Colley also put forward Civil Marriage as an OPTION – so please don’t keep saying that her report reccomended Civil Partnership because it didn’t

While its nice that you try to take credit for the Greens putting Civil Partnership on the agenda, I actually think it was on the agenda long before GP got a sniff of bioethanol from a Ministerial bicycle. I’ve not a clue what gestures or martyrdom mean in your comment, isn’t martyrdom where you sacrifice yourself for a cause …

It is a “bad thing” Roderic because the Greens seem to have back-peddled on promises they made around same-sex relationships and conflated “us” with elderly siblings. Curiously, gay men and lesbians usually get told that they’re not “family”… so are siblings, gays, cats and dogs to be relegated to sexual denizens?

Untold political damage, which could have been avoided, as been done to both the reputation of the Green Party and to LBGT sexual politics more generally. FF seemed happy to have the Greens be the fall guy for this issue, and I cannot believe how naive the Greens have been.

People dislike the way in which your party’s gay rights policy seems to have been whittled down. Would you have modified climate change policy in the same way as ‘gay marriage’ was altered into civil unions? Are “we” a core value?

Even if you did not have the numbers in the coalition to make gay marriage (and family policy generally) into an critical issue, your party could be a radical voice within a coalition, and instead it seems you’ve rolled over and played dead. As a gay man, I’m feeling sore about that at present. FF is not that strong, challenge them with an intelligent argument, and you might have shifted the terrain.

That said,as a sociologist, I just cannot believe how an opportunity was missed… I would suggest that if FF/Greens had supported the Bill, then collaborated on sorting out all the issues involved,etc it would have stolen Fine Gael and Labour’s thunder for about a year into the govt [and I say that as someone who would support Joan Burton]. So part of me is screaming “fecking eejits!” A massive opportunity to develop respect among liberal voters was missed. Please tell me that you’re not kicking yourselves?

I just hope the proposals in March will be fecking amazing … like full civil marriage and state-subsidised wedding cake for all same-sex couples over 40! Make a leap and your Party will be OK in the longer term, sup with the Bertie beast, and you’ll be lucky to hold onto the State bicycles. (Thanks fo the space to rant MP… love you lots!)

How is this a bad thing?

Thanks for taking such an interest in this. I am an openly gay member of the Green Party, as are many other members I know. They(the ones I have spoken too) did not have the same ire that you have,as they are aware of the work that the party has put in to move this.
This time last year, we had no timeline and a plan for a bill that would put spinster brothers on the same level as a couple in a loving, sexual relationship.
The most important thing is to ensure that there is a basic level of legal protection for same-sex couples. As a young man, I can hold out longer for fuller rights. However, there are elderly gay couples, more at risk of medical emergencies and death, who need it asap. We now have the change of getting it within the next 12months, and we have the Green Party to thank for that.