In August 2004 the Australian Parliament changed the federal Marriage Act 1961 to deliberately exclude LGBTIQ couples from legally marrying, so it’s up to the Australian Parliament to rectify its own mistake.
“Two
thirds of the Australian people, a majority of the parliament and leaders of
all major parties support every Australian being treated fairly and equally
through the Marriage Act. It is time for the Parliament to deliver marriage
equality. We call on our parliamentary supporters to start working together on
a pathway that delivers marriage equality in this parliament without delay.” [Australian Marriage
Equality (AME) Chair, Alex Greenwich in media release, 14 September 2016]
Click on image to enlarge
The unashamed public vitriol begins....
While misguided attempts to entrench discrimination in legislation continue in the federal parliament:
Senator Leyonhjelm says he has been actively lobbying Senator Brandis to consider and adopt aspects of the Liberal Democrats bill on the matter.
Senator Leyonhjelm says he has been actively lobbying Senator Brandis to consider and adopt aspects of the Liberal Democrats bill on the matter.
And even though its plebiscite question simply states “Should the law be changed to allow same-sex couples to marry?”, the Turnbull Government seriously contemplates creating two separate forms of legal marriage - one of which fails to allow the full protection of federal anti-discrimination law to LGBTIQ couples.
The
Guardian, 14 September
2016:
The government will
propose new protections for “conscientious objectors” to same-sex marriage
which marriage equality advocates fear could allow civil celebrants, registrars
and even bakers and florists to refuse to serve same-sex weddings.
According to briefing
notes on the plebiscite prepared for the Coalition party room, seen
by Guardian Australia, the legislation would allow “conscientious objectors” to
reject same-sex weddings, an exemption more extensive than merely allowing
religious leaders to refuse to conduct them…..
The note said the
government will introduce proposed amendments to the Marriage Act and other
relevant legislation to give effect to the decision of the plebiscite “well in
advance” of the popular vote.
“Those amendments will
also include appropriate protections for religious freedom and conscientious
objections,” it said.
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