Gay Rights

On May 23, 2015, Ireland, which did not decriminalize homosexuality until 1993, became the first nation to approve same-sex marriage by a popular vote. When the referendum was ratified by the Irish Parliament and signed into law by the president of Ireland as the Thirty-Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland on August 29, 2015, Ireland became the 20th nation to legalize same-sex marriage. One month later, on June 26, 2015, in what was hailed as a landmark opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in the United States nationwide. The vote followed substantial changes in marriage and antidiscrimination laws in the United States, and it was a significant victory for gay rights, suggesting that for the first time social and family structures have ...