Biden lauds Ireland's vote for gay marriage
Vice President Biden is praising Ireland's recent vote to approve gay marriage, and saying that other nations -- including the United States -- need to follow suit.
"There are still too many nations that deny people even the right to be safe from violence and severe discrimination, and too many states here in America that allow a person to be fired simply for being lesbian, gay, transgender, or bisexual," Biden wrote in an op-ed for The Advocate magazine.
Biden, who is still weighing a possible bid for the presidency in 2016, writes that progress toward full marriage equality is "undeniable," and Ireland's vote is proof.
"In 22 years, Ireland has gone from a nation where simply being LGBT was against the law to a nation where the people resoundingly stand for equal rights," Biden writes. "And here in the United States, in just the past three years we’ve gone from six states recognizing marriage equality to 37 states, comprising 224 million Americans. It’s about love. It’s about equality. It’s about dignity."