Teen in Northern Ireland Releases Touching Video Asking For His Mom’s Right To Marry

A 15 year-old from Northern Ireland made headlines this week with a video taking a local politician to task for voting against marriage equality. Darragh Tibbs wrote a letter to local assembly leader Gordon Dunne about a month ago asking why the official voted against same-sex marriage. After receiving no response, Tibbs made this video wherein he reads his letter to Dunne.“I am 15 years old and a constituent of yours,” the letter opens, “and I live just around the corner from your office. You voted no in the Marriage Equality vote last year—I want to know why. I’m the child of a same-sex relationship, and I can see absolutely no reason why my brother and I should be denied a secure family set-up. To me it seems perfectly reasonable that a democratic government should give all of its citizens the same legal protections. What gives you the right to take from my brother and me the right for legal protection for our family?” Tibbs goes on to say that the rest of the U.K. has voted for marriage equality and he wonders why Northern Ireland hasn’t done the same. “Gordon Dunne is a straight man, so when the legislation goes through, it won’t actually make any difference to his life. The only conclusion we’re left is that Gordon Dunne doesn’t support equality. He doesn’t truly believe that absolutely everyone is equal, just those who he approves of,” Tibbs says. According to NewNowNext, “a spokesperson for the Democratic Unionist Party commented, ‘The party supports the traditional definition of marriage of one man and one woman…we don’t believe marriage should be redefined.’” Dunne has yet to comment on Tibbs video or letter.