Championing Equality: Zappone & Gilligan in UCD

On Thursday evening, I had the delightful pleasure of helping to organise the Equality Society's Inaugural annual lecture with guest speakers, Katherine Zappone & Ann Louise Gilligan. I was going to be lazy and not post about this, but the beauty and love that I felt personally at this event was too much to ignore. I have been following the KALcase since it started in 2004, I even have the breakingnews.ie article on pdf from when it was first announced they would be seeking judicial review against the Revenue Commissioners. I was in the States at the time and remember feeling a sense of immense pride that something, anything was happening finally with my rights. I was only on the process of coming out, and having all those mid-phase hangups, but this happened around the October/November of 2004, and coupled with a number of other factors, I came out to the last of my mates in the Carolina Global Community in USC. I remember commenting at the time to a mate, that I didnt hold any faith in the Irish Judiciary in making a decision of this magnitude, thus far this has proven to be the case. We shall see how the Irish Supreme Court reacts when the case goes before it sometime this year or early next year.

However back to the event, Judy Walsh, chair, opened the talk by discussing the need for further societal acceptance for affective equality which set the tone nicely for the rest of the talk. Ann Lousie spoke first, describing Rawls second principle of Sameness to the gasps of some of us who are not necessarily in favour of Rawls Theories of Justice and his belief in the inherent selfishness of man. She then contrasted this with Iris Young's theory of Difference with this and used these two theories to describe the current debate about Gay Civil Marriage and whether it was assimilationist or not. Speaking about how Katherine and her met, she advised that in 1981 Boston College only had 2 PhD studentships available. Ann Louise got one. Katherine got the other. A Match that has lasted up to this day.

Katherine began to speak then, whilst Ann-Louise looked on, about the beginning of their work in Brittas, West Tallaght and the beginning of their community centre which operated out of their backyard from 1983 up until the late 1990s, when it moved to a purpose built building and was renamed 'An Cósan' and is still in operation providing second chance education in West Tallaght.

Then Ann Louise talked about their relationship and their decision to marry in 2003 in Canada. She described how it was a complete family occasion. To have their commitment to each other recognized civilly through the state, she acknowledged was a beautiful experience. She said that "Some people ask us, if it made a difference to our lives. I can honestly say that it has". Coming home from Canada, they did as all returning newly-weds did and registered their marriage with the state's institutions. And Revenue declined to accept their marriage due to the Oxford dictionary's definition of marriage being a heterosexual institution of "one man and one woman". Rightly they proceeded with a judicial review of their case, and as already outlined it is currently set to be heard sometime by the end of this year or early 2009.

The talk ended shortly after that, but not after they both instilled a sense of the love and Commitment which they feel for each other. Anybody who up to this point had doubted the motives of these two women, as just two lesbians looking for tax breaks, would be severly pushed to hold onto that stance by the end of this talk.

To say that this event has change my life, would be a lie. It has not. However It certainly is one of those events which shall be marked as an important facet of my life (take note you future biographers). I only hope that some day I will be able to enjoy a relationship of such commitment and love for even a brief amount of time.

Thank you.