The partner of slain lesbian Irish journalist Lyra McKee led a march in Belfast, Northern Ireland last Saturday, joined by thousands of same-sex couples demanding marriage equality.
Sara Canning had planned to marry McKee, who was killed April 18 while covering a raid on the New IRA compound in Derry.
Northern Ireland is the only region of the United Kingdom where same-sex marriage isn’t legal.
Canning, wearing a “Love Equality” T-shirt, asked the crowd of around 8,000 people in Writer’s Square, “Why should we not be afforded the same rights in marriage” as the rest of the United Kingdom?
“We pay our taxes, we are governed by the same laws, we live deeply, and we love dearly,” she continued, according to the Mirror Herald, “Why should we not be afforded the same rights in marriage?”
John O’Doherty, director of Rainbow Project, added, “I stand today with my better half, the love of my life — angry and frustrated — that another year has passed without our love being recognized as equal under the law.”
Protesters called upon British Prime Minister Theresa May to bypass the Democratic Unionist Party and introduce legislation in the British parliament in Westminster.
The DUP is a key ally of May.
The party has blocked attempts to legislate same-sex marriage despite public support. It has also been in a two-year stalemate with Sinn Fein, the large Irish nationalist party.
The Herald reported that Canning said she asked May to legalize same-sex marriage to honor McKee.
May, along with many prominent political figures, condemned McKee’s murder and attended her funeral at St. Anne’s Cathedral.
Published by the Bay Area Reporter.
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