This will be my final post asking you to please get out this Friday and vote Yes on the Marriage Equality referendum. Up until now I have been hesitant to speak about my personal life, but I truly believe that this referendum will be won by the sheer number of personal stories of people whose lives will be directly affected by the outcome. That's something the No side don't have. The main crux of their arguments are based on an ideal that very few in 2015 can live up to.

I am divorced. I got married very young, at a time when I was only starting to begin to know myself. I don't see my first marriage as a mistake, and I've never regretted it. However I am so grateful that only 10 years prior to me getting married, the generation before me voted to legalise civil divorce. I have been given a second chance to have my love and relationship with my current partner recognised, should we choose to get married. Sadly some of my close friends currently do not even have the rights to a first chance simply because of how they were born. 

I wear my badge everyday, and encourage others to wear theirs. I have seen an outstanding amount of solidarity from people supporting a Yes vote from wearing badges and t-shirts, to holding table quizzes and Equali-teas, to joining canvassing groups across the country. But while I've been amazed by the huge amount of support, no table quiz or badge or fundraiser can replace a Yes vote in the ballot box on the day.

The divorce referendum passed by just over 9,000 votes. That's equivalent to 1 vote in every ballot box in the country. My own fate was decided in those 9,000 votes when I was only 10 years old. In a small country like Ireland, your vote absolutely counts, and you have the opportunity to make a life altering change in thousands of people's lives, both now and for kids like me who will grow up and be affected by whether or not you went to the polls this coming Friday. I know that it takes effort (nothing worth while in life is ever super easy), but please get to your local polling station and turn that support into a real, physical Yes vote. Thank you!