Where Ulster Covenant fails the LGBT community

These are the words of the Ulster Covenant whose centenary people in Northern Ireland are celebrating this week.

BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, throughout this our time of threatened calamity, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our children, our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such a Parliament being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognize its authority. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.

And further, we individually declare that we have not already signed this Covenant.

Now for me a key line of that is our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom. I admit it had different ramifications one hundred years ago. But let us not forget that the Unionist politicians are all joyously celebrating the retention of that equal citizenship on the one had while denying it to many whose forebears also signed those words.

I'm talking of course about the LGBT citizens in Northern Ireland.

If we had leaders who truly cherished a position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, we would allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt. We would allow men who have had sex with men to donate blood after one year and we would already have all the parties clamouring to get a consultation on equal marriage out to the public.

Of course sadly that is not the case, and rather ironically the Northern Irish health Minister is actually co-joined with the authority of that other Parliament in Dublin rather than the rest of the UK on the issue of blood donations.

So while members of the DUP, UUP and TUV seek to honour the covenant this weekend let us not forget that one of the things that those they celebrate did 100 years ago was cherish equal citizenship with the rest of the UK, something that for some sections of Ulster life is missing today.

So maybe in Stormont today's Unionists would rewrite the Covenant like this:

BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule Devolution would should not be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious take on civil freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire United Kingdom, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Her Gracious Majesty King George V Queen Elizabeth II, humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, throughout this our time of threatened calamity, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our straight children, our cherished position of equal citizenship unless you are LGBT in the United Kingdom, and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland comply with LGBT equality legislation from the rest of the Union which digresses from the rest of Ireland. And in the event of such a Parliament legislation being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognize its authority. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.

You think I am being harsh. Well the first test comes after the weekend when on Monday there will be a debate in Stormont on marriage equality.

What were your ancestors doing 99 years ago today?

Susrprising I know what 7 of my Great-Grandparents were doing at least at one point of this day 99 years ago. They were either signing the Ulster Covenant, if they were male, or the Declaration, if they were female. Only one of my Great-Grandparents signatures can I not find, that may have had something to do with the nature of his work. His wife also only signed with her initial to try and hide her identity a little, and that took some detective work.

However, as Michael has said we need to learn from our history. The covenant that they signed read:

BEING CONVINCED in our consciences that Home Rule would be disastrous to the material well-being of Ulster as well as of the whole of Ireland, subversive of our civil and religious freedom, destructive of our citizenship, and perilous to the unity of the Empire, we, whose names are underwritten, men of Ulster, loyal subjects of His Gracious Majesty King George V., humbly relying on the God whom our fathers in days of stress and trial confidently trusted, do hereby pledge ourselves in solemn Covenant, throughout this our time of threatened calamity, to stand by one another in defending, for ourselves and our children, our cherished position of equal citizenship in the United Kingdom, and in using all means which may be found necessary to defeat the present conspiracy to set up a Home Rule Parliament in Ireland. And in the event of such a Parliament being forced upon us, we further solemnly and mutually pledge ourselves to refuse to recognize its authority. In sure confidence that God will defend the right, we hereto subscribe our names.

And further, we individually declare that we have not already signed this Covenant.

It was a time of unrest in Ireland and considering that most of my family at that time was living in largely Catholic areas, Donegal or Derry City they probably had a greater understanding of the tension that a lot of the signatories. Of course the party of Home Rule was the Liberal Party one of the precurser parties of the Liberal Democrats. Ninety Nine years on I find myself part of that party still fighting for devlovement of powers away from Westminster.

Also more importantly after those 99 years I find myself working for close working relationships across the whole of Ireland, even though the parts of Ulster in which my family signed are now in two separate states. Even though most of it can be driven between in less than half an hour. Equal citizenship within Europe rather than the UK is what I find myself holding dear now and that expands well beyond the British Isles or course as many of those who live amongst us now come from elsewhere.

We have moved on a great deal in those 99 years. Indeed we have moved on a great deal in the last 15 to twenty years here in Ireland. Not least in that many of those whose forebears also signed the Covenant and Declaration are also looking for a shared furture with those whose ancestors welcomed the idea of Home Rule in Ireland with open arms. There are even some who have relatives on both sides of that argument, how confused are we?

It appears to be the way today to share those signatures. Here is the one of my Great-Grandfather Robert Glenn.

And across the Foyle and some miles upstream that of the father of his son Alec's future wife John Lapsley. That is the Townland of Dundee not the one in Scotland.

Elsewhere my Great-Grandfather Campbell

 

And finally my Great-Great-Grandfather Henderson, although most of the other names on here are related to me somehow as well.

In total 237,368 men singned the Covenant, and the Declaration by 234,046 women. It is part of our history just as is the Easter Uprising in 1916, the Belfast Agreement and many other events. We should all learn together from them of how to build a better future.