The streets of Dublin were more colorful than usual on Sunday, as thousands turned out for the annual March for Marriage, according to Ireland's Independent.
The organizers of the event, Dublin-based advocacy group LGBT Noise, are hoping this year's march will be the last time Dubliners have to rally to support marriage equality, as the Irish government has promised hold a refendum that could legalize same-sex marriage in the first half of 2015.
Pointing to recent surveys that show Irish support for marriage equality as high as 86 percent in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, LGBT advocates are cautiously optimistic that when their fellow countryfolk go to the polls next year, they'll embrace the freedom to marry for all loving, committed couples.
"The only way that this referendum will be lost by the equality side is if people are complacent and they stay home," Max Krzyzanowski, an organizer of Sunday's march, told the Independent.
Indeed, LGBT Noise is so confident that love will emerge victorious during next year's election, the group produced a cheeky parody video lampooning right-wing fears about the cultural destruction marriage equality will bring upon the country. Featuring a fictional heterosexual couple who barricade themselves in their home after Ireland embraces marriage equality, the short film's final frame features a frank message: "Marriage equality: It's not the end of the world, lads."
See photos from Sunday's annual March for Marriage below.
