In the run-up to the marriage referendum, one of the key pieces of legislation that was on the table was the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015. This was viewed as an important piece of legislation, not just to formalise guardianship and parenting issues, but also so that the conversation during the referendum would be focussed on extending marriage rights to same-sex couples. But the referendum conversation in 2015 ended up being about a lot more, including modern Ireland and modern families. The rhetoric from the dominant anti-marriage equality side or campaigns was often not about marriage at all, but about parenting. This rang alarm bells for LGBT+ people, who have for a long time been subjected to a scale of homophobia related to their parenting capabilities – from insinuations and dog-whistling, to fabricating links between gay men and paedophilia, an incredibly hurtful and false narrative.