card…
They’ll be processing our relationships/dog licenses soon so they’ll probably take your card then.
We were supposed to be contacting the Greens? His party leader told us all otherwise at that meeting he held in government buildings a few months ago… Joined up government how are ya!
Paul Gogarty really needs to get some sense.
It was his own party that invited a load of gays to Leinster House (I think it was LH) a few weeks ago to talk about gay rights, it was with John Gormley, Roderic O’Gorman and some others, in fact, some Labour LGBT were there too now I think of it.
If Paul Gogarty wants to blame gays for not being loud enough … well, why don’t the Greens get a bit louder in Government.
He does know the Greens are a Government party, right?
That’s what you get for being a bunch of f*cking pansies!
😉
>insert disclaimer for thick people> The above is a joke….
Not going to make myself popular here but a little political reality might help some. It’s not the Green Party who need to be convinced of this, it’s their partners (how versatile that word is!) in Government. The Greens can’t click their fingers and order Fianna Fáil to change the law beyond what was agreed in the program for government. This is especially the case when FF know that a very vocal and well-connected section of their voters are strongly against civil partnerships, let alone gay marriage.
FF always like to be seen as progressive but not at the cost of their own voter support. They’re cynical like that. So the greens need help to convince FF/PD that the issue is important enough to act decisively on, and then they’ll act. And it would help if FF and PD politicians were let know that many of their voters (or potential voters) are in favour of gay marriage too. So if this issue is important to you, you should be lobbying your local Fianna Fáil and PD TDs as well as the Green ones.
Your comment about “grovelling for equality” doesn’t do you any credit either. If it was easy someone would have already done it. Throughout history no marginalised group of people ever achieved equal rights without having to work hard for them. There’s a reason why social historians talk about women “winning” the right to vote. They won it after decades of tough campaigning (look up “suffragette martyr” on google) while opponents said it wasn’t needed, would undermine society, etc. Sounds familiar?
By the way Damien, the post you linked was an email from Ciarán Cuffe, not Paul Gogarty.
The thing is, if we are allegedly a modern secular European society, it bloody should be easy. Decades-long fights should not be required for what most Western European societies seem to have decided is only just.
Quite frankly, after hearing Sargent attempt to debate in Trinity (for a value of ‘debate’ involving refusal to actually address issues and scare-mongering), I haven’t trusted the Greens an inch. Looks like I was right…
Political reality, a phrase used more and more by the Greens as they fuck over people and go back on even more of their policies. Read what Suzy wrote and go to her blog about her meeting with the Greens about equal rights and thevery subject Gogarty has no idea about. Gogarty obviously hasn’t any kind of clue and decided to say something both obnoxious and moronic to get the person to go away. It’s a complete insult to tell gay people they need to make more noise when they’ve been doing it nonstop. I’m sure next Gogarty will say it’s not the right type of noise and then he’ll qualify it again and again. How about growing a pair instead of blaming Fianna Fáil for a Green TD being an ignorant prick?
Lastly, be a good chap and read the post I linked to first where the poster named Paul Gogarty as being the dipshit TD that made the moronic comment and the second link where the poster corrected themselves from an earlier posting where they said a Labour TD said this.
I tend to suspect that ‘political reality’ here means “well, you know, we’ve got to suck up to Fianna Fail; what on Earth would we do without our TD salaries?! And unlimited travel expense claims don’t grow on trees, you know!”.
Call me cynical, but so far the Greens actually seem to be outperforming FF on the amorality scale.
Typical selective politically-motivated drivel here.
My message pointed out that the Green Party was fully on board but Fianna Fail representatives were the ones that needed to be convinced.
So far there has been no evidence of a campaign by the Gay community and their friends and families to put pressure on this reactionary conservative grouping.
No point in preaching to the converted and then cursing them for trying to be helpful. We are doing our best. But Government is made up of several parties and FF is the biggest by far.
Text of one e-mail I replied to FYI:
Dear ( )
This [Bill] is not going to be put off indefinately. My colleague Ciaran Cuffe, our Justice Spokesperson, is very much involved in working behind the scenes to ensure maximum gains when the bill goes before the Oireachtas. The wording is, I understand, almost finalised. I would assume that any wording will be checked with the Attorney-General before going forward. I have no doubt that the Bill will be brought forward and can then be further amended if required (and if the political will exists to do so). We are not fully happy with what is proposed at present, but are satisfied that it addresses pretty much all of the issues.
On a separate note, although I am not Spokesperson for this area, I do recall that our Leader John Gormley asked members of the Irish Gay and Lesbian Community at a special reception to get active on this issue and put pressure on Fianna Fail in particular. This has not happened.
I think that pressure applied in the right places by Gay and non-Gay voters could have a tremendous effect. With the Green Party you are speaking to the fully converted, but not everyone is of the same mind.
Best wishes,
Paul Gogarty
Hmm, funny, I seem to remember marches on Leinster House and so forth. I suppose I was hallucinating…
Marches don’t work. What does work is individual TDs and Councillors worried that they might lose their seat over an issue because enough people contact them locally to get them worried.
I reckon you need about 500 people living in the one area to individually start moving on the issue. That is why friends and relatives are essential.
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Well I totally agree on the marches bit at least. But you can’t be gay without some kind of parade can you?
Could the Greens themselves not organise this whole letter writing campaign themselves though or facilitate it?
Now I better go eat some non-organic piece of veal for balance things out after agreeing with a Green.
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