In Ireland We ‘Love Both’? Heteroactivism in Ireland’s Anti-Repeal Ephemera

Browne, Kath; Nash, Catherine J.

doi:10.1177/0141778919895262

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The 8 th Amendment had proven their remarkably resilient bulwark against progressivism and liberalism (Barry, 1988; Smyth, 1995), and they did not let go of that easily. What Kath Browne and Catherine Jean Nash (2020) catalogue in this issue as heteroactivist engagements with abortion returned again and again to the old themes of constructing Ireland as anti-abortion by definition and design, and of Ireland as being legible in contrast to the barbaric ‘other’ of England (Smyth, 1998, pp. 69–70).…”

Section: The Referendum and The New Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abortion in Ireland: Introduction to the Themed Issue

Calkin¹,

Londras²,

Heathcote³

2020

Feminist Review

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Trinity College Dublin to discuss spatiality and abortion law reform in Ireland. The 8 th Amendment ('the 8 th ') was still part of the Irish Constitution. Some contributors were cautious, wary of predicting success in the forthcoming referendum, nervous of the fight to come. Others were more confident; change would come, the 8 th would be removed from the Constitution, a new and better law would replace it although, of course, law alone would never be enough. Over the course of the day, scholars, activists, artists, politicians and policymakers discussed what was possible, likely, desirable. Ours was one of thousands of gatherings that had taken place over three-and-a-half decades of activism for abortion law reform in Ireland, but also one of the earliest since the government had confirmed that there would be a referendum on repeal of the 8 th Amendment. The referendum was scheduled for 25 May 2018, almost exactly three months after our workshop. By the time those of us based outside of Ireland were scheduled to fly back to our homes the next day, the snow had become so heavy that many flights had been cancelled. Our time in Dublin extended as the weather worsened. Those unexpected Dublin days contained moments of togetherness, happiness, frustration and exhaustion; on occasion our stuckness brought us together over pints and on snowy walks through almost-deserted city streets. We thought and spoke frequently of the dozens of women who must have had to abandon flights that had been booked to take them for their desired abortions over those days. Some of them probably ended up having to continue with their pregnancies, mere months too early for the referendum and almost a year too early for the new law that would finally make abortion lawful for many women in many circumstances in the Republic of Ireland. Much has, of course, changed since our gathering in Dublin. The 8 th Amendment has been repealed. The new law, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 (2018), has been introduced. As of 22 October 2019, abortion has been decriminalised for our siblings in Northern Ireland and legislation is expected there in the spring of 2020. However, as we predicted on that snowy day in Dublin, reproductive life under the new constitutional and legislative regime remains difficult, uneven and sometimes cruel. In the articles, Open Space pieces and creative 897684F ER0010.

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Section: The Referendum and The New Lawmentioning

confidence: 99%

Abortion in Ireland: Introduction to the Themed Issue

Calkin¹,

Londras²,

Heathcote³

2020

Feminist Review

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“…However, this was a potentially effective campaign strategy. Browne and Nash (2020: 62) state that ‘on demand’ ‘implies that abortion is an unnecessary, consumptive choice’ which invokes the ‘spectre of the “bad” woman who uses abortion as contraception’. This tactic of refusing to acknowledge the reality of abortion was used by Love Both and Pro-life Ireland to characterise any repeal legislation as both ‘too extreme’ and ‘too British’.…”

Section: Appraisal In the Irish Abortion Campaigns On Twittermentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Wrap our arms around them here in Ireland’: Social media campaigns in the Irish abortion referendum

Statham

Ringrow

2022

Discourse & Society

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The 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution, which codified a near-absolute ban on abortion in Ireland, was ratified in 1983 and removed after a high profile campaign to ‘Repeal the 8th’ in 2018. This article analyses the language of the pro-choice group Together for Yes and the anti-choice groups Love Both and Pro-Life Ireland that campaigned to ‘Save the 8th’. We combine an application of the Appraisal framework with an account of conceptual metaphor in a Critical Discourse Analysis of the language of both campaigns on the social network platform Twitter. Both sides of the ‘Repeal Referendum’ strategically utilised language across a wide range of semiotic modes. This article assesses the specific role of social media language in the Irish abortion referendum and connects these strategies to the wider campaign tactics of both sides.

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“…. as the building blocks of a stable society” (Browne and Nash 2020, 124). The Trust's website, for example, states that merely “abstaining from homosexual activity,” although (from their perspective) desirable, does not constitute “healing.” Rather, “heterosexual preference” is the goal.…”

Section: Converted/contested Identitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ex‐gay activism and the reification of sexual identity in law

McIvor

2022

American Anthropologist

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The increasing visibility of sexualities beyond heterosexual, gay/lesbian, and bisexual is often associated with progressive politics and the questioning of heteronormativity. Yet non‐majoritarian sexualities can also include self‐identifications premised upon an opposition to LGBTQ+ equality and inclusion, including those who identify as “ex‐gay.” Drawing on fieldwork with evangelical Christian activists in London, UK, this paper uses a court case in which the “legality” of ex‐gay sexuality was contested to discuss the law's simultaneous desire and inability to render contested identities legally legible. In seeking recognition as a sexual minority, self‐described ex‐gay evangelicals reveal the inadequacy of modern law's efforts to regulate difference as either “innate” or “chosen,” thus upsetting the terms of the hetero‐secular legal gaze even as they embrace heterosexual supremacy. As such, this activism, which is typically analyzed in terms of evangelicalism's commitment to heteronormativity, works to denaturalize the concept of sexual orientation(s)—including, I argue, the heterosexuality ex‐gay Christians pursue.

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In Ireland We ‘Love Both’? Heteroactivism in Ireland’s Anti-Repeal Ephemera

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

Abortion in Ireland: Introduction to the Themed Issue

Abortion in Ireland: Introduction to the Themed Issue

‘Wrap our arms around them here in Ireland’: Social media campaigns in the Irish abortion referendum

Ex‐gay activism and the reification of sexual identity in law

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