We’re about to vote in the marriage equality survey and it feels utterly wrong. Human rights, particularly the rights of minority groups, shouldn’t be a popularity contest. Our country already has a system to decide changes to the law, and the fact that this government cannot do so, even with widespread support both in parliament and in the community, is an absolute joke.
The truth is gay people exist and they’re already in loving relationships. They deserve to have the same right to legally recognise their relationship as any straight couple.
I was born with nearly every advantage. White. Male. Straight. Healthy. Stable and violence free family. Queenslander.
I started life on easy mode, everything in my favour, my only achievement being dumb luck. No one had to vote for that.
If your religious beliefs truly prohibit marriage for anyone except a man and a woman then so be it. That’s a rule you can live by. But the laws, for everyone in society, should be free from discrimination. Fortunately for you, same sex marriage won’t be compulsory, just equal. Maybe after this is all settled you can focus on the other parts of your religious faith, the sections about love and acceptance. They seem more important.
Just because there are fewer members of the LGBTI community doesn’t mean they should be lesser. Let’s vote yes.
Lonnie Gilroy 