Sinéad Baker | Editor-at-Large
Dr Kris McDaniel-Miccio, one of the “Colorado Nine”, a group of citizens who sued the State of Colorado in 2013 over its ban on same-sex marriage, spoke yesterday at Trinity’s Long Room Hub about the battle for marriage equality.
Dr McDaniel-Micco gave a public lecture entitled “Out of the Closet, Into the Courts: The Struggle for Marriage Equality in the U.S. and Ireland.” She spoke about her own efforts in the legal battle for equality in the United States as well and its relation to human rights and the upcoming marriage equality referendum in Ireland. Their actions saw the ban stuck down in the state district court in July 2014 and, as of October 2014, same-sex marriage became legal in the State of Colorado.
A New York native, she returned to the state in 2003 in order to legally marry her wife. Commenting on the return to Colorado, she stated: “As our plane went over the different states, our marriage status changed: married, not married, civilly united, civilly partnered, nothing. When we landed in Denver our marriage was devalued to a civil union… it was automatic… We could not have any of the 1,440 rights that devolve to heterosexual married couples in the United States, but the chief denial was the denial of our humanity. So Nan and I made a decision – we decided to sue the State of Colorado”.
McDaniel-Miccio, a law Professor at the University of Denver and Visiting Research Fellow in Trinity, spoke on the issue of same-sex marriage as a human right. She stated: “I’ve experienced what discrimination is about, not just as a woman or as a lesbian, but someone who wants to take part in an institution that is open to everyone – so long as you love within your gender”. She gave a history of discrimination against LGBT people in American society including the Sodomy Laws, which served to “outlaw for us the most intimate form of expression”, and the “Don’t ask, don’t’ tell” policy in the US military, introduced by the Clinton Administration in 1994. For McDaniel-Miccio, these struggles are tied up with the struggles for gender and civil rights movements: “We have been treated like other groups that have been cast as political, cultural others: by race, by class, and now you have what would be called “hetronormativity”.
Speaking about the upcoming marriage equality referendum in Ireland, she stressed the importance of engaging with all aspects of the debate, including the discussion around children. “There’s this desire not to talk about children. Well, I’m telling you, [the no side] is talking about children, and if you don’t talk about children they will fill the void and they will set the agenda. To skip over that is to ignore that’s concerning people who may be on the fence”. She further added: “You don’t win anything by ignoring things”.
On the topic of campaigning for the referendum, she advised those present to “listen to people, actually reflect on what they are saying”. While expressing support for discourse and debate around the topic, she commented on the fact that the issue is to be brought to popular vote within Ireland: “I don’t think you can leave fundamental human rights up for a show of hands… There’s a point at which the courts have to step in and protect the minority against the tyranny of the majority”. She advised, however, that regardless of the referendum result, the conversation will not be over: “laws can only do so much… what needs to change are the attitudes, and attitudes die hard”.
Towards the end of the lecture she commented that “the whole world is watching, and if this referendum passes you will be giving a gift to the world about conceptions of equality and liberty and I believe that you will be giving a gift back to your ancestors who fought for freedom”. For her final words of advice to yes campaigners she said “I’m not afraid of the nos. I’m more concerned abut the complacent people who think it’s a home run. It’s not a home run until the fat lady sings and she aint even up to the microphone”.
Dr McDaniel-Miccio is a Visiting Professor in the School of Law, as well as Trinity Long Room Hub Scholar & Fellow, where she is conducting interdisciplinary research on law and identity in relation to the LGBT community in the US and in Ireland.
Photo by Edmund Heaphy for The University Times
