Ireland has become the first country in the world to approve same-sex marriage through a popular vote. According to early results, the “yes” campaign won easily and the opposition leader already conceded defeat.
Voters headed to the polls on Friday, which was why #VoteYes became an international trend on Twitter for several hours.
Official results are not expected until later Saturday, but David Quinn of the Iona Institute, which lead the campaign against the measure, has already congratulated the “Yes” side.
“We believe a fought a good campaign. It was always going to be an uphill battle,” Quinn stated. “However, we helped to provide a voice to the hundreds of thousands of Irish people who did vote No.”
The New York times reports that the referendum will change the Irish Constitution to read that people can marry “without distinction as to their sex.”
The most surprising part of the referendum was the fact that it was happening in Ireland in the first place, as homosexuality wasn’t decriminalized there until 1993. But it shows that even in religious Roman Catholic countries in the West, there is more acceptance of gay marriage. It is legal in 36 U.S. states and several other European countries, including the U.K.
“We’re the first country in the world to enshrine marriage equality in our constitution and do so by popular mandate,” Leo Varadkar, a Cabinet minister who is openly gay, told the Associted Press. “That makes us a beacon, a light to the rest of the world of liberty and equality. So it’s a very proud day to be Irish.”