“I come from a same sex family and so marriage equality is a hugely important issue to me personally.
I have felt constantly frustrated by the lack of equality in Northern Ireland, not only do I see my government telling me that my family doesn’t deserve legal recognition but I can see that the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland are in favour of marriage equality.
Our government is out of touch; those who believe that love only occurs between people the government approves of, a group who believe that not all of its people are equal is being given a bigger say than anyone else. This is unfair.
I figured my best way to try and speak up was a video. I sent a letter to my local MLA Gordon Dunne asking him to explain why he voted against the marriage equality bill in the Northern Ireland Assembly. After 4 weeks of waiting for a reply I decided to made my video explaining the letter and the situation around marriage equality in Northern Ireland.
Since I made the video and posted it I have had a hugely positive response online. It has now been over 6 weeks since I sent my letter and there has been still absolutely no response from Gordon Dunne or the DUP.”
Darragh Tibbs, 15, County Down, Northern Ireland.