No: 18 Zappone & Gilligan V Revenue Commisioners 2006 | Pocketmags.com

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No: 18 Zappone & Gilligan V Revenue Commisioners 2006

My first memory of Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan was seeing them on the news in October 2006, outside the Four Courts, as they began their quest through the Irish courts to have their Canadian marriage recognised here in Ireland. They had married in Vancouver in September 2003, months after marriage equality had been introduced in British Colombia. It was the first time I had seen a lesbian couple talk about their love, their deep commitment to each other, and their long-term relationship in public. It was the first time I had seen or heard about a married lesbian couple. It seems funny now, but we lived in a different country then. A less equal, less open, more frightened one.

Ann Louise and Katherine’s visibility and courageous litigation not only gave me (and many others) the inspiration and motivation to be my authentic self, but they also founded the movement for marriage equality in Ireland. Although the High Court judgement in December 2006 did not give them the outcome they were looking for, it did put the issue of equality for same-sex couples firmly on the political agenda. Katherine and Ann Louise appealed to the Supreme Court in February 2007. Their appeal came before the Supreme Court in 2012, but returned to the High Court to challenge parts of both the Civil Registration Act of 2004 and Civil Partnership Act of 2010.

I first met Katherine and Ann Louise in person in their warm, welcoming home, ‘The Shanty’, one weekend in November 2007. A group of friends and activists who were supporting them with their case, called the KAL Advocacy Initiative, gathered to discuss next steps. I was new, starstruck and overwhelmed, but they welcomed and included me, and encouraged my participation. That weekend changed my life and set in motion the campaign that would change the country. Marriage Equality was born.

Throughout this time, Katherine and Ann Louise’s mission to achieve marriage equality through strategic litigation, coupled with a communications campaign to change hearts and minds, was adopted by Marriage Equality. This was developed to encompass advocating for legislative reform and ultimately resulted in victory through a referendum.

Over the years I got to know Katherine and Ann Louise at many board meetings, fundraising events and marches. Although I eventually got over feeling starstruck around them, I always felt privileged to be in their company. “If you can imagine it, you can achieve it,” we would often hear one of them say, to encourage us to dream big, be creative, be brave, and hold our nerve.

Ireland will forever be grateful to Katherine and Ann Louise for living their lives out loud and for modeling for us the kind of country we wanted to live in. For LGBT+ people, they are icons for being the pioneers, the role models who showed us the way, and who dedicated over a decade of their lives to achieving equality for LGBT+ people, our families, and our children. For me personally, I am grateful to them for giving me the courage to come out, to be me and continue the fight for a fairer more equal Ireland.

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