Tánaiste Joan Burton calls No posters ‘sad and demeaning’
The Tánaiste – Deputy Prime Minister – of the Republic of Ireland has said the posters against same-sex marriage are “sad and demeaning”.
The Republic of Ireland is due to vote in a referendum on same-sex marriage on May 22nd.
Joan Burton said she agreed with Communication’s Minister Alex White’s comments that the issue of children and surrogacy were being exploited in the same-sex marriage debate.
Mr White previously said: “People are trying to give the impression that a No vote will somehow guarantee that every child in the country will be born with a mother and a father.
“There will be an attempt to sow confusion. We have to be ready for that. But the way this campaign should be run and the way we intend running it is to keep it to the straightforward messages of equality, fairness and respect.”
Ms Burton said: “I saw some posters suggesting that this referendum is about surrogacy. The referendum has nothing to do with surrogacy.
“As somebody who is adopted, I find the particular poster about surrogacy really quite sad.
“The notion that people who have been raised in anything other than the kind of perfect family situation that the No people describe, frankly, I find it undermining of people in a way I think is regrettable.
“On Alan’s point, there is a danger – and you can see it in some of the posters – that children are drawn into this referendum in a misleading way and in a way that is not helpful to the debate.”
Comedian Jason Manford had a cheeky comment for No campaigners recently.
