The movement for marriage equality is under attack from right and left.
Opponents of the governing arrangement between Labor and the Greens have beaten up fears that a Green proposal to give the territories greater legislative power will lead to “radical social experiments” like “gay marriage”. This conveniently ignores three important facts.
Under the Greens proposal federal parliament will retain ultimate control over territory law. The ACT Labor and the ACT Greens have only ever proposed civil unions, not same-sex marriage legislation like their peers in Tasmania and South Australia. This is a crucial difference. Civil unions do not carry the same meaning or provide the same legal security as marriage and can never be a substitute for allowing same-sex couples to marry.
Thirdly and most importantly, over 60% of Australian, including a majority of blue collar workers, men and Coalition voters, support this “radical social experiment”.
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