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Gay Marriage and why Australia is the developed country left behind

While many Australians are also celebrating the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the United States, they are appalled that our own government treats this as an issue they consider irrelevant to our society, writes Paul McMahon.

I am gay. This is true – you can tell me that God is against me (I have never spoken to him so I can believe you), you can say that I would harm a child (as have many parents who abandon them) and you can say that homosexuality is unnatural (please refer to the millions who feel this same condition and please outline the scientific proof that it is not biological and how this can be proven).

The USA finally made Gay Marriage legal and I for one support this shift. It has been occurring in countries globally from Brazil to the UK and from Mexico to Ireland. But it is today that we are clenching on true freedom. Why?

This is occurring, as the USA has always been a beacon of hope for so many social issues. This came from the end of slavery to the promotion of women’s rights. The USA has been our true indication of where our world is going in modern times. Why?

The USA represents the collision course of British democracy, old colonial wealth and the mix of cultures this reality brought. Now that the USA has legalised same-sex marriage it puts a disgusting conservative black rain over the current Australian Government.

I read a letter last night that a number of young children wrote to the Prime Minister. The children were confused as to why Gay Marriage in Australia continued to be discriminatory. Why we were so far behind the world despite so far ahead in many indicators of society. Our next generation was starting to show confusion.

I saw a reply by Tony Abbott to one letter that said he did not condone Gay Marriage in Australia. I repeat that for you.

Tony Abbott does not condone the legalisation of marriage equality because it does not speak to his voters. He is therefore nullifying the public discourse because he disagrees with equality and a host of other socially apt points of view.

This is a simple truth that I am disgusted (vomits) that our political leader contends to us. Being a Gay Man and going through the trauma of being one in a society that frowns upon Gay Union is a sad day. Our leader condones other like minded situations – the colonisation of the British, Aboriginals not being legal citizens and therefore unable to vote, women should not vote and we should continue to separate bus seats for White and Black people.

These are horrific comparisons to say that we are living in an age where a political leader of his calibre condones such treatment. I unfortunately use this line of argument because it is true. I am unable to marry the one I love because I am A GAY. I am gay and therefore I must be treated as a lower class citizen.

I’m sorry, Tony Abbott but this is not on. This is not the Australian Society I was born into – where change is left behind and social progress should be ignored. It is a time that I do not ask for better social service support for the sick or better investment in sustainable energy. Those would be nice things but that will have to come at a later date.

I want marriage equality. I want kids to stop being discriminated against and treated as second class citizens. I am Australian. I was legally born here. My parents were legally born here. I am Australian. I do not have dual citizenship like you Tony Abbott. I just want fair equality for our children and all Gay people in our country – the gays or a gay if you like. Is that what we are called? Like a shop or an a garage. Whatever line you take I think it is time and I have had enough. We can no longer accept your treatment and tears or fears created by your administration.

Unless Gay Marriage is legalised in Australia, I wish for the Abbott Government to leave Parliament immediately. A discriminatory government is not Australia’s future and never in our best interest.

I hope we can all agree on that fact – gay or straight we are one people.

Paul McMahon is an up and coming author as – a result of the accident where he fell 3.5 floors off a building to concrete. He survived. He has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/paulmcmahonauthor that you can follow if you like the story or like his travel blog. The message is that you should always be proud to be alive, so many do not have that privilege. The worst accident in the world can still direct you into bliss and prosperity.

10 comments

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  1. joni

    I wonder how our old friend Sparta (from the old place) is feeling today? I hope he woke with a rainbow on the horizon in Arizona.

  2. Matters Not

    Ah this ‘gayness’ and equal rights. It’s just a ‘passing fad’ or a ‘fashion of the moment’.

    It will pass. All according to Abbott.

    What you can be sure of is that Abbott will never vote for equal marriage rights and will resist a ‘free vote’ by members of his party in the Parliament..

    Yet the evidence is that gays are more likely to vote for his party than Labor.

  3. Michael Taylor

    Hi Joni, Sparta is probably one of those crazy priests who threatened to set themselves on fire. Btw, we had some guy here a week ago from Arizona defending America’s gun laws – plus have a slur at we Aussies – and I wondered if it was our old nemesis.

  4. Kaye Lee

    Paul,

    Re the debate about whether homosexuality is biological or not, I have never understood why this matters. People should not have to justify who they love, they should not have to make some sort of declaration dividing us into camps (so to speak). Good relationships are built on the same things whether they be straight or gay.

  5. Möbius Ecko

    Matters Not, as it is for rural voters who nearly always do better under under Labor governments at all levels, yet still overwhelmingly vote L-NP. A similar thing with the older demographics, which we are seeing now as they are the only demographic that overwhelmingly polls for the Abbott government despite that government attempting to cut their benefits.

    The only reason I can think as to why these groups vote against their best interests is long running successful media and Liberal government fear campaigns and propaganda.

  6. Kaye Lee

    Unfortunately, many migrants are anti gay marriage.

    “The issue of gay marriage ignites one of the greatest fears first‐generation Asians or Arabs have when they raise children in Australia ‐ of rampant, unregulated sexuality tearing at the foundations of social stability and, particularly, the integrity of the family unit.”

    http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1232_tanveer4.pdf

  7. Terry2

    It seems to me that what we are talking about is removing the changes to the Marriage Act introduced by the Howard government in 2004, viz :

    Schedule 1—Amendment of the Marriage Act 1961

    1 Subsection 5(1)
    Insert:
    marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.
    2 At the end of section 88B
    Add:
    (4) To avoid doubt, in this Part (including section 88E) marriage has the meaning given by subsection 5(1).
    3 After section 88E
    Insert:
    88EA Certain unions are not marriages
    A union solemnised in a foreign country between:
    (a) a man and another man; or
    (b) a woman and another woman;
    must not be recognised as a marriage in Australia.

    This change was meant to clarify the common law position in the statute but, of course, it went a lot further and this is why the coalition are so reluctant to address the subject. What the Labor Party have to be careful of is allowing themselves to be seen as having a focus on what the Prime minister considers as unimportant in an era where ‘Ten Flag Tony’ is seen as having the security of the nation as his priority.

    Everything of a social nature but with a political complexion these days is fraught with political risk when it should be so simple : many thanks to the USA Supreme Court for their wisdom and leadership.

  8. Jexpat

    There are several intersting aspects of the decision from a jurisprudential standpoint, but I think the most powerful part of the decision, reflecting its historic signicance, is in the closing paragraph of the majority opinion. Written (or at least, approved by) a devout Catholic, btw:

    “No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death. It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right. The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit is reversed.

    It is so ordered.”

  9. Jaylor Kent

    I Fail to understand why we have laws about marriage at all, except for the protection of minors.

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