Vince Cable and Caroline Lucas back gay marriage in Northern Ireland

Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas have backed a new campaign to end the ban on gay marriage in Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland remains the only part of the UK not to allow same-sex unions, five years after marriage equality was introduced in England, Scotland and Wales.

Now, a filmmaker who was kicked out of a Christian group he was missionary with for being gay, has launched the #LoveIsAllWeHave campaign, hoping to put an end to the discrimination.

Matt Hyndman created an emotive short film for the campaign, telling the story of a young gay Northern Irish man finding a letter from his late mother. She tells him to fight for his love to be “recognised in the same way mine was.”

Hyndman and the campaign group Shape History are now calling on politicians, celebrities and members of the public to post their own video in support of marriage equality.

Vince Cable calls for gay marriage in Northern Ireland

Cable is one of the first to lend their voice to the campaign.

“One of the big victories in Britain in recent years has been the move to marriage equality,” he said in a video shared to Facebook on Monday (June 10).

“It was a hard fought battle but we got there and it’s made Britain a much better place. We now have to achieve the same result in Northern Ireland.”

Caroline Lucas tells Northern Ireland to catch up on marriage equality

Former Green Party leader Lucas shared her own message, saying: “LGBT+ couples want to get marriage for the same reasons that straight couples do, love and a celebration of commitment.

“They’ve been able to do it in Britain for the past five years, so it’s time Northern Ireland caught up.”