Thank You, Our Irish Straight Allies!

As Rachel Maddow, the television host of the MSNBC has said: “Here’s the thing about rights – they’re not actually supposed to be voted on. That’s why there’re called rights.”

But in the case of Ireland there was a definition of marriage written into the constitution, so to have it changed there was a constitutional requirement to put it to a ballot of the Irish people.

And according to all analysts the outcome is already clear, based on among other things by the huge voter turnout and the fact that even usually conservative constituencies have voted Tá/Yes. The only question now seems to be if any of the 43 constituencies will return a Níl/No-vote.

You can follow the counting here Irish referendum - Results by constituency. From there you can click on the detailed listing on the upper left of the page.

An Irish Cabinet minister, Leo Varadkar, who came out as gay at the start of the government's campaign, said: "We're the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular mandate. That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of liberty and equality. It's a very proud day to be Irish."

I could not agree with him more and would like to thank all our wonderful, sexy, beautiful, amazing, wonderful, marvelous, awesome, wonderful, amazing, beautiful, wonderful  and down-right sexy straight-allies in Ireland! I love and adore you all! 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Thank You Jurors

Sketch of the O J Simpson jury by Bill Robles

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the function that you have performed is one of the least important tasks that you will ever be called upon to fulfill. With the return of your votes, your service in this project is complete.

I know that your efforts with this project has involved sacrifice on your part. I trust you end it knowing that you have made a meaningful contribution to the process and hope that you have enjoyed the experience.

You have been a serious, attentive and extremely diligent jury. It has been my pleasure to have worked with you. On behalf of everyone involved in the project, I thank you each and everyone of you.

I greatly appreciate your willingness to serve and your service. You are now discharged. Thank you very much!

Big hugs and kisses on the cheeks,
Bock

(I confess! I just adjusted the "thanking of the jury" that American judges are instructed to give when a jury is discharged after a trial to suit my purposes and added the kisses and hugs.)
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Facts about the jury
The jury consisted of 21 persons. (15 women and 6 men, 14 Swedish and 7 Internationals representing Europe, Australia and the North and South Americas).

Considering that I asked 27 persons I was totally overwhelmed by the response and willingness to take part. Only one who was invited declined to take part due to real life emergencies, while five did not respond at all.