Every Generation has the chance to change the world
This morning, as with most mornings I get a notification from Facebook telling me what i was up to this day every year since I signed up. Funny to think it was this month 2 years ago when our generation changed Ireland for the better. Here is what i wrote.
This is kinda of a spilt post so bare with me.
On May 22nd we the Irish people will be asked to vote in a referendum on Marriage Equality.
As educated, civilised people, we will be asked to make an informed decision to either, accept, or reject a motion to allow people to marry others of the same sex.
I will be voting Yes.
I will be voting Yes, not because i feel it is the right thing to do.
I will be voting Yes, not to spite those who choose to vote No.
I will be voting Yes, not to spite those who do not believe in or support homosexuality.
I will be voting Yes, simply to practice what I preach.
I will be voting Yes because I reject labels.
I will be voting Yes so that others may live without discrimination
I will vote yes, to lose the label of a White, catholic or Straight.
I, am merely John. The only labels I hold are Son, Brother, Uncle, Nephew and Boyfriend to Vivienne Prete.
I vote yes so that others may lose the labels they carry, labels of race, religious belief or sexual orientation.
I vote yes so that some day, we may all be seen as individuals contributing to the common good.
I vote yes, so that friends, colleagues and strangers might enjoy the same rights I have and the rights their parents never dreamed they would be excluded from.
I would also like to drop a nod to Brendan O'Carroll of Mrs Brown's Boys TV Series. Rory Cowan if you wouldn't mind passing along.
I grew up in the 80's and 90's, I remember the people from back then.
The neighbours who fed the entire street, the scores of kids out playing together, all sharing the one kids ball or someone else's skateboard. I remember the common site of 2 kids, sharing one set of roller skates, when having, and not having were the same thing.
I remember Italia '90 when the whole country was filled with pride, even when the team didn't win. I remember people painting street curbs and houses in the colours of the flag, even though the team might never see it.
I remember the people, even though they didn't have much, always willing to share what was there with others because it was the right and charitable thing to do. The Irish, thing to do.
Thank you Brendan O'Carroll, for bringing those values, that humour and the memories back to us for 30 minutes at a time.
Thank you for giving us the gift of who we are and the view of where we have come from. The communities who stood together to fight drug dealing, who had street parties and summer projects for the kids in the time when searching for a friend, meant trying their house, their grannies house, the playground, the football pitch and the abandoned warehouse you knew the way into.
Thank you for showing us the good inside, when the not having much, meant we had all we needed. When being poor meant you took the bus, made the most of a pot of coddle or stew.
And most of all. Thank you for making my mammy laugh. for that, i am eternally grateful.