​Colin Farrell Pens Heartfelt Pro-LGBT Letter to the People of Ireland

Colin Farrell, one of Ireland’s finest exports along with the Cranberries, Tullamore Dew, and the soundtrack to The Departed, has made a very sincere plea to his fellow countryfolk, asking them to vote to legalize same sex marriage in the country.

In Ireland, same-sex sexual activity was legalized in 1993, and civil partnerships were recognized in 2010. The country does not currently allow same-sex marriages, but in spring of 2015, there will be a referendum to legalize same-sex marriage. In the letter published in Ireland’s Sunday World, Farrell candidly spoke of the struggles his brother Eamon, who is gay, overcame growing up, and how ridiculous it is that Eamon and his partner had to travel to Canada to get married. He writes:

My brother Eamon didn’t choose to be gay. Yes, he chose to wear eyeliner to school and that probably wasn’t the most pragmatic response to the daily torture he experienced at the hands of school bullies.

But he was always proud of who he was. Proud and defiant and, of course, provocative. Even when others were casting him out with fists and ridicule and the laughter of pure loathsome derision, he maintained an integrity and dignity that flew in the face of the cruelty that befell him.

That’s why this is personal to me. The fact that my brother had to leave Ireland to have his dream of being married become real is insane. INSANE.

It’s time to right the scales of justice here. To sign up and register to vote next year so that each individual’s voice can be heard.

How often do we get to make history in our lives? Not just personal history. Familial. Social. Communal. Global. The world will be watching. We will lead by example. Let’s lead toward light.

Image via Getty.