Last week my colleage Natalie wrote an article stating that Ireland could be the first country to legalize same-sex marriage by popular vote. Well, the ballots are in- 62.1% of voters said "yes" on Friday’s poll! There are 3.2 million eligible voters in Ireland that had the right to participate and out of that, 60.4% made sure to cast their vote.
That is a big deal especially considering the fact that Ireland has a stipulation stating that a person must be in the country to vote. This means no absentee ballots were allowed from all of the expats living abroad.
What’s even more impressive about this story is that the Irish didn’t let this stop them. People everywhere traveled home to cast their vote and make sure that Ireland became a home for equality. (My global citizen senses are tingling.)
I don’t think I can do this historic achievement justice by simply talking about it. Instead, I’ll share some of the tweets bearing the hashtag #hometovote to show how much of a joint effort it was to pass this law.
Irish people from around the world are going #hometovote today and it’s INCREDIBLE http://t.co/6TOaFxpDQLpic.twitter.com/Wa2bXQRpaa
— Metro (@MetroUK) May 22, 2015Did you hear all the extra planes coming in to land in Dublin really late last night? Fabulous! Full of heroes #hometovote THANK YOU 💚💛💜💓💕💖💗
— Marian Keyes (@MarianKeyes) May 22, 2015I think #hometovote has been my favourite ever thing on Twitter. Properly moving, inspiring and life affirming.
— Sali Hughes (@salihughes) May 22, 2015I flew from San Francisco to vote Yes today. No biggie. #hometovote
— Ali May (@alimayzing) May 22, 2015Never been so happy to be at an airport gate. LGA to PHL to DUB to YES. #hometovote
— Belinda McKeon (@belindamckeon) May 21, 2015In Heathrow airport waiting for a flight to Cork to go #hometovote#MakeGráThelawpic.twitter.com/ST04TMUQ0t
— Debbie O'Neill (@debbiemoneill) May 21, 2015Seeing the amount of people here in the airport who are #hometovote has me in floods! I feel very proud to be Irish right now 💚
— Melanie Murphy (@melaniietweets) May 22, 2015Came #hometovote all the way from London and found my mum had made some subtle changes to my room for me #VoteYespic.twitter.com/BOdxqXhJoN
— Kevin Beirne (@KevBeirne) May 21, 2015Pretty powerful stuff right? (Don’t worry if you’re crying tears of joy, you’re not alone.) In case you were wondering how passionate people were about this, just have a look:
There were 48,000 #HomeToVote tweets in 24 hrs. Here are some of the best http://t.co/5fbQXkqpp8 via @GenEmigrationpic.twitter.com/4hwwB6dDYR
— The Irish Times (@IrishTimes) May 22, 2015What that hashtag looks like on a heat map:
Heatmap of #hometovote by @ivorcrotty is stunning. An outrage we drove so many away, amazing that so many returned pic.twitter.com/PCHMwzs8SD
— David Cochrane (@davidcochrane) May 22, 2015Support was coming from all over the world, especially from those who couldn’t make it home.
#HomeToVote is probably the most heartwarming hashtag ever, I wish I could have made the journey from SF. C'mon Eire! pic.twitter.com/eYAbtx0bzy
— Ashlinn marron (@AshMarron) May 21, 2015And if that’s not enough to pull on some heartstrings, take a look at how quickly some took advantage of the “YES” vote.
A marriage proposal live on air from @SenatorKZappone#MarRefhttps://t.co/y4NeUfTRFz
— RTE News Now (@RTENewsNow) May 23, 2015This weekend was not only memorable because of the hashtag, it was historic. It was a true act of global citizenship that showed how much people care to make their country welcoming to all. Just 22 years ago, homosexuality was considered a crime. While it was decriminalized, it still remained a place where love was not considered equal for everyone. Now Ireland stands as a trailblazer! Here’s a closer look into the campaign that brought people home.
Oh, and we can't forget the added bonuses that came from #hometovote....
So many new faces on Grindr. #hometovote is the best thing that ever happened 😜 @gettheboat2vote
— Darren McMahon (@DarrenMcMahon54) May 21, 2015