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Blog
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| Gay marriage and the disappointing view of Julia G |
14 Jul 2010 |
| Spinifex intern Kate Page wonders how much nuptial equality and inclusion we
can really take
As a socially progressive heterosexual single mum (with lots of relatives touting a step- prefix), I say: let’s shake the heterosexual foundations of marriage. And yes, I deliberately leave out any religious affiliation, because let's face it, 60% of us choose not to marry within religious institutions these days, so the religious argument must be dead and buried. Julia Gillard would surely agree, being of no specified religion, and yet, her stance is aligned with that of her predecessor Kevin Rudd.
Julia and the Party have opposed same-sex marriage and in doing so promote a culture of marginalisation around this issue. This is a human rights issue and one of legal and economic equality. This is an issue of personal autonomy and the right to choose. Sixty percent of Australians support same-sex marriage. A recent senate enquiry received 11,000 submissions in support of same-sex marriage (the largest number ever received in a senate enquiry) yet our two major parties are refusing to listen.
By staying where we are on this issue, we are effectively saying that the quality of committed relationships and the quality of love relationships between same-sex couples is lesser than that of the heterosexual community.
I stumbled upon an article that opposed same-sex marriage and reprimanded proponents for using “rhetoric”, like “inclusion”, “tolerance” and “equality” when forming their argument. If you laugh in a confused kind of way here, I am laughing with you. I wonder how many articles in support of same-sex marriage this writer would have needed to read before these three words stood out? Living in Australia, in a democracy, inclusion, tolerance and equality should be for everyone. Yes, I am stating the obvious. And it does seem out-of-date to be grappling with this issue today.
Personally I hold great optimism that we will legalise same-sex marriage before too much longer. The argument against carries little weight and quite simply, is not aligned with the views of the majority of Australians.
Mexico City recently legalised same-sex marriage and in the four months since the bill was passed, 271 same-sex couples got hitched. (That is two or more weddings per day.) A gay friend of mine is looking forward to Australia legalising same-sex marriage. She says, “it’ll be a busy year of weddings for me”. Let's hope when it does happen we don’t overwhelm ourselves with too much tolerance, inclusion and equality! |
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| Comments |
| Thanks for your article... i didn't realise the latest stats were 60% support for gay marriage... I will take that as a win in itself (gotta take what you can get!!). Whilst it is dissapointing that we (Australia) are behind the eight ball in accepting all people no matter what their preference, I remain optimistic that the voice of the people will one day make the governemtnt remember they are in power to represent the people of Australia and not just express their own limited beliefs! |
| Posted by Caela | 14 Jul 2010 |
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| Argentina also just changed it's laws. See the link on the Spinifex facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spinifex-Press/107311673243?ref=ts |
| Posted by Susan_Hawthorne | 16 Jul 2010 |
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