Aidan Gillen, best known for portraying Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones, joins the #VoteWithUs campaign and gives his reasons for supporting a yes vote for equal marriage in the Irish referendum on May 22nd. Gillen also appeared in the British version of Queer as Folk and The Wire.
Aidan speaks about the enormous impact the outcome of the referendum will have on the lives of all people in Ireland, not only the LGBT ones.
“Remember that same sex couples have been raising children in Ireland for years; these families already exist and they will continue to exist. Vote yes for the children of same sex parents so that their families might be recognized as equal under the law. Vote yes for every LGBT child growing up in Ireland, for their future."
In his video, he also draws attention to the way young LGBT people describe what a yes vote means for them. They use words such as hope, safety, validation, respect, security, and being comfortable living in my own country. On the other hand, when asked what a no vote would mean, they use words like terrified, alienated, uncomfortable, afraid, damaging, upsetting, being devastated, terrifying. Attempting to make the positive impact for all those young adults, Aiden will vote yes, hoping the others to join.
As of today, polling is strongly in favor for marriage. However, strong polling most certainly does not indicate victory. In the end, it will all come down to voter turnout.