Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Please let my auntie marry her girlfriend..
Lexi, 9, writes to PM on gay marriage
A YOUNG girl has asked Theresa May to “run a vote” on marriage equality in a heartfelt letter.
Lexi, a pupil at Strandtown Primary School in East Belfast, wrote to the Prime Minister after attending a rally in the city.
The nine-year-old revealed her auntie is gay and asked: “What if she wanted to marry her girlfriend?”
And while a reply came from Number 10, Lexi was told her request had been passed onto the Northern Ireland Office.
A Correspondence Officer wrote: “I am writing on behalf of the Prime Minister to thank you for your excellent letter.
“It was very good of you to get in touch about equal rights, and for taking the time and trouble to share your thoughts about this important matter.
“As the Northern Ireland Office is the part of the Government responsible for the issue you have raised, I have sent your letter to them so that they can reply to you directly.
“Thank you, once again, for writing.” However, the reply didn’t wash with Amnesty International UK.
Head of nations and regions Patrick Corrigan questioned why the Prime Minister was “content to sit back and let the LGBT+ community here be treated as second-class citizens”. He said: “Lexi gets it. Why can’t the Prime Minister? “Three-quarters of people in Northern Ireland want to see marriage equality introduced. “The many thousands like Lexi who took to the streets two weeks ago to demand a law change are a visible demonstration of that desire. “There has been no devolved government in Northern Ireland for almost 18 months. “Responsibility for marriage equality legislation now sits squarely with the UK Government.
“How much longer does the Prime Minister think LGBT+ people in Northern Ireland should have to wait to be treated equally?”