Allister speaks against civil partnerships
15 January 2009
In a debate in the European Parliament Traditional Unionist MEP Jim Allister spoke out against equality of recognition for heterosexual and homosexual relationships. In a report pressuring Europe-wide recognition of "civil partnerships" the Ulster MEP strongly dissented.
In the course of his remarks he said:-
"A society consumed by "rights" is a "give me, give me" society which has lost its balance.
It is this which drives the report's demand for equality between regularly married couples and homosexual relationships. The natural order is man and woman. We pervert it when we demand equality for its very antithesis.
Unfashionable as it may be, I unashamedly declare that the unnatural partnership between same sex couples is not something to which I as a legislator consent.
Are my rights to espouse that position any less than those who demand the opposite - in the intolerant climate of this debate it seems so. I disagree with this aspect of the report. If that subjects me to ridicule, then, so be it. I'd rather stand for what is right than applaud that which is wrong."
